Calling all happy bloggers!

Have you registered for Blognix yet? There's just one week to go before ticket sales close for the big event that sees bloggers come together at Birmingham's creative quarter, The Custard Factory, to learn from and inspire each other.

Images Credit - The Custard Factory

Blognix is all about promoting positivity in the blogging community, celebrating all that is great about blogging and helping you take your blog to the next level.

I am thrilled to be hosting the photography session after not being able to last year!

My photography workshop session is called Finding Happiness in Everyday because quite simply that is what photography means to me.

It's my go to happy place, behind the lens of my Canon or staring into the screen of my iPhone.

I could count on one hand the number of days in the last few years where I haven't taken a photo. I don't feel a slave to my camera, my "big camera" sits on the dresser in the dining room and every now and again, when I am not using it for work work, I will grab it and snap something, but generally I am content with the camera that is never far away.

Since reactivating my unloved Instagram account a few months ago I have fallen in love with my phone camera. No pressure of settings and playing around with Aperture or ISO, just snap and go.

Making photography part of your everyday life is easy. When you see something you want to remember, snap it. Then and there. It takes seconds!

My phone camera roll is bursting with images that I may forget about for a while but that all mean something at any given moment. 

I am a natural light photographer. I have a set of studio lights that have never seen the light of day (excuse the pun). At Blognix I am going to talk about creating quality content for your blog and social media, maximising the natural light around you, encouraging your creative side and inspiring others with your wonderful imagery. 

The session will concentrate on practical ways you can improve your photography skills, develop and hone your own style to produce consistently high quality content for your blog and social media. A chance to learn more about styling, composition, hints and tips for taking great photos on the go and at home. You will also get a chance to play with my props!

My motto is all about making the ordinary extraordinary. 

So come and join me at Blognix, along with the incredibly talented speakers and like minded bloggers all excited for a day of community spirit and indulging our blogging passions!

If you are already going let me know! And make sure you say hello!

Now go and snap something that makes you happy and share it!

If you haven't found me on Instagram I am HERE and you can also find happy photos on my Pippit feed. A great new sharing site for like minded creatives!

You can share photos, videos, add links (unlike Instagram) and the app shares your blog posts too. Brilliant! Come and be part of it from the start. It feels like I am part of a wonderful community who love a good floral photo or two. Hooray!

I am capturebylucy :)

There's a funny saying "post wedding blues" that I have heard a lot from friends over the years and even experienced myself 8 years ago. That strange post event lull, that the roller coaster build up leading up to an important celebration is balanced by the come down immediately after all the planning has come to fruition.

I felt a strange sort of creative exhaustion after spending the weekend in London for the very first Blogtacular. I had joined in with the Wednesday night Twitter chats leading up to the main event and had whipped myself into a mini frenzy of excitement and nervousness, knowing I would be in the same room as a number of bloggers I worship.

For 36 hours I became a sponge, soaking up every bit of inspiration and advice on offer and by the time my head hit the pillow on Saturday evening, I felt like I had been hit by a bus. Because Blogtacular was made for me, made for the kind of blogger I aspire to be.

A pink seated venue packed with architecture that instantly makes you reach for your camera and crane your neck backwards to capture the magnificent ceilings, and 200 odd bloggers who believe it is absolutely socially acceptable to create little Instagram vignettes of flowers and honeycomb balls on a daily basis.

Heaven. I felt like I had walked into my creative home.

It's difficult to know what is best at conferences, to frantically scribble notes, photograph every slide or just listen. I found a little bit of each was perfect for me. I learnt some key lessons about  my love of blogging at Blogtacular. 

For once in my life I was early. Seriously early. I stepped off the train at Waterloo to a sea of people. A wall of noise hit me with the high pitched whistling of the train guards and the thunderous clip clap like horses, of the hundreds of pairs of feet rushing through the platform. So for an hour I was lost in London, with my camera and no shame whatsoever snapping away like an over enthusiastic tourist.

But I wasn't alone for long as I bumped into Xanthe, a fellow I Heart Snapping contributor and we bustled into a Pret a Manger on the corner of Piccadilly to wait for the other ladies who were checking into their hotel. Unfortunately as is the way in London, they headed to another branch and we only managed to meet in the queue outside the venue!

For an hour we gassed about photography and blogging over tea and edamame beans! I felt terribly lucky having time with a professional photographer and videographer whose time capsule videos have just been featured on the Canon website! I don't often take video on my Canon but I feel inspired to change that over this Summer.

Blogtacular is about being the best you, that you can be. Appreciating the value and contribution you make and about growing your blog to fulfil your aspirations.

The venue had such presence, the perfect backdrop for a weekend of learning.

The Friday evening was an informal get together, a chance to mingle, pick up the goody bags and browse the stacks of gorgeous books, meet some authors and make new acquaintances and friends. I was thrilled to meet Ellie, the author of one of my favourite interiors books, Design Bloggers at Home, whose humble nature made me adore her even more.

The highlight of the weekend happened very early for me! The keynote speaker for Friday evening was Joy Cho. The number one Pinner with over 13 million followers on Pinterest with an epic blog empire. 

My brother very kindly walked me up and down the aisles of Target in America on FaceTime recently and bought a number of party items from her successful accessories line! It felt so surreal to be in the presence of a blogging goddess, who at the same time couldn't have been more approachable and friendly. It's easy to build up an image of someone in your mind, a blogger who you follow on a daily basis, who you feel you know, despite never having actually met them.

And that weight of expectation can so easily lead to disappointment but not with Joy! For almost 2 hours, and pregnant, she stood and spoke with the rouse of professional motivator and the humility of a mother, doing her best to juggle every aspect of her life.

