Focus on Life - Week 8

This week's prompt from Sally was Monochromatic - consisting of one colour... (help, this is getting technical!) 

Thankfully, Sally gave us more information:

Monochromatic photos tell a story, evoke emotion and uncover the soul with the simple contrast of one color. Monochromatic photos enable the viewer to see a deeper meaning behind what may be concealed by multiple colors.

Wanting to 'evoke emotion', 'uncover the soul' and 'enable the viewer to see a deeper meaning', I give you these images from a frosty morning in our back garden earlier this week...

 

For me they evoke wabi sabi...

 

built on the precepts of simplicity, humility, restraint, naturalness, joy and melancholy as well as the defining element of impermanence. Wabi sabi art challenges us to unlearn our views of beauty and to rediscover the intimate beauty to be found in the smallest details of nature's artistry.

(Andrew Juniper, Wabi Sabi: The Japanese Art of Impermanence, p. ix)

 

If you enlarge the photos, you can really see the exquisite details of the frost and the decaying leaves... even more so without the distraction of colour!

I've learnt such a lot this week - thank you, Sally :)

WOYWW 194 - Every once in a while...

... I manage to find a bargain on ebay...

... not one, but two sets, of Hunkydory card kits, 'Autumn Days' and 'Vintage Journey'. Both the cardstock and the die-cut toppers are g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s... I am going to have such fun, as I work my way through the rather long list of lovely peeps awaiting snailmail, so please be patient with me :)

I also got some stickers, on the left, from etsy (not such a bargain!), and these cute little stamps...

... sadly, rather expensive, considering I had to put them together myself! (I didn't realize that, when I bought them - sometimes you really do need to see things in reality... *sigh*)

At the top of the pic is this...

 ... a handmade postcard Jane Davies sent in thanks for taking part in the Postcard Project (she now has a Facebook page of the 100s she's received so far...)

And here's a close-up of my feather bottle, glimpsed last week...

... along with my lil valentine's hearts from my girl :)

And that's my desk today. Now, I'm heading over to Julia's to poke my nose into as many craftspaces as I can...

... and I'll leave you with some pics I took early yesterday morning, crunching across the frosted grass in our garden... enjoy xxx

Focus on Life - Week 7

This week's prompt from Sally over at The Studio Sublime was Beauty of Flowers, even though I had it in my head it was 'Language of Flowers', and I knew what I wanted to photograph...

But this was our garden on Tuesday...

... yet another snowstorm, which lingered until Wednesday...

But by Friday, the sun was shining and I could capture this...

... the discrete, humble beauty of snowdrops, which to me say, 'Stand tall and hope, despite the adverse conditions...'

Amen to that!!

WOYWW 193 - Tuesday evening photo...

... so it's a tad fuzzy - my wee camera doesn't do low light too well...

Hopefully, you can see my new goodies :) A friend took me to Peterborough shopping yesterday, and we spent ages in an all-time favourite shop, Paperchase ***sigh***

I've spread out the correspondence set so you can see the gorgeousness - 20 sheets of writing paper, 10 envelopes, and stickers!!!

I can't wait to write letters to all the lovely people who have sent me amazing snail mail over the past couple of weeks. (You can scroll down to the previous post and see some of the goodies, if you have time!)

Next to the writing set are two beautiful lined journals, which I'll be using in the next few weeks...

Lent starts today, and I am reading this - the new book from one of favourite authors:

I love his gentle wisdom, and I'm really looking forward to learning lots...

Short and sweet this week - and now I'm off to sneak a peek at all the other interesting desks on show over at Julia's Stamping Ground...

So, till next week xxxx

PS I meant to mention the 'new' item at the top of the pic - an empty Orla Kiely bottle, which was a gorgeous reed diffuser I got for xmas (didn't last long, but it's such a lovely bottle!), and its new life as a container for my found feathers :)

Focus on Life - Week 6

This week's prompt from Sally Rossick is Feel the Love...

I just love the dorky toothbrush photo she shared :)

I've been feeling a lot of love just lately, as in the past 10 days, I have received wonderful, REAL mail - chosen with love, made and written with love, and posted with love...

First, this came Meredith, a dear friend who moved to the wild Welsh borders a few years ago - I miss her, but I adore her letters...

The main letter is written on the back of a colour photocopy of seed heads, then she included a fun postcard (she knows my design tastes so well!), and finally she made a wee envelope and filled it to bursting with quotes take from an old book. The one open reads:

The purpose of music is to make people feel good, to make people feel love. It gives people a spiritual love - a love feeling.

