Hats Off To You ~ Outfit Twenty Five

 

Hi everyone ~ I’m baaaack!   Okay, sorry it took me so long to get on track with blog posts again.  Unfortunately with moving house and flying out to Perth life was more than a little topsy~turvey.  *sigh*

I hope life will settle down for the next two months and truth be told, it probably will, but to the other extreme {naturally!} because there is nothing much to do over here.  Currently my daily routine consists of getting up, watching t.v. whilst knitting the baby blanket I am trying to finish before May.

Then I am off to meet my sweetie for lunch {it’s so great that he is working five minutes up the road from where we are staying  : 3 } and then back home where the t.v. or computer keeps me occupied. 

Yeah.  Really.  No chores to do; I don’t have anything to clean with!  No one to see, no pets to take care of.  I think I am going to go stir fry crazy if I do not come up with something to do soon….  But DH and I are working on a few ideas that I might pursue;  a business plan for a venture we have thought out, or maybe seeking out some sponsors for my studio. 

I am not sure what I want to take on.  I am planning to study for my Equestrian Federation of Australian coaching certificate while I am over here and I am not sure if I can run a studio business and study and have a baby {okay, so the baby is a while off, but not that far!}.   It is a hard things to sort out, but I guess we will decide on something.

I hope that was not too much of a overshare ~ I guess things have been rather unsettling lately and that is affecting my state of mind at the moment.   : \  

Accessories  ~  Boater Hat  {SES ~ Yay!  I finally found one!}   

Red Heart Clip  {I can’t remember.…}

Silver Hoops  {Present: Christmas ‘08}    Heart Necklace  {Hong Kong}

Dress  {La Pearls}   White Petticoat  {Thrifted}   Sandals  {Big W}

This park, Harold Boa’s Garden, is in between our hotel and DH’s work ~ it is so lovely and beautifully kept.  The landscaping is gorgeous and it is so cool and shady even in the middle of the day.   I plan to do a few more outfit shoots there, but I also want to scout out more locations across the city.  There are some fantastic old doorways I am dying to loiter in!

So that is it from me for today, but I will be back; the hard thing will be restraining myself from posting everyday now!  : P

xox,

bonita

Quick Share ~ Getting Sponsors for Your Blog

When I was reading this how to post by Ashley of Little Miss Momma, I thought it was really defined the starting points for anyone considering venturing into the world of "professional" blogging and finding sponsors for their blog.

Now personally, I do not think that you need to have sponsors to be a professional blogger; but I suppose the accepted definition of a professional is someone who gets paid for the work they do. It does seem that the only way a blogger can get paid for the work they do on their blog is with sponsors and advertisements, although I think that if the blog is bringing in other work or commissions to the blogger, {but there are no advertisements} the blogger is still a professional in my mind.

However, if you choose to go down the sponsorship path, I think this post is a helpful guide.

Little Miss Momma: How to Get Sponsors for Your Blog

I have received this question in my inbox a lot lately, and I have struggled to respond because there is no quick answer to this question-- and what works for me may be different then what will work for you. So this post will give you an overview of what has worked for me.

When I started my blog on February 22, 2010, not an advertiser in the world would take a chance with me. I was new. I hardly had any content on my blog and I only received hits from my Mom, Nina and Brittany. There was nothing in it for them.

So I started small. I started with giveaways. Of my own products, at first. Then I convinced some of my friends to give me product for a giveaway. And once I got to a point where people were actually reading my blog, I went in search of real advertisers....

xox,

bonita

LINKS À LA MODE: THE IFB WEEKLY ROUNDUP

"I have confidence that spring will come again, Besides which you see I have confidence in me"

Edited by Florrie Clarke of Intrinsically Florrie

Within this week's links I kept noticing a resounding honestly in the heartfelt posts. When we blog or choose an outfit we are putting ourselves out there for all to judge, and it's not surprising that doing the activity can have an affect on our confidence for better or for worse, especially when feedback starts coming in.

There's also been a sense of rebellion in the air: from the emergence of the punk style to controversy over Vogue, and in the week that saw the spectacle which is the Golden Globes rises a questioning of what the red carpet is all about.

