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Images 1-3: Jo Bartholomew and 8: Fran Mackenzie

Lately I’ve been struggling to keep time aside for my own creative pursuits and it’s been ever so frustrating.  Amidst a business that completely surrounds all things creative, I still end up with so little opportunity to explore the things that really inspire and motivate me.   Probably because when I’m not running the creative business, I’m buried underneath other business.. family business or school business or renovation business.   Oh, and did I ever mention we also have a childcare center?  That we do.

And another not so small something..you know when I said I was thinking of moving on from making babies?  Or trying to make babies? Well I didn’t.  I haven’t.  In a four year long moment of insanity, it seems I’m not yet able to let go of that particular wish and each babyless month continues to roll around while I continue to visit the doctor or the clinic or the acupuncturist, lugging along a confusing jumble of hope and resignation and frustration..all wrapped up in a heavy layer of meh.    If I ponder it too long I feel 1000 degrees of unstable so lets not.

My point is that much of my week is spent juggling a lot of balls, all of which I have a great deal of passion, good help and only just enough time for.  Generally, I manage okay.   I wouldn’t say I’m the most structured person on the Planet and every day is just about crossing off the things that absolutely have to be done but I seem to get from A to B with my sanity in tact most of the time.   Do I think there is a better way?  Hell yes.  Am I  going to pull that off any time soon?  Twice over, Hell no.  So I just accept the crazy that seems to be our lives and appreciate the good things that come out of the madness.  The trouble with this is that in the midst of trying to being efficient and organized and positive there are many days where I find I barely resemble myself anymore. Where a ponytail is essential and somehow a balanced meal is not.

So, I’ve gone and done something that feels awfully indulgent, but so very right.   I’ve taken back Thursdays.  Yes yes, I’m putting aside one day a week that belongs to me.  Not the busy, stretched, distracted, whats-next-on-the-list-me but the other one.  The girl who used to lie under the sprinkler outside, listening to The Doors.   Her.  I leave all of the grown up things back at Wednesday night and for just one day, I hang out.  I have hot chocolate with my sister.  We order nachos.  We reminisce and dream and sometimes we laugh so hard nothing comes out.  We swap Canon and Nikon.  We play with film.  Or Instagram.  It doesn’t matter.  We talk to strangers and we ask to take their photos and no one’s ever said no.  We’ve had massages and we’ve explored the dollar stores and we’ve tracked down the house we lived in as toddlers.  We drive with no set destination and no schedule and eventually, someone has to ring us to say come home.

It took me so very long to justify this time in my week..years actually..and now I can’t imagine it not being there.   So you, all of you frazzled working mothers, sahm mothers, self employed business owners,  dedicated employees,  stressed out students..I think we should all take back a day in our week.  If it feels hard to do, it isn’t.  Really, it isn’t.  It’s actually much harder to get by without it.   No matter how important your role in whatever realm, I’m inviting you to set aside something for yourself.   Your self will pay you back ten fold.  What say you?

xx

It’s true, we are live.

And I’m just a little bit excited. After having spent the past..well lets not even talk about how long this has all taken..lets just say that this has been a while in the making. A long while since I began collecting pretty pictures and favorite fonts and an ocean of ideas to create a new site…all based in wanting something sweet and unique and meaningful to me. A custom website is a big project at the best of times but wanting to incorporate a beautiful place for Ava’s memories alongside my business and personal website needs was never going to be a quick thing.

While my inspiration folder (and sense of confusion) grew, it was ultimately a gift from my beautiful friend Fran, in the form of a Kristal Melson illustration, that formed the beginnings of the finished site you see here. I instantly fell in love with Kristal’s quirky style (read: knee high socks) and before long, I was sending her all sorts of snippets and imagery.

