Getting Ink Done

I have finally gotten around to having another session on my abstract peacock sleeve. Spent all day Thursday with the bonkersly brilliant Bez at his Triple Six Studios in Sunderland. We watched movies, we talked rubbish, we giggled about this awesome advert from an Australian rail network keen to promote safety and the proliferation of homages (I think the movies one is a personal favourite):

My arm is currently looking less swollen than yesterday (boy do wrists and elbows go puffy) but rather more, erm, slimy thanks to a hefty coating of bepanthen. Yeah, it’s pretty gross. But will SO be worth it. I’ve got another session booked in later int he summer to have the peacock’s head done and add purple to the feathers. So excited. Here’s the master at work…

And this is how it looked before I slapped the bepanthen on this morning. And yes…I’m wearing a tattoo machine t-shirt in these pics. Bez designed the ego machine. The first time he ever used a production model was on me, to do some of the line work for my peacock sleeve. He’s just finalising designs for two new models. So proud of him. The man is a legend. And a bloody good tattoo artist too. Obviously. Go Bez!

This post was brought to you by Dumb Movie Ways To Die.

Beana’s Hen Do <>

Hello! Late night posting from me this week. Been mad busy so haven’t really had chance to sit down and blog. But I should be back on track soon. In the meantime, thought I’d share this sneak peek of Beana & David’s golf course e-shoot and something a bit less, erm, professional with you. Ahem. Y’see Beana and I went to school together. She’s my oldest friend and I love her to bits, so when she asked me to photograph her wedding I squealed. With joy. And this weekend I popped down to rural Essex to snap some pre-wed shots of her and hubbie to be David on the golf course. More to come next week, but for now allow me to introduce Wilson & Quaid…

And, well, while I was down in sunny Essex I also attended Beana’s hen do. Oh my word. It broke me. Broke me bad. But boy was it fun. I’m just glad next time I see those girlies I’ll be staying sober and in charge of the camera because I felt dreadful the next day!






This post was brought to you by far too much booze, quite frankly!

May Day <>

What a lovely week! I couldn’t have asked for better. Started with a trip down to London to see Low at the Barbican (amazing) and catch up with some friends on Tuesday. I’d not seen Damian for a week so was lovely to get to hang out with him away from work pressures for a couple of days. Nice beer, good food, smiles aplenty. Was fab.




And then the weekend came along full of sunshine and even more smiles. How gob-smackingly awesome was the weather? Corr blimey. I’ll admit I got a wee bit of sunburn from spending so long working in the garden without enough sun protection. Silly me. We got loads done (the garden is going a complete overhaul having last been shown love and attention in the mid eighties I’d say) and also managed to squeeze in a trip to my favourite bakery in Slaithwaite for brekkie, a few hours with my folks, a four year old’s Hello Kitty themed birthday party, and a couple of light refreshments on Monday afternoon as a reward for all of our hard work. Yay for bank holidays, I say. Roll on the next one (and please let it be just as sunny).




This post was brought to you by Phosphorescent : Muchacho (seeing them tonight at the Ruby Lounge in Manchester).

Wollaton Park eShoot << becca + john >>

Another day, another gorgeous couple. Man I love my job. A few weeks back I met up with Becca and John for a jaunt around Wollaton Park and a whole lot of giggling. Really looking forward to their wedding at the start of June. Hee!

Barns Ness Lighthouse Easter eShoot << kate + lloyd >>

At the start of the month I went on a mini adventure oop north. I visited my sister and fell head over heels in love with my nephews all over again, as I do every time I see them. I hung out with my good friend Kristin of Struve Photography, drinking coffee and talking shop. And I met up with an absolutely amazing couple who are getting married down south in the summer. They met in Scotland so they wanted to have their e-shoot up there. His sister lives in the wonderful Barns Ness lighthouse outside of Dunbar, so I trundled along there one bright and sunny afternoon for a bonkers easter egg hunt and some quality time with the lovely Kate & Lloyd. Seriously. I love these guys. I wish I could spend my entire life just documenting them hanging out and having fun!

Pretty Things << chat chat tuesday >>

Exciting times here at LifeLine Towers. Spring is making me giddy as can be. The garden is positively bursting into life. We’ve finally had our guttering fixed and can now concentrate on some landscaping. Glamourous, I know, the guttering…but it so badly needed doing. It had rusted all the way through and during the snow in March it actually cracked apart and started to fall down. Nasty! But no longer a concern. Instead, home life is all about bulbs and buds and seedlings growing on windowsills. I love it.

Last weekend I had some friends staying and during our strolls in the local countryside we all fell in love with these handsome fellas. It’s the first time I’d seen baby hairy coos. OMG they are so blummin’ cute. Hee!

The excitement carries over into work things too. I took delivery of some very fine items last week. First up this gorgeous guest book for Becky & Ross featuring their favourite e-shoot images. I can’t wait to hand it over when they get hitched on Sunday

I also have this beautiful Folio album ready to post out to Nikki and Matt. Mmmm. Fine art goodness and a photo cotton cover. Love it!


