FOLKLINGS

Welcome to our first monthly prompt. This is open to anyone who would like to join in by sharing thoughts, inspiration, ideas or images either on a blog or Instagram . You can join in at anytime throughout October.

If you join in on your blog we would like to encourage you to share links to any relevant posts or articles that you find that you would like to share and find relevant and interesting. Think of it as tendrils reaching out to like minded people, sharing isn't just caring, it's acknowledging and respecting.

This months theme is: Autumn

Share your post link with us in the comments below and we'll add your post to the homepage round up over on Folklings.com and promote it over the month.

Please note: If you join in on Instagram, we'll just share the one image

Follow Gemma Garner's board Blue and white on Pinterest.

A Pinterest board for all things blue and white. Patterns, interiors, ceramics, flowers...

Curated by 

Gemma Garner

Have you seen these beauties yet?

Virginian photographer Megan Abell found these slide film transparencies in a thrift shop in and posted them on Facebook in the hopes of discovering who the photographer was, and who the ladies are. 

I admit to feeling a bit green with envy. Were Megan Abell and Vivian Maier the reason I struggled to find too many photographic treasures in the thrift shops of Virginia? 

I am happy for her really. And happier still that she is sharing them.

Do you know who the "girls on the negatives" are? 

I haven't got a clue who they are, but I certainly enjoy gazing at the stunning images.

Further reading

Meagan Abell Facebook

#FindTheGirlsOnTheNegatives

BuzzFeed

Curated  by

Katie Rhymes

"Producing displacements of location, the holes subvert ability of any map to communicate coherent information; but as maps are layered on top of each other, passageways emerge into internal spaces, leaving open possibilities for creating something new from those lost areas"

Karen Margolis is an American artist who creates artworks from old maps, using a soldering iron to create holes in them and layering them on top of each other. 

Further reading

Karen Margolis Artist Website

Curated by

Ruth Dawkins

We are thrilled that so many #slowlived images are being shared over on instagram. So thrilled that we are going to start sharing some of our favourite images each week. 

These are photos to inspire you take slow things down and take pleasure in the simple. Click on an image to view the source on instagram.

Come and join us and share your slowlived moments with the tag #slowlived 

Curated by

Annie Spratt

When a UN Conference on sustainability took place in Rio a few year ago, artists created beautiful fish sculptures on a nearby beach. The sculptures are made of discarded plastic bottles.

Further reading

Flickr: Rio+20

Curated by

Ruth Dawkins

"ld Sarum (Latin: Sorbiodunum) is the site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury in England. Located on a hill about 2 miles (3 km) north of modern Salisbury near the A345 road, the settlement appears in some of the earliest records in the country. It is an English Heritage property and is open to the public."

Further reading

English Heritage Old Sarum

Old Sarum reviews on Tripadvisor

Curated & Photographed by

Annie Spratt

Bought from eBay for the princely sum of £15, complete with original instruction manual and carry bag.

Further reading

Using a Polaroid 100 Land Camera for the first time

Impossible Polaroid film

How to use Polaroid 1000 Land Camera You Tube video

Curated & Photographed by

Annie Spratt

(As they're known as in these parts). Wild bilberries. Found growing on exposed uplands, where the tiny blue-black fruits hide amongst tough green foliage. They're ready for picking from late July and can be bought at the market in little punnets, often imported from Poland.

The unripe pink fruits promise a further harvest to come throughout August.

Picking requires sharp eyesight, nimble fingers and a willingness to scramble up steep banks. The diminutive size of the berries means that jugs, bowls and containers will fill very slowly indeed (hence the expensive price tag should you see them for sale).

A few hours' foraging results in stained fingers, scratched hands and a small but precious haul. The whinberry pie is one of the most highly-prized pleasures to be had, a late summer treat which is delicious served with double cream.

Curated & Photographed by

Sarah Hardman

Sarah lives over at Mitenska, where she chronicles life's simple pleasures.

She's a keen photographer, writer and tea drinker. Her favourite things include collecting treasures from her daily rambles, baking cake, rainy days and cosying up with a good book.

Sunset, Loch Leven, Scotland

Date and Photographer Unknown

Photograph of a projected slide Kodachrome Transparency- from a collection bought off of Ebay. 

