A father-daughter bond: one photo at a time

My Dad, who doesn't often email me, recently sent a link to this Ted Talk entitled 'A father-daughter bond: one photo at a time'. I love a juicy Ted Talk, and this one touched a heart string for me; we moved away from my family in order to spend more time with my family. As a parent, we're drawn to doing what's right for our kids; we moved to Dubai in order to be together as a family and for my daughters to spend time with Daddy everyday.

I watched this several times over, scribbling notes as I lapped up Steven's evocative tone and studied each of the 15 photos. He made some very poignant observations, which I've written here to have as a reminder, to me and to anyone who has to remind themselves to "get in the shot..."

- Every October Steven and his daughter get together in New York, not only is that a very cool place to meet, it's also making the time for a father-daughter trip
- Everyone can relate to the familiar ritual of handing over a camera; to a stranger, to a friend or to our children (if you've never done this, do it, it's a great way to see life through their eyes)
- Freeze time and give ourselves time to reflect and look at the changes from year to year
- Its so true that our perspectives change as we go through life
- See life through your children's eyes...
- Cherish and anticipate (2 of my core values in life)
- Making memories and consciously creating memories
- Get in the shot! How many photos do you have of you?!?

My thanks to Steven Addis for helping me to remember why we made the move from England to Dubai, and to my Dad for sharing this. Remember that trip we talked about to Japan Dad? Maybe more of a once in a lifetime trip rather than an annual one!

This is what happens when colour is banned

Does colour change your mood? Yes.
Does colour brighten your day? Yes.
Does colour make you fall in love? Yes!



I'm all for the new campaign for Dulux; This is what happens when colour is banned. Imagine a world without colour, imagine bare blank white walls... that won't do! If you're on twitter here's the campaign, #ChangeYourStory jump on it and change your story to a more colourful one.

Mother's Day gifts

We - and by that I mean mothers - always have an absolute favourite baby/toddler photo of our children. Chances are we have several, along with hundreds that are favourites as opposed to absolute favourites!

I have 5 that are ingrained in my visual memory of my girls when they were little, and rather than leaving them sitting on my computer in a folder simply marked 'my faves!', I've turned them into little Mother's Day gift ideas.

Simply send me your favourite photo and I'll make you a super cute Mother's Day present. You can choose your words, or leave it up to me and the sentiments in the photo.

Printed on canvas, 40cm x 20cm, £45 each including p&p to mainland UK. Order by Monday 24th March to guarantee delivery for Mother's Day.

Can't decide on just one photo? Order a Pink Blue & You montage by Monday 17th March for a beautiful piece of stylised photo art to say Happy Mother's Day.

Order at www.pinkblueandyou.co.uk

Here are my favourite photos of my daughters, looking all cute and angelic!

If you'd love to see your favourite photo of your children on your wall, and need to drop a large heavy hint (!) send this onto your other half so he can get in touch and order for you. Send him the link to my website, or send him an email here.

Order at www.pinkblueandyou.co.uk

Is Valentine's Day about the love for your lover, or for your dog?

Love is in the air, everywhere you look around...

Or in the case of our four-legged companions:

Love is in the air, everywhere you sniff around...

Couldn't resist sharing these cute, funny and a little bit rude Valentine's Day cards for dog lovers. Which one's your favourite, and which one would you send to your dog-lover? (quite possibly 2 different answers?!?)

You make my tail wag, by newmodernlove

Lovely Dog Valentines Day card by Dekanimal

For Corgi lovers or lovers who bite, by awkwardmoment

Hump Valentine's Day card by PoundDesigns

Watercolour paintings of Daschunds set of 5 cards by JacquelineB

If you loved these there are lots more on etsy.com, I found these on one of my all time favourite websites called dogmilk.com

I won't be buying a card for Humphrey, after all what would he do with it?! But if it's edible treats you're after for celebrating Valentine's Day with your dog, I'll share those with you tomorrow. Woof woof!

A poem from Humphrey: I love you I do

I  LOVE YOU I DO

By Humphrey Tapping

I love you I do.

I love you when you come downstairs in the morning.

I love you when you talk to me.

I love you when you feed me (obviously).

I love you when you play 'jump' with me.

I love you when you remember to bring my ball on a walk.

I love you when you take me swimming.

I love you when you brush my coat.

I love you when you do your stretches on the floor.

I especially love you when we have a cuddle.

And that's why I sit outside the loo door, waiting for you.

Cos I love you I do.