Eyeshoot - Photography and Food

Eyeshoot Photography and Food has a new home!

2011-04-08T12:39:00.000+01:00

I have moved this blog over to my new site - you can find it here: http://www.eyeshoot.co.uk look on the top menu and click on 'WP Blog' and you'll find posts from Sunday 3rd March with all of my old posts following on.

If you 'Follow' the blog with Google Friend Connect, I have moved you over automatically!

Please be patient with me while I settle into my new blog home, it's rather a different arrangement than Blogger which I am very used to, but hopefully I'll be in the swing of it soon.

I hope you continue to enjoy my ramblings and photos and on my new site, you'll be able to see my photography portfolios and my photo projects too.

The Writing's on the Wall - Graffiti Themed Treasury.

2011-03-28T13:08:00.000+01:00

Inspired by my feature on Midday Masterpiece I've put togeterh a graffiti themed Treasury filled with a load of great pieces from prints to wall decals to coasters and beautiful photographic prints - in fact, there's something for everyone!

The Writing's on the Wall by Eyeshoot Photography

Coasting

2011-03-28T12:18:00.000+01:00

I had a fun time making my first two sets of coasters last week, especially as the weather was so lovely and I could do all of the messy stuff outside on the terrace in the surprisingly hot sun.

I have made two sets (I need to source more coasters to use to make more) so far, one with my Double Yellow Lines photos which I also have for sale as a sweet print set:

Here's how they look as coasters, I've given them three coats of semi-matte varnish and they have a slight textured finish, I think they look great!

A set of four Double Yellow Lines Coasters

I've also made up a set with my Heart and Love Graffiti pictures (also available as a six part print set)

A set of four Graffiti Hearts and Love Coasters

This particular set has been featured on the excellent Midday Masterpiece blog - you can see all of the other lovely graffiti inspired pieces here! Thank you to Melissa for featuring my work.

Making photo coasters in the sun on the terrace

2011-03-23T15:37:00.002Z

Making photo coasters in the sun on the terrace, originally uploaded by Eyeshoot Photography.

I've been making a start on a new line of photo goodies for my Etsy shop - photo coasters! As it's such a lovely day I've been experimenting with varnish and other messy things out in the hot sunshine on the terrace - it's all drying really quickly!

I've made two sets of four coasters so far, one with my double yellow line pictures and another with a selection of hearts and love graffiti. So far so good!

They should be appearing in my shop soon.....

I'm donating 25% of my sales to the Japan fund at The Red Cross

2011-03-21T16:41:00.000Z

I will be donating 25% of my earnings from prints, print sets and Mini Picture Blocks to the British Red Cross' fund for Japan. Click here to see the items in my Etsy shop included in this event.

Treasury Attack!

2011-03-16T16:53:00.000Z

I've made an unprecedented three Treasuries in the last two days, the reason I've had a splurge is that I found an amazing tool which automatically Convos all the people you've included. I used to hate doing this bit of the process as Firefox used to crash continuously and drive me mad. This miracle tool is on the fabulously named Shmetsy, you just install it and when you've compiled your Treasury and pressed 'Save' a little box pops up with the link to the Treasury and a line tells the recipient they are included, you can change the blurb to whatever you like, press 'send' and off all the Convos go, not crashing anything. Magic!

Here are the three Treasuries I've so enjoyed making this week!

Avocado and Prawn Cocktail

White and Orange

Into the Blue

Mother's Day Certificate

2011-03-16T12:31:00.000Z

It's all very well making mother's day cards with beautiful flowers but I wanted to offer something a bit different, so am pleased to announce my 'Mother's Day Certificate'! Customers can customise it to suit their preference, replacing 'Mother' with mum, mummy, mom or whatever and obviously their name will replace 'Sarah' or it can be left blank so it can be hand signed.

Happy Mother's Day Certificate by Sarah Franklin

Recent Treasuries on Etsy featuring my work.

2011-03-09T12:14:00.000Z

I've not posted any for a while, so here's a batch of lovely Treasuries to look at and buy things from! Thank you to all of the curators who have kindly included my stuff.

Tulips from Amsterdam (or somewhere)

2011-03-07T17:11:00.000Z

We had lunch at the intimidating sounding International Anthony Burgess Foundation which just happens to have a splendid (if rather hot in the glaring sun) cafe. There were some beautiful tulips on the table which were calling out to be photographed. The actual red background was much more saturated and intense than in my finished photo, but impressive as it was, it just didn't work in the photo. I find too much solid, flat red difficult to work with and it somehow always looks very odd.

Tabletop Tulips - by Sarah Franklin

My Picture's in the Guardian.....again.

2011-03-01T19:49:00.000Z

Crosby Steps is in the Been There photo gallery for February's travel competion, the theme was black and white.

Crosby Steps by Sarah Franklin

Red Bench on which to consider things.

2011-02-28T17:59:00.001Z

I've 'revisited' a photo I shot in Barcelona a couple of years ago, given a bit of Eyeshoot magic and here it is:

Red Bench - by Sarah Franklin

My First Collection on Artfire

2011-02-23T17:20:00.000Z

I have a shop on Artfire to sell my photos etc. Or rather I don't actually sell anything there so I have upgraded to their Pro version which has a vast array of features, in fact, it's all a bit much. I'm so used to the simplicity of Etsy that I always find other sites hard work. They have a feature over there called Collections which are a similar thing to Treasuries on Etsy. It's a much easier process on Artfire as you add the item you like directly from their shop and the system automatically messages all of the people whose work you have featured which saves copying and pasting loads of Convos |(in Etsy) and continually crashing Firefox in the process! So I was very pleased with that.

Here's a view of what I've put together, click on the image to see the whole view.

I wish it were Sp...

Curated By: EyeshootPhoto...

ArtFire.com

Whole Lotta Love

2011-02-23T13:03:00.000Z

I came across this great little scene while in a dull Manchester on Saturday and thought that it would make a great print, so here it is!

Whole Lotta Love by Eyeshoot Photography at Etsy

Treasuries featuring my work.

2011-02-22T18:03:00.000Z

Here's a selection of recent Treasuries which feature my work:

Thai Pork Wrap recipe based on found shopping list No.4

2011-02-22T11:40:00.002Z

Continuing my occasional post inspired by one of my shopping lists - this one features in Volume One of a series of mini zines I will be making to record my finds, you can find it here.

This list is rather extravagantly written on one very small corner of a very large, brand new A4 manila envelope which still has the price written in the corner. This implies to me that it was written in a hurry on the first piece of paper to come to hand, but the super neat and organized, bullet-marked list belies this!

The ingredients here can only be for some sort of South East Asian curry, the galangal is a dead give away as I've only ever seen it used in Thai cooking (it's a relative of root ginger, it has a different texture, being a bit more like Chinese water chestnuts, the skin is more pale with pinkish markings and less tough than ginger, it looks a bit like a very knobbly Jerusalem artichoke. The taste is decidedly more citrussy and ginger can be used as a substitute as galangal can be tricky to find)

I've done a little research and created a recipe of my own based on some I've found on-line and in my collection of cookery books. It can be made with the ingredients from my list as well as the normal Asian store cupboard ingredients I would expect any cook to have.

Thai Pork Wraps

Chinese leaves
2 tablespoons of cooking oil
6-8 fat cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3 shallots, finely minced
5 inches of fresh galangal
2 whole small red chilli, thinly sliced - leave the seeds in if you like it hot
500g of lean pork mince
1 large carrot, shredded (you can use a mandolin or vegetable peeler if you knife skills are not up to it!)
2 tablespoons of Thai fish sauce
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 lime - juiced
Handful bean sprouts

To garnish
Handful of fresh coriander, finely chopped
Handful of peanuts, roughly chopped
3 spring onions, finely sliced on the diagonal

Method
Separate the Chinese leaves, keep them whole, wash them and set aside on a towel to dry.

In a large frying pan or wok on a medium heat, add the oil, garlic, shallots, chilli and galangal and lightly fry for a minute, don't let them colour too much. Turn the heat up to a high temperature and add the pork mince and stir well, keeping the meat constantly moving and mixing it well with the other ingredients so that it cooks dry and doesn't steam which will happen if your overcrowd the pan. It is best to do this in two batches if you only have a small pan/wok.