Curated  by

Katie Rhymes

"Common name: Hydrangea Botanical Name: Hydrangea Group: Shrubs and climbers, some evergreen Flowering time: late spring to late autumn Planting time: Autumn and spring Aspect: Sun or partial shade Difficulty: Easy to moderate"  -- The RHS "Try to use rainwater to water hydrangeas, since mains hard water can affect the flower colour, turning blue flowers mauve or pink."  -- The RHS "Hydrangeas thrive best in shady areas. They will grow in sun, but be prepared to provide lots of extra water."  -- English Gardens "One of the biggest mistakes gardeners make with hydrangeas is pruning at the wrong time of year. Don't prune or trim hydrangeas in the fall, except to remove spent flowers. Most hydrangeas bloom on old stems, so pruning in the fall may remove next year's flowers. It's best to let the plant die back naturally in the winter, and prune any dead branches once the new growth has begun to emerge. This could be very late spring, so be patient."  -- English Gardens

Further reading

Hydrangea - RHS

Tips for Growing Hydrangeas - English Gardens

Curated & Photographed by

Annie Spratt

The common purple foxglove (Digitalis Purpurea): growing in abundance right now along the edges of woodlands, by moorland footpaths, dotted through hedgerows. Irresistible to bees and children alike - but beware the leaves, which are considered poisonous.

Tall spikes of purply thimbles, exquisitely spotted inside. Quintessential English countryside flowers. Also known as witches' thimbles, fairy bells, cow flop and lustmore...

Best viewed during the 'golden hour' - that magical window when the light's soft and the thimble-flowers become little lanterns, seemingly illuminated from within.

Further reading

www.rhs.org.uk

Curated & Photographed by

Sarah Hardman

Sarah lives over at Mitenska, where she chronicles life's simple pleasures.

She's a keen photographer, writer and tea drinker. Her favourite things include collecting treasures from her daily rambles, baking cake, rainy days and cosying up with a good book.

Emma Nishimura is a Toronto based artist, whose work addresses ideas of memory and loss.

These beautiful pieces are from a collection called Baachan's Patterns. Four years after her grandmother died, Emma found a box of miniature items of clothing which she had made, all from paper. She has taken her grandmother's patterns and incorporated them into her own work.

More information

Emma Nishimura website

Baachan's Patterns gallery

Artist statement

Curated by

Ruth Dawkins

"Hello, sun in my face. Hello, you who made the morning and spread it over the fields and into the faces of the tulips and the nodding morning glories, and into the windows of, even, the miserable and the crotchety – best preacher that ever was, dear star, that just happens to be where you are in the universe to keep us from ever-darkness, to ease us with warm touching, to hold us in the great hands of light – good morning, good morning, good morning. Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness"  -- Mary Oliver

images click through to sources

Curated  by 

Elizabeth

For those of us with busy hands: rhythmic, repetitive folding. You can do it without fear of crochet catastrophes or dropping knitted stitches. All it takes is an old book (or two).

You'll also need a craft knife (for trimming away excess pages) and something flat to lean on. Then fold away until you've created your own literary sculptures. You can suspend them, lantern-like, from hooks or adorn your shelves with them - they never fail to attract interest.

Suddenly, shabby old paperbacks become things of beauty.

It's surprisingly easy to teach yourself (and experiment). Try searching for 'book page folding' on Pinterest for inspiration.  

Curated by

Sarah Hardman

Sarah lives over at Mitenska, where she chronicles life's simple pleasures.

She's a keen photographer, writer and tea drinker. Her favourite things include collecting treasures from her daily rambles, baking cake, rainy days and cosying up with a good book.

" ’Tis the early summer season, when the skies are clear and blue; When wide warm fields are glad with corn as green as ever grew, And upland growths of wattles engolden all the view."  -- Charles Harpur

Curated & Photographed by 

Eleanor Holmes

Founded in 1621: "the glorification of God and for the furtherance of learning"

Chinese Foxglove Tree in full bloom.

Further Reading

Botanic Garden University of Oxford. More on our trip to Oxford.

Curated & Photographed by

Gemma M