Sunday Catch-up ~Moving Week

Awww man, I'm really not in the mood to be typing a catch up today, i think I need a laptop so I can play at the other house rather than having to type everything while I'm at Dads & so easily distracted. I was really busy today too so pretty tired! I also realise i've already missed at least one feature I would usually include in the blog around this time of the month which is pretty annoying, so I'm not sure if just to go on a little break until I have internet in the new house. What do you think?

My week started with the hype over the blood moon, but having not long got back off holiday I was getting tired pretty early and didn't manage to stay up past 1 :x However luckily I woke up about 4.30 randomly so I got this photo in my sleepy state then went back to bed!
Sadly the following day my degu Dash passed away, poor little thing. Understandably I was pretty upset.

Face had a couple of days off after that and hired a van so we could move our heaviest stuff to the new house. It was hard work! I mean, obviously, but I think actually harder was trying to pack stuff, I gave up in the end on trying to sort and just packed everything :x

A few days later I went to help Dad clean out the degu cage and we ended up spending far more time outside playing with fire than planned...or even intended XD It was fun though. Sometimes you just have to enjoy the moment. Or maybe that's my procrastination talking.

Today I went to a camera fair in Wolverhampton and spent far, far too much. Even though I had intended to under the excuse reason of 'home decor' ;p After we left we decided to try out our new purchases and the lovely weather with an explore around West Park.
Well, that was some of my week, how was yours?



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Project Wednesday ~Camera Collection Pt. 2

For today's Project Wednesday, I thought I'd show you some more of a smaller, slower project I have going on- my camera collection x3
As I've said before, cameras have been a pretty prominent part of my life for about 15ish years now. Although I love my day to day camera, hence it being in the title banner up there, I also love all kinds of photography and old film cameras hold a particular interest x3 Here are 5 more from my collection:

This little Voigtlander camera I picked up at a camera fair I went to in Wolverhampton. It turned out I really didn't bring enough money to this event as there were so many little cameras waiting to be taken home and used by me x3 I ended up getting away with only two cameras...or maybe three :x This was my first buy, it's so heavy and feels sturdy because of it. I haven't tried running a film through it yet, though it's probably the next one I'll have a go with.

This Minolta was bought for me by Face as it was selling cheap x3 It's quite an advanced camera probably from the 80s/90s. These sorts of cameras were clever and expensive for it in their time, but now sell for barely anything and yet they still take really nice, clear shots. Though I'm only judging on other cameras I have that are similar as I've also yet to run a film through this one too. Soon.

Now we're getting onto a couple of the more unusual cameras I have. This is the Olympus Pen and online it still has quite a fanclub! It's a 'half-frame' camera, so it takes two shots on what would usually only be one picture, creating diptychs. Diptychs are pretty effective with photos as you can use them to tell a story, show one thing in two lights or contrast the image with something else. I loved trying this, but with 72 shots per roll of standard film I certainly took some time using it. And I kept forgetting whether I was on shot one or two of the set :x Luckily the film I'd taken turned out pretty well.

This is my Konstruktor, a camera that comes in kit form for you to build! I got this for christmas a couple of years ago and I've run a couple of films through it in that time. It didn't take too long to build and Face and I spent a good lazy afternoon putting it together. It takes pretty nice photos too, with a grainy feel to them which I really love. This camera even went to Japan with me, though I didn't take nearly as many shots with it as I should've :x

Lastly for now is one I'm sure you've seen if you've ever been near the crafting part of the internet- it's a Fujifilm Instax Mini 8. I got quite enamoured with it after seeing various shots around the net and couldn't resist getting one as a holiday camera before I went to Japan, which turned out to be a really good decision as they have some great prices on film over there! I used the camera all through the holiday to get journal snaps and still enjoy taking it on daytrips now. The photos can be a little hit-and-miss but generally faults are at the users end if there is any- it's so easy to forget to put it on the right light setting before you take the shot :x People tell me over time the shots can fade out but I've not had any issues with that yet, it's just a great little camera which is a lot of fun too x3
Do you have any old cameras? Would you even bother with film in this day and age? ;p



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July Photo-a-Day ~Week One

I realise that my photo a day for July was supposed to be updated on Saturdays, but I didn't predict how busy I was going to be this Saturday! So far I'm 11½ hours into a 16 hour shift, but thought I would type on my break :]
So, let's jump straight in, shall we?

