The day I worked at LCF...

So today I started my job at London College of Fashion. I will be working there for a few weeks before I start my new course at Roehampton. Everything seems a little bit hectic right now but hopefully it will all sort itself out. I had my friend Pete over tonight and we have some wine and talked a bit which was lovely. I really need some sleep at the moment as I am going to have a really busy week. I created this secret by using some stickers - I hope you like this one. I have been given a few blog awards lately and I am really looking forward to posting them. Thank you to all my fellow bloggers who enjoy each post, it is so nice to know that you like what I'm doing. How is your week going so far? Enjoy!

The day I couldn't fight it...

This is my most recent secret, I hope you like this one. I actually think it is going into my list of favourites - what do you think? I created this AI by using the inside of an envelope and some lovely card. Enjoy!

The day I prepared...

This is my favourite secret from postsecret this week - go and have a look for yourself at www.postsecret.com. This is a secret I have never shared (partly because it is a little bit weird) but every time I see an ambulance racing to or from an accident I always say a silent prayer. As soon as I saw this secret I thought I should probably share it with you. I hope you are having a good weekend, enjoy!

The day I returned...

How are all of you? Thanks for the lovely comments while I was away. This is my latest secret, I created it by cutting these berries out from some old Christmas wrapping paper - I love how it looks like the whirly DNA thing (I'm no scientist, okay?). My time spent in Winchester was really fun, despite having a bit of a disastrous night out. I am glad to be home and I still have a few days before I start working at LCF so hopefully a bit of downtime for me. What are you up to? Enjoy!

The day before I went to Winchester...

I wanted to post this before I go away tomorrow as I'm not sure when I'll have a chance to blog. I am all about flowers recently, aren't I? Maybe it is my happy disposition at the moment. I created this secret by cutting the flowers from some wrapping paper from last Christmas - I have used it before but you might not recognise it. I want to thank you for all your lovely comments recently, it is so nice to know that people are interested in my little blog. I also want to thank My Name Is S. for writing about me in her latest blog post, she writes the loveliest blog so go and check it out: www.stirred-words.blogspot.com. Speak to you in a few days, enjoy!

The day of the final...

Here is my newest secret, I hope you like it. Now that I am no longer sticking my secrets in sketchbooks I can have double sided secrets. This may not sound that exciting but after a year of making a secret every day the little changes seem like a big deal. Anyway so this secret was created by using some beautiful 3D flowers given to my ages ago by my friend Anna. They don't show up very well in my scanner unfortunately, but trust me they are lovely. The second image is the back of this secret with my message. Today is the Big Brother finale and I could not be more excited about it - last BB ever. If you are watching it then let me know who you want to win. Enjoy!

The day you texted...

I promised you this yesterday and then got distracted by my book, sorry. This is a guest secret created by a good friend of mine. We actually spent Monday evening making some secrets together which was really love. I am completely in love with this secret - in part because I know what it is about and also because I think it looks fantastic. I always find it really refreshing to see how other people interpret what I am doing on this blog. This looks nothing like any of the secrets I've ever made which I find really interesting. My own secret to follow in a little bit, enjoy!

The day I watched...

This is my latest secret, I hope you like it. I created this secret by using a variety of coloured pens - excuse any wobbly lines, they were drawn freehand. I start working at London College of Fashion next week so this is really my last week to relax a little bit and to sort some things out. I have spent the last couple of days making quite a few secrets so you can look forward to seeing those in the next few days. I also have a very exciting guest secret to post which I will reveal later. Hope you had a good weekend, enjoy!

The day I was late...

Either my internet is acting weird or something is wrong with blogspot, are you experiencing a similar problem? It won't let me log in most of the time which is frustrating and the rest of the time it won't let me upload pictures. Anyway, I hope it goes away. This is my favourite secret from postsecret this week - go and check them out at http://www.postsecret.com/. There seemed to be a lot of secrets with the same theme as this one, I don't know if that means anything. It immediately stood out to me as one that represented an alternate viewpoint - from family and friends of a suicidal person. I truly hope someone who has considered killing themselves reads this postsecret and reconsiders. I love that such a simple art project has the power to save people, and I truly believe that it does. Enjoy!

The day blogspot wouldn't work...