Links à la Mode: January 20th

• A la Modest Drawing inspiration from Kabukis, Rainbow Brite, Ladytron, and Padmé Amidala while on Tatooine
• Antares: Alfa Scorpii Fashion without mercy: do I have to choose between fashion and my beliefs?
• By Anika Who gets to label me and my worth? I do! An honest account from this curvy fashionista who fiercely supports all of our rights to label, embrace and love our fashionable selves, what ever our size.
• City of Glitter To Cover-up or Not To Cover-up? A post exploring foundation and its role in our self-esteem.
• Crimson Rosella Blogging: A Self-confidence booster?
• Depict This The challenge of wearing vintage clothing in the real world
• Elle Enchanted My take on what bloggers need to consider before accepting a sponsor.
• Fashezine Inspired by Jennine Jacob's post on how fashion blogs will evolve in 2011, I thought I'd try my hand at a video.
• Fashion Limbo Online Christmas Shopping, the Aftermath - on lost packages, refunds and independent retailers.
• Fuyume The demise of the kimono industry.
• Fish Monkey's Writing Stuff Why I don't think that red carpets have any relevance to fashion.
• Independent Fashion Bloggers: 5 Tips for Taking Better Photos of Yourself
• Intrinsically Florrie The fashion show that's made me impatient for summer.
• Karma-Style Blog Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj have 'FoF' - Fearlessness of Fashion. Do you?
• My Heart Blogged Falling head over flats. My flats collections, and why you don't see me wearing heels.
• Scarlet Letter Style Why is the fashion world so critical? I have an idea on how to fix it
• The Column of Samantha Tyler Of Punks and their influence on Fashion
• The Fashion Pawn The fourth part of The B.O.B Series discusses all "About You:" Tips for your About You Page.
• The-Loud Mouth Sometimes, garbage piles up: Fashion blogging isn't just a hobby. For some, it can be an emotional release.
• The Taxonomy Of My Wardrobe Three Strikes Vogue - You're Out! Three examples of how the fashion bible is inexcusably out of touch with readers and losing relevance in today's world
• The Simply Luxorious Life Why Not . . . Create Your Own Signature Style?

SPONSOR:
New@Shopbop: Bassike, Shakuhachi, Nissa, Minnetonkas, FreePeople,Tibi, AIKO, Bird, Myne, Black Halo, Kova&T, Hanii Y

~ * ♥ * ~ * ♥ * ~ * ♥ * ~

Call me oblivious, but I had no idea my post had been selected for this week’s IFB Links a la Mode roundup!   *kiya!*   > o < !  I am so excited, it’s such a privilege to be selected. 

Thank you to everyone who has read my post and visited my blog ~ it is great to have you stop by. 

xox,

bonita

Quick Share ~ J boys doin' their thing

Okay, so this Quick Share is not really highlighting another blogger's work this week but I found this YouTube video super awesome. I love hiphop and break dancing and these boys have some serious poplockin' skills. So please enjoy the mad dancing.

I want to give a shout out to Hime~chan from kawaii and lolita because I found the video on her blog and thought it was so cool that I had to share it too.

xox,

bonita

How to ~ Cleaning Vintage Tapestry Tutorial

So I bought these vintage tapestry purses a while ago, and as you can see the larger one is quite yellowed compared to the makeup case.  I think that it’s just dust and dirt from being so old, so I wanted to try and clean it.

The biggest problem I faced when thinking about how to clean the purse is that I did not want it to get wet.   I was worried that if it gets wet the dyes will run and ruin the bag, so I needed to figure out some way to dry clean it as I do not think that any professional dry cleaners would do it ~ and even if they did, the chemicals might be too harsh for the threads.

Thankfully, there are other methods of cleaning available to me, so I tried one of these.  I borrowed a book called “Spotless” by Shannon Lush & Jennifer Fleming which has a lot of handy tips and hints for getting rid of stains using household products and not chemicals.

They even had a section specific for tapestry, and this is the advice they give for cleaning a tapestry piece.

“The best way to clean tapestry is with dry {flaked} bran.  Put a handful into a muslin cloth bag, heat it in the microwave for half a minute, then rub it over the tapestry.  The bran will absorb the dirt. 

