No longer 30...

Remember my 12 months of being 30 series?  A year has passed since I started it and I turned 31 last week! I'm obviously getting used to being in my 30s, as I didn't feel the need to talk about my birthday incessantly this time. I had a great day but definitely more low key than last year's. I wonder if this is what being mature is like?

I didn't manage to write 12 posts for the series, but I guess that's also a sign of what this year was like for me. Busy and full of new challenges. I started a new job that has proven interesting but challenging, I got a flat in my home town in Spain, I attended three Blog Camps and met blog campers that soon turned into friends. I did more creative things that I can even remember doing, including art journaling, jewlery making, collaging, and sewing, and I enjoyed writing and taking photos.

And of course I got engaged and started organizing a wedding! 

It has been a wonderful year in many respects but it has also been difficult at times, and very, very tiring. I had to take a blog break because it was all becoming too much, but I'm slowly getting back and things seem to be slowing down in most fronts. At the moment, I'm trying to prepare myself for the madness that is surely about to start in the wedding front.

But in the meantime, I'm dreaming of beautiful and long summer days filled with books, photographs, flowers and walks in the beach. And plenty of time to think, to see, to love.

1. Print laundry I, 2. Larkspur Blues, 3. mini books, 4. Untitled, 5. ., 6. pale tulips, 7. Pretty days, 8. Untitled, 9. A la orilla del mar, 10. Colors, 11. rainy Tuesday (7), 12. *, 13. Love is in the air, 14. Always in my dreams, 15. Weekend is for rest, 16. Semana 3. Palabras/ Week 3. Words

A (new) meaningful year

Do you remember back in January when I told you I intended for  2010 to be a meaningful year? Well, it hasn't really been working out.

My purpose this year was to find time to get to know myself and what I want. I wanted to make time saying no to some projects so I could concentrate on the ones that are really important to me. I needed to make time to spend with those I love. I needed to stop doing too much and do more of the things that really matter. Instead, the first three months of the year have gone in a blur of wedding planning madness and crazy work hours.

I always see the beginning of Spring as a new start though, and this year, Spring also gives me a second chance to make 2010 meaningful.  I'm concentrating on writing and journaling and on taking photographs that tell a story. I'm loving Susannah's series on How to fall in love with yourself and I'm following her advice. I'm going to take this course, The Handmade Writer,  to get me back into journaling and writing. Because writing is the one thing I always come back to, what I've always wanted to do, what I've always imagined myself doing. So I think it should be a big part of my new meaningful year. 

New projects

Even though one of my New Year's Resolution was to do less, I found myself participating in two new projects at the beginning of the year. And I'm so glad I didn't say No to any of them!

Since the beginning of the year, I've been taking a photo a day for our Blog Camp 365 group on Flickr. Yes, I've found it difficult at times, yes I'm a bit behind adding them to the Flickr pool, and yes, this stressses me out sometimes. But it's all worth it because of everything that I've already learnt so far about photography and about Flickr. Seeing the photos that the others in the group take and choose to post is very inspirational, but it's the comments that are making this project so fun for me. From the beginning, we said that we all wanted constructive criticism as that's the best way to learn, and I'm loving everyone's suggestions on how to improve my photography.
You can see above some of my photos for January. Not all of them are there, as I've been playing with my new Diana + camera too and I need to develop and post those. Stay tuned!

The second project is a journaling project, Sojournal, a collaboration with three amazing ladies: Stacey. Julie and Polly. I truly love these ladies and I'm constantly amazed by their creativity. It all started with Stacey's idea that Writing is the new praying. We have each started a journal and are going to be sending them into the world soon. Initially we'll send them to each other and later, we're planning on including more people who want to be part of the project and start their own journal. The project is still evolving, we have lots of ideas to take it forward and I'm really excited about what we can do. I've posted some of my incomplete pages above (I need to add my own words) but will be posting the complete ones over at the Sojournal blog. Do come and visit!

It just shows that, sometimes, you should just say Yes... even if you struggle for time!

Seeing blue

Did I tell you I started a photography club at work? A friend of mine got a camera (not a Nikon, sadly...) almost at the same time as me. We were both excited, carrying our cameras everywhere and taking photos of everything. We got talking about how we sometimes felt too shy to stop and take a photo in the middle of the street, specially when you have to get on your knees, or you're seemingly taking a photo of something irrelevant on the road and people wonder what you are doing...

So we got a group of friends together and now we choose a topic and go out once a month during our lunchtime to take photos around Oxford. Last month we took photos of blue things and next week we're expanding the theme to take photos of blocks of colour. We're going to submit the best ones to the Tate Liverpool Colour chart group in Flickr.

These are some of the ones I took last month. It's amazing what you see when you start looking, there was blue everywhere!