I have been trying all morning to post this secret and finally I managed to get blogspot to behave. I created this secret by using the pattern from the inside of an envelope as the background (doesn't it look like a fuzzy tv?). I then made a speech bubble and added my secret. For a while I have been hiding additional secrets in the title of my post, in the words that I write, sometimes in the file name of the picture or within the secret itself. More often than not these little secrets go unnoticed - in part because some of them wouldn't make sense to anyone but me. I do this because there are parts of a secret I don't feel I can reveal in their entirety. I have wondered for a while if any readers have noticed these, I suppose you might now. I hope you are having a relaxing weekend - look forward to postsecret tomorrow, enjoy!

The day I spent money...

So here is another secret I made recently. I created this AI by cutting various flowers from different bits of fabric. I hoard fabric and it is actually quite good to use some of it up doing things like this. This week has been spent reading mostly so far - I have become so engrossed in different books recently that I haven't found time for much else. How is your week going so far? Enjoy!

The day I cooked...

So this is my favourite secret from www.postsecret.com this week. Earlier in the week I posted my own secret about believing in God but this is also a secret I had considered posting, how weird that it turned up on PS? That is the great thing about sharing secrets though - finding that someone else has been hiding your secret too. Is this a secret you can relate to? I would love to know. Enjoy!

The day I napped...

Is there anything more blissful than an unplanned mid-afternoon weekend nap? I don't think I've had one in a while but it was bloody amazing. Anyway, in my sleepy state I have decided to post this secret - although the colours are really messing with my eyes, yours too? I created this design a while ago when I was looking after the kids. I was never quite sure what the message would be but this seems to fit perfectly. How is your weekend going to far? Enjoy!

The day you gave blood...

Do you want to see something beautiful? Here are some postcards and cards I found today in the charity shop:

Gloria Swanson, New York, 1924 - photograph by Edward Steichen.

Laurel and Hardy, 1930 - photograph by Lansing Brown.

Audrey Hepburn, 1955 - photograph by George Daniell.

Marilyn Monroe, Hollywood, 1960 - photograph by Eve Arnold.

Charlie Chaplin, 1931 - Culver Pictures.

Louise Brooks, 1928 - photograph by Eugene Robert Richee.

Hope you all have a great weekend, enjoy!

The day I couldn't sleep...

I really can't sleep. I have to get up early tomorrow but I really can't stop my mind from whirring. I love how the colours in this secret confuse your eyes into looking for a pattern. I found these little flower sequins a few weeks ago when I was walking round a supermarket. I think they are intended for table decoration but I love having something new to add to my never ending collection of craft stuff. This secret is quite a hard one for me to think about and particularly hard for me to post on here. I'm not quite ready to explain the feelings behind it but hopefully I will be at some point - I don't have to share everything, right? Part of me hopes this isn't one you can relate to because it isn't nice...then again it is always nice to find out that others share your secrets. Enjoy!

The day we talked about you...

Evening all, hope you have had a good day and your week has been okay so far. This is the first time in about 3 months that I have had a bit of a break from work. I drive myself a little bit crazy at times like this but I have decided to have a massive clear out in my room and that is keeping my occupied. I spent an hour or so today making some very beautiful secrets to show you over the next few days. Luckily my AI related nerves about posting after my one year secret have subsided a little. This was created by using some lovely paper that I found in a local art shop. When posting this I wasn't sure if it would read as happy or sad. For me this is a happy secret but I am sure for some of you it will relate to your own life in a completely different way, let me know because I always love to see how someone else interprets each secret. Enjoy!

The day I lost it...

This is my first secret since finishing my one year project and truth be told I am a bit nervous about it. I don't know if it is because I won't be keeping this secret or if I am worried about ruining something that seems to fit so perfectly already. I have already decided that the secrets I make from now on I will be sending to friends/ leaving in random public places/ giving away to readers or maybe even sending to postsecret. Somehow it doesn't seem right to keep the new ones, I have achieved my goal of a year of secrets and have them carefully contained within several books. Obviously if you see a secret you particularly like and want to claim it then just let me know - I will happily send it to you. This AI was created by using a postcard of a Rothko painting, if you are not familiar with the artist go and have a look online because the paintings are beautiful (better still see if you can find a gallery displaying any). I hope you are having a good week and thank you to everyone for all the kind comments recently...you are all such nice people and you make blogging an absolute pleasure. Enjoy!

The day I ordered books...

