Getting Older, One Photo At A Time

When I turned 30 a few years ago, I thought it would be nice to make a photo collage: one photo of me for each of my 30 years.

 
It was so fun seeing all the photos together that picking a new photo to add to it has become an annual ritual. As well as continuing the "Laura slowly ages in photographs" project, it's nice to take time to look back on the previous year (the ups and the downs) and to choose an image to remember it by.

When I turned 31 I chose a photo of me playing board games at Christmas, which was perfect for a year that was all about family. When I turned 32 I picked a blurry-but-who-cares selfie from the morning of my sister's wedding. 

For my 33rd year I opted for a photo taken at the end of my volunteer shift for the Tower of London's incredible Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red installation. This was such an amazing thing to be part of and something that a few years earlier I'd not have had the confidence to sign up for on my own, so this picture reminds me of the day but also to say "heck yes!" to more awesome things in the future. 

Then last year I turned 34 and didn't blog about my choice of photo. I still picked one, but when I looked back at my year I realised that most of it had been focused on my move back to the southwest and I wasn't quite ready to announce that yet! (It sounds daft, but I thought I might jinx the whole thing by revealing my plans before they'd come to fruition).

A large chunk of my 34th year was spent looking up properties on Rightmove to work out what I could afford on my budget, visiting towns and cities to see if I'd like to live there, narrowing it down to one place that ticked all the boxes, going flat-hunting with my dad (who helpfully radiated a zen-like calm while I practically vibrated with anxiety), then putting in an offer on a flat and beginning the process of Actually Buying A Flat (OMG).

I hoped the purchase wouldn't take too long and I'd be able to do a dramatic reveal in a "hey guys, guess what I've been up to this year..." blog post but - alas! - the process dragged on and on and I finally ended up moving in December by which point I thought I might as well wait and blog about two years at once.

Sooooo... what photos did I choose?

For my 34th year, I couldn't resist this TIGER SELFIE taken at the Jewish Museum's excellent Judith Kerr exhibition.

When I wasn't busy flat-hunting that year, I was spending my days off going on trips and lots of highly enjoyable Nice Days Out and this exhibition was definitely one of the highlights. I adore Judith Kerr's books, and how often to you get to take a selfie with a character from one of your most beloved childhood books??

Now to celebrate turning 35 this month my photo for the year simply has to be this ridiculous snap of me wearing my rainbow blanket as a scarf.

As well as making me laugh, this photo is a perfect reminder of the past year as it was a) taken by a lovely friend on the beach in my new hometown and b) showcases the magnificence of my rainbow blanket which I finally finished last year, was one of the first things I unpacked when I moved into my new flat and has been on my bed ever since (a little cosy corner in the chaos of DIY projects and piles of boxes).

All The Threes (33)

When I turned 30 a few years ago I had a nostalgic look back through old photo albums and chose a photo a year to make a "30 years of me!" collage. It was fun choosing a photo to represent each year and seeing the progression of haircuts and outfits as the years went by.

In fact, it was so much fun that I decided to keep going and choose a new photo each year to add to my collection. I picked one when I turned 31, one when I turned 32 and now it's time to pick another as I turned 33 last month. It's turning into a nice little personal tradition and a great opportunity to have a few quiet moments thinking about my year just passed, with all its ups and downs.

This year has definitely had its downs. I've not been in great health, which is always frustrating - not least because of the knock-on effect it has on my business. I've been working part-time for big chunks of the past year, taking on fewer new projects and earning less than I would have if I'd been working my usual hours.

Of course there are few things more important than your health and I'm very lucky that my job (and my current living situation) allows me to be flexible: to take care of myself while also continuing to work, just at a slightly slower pace and from the sofa instead of my desk. But it still sucks to be ill and to have to scale back my creative plans and press pause on so many things on my "plans for my business" To Do list.

On balance though, 32 was pretty great!

It was a year of family and friendship and meeting new people. Of travelling (near and far) and adventures (big and small). Of decluttering unwanted things and letting go of all the emotional baggage that went along with them. Of saying hello and yes please to some exciting new projects. Of being more confident (and of not being afraid to admit when my confidence has failed me).

I took a trip to Birmingham (which turned out to be so great I'm going back there for my summer hols this year) and another to Liverpool (which was also awesome - I really need to get round to blogging about it sometime!). When my health (and my deadlines) allowed I went on lots of relaxing, inspiring, de-stressing, energising and generally awesome Nice Days Out to parks, gardens, museums, palaces, churches, ships, galleries, exhibitions and more. Plus my diary was peppered with days jam-packed with crafty and creative goodness - at the V&A, the Festival of Quilts, the Handmade Fair, Blognix, Thread, the Knitting & Stitching Show, Renegade London, and London Craft Week.