You can also apply the bran directly.  Firstly, slightly moisten it with vinegar.  Add one drop at a time until it forms clumps like couscous, but not a ball.  Sprinkle this across the stain, rub backwards and forwards with a cloth or soft brush, then vacuum it off.”

I used the first method on my handbag:

Note:  I didn’t have any muslin cloth to put the bran into so I used a loose weave cleaning cloth.  Muslin is a very porous material so you just need anything with ‘holes’ in it.

Before:

After:

I do not think that you can really see the difference between the before and after photos, because although there was a slight difference to the colours of the tapestry I think that mostly the dust lifted from the fabric so it feels cleaner now.   It seems that the yellowing is not reversible, but I rather like the worn look of the bag.  It makes look loved!

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of “Spotless”  it’s available online through the ABC website and retails for $19.99 AUD. 

Link:  http://shop.abc.net.au/browse/product.asp?productid=162165

I hope you found this tutorial helpful.  ^ w ^

xox,

bonita

ONE DAY AND ONE SLEEP UNTIL MY SWEETIE IS HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  > U < *eeeeeeeeeee*

P. S. ~

Three days and four sleeps until my sweetie is home! YYYYAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!!!!

Wearing Vintage ~ Real world vs. Blog land

I feel like a princess ~ I have donned my petticoat, pretty 50s style dress, kitten heels and softly gleaming pearl jewellery.   Then I step out the door and all of that changes….  I walk with my head high, conscious of the stares and double takes.  Yes, I know I am dressed differently from the average young person, but is it really that strange?

I have heard other vintage bloggers talk about their fashion choices and the effect it has on public when they walk out the door in head to toe, era perfect wear.   To be honest, I thought I knew what they were talking about.  I’ve had my fair share of odd looks ~ I haven’t really dressed in ‘normal’ clothing for sometime, but then again I have never gone the full head to toe of any style in particular ~ i.e. Goth, punk, Lolita, vintage etc.

Apparently outfits that are slightly off magazine trendy are unique and edgy, but a completely non~fashionable style such as vintage is peculiar.  I say this because the general public response to my vintage outfits and to my ‘interesting’ arty outfits is not the same and this surprises me for some reason!  Therefore, I am wondering if my expectations of people’s reactions is slightly warped perhaps?

You see, what I see on my computer and what I experience in the real world are two very different things.   You might say there are almost two separate worlds that I wear vintage in, one is the internet in vintage~friendly blog land and the other is my life; amongst real strangers with real judgements and preconceived ideas.

If you are wondering what I mean by saying that, let me say that this is how I see it:

In internet~blog land we read and visit blogs that we are interested in; so if you are into food you will read food blogs, and if you are into IT development you will read developer’s blogs.  It’s much the same with fashion blogs ~ if you are obsessed with runway fashion, you will read blogs that focus on that, and if perchance, you happen to like vintage fashion, those are the blogs you will focus on and immerse yourself in.

So everyday in your feed reader you will see gorgeous ladies dressed in 50s tea length dresses, 20s flapper outfits, 30s, 40s, 60s ~ you name it.  Every era, every style, every part of history is represented online.  And the thing about that is, you not only see bloggers themselves excited to wear these gorgeous clothes, but their readers eager to see them wear those clothes too ~ to me, these blogs are communities built around expressing yourself through your clothes. 

Therefore, in the online world vintage clothing is an acceptable mode of dress; and not just vintage, but pretty much any style of fashion distinct from main stream is okay.  I think that this acceptance creates an idea that dressing in vintage is a part of normal life.

But the thing is, in reality, that’s not the case.  Sure, anyone that wears vintage, or other subversive styles of dress, are really just ordinary people with different ways of expressing themselves.   However acceptable and ‘normal’ this is in the online world, it’s pretty unusual to see someone in everyday life wearing unordinary, un~everyday clothing!

I forget that.   I walk out in vintage clothing {my preferred style} and I forget that the majority of people around me may think that queer, bizarre or even odd. 

Because of that I find it easier to post pictures of my vintage outfits than actually wearing them, because in one world uncommon fashions are admired, but in the other, they are just plain weird.

Does anyone else have this problem when they make daring fashion choices?

xox,

bonita

Review ~ Sassy’n’Punk + Cute Magnet Craft!