I left the venue feeling like part of Robin Hood's gang of merry men. Inspired and delighted to have an evening free to talk blogging all night!

Saturday was a whirlwind. From waking up at my Mum's house in Ashford at 6.30am with Ollie in bed with me, who had suffered from a bad dream at 3am and wriggled for the rest of the night, to catching the train back into London with a minute to spare, to arriving slightly flustered from a stuffy tube journey.

And then it started.

Speaker after speaker with something different, but equally uplifting, to share with the finale given by an incredibly talented and driven woman Natalie. I don't want to spoil any surprises because if you missed out on the conference you can register for a virtual ticket!

You can find the details here. 

These are my over riding thoughts from the weekend.

I loved being in a room of people who understood me. Understood my motivation for setting up little Instagram vignettes, endlessly playing with flowers and finding time amongst the mayhem of family life to be creative.

There were bloggers from all blogging circles, parent bloggers, craft bloggers, food bloggers, design bloggers, stylists and more. But with a common and collective theme of fulfilling your creative potential.

I giggled like a school girl as I asked for a photo with Joy. I stood almost open mouthed and wide eyed like Sammy on the first day of pre school, as a wave on inspiration came over me talking to Cathy, put the blogging world to rights with Heather and Gemma and felt so proud when Rich met me at a restaurant and sat down to chat with the bloggers who had carried on the conference at Cha Cha Moon. Well done to Emily for organising it! I wanted him to see what it all means to me.

And I wish I could have met everyone one. Because I have found in blogging, that one connection leads to another and another. And like minded people will lead you to more wonderfully like minded people!

I learnt so many lessons, here are a few:

• Kat Goldin has a hypnotic American accent and without hesitation I would fly to Scotland to have a cup of tea with her. Just to listen. 10 minutes with Kat and I felt like a new blogger, ready to take on the world!
• Kat Molesworth makes me want to exclusively wear colour and throw away all the block colour black items in my wardrobe, and never give up on something I believe in.
• White space is your friend. Cue the delete button on my "jazzy" background.
• Don't play it safe. It's your space on the internet!
• Don't give up. Keep trying to open doors until one stays open.
• Every blog can add value and that value should be recognised. 
• Reward your loyal readers in creative ways. 
• Set a friendly out of office if you feel overwhelmed with opportunities and enquiries.
• Always take the goody bags. Always! 
• It's perfectly acceptable to walk through the streets of a city with a handful of helium balloons and take an endless amount of photos. 
• My daily requirement of tea far outweighs the amount of ml little hotel cups and saucers can hold. Next year I may have to bring my own mug.
• Bring blog cards and don't keep them in your bag!
• Instagram can build a social media community in minutes.
• Your love for blogging will explode when you spend 36 hours with people who share your creative ambition.
• I'm not just a blogger. I am a writer, photographer, published author and entrepreneur.

I bored Rich senseless on our night together in London! In fact over the most delicious sea food I have ever had in Randall and Aubin I don't think I paused for breath!

I woke up on Sunday morning with a new feeling of confidence and calmness. You have to blog your way because there is no other way! Be yourself.

After a quick scoot into a charity shop (Only in London could there be a charity shop open on a Sunday!) we went home to 2 excited boys, who screamed out of Granny's car windows from the second they saw our train pull into the station to the moment we kissed them through the open windows, and a nice surprise from John Lewis - which looked rather lovely propped with my bargain charity shop £2.50 milk glass vase!

Until next time Blogtacular, I had a blast!

It is the most wonderful thing, as a passionate blogger, to scroll down a shortlist of award nominees and see your name! 

My heart was in my chest when I refreshed the BritMums site for the 10th time (Yes I was honestly that excited/hopeful and I'm not ashamed to admit it!) to see if my blog had been lucky enough to get through the the shortlist for the Brilliance in Blogging Awards 2014. 

I fell off my chair when I saw I have been shortlisted in both the Photo category and Outstanding!

You have no idea how much this means to me! I literally danced around the house like a loon and whilst I hold out no hope of making the finals, I mean have you seen the competition this year, (Yikes) I wanted to say thank you, thank you, thank you!

I love giving flowers as a thank you present so I have created some free downloadable wallpapers for your mobile phone!

My photos for you. I am calling this the Spring Collection and if you like them, I will upload some other variations as the seasons change. There is a bright and light version depending on your preference and all you need to do is click on the photo to the download link and it's yours.

The last photo is my current iPhone wallpaper and is from a DIY post I have to share soon.

The wallpapers are big enough that they should fit all phone display sizes, but if you have any trouble let me know and I will fix it!

Blogging is a part of my life I couldn't live without. The community, the support, the encouragement and the inspiration. 

I have been overwhelmed this weekend after speaking at the Blogs Up North conference Blog On. Overwhelmed in the best way possible by the incredible thanks and appreciation from the bloggers who attended my props and styling part of the main photography session. I am so touched and am grateful for every single happy tweet and message. I'll be posting later in the week all about the day and you can get your own copy of my Props and Styling Cheat Sheet if you missed the conference.

All I have ever wanted from my blog is to make people happy. Happy when they read it, smile at the silly photo shoots I take and inspire others to get as excited about photography as I am.

Congratulations to everyone who made the shortlist this year and good luck! You can see the full list here.

UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who voted! I am through to the Finals in the Photo category and can't wait to celebrate with all the Finalists in June. We have all done so well to reach the Finals!

ps. If you download the wallpaper let me know! 

Check out all my other free downloadable wallpapers here!