Beauty, Country, Innocence, Life...

1, 2, 3, 4 I declare a thumb war.
5, 6, 7, 8 Try to keep your thumb straight.

All around the mulberry bush

The monkey chased the weasel.
The monkey thought 'twas all in fun.
Pop! goes the weasel.

A penny for a spool of thread,
A penny for a needle.
That's the way the money goes.
Pop! goes the weasel.

Up and down the City Road,
In and out of the Eagle,
That's the way the money goes.
Pop! goes the weasel.

Half a pound of tuppenney rice,
Half a pound of treacle,
Mix it up and make it nice,
Pop! goes the weasel.

I had a little nut tree, nothing would it bear
But a silver nutmeg and a golden pear.
The King of Spain's daughter came to visit me,
And all for the sake of my little nut tree.
I skipped over water, I danced over sea,
And all the birds in the air couldn't catch me.

Dreaming...

So my day has been rather dull.
I have been pacing back and forth trying to occupy my time, trying to study, trying to succeed.
I have my Textiles exam next Tuesday and then my final exam - Art - on Thursday. All through the year I have been saying to myself that these are the ones that count, the ones that I will get 100% on, although now that they are here, I feel tired, bored and very unmotivated.

Very soon these silly exams will be over and I will be free. It is this that I dream upon. To find my place in the world.
I can not wait for this time to come, where I can relax and play.
Dance and sing, dream all day.



For a while now I have been saying that I was born in the wrong era. My mum even said it to me the other day... it is the past years that I wish I could experience.



As soon as I finish with my current area in life I am going to finally make the beautiful clothes that I love, especially a pair of these 1950's swimwear (seen below).



Although it is not only the clothes that I love... it is the colours, the history to the photos and especially the smiles on their faces. That is truly what I want.



To Charlotte: Espérer que vous avez eu un jour agréable !
I hope that worked.lol.

Halloween...

As Halloween is tomorrow... it is the perfect time to whip out those pre-loved outfits
from the back of the wardrobe, get the extra dark eyeliner working
and purchase some fake blood.

I went to a Halloween party last year and I have to say that apart from the traditional costumes
of vampires and ghosts, it was a distant friends' costume that i thought was the best.
She had dress up as a Hollywood star, with a beautiful dress, tightly curled hair and
red lipstick...and then just added two small drops of blood on her neck to resemble vampire
teeth marks. I thought that it was a fantastic idea, allowing the opportunity to dress up and look pretty whilst at the same time suiting the occasion.



Halloween is the time where it does not matter what you wear, offering countless possibilities...
If you have a favourite outfit, accessory or anything really; you can simply through it on,
and make up a name for it.

Last year (2007) for Halloween, some of my friends and I dressed up and went to
Movie World's Halloween family fun night.
It was the best/most scariest/most fun night of my life.
A night where every horror film you have ever watched cam to life...
chasing you down alley ways with chainsaws...



As seen here, my two best friends; Jordie, Summantha and I dressed up as bunnies,
along with our other friends dressing up as pirates and the grim reaper.
Compared to so many people there we where very underdressed,
demonstrating the extent so many people go to for halloween.

Sadly, due to the hectic schedule of the HSC we do not get to attend it this year.
Hopefully next year...

Pretty Picture...

These pictures show the cute little cottages and the surrounding land, that we often stay in when going back down to Victoria to see our family.

My mummy took this picture the other day, this tree is in a front garden near my school - which I just graduated from.
Jacaranda trees are currently in full bloom and look spectacularly beautiful.

Visual Art Major...

For my Year 12 Art Major I decided to continue the theme of roses (from my textiles tutu).

I was inspired by Asher Bulu's artwork "Duck Bills", where layers of plastic/glass have been used along with a mirror at the back to create effect.
By appropriating this technique I came up with the concept seen below.


Title: "The Cycle of Life"

I wanted to show the beauty of the roses though I also wanted to show how they grow and bloom.
This was achieved by designing on the 1st layer: a rose bush, with fresh leaves and small rose buds.
Then on the 2nd panel: the same rose bush was drawn, only the flowers are now larger, they have opened their petals and are showing their beauty to the world, though are slightly hidden behind the buds of their former life... just like many of us constantly desire and long for the freedom of our childhood.
The 3rd panel: has very large roses on it, all fully bloomed and are a darker colour. They are no longer fresh, they are wilting, dropping their petals and the leaves are falling...
The 4th panel: this is the mirror, used to not only reflect the rose bush, but to allow the audience to see themselves, communicating that they are a part of this world, a part of this journey through life!

The words written on the panels are in Latin and read;
Panel 1: Ortus = Birth
Panel 2: Vita = Life
Panel 3: Nex = Death
Mirror: Calis Est Vita = Such Is Life



Underneath this artwork sat an old school case, used to show the journey through life...
The petals and leaves that have fallen off the rosebush filled the base of the case supporting a book that I have made.
The book has a rose drawn on the cover with the title on the next page in...
Then an introduction showing a child, then a lady...dreaming of being that child again...
Each page of the book supports the concept of 'The cycle of Life' - which is shown through roses; this is done by dedicating two pages to birth, then childhood, teenage-hood, adulthood, old age and then back to birth again and so on...
These pages show humans growing and blooming in the world as well as roses, slowly opening, living and dying.