It was also another highly enjoyable year of making and blogging (despite the odd patch of blogger's block!). I celebrated 8 years of blogging (woohoo!) and worked on lots of really fun projects during the year. Some of these I've blogged about - like these felt houses, these mini felt jumper Christmas ornaments and this happy box of sunshine - and others are still under wraps as I wait for them to be published. I got to spill the beans about some earlier projects though, like the Halloween designs I contributed to Felt-o-ween (such a cute book) and the retro cassette phone case I stitched for Mollie Makes (I still pinch myself sometimes that something I made was the featured project on the cover of a magazine).

And as if all that wasn't enough for one year, I am also now an aunt! Yay!

My chosen photo for the year?

This one, taken at the end of a long, hot shift planting poppies at the Tower of London for the Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red installation.

The poppy installation was such an amazing thing to be part of.

I have to admit that it's also something that just a few years ago I wouldn't have been confident enough to sign up for. I would have wanted to do it, sure, but without anyone to go with me I wouldn't have had the nerve and I wouldn't have signed up and I would have regretted it. I was still a bit nervous about volunteering on my own (and it was a bit weird when almost everyone else was showing up in pairs or in big groups from their work) but it was, of course, totally fine! I chatted to people, they chatted to me, we all took part in this amazing thing together, it was all good.

So, this year's photo is me doing something awesome and a reminder to future me to not be scared and to say "yes!" to more awesomeness in the future.


P.S. I've not added the new photo into a collage/mosaic yet, but here are the photos from years 1-32 :)

32! Woohoo!

I turned 32 this week which feels a bit weird because I'd kind of forgotten that I wasn't 32 already. It's been such a busy year it feels like it can't possibly just be 12 months since I turned 31.

In the past year...

...  My new book, Super-Cute Felt Animals was published (yay!).

...  I decided to stop selling handmade things to focus on designing and writing and blogging, and since then I've worked on a whole bunch of exciting, interesting, fun and challenging freelance projects for books, magazines and websites (lots of which I am still dying to tell you guys about as soon as I'm allowed to). This has been a bit stressful at times (deadlines, aargh) and has made blogging more of a challenge as I'm often working on things I'm not allowed to share, but overall it's been hugely enjoyable and a very welcome change after years of repetetive "production-line" sewing.

...  I went on my first solo holiday ever (awesome) and my first trip abroad since my mid-teens (also awesome - remind me to actually blog about it sometime!)

... I made what may be one of my best decisions ever and started getting out of my studio for Nice Days Out, having cuppas with fellow crafters and bloggers, meeting up with old friends, and visiting parks, museums, art galleries, exhibitions, historic buildings, craft fairs, and more.

... Oh, and my sister got married! (It was lovely. I cried.)

30 was a hard year for me, it's great to look back at 31 and think "yup, that was a good one". Fingers crossed I'll be able to say the same this time next year.

I'm continuing to add to my photo-a-year collage, and have picked this (slightly-blurry-but-who-cares) photo to represent me at 31: a pre-wedding selfie.

 And here's all 32 years :)

 

Goodbye 30, Hello 31

Crikey, I can't believe it's almost been a whole year since I turned 30! (My birthday is in early June) Where does the time go, huh?

Turning 30 last year inspired me to dig out a whole bunch of photos to make a collage with one photo for each of my 30 years...

It was so much fun, I thought it'd be nice to keep on adding to it as the years go by. So I sorted through my recent photos last week, and picked a fun picture from Christmas...

... me playing board games with my sister. The game being played? Jungle Ludo! This was a much beloved game in our house when we were growing up, we even developed our own version of the rules :)

It's the perfect photo to represent this past year, I think, as this past year has been all about spending time with my family. I moved back in with my parents unexpectedly but have decided to stay for a bit to save up some money, and I've been very much enjoying stuff like kitty cuddles, home cooked meals (yum!), getting to see my sisters more often and helping my youngest sister plan her wedding.

Work-wise there have been some ups (a new book) and some downs (closing my supplies shop) this year. Mostly though I have been working fewer hours - keeping things ticking over and putting bigger plans on hold - so I could spend more time with my mum, who was diagnosed with breast cancer early last spring. If you read my blog regularly you may remember how I was a bit absent from my blog this time last year because of "family stuff" - well, this is what that was about!

We were very lucky that the cancer was caught early, but as anyone who has experienced cancer in their family will know, it's been a scary and stressful time. My mum (who is a very tough cookie) has gone through surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy and come out the other side smiling, and with as close to an "all clear" as I think it's possible to get at this point. Best birthday present ever.

