Flying Wardrobe.

Shirt - Suzanne Grae
Shirt - Saba
T-Shirt - Sass and Bide
Dress - Don't Ask Amanda
Jacket - Ginger and Smart
Jeans - Jeanswest
Pants - Morrisey
Jeans - Jeanswest
Scarf - Good & Co.
Loafers - Vintage
Boots - Acne

A record of the clothes that decided to fly and stay with me in Melbourne for a very few days.

A little on the post song...To be honest I didn't fancy Foster the People when the crowd had Pumped Up Kicks on repeat. But with a little reluctance last year I agreed to see them live with a friend at the Gaelic Hotel and I'm glad I did. If I had the chance to see them again, I would. The lead singer with his unusual voice is quite the charmer in singing a song as if it were a story. His pores like to cry sweat aswell :) The Gaelic is a sweet venue with a nice and intimate space.

PS. Happy New Year
Foster the People - Helena Beat

Hungry Badger.

 

Coming home from Melbourne, the question now to ask is: What are your doing New Years Eve? So here to ask you that question in a very lovely way is Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

On a side note, New Girl, a new tv show featuring Zooey has been very well recieved in the States and just from the trailer it looks like this will be one of my favourites along side Offspring.

Any day is a day before me


I present to you Puggy, another french band. These guys and this song screams for some major swooning.
And from this band we see the three different personas depending on their role:
- Drummer: Loves to do their thing. They live in a world of just them and their drums.
- Lead Singer: The Emotional One. Tells the story.
- Bassist: The one who chills in the backseat and does the chicken head bopping.

Harmony to my heartbeat




Every year there is the intention of personalising every single card I send out, except it gets all too hard with all the glue and cutting out textured paper and no one ends up getting a card because I've tragically given up.
Solution: ditch the glue if possible, at most have only one object to stick down.

Doing some casual strolling through Vinnies, actually more like running away from writing on my nonexistant Christmas cards, I found these fabric Christmas bow decorations which I have a feeling are intended for Christmas trees because of their two metal things that stick out and have the ability to cling to things. They came in a pack of 10 for 50c!

Don't shy away from $2 shops and even Op-shops when it comes to scrapbooking and decorating cards, neither should you under estimate the power of the basics: textas, pens and coloured pencils. There is something quite beautiful about a handmade card, well even in this day and age a handwritten letter is a phenomenal sight. They ooze love and willingness to take time to seriously reflect on one's relationship with the recipient.

What you'll need:
- Cardboard (I used 1.5mm boxboard from the panic over buying of model making materials)
- Black pen (felt tip, inky preferable)
- Dark Green and Light Green Pencil
- Scalpel and Cutting Mat (or scissors or hole puncher depending on the thickness of cardboard)
- Bow Decoration (ribbon tied into a bow in which you'll need super glue to stick down)
- Metal Ruler

Method:
1. Cut cardboard into the size of a postcard
2. With the black pen, draw a circle of leaves to make a wreath (Tip: use a pencil to draw a circle as a guideline)
3. Colour in the leaves (Tip: keep it consistant, colouring all the inner side of the leaves dark green/light green and the other side the other colour)
4. Go over the leaves again in black pen (it makes a very big difference in how much the picture pops out of the page!)
5. With the bow pictured, make use of the two metal things by cutting two holes at the top of the wreath such that the metal can go through and tie up at the back.
5. With a bow made from a normal piece of ribbon, glue it at the top of the wreath with super glue.

Sally Seltmann - Harmony To My Heartbeat

Note to self: 5 things worth considering & remembering for the future...


I've learnt/realised a couple of things over the last 24 hours...
1. Be patient with the poor old VHS player, it's so outdated that it doesn't exist in the average persons' vocabulary. It's doing the best it can.
2. When trying to book flights, do it during monday afternoon to tuesday morning. It's cheapest then!
3. Try not to fly on public holidays. It's expensive. If not, you may be taking a very long train ride home in the effort of saving $200.
4. Don't use your flash when trying to take a picture of the VHS players' electronics.
5. Make sure the address is right when you post your Christmas cards/gifts out or they'll end up in strangers' letterboxes.

So, if your household is still a little stuck in the past and is a little sentimental on getting rid of the VHS player, I say use it to your advantage! Your local Op Shop is probably bursting out the seams with very cheap video tapes of your favourite movies from the past.

Frank Sinatra - I Love You Baby

"I know you can be overwhelmed, and you can be underwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed?"
- 10 Things I Hate About You


Silhouette in dreams



I hope your preparations for Christmas are well under way! If you are bashing your head for last minute gift ideas and don't want to spend a fortune, here is a really cheap and personalised gift idea - Aluminium Embossing. You can make Christmas tree decorations, necklaces, badges.

What you'll need: (for a Christmas tree decoration)
- Scissors
- Dead Ballpoint Pen
- Aluminium Tray (the ones you use for bbqs and buy from $2 shops)
- Nice String or Ribbon

It's quite simple to make!
1. Carefully cut out your intended shape. (You can print off a google image stick it on to the aluminium as a template)
2. Decorate the aluminium by drawing with the pen. (It's better to do it over a slightly padded surface so the aluminium has room to dent)

Note: The side you draw on is not the side you present (which I did incorrectly) So if you want to write a word/s on your aluminium, you will need to write the word/s mirrored. 


Kimbra - Cameo Lover

I promise I have a reason for dancing on the kitchen bench!




Image via designboom

'House in Hidaki' designed by the Suppose Design Office is a two storey private dwelling that snuggles into the natural landscape such that being seated in the living room, your eyes just skim the surface of the ground outside. Internally on the ground floor, there is a play on the function of floors/walls/tables/shelves/seats as one strangely ascends to the first floor via what appears to be a table from the ground.

The section is quite beautiful, a reflection on the house where double storey voids let's the lower space breathe and holds a sense of luxury. Equally as beautiful is the exquisite detailing, from the white concrete table top and oak floors respectively mimicking the colour of the houses' structural blocks and the dirt to the white walls and railings warmed up by the white oak timber flooring and framing.

There's so much to learn from Japanese architects!

 Gypsy & the Cat - Jona Vark

or you'll die!

I don't really surf youtube as much as I did back in my high school days where the goal was to wow your friends of a hilariously random video you'd found the night before. Well...I stumbled across the channel Madmoizelle in my search for some french music like Berry. On it is a great array of book reviews, random street styles and music, with music being the only thing I can understand if in english because majority of the videos are in french. I have an awesome couple of videos that I'm busting to share, but with the very little self control I do have, I'll resist creating a video overloaded post. So first up I present to you the MelTones from Paris!

Vier Minuten


It's such a treat when an interesting foreign film is showing on sbs! It must have been piano movie night because the movie after was The Beat my Heart Skipped about a french guy who goes from rent collector to pianist. Four Minutes is about Jenny, a convicted murderer who's taught by Frau Krueger for a piano competition. Both have experienced/experience painful things and use the piano as a medium of expression, however in completely different ways.  

Skincare Regime


I'll be honest, I haven't seriously taken care of my face up until recently. I promise I have a legitimate reason! One word. Architecture. A friend has described it as the 'Devils Course', and I completely agree with him. It sucks the living daylights out of you. But I know...even that shouldn't be an excuse.

I never grew up in the habit of washing my face twice a day and moisturising, there was never any emphasis on the importance of it (enough that pushed me to action). But now nearing the end of my second year in the Devils Course, my face has taken a beating. I can safely say that I've had my fair share of dark circles and bags resulting from sleepless nights (the Clinique All About the Eyes Serum De-Puffing Eye Massage works like magic on bags). Every time I went to the beauty salon for the rare eyebrow wax, "bella! you have very dry skin!" So that being said, I went hunting for a good moisturiser.

Previously I was using the Clinique 3 step Skin Care, but the cleanser dried my skin and the moisturiser obviously didn't replenish moisture. In my readings on the internet I came across the American brand Kiehl so I ducked into David Jones for samples. If you have normal-dry skin, Ultra Facial Cream is amazing, you can feel it retaining the moisture on your face the entire day. No jokes.

You and me we could ride on a star



Yves Saint Laurent Spring 2011 RFW







1. Kenji
2. Something Else
3. Alphaville - Kora dress
4. Subtitled
  
Take That - Rule the World

I've always had a thing for pieces with amazing backs, from criss crossing, tie ups, bows to draping. They make me really excited because a beautiful back is often paired with a clean minimal front, and since the back is somewhat secondary to the front it's such a delightful suprise.
I bought the Alphaville dress during my wardrobe clean out and didn't even think about parting with the other three dresses because they're just so lovely. 

Clair de Lune et Soleil Levant

Moonlight

Your soul is a select landscape
Where charming masqueraders and bergamaskers go
Playing the lute and dancing and almost
Sad beneath their fantastic disguises.
All sing in a minor key
Of victorious love and the opportune life,
They do not seem to believe in their happiness
And their song mingles with the moonlight,
With the still moonlight, sad and beautiful,
That sets the birds dreaming in the trees
And the fountains sobbing in ecstasy,
The tall slender fountains among marble statues.