Brian Wilson

Rather appropriate, n'est pas??

Next, from the lovely Ali, I received a gorgeous handmade card, with another wonderful quote...

... and even Royal Mail is getting in the loving mood, franking Ali's envelope thus:

Then, from Finland I received this bumper pile of goodies from the very talented Tuire

... a handmade ATC with its very own envelope, some Finnish book pages, pearl buttons, a handstamped, handwritten letter, and a gorgeous desk calendar with Finnish and Swedish dates.

Next, the gorgeously generous Susan in Canada sent this..

... an American Vogue and a scrummy, fancy bar of chocolate - what a brilliant gift!! All I had to add were my favourite cuppa and the time to enjoy - which I gleefully did :)

And last, but far from least, this lovely surprise gift from the very lovely Lynn

She was sorting her bookshelves, saw this and thought I'd like it - which I so do!
I almost bought the book for a friend at xmas (I tend to give gifts I'd like myself!), but chose another one instead...

There is nothing finer than a 'I saw this and thought of you' missive in the post!!

Apologies for this being a long post, but I wanted to share all the love I've enjoyed this week - and if you'd like some real snail mail of your very own, do drop an email with your address (claire[dot]sauer[at]ntlworld[dot]com), and I promise to send something with love you can feel...

And i'll leave you with part of yesterday's entry from The Artist's Way Every Day by Julia Cameron, one of my favourite xmas gifts from a dear friend:

 

It is my belief that writing is a way to bless and to multiply our blessings. I cherish letters, postcards, faxes, and even Post-its from my friends.

 

 

Till next week xxx

WOYWW 192 - More snail-mail...

Here's my desk today, with more snail mail to post, and more lil' creations to finish to get in the mail...

On the top of the pile is this:

a postcard I've made to send to Jane Davies, who's trying to save her adorable little post office. She's hoping an increase in the volume of mail will do the trick, and the first 200 responses will get a card made my her :)
Our village PO was under threat of closure last year, but we managed to save it, so this was a project close to my heart...

The eagle-eyed among you may have noticed a new calendar on my desk...

... it's from the lovely Tuire in Finland (it has both Finnish and Swedish dates on it), and it was just one of the  beautiful treasures she sent me, after I sent her some English goodies...

She included some Finnish book pages, a beautiful ATC she'd made, with its own precious envelope, some pearl buttons and a lovely letter adorned with her new stamps :)

There really is no better way to brighten someone's day than real mail!! So, if you'd like a wee letter, just send your address to me (claire[dot]sauer@ntlworld[dot]com) - the loveliest people frequent Blogland, and real letters just spread the love that little further!

For more blog lovin', hop over to Julia at her Stamping Ground and spy on other crafty peoplees' desks...

And I leave you with today's quote:

We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.

Goethe

Till next week xxx

Focus on Life - Week 5

Here we are at Week 5 already AND it's February!!
Hooray! We've made it through the l-o-n-g-e-s-t month of the year (I always suffer with January blues...)

Sally Russick's prompt this week was 'Capture Our Hearts' - appropriate for Valentine's Day, I guess, but I'm sorry, I'm not a love-heart person...

I understand that when Milton Glaser created this

it was new, and quickly became iconic, but that was back in the 70s, and when you see it just everywhere... well, it loses its impact...

I had hoped to get outside and seek out natural 'hearts' - leaves, pebbles, even a shadow - but sadly the weather's been terrible here, and I simply couldn't :(
The sun did shine on Thursday, but the wind was gale-force, and even Molly-cat didn't fancy going out in it!

(I guess she's communing with the lil cat statue on the desk...)

So, what was I to photograph??

And then it came to me...

I wear a heart-shape around my neck 24/7!!
It's been there since I bought it for myself when I turned 40 (a few years ago now, I know!) The only time it's been taken off was in hospital back on 2007...

It's almost impossible to get a good photo, so here it is from the Wright and Teague lookbook

The Latin inscription means 'go in peace', which I do try to do... and the twig cross and the star heart are classic W&T charms...

So, there's my heart shape... worn daily, and although I often remember the inscription (I tend to fiddle with the necklace when I'm anxious or stressed breathing the words 'vade in pace'), I had totally forgotten the shape... so thanks for the reminder, Sally :)