Thinking about Work

I've been thinking lots of big thoughts lately about money and work and happiness... about my plans for my business (and my life!) for the next few years ... and about how I can make as much of my working life fit into the middle of this Venn diagram as possible :)

Looking Back

One of the very best things about blogging, and taking pictures of all my crafty projects is being able to look back over the months gone by and see just what I've been doing with my time!

Here's 2008 in pictures (two photos per month) .... click on it to view it larger, or follow the links to the individual photos:1. Crafting 365, day 140 - finishing some brooches and starting some others, 2. Crafting 365, day 160 - Violets, 3. Crafting 365, day 173 - pink teacups, 4. Crafting 365, day 184 - Tasty Cakes, 5. C365, day 207 - Rainclouds, 6. 365 / 212 - 320 pieces of Felt, 7. C365, day 233 - little felt rainbows, 8. C365, day 234 - Catching Up, 9. Floral Hairbands (Crafting 365 day 260), 10. Catching up: days 238-242 : a field of poppies, 11. Corsages (Crafting 365, day 269), 12. Masks (C365/275), 13. Secret Swap: sent, 14. Flower-y Hair, 15. Tiny Trees and Crafty Cakes (C365, day 326), 16. Needlework (C365, days 332-5), 17. Snowy Owl!, 18. Birds! - Crafting 365, day 365, 19. Ornithology, 20. Ribbon Heaven!, 21. British Vogue..., 22. Pompom Parcels, 23. Snowflake Curtain, 24. First Batch Finished...

2008 has had its ups and downs for me - over a month without the internet, meeting Doctor Who, totally failing at my Design A Day project (partly due to internet troubles but mostly just due to life getting in the way ... very inspiring while it lasted though and I will definitely be revisiting the suggestions in the new year!), completing my Crafting 365 project (albeit a little late), all sorts of lovely features (including my first appearance in real live magazines) making lots and lots and lots of stuff (see above!) plus all the other things that've gone on inbetween.

I am incredibly pleased with the progress of my little business and this blog during 2008. Looking back at what I was making and selling a year ago, I feel like my crafty universe has completely transformed - and taken over the house in the process, as my boyfriend would no doubt point out!

2008 has been a year of huge inspiration, so many crafty projects & schemes, and more felt than you can shake a stick at. The support of the crafting community (my lovely fellow Etsy sellers, all my lovely blog readers and Flickr friends, plus all my wonderful customers of course!) has been invaluable in giving me feedback, confidence-boosts and good advice. Basically you make it possible for me to carry on doing this and I love you all.

I will stop gushing now, but basically: hurrah for 2008, and here's to a super-crafty 2009!

Happy Christmas!

I hope you all have a lovely day, whether you're doing Christmassy things or not...
We're particularly looking forward to the Christmas episode of Doctor Who - my sisters have even made a Doctor Who themed cake this year, with marzipan Daleks! My mum kindly sent a photo:
How awesome is that?

A Christmas Corner

I have to admit that I'm getting quite excited about Christmas this year, and am loving all the cheerful touches round our house... even the messy piles of giftwrap and ribbon have been making me smile! Tragic, huh?

Of course it's so dark these days that taking pictures of any of this is almost impossible, but I have done my best to take some snaps of our Christmas tree as I think the Christmas corner of our lounge is looking rather nice at the moment:The presents are all standing on the top of our electric piano - pushed back against the wall to make room for the tree, and draped in a lovely vintage bedspread for a bit of colour - and the tree itself is on a table that I've covered in a big bit of mustard yellow brocade from my fabric stash (plus some strings of silver stars for a bit of sparkle). Here's what it looks like on cosy evenings:Our tree is rather minimalist, just a few sparkly bits plus those lovely bird ornaments I bought the other day... Next year I hope to be a bit more organised and have a crazy all-felt Christmas tree, with felt garlands and felt baubles and felt squirrel ornaments and all sorts of felt festivity, but this year we're keeping things super-simple ... though I might make a gold star for the top!

Juvenalia

I went to visit my parents today so haven't had time for a proper blog post, but just wanted to share this quick snap of an early bit of my applique work proudly displayed in my parents' living room....
... a cushion-cover I made for a GCSE Textiles project when I was about 15 :)

Also, I am quite excited about THIS. I've never been a guest blogger before...

Pom Tiddly Om Pom Pom

Today I made some pompoms! So much fun, and dangerously addictive... I especially love the really fat ones and that lovely soft green. I have a secret plan for these but I could happily sit and make hundreds of them whether I needed them or not! My mother's cat Ollie wanted to help play with the yarn, but he had to make do with helping me with my blogging instead: