Art and Photography ~

What I have been busy creating recently; art and photography.  Remember the pencil sketch I posted earlier?  Well, this is what happened to it when I scanned it and decided to colour it.

~ Smudged Eyes ~

And this is what the final picture looks like ~

~ Aeiya ~

I also discovered a new photo editing site call Picnik ~ I’ve been playing a few of my photos that I like, but think that they lack something to make them pop.  This site is a lot of fun ~  I put together a few of the photographs I have edited.  They look cool yes?

      

     

 

 

I like the different effects that Picnik offer ~ I can finally get some awesome vintage goodness happening.   : D

xox,

b.

Panda Pants!

It’s so exciting ~ I finished my very first sewing project: The Panda Pants!!!!!!

It was quite easy actually.  I read the instructions and I had my Sewing Guru there to explain little tips and hints, such as how to stretch the material for ease when hemming the legs, how to press when the leg seams open once they have been sewn up, and how to sew the elastic waist band together without adding bulk {overlap and stitch along all four sides in a box shape}, etc.  She just made the process so much smoother and hassle free.  If I thought something was going wrong I could check with her and ask for advice.  Me being the worrier I am, it was a relief to have that.  Her help allowed me to relax and actually enjoy the process of creating a garment.

The pattern we used was Kwik Sew 3028.  I made the waist band wider and thus, the waist is lower than what the pattern called for.  I also added the two side pocket option and put a ribbon bow on the front so a). you could tell it was the front and b). to make it look awesome.  Bows rock.

Now for a plethora of pictures.  Excited much?    You should have seen me dancing!

Sewing the rest of the pants ~

                                

 

                        So close…

 

Hemming time.

                     

                      

 

ANNNNNNNNNNNNNNDD    Tada!

 

Left to Right  ~  Pocket view featuring Needle Mouse, the cuff hem and bow~tastic detail. 

Last but not least, the machine I sewed the pants on ~

                     

The workstation complete with cup of tea. 

I must say, I adore this machine.  The soft hum, the smoothness of stitch and the solid feel of the cool metal ~ it gives me confidence that I can actually use it.  It’s a Bernina 830 {the old school one} and I want.  When I am ready to purchase my first machine I am going to try and find one of these.   It is easy to work with, and it won’t fall apart {if it’s been well looked after that is}.   Plus, the added advantage is that my Sewing Guru owns one, so if I have any questions I can ask her about it.    : ) 

xox,

b.

Boots ~ Outfit Seven

I actually wore this outfit on Saturday to a picnic with my life~long friends.  It was a really nice day for the middle of winter ~ the sun was bright and even better, we had pie!  My amazing sister decided a while ago to take up pie making as a hobby and we all benefit from that one!

She makes the most delicious pies from scratch.   Pastry, filling and all.  AND she uses her own recipes.  O.O  Her pies are so tasty and yummy….   Her Christmas Apple Pie is delightful and I adore the Pear and Lavender one she cooks.  Lucky us; we get to sample her delectable creations.  I swear cooking is such a great hobby. 

Mmmmm…… Pie. 

      

      

Okay, I will stop getting distracted with food.

Here is the outfit I wore!

            

    

 

Accessories  ~  Hair bows {Best & Less}     Scarf  {Thrifted}    Cuff  {Diva}         Top  ~  Primark {Scotland}        

Skirt  ~  Thrifted  {$7.00, good eh?}         

Tights  ~  SES         Boots  ~  FSW {years ago ~ can’t you tell by the worn heels?}

 

I love those boots.  The biker/cowgirl style is really sweet ~ not too girly, not too western.   I do not really wear western at all, so this is about as close as it gets.  {I figure that if I want to wear clothes that look like I should be riding in them, then I will ride.   Therefore, I won’t wear western as “going out” clothes, but actual yard gear.  It gets really dirty; as anything that goes near a horse will.  : / }

Unfortunately they really need re~heeling.  They are so worn down.  The problem is that even though I have a ton of shoes {please don’t ask the count, I don’t know and probably don’t want too….  That way I can stay in denial and keep acquiring new captives for my wardrobe} I wear them all to death.  I have at least three pairs that need new heels desperately.  I shall have to visit the cobbler asap.

One last piece of news ~ my camera arrived from Cannon finally!!  *does a dance*  I am soooo excited, so expect quite a flood of photographs.  I want to play with every setting until I know exactly what it can do.  

Oh, and sorry about the terrible lighting in the above outfit pictures ~ winter sun is really bright… 

xox,

b.

*cheeky grin*

Okay, so just imagine me with a big ol’ cheeky grin on my face ~   XD

There you go!