Remember a while ago when I did a post about Sassy’n’Punk’s online shop and all the cute things they had for sale?

Well, they sent me a little thank you gift for writing the post and I got in the mail just the other week.  When I opened my package this is what I found all safely nestled in bubble wrap!

~ * ♥ * ~  Sassy’n’Punk Item Review  ~ * ♥ * ~

     Review:

It’s a pretty heart pendant as far as I can tell…  > . >   I don’t actually know what it is because it’s actually quite large ~ about 2 inches high and about the same across, so is it a large pendant or a keychain charm?   I am not really sure…. 

It is really well made and I can tell that Leyla {she’s the owner, but I am not sure if it’s just her making the items or if she has help} takes care with making sure the Sassy’n’Punk products look really good.

 

I love the colours of the little hearts too ~ they are really cute.   But there are a couple of things that I do have to mention because I do feel that they affect the my overall review.

The major thing was that it took a very long time for the item to arrive from the UK ~ I did expect that because Leyla warned me that it took a long time to ship to Australia.  I was surprised that it took over a month though; that was really unexpected.

The other point is more personal; I was under the impression that Sassy'n'Punk were offering to send me an item from their store in exchange for the post I did about their products.  However,  I searched their website and they are not selling this item.  I really wanted to be able to review an actual Sassy’n’Punk product, so that was really quite disappointing to me. 

Still I was able to see the quality of the handmade items that they do produce and I think that it is good quality.  

Conclusion:

I think Sassy’n’Punk craft really cute, well made, handmade items.  The shipping is slow though, at least for Australians, so be prepared to wait if you order. 

Would I buy it?

I would buy from Sassy’n’Punk ~ but I’d order the things I want all at once I don’t have to wait forever for the shipping.

Rating:

7/10  ~  over a month for shipping is a little bit much, but other than that the service and product is really good. 

I am not counting my personal disappointment, because I don’t feel that it’s a reflection of a customer’s over all experience of Sassy’n’Punk.  : )

Cute Magnets inspired by Melanie of Beauty meets Kawaii

Melanie wrote a tutorial on Pretty~fying Your Ugly Fridge Magnets ~ it was such a simple, easy idea that I thought I’d give it a go myself.

It was also a great way to use the cute Sanrio packaging {the Hello Kitty, My Melody, and Hamster pictures} that I carted all the way from Switzerland back to Australia…  >  <

The other two magnets are from the puffy sticker sheets I bought from Modes4u ~ I LOVE the bunny and veggies in box; it’s soooo cute!  > w <

So I don’t have a fridge yet, but I do have cute magnets to start my collection of cute kitchenware!   I can not wait to set up house ~ it’s going to be some much fun.   ^ U ^

xox,

bonita

Only six days and seven sleeps until my darling comes home and all the fun begins!   ♥ ♥ ♥

Quick Share ~ 10 tips to a Better Blog

There are a TON of “How to be a better blogger” posts out there, but this one stands out for me because it's sort of a guideline of how I like to blog too.  My favourite tip is to read outside of your genre of blogging. 

For example, if you are interested in other subjects but feel as a fashion/art/music blogger you should only read fashion/art/music blogs you might be missing out on worlds of inspiration that you can use to help you write more comprehensive posts!   This is just one of the ten tips from Victoria Suzanne, so if you are interested check her post out.

 

Lolita Charm: 10 Tips to a Better Blog

I read recently that some girls perhaps 'aren't writing blogs for the right reasons' or 'who should and shouldn't write blogs'. Bullshit. ANYONE can write a successful blog! A blog, first and foremost, is for you. It's not for anyone else to tell you that you're not good enough to write a blog, or that you're note 'experienced' enough.

There's nothing standing in the way of you and your own .blogspot.com! I promise. I know it looks like a big job - and it is - but there's nothing that says you can't do it. It takes practice, maybe, and dedication, but if you really want to, you'll get it. Here's what I've discovered so far in my years as blogger...

xox,

bonita

The Swan Maiden ~ Outfit Twenty Four

What I wore yesterday when I went out and had coffee with my sister.  Actually, it was a fruit smoothie for me ~ I abhor coffee.  Nasty stuff and it gives me migraines.  Strangely enough, however, I love the scent of freshly ground coffee beans. 