One the mince has cooked, add the finely shredded carrots and toss for a moment or two so that they wilt a little. Add the fish and soy sauces and mix well. Add the lime juice (no pips please) and stir once more and remove from heat. Arrange in a serving dish and add the chopped coriander, peanuts and bean sprouts. To finish, sprinkle over the sliced spring onions.

Spoon the minced pork into the Chinese leaves and fold over to make a parcel, eat and enjoy.

(Ingredients on the list not used in recipe - beef and mixed veg)

Keep it simple Treasury

2011-02-21T15:59:00.000Z

I've made a Treasury to show off some lovely simple pieces I have found on Etsy, drawings, prints and other goodies all which have a simple line in common.

Keep it Simple - curated by Sarah Franklin

What's for supper, a little book of found shopping lists.

2011-02-16T15:33:00.000Z

I have a secret, it's not earth shattering gossip or anything like that, it's a little embarrassing. People think I'm strange.

Here goes - I collect shopping lists, as I have mentioned here before. Other people's shopping lists. I look in shopping trolleys, the floor around trolleys and at the end of the conveyors at checkout and when I find a list, it makes me happy. I have a drawer full of them and really want to share the eccentric, eclectic, gourmet, fast food wonderful variety of them.

So using list I've scanned some I have made them into a little tiny book of sixteen full colour pages each one with a little glimpse into the life of someone who lives in my part of the world. I've even hand stitched it!

What's for Supper? A little book of found shopping lists - by Sarah Franklin

Taste Test as a Treasury Making Tool.

2011-02-16T11:57:00.000Z

I was in a very nice Treasury on Etsy the other day which had been compiled using the Etsy Taste Test which I think I recall hearing about a while ago but didn't look at it, just read about it being rubbished in the Forums, and that was that. Anyway, when I came across the Treasury yesterday there was a link to the Taste Test and I had a look and liked what I saw. It's a really good way of compiling a Treasury without sifting through pages and pages of stuff I don't like at all. You can't enter any keywords, so if you wanted items on a specific theme or colour or location, it's not for you. I like to make my Treasuries by look and found that this tool made the whole experience much more efficient and I think I'll be doing them more often from now on!

Sepia Toned Beauties by Eyeshoot

Holidays in Wales, early 1960s style.

2011-02-15T15:40:00.000Z

I bought a box of 35mm slides a couple of years ago at a boot sale for 40p which turned out to be amazing. I've never known what to do with them but somehow I didn't post them on my blog, so here we are. I would love to do something with them, but I've no idea what!

2011-02-07T17:01:00.002Z

Take a look at a small sample of the gorgeous Treasuries my work has been included in at Etsy recently. I'm a rank amateur at making these collections look good compared to the people who made these.

Click on whatever catches your fancy to go to the items in their shops where you can read all about them.

Above us only sky.

2011-02-03T16:40:00.000Z

I took some photos off the terrace a couple of weeks ago of a spectacular sky, both blue and pink. I forgot all about them until today when I applied a little magic to them and turned them into two new prints!

As soon as I wake up by Sarah Franklin

Above us only sky by Sarah Franklin

Up, up and away.

2011-02-02T16:44:00.000Z

I've made a new Treasury jam packed full of beautiful photography from the Fpoe Team on Etsy.

Up, up and away.

(click the link to see the real 'live' version where you can access all of the shops and leave appreciative comments and buy beautiful art!)

A new floral digital collage sheet.

2011-02-01T11:25:00.001Z

I've made a new digital collage sheet today and it's full of gorgeous flowers. There are eight images each repeated six times in a neat 1" square.

Digital Collage Sheet of 1 inch Floral Photos for Crafts, Scrapbook or Jewellery Projects

On Etsy's Front Page twice in one evening!

2011-01-30T10:00:00.000Z

I think that a double Front Page in one evening is a record! The first one happened while we were at the Royal Exchange Theatre watching the world premier of an excellent play called Mogadishu and the second (which led to three sales and used my title) while I was fast asleep!

Tickled Pink by Eyeful

I Can Feel Your Smile by Rush Creek Mosaics

Manchester Mini Zine/Book/Album

2011-01-27T12:01:00.000Z

I've made a mini zine called Manchester Scenes and it's sixteen full colour pages with one through the viewfinder image on each. Pretty much all of the photographs were shot in the Northern Quarter in Manchester with one from the beautifully restored Victoria Baths and one on a grotty industrial estate near Piccadilly. I'm pleased with it and it's now in my Etsy shop.

Manchester Scenes by Sarah Franklin

Spinning.

2011-01-26T22:02:00.000Z

We visited Tate Liverpool on a freezing cold, damp and slightly misty round the top of buildings day. Liverpool somehow suits this terrible weather and I was very pleased to spot this nice combination of old and new. The mist shrouded tower in the background is the St John's Beacon/Radio City Tower which used to have a revolving restaurant at the top like the (former) Post Office Tower in London. In front you can see the scarily spinning torture machine at the new and epic Liverpool One shopping centre.

Spinning by Eyeshoot

Happy Birthday Jadey!

2011-01-26T14:58:00.000Z

The first Birthday Banner of 2011, and it's nice one too!

Tick Tock.....

2011-01-24T15:23:00.000Z

I've made a time themed Treasury as part of the UK Etsy Team's chain game. I was featured by Penny Farthing Designs in her lovely collection, so I'm returning the favour.

Tick Tock by Eyeshoot

Stripes and Stripes

2011-01-19T16:16:00.000Z

Here's my latest Treasury, and it's all stripes. I tried to make it all from the UK, but there weren't enough items I liked to fill all the spaces, so I've gone global instead! If you like it, please follow the link and click on the items to see all of the details.

It's all Stripes by Eyeshoot

Stacked Fag Packets

2011-01-18T10:56:00.002Z

I don't know why this caught my eye but there is a pleasing something about the shapes and the fabulous colour of the wall.

A handful of Treasuries.

2011-01-17T11:45:00.001Z

Here's a selection of the latest Treasuries which feature my work, there are loads from UK makers at the moment which are promoting the Silly Sale currently underway in many UK shops. I'm offering discounts ranging from 10% off my digital collage sheets and cards through to 25% off my prints and print sets.

I'm starting a newsletter and I need some people to send it to, so if you fancy getting my news directly into your inbox (offers and discounts included!) just click here to sign up.

Lines, Triangles and Squares by Red Tile Studio

For You, My Love by Around the Island

Lemon and Lime by Bella Bobbin

Suite: Judy Blue Eyes by Bella Rennie

Photography at it's Finest by Naomi's Handiwork

A new print.

2011-01-14T14:23:00.000Z

Pink & White

by Eyeshoot

It's Marmalade Season!

2011-01-12T12:05:00.000Z

Marmalade - Spread it Thick!

By Eyeshoot!

This Treasury is in part to promote the UK Silly Sale which starts on Friday 14th until the 21st and partly to spread the love of Marmalade.

Each year in January my mind turns to my annual marmalade making session where I stock up for the year of toast eating at home and gifts for friends. I've spotted some lovely looking Sevilles in my local green grocers and shall be stocking up today. I'm going to make a smallish batch with the whole fruit method which I've never done before but have been recommended to it by a friend and it certainly sounds a bit more efficient than my usual tried and tested recipe. Watch this space for updates from the jam kitchen!

Happy Birthday Certificate

2011-01-06T16:50:00.000Z

I've been playing around with this idea for a while and have finally got my act together to actually produce something for my shop.

It's a Happy Birthday Certificate card where the appropriate names will be added in to make a unique card. It started life as an emailable birthday card which Peter and I would send when we had not been organized enough to post a card to someone and often printed out as an A3 poster to hand deliver as well and always with very good responses.

I can't quite work out how to market the poster version, which would be on A4 paper so that's why I started to make the card.

Here it is and I'd love to know what you think.

Happy Birthday Certificate Card - by Eyeshoot

2011-01-06T12:47:00.000Z

I've joined in with the British Etsy Sellers Team's Treasury Chain game and here's my offering.

