First Steps #5

What a lovely smile!

But then, I'm not at all surprised,
That smile shines through every piece of her work.

Upright and determined,

A girl with a plan...

Chic in tartan, Mademoiselle

A trendsetter, even then!

I love doing this photo feature.

Seeing little ones' first steps, seeing where they led...

Ingela P. Arrhenius is one of my favourite illustrators.

She's incredibly talented, prolific and fun, always innovating and surprising people the world over. Ingela's a Francophile and also vintage-mad with a preference for the 50's and 60's - books, clothes, knick-knacks, you name it, she likes it.

Don't miss her blog, it's chock-full of her daily finds, recent work and exhibitions.

Retro & colourful

Inspired & inspiring

A style of her own.

Bon Voyage Ingela - Have a great time in Paris!

First Steps #5

Un

Deux

Trois

First Steps

La première fois

First Wings

First Freedom
First Chance

To Explore

Conquer
 And
Explore some more
Tout seul

Today's First Steps guest is the lovely Cristina Camarena, a founder of Kireei, chief editor of this fine magazine, an English teacher and mum to a super little boy. Cris sent me a photo of herself on her first bike, when she'd just learned how to ride it on holiday at her aunt's and uncle's in Setaigües, a little town in the region of Valencia. Doesn't she look sweet? I'm looking forward to making an album with all the photos in this feature, I think it's interesting to see where all those First Steps led to, don't you?

I also wanted to thank Cris for inviting me to write a guest post over at Kireei today -  The UK handmade scene, my thoughts and faves, over here.

Graçias Cris !

First Steps #4

Don't you just love these photos? Hazel Terry's personality shines through in all of them. They speak volumes, I think.

Hazel is an artist and art educator, passionate about art, craft and design. Her blog The art room plant is one of my daily reads.  Quite frankly, it's one of the nicest, most creative sites I know, jam-packed with her own work, craft activities for children of all ages, 

Violet

 Yesterday's painted Easter Eggs

Decorating the walls for Freya's 6th birthday party last week

and a continous stream of amazing art from all disciplines. I really don't know where she finds so many gems.

Joanne Liu

Unity Coombes

Nathalie Niebach

Georg Cevales

 Her blog is wonderful, give yourself 5 minutes, or maybe an hour, to look through some of her recent posts. If you like art you'll love the art room plant, it's a visual treasure box, a magical place - I wouldn't miss it for the world.

First Steps #2

 

A while ago I started a new photo feature called First Steps. I thought it would be interesting and fun to turn back the clock and have a look at some of you, my blogging friends, as toddlers. I think I'll make a photo album of you all.

It all began with this photo of my husband running in the garden, remember?

Today I'd like to share a picture of another happy little boy, playing with his helicopter.That's hardly surprising when you know him, he loves toys.

Does he look familiar I wonder?

It's somebody we all love and admire, somebody with immense talent and imagination...a constant source of inspiration.

Maybe it would help if I showed you his own lovely, lucky children?

Oh fiddlesticks, I knew that would give it away!

Joel Henriques, you're a sport!

Thank you so much for playing along,

I'm sure your parents are proud of you!

 Whose turn next?

First Steps

Dominique - 16 Months Old, August 1969

(click to enlarge)

I love this black and white photo of my husband, curly-haired and carefree, running off in the garden.

It's my image of the day, and the start of a new photo feature called "First Steps". Next week, I'll be digging out a few of my own photos and then I will be inviting some of you, my blogging pals, to share a picture or two on Kickcan & Conkers.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!