A Statue of a Dog or Horse
This one was taken while over at Wolverhampton racecourse checking out a camera show :3 You'd think the photo for this day would be 'camera' right? But no, it goes to this statue of a horse I found while there and I thought it seemed like a good chance to tick this one off the list as you don't come by statues of horses or dogs very often, right?

A Pond with a Fountain
Another thing I don't see very often, so took the opportunity while in The Quarry, Shrewsbury. The Quarry is a beautiful spot and we sat and admired it's wonderful landscaping and gardens, this pond and it's surrounds reminded me of some of the Japanese gardens me and Face found while over there x3

Transport
Some of these prompts I already had an idea for when I started the challenge, but I didn't see this for this one XD While out and about in Wales, Dad and I stopped at a aqueduct next to a viaduct and while we were walking next to the canal a train came over, he even blew his whistle and waved at us as he went past! I was pretty impressed!

Camera
Heeeeere it is ;p I knew it wouldn't be long before I managed to fulfill this prompt, the question was just with which camera? This camera is borrowed from a friend in Wolverhampton who also likes to collect old school analogues and I took it out while visiting Horseshoe falls in Wales. Hopefully I'll have got some good shots when I get the film processed x3

Reflection
This was taken at Ilam house (manor?) Friday, a beautiful day and perhaps a little too warm to be wandering around some old house's grounds XD Still, finding this spot was a bonus and we watched the reflections of the river under the bridge for a while in the shade before moving on again.

A Castle Turret
I'm not entirely sure on this one, if it counts or not. It's a decorative part of the gardens at Ilam manor, but it is distinctly a castle turret, isn't it? Let me know if you think I cheated on this one ;p

Free Shot
I thought I would use this week's free shot on this adorable greengrocers in Llangollen x3 I always take a photo of this place if we pass through as I just find it so...authentic? I imagine back in the day there would be a shop like this every couple of streets with displays outside to make people buy from them, but you rarely see it these days. What really topped this place off was the lovely cherries they sold! We had to get more on the way back the first lot had been so good XD
Hope you enjoyed the beginning of July's photo a day, which was your favourite shot? Are you doing the challenge with me? Let me know x3



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Sunday Catchup ~Family Time

So it's been a busy week for me! When I look back on it, it feels like so long ago I was doing stuff on Monday, yet the week also seems to have gone pretty fast.

Monday was Face's Mum's birthday and so we got up early and went up town to see what we could find that she may like. (This is always Face's way- terrible! XD) We actually did pretty well considering we went up with practically no ideas. We had a bit of a mooch before going for breakfast, but apparently food was what was required as once we set back onto our task we found a few things that were spot on, nice! Mid afternoon we headed to our workplace, as we'd arranged to have the birthday meal there! It seemed like a really weird idea to me, but Face was confident and we spent the afternoon setting up the table and chatting to co-workers. Even on days off I can't get out of this place! As everyone arrived we showed them to the table and they all seemed pretty impressed and really seemed to enjoy themselves and most importantly, Face's Mum loved it and the presents we'd found! Woop!
Tuesday the weather was still bad so I spent the day indoors playing with pages of my Smashbook, I'm so close to finishing it now! Nearly always a good way for me to find the motivation to carry on XD

By contrast, Wednesday was beautiful, the weather has finally turned which was great as it was Face's birthday! We got up quite early as he decided he wanted McDonalds for breakfast, we made it there with a minute to spare, just about :x We went up to his Mum's after and had a bit of a chat for a while before gathering the family and heading off to spend an afternoon in the arcades at Stourport-on-Severn x3 It's not a particularly big place, but it has plenty of 2p machines and that's all Face needs so if he's happy then I am! It turns out his family are pretty big 2p machine fans too so everyone enjoyed winning tat keyrings XD
Thursday the weather was getting ever better and I took advantage by sitting outside in the sun writing in my diary before I had to go to work. It was so sunny I even had to go get my shorts on as I was overheating in my black trousers! *crosses fingers for it to be similar at Download fest!*

On Friday I had the house to myself but I decided to go out an develop a film I finished on Wednesday from my Konstructor camera. While I waited for that, I nipped to pets at home for some food for the dragons and then home for a while. I'd worn shorts all day but it suddenly got really cold so I was pretty pleased to get into my work uniform for a change! I collected my prints too and they turned out really well, I even had a few shots from Tokyo in the mix! Really made me think I should've taken it around with me more...then I remembered how much other stuff I'd already been taking with me everyday so was pretty pleased that I at least got these shots XD
Yesterday I was by myself again and it turned out to be one of those vegetating days, not good for my productivity at all. I did spend a little more time than usual with my pets though so it wasn't a day totally wasted.