The idea of the game is that if you are featured in a Treasury, all you need to do is make a Treasury featuring the person who featured you. That's me. Are you following?! So in theory, if everyone you feature makes a Treasury featuring you, word domination will surly follow!

Thank you to all of the UK sellers who have featured me in the last couple of days, I'll try to get round to using your work very soon.

Eat Your Greens!

Lovely Treasuries on Etsy featuring my work!

2011-01-05T20:26:00.001Z

There seems to have been a mass explosion of Treasuries on Etsy with my stuff in this week and I thought that it was time to show a few of them here.

There's another UK Silly Sale coming up from January 14th which has prompted a few of them. I shall be taking part and will announce my offers tomorrow when I've made up my mind!

Ethereal Romance by Heavenly Handbag

Spread the love by Reborn As Art

Love You More Than Cheese by Quercus Silver

My first sourdough of the year.

2011-01-04T19:21:00.000Z

Anyone who has been reading this blog for a while will have come across my sporadic flirtation with sourdough baking. There have been varying degrees of success which generally resulted in my giving up the experiments. But I'm at it again! A friend of mine who has been happily and successfully baking sourdough for a while now very kindly gave me a tub of his starter which I put to use last night. He also gave me his personalised, tried and tested recipe which I followed to the letter. It's a no knead method in which the bread is baked in a pre-heated metal pot and is considerably less hassle than getting the kneading correct. It takes ages, mind you, but it's sitting and waiting rather than actually doing anything.

The results were very good, if possibly a little damp, but that may be because I couldn't resist digging in as soon as I could. I'll get a better idea tomorrow when it's cold. I used a temperature probe for the first time ever and waiting until 96 degrees Centigrade before taking the bread out of the oven, so perhaps I just need to wait for it to be a couple of degrees hotter. I've done a little research and apparently the optimum is 96-98. I must remember to buy some non-stick baking parchment as the stuff I used stuck to it rather dramatically as you can see in the pictures!

I'll have another go in a few days making sure that the starter is in tip top condition by giving it a good feed up in the preceding days.

Here's what I read in 2010

2010-12-30T16:58:00.000Z

As usual, I am publishing the list of books which I have read during the past year - and here it is! I'm still getting through alarmingly less than in my past, but I'm still enjoying (nearly) every book I read. This year I have benefited from three holidays which saw me complete 1-3, 9-10 and 12-13, I find that aeroplanes are the best place for me to devour books, from the minute I strap myself in, to the moment I fight my way towards the fresh air with the masses. Perfect!

Books read 2010

1. The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zaffron (23 Feb)
2. Martyr by Rory Clements (26 feb)
3. The Curious Instance of the Dog in the Night by Mark Haddon (27 feb)
4. The Way Home by George Pelecanos (3 march)
5. Adventures on the High Teas by Stuart Maconie (12 March)
6. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stig Larson
7. Espresso Tales by Alexander McCall Smith
8. Love Over Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith
9. When Will There be Good News? By Kate Atkinson
10. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
11. Meltdown by Ben Elton
12. New York by Edward Rutherford (17 Nov)
13. Heartstone by C J Sansom (21 Nov)
14. Barcelona Plates by Alexi Sayle (3rd Dec)
15. The Girl Who Played With Fire be Steig Larsson
16. The Unbearable Lightness of Scones by Alexander McCall Smith (Dec 28)
17. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (Dec 29)

I adored the Kate Atkinson, there's something about her character's which is just so real. This is a story which lingered in my mind for some time. Wolf Hall was fascinating, I've read a lot of novels set in Tudor times and it was great to see behind the scenes of the bad guy, sometimes it was hard work, but well worth the occasional dull bits. The Millennium Trilogy (well the first two) were astonishing for their ability to make me not put them down, I've not had one of those for a while, and can't wait for the final instalment. The Scotland Street books have been a nice little fluffy interlude now and again, it's always a pleasure to come back to familiar characters. Middlesex was an amazing roller coaster through almost a century of life with some deep family secrets and plenty of history thrown in, I didn't love it all the way through but am very glad that if finally made it out of it's spot on the shelf. The disappointment of the year for me was New York. I've read a few of Edward Rutherford's books in the past and absolutely loved them - Sarum, London and The Forest were all unputdownable but New York seemed as if it had been written by a different man. I appreciate that it's been a long time since I read the last one and my expectations will have changed, but still, I felt disappointed by it's brevity and feel that it needed to be much longer to fit in all of the things it covered.

I have been given a Kindle for Christmas this year (thanks dad!) and already have it well stocked with the last of the Millennium novels, The Century Trilogy part one by Ken Follett and Jump by Jilly Cooper along with a whole selection of free classics ranging from The Illiad to Mrs Beaton. I think I'll take to it pretty fast and have already started the Steig Larson.

My aim for 2011 is to read plenty of classics as there's a whole raft of them to be had for £0 on my new toy and to have a shot at Sherlock Holmes which I've never read. We'll see and I'll post again in a year!

The aroma of Christmas is all around. Finally.

2010-12-24T18:19:00.002Z

Despite the distinct lack of general Christmasyness at home; no decorations, tree, or twinkly lights and the cards aren't even up, there is a whiff of Christmas in the air. Much of the whiff is down to the 5kg chunk of smoked gammon which has been cooking for nearly five hours in a coating of ground star anise, corriander seeds, dried chilli and basted with a dangerously sticky mixture of hoisin sauce and honey. It smells wonderful and despite the inch thick patina of burnt black stuff around the edges of the tin, I think that all is well. The meat has been transferred to a dish which hasn't had the lethally burny combination of honey and hoisin pooling in it's base for four hours and I do hope that it hasn't been tainted. To add to the distinct aroma of the season is a pot of spicy red cabbage with apple bubbling away, I love this vegetable accompaniment and think that it will cut through the sweetness of the gammon nicely. Very soon I hope to be able to detect the distinctly satisfying bouquet of crispy jacket potato skins as well. There is a ruby red pot of cranberry sauce sitting in the fridge ready to go to mum's to glam up her turkey tomorrow. I have wrapped presents for Peter and my parents and will no doubt be roped (or ribboned) in to do Peter's wrapping too.

My Etsy sales have finally dried up for the holidays and I have a great hope that once everyone has opened their gifts where ever they are in the world, all of my lovely customers will come flocking back to treat themselves to the gifts they didn't indulge in during December.

I shall finish off this Chrismas Eve with a very nice and peaceful green Treasury which features my Fresh and Green notecard, it's nice to have a break from all of the reds and snowflakery.

A Happy Christmas to you all!

Winter Greens by GMA Jewellery

My Picture's in the Guardian.....

2010-12-24T12:22:00.001Z

I entered a photo competition in the Guardian's travel section last month some time and totally forgot about it until last night when I found that it has been happily sitting there on the website for a while now. Unfortunately it didn't make it as the winner for that month, perhaps if I had been aware of it I could have nagged my friends to vote for mine, but never mind, it's still nice to see it there!

Who needs meat?

2010-12-22T20:44:00.002Z

We had a bit of a veggie feast for supper tonight, with a vat of roast vegetables. There were onions, carrots, garlic, fennel, red pepper and aubergine with some cherry and baby plum tomatoes and olives thrown in at half time. Along with this little lot was my long time favourite of brown basmati rice and to top it off a naughty little treat. The treat in question was a big, beautiful and spicy onion bhaji which we bought at Unicorn (local vegan co-op), heated up, it was delicious with wonderful crispy edges. Topped off with a dollop of plain yoghurt. Yummy!

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone!

A very foody weekend.

2010-12-20T13:09:00.000Z

As is traditional in the lead up to Christmas, I have spent much of my time eating. I am very happy to spend my time eating so long as my fussy tastes are catered for. I will try to avoid any form of pre made supermarket bought 'party food' as I have an aversion to filo pastry and little tarts and I would rather that people actually put a little effort into the catering if they have decided to entertain at home. Demanding, picky, impractical, rude? Perhaps, but that's my view.

