I am also concious that I don’t want this blog to just be about the 30 Day, so I’m gonna pepper it with a few little delights.

I say delights, because what I have to share has delighted me over the month of June.

If you use Google Reader, you’ll know that you can ‘star’ posts to view later and save to your favorites, and my starred list is growing bigger by the day.  I thought I’d share with my favorite reader round up for the month of June (which may have some older items, or perhaps a few July ones) but you’ll forgive me for that won’t ya!?

All pictures are owned by the respective blogger and all links will take you to the blog in question.

Enjoy finding new blogs and let me know if you have liked this post, I think I’ll continue to do this month on month as it is a great way to bookmark the things I have discovered.  Oh, and Pinterest?  Yeah, I finally got my invitation and have been spending FAR too much time on there.  It is DANGEROUS I tell ya. Click here for a link to my boards if you want to see what I have been pinning.

Reader Round up – June ’11

First up is this GORGEOUS DIY piece of Monogram Art. A monogram of your initial made from buttons! My grandmother has a huge collection of buttons that she has never had use for, and this might be just the ticket. She is a crafter and this is right up her street. Mormor, if you are reading this, I’d love one if you have the time to make me one, once you’ve finished that quilt you are sewing for me of course! :wink wink:.

The handy step by step can be found here via the uber gorgeous blog Emmaline Bride.

Next up is this delicious looking Perfect Iced Coffee to whet your whistle while crafting that monogram button art. Recipe from the amazing Pioneer Woman.

If you are still feeling crafty after the DIY button monogram, and the Perfect Iced Coffee has given you a little caffiene kick, why not dig old those old t-shirts and learn to sew rosettes from t-shirts to adorn newer shirts, pillows, hairbands or just about anything you can think of. Instructions via Emmaline Bride. If you don’t have any old t-shirts, you may still feel pepped enough to fold your t-shirts like they do in stores.

I’d much rather sit and daydream about my Wedding though. I quite fancy a Woodland/Fall theme and these Oak Tree Invitations, via Emmaline Bride are to die for. Mr. S and I both have a thing for trees, so these would fit the bill perfectly.

My Wedding dress is all bought and paid for, so I best stay away from making these Berry Butters with French Toast. Ok, maybe just the once! Pioneer Woman, you are a Devil woman for sharing this recipe, but I still love ya.

Oh, and still on the subject of Weddings, I hate the thought of tossing my bouquet, and it being gone forever but it is a custom I think I’ll stick to, as I spotted The 10 Best Handmade Bouquets - I could just get a replica made after the wedding! Thanks Emmaline Bride for the resource.

I am thinking about Christmas already and it is only July! Is that wrong!? This year I might try to be organized enough to make some gourmet gifts. Michaela Noelle is an aspiring decorator, but boy she has got some great ideas for Cookie Mix Gift Jars - just what I was looking for.

These lovely DIY decorated terra cotta pots would make lovely gifts for Christmas too, or all year round for that matter. Again, from Emmaline Bride - they just find the best stuff!

You might be feeling a little peckish by now so I suggest these Lemon Snowflake Cookies courtesy of A Sweet Spot – I think she might love Christmas as much as I do!

Then you can wash it down with an Elderflower Syrup Champagne that you made at home all by your celver self. The syrup that is, unless you really are rather talented at squishing grapes and live in Champagne! Two things combined into a perfect marriage Elderflower and Champagne – pure heaven. Thanks so much Georgia Pellegrini I LOVE this tutorial. Store bought syrup cordial and syrup is too expensive so this is great.

I hope you all had a fantastic 4th July and I’ll be back with July’s Reader Round up in early August.

Yep, those books are my current fiction reading stack. Obviously I am not reading them all at once, but they are currently cluttering my shelves, and I just love it.

I’m currently working on my own book and the guide I bought from Amazon said you should read as much as possible to help with your own writing, which is I didn’t think was possible given how much time I spent reading before – but it is, and a fab excuse really to bury my nose further….

Never one to think you can have too many books, here is my current amazon fiction book wish-list which I’ll be purchasing up once I make my way through the current book mountain.

I love Amazon for the reader reviews, although I never really take them too much to heart as I like to make my own judgements. Each image will take you to the reader reviews so you can take a look and add them to your own wish lists – and if you are anything like me, its a good way to visually search for a new read.

The only time it is ok to judge a book by its cover, is when window shopping for a book. Right!?

Here is what I am currently/soon to read in case you like the look of any of them from the pic above.

Have you read any of these titles or have any good suggestions for me?

Based on my previous post complaining that I can’t find a good photographer in my area who shoots in a style I like, I decided to take matters into my own hands and finally learn how to use the Canon 450D that was my birthday treat last year.

Mamarazzi has helped me so much already – never one to enjoy ‘technical’ books, this hits the nail on the head by giving you enough practical advice whether you take photos with a compact camera or a more sophisticated dSLR.

The real gem with Mamarazzi however, is that it actually gives you much more than technique, it teaches you about style, and how to interact with children (your own, or others). If you can′t seem to take enough great photos of the children in your life, then this is the book for you.

I have a 5 year old sister (BIG age gap I know) and a 9 year old step-son and I love capturing images of them, but where the Mamarazzi book will really come into its own is when I have my own babies and can photograph their growing up and capture those great memories on film – without red-eye, or blurry or too dark, or underexposed etc.

The blurb:

Mamarazzi teaches you how to photograph children with the style, clarity, color, and beauty you see in professional photographs. The guide combines humor with solid know–how to show you how to compose shots, handle cameras from basic compacts to advanced dSLRs, take portraits or candids, create prints that impress, and even work with kids! Packed with beautiful examples and written in a down–to–earth style from one mom to another, this book will help mamarazzis everywhere take better photos.

