Goodbye July, Hello August!

‘Breathe the sweetness that hovers in August’ - Denise Laverton

Hello August, hello to another month of Summer and hello to chapter 8 of 12! I’m not quite sure how we have gotten to this point so quickly, but here we are! I’m embarrassed to say that my July to-do blog list hasn’t quite gone to plan, but maybe it’s something that is better suited to August and the phasing out of Summer instead!

Image and words by @words_by_wilde_road

Calendar 2023 - Ballycastle Beach, County Antrim

July, well what can I say about July other than it has now officially broken all records for being the wettest month in Northern Ireland since 1836! I’m not someone who usually minds bad weather, but the constant July rain has meant that I wasn’t able to get out with my camera as much as I had planned to which has been really disappointing! So, here is to the power of positive thinking and August having some perfect shooting weather to create some new coastal prints just in time for that seasonal change!

And just incase August does not want to play ball and it is another month of record breaking grey skies and rain, then August’s wallpaper will be the perfect dose of daily colour with that much needed sunset vitamin sea for your phone lock screen (now available for purchase on Etsy).

Hello August : bringing a touch of that Lavender vitamin sea to the new month ahead! Now available of purchase on Etsy

A Black & White version to match incase Lavender isn’t your thing! #TwoForThePriceOfOne

The month ahead at just the simple tap of your phone screen!

Here is to those August adventures, to the return of sunshine and making this month one to remember! Let me know if you have any exciting August plans in the comments.

Little Lavender Line Pick-Me-Ups

‘It Comes And Goes In Waves’

If you know me then you will know that I am someone who loves a quote and finding those little words of wisdom on days when you aren’t feeling so great. It was this that made me think about my work and how I could incorporate the two elements together to bring forward a photography typography range with some pick-me-up phrases and sunset scenes to create 5 little pick-me-up greeting cards.

It Comes And Goes In Waves : perfect for those with a love of those rolling waves

From Find Me Where The Waves Are to Life Is Better At the Beach, This Must Be The Place to Go Lightly and It Comes And Goes In Waves, there is a little something for everyone to let them know that you are thinking of them!

Go Lightly : perfect for those Breakfast At Tiffany’s fans

Find Me Where The Waves Are : perfect for those with a love of vitamin sea

Little-Pick-Me-Ups are now available for purchase on Etsy individually or as a set. Which would you choose to send that someone special, and are there any phrases that you would like to see for future card designs?

A Drop In The Ocean

'The ocean stirs the heart, inspires the imagination and brings eternal joy to the soul’ - Robert Wyland

Wednesday 8th June marked World Oceans Day, a day when the importance of the ocean is brought to our attention with the hard hitting facts of climate change, pollution and its devastating impact.  This year I wanted to promote the campaign 30x30, a campaign designed to protect 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030.  By signing up and supporting this movement it is helping to bring forward the issues of climate change and how protecting just 30% of our oceans can help lead to a healthier support system.  After all, in a world that is built up of 71% water where would we be without it?!

‘For her the ocean was more than a dream, it was a place she needed to visit to find herself’ - Jose Chaves

As someone who has a real love for the ocean and whose work is heavily inspired by it, it is important to me that I help in any way that I can.  Though I am just one person, if I can inspire someone to change their way of thinking with a post or a photograph then I know that I have done my job right!  That is the beauty of social media, how people are made aware of current issues and how it enables them to help in their own unique way.

It is my goal this Summer to create a special ocean print that when purchased its proceeds can be donated to World Oceans Day, a beautiful touch of vitamin sea that people will have displayed proudly in their home knowing that they have helped protect the ocean.

I also wanted to give a quick shoutout to Balscadden Bay Baths (Howth) and their very simple, yet effective beach cleaning scheme. They have supplied bags and ask that each visitor collect 3 items of rubbish before leaving the beach on the climb back up. It is little acts like this that create a positive impact and one that I would like to see more beaches doing in a way to tackle pollution.  I had thought that I had taken a photograph of their system, but unfortunately not… next time though!