This particular weekend of piggery starting off with a very nice meal at a posh pub in Knutsford, The Dun Cow (amazingly, it has no website). We had been invited round to friends' for supper and due to last minute dramas ran out of time to cook and instead treated us to a slap up feast (smoked salmon, lamb hotpot) as we watched the light and fluffy snow gently fall from the sky to carpet the countryside in glorious white. This prettiness did rather hinder our departure time and we hurried home at a stately 40mph in my little Smart Car which is really rather splendid in the snow. We're glad we didn't have further to travel and felt sorry for all the poor people stuck in drifts and cold all over the place.

The next evening we had been invited to our neighbours for supper, we have been waving to each other in the car park for a few years and finally met and chatted in the corner shop buying our Sunday papers a couple of weekends ago. That led to coffee and much chat and then an invitation to supper along with another set of neighbours (yes, it's a friendly place). We were treated to the most yummy home cooked Indian feast with mutton, prawns and monkfish, lamb and a chicken dish. It was all delicious.

Then Sunday saw us at local friends for our now traditional pre-Xmas seafood feast which consists of lobster, crab (claws and dressed brown), smoked salmon, oysters, sea bass carpaccio, giant prawns roasted with garlic and chilli, all washed down with a magnum of Prosecco and followed with more delicious white wine and two massive chunks of Mrs Kirkham's tasty Lancashire and a super tasty Lancashire which were gorgeous. Home made lemon cheesecake finished us of very nicely!

Here are some pictures from our seafood feast:

Lavender's not Silly.

2010-12-14T22:44:00.000Z

Here's a very pretty Treasury which features my Lavender Simply Against a Plain Wall print. It caught my eye as a change from all of the Christmasiness, and it's very good to see an image other than The Ministry of Silly Walks being used!

I have now posted a massive two Christmas cards, bought two gifts in a real life shop, ordered one over the phone to be collected and made one calender to give to a friend tomorrow. This is the total extent of my preparation for the festive season. At least it's an improvement from when I last wrote here, when I had done precisely nothing!Tomorrow I am heading to the pretty market town of Ashbourne to meet up with an old school chum to have a catch up pre-Xmas-sans-children and also to hand over two canvas prints I have had made for her personal training business, Zest4Life, which you really should check out if you need to look after your body!

Christmas is coming and I haven't sent (or written) a single card....

2010-12-13T12:52:00.004Z

The roller-coaster ride towards Christmas continues! I've started to think about sending out some cards, which is actually pretty early for me as anyone who knows me knows that I am seriously laid back about Christmas and rather wish that it would all go away.....considering I make and sell cards, I am alarmingly reticent about using them for myself. This year I had my first cards printed and they haven't sold very well (apart from 20 Snowmen to a lovely friend) so I may as well use the rest of them myself, I don't want them hanging around until next year.

There continues to be a lovely wealth of seasonal Treasuries on Etsy featuring my work, and with the brilliant new Treasury ap from those clever people at Craftcult I really don't have any excuse not to post them as frequently as I used to! Here's the latest one and it's UK themed one and is really rather jolly!

(Click directly on each image to see the full details in it's Etsy Shop)

Perfect for the man in your life.

2010-12-11T12:03:00.000Z

My Crosby Steps print has been selected as a great gift for a difficult to buy for man! I can't possibly disagree with that, so thanks to Ron over at Etsy for picking my print for his rarefied selection!

Postage is still good to the UK in time for Christmas, so if you have a man who needs a gift, now's your chance!

The snow's all gone now here in Manchester and it's much warmer but a bit dreary really after all of the beautiful crispy whiteness. Never mind, I'm sure it will be back soon.

We're off to Lincoln in a bit to shoot Mr Robeson again.......

It's been busy, but I've been here all along!

2010-12-10T14:37:00.000Z

After the shopping frenzy of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales when I enjoyed a shed load of orders Eyeshoot's back to normal! While I miss the fun of selling loads of prints, I do like the quieter times as I get a chance to plan, plot and catch up with things I've meant to do and put off. One of these things was to finally get around to making my book of graffiti photos. I've made a few books with Blurb over the years, but the daunting task of organizing several hundreds of images spread across multiple drives, discs and sticks did rather chill my enthuasism. But spurred on by a very generous discount voucher which I picked up at the Blurb Pop Up event in London a month or so ago and a bit of a lull in sales and queueing at the post office, I finally got my act togeher and settled down to business.

And here's the result! Things on Walls by Sarah Franklin, 120 glorious full colour pages of graffiti, stickers, stencils, paste ups, random notes on walls from London, Manchester, Liverpool, Barcelona with a couple of wildcards from Crete and Fuerteventura thrown in for luck.

The book preview doodad below will show you the first fifteen pages and hopefully when your appetite. My copy hasn't arrived in my eager little hands yet, but I'm hoping it won't be too much longer.

Things on Walls by Sarah Franklin | Make Your Own Book

UK Shops taking part in Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales!

2010-11-25T10:39:00.000Z

I've made a Treasury to promote the UK sellers who are taking part in the epic sales going on over at Etsy for Black Friday and Cyber Monday which are traditionally the biggest days in the year for shopping. I've selected some pretty blueish items from not a massive selection of UK sellers. I hope more join in as I'm sure there are great opportunities for selling lots of stuff!

My shop is offering 25% off all items - see the before and after prices here -

It's not just for the American shops!

READY TO SHIP Baja Turq... MaaPstudio $38.00	Multi stem pillow sham ... louise35flower $9.60	The whole set of blue a... huiyitan $35.00	Georgia blue satin clut... EmmaGordonLond... $69.00
Aqua Rose Circle Earrin... BINAGEYER $14.00	Hexagon Aquamarine Drop... EsmeDodsworthD... $12.00	HOLIDAY WEEKEND SALE Ha... BlueForestJewe... $54.00	Clutch evening bag in D... LilliansBags $16.00
Sea glass masquerade ma... gringrimaceand... $235.00	Rustic brown and blue u... LittleWrenPott... $9.60	Black Friday Cyber Mond... moaningminnie $29.00	Shell Riot anacdesigns $10.00
Thumb Ring Handmade Wir... fiorejewellery $14.00	Lighthouse (Original AC... stupidcats $10.00	Black Friday Cyber Mond... moaningminnie $12.50	A3 Photo Canvas Frozen ... acaciacrafts $60.00

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

Reflected

2010-11-11T14:31:00.001Z

Reflected, originally uploaded by Eyeshoot Photography.

Here's a rare photo of me! It's at Barbara Hepworth's house in beautiful St Ives.

Fun in London

2010-11-08T12:37:00.000Z

I enjoyed a rare visit to my former home town of London last week. It was a trip spurred by family stuff but by happy coincidence coincided with the Blurb/Etsy/Moo event at the Blurb pop up shop where they were going to be hosting all sorts of events from the 3rd to 14th November. I have used Blurb for three books over the years and have always been impressed by the Book Smart software and the quality of the books, especially since the introduction of their premium paper. My first book was an experiment really - my first foray into the world of photo books and I used a selection of my blue photographs shot in Morocco as they make a really nice unified theme and I was very happy with my softcover book. Next I made a book of Abandoned Christmas Trees which has been one of my ongoing photo projects for a couple of years, it was great to see the best of the bunch in a lovely square hard backed book with premium paper. So it was with great interest I listed to the talk and saw an expert at work with the software and managed to get some questions answered. There was a very impressive display of books to look at which I must say, put my modest offerings to shame, but I was certainly inspired to have another go.....perhaps I'll finally make the graffiti book I've been meaning to for years?

Also present were moo.com who are printers of business cards, postcards & greetings cards, you can cleverly import your images from many online sources and have a different image on each card which is invaluable for anyone who makes products or photographers wanting to show off their pictures. I've used all of their products over the years and could be tempted back!

Finally, of course Etsy was present, there was a talk by Anda which was really aimed at people without Etsy experience or beginners, but it was very interesting to put a face to a name and later on I met who writes the AmityEtsy UK Edition blog and has very kindly featured my work on a number of occasions!

I also met a great group of people who either use Etsy or are thinking about it, it was lovely to chat and share my experiences with them, it's such an exciting and vibrant theme and it was a great day!

Thanks to all involved!

My Folksy Friday is on the Folksy Blog!