Moms are one of the fastest–growing segments of the camera–toting demographic, and the blogosphere has a term for them, Mamarazzi’s.

Mixes information, inspiration, and fun for women who want to take better photographs of the children in their lives.

Explains how to set up a camera and use the controls on basic compacts up to advanced dSLR cameras
Covers shot composition, determining settings, exposing images correctly, the essentials of printing images, how to process for clear and bright color, and more.

Includes stunning examples of portraits and candids of children.

Become a better mamarazzi with this fun and informative guide!

Mamarazzi [mah-muh-raht-tsee] (noun, plural): Mothers who doggedly pursue opportunities to take, share and display photographs of their children.

The book has had some great reviews from other Mom’s and photography enthusiasts on Amazon.

Click the image below to get hold of it.

If you want to learn how to take better photos of your kids, I really suggest Mamarazzi as a useful guide to children’s photography.

Do you have Mamarazzi on your bookshelf?

Think about your favorite childhood story.

Mine is Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White. Love it. I you haven’t read it and go get it – adults can enjoy it too. If your children don’t have a copy, shame on you! Click the image below and get to Amazon now, pick them up a copy they deserve this story. If you and your children do love it, then we are in great company.

I had somewhat of an epiphany last night. I have always wanted to learn how to write children’s books.

H2B and I got to talking about what it is that we really want to do for work.

I have always had fanciful ideas about working in many different ‘glamorous’ jobs, some might have been passable for glamorous, others not so much. I’ll do a post on that soon “The many jobs of Mrs Stepford”, it’ll be a corker.

Right now I am working as Marketing & Office Manager for a small company specializing in the Events Industry.

Do I enjoy it?
Yes, it’s ok.

Do I LOVE it?
Nope, certainly not.

Do I want to do it forever?
Hell no!!

What is it that I really, really want to do?………

About three years ago I started to learn how write children’s books, I started to write one and I relished doing it, but life got in the way. I had to find myself another job and things just got busy. I’d been out of work for a few months living as a lady of leisure and the writing of, and learning how to write children’s books passed the time. It still isn’t quite finished, but it’s calling me, waiting to be completed.

H2B reminded me of my little ‘book’ that was still tucked away on the hard drive at home and told me to start it again.

I sat thinking about it, we spoke about it, asked each other what is the worst that could happen.

I imagined myself at our local Guardian Literary Festival reading aloud my published books to children.

I also imagined myself owning my own independent book store solely for children, just like Meg Ryan’s character in You’ve Got Mail

And I cried. In public. Uncontrollable tears, tears of relief, tears of nervous excitement, tears because of the unknown, fear of what could be in both good and bad scenarios. I don’t know why, perhaps I just ‘knew’ that this really was my last shot.

Is this what I was supposed to do all along rather than bounce from one job to the other searching for something that would stick?

This might actually prove my Mother right. The day I was born she said she looked at me and saw that one day I would one day be a writer.

What is it that YOU really want to do? I want to learn how to write children’s books.

Now it’s time to make it happen, and I think I may need to invest in a bit of guidance to help me along the journey.

So now, I am off again to learn how to write children’s books, and then get published. Wish me luck!

We all take them nowadays. SLR’s are no longer a camera reserved for the rich or paparazzi, and the internet can now teach us a little, and a lot on how to use them, depending on how much you care to master.

Aperture anyone? F.stop numbers? I just cannot get my head around it all. I so badly wish I could for the sake of my own family photography.

This frustrates me to NO END. I have dreams of snapping pictures of my growing family just like P-Dub, or at worst, if I cannot master it, employing the services of Jules Trandem, and Heidi Hope – seriously guys, go check em out. Ah-mayzing. I need to share with you right now the beauty of it all, beautiful family photography, that I know those people will treasure forever.

I absolutely admit it, I stalk their photo blogs because the images they capture are just stunning. Be warned though, especially with Heidi’s blog, do not enter if you are feeling just a tad bit broody in the slightest.

I am kicking myself that Mr S and I have not chosen to live in either San Diego or Rhode Island just for the family photography opportunities!

Image copyright - Heidi Hope Photography

Image copyright - Jules Trandem photography

Problem is you see…. The photo studios and freelance photographers in the UK churn out this type of imagery…..

No offence to you whatsoever if this style of studio photography adorns the walls of your home, but it just isn’t ‘my style’. I’m not keen on the ‘family/couple in a big white box with cheesy grins’ kind of thing.

Other problem is that I CANNOT find a photographer within the UK that are as inspired as their American counterparts with regards to family photography (or I am just bad a Google searching in order to find them). Mr S and I have decided that unless something utterly crazy happens over the next decade, we are staying put in England.

Awesome, because I love tea, and the Royal family, Wellington boots, country pubs and the British weather (cough:cough) but I do not love the thought of not capturing this life in photo’s the way I know that it CAN be done.

I guess the nature of this post is firstly to ask any of you if you know a good UK Photographer who is inspiring, willing to travel to the South West, inexpensive and of course – specializes in family photography.

Some friends of Mr S’ and I came to visit last weekend, and brought along with them a slideshow of their engagement shoot. Read: Jealous!

Now I want one myself, but if I am to convince Mr S to part with his time and some of our cash then it’ll need to be absolutely worthwhile.

UPDATE: I have just seen the synopsis for this book on Family Photography and it looks great. Onto the Amazon wish list it goes…

Photographing Your Family: (and All the Kids and Friends and Animals Who Wander Through, Too) (National Geographic Photography Field Guides)

USA

UK

Please put some linky links at the bottom if you are/know of a great UK based photographer.