Randomness and links

Hello people! I'm still here, even tough I haven't been posting much, and not only because I've been feeling shy! Work is absolutely crazy, and there are other things going on in my life at the moment that I'll have to tell you about (good things that are making me feel all grown up!). I don't have the energy right now, but I'll soon be back with some planned posts about my awesomeness (because you know I AM awesome), my diary wreckage and, most important of all, my first dressmaking project. In the meantime, I'll leave you with a random list of random links.

Do you want to see some dreamy photos? Go to the Daydreaming images in the Rebecca Miller's portfolio. How would you represent daydreaming?

***

I'm still obsessed with yellow and I've found a couple of cool things in the blogospehre lately:

A yellow room from This is glamorous. Have you noticed the little office? Want.It.

And this lovely dress from my new favourite shop, Ruche. Go to their blog for more.

***

I'm sure you know Kerri Smith, the author of Wreck this journal. She posted this on her blog a while ago and I really want to remember. I always resist when I'm doing something outside my comfort zone, but, of course, those things I do turn up to be great most of the time and make for fantastic memories.

***

Have you seen this brilliant project about little people in the streets of London? It reminds me of a cartoon I used to watch when I was a kid, The littles. Do you remember it? More on the little people blog.

***

This is a lovely modern love moment that I saw in Le Love sometime ago. I just think it's perfect!

My mobile phone quit as I tried to let my wife know that I was caught up in traffic and would be late for our anniversary dinner. I wrote a message on my laptop asking other motorists to call her, printed it on a portable ink jet and taped it to my rear windshield. When I finally arrived home, my wife gave me a the longest kiss ever. "I really think you love me" she said, "at least 70 people called me and told me so.

***

I found this poster in Naturally Nina. What can I say? My thoughts exactly.

***

I'm loving the Disposable Memory project. Disposable cameras are released into the world for people to take some photos, pass them on, and finally send them back to the organizers. When we were in South America last year, my boyfriend and I used to have disposable cameras competitions from time to time. See the results here and here. And this is me, in Cuenca, Ecuador, snapping the winning photo in our second competition!

Small details

We're back from the lovely Cotswolds town of Woodstock, not to be confused with Californian Woodstock, this one is not as hippy. We've spent a relaxing two days celebrating the boyfriend's birthday. He's turning 29 so of course, doesn't get my whole "I"m turning 30" crisis. He's still in his twenties after all. And, yes, my own birthday is in a week and a half, so we're both Geminis, plenty of drama and multiple personalities in this relationship!

While there, we had plenty of fun with our new camera, which we are carrying EVERYWHERE with us at the moment. Last week, in an attempt to overcome the frustrated state I was in, I gathered some friends from work who are also interested in photography. We're going to choose a topic every month and go on a lunch expedition taking photos. This month, the topic is small details and, while on Woodstock, we were trying to focus on these small details too. These are some of my favourite:

My new favourite shoes. They are yellow! This is my new profile photo, have you noticed?

Corner view: The Great Outdoors, Oxford, UK

I'm taking part in Spain Daily's Corners View. Every week, a topic is chosen and we all use photos to show what that's like in our corner of the world. This week's topic is The Great Outdoors.

I've been a bit lazy lately about taking photos and hopefully this will get me back into it. These photographs, however, are from a couple of months ago, when I took a walk with J and his family in a small forrest near their house. I took lots of photos that day, and looking at them, I love how light and colour changed throughout our walk.

You'll find views of other corners of the world here:
jane, ladybug-zen, ian, bonnie, esti, sophie, cele, modsquad,caitlin, joyce, ani, couturecoucou, kim, a day that is dessert, natsumi, epe, kaylovesvintage, trinsch, c.t.,jeannette, outi, schanett, ritva, dongdong, francesca, state of bliss, jennifer, dana, denise, cabrizette, bohemia girl, ruth, dianna, isabelle, amber, a girl in the yellow shoes, mister e, janis, kari, jgy, jenna, skymring, elizabeth, audrey, allison, lise, cate, mon, victoria, crescent moon, erin, otli, amy, ida, caroline, lisa, dorte, kimmie, la lune dans le ciel, nicola, malo, vanessa, britta, virgina, april, rebecca, b

Earth Mosaic

Have you heard of this photo project? Earth Mosaic wants to "record a day in the life of our planet, in pictures". If you want to take part, you need to take a photo wherever you are on Wednesday, 22nd. You then upload it on the website, and they'll create a mosaic of the Earth, trying to place the photos as close to the location in the map as possible . There is also a Flickr group where people have started uploading photos of their corners of the world (although only photos taken on the 22nd would make it to the mosaic).