2010-10-29T10:31:00.000+01:00

I was asked to curate Folksy Friday for the Folksy blog and decided to make it a Halloween one - I couldn't really theme it any other way could I? I sniffed out some lovely pieces which work really well together to make a set. Here's a screen shot of the items and here's a link (click here!) so you can read my words of wisdom, leave nice comments and visit the shops I've featured!

An Autumn Walk in the Woods.

2010-10-27T17:50:00.001+01:00

I set out for Dunham Massey (our nearest National Trust property) on Monday afternoon because the weather was so glorious that I couldn't stay inside in front of my computer, it just didn't make sense! I took my big camera as well as my old (and as it turned out, untrusty) Rolleicord, stuffed a couple of lenses in my pockets, donned warm socks and sunglasses and ventured in to the countryside! It was lovely, there were rather less autumn colours than I had expected, I'll have to go back in a couple of weeks I think to see it at it's best, but it was beautiful none the less. If there were less colours than expected, there were rather more noisy kids than I had expected (half term.....) which somewhat spoied the bucolic beauty, but I managed to get off the beaten track rather well. While on one muddy path, I heard a rustle behind me, I turned round, and look what was staring back at me!

I did manage to find some glorious leaves which I've had fun playing with, but these ones had very little done to them, all of the sunspots on the right side are totally natural, all I've done is tweak the curves a little.

Autumn Fire - by Eyeshoot Photography

Here's another one, but this time, I added all sorts of fancy layer effects.

Which do you prefer?

Ministry of Silly Christmas cards are here!

2010-10-21T14:46:00.000+01:00

Here's another Christmas card to keep my snowmen happy!

Ministry of Silly Christmas - by Eyeshoot Photography

2010-10-21T10:26:00.000+01:00

I spent last weekend in Arnside in Cumbria for a yoga workshop with the same teacher, Marios Argiros who lead our week in Crete early in the summer. The weather and the food may not have been quite as lovely, but the yoga was excellent. We started at 10am and stopped for an hour at about 1.00, then continued to 3.30, it was much more intense than the days in Crete where we had a lovely long break from about 12.00 to 6.00 each afternoon to recover!

I managed to get out early on the first morning, which was lovely, to take some pictures of the River Kent Estuary and here's one of them.

Arnside Viaduct by Eyeshoot Photography

I have loved flowers that fade

2010-10-11T15:17:00.002+01:00

We're now in the full flood of early autumn here, the trees are turning golden and the sky is blue and in honour of the start of my favourite season I've been trying something new. I've added the first verse of the poem I Have Loved Flowers that Fade by the English poet Robert Bridges (1844 - 1930). I have a bit of a love hate relationship with poetry. Mostly hate I am embarrassed to confess. I still have a soft spot for the poets I studied a million years ago at school, Coleridge, Larkin, Frost and others, but I find it extremely hard to understand classical poetry which I find disappointing. I hope that this new series of images might re-ignite my (very little, admittedly) flame of interest in poetry!

I Have Loved Flowers that Fade by Eyeshoot

2010-10-07T17:45:00.001+01:00

It's another UK Silly Sale Treasury made by me and it's vaguely yellow themed. There are so many more items to choose from now that it's almost a piece of cake to select things which fit in with the desired look. The UK sellers are working like mad to promote this twenty four hour event and the Treasuries are breeding like bunnies - I'm in twenty four which is pretty impressive for four days!

Don't forget to click on the pictures below to go straight to the items and to buy them if you really like them!

Silly and Yellow by Eyeshoot

UK 24 Hour Silly Sale! ... artangel $24.00	UK Silly Sale Handmade ... thebluekitteh $8.00	Silly Sale 20% Off - V... BobbieandLola $12.00	SILLY SALE! - Golden y... therainbowgirl $7.00
Chunky Yellow and Grey ... AREjewellery $24.00	Little Bird Felt Key Ri... FruteJuce $7.50	Neon yellow howlite set... anacdesigns $22.00	Jelly Baby Buttons Lilley $5.00
Lemon Photograph / Fine... heidiadnum $29.00	Leaf abstract - 7x5 Pri... shortwork $18.00	Little Acorn Earrings BINAGEYER $11.00	Silly Sale 50% Off! Cot... SixSkeins $3.50
HALF PRICE Vintage Butt... hellodarlingvi... $6.00	Hand Printed Tea Towel ... inkmeup $10.00	Amigurumi Yellow Rainbo... cutedesigns $10.00	SILLY SALE set of 3 yel... colouritgreen $10.00

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

Another Etsy UK Silly Sale Treasury

2010-10-05T15:19:00.000+01:00

The Etsy UK Silly Sale Treasuries are coming along at a fast pace now and they're getting more varied as time goes by which is great!

Here's the latest to feature something of mine, it's my old favourite which never sold - No Parking 51 which I shot years ago on the same stretch of grotty under the arches garages where I photographed my popular Ministry of Silly Walks print. I'm offering No 51, a lovely matted print for a silly $15 - I hope it goes to a good home!

Just a little bit o red...by These Shiny Times

(Click on any item to go straight to it on Etsy)

Earrings - Ruthless Rou... snapdragonbead... $28.00	Hand Drawn Red Beard an... amyawalters $6.50	No Parking 51 - Matted ... eyeshoot $15.00	SALE Cross-Stitch Yeah ... MaMagasin $6.50
Stars, Stripes and Deni... heidiadnum $20.00	SALE Ring - Yarn (red) teasemade $7.00	Original Buddha Paintin... artangel $30.00	SILLY SALE Secret Heart... greenriverstud... $56.10
Sterling silver teardro... boojewels $64.00	SILLY SALE - boat greet... Parsy $1.75	Small Bee Hotel Wudwerx $21.00	SILLY SALE Cute Kawaii ... TheNicestThing $10.00
UK SILLY SALE Hallowee... niftyknits $24.30	Hand Printed Tea Towel ... inkmeup $12.00	Silly Sale - Little Ow... BobbieandLola $9.60	UK Silly Sale Fabric Bu... thebluekitteh $5.00

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

My Etsy UK Silly Season Treasury.

2010-10-04T14:21:00.001+01:00

I've made my first Treasury for ages, in fact, my first one since the 'wait for 333' system ended. My inspiration for this sudden streak of egalitarian creativity is the UK Silly Sale which goes live for one day only on Friday October 8th from 7pm. All the UK based Etsy sellers are welcome to join in the fun where we'll be clearing out the shelves, cupboards and storage boxes in time for the real silly season (hopefully).

I've trawled the tagged listings and come up with this collection of lovely pieces - not only are they all gorgeous, they're all bargains, so click and buy!

Autumnal Themed UK Silly Sale by Eyeshoot

Mookaite Circle Necklac... ACuppaJewels $15.00	Lamu Donkey Portrait - ... shortwork $18.00	Silly Sale 50% Off! Sil... SixSkeins $21.00	HALF PRICE Vintage 60s ... hellodarlingvi... $4.50
Silly Sale - Smocked Fa... BobbieandLola $10.00	Oops - Two small white ... LittleWrenPott... $10.25	Botanical Paper Cut Pos... KitzieG $6.50	I 'HEART' Butto... greenriverstud... $27.00
UK Silly Sale - Copper ... HandmadeByAlis... $28.00	SILLY SALE - Golden Spi... ffflowers $5.00	iBee Wudwerx $15.00	Hand Printed Tea Towel ... inkmeup $12.00
SILLY SALE - happy birt... Parsy $2.00	Extra long chunky brass... anacdesigns $12.00	SILLY SALE Eco Heart Ne... TheNicestThing $10.00	8 inch silk-lined strip... Catfishhh $20.00

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

An Etsy UK Silly Sale Treasury

2010-10-03T20:19:00.000+01:00

Have a look at this great Treasury which is promoting the UK Silly Sale a one day sale spectacular for UK sellers to off load some of their stock - it's an Xmas clear out which should benefit all of our lovely customers. The day of the event is Friday 8th October (that's next week) and we'll all be tagging, blogging, Twittering and making Treasuries like mad! Here's one such Treasury (mine's the Guggenheim Blue print in the top left corner).

'UK Silly Sale Favourites' by Catfishhh

Don't miss the UK Silly Sale, starting this Friday!

