Photo-a-Day – November 2014

Hello there Buttoneers! Can you believe that it’s that time again for last month’s Photo-a-Day round-up!? This year is whizzing by so fast and I am seriously trying to organise myself for Christmas to no avail! The panic will set in soon I’m sure and then I will be a Christmas super-shopper! haha! 

November’s photo-a-day was a strange one.

Partly I think because I so enjoyed the creativity of Octobers A-Z prompts which I turned into the Eliston Button A to Z of Craft. Did you catch that one? I loved it, I made a list and all I had to worry about was how I was going to compose each photograph on each day. Bliss. But, I also think partly because I was thrown into November with further house worries and builder problems so my crafty little mind was elsewhere.

A lot of the photographs this month were taken on the go, or from a hotel room or even while most of my house got re-boxed up for the umpteenth time. 

However, as I sit here trying to figure out where this last month went, as I glance over each days photograph, I find that actually they kind of document each day pretty well. They tell me where I was or what I was doing, whether it was the everyday happenings of breakfast of a cup of coffee or whether it was spending time away from home while decorators were in and having to figure out how to work from a hotel room from a suitcase.

Each and every day was documented, linked to a prompt, but still a lasting memory of my hectic November. That’s kinda the point isn’t it!?

 Isn’t this why I started doing this? I love that I would not have had the time to ordinarily take a photograph each day or even thought about it if it wasn’t for following this challenge…maybe I will take part in December’s photo-a-day challenge after all…

Here is my November…one photo-a-day…

Photo-a-Day August 2014

Hello there my lovely Buttoneers! I am back and the ceiling in the studio has been replaced so now I am unpacking and figuring it all out all over again! If you missed this post you can read about it in ‘The Start of Something New’.  I wanted to pop in today with my Photo-a-Day round-up for August as it was slightly different this time around. 

If you have been following me on Instagram or maybe even Twitter, then you may have seen that I have been taking part in Fat Mum Slim’s Photo-a-day Challenge.

You can view my past Photo-a-Day round-up posts by ‘choosing a button’ on the right hand side of the blog 🙂

August was a weird month around here. It was full of stops and starts, of packing up boxes of crafts supplies again, of having to be out of the house for builders, yadda yadda yadda (I am sure you are sick of hearing about it by now!) But this meant that my usually enjoyable Photo-a-Day challenge was all over the place with my mind being elsewhere. I had to think on-the-go and spontaneously without having familiar props or crafty bits to help me. At the time I felt like I was skimming through the prompts quickly to get them done until the next day where the process would happen again and again until the end of the month. This in some case was true. However, I look back over this last month and not only can I tell you where I was for each prompt but I feel like they all document a whole month of upheaval that I wouldn’t ordinarily of been able to document.

This is exactly why I love participating in the Photo-a-Day challenges. I love that whatever is going on in my life or with my little creative biz, I will have a record of it all.

I went through the photos yesterday and was totally surprised at the amount of them I loved. I was surprised at how many I had ‘thought outside of the box’ for. I was surprised at the way I had composed some of the photographs that I can link to tough days or days out of the studio.

Sometimes life can take you by surprise…

Here is my August 2014 in a Photo-a-Day…

 

My Washi Tape Collection

Hello there Buttoneers! Today I want to share with you one of my crafty loves obsessions. Washi Tape. Now, most of you have probably heard of Washi tape, but for those who haven’t here is a short explanation.

Washi tape is originally from Japan and made from plant fibres from a paper mulberry shrub but is now more commonly made with mulches of plants like rice or bamboo. The name comes from ‘Wa’ meaning Japanese and ‘shi’ meaning tape.

Currently, I store my Washi tape in these clip-close tubs. They are easy to access, look good through the sides and this makes it easy to see what I’ve got for a new project. I use Washi tape for all sorts of projects from decorating greetings cards to covering a tin can for a fancy pen pot. I have even been known to edge some of my studio furniture with it to add a pop of colour. And the great thing is, that it is a bit like masking tape so I can swap and change it as much as I like without damaging any surfaces. Also it doesn’t leave a horrible sticky residue that most tapes leave after application, but it will still stick down and look super pretty! 

I am a bit of a Washi tape hoarder collecting enthusiast to be honest and just can’t resist a new colour or design if I spot one. Most of my washi tapes I have bought online at Etsy or Amazon as it wasn’t as popular when I first discovered it. Now I am spotting more and more in shops around the UK from local craft shops to Hobbycraft or even some gift shops. I love finding new ones in the most unexpected of shops, like the wide ‘Love’ one from Ikea! This pretty much blew my mind as I am obsessed with Ikea and Washi tape!!