This was a challenging topic because many things make me happy but I didn’t want to create an incoherent collage and part of this task was to display a gallery of nine images. My solution was to photograph items on my treasure shelf. Each item tells a story, reminds me of a memory or is a cool colour and all make me happy!

1 – I love nostalgic items like this pond yacht that I bought in Dartmouth and it also reminds me of our glorious family holiday in August. The kitsch postcard makes me smile.
2 – Books on countryside lore are close to my heart.
3 – Ladybird books remind me of childhood and these items showing wear and tear create beautiful textures and tell a story of being loved.
4 – My granny loved this vase all her life and I couldn’t bear for it to be consigned to a junk shop when she died so I rescued it. In fact it inspired an artwork called ‘Memories’. (Have a look at this link.)
5 – Metal farmyard chickens from an era when toys weren’t plastic and in the background a collage by my son.
6 – Découpage South African style – the classic pilchard fish packaging, the colours, the recycling of found objects all remind me of growing up in South Africa.
7 – A beaded ladybird from South Africa which is so jaunty and reminds me of our special holiday there in 2010.
8 – All girls need red shoes and these belonged to my youngest.
9 – My babies in a shabby chic frame.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Each week WordPress provides a new photographic theme for creative inspiration. We take photographs based on our interpretation of the theme, and post them on our blogs anytime before the following Friday when the next photo theme is announced.