Guggenheim Blue - Matte... eyeshoot $15.00	SILLY SALE Eco Heart Ne... TheNicestThing $10.00	Autumn is here again - ... shortwork $18.00	UK Silly Sale - Simple ... HandmadeByAlis... $10.00
Pendant Necklace Blue f... dorijewellery $22.50	My cup of tea drink me ... anacdesigns $15.00	HALF PRICE Vintage Spen... hellodarlingvi... $5.00	SALE Lucky Unicorn -Pin... teasemade $10.00
Perran Yarns - Hand-dye... SixSkeins $14.00	Meerkat Surfer dude wit... niftyknits $37.00	SALE Who Stole The Tart... inkmeup $7.00	10x8 Giclee Print - Wil... KitzieG $19.85
Tweet Robin Christmas T... feltmeupdesign... $22.00	Blue Black Varigated Ki... tallib $28.00	Hedgehogs, Squirrels an... FruteJuce $9.50	A REAL UNICORN DearOhDeer $13.00

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

Click on the links to go to the items.

I'll be making my own Treasury for this promotion during the week.....

Folksy Friday - My First one!

2010-10-01T01:00:00.002+01:00

Here's my very first Folksy Friday and I've chosen this somewhat disparate selection from the New Sellers section on the website as I figured that they could do with some exposure! There was no theme or clever idea behind my choices, they just caught my eye and had good quality photographs. If I have one criticism of Folksy, it's that there is an awful lot of very poor product photography which is a great shame as those sellers, whose items may be perfectly lovely, won't be picked for features like this one.

So, mini rant over, let's get to the lovely things!

Orange flower snap hair clip £3.50 by Yooyssi Pettite

Circus Thrill Chair £650 by Kelly Swallow

Ethnic Cowrie Shell Silver Coiled Necklace £22 by Wire Moon Jewellery

Merino Lambswool Baby Slippers/Shoes £21 by Wee Woolies

Crochet Dachshund Puppy £26 by [ku-dum] handmade little things

Please click on each of the images and have a nosey around the brand new shops to see what other goodies are there to delight you. I'd love to know too, what you think of my first Folksy Friday!

Feeling Blue Sale! 25% off my blue prints!

2010-09-30T10:33:00.001+01:00

I'm having my first ever sale thanks to a fabulous and stupidly easy to use new application called Etsy on Sale. You log in to use it and it basically lets you have a sale on either all the items in your shop or by section, you can choose a percentage or an amount, you can set a start and stop time and you can add a new title and it all happens as if by magic! Your items have a nice new title, the prices are automatically reduced and, best of all, it all disappears when your chosen time frame is up. How great is that?

Anyway, as soon as I saw details in the ever informative Etsy Forums, I knew that it would let me apply shop wide discounts for the UK Silly Sale which I wrote about yesterday. I may have to rejig my sections a bit, but I'm sure I'll manages.

My 24 hour sale is called 'Feeling Blue' and it's offering 25% of all my blue pictures (that's blue coloured if you were wondering), I've made a new banner and a bit of a lame avatar (it's so difficult to make a nice design in a 75x75px size, it's so small!) and I'll see how it goes.

All of these lovely pictures are included:

It's the UK Sellers Silly Sale Promotion.

2010-09-29T16:48:00.000+01:00

Well it will be soon! The Silly Sale is a great new promotion being proposed by some enterprising UK based Etsy sellers and the idea is to offer crazy deals (whatever you want, buy one get one free, free postage, % off etc) on old stock, ends of lines and so on basically to have an end of year clear out whilst making a bit of extra dosh! for 24 hours starting at 7pm on Friday 8th October. There will be epic amounts of promotion all over the place to lure in lots of buyers.

I haven't decided what to offer yet, but I have made a new shop section called uk silly sales specials. I have a few matted prints to get rid of as well as quite a few one off prints which I didn't like for some reason and decided not to sell, they can go, I also have packs of made up card blanks and envelopes which I don't use any more, so there's a few things. What discounts to offer? that's a tricky one. With the lack of batch editing, it's a very off-putting thought to have to individually edit a hundred or so items to offer free posting or a shop wide discount - perhaps I can refund after the sale's been made, but that might not seem so tempting to buyers. Buy one Get one Free would be good and that would be an easy refund to make, or maybe a refund wouldn't be necessary, if the customer buys a listing and then leaves a 'message to seller' to say what else they'd like. Mmmm, that sounds good - Buy one print and get one the same value free - would that tempt you, a (£22.50) $35 print for nothing?

I'll get my act together over the next couple of days and start tagging, add this lovely little badge to my banner and all the other Tweeting, Facebooking stuff that's involved too.

All the Fs - Featured on Found on Folksy!

2010-09-28T17:44:00.000+01:00

As I mentioned earlier, I've been getting friendly with my Folksy shop after many months of ignoring it and since listing my Scrabble cards and pottering around in the forums etc I have made one sale and been featured on Found on Folksy - click here to see the post which is all about the last gasp of summer here in the UK and is full of street party bunting, swirly skirts and my beach huts. We're well past summer in Manchester as my searching out my leather gloves - and actually wearing them proved on a cold but very sunny Saturday. Anyway, I'm flattered to be featured in such an aesthetically pleasing and popular blog and I'll continue to look after my Folksy shop!

Oops, I've smashed my iPhone....

2010-09-26T18:08:00.000+01:00

I pulled my phone out of my back pocket as I have done countless times, but this time it slipped through my fingers crashing, glass down on to our ceramic tiled floor. It's well and truly shattered, the surface is rough to touch and feels as if it could cut, there's one little tiny piece of glass missing which goes right through to the inside of the phone....It actually looks rather beautiful.

Apparently it is insured, so I'll find out on Monday if that's the case, and if it is, then great and I'll await a shiny new replacement. If it's not, I'll have to get a screen protector film thing to hold the bits in place for as long as possible until I can afford a new one!

Long Time Humbugger Signs up for Etsy Sellers Holiday Bootamp

2010-09-25T23:17:00.001+01:00

Anyone who knows me will be aware of my long standing aversion to 'The Holidays' as Etsy quaintly calls Christmas. I'm a real humbug, I don't like all the crap that's on sale (already! Sainsbury's tonight had an aisle full of Lindt reindeer and swimming pool sized tubs of cheap chocolates) I like the cooking and the feeding of people, I like the social aspect (no, not just the wine), but I don't like the presents, I resent buying stuff for people I don't want to buy stuff for and the stuff I get in return is usually rubbish and goes to the charity shop on the 3rd of January.

I told you I was all humbug. So it is with some surprise that I have 'signed up' for this process.

I'm going to do what I've been told and post 'the pledge':

I, Eyeshoot Photography, pledge to participate in the Etsy Success Holiday Boot Camp to the best of my abilities. I vow to check in every week, do my homework and support my fellow Holiday Boot Campers. I will read the weekly newsletters and blog posts, check in on the weekly forum thread, read the weekly blog post, check off the checklists and salute the mascot. I promise to share what I've learned with those who need it, support my fellow Etsy indiepreneurs and, most of all, have a positive and persistent attitude. I understand that together we can spread the word about our handmade and vintage goods, making this holiday season a more unique and meaningful one to gift givers and give-ees everywhere!

I've already let the side down by not voting for the Camp Mascot because I think they are all horrible and I don't want to be associated with any of them. Sorry.

Yes, I've posted my pledge to the Facebook group.

Yes, I've posted to the Etsy Forum thread.

I already have Google Analytics installed.

Mission Statement "I hope to sell shed loads of stuff so I don't end up in the poorhouse, including some pretty Christmas cards with the great snowy pictures from early this year and my lovely calendars, stop being so grumpy about The Holidays' "

So, in keeping with my impeccable academic reputation as a bit of a creep, I've done my homework.

If this Bootcamp thing can work for me it will be a miracle and I'll be unspeakably impressed.

Here's a new Scrabble Print set to end on.

