I think therefore I am...

A manifesto written to inspire and provoke thought. Written by yours truly;

I think, therefore I am. If I can think, I am alive. If I am alive then I have interest and meaning. If I have interest and meaning then I have a purpose. If I have purpose than no-one should ever make me feel like I’m less than what I am.

I believe that destruction is a form of creation.

What you think is lost isn’t lost at all.

What you think is destroyed can be rebuilt.

What you think is hard may be just a challenge.

What you think can’t happen, just might.

What you think can’t heal, has the potential to recover.

What you think is too big could be significant.

What you think is bad news could transpire into the best news you’ve ever heard.

Subvert expectation completely. If you never expect, you are never disappointed. I’ve been disappointed too many times to recall. This is something I’ve simply learnt- to not expect anything from anyone. At the end of the day, everyone is out for him or herself.

You certainly don’t want anyone who doesn’t want you- one of the best bits of advice ever given to me from my Dad. You must value yourself more than that. I can recall lowering myself for individuals who weren't even worth it and I was only used. I will never put myself in a position where anyone will treat me any less than I deserve.

You need to get up everyday and get on with life, because if you don’t then you’ll only go crazy.
Never look down at others unless you are helping them up - simple as that.

I believe that you should treat those you love with respect- if you don’t treat those closest to you with respect and love then you won’t have anyone who you can call ‘close’. I was always told to talk to your parents how you would talk to your friends parents.

Work hard then play hard. I heard this ‘crap’ all the time growing up -but another one of the best things my Dad ever said to me, and he’s dead right. You will never achieve unless you put in the effort in the first place. Really beginning to understand that balance is how I’ve managed to produce some great work that I’m personally proud of. My parents have always pushed me and preached to me when I’m ‘burning the candles at both ends’. There’s nothing that I cannot do.

I believe you should always be sincere, free of deceit and untruthfulness. It will come back and bite you on the bottom. Sometimes the truth hurts, sometimes it breaks relationships and trust. But what I’ve learnt is that more often than not you can’t expect people to be honest with you if you aren’t honest to them.

Life is too short to spend it with assholes. I read this somewhere and it’s so true. Unfortunately I’ve been surrounded by assholes all my life but I’m gradually pushing them out my life one by one!

Be thirsty to learn. I’ve accepted that sometimes I need to learn about things I’m not interested in. Sometimes you have to learn about different thngs in order to learn and generate new ideas that you can apply to your work. If your mind doesn’t grow then neither will your ideas.

Maybe you can read this and take something away from it.  Maybe you can't. Maybe it's at least provoked a thought. 

A thoughtful gift : Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter...

My lovely boyfriend bought me Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter's 'The Sixteenth Round'. It's the story of a boxing champion who was wrongly accused of murder.

'The Sixteenth round is a timeless, eye-opening portrait of growing up black in America, a scathing indictment of the U.S prison system, and the mesmerising re-creation of Hurricane's battles in the ring and in the courtroom. The power of Carter's voice, as well as his ironic humour, makes this an eloquent, soul-stirring account of a remarkable life.'

I'd seen the film years ago and heard the song by Bob Dylan but have been waiting to buy the book when I had enough funds. So, my boyfriend bought this book for me as a surprise and I can't wait to read it! Thank you Daniel Haigh!  ♥

Camera eye

I saw a really cool photo of a man with a camera eye. I thought I'd try it for myself... though when I get enough cameras together I'm going to do my lips, both my eyes and maybe my nose because it would look really abstract. We'll see! I leave you with this for now...

Surname finder...

So this post is a response to finding out where 'Clune' came from in my surname. I have a double-barrelled surname 'd'Andilly-Clune'.... 'd'Andilly' is my mothers name which is traced back to France and King Louis the 15th. 'Clune' however, I didn't know much about.

I came across http://worldnames.publicprofiler.org/ which is just a university doing research on surnames, just provide your surname, email address and sex and you're given an idea of where your name came from and where in the world it is being used. How cool? So 'Clune' is Celtic and from Ireland. Interesting stuff...

Little notes

Well then, I've downloaded Ed Sheeran's album named + and now I'm all inspired. If you haven't heard + yet, then you are seriously missing out on some genuine talent.

Now that it's got me all inspired, maybe one day I'll turn all of these poems/ stories/ notes/ thoughts/ lyrics into actual songs and put some music to them. It's slowly killllling me that I haven't got my guitar with me here at uni. It would be great to pick it up and lose all sense of the world.

He posted about me...

...  so I shall post about him.

This man is possibly one of the most generous, loving and caring people that I have ever met. He continuously goes out of his way to make others happy, he finds it hard to be 'the bad guy' which is something that I really admire and he is incredibly talented.