Not much later, she sent back my gorgeous enchanted garden, filled with memories and whimsy and pretty, pretty things. The child is my sweet Ivy, inspired from this image. Every element in this illustration is a reminder of something dear to my heart and the chimes you hear are recorded from a vintage music box, owned by Crayton’s Mum, Vivienne. The tune is Some Enchanted Evening. While I know most of you come directly to the blog, I wanted to give the full illustration it’s own special place and it now serves as a home page to navigate around from.

Over time, the wonderful Katie Kolenberg refined ideas with me and designed a beautiful, simple hand-drawn logo to fit with my love of vintage inspired fonts. Then along came Josh Nash who made things fade and blink and fly. Finally, to pull it all together, the rather amazing Renee Swigert from Ribbons of Red performed her magic and created something far beyond my greatest expectations. Every one of these people did a fantastic job and I cannot recommend them highly enough.

Please have a look around, you’ll see a beautiful new layout for Ava’s section that I’m particularly in love with, a new category called Pretty Pretty Things where I plan to share some lovely finds and lots of other little things that make me feel right at home.

I hope you love it here just as much as I do.

Sheye xx

The last year has been tough.  A different kind of tough to the one I knew previously..a somewhat self inflicted phase of difficulty, based in a large degree of over-commitment and a misguided belief that I was somehow super human.  Impervious.  Able to accomplish far more than the average mortal in less time and no hiccups.     I’ve come to recognize that I’m prone to filling the smallest gap with the biggest of tasks and that when you’re already trying to juggle lots of other tasks, that’s probably not a good thing.  It’s certainly not a sustainable thing.   Crayton says I just don’t have that normal human ability to know when enough is enough.  I can’t argue with him.  (Though Lord knows I tried some days).  BUT, I’m certain I’m not alone here.  As women, mothers, partners, friends, daughters, employees and self employed business owners, over-committed (sliding into over-whelmed) is a natural state of being a lot of the time but you do know when it’s no longer okay.   When something has to give, before your sanity does.  There are times when less really is so much more.

So, with all that confessed, I can also tell you I’ve come through the worst of it, I’ve once again learned to say no when I need to and wow,  it sure feels mighty fine.  Apart from the lingering guilt of neglecting people who didn’t deserve it  along the way (self included), right now my heart feels happy and light and right.   I’m so relieved and I’m so looking forward to the rest of this year..both personally and professionally.

Speaking of Eye Candy things, some of you may have seen on Facebook that we’re running a post processing workshop in May.  We’re just finalizing the details for that and should have updates out this coming week.  It’s something we plan to continue doing through the rest of this year so if you don’t get a place offer for this coming workshop, please don’t worry..there will be more.  (Along with other fun workshop things planned!)

In other verrrry exciting news, I am about to launch a new Eye Candy Actions  set.  It’s been months in the making but I’m so happy with it  and am just putting the last touches on a new website.  I will let you know as soon as it’s launched – hopefully just days away.

One last bit of news, and very much about change, is that this is my last entry on this blog.   Well, this blog with this layout and design that is.   I’ve had this pretty mix of pink and polkadots for two years now.. it’s time for something new.  The creating of something new has been a very long process (did I hear someone say indecisive perfectionist?) but we’re finally there.  In the next day or so we’ll shut shop while things are rearranged and prettied up, and in just a little bit we’ll open the doors to something new and beautiful.   I’m normally sentimental at this stage but not today.  Today I’m embracing the chance to do things differently and so very excited to see what lies ahead.   I can’t wait to share it with you.

Love Sheye xx

ps, Ivy and Baby, yesterday.  Five minutes in the sunlight before my temperamental model began visibly scowling and trying to feed Baby grass.   5d Mk2, 85mm 1.8.

Annnd, something else…  I figure we might just have an Eye Candy Actions giveaway!  There’s no special conditions to win but if you feel the urge to share a favorite website, I’m always on the lookout for something new and interesting, like a frequent stop of mine, Little Miss Heirlooms who manages to find the cutest things.   Add a comment and make sure we know how to get in touch if you’re the lucky winner!

