Inspiration, obsessions, those who you want to be yours so can call them squishy…

Dory: “I shall call him Squishy and he shall be mine…”

We all have people we look up to, who inspire us and who we cyber stalk… Don’t we?  Tell me it’s not just me!!

Perhaps it is more common now that many of us live a lot of our lives online and other people’s work/life are so accessible.  Its all so very anonymous, I can bookmark my favourite bloggers and read them when I like, Im not peeking through their windows!  When running a small business, it’s nice to have people to look up to or to gain inspiration from.

We live in a world where inspiration is at our fingertips 24 hours a day, I can read my favourite foodies blog on the laptop, or dip in to my favourite fashion blog on my iPhone whilst waiting for the kids.  I can follow people who inspire me on twitter and like their updates on Facebook.  My latest obsession is with Pinterest, where I can lose hours going through wedding photography, fashion, home, craft…

One of my best friends in the world is the very marvellous Violet Fenn, who runs The Skull Illusion – let me warn you before you click that some of her work is Victorian post mortem photography, so if you are offended by death (or Victorians) then its probably best not to click.  For everyone else, its a superbly creepy but very interesting blog of vintage photography along with her shop of costume mourning jewellery.  Annnyway, Violet and I live 100 miles apart yet keep in touch through the wonders of the internet and share a love of stalking awesome people who we find interesting!

Violet inspires me all the time, she is talented and interesting and honest.  If I weren’t already her friend she would definitely be on my ‘squishy list’

I asked Violet for her thoughts on the matter…

So, I thought I would blog our Squishy List – people who through what they have achieved, their work or their attitude are inspiring, awesome people.  Hope you enjoy my list, maybe some them will migrate onto yours.

A Beautiful Mess -  ”A Beautiful Mess is a Style blog that focuses on creating a beautiful life. My goal is to promote an inspired lifestyle through fashion, handmade and pretty things. I believe in making everyday life special, so that’s what I try to inspire through handmade projects, fashion tutorials, hairstyling tips, recipes and more.”

Just a really, really stylish girl and an amazing blog.  It NEVER fails to inspire me.

Bert Stephani - “A photographer from Belgium, shooting pictures while living my dream. Although I know the rules, I don’t feel limited by them when I play with light, location, gear and talent. I love what I do whether I’m working alone or cooperating with large team on an epic project… I love to share my knowledge and ideas over the internet.”

Bert’s blog Confessions of a Photographer is a really interesting, inspiring read and his photographs are amazing.  Take a look.

Ashton Jean-Pierre – Ashton is a UK fine art wedding photographer, his work is just stunning.  He works a lot in film which is so refreshing in an age of digital only photography.

Rock n Roll Bride –  ”To provide a little haven of kick ass weddingness in a cookie cutter, pastel and often puke-worthy wedding world. If you’ve ever picked up a bridal magazine and felt queasy or trawled the internet and felt disheartened by what you didn’t find well, my friend, you are in the right place!”

Seriously awesome.  The wedding she features are really inspiring, and the blog also hosts The Green Room filled with business advice and information for anyone in the wedding business industry.

Dan Sumption -  ”Professional photographer and artist… He is a specialist in event and documentary coverage, in particular the arts reportage, live music and other night-time events (including party, festival, burlesque and cabaret performance and theatre), and also movie stills photography.

Just a super interesting person and great photographer.  You can follow his personal blog here.

Leon Neal - A press photographer for Agence France-Presse (AFP) whose work is just astounding.  You can read his guest blog for the bbc – a year in the life of a press photographer along with his favourite shots of 2011 here.

Timm spends less time than me on social media, he is off doing proper work whilst I fanny around being inspired by others!!!

But some of his favourite photographers include Martin Oliver, Jonas Peterson, Mark Tierney and Jeff Newsom, who has literally THE best website name ever… Voltron of Awesomeness.

Now please don’t puke, but I have to say the person who inspires me the most is Timm.  He made the transition from his old life of tour management to the life of a photographer so well.  He left behind the rock n roll life of touring the world with pop stars so he could be at home with his family.  Photography has always been a passion of his but it took a lot of courage to make the jump into it being his full time job.

His work inspires me daily, his eye for detail and light and skills behind a lens are just ridiculous, he is my favourite photographer and number one squishy.  Here are a few of my favourite shots of his.  Enjoy!

©Timm Cleasby Photography

©Timm Cleasby Photography

©Timm Cleasby Photography

©Timm Cleasby Photography

©Timm Cleasby Photography

I have tons of other favourite blogs and could honestly spend all day just reading other peoples.  I have tried to keep it kinda about our business here, but just need to sneak this one in… A Thrifty Mrs - “a frugal lifestyle blog written by Thrifty, a twenty something journalist, radio producer and voice over artist based in England. You’re most likely to find Thrifty on her hands and knees sifting through boxes of junk in jumble sales or charity shops. The best way to make her happy is to pour her a gin & ginger beer and give her a plate of mashed potato before turning on a reality TV show that she can shout at.”  - Love, love, love this blog, go take a peek xx

Leave us a comment with some of your inspirations so I can lose more hours a day reading more blogs!

Sam

 xx