Last year I wrote this post and created 12 little pretty envelopes to keep my creative spirit alive and consistent throughout the year. In each envelope was scrap paper notes of ideas for each month. Keeping seasonal ideas in the relevant months. 

It can be hard to stay inspired because I think writing a blog is tricky.

It's tricky because there will be times when you are bursting with ideas, times when you have no time to action any of those ideas and times when you feel a little out of love with it all. For me, everyday life can sometimes be so consuming, my blog has to be pushed down the priority list. 

I have found the last month frustrating. Frustrating because I feel my creativity has been squashed under a pile of removal boxes. 

Last night I went around the house with a tray and collected bits of red that I could see (That have seen the light of day since the big move!). Props for future blog post ideas I haven't thought of yet and today there was an hour when I fiddled about with chocolatey spoons and photographed all the bits I had collected. I photographed them in the conservatory lean to, squeezed into a little space by the back door, next to the recycling box - very glamorous!

I find colour so inspirational.

And taking just one colour at a time gives me 20 blog post ideas in one. Each of the items you see gave me an idea or 2. Craft ideas for Valentine's Day, something to bake, a Bento lunch to make and history to share. A learning game idea, a first birthday to plan and a new hobby to challenge me and document on this blog.

I found one of my Granny's cook books with handwritten recipes so faint on the red lined paper, you have to retrace them to read them.

But blog content galore!

Props are all around you. They create a picture and tell a story, and provoke creativity.

When I make something to post, especially a food related article, I will have in my mind before I start even buying ingredients, how the final image will look that you see. For me it's part of the pleasure. Sometimes I sketch it out, often I store things for a rainy day idea and I find it helpful to mock it up on my iPhone to see how it looks.

Like making mini stories with each post.

So watch out for all the bits and bobs you see here popping up in a post soon.

For 2014 I am going to change how I blog #SundayPropShop. Instead of a fortnightly link up, I am going to blog all the lovely images I see tweeted, on Facebook, on Pinterest and posted on blogs, by you! People I follow, people I read, people who inspire me.

There were some incredible posts linked up last year and I can see so many blogs taking more time and effort with the presentation and styling of their photographs, which I would love to help show off!

I will always link back to your sites so other readers can find your creative content too.

So make sure you tweet me or send me a link to your posts and photos using #SundayPropShop so I can feature you!

How are you keeping inspired this year?

You can read Sunday Prop Shop Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 and Part 6 by clicking the links or on the photos above.

Tax is a tricky business.

I wanted to update this post as being self employed for the last good few years has definitely been a learning curve when it comes to being responsible for your own accounts and tax returns. 

I wrote this post back in 2013 after a group discussion and a few chats with my closest blogger pals, I realised that this could be valuable information for those confused, overwhelmed, or curious. I am not a financial adviser but I have pulled this information from the Government's website. I just thought it would be easier to have a checklist in one place instead of scrolling through lots of pages. 

I had done the usual searches and could only find information specifically related to blogging on American sites from other bloggers trying to help each other. 

Unfortunately our tax system is completely different to the US, so I thought I would write a simple post that may help anyone else with the same queries I had.  

I have attended a couple of blog conferences this year and at each they talked about how to promote your blog commerically and the sessions on how to monetize your blog, seemed to all be really well received. At BritMums Live there was a session on Accountancy (you can see the slides here) which took those who attended through the basics of what you need to know when it comes to setting yourself up as self employed if your intention is to make some money from your blog.

I completely missed this session and, of all the many posts I read following BritMums Live, I didn't hear a whisper about it. The follow up post is great and really helpful, so do read it.

I feel that there is more emphasis on how to make money from your blogs, rather than the implications of making money from it.

At the Blog Summit event the advertising program was promoted at the start of the session with an informative speech from the PR company.

But I think the implications of earning money from your blog should be as heavily promoted.

I am not a tax expert, but I am self employed as a consultant in the development industry, a part time photographer and blogger, and I know that you have to declare ANY income you receive.

HMRC state quite clearly that if you earn any money from temporary or part time work you must declare this income, even if it is below the current threshold for income tax.

The current annual threshold is £9,440. This is the maximum you can earn in total before you are liable to pay tax.

UPDATE: Following a reader's comment, it's important to realise that this threshold is the total amount of income you can earn. If you blog as a second, pocket money income and are employed, you should get advice from your local tax office. If you pay your tax through your employer, then all your blog income could be liable for tax. 

Whilst "blogger" is not defined in the list of situations where you are classed as self employed, you need to decide whether you think that being a part time, full time or every now and again blogger, who earns some sort of income from their blog, falls into the self-employed category.

Possible next steps:

• Register for self assessment online. You can do that here.
• Apply for a Certificate of Small Earnings Exception from National Insurance contributions if your profits from your blog are less than £5,965 (as of January 2017). Or you can opt to pay Class 2 contributions.
• If your profits are more than this you will be required to pay your own National Insurance contributions. Further information on this is available here. 
• Ring your local tax office or Citizens Advice Bureau if you have any queries, including any regarding deductible expenses. 
• Organise all your blog related financial documents including invoices, print your PayPal statement if you use PayPal as a form of payment and any receipts from expenses you have incurred through your blog.

