{paper cut lyrics}

Who's that over there, taking photos of the rubbish bin? Why, that's me, of course...

Through real-life eyes, I loved how the wood around some of the letters had chipped off, making the text look like a paper cut. Once I ran the photo through a grueling marathon of Camera+ effects, I loved how the letters seemed to glow, like Elvish letters thrown into the fire. One bin to rule them all... 

Anyway, it reminded me of a post over at The Fable of the Table a few weeks ago, showing how you can make your own virtual designer paper cuts, courtesy of Victorinox. 

I ran a couple of favourite song lyrics through their very fast paper-cut-erizer, and loved the results. Totally inspired to whip out a knife and start slicing up some paper. Well, that, or whip out Photoshop and use these to make some prints, minus the Christmas trees and company logo.

(Lyrics by Mumford & Sons, and Paolo Nutini)

Pop on over and have a go -- I'd love to see what you make with it!

{hello world, it's me, tilly}

Tilly's gone global. Find her sharing tips and tricks from her "Say Cheese" birthday party today over at the brilliant Ohdeedoh (the children's section of Apartment Therapy).

Or, if you've had enough cheddar, cameras and birthday party pics to last you a lifetime, why not check out these other inspired ideas:

• London-in-a-bag wooden block set
• The best apps for traveling with kids (please, remind me of this in a month, as we fly across the world with a wriggly jiggly fourteen-month-old)
• Cloudy day blackout shades
• Build your own bicycle sidecar (with two seats -- one for Tilly, one for Bella!)

{a new lens on the world}

Yesterday, our new camera arrived. Tilly and I were so excited, tracking it every hour, and we vowed not to leave the house until it came, for fear of missing the UPS man. We waited and waited and waited, afraid even to go in the back garden, in case we didn't hear the knock. We weeded the front garden, though, and read every single book we own at least twice. And went a little crazy.

And then, at 4.45pm, when we'd just about given up hope, our little D90 came. We raced to get it charged and formatted and all put together, and then hurried out for a walk before the sun disappeared (we needn't have rushed -- around here, it gets dark at about 9pm these days!)

How velvety Bella's ears look now!

What fun to experiment with depth of field and blur.

It seems even heavy-duty machinery and tarmac look soft through a 50mm lens!

We are thoroughly enjoying learning how to work the camera, and have thankfully passed through the initial stage of not being able to get anything in focus! Now, to see what all these little buttons do...

{inspiration: photo booth}

Loving this idea of props on sticks from Oh Happy Day (they even have free printables over there for you to make your own). And what's cuter than adults and tiny fluffy dogs all dressed up? Why, babies all dressed up, of course! 

Yes, I'm thinking about having a few props on hand for Tilly's birthday party, for a few laughs. And, for any older children, it might be fun to have some plain white outlines (of bows, for example), so they can colour their own.

P.S. The party dress for Tilly, which is supposed to be worn to a wedding this weekend is no, not made yet, but yes, looking possible. A bit of topstitching here, a join in elastic there, and we'll be made. Fingers crossed that it fits!

My Life in Red: Week Two, Around Town

Rather than painting the town red, this week has been more about finding the red that is already out there. 

Reds on wheels, reds on signs, reds on curbs and in fridges.

Plastic reds, metal reds, painted onto concrete reds.

Reds in the rubbish, reds in the car, reds to eat and to drink. It really is a completely red world out there.

Two weeks of red hunting seems like enough for now, though i'm not ruling out picking the project up again later in the year. To see the whole group of photos, check out My Life in Red on Flickr.

365 Photographs Later...

Last year, on Valentine's Day, it started -- the take-your-camera-everywhere, late-night scramble-for-a-photo madness of 365 days in photos. And here we are today, many batteries later, my Samsung and I, old friends. We both have our moments -- sometimes he switches to video mode without telling me, sometimes I drop him out of my back pocket into the road-- but we're both still functional, for the most part.

So, here it is, my year in photographs, along with a few things I've learnt along the way.

Discovery: The flash is not my friend. It's been turned off since June. If the light's bad enough that I need a flash, there's no point taking the picture.

Tip: Never take a photo of yourself in a green mud mask and expect people to say flattering things.

Discovery: Taking photos at work seemed boring and desperate at the time, but now those shots are some of the most telling in looking at how my life has changed.

Tip: Photos of fried food will never look tasty, no matter how good the food was.

Tip: When inspiration runs thin, taking photos of the same old things, but from above, can hold you over until the 365 excitement returns.