I'm trying to decide what part of Oxford I want to show. I could take photos of one of the colleges, the students going to classes, people cycling... but that's the Oxford everyone knows. I love some of the small streets at the back of the colleges, or the parks around the city, the meadow behind my office, the boats at the side.
There are also some interesting neighborhoods, far from the University buildings. Cowley is the multicultural Oxford, Jericho has some hidden coffee shops and pubs, and there is a shark in the roof of one of the houses in Headington!


Photo from here. Even though I lived round the corner from the shark for over a year, I somehow never got round to take a photo of it!

Where would you be taking photos from?

This week...

I have been thinking about spring! Yes! It's on its way!
He estado pensando en la primavera, que ya llega.


I have been spending lots of time (but not enough) practising my belly dancing routine. I'm performing (in a group) for my very first time next Friday! I'm nervous but, at the same time really looking forward to it!
He estado ensayando para mi primera actuación como parte de mi clase de baile de danza del vientre. Estoy nerviosa, pero al mismo tiempo, me apetece mucho.



I have finally finished reading The catcher in the rye.
Por fin me he terminado El guardián entre el centeno.

Prints, Patterns and Patina - a workshop with Martin Bergström

I have booked myself a place in this workshop at the Fashion and Textile Museum in London.
He reservado un lugar para esta clase.

I'm still unravelling myself. I wasn't very inspired by my camera this week, though. But this post has made me want to take my camera out again.
Todavía estoy haciendo el curso de Unravelling. No me he sentido muy inspirada por mi cámara esta semana, pero este post me hace querer usarla de nuevo.

Photos by B, The book cover archive, Mikael Schulz (via Fashion and Textile Museum website)

Using photography to connect people

Recientemente, me he encontrado con varios proyectos de fotografía en los que se anima al fotógrafo a hacer fotos de desconocidos. Lo más interesante es que además deben charlar con ellos y descurbrir algo sobre ellos. En The thought project (El proyecto del pensamiento), Simon Hoegsberg hizo fotografías de 150 personas en la calle y les preguntó qué estaban pensando justo antes de que les parara. Podéis ver las fotos y los pensamientos (en inglés o alemán) aquí.Por otro lado, 100 strangers (100 desconocidos) es un grupo de flickr que anima a sus miembros a hacer fotos de desconocidos y a charlar con ellos para descubrir algo sobre sus modelos. Podéis ver algunas fotos aquí.


I recently came across two photography projects that encourages photographers to take photos of strangers. The interesting thing is that they also must find out something about them. In The thought project, Simon Hoegsberg photographed 150 people in the street and asked what they were thinking when he stopped them. You can see the photos and the thoughts here.

100 strangers is a flickr group that encourages members to take photos of people in the street, talk to the subject and find out something about them. You can see some of them here.

Polaroid is back!

Esto me encanta. ¡Van a empezar a producir los carretes de Polaroid de nuevo! Las fotos Polaroid tienen un halo romántico, de ensueño, y por eso, me parece muy apropiado que el nuevo dueño de la fábrica, Florian Kaps, haya decidido volver a fabricar los carretes por una razón muy romántica. Como él mismo dice "es una lucha contra la idea de que todo aquello que no produce beneficios, tiene que desaparecer." Sin duda, una manera de pensar diferente a la mayoría en este mundo nuestro en el que todo se rige por el dinero. Podéis leer la noticia (en inglés) aquí. También han creado una galería en la red en la que los usuarios pueden descargar sus Polaroids, se llama Polanoid. Las que más me gustan las podéis ver arriba.

I'm loving this. Polaroid is back! There is something dreamy and romantic about Polaroid photos, so it's only appropriate that the new owner of the Polaroid factory, Florian Kaps, has decided to start producing the film again for a very romantic reason. As he says, "It's a fight against the idea that everything has to die when it doesn't create turnover," A refreshing idea in a world dominated by money, isn't it? Read the news here. Kaps has also created an online gallery for Polaroids, Polanoid. Above, you can see some of my favourites from the photos that users have added so far.

Photo competitions

My boyfriend and I do this sometimes. We get two disposable cameras and choose a location. Snap, snap, snap. We discover new things and get closer to details. We think before we push the button because we only have one chance to capture what we see. The result is always a surprise and inevitably appears different from what we remember seeing as we took the photo, sometimes better and sometimes worse.
See photos from our last competition in our travel blog, www.oursouthamerica.wordpress.com.

Tim Walker

Desafortunadamente, me voy a perder la exposición sobre Tim Walker que está mostrando el Design Museum de Londres. Pero, siempre puedo ver sus magníficas fotos (siempre un poco locas).

Unfortunately, I am going to miss the Tim Walker exhibition at the London Design Museum. The good news is that I can always enjoy his great photos (always a bit crazy).