And today although it's been nice out, because of my inactivity yesterday I made myself stay inside and spend more time on my Smashbook! I was so close to finishing it too but just ran out of time before having to go to work...so that's what I'm off to do now! It'll be nice to have something completed before Download...then I suppose I'll have to get onto another travel journal XD
Have you had a busy week? Or like me, another busy week next week? I can't wait for my next two days of work to pass me by!



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Sunday Catch Up

I thought this week I had actually do a weekly catch-up, since that is supposed to be what Sundays are for around here XD I keep finding excuses to skive off and write about something else, when I've got every other day of the week for that ;p

So, last Monday I had some time to myself and set about with my Thai smashbook, I keep saying I'm really close to finishing, and I am! But the problem is I'm a massive procrastinator and keep putting it off to do other things. This works with pretty much all my crafts...applications...life. Ahem yeah. I'm pretty good at it! Anyway, I completed the page before this one then got onto this page, which I didn't get time to complete before I went to work. Tuesday was supposed to be a normal shift but I ended up doing a night shift too when a porter rang in sick, I intended to get loads of things done in the extra time I was going to be awake (during my breaks anyway ;p) and actually managed to do a couple too. Not bad for a 16 hour shift. I'll get to write a little more about that later though, as I want to make more of a post about it.
So Wednesday I ended up sleeping a lot, and when I did wake up I went out with Dad plant hunting XD There were a few spots in the front garden that needed a filling. I've not really been in the garden much since Dad came back, part of me feels like I've turned the garden over to him now but a major part of it is that I just haven't had the want as the weather is not very nice recently. I know it's 'wrong' but I really am a fair weather gardener :x

When I got to work I was pretty tired from the night before, but I got help to set up and then got to spend an hour or so watching an advert being made for our hotel! Our staff were the actors which is kind of strange, but not too unexpected when I think about it (cheaper to use staff XD) and everyone got overly embarrassed but seemed to be proud of their work once it was all over. I can't wait to watch the ad on our website when it's released! I got out of doing being in front of the camera because my I don't suit the company standards, even though they apparently value individuality as one of their core principles. If it didn't get me out of something I didn't want to do I'd probably be more annoyed about it XD

Thursday was my long awaited day off- after 8 days on I was more than ready for a day to do what I wanted x3 I'd had a ton of invites from friends of stuff to do and I ended up going over to Wolverhampton to visit a friend who works in a college over there. She also takes a photography course and runs a blog about her start up business, Lachaise Photography. She'd arranged for us to go check out the college darkroom and develop a film! We went for a wander up town first, looking for one thing but coming away with another as ever ;p
When we went up to the college I learnt about the different chemicals and the general process it requires to develop a film into black and white manually. Although I could imagine it would be a pain if this was the only way to develop a film, as someone who is so used to the digital age there is definitely something super cool about 'making pictures' x3 We didn't get time to print any onto paper, but we did check out the results of what we'd done with the help of some bright lights and a free negative reversal app xD It kind of made my appreciate the effort that goes into film developing and why it's so pricey in an age where it's not really needed anymore, even if it is mostly done by machine anyway.

Friday it was back to work, so after a couple of hours at home where I still felt like I was catching up on the sleep I missed out on on Tuesday, I went in to a fairly quiet shift. Face was busy all day though, making a wedding cake for his Mum's Wedding blessing the day after. I took a few progress pictures in case his Mum wanted them, as that's the kind of over infomation share I enjoy about big events XD He's never made a big iced cake before, so this brought a whole bunch of all new challenges, but he had big ideas and was determined to carry them off, and I think he really managed to pull it off...