Why am I “cheeky grin-ing”? 

Because I am double posting, that’s why. 

Erm.  Anyway, to get on with the actual substance of this post. 

I’ve created a new signature for my blog, except I can not work out how to get it to load with each new post rather than having to insert the signature into every post I create.  May be someone else who uses BlogSpot might have an answer for that?   

And I am also in the process of doing a pencil sketch ~ I have been inspired by Maria of Lulu Letty.   She had a sketch on her blog and suddenly I had to start on a copy of this picture I found from a magazine.  I just wanted to draw!  Here it is as a work in progress:

 

        

 

I thought I would also post a picture of what happens to my left hand when I leave my notebooks behind… 

      

    What happened?

Well, I went the the National Art Gallery to see the exhibition of Hans Heysen’s work and I thought it’d be a great idea to lighten my handbag which weighs something like a ton of bricks.  It was a good idea, but the bad idea was ditching ALL of my notebooks/paper supplies, because I saw the cutest vest on one of the exhibition attendees and just HAD to sketch the style down.

That’s the picture and notes on my palm.  Then there’s the notes about the actual exhibition ~ *see wrist and side of hand.

Yeah.  I am not going to make that mistake again.

xox,

b.

Forget trash ~ {and Lace ~ Outfit Six}

Well I promised more photos and details of all the awesome finds that I thrifted last Friday at Revolve, so here they are!

My favourite thing of all is the full adjustable dress maker’s form I managed to pick up for super cheap.  I do not know exactly how much it cost ~ it was a bundle deal.  I got three environmentally friendly bags {you know, the green bags.  We call them enviro bags in Australia}  stuffed with clothes, handbags, belts, scarfs ~ you name it; and the form for $50.00.  So if we say that the bags were $10.00 each that puts the form at $20.00.  Which is sweet as!

I did say previously that I was not going to put up photos of everything, so here a just a few notable items.

The treasures of my haul consisted of:

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~ Elizabeth ~

 

A Laura Ashley wool coat; worn boyfriend style as it is too big for me ~

       

Cute handbags ~ of which I found many, including a awesome clutch but I’ll show you my favourites {oh, and a lovely cream silk scarf/handkerchief, it has a few holes, but it’s still wearable} ~

        

Leather belts ~ my favourite is the woven black one.  Not only is it that perfect width, it stays in place even with a wrap buckle rather than a pronged one {which is the type of buckle I usually prefer} ~

And this hat ~ gorgeous no?

Finally, {I have already shown you the pile of lovely doleys I picked up and the shirts} this beautiful crocheted dress.  I think that it’s handmade because there is no brand label on it, or tags describing the contents.  I think it is wool, because of the texture and it is really lovely and warm.  What was meant to be one shot to show the dress end up being an outfit shoot…..   >>  So here you go ~ a gorgeous crocheted vintage dress.  Or “Lace ~ Outfit Six”.

     

 

                

 

Accessories ~ Hair bow {Best & Less}      Earrings  {Equip}      Watch {Thrifted}      Belt {Thrifted}              Top Layered Dress ~ Vintage/Thrifted

Bottom Layered Dress ~ Crossroads {many seasons ago!}         Long Sleeved Top under both dresses ~ Primark {Scotland}         Stockings ~ Valley Girl

Slouch Boots ~ Florence, Italy {I have no clue what store I got them from….  They were 70 euro though, so they are my most expensive shoes, and most expensive item in my closet full stop at $140.00 AUD!!!  I needed them though; that’s the only reason I brought them.  Shoes in Italy are HEAPS expensive ~ these were on sale!  O.O}

I did pick up some other really neat clothes, but I’m not going to show you them here.  I am saving them for another day, and another outfit{s} shoot!   What people throw away, I mean really…

Well, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.  I suppose that I should be eternally grateful that another man deemed those delightful items trash or I would never have had the chance to own them.  Thank you unknown benefactors!

Which brings me to my final point.  If you have something in your closet or drawers, or even furniture in your house that is not as loved as it could be, but you do not think anyone else would want it ~ think again…

I am going to try to pass on the stuff that I don’t want because who knows, there may be someone out there who ends up thanking their unknown benefactor for the things that I threw out.

It’s the great recycling story of the reloved vintage {and other such pieces} world.  If these things could talk ~ I wonder what they would say? 

xox,

b.

P.S ~ Check out A Dress A Day for some exceedingly well crafted stories about dresses.  Erin, the authoress of the stories, totally inspired me.  I’d love to write my own Dress Drabbles ~ or maybe I will branch out and write drabbles on other things….  Like my dress form.  I would what its story is?