Hands down this person is my inspiration, he makes me want to do better and aim higher and for that I can only thank him.

Not a day goes by where he doesn't make me laugh so hard I can't breath... and for that I love him!

Check him out here: Daniel Haigh ♥

Browns Rebrand Proposal

So here is a little bit of my work that I completed whilst at my work placement at Strawberry. I was asked to rebrand something, anything. I chose Browns the restaurant and pie shop in Lincoln. I had 4 days to completely rebrand Browns and present it. It was a challenge but I completed it! At University we could have been given 4 weeks to produce a project outcome like this! I've certainly pushed myself and proved myself what I'm capable of when I put my mind to it. Also having the Creative Director say that if I presented this work to her in an interview, she'd be very impressed definitely made it all seem worth it!

Logo

Stationary

Flat view of the menu

Subway advertisement

Website

Strawberry

So I've just completed my second placement this summer which took place at Strawberry. It's full of fantastic, experienced and inspiring people that produce absolutely fantastic work which I really admire. I look at their work and aspire to produce work that good. Thank you to everyone who took their time to talk to me, teach me and guide me . Special thanks go to Jade, Abi, Hayley, Stu, Courtney and Jonathan. I've produced some really excellent work with you guys this week and I'm very grateful for all your help. I'll be seeing you soon! 

Read about me here

Domestic Abuse

1 in 4 women experience domestic violence over their lifetimes. That is shocking.


I know that a lot of my posts have been about happy things going on in my life but on a serious note, I want to draw upon one issue which I'm incredibly passionate about- domestic violence.


According to women's aid, domestic violence is physical, sexual, psychological or financial violence that takes place within an intimate or family-type relationship and that forms a pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour. At least 1 in 4 women experience domestic violence in their lifetime and between 1 in 8 and 1 in 10 women experience it annually. Less than half of all incidents are reported to the police, but they still receive one domestic violence call every minute in the UK. 


It's really easy for people to sit back, but the chances are you actually know someone male or female that are experiencing some type of domestic abuse. To this day, I still can't begin to understand why domestic abuse is so common. Why people feel the need to over-power others, why they hurt others the way they do and why people put up with it more often than not for the sake of 'love'. The abusers are usually the weak, unhappy and dissatisfied and to me- I simply feel sorry for the abusers because those abused become stronger and better.

Photography by Julian Clune- C&G Photography

All photography was staged

Information sourced from http://www.womensaid.org.uk

C&G Photography

Like this ! : C&G Photography Facebook Page

C&G Photography is a small team of two photographers, Julian Clune and Brett Gardner who are based in Lincolnshire: www.candgphotography.org . They provide a range of services from portraiture and wedding photography to still life and abstract. For personal, professional and affordable photography- look no further.


Logo design and branding by yours truely. 

All images © C&G Photography 2011. 

No images on this site may be used, copied, reproduced, manipulated or archived without the prior written permission of C&G Photography.

Chickens

My parents are proud new owners of 14 ex-battery hens. They came to us all timid and shy and without many feathers because they would peck them off each other in the cages because they were so bored. We are showing them how to LIVE! They're so lovely and clearly love being outdoors in a lovely big garden. After learning about the conditions they were kept in- I'll urge everyone to buy free range eggs. The conditions they are kept in at factories are shocking and incredibly cruel. Plus, free range eggs taste even better.

They're so lovely! I have one named Nugget and we have a really 'in your face' character named Corin.

Here's Corin!

This is scramble- she's very timid and is bullied by the others. She's the most featherless chicken but they're gradually growing back and she'll soon look lovely and golden like the others.

Lovely big free-range eggs.

Origami

I used to do origami a lot when I was younger because we have a Japanese friend that used to send over a lot of gorgeous origami paper and books etc. I saw a really cute picture of an origami elephant which I just had to try doing for myself (though mine isn't very good...but it was my first go at something complicated like an elephant...plus in my defence I was using regular coloured paper not special origami paper...) this led me onto creating a monkey that I did for my boyfriend which then led to some cute little beating origami hearts which I made for my him to post through his door. Here is my elephant and monkey...

There are absolutely loads of really cute little videos on youtube if you fancy giving it a go yourself.

Zombie attack...?

.... or just roadworks. This is the first time and last time I think I'll ever see my street so empty of cars. Doesn't it look nice without all that metal on wheels? 

Jimi Hendrix Vinyl !!

So I literally caught the postman this afternoon delivering my Jimi Hendrix vinyl- one of the things on my 30 before 30 list! Here it is, a 1973 Warner Bros. Records Inc! I am a big Jimi Hendrix fan and this vinyl contains some of my favourite songs. I'm so happy this has arrived after ordering it on ebay last week.