So Saturday was Face's Mum and Step Dad's wedding blessing. They have been married 8 years now and with this and that going on in their lives, felt it was time! Face and I started early with last-minute preparations, even though the blessing wasn't until the late afternoon. After running here and there all morning we went round to his Mum's place and got all dressed up- trust me, it's not often you'll get me into a dress! Face's sister did my hair, and did an awesome job with it. The shame of not being very feminine-ly minded is that I don't get much chance to see my hair looking cool XD I really liked these curls!
Anyway, the blessing itself was beautiful, barely a dry eye in the house as the vows were being said, everyone feels for this lovely couple! Then we went on to spend the evening at the reception, eating, drinking and chatting to everyone. Although I'm not social I can enjoy the feeling of being around those who are and just absorb the atmosphere :]
Today has been less eventful as I just wasn't feeling it. I tried doing this and that but nothing was striking me so I ended up wasting my time before I went to work, which was crazy dead. So a little cleaning was in order and after a small productivity stint I felt better XD
So that was my week! How was yours? Did you wear your maybe-once-a-year dress? ;p
Catch you soon,



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Project Wednesday ~Camera Love

Okay, okay, so todays topic may not be strictly a 'project' as it's more of an actual hobby or collection...but I guess you could see it as an ongoing project to gain more? ;p

As you may've guessed from my banner, I'm rather keen on my camera, a Canon EOS 650D, it's about the 3rd in a line of 'main use' cameras and my first DSLR <3 It's my baby, as were the others that went before it, who now sit on my desk as part of the coolection. When I got my first job I'd already toyed with photography, but only film (yeah...I'm that old ;p) and so with my new paycheck I decided to get something I'd wanted a while, a digital camera! My first digicam was a Casio, a small handheld that went everywhere with me and actually took really nice pictures. It was also the camera I started my four year stint in photo-a-day blogging with. After about 5 years though it suddenly fritzed one day and I was left with no camera! I bought one exactly the same second hand from ebay and carried on for a while.

As I got more into it I started looking at the bigger cameras though, and although I really wanted a DSLR I couldn't afford one. I asked my parents to buy me a bridge camera for my 21st, which was also a Casio. This became my next baby and was carried about literally everywhere for the next 5 years. Seriously, this thing went shopping with me and to work most days, 'just in case'. Aha. People got used to seeing me with it! 5 years takes its toll on a bridge camera though, and it's buttons were starting to get a little unresponsive and it just wasn't focusing as it used to. But I'd saved and was ready to make one of the biggest purchases I'd ever made so far in my life! So after much deliberation I eventually chose my DSLR. This one doesn't get toted around everywhere like my other pair, it's just not got size on it's side, unless I'm on holiday. I don't always fully understand it, but part of the fun is learning and I feel that although I don't use it to it's full potential, I still have time to improve my photography xD So long as I enjoy it, right?

But DSLRs aren't where it stops, I love all cameras equally and this is where the collection comes in x3 I love finding unusual film cameras in charity shops, but I'm not at all beyond scoping them out on ebay x3 In fact that's where this little beauty came from, a Diana Mini Latitude. I thought I was going to have to pay through the nose for this limited edition camera that was on my dream list, but happened to be lucky on ebay and got a really good deal on it!

I've got about 10 different cameras now, and most of them work ;p Nearly all are 35mm film and I try to put film in them and take them out with me if I'm likely to go anywhere of interest. In fact not that long ago I picked up this rather more normal one of my cameras after it'd been sitting on a shelf for a year or so. It only took 3 more shots before the film was done, it's so weird now to take pictures and not instantly know what they are going to turn out like, but that's definitely part of the appeal! I took it to get processed (also so expensive these days ;0;) and this film must've been in the camera for near enough 4 years from my guess, and it's got some real gems on it. Being in the camera that long seems to have taken it's toll though as they've all got this rustic, grainy feel to them which just makes them all the better in my eyes x3 I can only imagine what people would've said about shots like these back when this was the only option!
Oh, this has got quite lengthy XD I'll leave it there for now, maybe another time I'll show you some of the others I have! Have you got any old cameras? Do you think they are still worth the time and money or not now digital has well and truly taken over? Let me know! (Not that'll it'll change my mind if it's negative, sorry ;p)



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Instagram Appreciation #1

I'll admit- I love instagram. I liked the idea when i first saw it on an iphone and since it came to Android I've been snapping away adding to the massive group of little square pictures with random retro filters...I know it's stupid but I can't help myself!
Here are some of my favourites from 2015 so far:




1.Built a Pinhole Camera 2.Popcorn Day at Work 3.Lunch at Momo-No-Ki
4.Decorating the House While Dad's Away 5.Bought a Diana Mini 6.Finishing a Page in my Scrapbook
7.Drawing the Astronaut from Deja Entendu 8.Bento I made for a Long Trip 9.Polaroid I got from my Aunt
My username on Instagram is Thylaylii. What's yours? I love to check out other's Instagrams x3