New Romantic Scrabble Cards

2010-09-21T11:46:00.000+01:00

I've been busy today giving my Folksy shop a little love after ignoring it for a while, I love the idea of an 'English Etsy' but it just doesn't quite work for me, there's very low traffic but I do feel that I should keep a presence there! I did sell quite a few cards in the run up to Valentine's day this year so I'm adding some more cards along the same theme, people send romantic billet doux all year round after all (I hope they do anyway!) - romantic cards aren't just for February 14th!

Love Me in Scrabble Letters - Note Card

I am working on turning the six related images into an new print set, and they're looking great so far!

2011 Graffiti Desk Calendar

2010-09-09T15:01:00.000+01:00

Here's the third of my 2011 Desk Calendars, this one is showcasing twelve of my favourite graffiti images. Some will be familiar to visitors to my shop and others are being seen for the first time. It's quite a subtle collection of images with not too much overly bright colour throughout each image which I am hoping will make it look a bit different from the other graffiti calenders out there!

This is how it looks in it's case

And here's a an artfully arranged heap of all the month's images

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire....

2010-09-09T11:07:00.000+01:00

Well, not quite, but here's the first of this years Autumn photos!

Autumn's not quite happened here yet, I can see some of the magnificent trees in the nearby Southern Cemetery just starting to loose their green but we'll have to wait a little while longer for the full onslaught of the change. The view from our terrace is spectacular towards the trees and when they finally turn red and brown it's really impressive.

Autumn Flavours from Eyeshoot Photography

200 Sales. Done!

2010-09-05T13:16:00.000+01:00

I was alerted to my 200th sale as I drank my morning tea in bed today! It's the first print I've sold of this particular image so that made me especially pleased. I must remember to pop out for a new box of paper tomorrow. I do hope that September will be a good month, August and July were both not bad for sales, fingers crossed that it continues!

Clevedon Pier - 200th sale!

Double Yellow Lines Print Set

2010-09-01T15:17:00.000+01:00

Here's another new print set in the same format as the Green Japan and the Brown Crete ones.

Double Yellow Lines Fine Art Photographs - Six 5 inches Square

Green Japanese Prints

2010-09-01T14:20:00.000+01:00

Here's the second in my new range of prints. This one is showcaseing photographs which I took in Japan and they are all green.

Fine Art Photographs from Japan - Six 5 inches Square - $30

A new range of print sets is born!

2010-08-28T16:43:00.000+01:00

I had a stroke of inspiration from somewhere to make a new line of print sets with six images 5"x5" square with a white border for easy framing. Each set will be of a similar colour palate and where possible somehow related by subject.

Fine Art Photographs from Crete - Six 5 inches Square

This set was all photographed in Crete and is gently brown toned. Most of the pictures are from the Arkadi Monastry which is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been with softly lit courtyards, sleepy cats and ancient olive oil jars. I really like the white borders, they add a certain something!

Silly Walks on the Front Page

2010-08-27T12:37:00.000+01:00

Another Front Page - hurrah!

We had staggered home from supper out and as I checked my email on our return I saw via Facebook that my trusty Ministry of Silly Walks print was yet again on the Front Page of Etsy. Not only on the FP but it had sold! I think that this is the first occasion where such exposure has directly led to a sale. I also had two messages from people wanting to buy a print, and one of those was for a larger one, as well as the sale of a card of the same image. Not a bad evening's work considering that I wasn't even at home!

Here's the Treasury - and I have no idea what the title means!

Ode to Toad (the wet sprocket)

By Cool Ranch Studio

I've been playing around with Wordpress after getting the fantastically helpful support team at my hosting company Nexcess to install the software for me as was totally baffled by the whole process. It's proving much more tricky than I had anticipated to do what I want. I really want a good photo gallery set up and I suppose I'll just have to spend many more hours researching and finding out just how to do that. I now need a good new website, I still like mine but I need something much more flexible and functional. It's not going to be so easy to get it though......

Sweeties on the Front Page!

2010-08-23T17:20:00.000+01:00

I clicked over to the Front Page of Etsy to see what was going on and I found my Pick and Mix print on there! I love it when that happens!

Summer Sunset by SeaPinks

I've been staring at my screen trying to vamp up my Facebook Fanpage to make a Custom Landing Page (I didn't even know that expression existed before the weekend!). I'd love it if you'd pop over and have a look and let me know what you think....I did it all in Blogger and then copied and pasted it! It's not exactly a graphic work of art, but not a too disgraceful starting point. More Fans desperately needed too! Grovel.

Facebook Page, Note Cards, Massage and More Bookcrossing

2010-08-19T18:18:00.000+01:00

I've been busy today - I started out with a massage, not a fluffy little strokey nice smelling one, it was of the get into the muscle tissue and make you squirm and grimace type. I think it worked and my poor sore bit is feeling a little less sorry for itself. Back for more in two weeks - hopefully the bruises will be gone by then!

I've been making some new cards to add to the collection. My pretty lavender prints have now been cardified and they look rather nice, although I've had to tweak the Blue and White Jug one as it was a square image, so I've had to loose some of the background on the right, but it still works. There a still a few more to do, but I've run out of time for today.

Lavender in Blue and White Jug Note-Card

Lavender Simply Note-Card

Fresh and Green Note-Card

I have decided to spend some quality time with my Facebook Page - you can find it here. I had got a bit irritated by it but think it will be worth persevering with for a while, I've never really got into it or engaged with any potential customers. I have finally worked out how to add the Etsy tab thingy which shows everything which is in your shop, although it would appear that the lovely new wide pages over at Etsy seem to have buggered up the widget so it looks really random at the moment, but I'm sure the geeks will sort it out before the Forum Witches come after them! I've also been very brave and set up a Facebook Ad - I really don't know how they work but hope that my PayPal account isn't emptied overnight and that I earn a few view, fans or best of all sales.

It's Chorlton Film Institute night tonight and we're showing Sam Taylor Wood's Nowhere Boy which is about the pre-Beetles John Lennon and focuses on the apparently formidable women in his early life; his aunt and his mother. I'm looking forward to it, especially as it's a nice short film at only 90 mins unlike White Ribbon last month which was an epic 2hrs40mins! Even after clearing up we'll have time for a nice long visit to the Horse and Jockey for a glass or two of wine. I'll be Bookcrossing another five books there tonight, they have a nice book cabinet for customers to make use of, so I know they won't mind.

I can sing a rainbow....

2010-08-18T20:03:00.001+01:00

How impressive is this - especially considering it was taken on my iPhone!

I've been Bookcrossing!

2010-08-17T14:05:00.001+01:00

I joined Bookcrossing.com years and years ago and released many books into the wild as I cleared through my rather large library as I eventually learned to appreciate that I couldn't keep everything! That time has come again, and after a massive shift of all my novels, food and travel books from their spacious and comfortable home in the front hall to various other locations I have plucked out a few tomes which are surplus to my requirements. Halfway through bagging them up for charity I remembered my past passion for Bookcrossing and changed my tack.

So I have resurrected my old Bookcrossing Bookshelf and have this morning registered six of my many books. To register a book all you have to do is enter the ISBN number (or title or author) in the the little form and when your book shows up you click 'register' and are given a unique number which is to be applied to that particular book. You can just write in inside or you can print out little book-plates with the BC logo or you can do as I have which is to visit the BC store and purchase lovely printed book-plates, bookmarks, post it notes to make your books look pretty. I bought a load of kit years ago and I've plenty left I've also been putting one of my business cards inside each. Then you leave your book in the wild to be found by someone who will read the lable and follow the simple instrucions to go to the website, enter the unique code for the book and just say that they've found it. Then if they want to pass it on to someone else, or leave it in the wild, they go back to the book's little page online and say where it will be left. That way books can travel the world and all the people who have read it can follow it's journey. The best travelled book (Hoffnung's Constant Readers by Gerard Hoffnung.) has passed through the hands of 526 people which I think is pretty impressive!

I delivered my first batch of six to a lovely little cafe down the road called Silver Apples on Orchard Street (read my review here), they were gratefully recieved - I'd actually forgotten that they have a book club, so that can only be a good thing!

There are a few more cafes locally who will be the lucky recipients of my over purchasing and I'll have to think of a few other places too. I hope they are picked up in the spirit of Bookcrossing and that the new owners go to the site and register the books and I can follow where they go.

