A Summer Break

We have decided to take a summer break here at Labyrinthus XXI. Sometimes it's good to take a breather and go out and explore. That's one of the great things about summer...it's a chance to get out and just enjoy! 

Have a great summer and we'll see you in the autumn!

The Creative Maze: Costume-making for Film.

Hello again, and welcome back to The Creative Maze.

You may remember, from my last Creative Maze post, I promised you a decent image of my finished huntress costume for filming later this year?  Well, here are a few shots...

Food: Heart-shaped Food

Today for my food post, I won't be sharing food porn like I usually am fond of doing. No, today I'd like to share something a little bit different and it's this interesting potato in the picture above.

I found this cute little potato nestled in amongst the other 'normal' potatoes last year and since I love documenting things I just had to snap a picture of it. I mean, how many times do you go to make something to eat and you find heart-shaped food? It made my day and looking at it now nearly a year later it still makes me smile!

Have you ever come across any heart-shaped food or unusually shaped foods? Have you seen a face staring back at you when you're about to dig in? LOL. If you have, we'd love to hear your story. Please leave us a comment and tell us about it.

Until next time...

Sanctuary: Enjoying the view...

 

Enjoying the view, because sometimes, pets need sanctuary too...

This is a cute shot of my English Pointer looking over the battlements of St. Mawes Castle in Cornwall, taken last summer while we were on holiday.

Have a great day!

Art and Culture: The Art of Topiary

Hubby and I share a love of visiting houses, castles and gardens, wherever we may be.  I never cease to be amazed by the amount of work, artistic vision and patience that goes into the topiary, whether it be hedges and mazes (like the photo above, taken by hubby a few years back at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire), repeating designs that add structure to a garden, or more individual and intricate designs.

Creative Maze - Photography

For today's Creative Maze I'd like to share another one of my photographs. One of my favorite things to take pictures of is architecture and I love the ornate design of churches.

This is Bath Abbey in Bath, England and as you can see it's a beautiful place. Over the years that I've been living here, I've visited Bath many times and I always make sure to go by to take a look at the abbey.

One thing that I love about photography is that you can revisit a time and place whenever you want...and all that you have to do is go and look at your photos and the memories come flooding back!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Food: Croissants

Food Porn for today..... CROISSANTS!!! 

I love croissants! I have them on occasion and every time it's a beautiful experience.

Sanctuary: Enjoy Nature

Take a little time today and enjoy the beauty around you!

Arts & Culture: Scribbling In Order to Awaken Creativity

For today's Arts & Culture post I'd like to share something that I've been thinking a lot about recently and that's awakening creativity. First of all, I know that you're probably distracted by this weird photo above :-) However, when I was going through some files on my computer, I found this little sketch. I know that it looks like I probably drew this when I was a toddler, but actually it was only about eight years ago. I'll tell you now, this isn't an actual drawing that I made with my hand. I drew this very badly on an antiquated phone that I had at the time when I was just fooling around one day and for some reason I saved it onto my computer. It's very badly drawn because I drew it with my fingernail on an electronic pad and I had no idea what I was doing. LOL. I can draw much better than this in reality. Anyway, enough of my excuses ;-)

So when I found this photo in the deep recesses of my computer I laughed at it but it instantly brought back the memory of when I created it. The thing that I remember most about it was that it was just a bit of throw away fun that I ended up not throwing away and I'm glad that I still have it and here's why.

Recently I've been trying to awaken more of my creativity and to get back to a place where I can exercise that part of myself more. When I saw the picture above it reminded me that sometimes just having fun can lead you down a path of discovery. Many of us often take ourselves way too seriously and want to create something wonderful and there's nothing wrong with that...that's what I want. However, sometimes you have to scribble and doodle in life in order to let go, so that your mind is open to create something that you love. I think that scribbling and doodling and letting your mind just have fun releases the attachment to outcome and your able to tap into your creativity more readily.

So now that I've found my little scribbly doodle above, I'm going to keep it as a reminder to just let go and breathe and enjoy the journey that is creativity! 

Creative Maze: Costume-making for Film

Hi there.  Two weeks have flown past, and I'm here again to report on the progress of the Huntress costume.

Last time, I'd got as far as sewing the bodice and its lining, which I then stitched together.  This time, I can show you the next two stages of constructing the dress:

Food Porn

Hello foodies...

Today I'd like to share this with you:

  

Sanctuary: The pleasure of pets

In the eyes of your four-legged friend, it never matters what kind of day you've had, where you've been, or what you've done...they will love you unconditionally.  How is it that they seem to know when you're feeling out of sorts?  They'll just come and sit beside you and 'lean', or rest their head in your lap.  I've read many times about the physical and mental health advantages of owning a pet, and it really does seem that stroking them is not only relaxing for them, but for us too!

Arts and Culture: Importance, meaning and the Arts Council.

 

Hello, and welcome back to the labyrinth.  In today's post, I would like to talk about the importance of the arts and culture, and what they might mean, in our lives.  For me, art, in any form, can be inspiring and regenerative, can stun the senses creating wonderment (for example, the first time I saw Turner's work in London, and Monet's work in Paris - all I could say and think was 'Wow...'), and can massively enhance our mood.  It feels good to read a great book, to be an audience member at a great play, film or concert, or to produce something creative yourself, doesn't it?  Culture, for me, represents humanity in action - the road map of how we have lived and are living, and what we think, feel and believe.  In today's multi-cultural society, then, the inevitable blending of artistic and cultural ideas should be more interesting and exciting than ever.

Creative Maze - Photography

For today's Creative Maze, I wanted to share this collage that I made from my recent trip to London. I have hundreds of photos of London and so recently I thought that it might be fun to revisit the older ones and put them together in themes.

 These are very recent photos though. Still, I'm in a photography mood lately so I'll be doing more collages like this. It's all about creativity and having fun!

Happy Friday!!!!!

Food - Calamari & Peppered Steak Salad

I'm here once again with some lovely food porn! This time it's not just one dish....today we've got TWO!!! This was a truly delicious lunch that I had in London last week. It was so delicious that the taste memory is still very much alive! Above is the calamari that I had as a starter and below is the peppered steak salad that I had as a main dish. Each dish was superb.

The calamari was fried, but it was as light as a feather and it wasn't rubbery at all. The peppered steak salad was so fresh and delicious! The steak was seasoned just right....with just the right peppery kick. I had this wonderful lunch at a place called Sophie's in Covent Garden. All that I have to say is YUM!!!!!

Until next time...

Sanctuary - Nature

As I've mentioned before, in nature we can often find the peace that we seek. Also, I find that watching animals in the act of just being themselves to be very calming. One thing that I love about these ducks is that they look so calm on the surface as if they're just floating, but under the surface of the water their feet are flapping like crazy to push them along. They don't let what their feet are doing interfere with what's happening above water. They're just enjoying the moment. I love that!

Arts & Culture: Nature As A Work of Art

 

Keeping it simple today for arts & culture...

The beautiful work of art that we call nature puts on its own special show every day!

Enjoy and have a great weekend! :-)

The Creative Maze - Val: Costume-making for film - 3

Welcome back to The Creative Maze.  This week, I have another update for you on the huntress costume I'm currently making for a short film that will be shot in Scotland later this year.  I think it's going well, and here are some photos tracking its progress:

Shoulder strap, stitched, turned, pressed and trimmed with fiddly 6mm brown ribbon. This velvet material is so beautiful, but with a stretch in it, it is a total pain to work with, especially when you are attaching slippery fabrics like lining or ribbon!