And to the end of January!

Here are the last of the January photos of the day.


I want to point out that in January, it was just me and a camera and I tried to see things in a new light, to notice stuff and to note some of the more day-to-day things that were happening to me. Some of the photos are more "artistic", while some just show where I was or what I was working on that day.


When we come to February, it will be different as I have been doing a BPS class throughout the month and it included a daily photo which was supposed to record our life NOW - so some routine things that we find around us. And March will of course, need to be different again... Ideas in the making.


Sunday 28th January

After the excitement of waiting for my AYTR package, it finally arrived on Friday but I only really got time on Sunday to explore the contents. I was very pleased with the calendar and this just shows the state of my desk on this evening!

Monday 29th January

A cold day. Enjoying a warm coffee in Starbucks as is my new Monday morning routine. I noticed the lovely pink of the scarf and decided that it would be nice to capture the folds, twists and weave.

Tuesday 30th January

Dortmund Westfallenparc underground station, on my way back to the main station. I just liked the lines and the colours. Got a few funny looks though while taking it!

Wednesday 31st January

Always a hectic day for me and I was trying to get some inspiration from things around me while I waited for my students to arrive. Working all day inside a factory complex does not make it easy for finding pictures (I am not sure they really want me wandering around the factory taking photos of the new vehicle design etc!). So I was bored and playing around - rather like the result although the quality of the picture is not really good enough as it was really close - and for the record, it is REALLY difficult to focus on something (a lens) that is just a few centimetres away from your eye!

Ongoing and trying to catch up!

I have all the best intentions, but it just does not seem to happen every day. But better late than never, here are a few more of January's photos...

Wednesday January 24th

Don't you just love paper? And the wonderful colours? Of course, one day just needed to be my cardstock pile!

Thursday 25th January

Waiting for Baby! Just waiting for the news of the safe arrival of the newest member of the Chance household in order to post my welcome gifts. Pink - don't you just love pink?

Friday 26th January

Spent the day in Düsseldorf (having my hair done!) and then it started snowing. Getting home was CHAOS but luckily we had Sir Ralph to our rescue and he drove us home safe and sound. I was aware that I wanted to capture the first settled snow of the year (and in effect our first winter weather of the season) but it was so hectic that I did not have a chance. We went out to dinner and when we came back, I took the plunge and risked a night shot of the remaining snow. I love that "snow light" that you get.

Saturday 27th January

Of course, by morning, the snow had completely disappeared and a wonderful "spring" day greeted us - here is the view from our kitchen window. The roofs of Recklinghausen and a different view from usual.

More photos of the day - Friday 19th to Tuesday 23rd January

So here we are again!

And here are a few more photos to share with me! (Because, let's face it, no one else is reading this are you???)

Friday 19th January

Because we play cards very often on a Friday evening. It is fun, and loud, and colourful, and usually full of sweets and chocolates! What more could one want?
Saturday 20th January

I dragged Ralph to Kempen where I have discovered quite a cool scrapbooking shop and he very generously bought me everything I wanted and more. It was a lovely day even though it was rainy and dull. An afternoon together, just being together and nothing more - nice. And then I saw the daffodils. A real sign of this early spring.
Sunday 21st January

Rain on the window pane. 'nuff said! I love the fact that the clouds are very faintly reflected in the drops and the contrast to the blue sky is great.

Monday 22nd January

Continuing my theme of my everyday life. Trains - my life is dictated by them. But they are mostly reliable, clean and comfortable. And I get to listen to my iPod and dream a bit - better than a car!

Tuesday 23rd January

Yet further signs of spring in the city. I just love these type of shots. Leaves, berries, buds, flowers... Doing this every day has made me realise that, far too often, I wander through the streets without noticing these things. Nature is really a wonderful thing and resilient to the core. In the middle of the city, there is so much beauty.

Failing at the blogging but managing the photos!

So, I am totally rubbish at blogging every week! But I have been thinking about it a lot! And I have been really successful at the photos every day. With no further ado, here are some more of my "masterpieces" (HA HA!!! - not really)

Saturday 13th January

Just because we were at the Gehler's for dinner and I caught this adorable snap of Lucy in Ralph's arms. Really, just because...
Sunday 14th January

Sunday - what a beautiful day to be out and walking about. We had our usual late breakfast in town and then I persuaded Ralph to take a "stroll" around town - talk about REAL Germans! The only thing that was different for us was that we were not wearing our Sunday best. But the sky was blue and our town looked so lovely. This is the church (St. Peter's Provest church) in the center of town and of course - a tree. Are you getting the idea yet that I love trees and sky!
Monday 15th January

Further to my previous post regarding my change in routine for a Monday morning, I am trying to focus on the unexpected sites around Essen that might otherwise go unseen. I love this statue. There is another one located at the Bergbau Museum (Mining Museum) in Bochum and I am not sure which is the original - need to check that out... Anyway, it shows the seam of a mine where men are working with their hands and rudimentary tools. Wolfgang has told me stories of these seams which were exactly the same as the statue. I have focused on the face of one of the miners - he looks so hard-working. Life must have been pretty tough back then.