My artwork was only just marked yesterday by the board of studies so fingers crossed I received a good mark!
It will soon be displayed in the Tweed River Art Gallery.

Butterfly's flutter by...

A few months ago when I got off the bus from school I noticed a butterfly on the road.

I quickly rescued it although it did die later that night.
Hopefully its last moments on earth where a little more enjoyable.





Ever since visiting the butterfly enclosure in Melbourne
I have had a deep respect for the beauty a grace of butterfly's.
They are not on this earth for very long and yet
their appearance creates such magic for any onlooker!

Mavis's Kitchen...

For my mummy's birthday this year we took her out to lunch at a charming little cafe` near Mt Warning.

'Mavis's Kitchen' was incredibly relaxing with wonderful food.



There were beautiful gardens to which my family and I spend the afternoon exploring,
tasting the herbs and smelling the flowers.


(me, my sister and my dad)







We then went to the base of Mt Warning, walking around the rain forest.


(my mummy and I)



I have a fascination with taking photo's of trees.
I just love leaves and the shadows created from the hints of light shinning through.

The Duchess...

As I said earlier, I would let you know what I thought of the new 'Duchess' film, staring Keira Knightley. Well it was absolutely FANTASTIC!!!!!

Based on a true story, the tale traces the cosseted, tightly corseted late-18th-century life of Georgiana Spencer, the Duchess of Devonshire.
Born in 1757, Georgiana went from scampering merrily across the emerald expanse of the family estate under the pitiless gaze of her mother to trembling under the unloving touch of the Duke of Devonshire.
Although apart from the storyline, depicting that of the time; it was of course the exceptional costumes, the fabulously ornamented gowns, the extraordinary wigs and verdant landscapes dotted with grazing sheep that made this film so beautiful, portraying an idealistic fashion environment.
This film truly brought tears to my eyes...

Richard...

The other day the 'Today Show' was filming on a beach near where I live,

allowing my family and myself the opportunity to watch, get on tv and meet the show hosts.



Me with the fabulous Richard Reid!

My Year 12 Textiles Major...

The initial inspiration for creating a ballet tutu came from an incredible experience of seeing Queensland’s ballet ‘With Attitude 2007’ performed. This stimulated the idea of creating a tutu, yet it was an embroidered doily that inspired the warm, antique colours and flowers.

The flowers sparked a familiarity to the images, ideas and themes seen in the film ‘The Secret Garden’; where love, passion and imagination is unlocked, allowing the freedom and growth of feelings, dreams and even life.

The ballet is traditionally distinguished for graceful, elegant and poised ballerinas, wearing ornate costumes to communicate the feelings, moods and role of the character.

This tutu is designed to be suitable to be worn in the ballet The Secret Garden, bringing to life the dramatic anticipation of the garden being unlocked, to unearth the secrets the garden holds and to reveal the graceful blossoming of the flowers growing over the ballerinas’ body.

Choosing to design a tutu has given me the opportunity to explore a variety of creative and innovative techniques, conveying the beauty and elegance of flowers and growth.

An innovative approach to the structure and design of the bodice is established by the use of interfacing, lining, boning and the zipper, all of which help to create a strong, firm structure. This bodice symbolises the walls surrounding the ‘secret garden’. The flowers are on the outside, as the ‘garden’ has been unlocked, and are therefore free to grow and bloom.

The traditional ‘Pancake’ tutu would bob and dip when the dancers' skirts brushed up against one another, this movement of the tutu would continue long after the steps were complete. By creating the ‘Powder-puff’ tutu it allows an innovative approach to the original ‘Pancake’ tutu; this is formed by shortening the skirt, making the tutu layers self-supporting and allows the dancer's legs to be fully visible.

To communicate and incorporate the inspiration from the colours and flowers of the doily and the feelings and passions from The Secret Garden, the creative techniques of ribbon embroidery, appliqué and beading are used to create flowers, stems and vines; which add to the affluent appearance of the garment and discloses importance of beauty and growth.

The end result: (took approx. 60hrs)

The Tutu Bodice.

Corner close-up.

Showing the detailed embroidery which created the vines...

the ribbon roses and the key (which was shipped over from England).

The back view

The Tutu.

The underneath of the tutu,

showing the gathering of all the layers of tulle

Cute...

How adorable are these, just perfectly cute!

Flowers...

Carrie, she's the girl who made fashion fabulous...

(1st of all, take a look at her bag in the picture above. The Eiffel Tower!)

...and now she's making flowers fabulous too.

I purchased my own 'Bardot' giant flower recently (The same as the one bellow except lemon in colour);
and the amount of comment from strangers saying how wonderful it was, was amazing.
i wore it to the cinemas to so 'Brideshead Revisited',



which was fantastic...
and i then wore it out that night to a few of the local clubs.
with many drunk women walking up and stroking it...hehehe
Clearly this is a must-have accessory this spring!