Here's a little snapshot of my pile of books on my desk waiting to be delivered.....

Mmmmm gooey cheese!

2010-08-14T22:26:00.000+01:00

Pave d'Affinois cheese from the Rhone-Alpes and some smelly Roqufort served with juicy Conference pears and walnut bread makes the perfect pudding to follow a roast chicken dinner!

Morocco Blue 2011 Calendar

2010-08-13T13:10:00.000+01:00

While the rain was endlessly pouring yesterday, I was transported back to the bright clear African skies and blues of Morocco as I worked on the layout of my Morocco Blues 2011 Calendar. After much tweaking of the numbers as I found that many of them were very hard to read on the sometimes busy backgrounds I was done. Then I noticed that two of my months were wrong! I had started May on the wrong day and somehow lost two days from November so I had to ungroup all the groupings in InDesign, make my adjustments and remake the PDFs. Done. Not done actually, as I luckily had my brain engaged and remembered that the layout for this current calendar had been made over the top of the Floral calender which I have listed in my shop. So I had to delve into the layouts for those two (the one in the case and the loose leaf version), make the edits, remake the PDFs again, chuck out the wrong pages from my two fully made up versions, and for once be very grateful that I hadn't sold something. It would have been extremely embarrassing to sell someone a calender where the dates were wrong. Phew.

When I'd sorted out my errors I printed a test version and was very happy. The next stage was to photograph the finished item but it was as dark as dusk at about 3pm as the rain bucketed and the thunder crashed and boomed. So I gave up that plan for the day! This morning although not exactly a blazing August day at least looked like daylight and I managed to take a few product shots when I returned home after my (hard) yoga class.

And after all that work here it is!

Morocco Blues 2011 Desk Calendar in a Clear Case by Eyeshoot Photography

The joys of the English Summer.....

2010-08-12T16:39:00.003+01:00

We're in the middle of quite a storm at the moment!

Posted from somewhere interesting using BlogPress from my iPhone!

Location: Manchester, United Kingdom

Delicous and very wicked fish and chips.

2010-08-11T15:24:00.000+01:00

We had an impromptu meet up with friends last night. We ended up at the newish fish and chip shop down the road where Peter and I hadn't been before despite it getting very good reactions from friends. I didn't really want to go as I'm in one of my sporadic trying not to be a total pig periods where I am generally careful about what I eat when I go out, try to exercise as much as possible and try to stay off the booze. I've been at it for a week and it's all going well. I went to the gym in the morning and been very productive and according to my heart rate monitor had burned a handy 900 calories or so (I don't usually go on a Tuesday, but as it turned out, it was just as well as no gym would have definitely been a no no for fish and chips!). After a discussion lasting for about two minutes we ended up at Frankie's Fish Bar and it was really very good.

The décor is nice and simple with a real feel of a traditional fish restaurant. The menu is pleasingly small and there's a tiny offering of wine, but we had tea and ginger ale instead. We all went for the cod and chips which came with home made Tartar sauce and a wedge of lemon - the (Heinz) ketchup, salt & vinegar were on the table. The seats are at the front of the tiny shop, the hot and smelly frying stuff is right at the back which is a very thoughtful layout as you don't end up hot and smelly during your meal. If you want a take away you just queue (and queue they did) down the side of the shop.

There's some serious frying history behind this modern chippy, Frank Hayes, the grandfather of the current Frankie's people opened his first fish and chip shop in Stockport in 1949 and served meals there for 19 years! From here he was in the business in one form or another for many years. I think that it's great to have the latest product from such a long and successful line of fryers just down the road! My waistline might disagree though......

The meals when they arrived were seriously impressive, the fish was golden, crisp and BIG. Inside the cod was perfectly white and steamy hot and the batter was very nice indeed. The chips were perfect, no little slimy grey offering here, just golden yumminess. I ate almost every morsel!

Frankie's Fish Bar
178 Burton Road
West Didsbury
M20 1LH
0161 445 3300

Yellow and White Daisy

2010-08-11T14:44:00.000+01:00

Here's one of the pictures which I've included in my new Floral Calendar for 2011. It's a photograph which I took a couple of years ago when I spent a lovely afternoon taking pictures in the beautiful garden of friends in Cheshire. I've retreated it with some gentle textures to make it look a little battered which I think suits the flower (NOT a weed!) very well! It's now available in my shop as a print as well as part of my calendar.

Yellow and White Daisy by Eyeshoot Photography

New 2011 Floral Desk Calendar

2010-08-09T22:08:00.000+01:00

Today I've finished the layout and design for my first 2011 calendar. It's a floral themed one with one sheet per month with a full sized image on each, it is available in a clear CD case, just like last years. I've also been working on the layout for a loose leaf one which uses the same pictures in the same order, but each page is a little larger than the ones which fit in the case.

2011 Floral Desk Calendar by Eyeshoot Photography - Introductory Price $25

Next up will be one with my Morocco Blue photos.

One day, Two Etsy Front Pages, Seven Sales!

2010-08-01T15:50:00.000+01:00

It's been a good few days in Etsy land! Someone enquired about an enlarged print and I explained about my A3 and 20x30 inch prints which are sizes I've previously offered and then she asked if I could make a 40x60 inch print which is MASSIVE and the answer was 'yes'. I'll be picking the print up from the lab on Monday or Tuesday and I can't wait to see how my Path Through Moss print will look. I'm now offering this size in my shop - the listing is here should you be interested.

We had a very busy day yesterday making lunch (roast tomato soup with basil oil and olive croutons, salad Nicoise, cheese) which went on till about 5.30, then two sets of friends popped round and we didn't go out as planned as I wasn't in the mood to eat out, so we drank lots of wine, finished off the cheese and sourdough and I russled a few edibles togeterh from the fridge and we chatted and nibbled till midnight.

When in bed I checked my email and discovered that my work had been on two Etsy Front Pages that evening and that I had made six sales to one person - hurrah! I'll be busy making prints on Monday.....

Here are the Front Pages:

Before The Wish By Curbside Treasure

You can see my Lanterns and Star Note Card here

Etsy Manchester by Yellow Squirrel

You can see my Spring Cherry Blossoms Print here

Thanks to both clever curators for including my work in their lovely Treasuries!

Lavender Outside

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Lavender Outside, originally uploaded by Eyeshoot Photography.

Lavender Jug and Pot

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Lavender Jug and Pot, originally uploaded by Eyeshoot Photography.

The sun shone.....

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Lavender Jug, originally uploaded by Eyeshoot Photography.

We had a lovely weekend with friends in Henley, much excellent food was consumed and wine imbibed. The sun shone, the dogs were friendly and the pool warm.

This pretty jug of lavender was in our bedroom - how could I resist!

Summertime, and the living is easy....

2010-07-24T16:55:00.001+01:00

It's been a lovely afternoon by the pool!

Posted from somewhere interesting using BlogPress from my iPhone!

The weekend starts here....

2010-07-23T19:38:00.001+01:00

Fizz on the terrace in the evening sunshine with friends. A very good way to end the week!

Posted from somewhere interesting using BlogPress from my iPhone!

Fish and chips for supper.

2010-07-21T20:59:00.000+01:00

We've had a very nice, and very greedy evening with our young chums Victoria and Paul partaking in a fish and chips binge. I love fish and chips but it's one of those things (like Cadbury's Swiss Gateaux) of which I limit my intake to a couple of times a year. I always manage to eat all of my chips and any leftovers too. Heinz ketchup is essential, as is salt and vinegar. I'd rather poke my eyes out than eat mushy peas or gravy. Now I feel utterly stuffed, but I spy a big bag of Maltesers by the kettle....

I'm off for a lie down now.

Posted from somewhere interesting using BlogPress from my iPhone!

A beautiful Treasury.

2010-07-21T11:37:00.001+01:00

How's this for a stunning Treasury! I've stopped posting each one which features my work as to be honest, there are too many, but I'll still be showing off the ones I think really stand out and this one certainly does. My Love in a Mist print has been featured. I think that the colour palate here is stunning, really fresh and unusual. Those coconut lime verbena soaps look good enough to eat, rather like coconut ice!

A Hint of Green

by Erica Daley