Tuesday 16th January

Scenes of my everyday life. I liked the light and dark contrast in this photo and the focus of the trains (main station) and time all being reflected in this daily routine of mine.
Wednesday 17th January

On my way to DaimlerChrysler in Düsseldorf, I often notice scenes of nature tucked amongst the traffic, factory, office buildings or houses. On this day, I not only noticed the tree (yet again!) but also the fact that the birds are building. Is this normal? Seems a bit early to me but the weather has been so weird lately, I am prone to think that the birds are all confused and just think that it is spring already. If you look closely, you can see the magpie sitting in the tree, resting for a moment after working hard on his nest.
Thursday 18th January

Thursdays are always difficult for me to find interesting things to capture. I am on the road for most of the day, and do not get back home until late - long after it is dark which is not idea either. But this day, I looked around and saw this... Light and shadow... another theme of mine

Did it!!!!

I am so chuffed! I actually did the Heidi Swapp "A Year to Remember" week 2 Art Challenge on time. I have uploaded it to two message boards - very scary - and am just thrilled that I managed to get this done within the week it should have been!
We had to set ourselves a goal for the year, describe 5 reasons why we were going to do it, state our daily inspiration & give a deadline. Then we needed to create a page around this using B&W photos, a drawn (or other) target, stacked title, handwriting and to use colours and styles that were not usual for us. I did it all! And while it is really not my usual style at all - bit too "Freestyle" for me - I am very satisfied with it. I have some firsts for me here including minimal patterned paper and some stamping (which got a bit messy but hey ho!)
Photo of the day are taken for the past few days but not uploaded - will try to do that in the next day or so!

Stay with me!

Photo of the Day - 11th & 12th January

And now here are the photos of the day from Thursday 11th and Friday 12th January.

Thursday 11th January - a really horrible, wet stormy day and I was working the whole day - 9 hours of lessons - which is what I always used to do but recently one or two of the classes were missing. So it was a bit of a shock to the system for me but I ploughed my way through. I was on the lookout for photos but somehow inspiration was not there and the light was terrible in the rain! Then I looked down and saw my life-saver iPod along with the new headphones I have treated myself to and thought that this summed up my Thursday. Without the iPod, I am not sure I could get through it. Love it!

Saturday 12th January - we woke up to picturebook skies after such a stormy day yesterday and I knew immediately that this would be my picture. Over the roofs of Recklinghausen, a winter tree is silhouetted against the beautiful sky! What a lovely day.

First things first ...

I said that I had started a layout for the Ali Edwards 2007 challenge - "Can you identify a single word that sums up what you want for yourself in 2007?" - well today I collected the second photo for the layout, cropped it and finished off the page. Once again, maybe not the most exciting page ever, but I am glad to have finished it and that marks a commitment to the challenge and to my word "positive". The tags say how I want to change myself to be a more positive person, that my glass is usually half-empty and that this photo of me is the type of person I want to be all the time - happy, relaxed, comfortable, smiling.

Our Year In Pictures

Guess what? I completed a whole album today. I thought I had finished it at the weekend, but I thought of something to add and have now finished it off. All I need to do now is take pictures of each of the double spreads and then put it in an album. I have a double spread for each month with journaling covering something that was important to me in that month - the feelings I had or the main issue that was in my head at that time (or looking back). Each double spread also features the highlight photos for each month and some months were really difficult to limit to just a few! But I really think I have managed to pick just those major moments to remember. I added two extra double pages to feature Canada highlights although our Canada trip will eventually (!) have its own album. And then to finish, I added a double page with pockets to hold some of the key memorabilia from the year. Maybe those bits and pieces that will not make it onto a layout on its own but needs to be kept all the same - such as Elton John concert ticket or the calendars that Cam and Maddie made for us last Christmas!

I have to admit to being really proud of it and while it may have not been the most creative thing I have done so far, I think it is really nice. Of course, using BasicGrey Urban Couture range of papers helped! Aren't they just wonderful!

But it really got me thinking about how our year was. I had thought that 2006 was not so special, that nothing spectacular happened (apart from our holiday of course) but now that I see all the photos laid out and featured along with journaling, it shows me that 2006 was a GOOD year! Not the best ever maybe, but filled with love and happy memories. Nothing sad happened that year and for that I am grateful. Life is good.

And just to give you a sneak preview! Other photos of layouts will be done later on...

Photo of the Day - 10th January

Wednesday 10th January

I love my bedroom. It is minimal, peaceful and quiet. Ralph bought be a bunch of cotton for our 2nd wedding anniversary and I have it in a glass vase in the corner of the room. I love seeing it sitting there. Guess that there is something about that reminds me of our anniversary (which of course is lovely), but also (and don't laugh!), Gone With The Wind!

I look at this cotton every day, but taking a photo every day is making me look around and see things in a different way - things that I take for granted. I have taken several photos just of things in the flat that I might come back to from time to time but for now, I think I will just enjoy the cotton!

Photo of the Day - 9th January

And here is today's winner -

Tuesday 9th January

I finished work this evening at 5.30 and noticed that it was not quite dark yet. The days really are noticeably longer now, less than a month after Winter Solstice - amazing. The sky was very dramatic and I wanted to capture it. In the process, I took this one and was knocked out by all the different colours from different light sources. The quality of the photo may not be perfect, due to taking it on long exposure in such dark conditions but I love it and think it has come out quite well!