Keeping a good record is essential. There are a number of expenses you can deduct from any potential taxable income. 

Here is my updated list for 2017

These are listed on the Government website as allowable expenses if you are submitting your tax return under the cash basis accounting system. This applies if you earn less than £83,000 from your self employed/sole trader business.

All the information you need to work out what expenses are allowable are here. 

Invoicing

Always invoice a company you work with on your blog. This can be a simple Word or Pages document.

Points to include on an invoice are:

• Date
• Invoice Number
• Company
• Contact name, number and email
• Reference (Describe the work i.e. sponsored post/advert/competition) 
• Amount due
• Date payment is due by
• Payment Method
• If you are invoicing for an advert you may want to include whether the artwork is supplied and what size).

This is not a definitive list and do let me know what else you include so we can share information. 

I am of the mindset that if you want to run your blog professionally, (if you want to earn an income that is is - not everyone does!) that corresponding with and invoicing companies in a professional manner is good practise. No matter how much you may earn.

The same applies for any adverts you run on your blog that you receive an income for. 

This is not official advice from HMRC. I would like to highlight again that I am not an accountant nor a tax expert!

The deadline for paying your tax for the year ending April 2016 is 31st January 2017. 

There is loads of advice on line at gov.uk.

Is it just me or has the whole world fallen in love with food styling? I guess that is the power and magic of Twitter because over the last few months, I have found and followed the most incredibly talented food bloggers. 

Which means my Twitter news feed is full of delicious photos and inspiring foodie anecdotes. 

The only downside is that you have to cook and I am on the inadequate scale of proper cooking, for now. So I thought I would let my first love, inspire the dishes. I love photography and specifically styled photography. 

I enjoy nothing better than a mini photo shoot in the garden (hooray for natural light and no nasty flash) and on my charity shop travels this week, searching for a giant stuffed monkey toy, for my Monkey Surgery lucky dip, (for Ollie's Doctor Party - photos coming up this week!) I found some "props" to inspire the cook that I hope is lurking inside.

It may seem a funny way to fall in love with food but it's working for me. I am being more adventurous, have found a new blog energy and can totally indulge in combining styled product photography with flowers. They are my fail safe prop.

I feel like I am developing my own style, to the point that I would like it to be recognisable as one of my posts or photos.  

I follow a number of food blogs, a couple more for the photography than to repeat the recipes, but that is why I love them. For me they are lifestyle blogs too.  

I have read a lot about blogs that post 10 different photos of the same dish and how awful that is, but I totally disagree. If you have gone to a huge effort of making something wonderful then I say show it off! Your blog is not a recipe book it's a blog! You have the freedom to post as much as you want!  

I love seeing a recipe step by step guide in photo form, it makes it easier to copy at home and seeing how people present their food with different props and styling. I am disappointed with just one photo!  

Pinterest and it's success, is a great example of how important the visual side of your blog or website is. Pinterest is all about pinning photos. 

I have a few dishes up my sleeve for the next few weeks, think rustic, think easy to repeat at home and think flowers in the foreground! 

All inspired by these little beauties from my local hospice shop. 

An old sieve for 50p, a metal bowl for 50p and a small cooling tray for £1. Now I am going to have to learn how to bake! 

I love layering my photos. Texture for the background, (I used an old wooden green chest from our lounge for these photos) fabric, adding height by stacking the plates and bowls and pretty flowers.

The food photography I find engaging always uses lovely fabric napkins. Unless I can learn to sew overnight, I need a quicker fix to my napkin dreams. I found it in the form of second hand table cloths! Perfect for using a small corner as a makeshift napkin. £1 a piece. 

I also snapped up a vintage white and blue edged enamel bowl for £1 and a children's play tin saucepan.  

I couldn't resist the set of antique copper measuring cup pans. Perfect for picture perfect mini bakes (although not eggs as my mother in law read they can taste funny cooked in a copper tin). They have beautiful bottoms! Really! Pretty floral patterns engraved into their underneaths. I also found a sweet fish knife which compliments some old spoons I picked up for 20p!

The glass plates are a complete contrast with the more rustic bits and bobs, but I feel that's my style, or the style I hope to have! Secondhand vintage pieces mixed with pretty precise classics.

A little while ago I picked up a few bits in Vintage Von, the local vintage super store. This Schweppes Soda Bottle was one of them. 

My blog is my hobby, so instead of a gym membership I buy things I can use time and time again for my photography. That are useful too! The glass plates would make perfect jewellery trays on our chest of drawers in our bedroom.

My last bargain to share is a little international purchase. Having a brother with a US shipping address is awesome. Just look at the crazy international shipping cost!  He was the one and only bidder on these vintage utensils! I can't wait to pick them up and bring them home in August when we visit for a week! In fact my sister in law has a wicked healthy homemade pizza recipe, which I might just have to get her to guest blog! 

What are your favourite props for mini photo shoots at home? 

Have you found any bargains this week? I am hoping I might pick up a few bits on our weekend to Honfleur, France in less than 2 weeks! 

ps. I am going to do another post dedicated to the actual food photography I love and my tips for getting great pictures at home. Coming soon!

To have a look at some of my favourite past food posts click on one of the photos below.  

Orange Blossom Cocktail

Summer Berry Bake

Homemade Mini Milks

Summer Canapé