Balscadden Bay Baths, Howth

As Free As The Ocean

Goodbye September, Hello October! A new month, a new season and a new photography series. When I first started planning Dreamscape I knew that I wanted to create something special with the ocean and sunset in mind.  I also wanted to experiment with ICM and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to get myself out there and play around with my camera in my favourite beach settings.  It has been such a difficult year and a half for all of us that I felt it important to give something with a sense of escape.  As each country has gone into lockdown and people have been denied those all-important trips home, I noticed that more and more of my clients were purchasing prints to give them that much needed escape and fix of home.  It was this that brought Dreamscape to life along with José Chaves’ famous quote :

‘For her the ocean was more than a dream, it was a place she needed to visit to find herself’

Lavender Sunrise : A perfect touch of those pastel morning skies!

Coral Nights : Why not bring a touch of orange sky to your home decor!

I wanted Dreamscape to have something for everyone; from golden hour to blue hour, sunrise to sunset, dreaminess to daze and a moment of moody black and white.  It is a series that I hope you can find your sense of escape with.  After all, who doesn’t enjoy a hit of vitamin sea or feel most at home when watching those waves rolling in!

Midsummer Waves : A perfect touch of monochrome to appreciate those beautiful wave formations even more!

Seas the day with Dreamscape!

A Dream Within A Dream

‘I hope you find time to remind yourself that you are where you need to be and you will get to where you want to be’ - Jacqueline Whitney

It has been a busy and productive week here at Lavender Line Photography.  This week’s mini Indian Summer gave me the opportunity to put together the finishing touches to my Dreamscape series which I am really excited about.  So far it consists of 10 dreamy seascape prints, but I am tempted to add another 2 to the collection to make it a series of 12, which will then be released on the 21st September!  The best way to mark the end of Summer 2021 if you ask me!  

I will talk more about Dreamscape on my September 23rd Lavender Thursday newsletter, but to see this series come to life has been a dream come true! It is a series that I have visualised and wanted to create for so long, but found it hard to push myself to leave that comfort zone of controlled settings.  So to think that in less that two weeks it will be out there in the world is really exciting…. and even more so as this will be the first series that I will be in-house printing here at LLP HQ!  

A Dreamscape Sneak Peek

I will be introducing you to the newest member of the team in next week’s Newsletter, but if you have been following along with my Instagram Stories you will have caught a sneak peek on Monday!

Until then…. Golightly!

P.S. I couldn’t finish last Thursday’s newsletter without mentioning the exciting news from Thursday 2nd September…. the reunion of ABBA! Anyone who knows me knows I love a bit of ABBA, so needless to say I have had their new song ‘Don’t Shut Me Down’ on repeat since the announcement and snapped up tickets to their Voyage show next year. What better than some ABBA meets London for 2022?!

To The Shores Of Freedom

‘The Ocean Is Calling’

Introducing 'To The Shores' for today's #LavenderSharingSunday gift. A print to give a sense of mindfulness during these unusual lockdown times. Like last week, I have decided to share both the colour and black & white versions so that you can decide on the one that suits your home decor best.

‘To the shores of freedom where nowhere lives’ - Joesph Arthur

Colours Borrowed From The Sea

‘And I am finally colouring, inside the lines that I live between’ - Ben Howard

‘We dream in colours borrowed from the sea’

It was this line from Ben Howard’s song ‘Time Is Dancing’ that gave me the idea to put my own little spin on a Lavender Line Photography colouring print. A little something to help pass an hour or two each day during lockdown as well as adding a touch of vitamin sea to the day, something that a lot of us are missing right now.

I am excited to introduce the first in this fun colouring print series : ‘Whitepark Bay Blues’. Just save the print below to your device (or from my Facebook post), print off and colour in a medium of your choice! I would love to see your interpretation of this print, the more creative the better as there are no colour rules in place and there might even be a ‘Whitepark Bay Blues’ print prize to win for the best one! If you would like to take part in #LavenderLineColour then simply hashtag your finished colouring print on Instagram or post a picture in the comment section of my Facebook post.

Why not add a touch of your colour interpretation to ‘Whitepark Bay Blues’ today! #LavenderLineColour

It’s time to colour!