Right now, I’m curled up editing another e-shoot, watching Grey’s Anatomy (the fella is away so I’m making the most of some girlie time) and eating this not so little beauty of a cake, baked yesterday. I like cake. Cake is goooooooooood

This post was brought to you by Grey’s Anatomy : Season 8

Wollaton Park Batman-tastic eshoot << beckie + aaron >>

I met Beckie and Aaron at my first ever wedding fair in the autumn of 2011. They didn’t have their venue or date even sorted, back then. In fact, they only really came up to the room I was in to have a look at a painting on the wall (just behind my stall) featuring Beckie’s grandfather. We met. We got on. They decided it was fate. So once they sorted their plans for the day, they popped along to another wedding fair and booked me. Hurrah. And we met up again last week at Wollaton Park so that Aaron could pretend to be Batman. Only, a cool laid back, non-funny voiced version with a love for fifties hairstyling and fashions. If you know what I mean. We had a proper giggle and I am really looking forward to their wedding now at the end of May. With these guys I just KNOW it’s gonna be awesome.

This post was brought to you by Steve Mason : Monkey Minds In The Devil’s Time (saw him in Manchester last night – yay)

LoveTea << chit chat tuesday >>

Yeah – I missed a week. I was so busy enjoying the bank holiday last weekend that I totally forgot to blog. Ahem. It wont happen again. Especially because I wasn’t being completely LAZY last weekend…I was actually working for some of it. So keep your eyes peeled. There are 3 e-shoots and a couple of weddings coming soon to these here pages, don’t you know. So I had better crack on with my editing. But before I do, I just wanted to share something awesome with you. LoveTea. Now…you know that I love tea. That’s a given. Tea is the drink of champions. No doubt about it. I’m not new to loving tea. But LoveTea is my new found favourite tea experience. Holy heck it’s a good idea. You get to try different teas each month from single tea estates. Living with a guy whose passion (and indeed job) is all about sourcing and roasting single origin coffees from around the world (did I mention that my wonderful fella is the guy behind the Grumpy Mule brand?) I got rather excited at the prospect of a tea equivalent and I have not been disappointed. So far I’ve tried two from these guys, and both have been delicious. First up was Belseri Malt which is a Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe tea. Really fruity and rich. Mmmmm. And today I received my sample of Paksong Oolong Wild Excelsior from Laos which has a more delicate flavour with gorgeous floweriness (well, that’s what I’m calling in). I think it’s safe to say I am hooked on this trying new teas thing. The thing is…I want more. More tea! So I’m going to have to sign up for a bigger package, me thinks. If you fancy giving it a go (you totally should if you like tea), I talked to Matthew (Master Brewer and all round lovely chap) at LoveTea and he’s offering you lot a 40% discount on your first month using the code LL40 at the checkout. Hurray for LoveTea.

Did you see my super cute infuser there, by the way? Mr Tea. He’s awesome. Everyone should have one. LoveTea sent me a wee bag to make my tea with, but Mr Tea kicks the butt of any bag. You know it. Almost as cute as my nephews…I was lucky enough to spend a few days with them last week and I am so very besotted with them both. Even though one of them pukes up like ALL THE TIME and the other one is a cheeky little monkey. Tee hee.

This post was brought to you by Low : The Invisible Way

Relaxed Doubletree Chester wedding << vicky + dean >>

Another of the fab weddings I second shot for Andrea Ellison on the blog today. Think pretty pink petals, delicate detailing, a handful of naughty boys in kilts and you’re just about there. Held at the Doubletree in Chester, it was a relaxed, fun day with lashings of laughter.



















I didn’t stay for the wedding breakfast or evening do as I had to rush off and head to a wedding as an evening guest myself, but I did catch a glimpse of some of the pretty details, including the true to life bespoke cake toppers. Tee hee. Thanks again to Andrea for having me along and to Vicky, Dean and their family and friends for an ace day.


This post was brought to you by Diagrams : Black Light

Snow Drifts << chit chat tuesday >>

Well I never. It snowed, as you are doubtless aware. And here in West Yorkshire it snowed a lot. And there were snow drifts. Our garden looked insane. We spent several hours clearing the driveway today (shoveling snow it hard work – blimey) and I tried to capture the bonkers nature of the snow drifts…but I really couldn’t do them justice. At the back of the house, the snow was piled up about five feet. Down the side, a huge bank of snow about three feet tall curved along the fence line. And in the front the depth varied from just a couple of inches to a couple of feet. Bonkers I tell you. But at least we have managed to dig the car out now and chopped enough logs for the fire for a few days. Oof. And I’ve topped up the bird feeders and put some bowls of water out. Don’t want my feathered friends to suffer!





In other news…I popped to Manchester on Thursday (before snowmageddon) to meet up with some friends and see an amazing Yo La Tengo gig. While I was there, I picked up my birthday pressie from Damian. An absolutely GORGEOUS leather camera bag from Grafea. Love it! Can’t wait to take it out on an adventure when this blummin’ snow clears. Til then, I’m planning to stay indoors all snug and warm!