I know I still haven't blogged my own secrets since my one year AI but I keep finding wonderful things to show you. These are some postcards I discovered during a shift at the charity shop I volunteer in. We have a couple of baskets just filled with postcards and other bits. I thought these were an amazing find, don't you? I had a fourth postcard but I gave it to a friend as a gift so unfortunately you can't see it - it was just as brilliant as these three though. I love the colours, the design but the messages amused me so much I couldn't resist bringing them home with me. Who would you send these postcards to? Enjoy!

The day I made a list...

This is my favourite postsecret from the week - go and check them out at www.postsecret.blogspot.com. This secret immediately spoke to me because I love talking to old people. I will often engage strangers in conversation and usually it will be someone old - partly because they aren't threatening and partly because they always have such interesting stories to tell. I volunteer in a charity shop every week and what makes the job so fantastic is that you get to talk to some of the most interesting people. I hear fascinating stories and anecdotes about life. I have also been looking for a retirement home to help out at but so far my search has proved fruitless. I hope something does come up because this secret expresses a desire I have held for a long time. Enjoy!

The day I organised...

I am going to start blogging my own secrets soon but before I do that I thought you might like to see a guest secret that I was given a very long time ago. I never uploaded this secret - maybe because I was busy or maybe because I was having a tough time and this secret made it all too real. A very kind friend anonymously posted this to me and it really did make me feel better. When you are upset and unhappy just the smallest gesture from another person can brighten your day. I find that often with this blog, the lovely comments I receive each day make me feel better about sharing a difficult secret. Enjoy!

(click on this secret to enlarge it)

The day it finished...

This is the final of my favourite secrets from each month I have been blogging. This is one of the last secrets I created and it is probably one of my all time favourites. I think when you are really sad or in a desperate situation you wish there was someone who could come and take you away from it all - I suppose some sort of white knight. In real life that doesn't really happen, you can't always rely on other people to come and help you and often when you do you end up disappointed (I know my life is certainly more Erin Brokovich then Pretty Woman). When it comes down to it we all have to look after ourselves. I saved myself and I'd much rather have it that way than have someone save me. Enjoy!

The day she was sleeping...

This is my favourite secret from June. It seems weird choosing secrets that I have only made recently because I haven't had the time to decide how I feel about them. It takes me a couple of months to come to terms with each of the secrets I make - when I first make them I always think they are rubbish so it takes me a little bit of time. This secret, however, I felt at the time was an instant classic. I don't know whether it is the message, the design or simply the mood I was in when I made it but I love this one. I don't know if you have noticed but I love patterns - creating perfectly alligned sequences of shapes and concentric circles. Essentially I don't do well with random, I like things to look ordered. Anyway, as you know I have made some pretty big changes in my life as of late and this secret represents that desire. I guess half the problem is figuring out what you want first and then trying to find it. I am so fortunate to have been offered a place on a fantastic course and I really believe it will be the start of many exciting new changes in my life. Enjoy!

The day I went back to college...

I am looking after the kids every day but Friday this week. They are both going to summer clubs so I am dropping one of them off at the college I did my A Levels at and the other one off at Claremont school for tennis. Having the middle of the day to myself allows me to get some blogging done which is great. This secret is from May and it is one of my favourites because it is the most difficult secret I have ever made. So many people have told me how heartbreaking they found this secret - and I am glad that is how it reads because my heart was breaking when I wrote it. Not because I was in love with anyone but because I was losing a really close friend, someone who I never thought would hurt me, and there is nothing harder. Honestly the secret didn't really come to me until I sat down to type the words and it was only then that I realised quite how horrible the situation had become. I always try to find the good in each situation and if nothing else the heartache helped me produce this secret. Enjoy!

The day I looked...

This secret is fromy April, do you remember this one? I was inspired to make this secret by something that I made ages ago as part of my A Level art coursework. I created a textile book filled with flowers which I embroidered myself - this is the title page:

This AI is an expression of that feeling you have when you have just had enough. Enough of other people's behaviour (or your own), of bad luck or just enough of feeling miserable. I made a decision when I created this secret to stop letting bad people upset me and to start making changes in my life. If you have been following my blog lately you will know that I made the decision to leave university. I think the stress and pressure I put myself under was actually making me physically unwell and I hadn't felt happy for almost a year by the time I left (that was probably reflected in my secrets). Now I have left I have spent some time figuring out what I want and have been accepted onto a new degree course to do primary education. I am really excited about it and I've never felt so optimistic about the future. This secret, for me, respresents the end of all that unhappiness and that is a beautiful thing. Enjoy!