Hi hi and welcome to my June favourites!  Hot on the heels of my Spring faves I couldn’t resist posting this now and I hope you’ll love my finds as much as I do!

First up is a little something for your aural pleasure.  A friend introduced me to 8tracks about a year and a half ago and I’m so glad she did.  It’s a great website where you can search playlists depending on your mood and it’s a terrific way to discover sounds you may not have otherwise stumbled upon.  It also gives you the opportunity to create and share your own playlists with other members of the 8 tracks community. Here’s one I made earlier – enjoy!

This stinky looking smoothie (lol Carrie!) has been keeping hunger at bay and helping me make sure I get my five a day throughout June.  It’s been so great that it’s now working its magic on me in July.  Click here for the recipe.  I promise it’s delicious!

The highlight of my month was a trip to Iceland with two of my dearest gal pals.  We booked the trip to celebrate 10 years of friendship and we had a great time exploring the land of fire and ice.  A full write up is on its way but in the meantime here are a few pics from our time there.

My final favourite of the month is Joseph Gordon Levitt’s open collaborative production company, hitRECord.  I’m still trying to figure out how it all works but I like the premise.  Unlike many production companies, what started out as a joint venture between brothers in 2010 has metamorphosed into a global community where artists from every walk of life are actively encouraged to submit their creative endeavours for consideration.

The basic rules of the site are that you have to own the original content you are uploading and you also have to agree for this content to be freely downloadable on the site.  Contributors are then encouraged to either submit a piece of work of their own or you can choose to build upon a piece that is already there.  For example, I might upload a song and you might add some harmonies or a ukulele solo to it.

If you’re ever stuck for inspiration there are weekly requests for submissions and each week there is a different theme which can encompass scriptwriting, animation, music composition, illustration, filmmaking – whatever creative outlet you fancy.  Now, of course hitRECord is a profit making company and by uploading your creations you agree to allow the company to use them in their commercial ventures.  However, if your work is used in a  commercial project hitRECord will pay you for your contribution.

Even if you don’t like the idea of freely submitting your work for use online you can still take inspiration from the weekly requests and explore your creativity when you have the time.

And that’s it for June!  Here’s to July: may the days be no hotter than we can bear and the nights feel balmy and bright into the wee hours.

See you next time!xx