Paul Verlaine


Debussy - Clair de Lune (played by Alexander Lubyantsev)

I was watching a television show about a pianist and the three composers he most related to: Rachmaninov, Ravel and Debussy, and found out that Clair de Lune was written inspired by a poem by Verlaine. The piece compliments it and is such a perfect translation of words into music. The main tune has such a heart ache to it and the second prominent tune with the cascading bubbling fountain in the background. Debussy was labelled an Impressionist, and I don't see why not, looking at the score and listening to the piece, it's seamless as if bar lines don't exist. And I'm going to use the analogy, that Debussy paints a picture with his music, makes a film even!

Monet - Soleil Levant

If I recall correctly from my high school art lessons, the Soleil Levant painted by Claude Monet (other famous paintings include the water lilies) was the first Impressionist painting. And it is, just an impression, not realisitic, rather capturing moreso the mood that go with the scene. I think the Arts go hand in hand together, they all serve to make an impression on the reader/viewer/listener, take you away from where you physically are at that particular moment in time. Art, music, etc, they're all intertwined. In year 5 during music, there was a particular lesson where we listened to some famous pieces and used colours and lines to describe it. I remember the Ride of the Valkyries came on, and I got my red and black pencils and just went nuts with the crazy angry lines :)

Even with food this happens, now that I'm writing about this...

"The heart is an organ of fire" - Almásy


Image via IMDb

I bought a set of 3 dvds with The English Patient, Girl with the Pearl Earring and Chocolat a couple of weeks back for the bargain price of $20! On the weekend I watched The English Patient, never having seen it or having any prior knowledge of story line I really enjoyed it. So many lovely metaphors intricately woven throughout the story.

"Every night I cut out my heart. But in the morning it was full again."

In the movie Almásy, Hana and a bunch of people are stuck in the desert and Hana asks about water. Almásy tells of this rare plant and that if one cuts out its heart and leaves it overnight, the plant is full of water. Later on as they secretly become lovers, Almásy uses the plant to describe himself when they were apart and how he was in a contradiction, painfully filled with her love.
 This brings to mind how I think when the first time books, movies, music are read, seen and heard without someone telling you about it is when you'll know what your opinion of it is, unhindered by someone elses. And I guess someone may be endangered if they keep reading this, so divert your eyes if you haven't read The Perks of Being a Wallflower!

I remember reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky and found it quite dark and realistically raw in the way feelings and situations were written and overall a really moving novel, however I do think it is a more mature read. Coming to the end of the book a friend of mine who had read it pointed out something I never took notice of, Charlie always cries. This quite frankly did make the last few pages hard to read because all I did was mentally highlight when it happened. I guess i'll never know what I would have thought of the book, and I'm a little saddened by the fact that I didn't appreciate the ending as much as I did leading up to it. One day in the far future when I forget the story, I'll have to read it again.
  

The Smiths - Asleep

I'll take you away


Image via Altamira


Angus and Julia Stone - I'll Take You Away

I thought the outfit in the photo was an awesome representation of some of the pieces I would like in my wardrobe.

The wardrobe


image via Dead Fleurette


I guess it's the best time to describe my wardrobe that is currently being culled.
A little less than two years ago, I ventured my way into experimenting with clothing exploding with colour happily provided by near by second hand shops. I thoroughly enjoyed the thrill of a cheap, unique find and making people guess how much something was...and I guess I still do. My wardrobe is filled with oversized patterned granny shirt dresss and colourful maxi skirts.

However, as of late it's been a chore to dress myself, feeling a little out of control because clothes aren't fitting right on me, along side the mish mash of colour and accessories that don't go together. I think it's safe to say that the crazy experimentation days are over (even though they were fun at the time) and the future wardrobe will be clean and beautifully functional tailored to my body and lifestyle.

The Middle East - Jesus Came to My Birthday Party

Thinking in the wrong direction

Living in the southern hemisphere and favouring the colder weather saddens me during this time of the year. It makes perfect logical sense that autumn and winter are by far the better seasons for when you are cold you layer up, however when you are hot there are only so many things you can take off! With that being said, I stumbled across Tocca and their super fine Z Coat in Virgin Wool and thought how lovely it would be to invest in it. Is it too early to start thinking about Autumn/Winter?

John Pawson is an amazing architect, I really enjoy the way he plays with white walls and exposed concrete and his extremely clean lines. I constantly use his works as inspiration to my designs.

To put on the new self.

Hello there. Respective of my previous blog, this beginning officially puts it into deep deep slumber!


Right here will there be a faithful documentation of musings on things that tickle the creative mind of a girl living for Jesus for whoever happens to stumble across this and for me so I can look back on this part of my life.


And this how and why...
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen... Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Ephesians 4:22-24, 29, 31-32 (NIV)