I have heard that it is not that uncommon for non~coffee drinkers to like the smell of ground coffee and apparently I fit the bill.   Random.

   

I bought the feathered hairband and rose bracelet while I was out rambling around with my sister, {Shopping malls ~ they are my weakness…  >  <    Actually, shopping full stop is my weakness!!} but couldn’t resist including them for the outfit shoot because I felt they added such a lovely touch.

The cool thing about the this outfit shoot is that I took most of the pictures myself!  DH bought me a tripod for my birthday last year, but I haven’t had the opportunity to use it until now because he’s been around to take the photos for me.

So I finally worked out my camera’s self timer and happily snapped away.   It’s fun to be in complete control of the shoots and how the background looks.  I was also really excited to find that my tripod has a little platform that unclips from the main stand.  As this platform is the part you screw your camera to, you can unclip the camera really easily if you want to take a shot and then put it back on the tripod without having to undo the screw from every time!  Yay for awesome tripods!!  ^ U ^

Accessories  ~  Headband  {Equip}    Earrings  {Sportsgirl}  Bracelet  {Equip}

Top  ~  Tempt        Cardigan  ~  Kmart       Skirt  ~  Can’t remember; it was too long ago!

Shoes  ~  Some random store in Czech Republic

This is one of the photos that my sister took for me {she took the last two and the one of my bracelet} ~ sorry it’s out of focus, but I thought it was cute.    > w <  ~ ♥    She was all “I want to take photos of the bump!” then I was all “Baby love!”  and did the peace sign although it looks like some other weird thing as I apparently stuck out my pinky…  = o =’

You know what else was funny?  I was on Skype with my husband and I told him that because I was all in white I was going to title this outfit post “The Swan Maiden”.   Then he said “But you’re not a maiden because you’re pretty obviously knocked up!” 

O _______ O   …..     Thanks dear!

 

Ah well, at least it makes for a funny blog story!   

xox,

bonita

 

Only nine days and ten sleeps until my sweetie comes home!

Cute Wallpaper Madness ~

I have noticed that I am changing my desktop wallpaper a lot these days.  I see a really cute picture and I want to have that instead of the one I’ve got!

I thought I would post up a few of my favourite wallpapers that I’ve had, and also a couple I have done myself.  > w <

Just right click to see the original images in a new tab and click save image to download it to your computer.   Then you can go to your computer’s theme settings and change your wallpaper to whatever cute picture you want.  ^ U ^

Modes4u Free Wallpapers ~

These wallpapers are free in the Modes4u Facebook album FREE cute wallpaper.  If you don’t follow Modes4u on Facebook, you might like too as they are constantly putting up new cute wallpapers you can download and they have a lot more than just these available to use.

Takochou Wallpaper ~

I don’t have the original link to this one ~ I downloaded it from the Takochou website which was in Japanese and I can not even remember how I got there or how I managed to download it…  >  <

Blueberry Chuu~Chan Wallpaper by b dot depictions

    800 x 568  ~  Small version

    1000 x 710  ~  Large version

OC Cute Characters Wallpaper by b dot depictions

    800 x 568  ~  Small version

     1610 x 1173  ~  Large version

~* ♥ * ~ * ♥ *~ * ♥ * ~ * ♥ * ~

Gah!  I can’t believe the last time I did a wallpaper was in 2oo7!  Oh well, it’s ok because I have started to colour another wallpaper line art that I drew the other day, but it’ll be a while before the colouring is all done I think…. 

I hope you found something cute to put up as your desktop wallpaper.  I have had all of these myself in the last few months alone!

Do you have a favourite picture to use for your desktop?

xox,

bonita

Eleven days and twelve sleeps until my Darling comes home!!! 

Quick Share ~ Life & Love offline

Please visit this link to read an insightful post on blogging and offline relationships. I think that it is a good reminder to put the computer down and spend some serious time with those that we know and love in real life. It's all about balance....

Taste & Style Files: This one's for you, Babe.: 


"A lovely fellow blogista of ours, Vahni of Grit & Glamour, wrote an ever-inspiring post today entitled Mr. Stylist.