Never can do a nakie post so here’s some pretty from a recent session with Ms Krysta. I love these images and I love that she let me take them and even better, let me share them with you.  We took them in ten minutes and there may or may not have been champagne involved.  Before noon.  :)  Gorgeous? Yes.

Sheye xx

I feel like I’m sneaking in oh-so-quietly and taking my seat at the back of the hall. I haven’t really done my assignment, which was to blog often when I returned, and I have so many reasons why I don’t know where to start.  So many photos taken over the last two months, I don’t know what to share.  I have the words and images, they’re all neatly assembled in my mind, but finding the time to proof and blog..well that’s where I’m struggling.   On top of the usual  busyness of business amidst school holiday chaos, Luca happened to acquire a fractured foot after moving his leg at high speed in the direction of his brother, Jackie Chan style.  We then all came down with a horror flu which is still lingering.  And, of course, the devastating Queensland floods have added another layer of  unexpected to this month.  So, goodbye routine…hello mayhem.

I’ll save the holiday chatter (oh it was wonderful) for my next post but for now, I’ll just share some snaps taken yesterday at mine..Aria and Ivy.  Long time blog readers will remember beautiful Aria..spoken of here and here.

Beautiful Sunday to you,

Sheye x

it’s been that kind of month.

and tomorrow we leave for cali.forn. i. a.
i really, really should be packing and panicking.  not blogging.  but i’ve missed you all and i know it’s been too long and i promise, cross my heart, i will post more often as soon as i’m home again.
until then i will take lots of photos and breathe in the new and be so very glad for three uninterrupted and unplanned weeks with my babies doing not very much at all in our most favorite place on Earth.

much loves,
sheye xx

ps..we can’t have an image-less post so here’s one from a recent session with molly.
beautiful. wise. two.
i’ll share more when i return! x

Just another thing to add to our ever-growing list of Reasons to Love the US of A.  It’s getting rather long.

Sheye xx

Canon 5d Mark II, Lensbaby
Processed with Eye Candy Actions Hush | Caramel Overlay

Drive to Santa Monica and stop at Rachel Ashwell then near faint with delight and ponder whether one can trade one’s soul for a petticoat light shade.
Visit cute organic cafe for lunch and feel so much better for eating something grown in a garden and do well at avoiding the chocolate heart cake then try to find salt water taffy instead.
Buy yellow Converse for Mikey and a pink bunny for Ivy and silver crown china for you and swoon over that sweet little pillow for me.
Oh, and see what can be done with one vintage frock, thirty minutes of light, bare feet and a pretty, pretty street.

Don’t Forget.

Canon 5d Mark 2 | 24-70 2.8
Edited with Eye Candy Actions Lightswitch | Toy Camera | Softly | Hush

Very shortly, I leave for California.  Just me.  Well me, my camera, a bulging suitcase and a whole lot of excitement.  At the other end, I’ll hopefully find Krysta who’s a wee bit excited herself.  Ten days of uninterrupted face to face conversation would be enough but we’ve added a few other things to the list, like:

- shop vintage
- shoot in gorgeous light
- pour wine
- meet beautiful friends
- take road trips
- discover side alleys and back streets
- forget schedules
- try not to eat cupcakes for breakfast.  Well, not every day.

I am so looking forward to this…it’s just what my soul needs right now.   You might have gathered I’ve been otherwise distracted the last few weeks, things big and small have taken my attention but I’m looking forward to a calmer time and some exciting changes coming up after I return :)

And talking of things my soul needs..I spent a good part of this past weekend with nine of the girls from my last Evolve workshop who’d traveled from all over Australia to be here.  We lounged around,  ate lollies,  talked photography,  learned about one other,  and laughed.  What amazing, gorgeous beings.  How truly blessed I feel.  I’m quite certain there is some unseen force that canvases participants for my workshops and only lets the beautiful people through.  Thankyou, girls..my heart is full and happy today :)

Sheye xx