Discovery: Looking back at the photos, it's always the close-ups that grab my attention, but it's nice to have a few larger-scope photos to help capture the atmosphere of the month.

Discovery: Taking a photo-a-day in those first few months of having Tilly often made me feel like I'd actually accomplished something that day, and worked wonders towards me feeling like a functional human again!

Discovery: Though I haven't beaten my slight fear of public photography, I have gotten much much quicker at whipping out the camera and taking the shot before anyone notices.

Tip: Sometimes it's the mistakes that make the most memorable photos. A blurred leg here, and sneeze-on-camera there, it all helps to recall the real feeling of the year.

Discovery: Who'd have thought photos of feet were so interesting (to me, at least) and addictive?

Tip: As well as all of the regular baby milestones, we've really enjoyed taking Tilly's photo at each of our favourite restaurants and cafes -- her first plate of IKEA meatballs is a big step in this family!

Tip: A very easy home-studio for staging shots can be made from two white sheets of poster board, propped together at a right-angle. The white board reflects light onto your subject, and gives you a blank background.

Discovery: There are several lists of weekly themes out there on the Web for 365ers needing inspiration. When challenged with the theme of 'macro' shots, some new perspectives were found.

Discovery: As with many things, taking photos begets more photo taking. So while at the start, one photo a day was often a challenge, now it's become natural to take a picture of anything of interest.

And what happens at the end, you might wonder? Do I put my camera on a shelf, and breathe a sigh of relief? Put the lens cover on and give my trusty Samsung a rest?

Not on your life! Call me ambitious, but I'd like to commit, right now, to taking a photo-a-day every day for the rest of my life. Off we go again, The Year of the Rabbit in photos...

My Life in Red: Week One, At Home

This has been a week of cuddling up, keeping warm, and generally trying to go outside as little as possible. Hence, a week of finding and photographing everything red around the house. We've had on red jumpers, eaten red foods, and welcoming Rosy the red Chinese Rabbit into our home for the New Year.

So far, there's been very little practicing of the dreaded public photography, but this week, I'll be venturing further afield, with my trusty companion RedRed Junior, in search of reds out in the big wide world!

My Life in Red: Day Four

Photos by RedRedCompletelyRed

Bits of red rubber from a ball dessimated by Bella; my books, newly arranged by colour; a fresh frosting of snow on a neighbour's car; and Tilly, ready for her lunch.

My Life in Red: Days Two and Three

Photos by RedRedCompletelyRed

My Life in Red: Day One

Photos by RedRedCompletelyRed

A Camera Family

Today was Tilly's first proper bath in her bathtub, not just a wipe down with a wash cloth. And, much to my surprise, she loved it straight away. Perhaps it was the lovely warm water, or the little hammock that fits into the tub, or the fact that she was the centre of two people's attention... she just lay back and enjoyed looking out of the window.

And what I realised today, as I scrambled to find my camera, is that photos have come to be the biggest symbol of family for me. As the little battery symbol flashed "low" and I hurriedly dried my hands enough to use the camera, my heart was literally racing... what if I couldn't capture this moment on film? What if I couldn't send it to my family and share the joy of the moment with them? What if , when Tilly turns twenty-five and asks to see photos of her first bath, I have nothing to show her? Luckily, the battery held out just long enough, but it got me thinking about cameras and what they mean to me.

Ever since we started our 365 photo-a-day project back in February, I've felt so much more connected to my family. We remember to share things... the big things (goodness only knows how many people were waiting for the first photo of Tilly!), but also the little every day things: my Mum walking the dog, my Dad en route on a business trip, my brother making lasagne, my aunt's new table cloth. And I'm so grateful for that. You'd think that a family spread so widely around the globe --England, Texas, China-- would undoubtedly lose touch a little. But I really feel that the distance has inspired us to find ways to be connected, in a way that we probably wouldn't have been if we'd lived closer.

You should have seen us when my parents and sister were here visiting a few weeks ago... there must have been ten different cameras lying around between the phones, the digitals, and Alice's Polaroid and antique film camera! And on the last day, as they were leaving, the car suddenly stopped, and all three Duffies jumped out, cameras in their hands, and each of them took several photos of Justin, Tilly and me in the doorway...

... and it made us feel loved. And if I hadn't had a Tilly to hold, I'd have been taking a photo of them driving off!

We take photos of times and people and places we want to remember, and I want Tilly to be able to look back all the way to her first day of life and say, "People love me. People have always loved me. People have wanted to remember how I look every day of my life."

So, I'll be stocking up on batteries, and making sure there's a camera on hand for every moment.