When I read it I couldn't help but feel a tug of guilt at my heartstrings, and the feeling that I know I've been having the past couple of weeks came rushing in like a hurricane..."

xox,

bonita

Really Truly Vintage

Here’s the story: I love vintage, but I do not have many actual vintage items much to my dismay. 

Part of the reason for this is that I am relatively new to the vintage scene, but also that I have a major disadvantage from living in a relatively young country {Australia: we aren’t old}, and that means that most vintage is out of my range.   Literally!  Either I can not even find it {think 90s clothes in thrift shops} or it’s too expensive for me because I have to buy it through someone else {usually overseas} and pay for shop fees/profit/P&P/etc. 

As a result I am relying heavily on repo/shop items that I can find that look vintage and have a vintage feel, but more often than not repos simply aren’t even close to the real thing.  I am, however, lucky enough to be able to build my collection slowly. 

To date I have two vintage dresses {although I do not think that one of them is that old…  Maybe a 70s repo?} ~

Left: 1950s party dress from Etsy  ~ * ♥ * ~  Right:  Thrifted vintage dress {I am saving this one for a special outfit shoot!}

This delightful old camera which my DH inherited from his Grandfather’s brother and said that we could share ~

I did some searching online and found a website that described the camera ~ Iloca Rapid B. 

“The Iloca Rapid B is yet another German consumer rangefinder of the 1950s. It was produced in 1954… and it comes with a simple Steinheil München Cassar S 50mm f/2.8 lens; Prontor SVS leaf shutter; and a coupled rangefinder.”

And these gorgeous tapestry purses  ~  one is a handbag and the other is a makeup case with a mirror inside.

I found these when I was shopping at this darling antique junk shop in Wagga Wagga.   I absolutely love them ~ I think they are simply divine!   I have no precise idea of how old they are, but I think from my searching that they may be from the 1950s. 

Lastly, this is my most recent acquisition, a darling vintage collar I brought on Etsy  at  Wildfell Hall Vintage. 

It’s 49% Angora Rabbit fur and it is soooooo soft!!  I opened up my package and fell totally in love with it.  The colour, the feel, the style and the pearl embellishment are just divinely perfect!

These are my most notable really truly vintage pieces ~ I have a few other odds and ends; a teacup, a topless thimble, a pair of shoes from the 80s {I think} and a few pieces of furniture which I will show you when they are safely settled in our new house. 

So that is the extent of my collection for now, but I am sure it’s only the beginning, because honestly?  The more I study and see vintage things in real life, the more I fall head over heels for the detail and the craftsmanship.   It is just so unlike anything you find these days, and I love it. 

What is your favourite item of vintage to collect?

xox,

bonita

The Goals for 2011

Or to be more accurate ~ my New Years resolutions.   I want to share these with you, maybe you can keep me accountable on a few of them!   I also want to make sure that I set achievable goals and resolutions and not overload myself with expectations as I am prone to….  > . >’

So without further ado…  

My personal goal:  To be the best mother I can be.

~ * ♥ * ~  For me this doesn’t mean making sure baby is looked after perfectly, because frankly I have no idea whether I can do that or not.  I guess it depends on what your standard of ‘perfect’ is!   So this resolution is more about the child’s character.  I want to be the sort of person I want my children to grow up to be.   I say this because I believe that children learn by example. 

So this year I strive to be more disciplined and less procrastinating; especially when it comes to house chores and cooking!   I can be organized, I know that.  It’s when I get lazy that the organization falls apart and I am sick of that happening!   Less computer, more chores.  My 2011 mantra perhaps?

My skills goal:  To practise sewing and by the end of 2011; to have sewn myself a day dress.

~ * ♥ * ~  Pretty self-explanatory.   I wanted to learn to sew last year, and I started to, but then I lost track of things and I stopped.   I keep on forgetting how much I enjoy it and spend too much time mucking around and wasting time on other things.  This year I plan to change that by practising at least once a week.  {I am also trying to do a least one drawing a week too; with a similar goal to practise art but I made this resolution before the new year. : ) }

My business goal:  To set up my b dot depictions studio website properly, to get my business cards done and to go to at least one fair with my photographs this year. 

~ * ♥ * ~  Again, self explanatory, but this one is really important to me.  I feel like my business has been stuck in the one spot for the last four months of 2010 simply because I didn’t know what I was doing.   I want my studio website up because then I feel I can actually work on the studio products and promote my services. 