All We Are Wondering

Another weekend has almost passed

and all we are wondering

is whether Father's Day will be the day

that Justin becomes a father.

-----

P.S.

In Texas, there are trees

eight or nine feet tall

that look like enormous flowers.

Everywhere.

It's beautiful.

Rainbow Belly

You know when you're standing in line for something. Let's say, you're at the swimming pool, in line to jump off the 50 foot diving board. There's six people in front of you, and you feel good: you're talking to the person next to you, laughing, and feeling the sun on your back. It smells like chlorine and melting ice lollies. Someone jumps. You all shuffle forwards. More people jump, you keep shuffling, and then suddenly, the person in front of you is climbing onto the diving board. Your heart sinks. You haven't been paying enough attention: how did the other people do it? Did they swan-dive, or cannonball? Did they make big splashes? Did their swimming costumes fall off? Did they make it back to the surface safely, and swim to the edge, and have happy lives ever afterwards?

It's suddenly hit me that I'm next in line to jump at the baby pool. I'm the "pregnantest" person I know. How did that happen? When did I switch from the person asking all the questions to the one telling my friends how cold milk helps reduce heart-burn, or recommending baby books?

Anyway, here is a little rainbow of belly shots from the last few weeks!

There's nothing like a bright T-shirt to make a cumbersome belly a little bit more bearable, I'm finding!

Treading Softly

Perhaps it's all of the gorgeous Polaroids I've been seeing lately, but something in me is leaning towards softness and light in my photos this week, rather than contrast and shadows.

It's sinking in, I suppose, that not everything needs to be bold and bright to be noticed or beautiful. That's something I've always struggled with a bit, being rather quiet and soft-spoken by nature, and it feels really lovely to capture some quiet moments on camera.

The Fun of Collage

I wanted to share a little activity I did this week: a personal collage. The idea was to find images and quotes in magazines that reflect who you are, and put them all together. Pretty straightforward, or so I thought!

It turned out, the things that spoke to me in the magazines weren't so much the pictures, but the colours. It wasn't until I was cutting around a photo of a woman doing yoga on the beach to get a good chunk of the lovely striped beach towel next to her that I realised perhaps this was a bit strange! Didn't I want to see myself in the woman: calm, active, in a beautiful place? No, not really. What about the couple on another page, having champagne on the patio, who I cut around to get to their green bushes, didn't I want to see myself there? Again, not particularly.

What seemed important, instead, was trying to get reflect who I am at normal times. There weren't any photos in the magazines of women eating grapes in their pajamas in front of a movie. There weren't any photos of women hauling a kitchen chair out into the garden to sit and write outside. And so, instead, I tried to capture the colours that I want to define me: sunny colours, bright colours, for the moments of creativity; calm colours for the restfulness.

Anyway, what hadn't seemed to me to be such an inspiring project when I began became something which really made me think. I wonder what photos you could find that you see yourself reflected in?

Weekend Away

What a fun weekend! We took a little mini-trip up to Dallas, and had the best time relaxing in the sun, playing a little golf, and eating the most amazing barbeque creations.

Greg and Justin have been friends for almost fifteen years, and still get on so well. And as an added bonus, Greg and his wife, Cari, have just found out they're pregnant, too! Their favourite name for a girl is Lilly... how sweet! We're sure Lilly and Tilly will be great friends!

Justin really enjoyed getting to hit some balls again, and as he'd only brought cowboy boots with him, I agreed to putt for him whenever we got onto the green. (Golfers are very strict about no heels on the green). I got very very lucky on my first putt, and got the ball in from about fifteen feet away... and was so excited I jumped up and down! Unfortunately, golfers don't like that, either...

Luckily, the ranch was so beautiful, I kept myself occupied taking photos!

And, just because I rarely get Justin to take photos of my belly, here's a silly shot we took on the drive up to Dallas. (We're pretending to visit Loreal and Stephen, who live in Athens, Georgia. Athens, Texas is rather a lot smaller!)

Hope you all had a great weekend, too! I'll hopefully have lots of crafty stuff to show you this week, as the College is on Spring Break right now, and I've got plenty of free time to create!

Feet

Yesterday, this season's Unravelling class started, and it is just the most inspiring thing.

I'm so lucky to be able to participate: my enrollment was a very special gift from my Mum-- a sort of 'pre-pregnancy' gift, while I still have some time on my hands!

I'm becoming a camera-holic, and yes, the crazy person who is standing in the middle of a parking lot taking photos of the ground!

Oh, and P.S., we got the house! Thanks for all your positive thoughts... we are very excited!