I can not seem to move forwards without that all important web launching pad, so this is a crucial part to the goals I can achieve for 2011 business wise.

~ * ♥ * ~ * ♥ * ~ * ♥ * ~

So those are my new year’s resolutions.  I hope I can actually stick with them!   I sometimes manage to get half way to my goals and sometimes I forget about them altogether.  But I do think that it’s a worthwhile thing to set goals and work to achieve them.  Of course, you can do this anytime in the year and I don’t think you should put off making a resolution as soon as you realize that you need to!

I have also heard that one of the best ways to help improve your blogging {if you are interested in that} is to make goals and resolutions for your blog.   It seems to me that there are a lot of serious bloggers out there that do want to achieve certain levels of performance with their blog as it is their income/day job.

I personally refrained from making any particular goal for Depict This! {besides to keep up my 3 a week posting schedule} simply because this is something I do for fun.   I don’t want to fall into the trap of trying to get x number of readers, or x number of sponsors.   My business is my studio, blogging is a hobby and I want to keep it that way. 

What do you think?  Should all bloggers have specific goals to try and achieve?  Do you have any blogging goals in your new years resolutions?

xox,

bonita

Ring the bells ~ Outfit Twenty Three

Happy New Year one and all!   This is the outfit I wore Christmas Day ~ it’s a stunning vintage 1950s party dress with attached crinoline.  My first real piece of vintage clothing! 

 

I saw it this dress on Revolving Styles’ blog when Anna put up the new listing for her Etsy shop and I wanted to buy it so badly ~ it was the Perfect Party dress for me.  But I couldn't decide if I could justify spending the money on it. It was listed at $180.00 USD + P&P and I just didn’t know whether I should or not. 

I haven’t ever spend that much on any piece of clothing except for my wedding dress!!   I was hemming and hawing; trying to make up my mind.  Eventually I decided I would get it and oh dear!  I'd taken too long and it had sold...    I was gutted, but moved on, because what can you do?

But then I got an early Christmas present from my amazing husband and guess what?  …..

He'd bought my Perfect Party dress for me!!  Being privy to my indecisiveness he'd made up my mind for me, although I didn't know it at the time!   There were many squee’s and so much dancing around when I unwrapped it.   I really did not expect him to do that for me!  

I just adore the silver sparkles and the floral print {it’s blue velveteen on chiffon} plus the pink lining is delightful.   And what can I say except I LOVE the poufy skirt!!  Yay for attached crinolines!  {Especially as I am very much lacking in the crinoline department ~ read as none in my wardrobe, and this skirt would not be the same without it.}

I received so many compliments on the dress; and the main one seemed to be that it suits me so well.   I happen to think so too!  I feel like such a lady in this dress and I love it.

All I can say is that my darling, amazing, superb, fantastic, wonderful husband is the best!!!   He is so considerate and even though he does not really get the whole dressing up thing that I like to do, he still supports my dreams {of vintage dresses!}  and lets me shop; or in this case, shops for me.  I love you DH!  ^ x ^ *kisses*

    Baby bump at 5 months.  ^ w ^ 

I have been having a lovely break so far ~ DH has time off for this week and the next and we have been hanging out, bludging on the couch.    I would be out and a about a bit more, but unfortunately as soon as Christmas was over I caught a cold off one of my sisters {thanks dear, love you too…  = . =’ }.  

Suffice to say,  it’s really knocking the stuffing out of me.  Cold:  25.  bonita:  0.  I am glad that I can relax and take some time to recover.  >  <  

I hope your Christmas/New Years holidays have been going well too ~ have a happy New Year everyone!

xox,

bonita

P.S.  ~  Thanks to The Random Rocker {a.k.a. sister number three} for taking these photos for me.  DH was indisposed as he was busy playing with slot cars.  > __ <

P.S. II  ~   No, I am not wearing the dress properly.   The front bodice comes down further to the waist, but I had to hike all that up over the bump and under my ribs because I don’t have a waist any more!   The dress still looked good, {yay!} but I think that will be the first and the last time wearing it until baby is out and I have slimmed down to fit back into it.