Coming Back

Originally, this was meant to be a guest post only Peter isn't quite fluent with blogging and so I am left to finish off this post which he has already started by picking his shots from yesterday. I do agree with the fact that it has been a while since we took a stroll through Pipemakers and now that Summer is sort-of here, I've remembered how flies and mosquitos were such a nuisance last summer. It was quite refreshing to see how seasonal this place can be. As Peter pointed out, it never looks the same. We were actually trying to collect a handful of flowers that I can start pressing which by the way I have completed as they are well stored in a cool area inside my mama bird's heavy pathiophysio therapy books I've piled on each other. I can't wait to see how they turn out even though I have been warned that if I'm to keep some sort of diary for them, it'd be tedious when I don't have a flower dictionary or know some of my flora already. So I must idly stare at my screen until I figure out a much easier way to search for their names besides googling them by colour. 2014 is starting off so well for me as my family is sitting at a peaceful (enough) place with each other, the dogs smell fruity and Sampson no longer smells at all. 

Cardigan: Cocolatte// Dress: Valleygirl//Shoes: Rubi

Cheers, New Years

Happy new year everybody!

Pretty New Things

the wandering witch girl

Now that the new year has begun and the resolutions are taking action, I have recently written down my 2014 bucket list which I might post about later. 2013 was a year of love and creativity and this year, I'm going to try and branch off my creativity in channeling much more prettier/girlier things like pressing flowers. I bought a floral diary from a gift card my best friend gave me for christmas and I think all the pretty illustrations just inspire me to be more creative and add to the list of things I like to do. Since doodling is not my mastering plan, no one can go wrong with enclosing pretty coloured petals in a book for a week or two. This gives me a reason to get to know my flowers a little bit better.

taraviolet.

*Nishe

i am aimee

Queen of Carrot Flowers

Andy Ciordia

Rocktuete

How to press spring flowers

Future Travels

by Happy Dappy Bits

On the topic of travelling, it is rather quite inevitable that people tend to remember their year for what it was and what it brought, who they met and what they did. Then we begin to figure out how we want the new year to be, what we'll decide to speak over the year and bargain on what the future will unfold. I for one am not a participant of new year's resolutions as I believe you have every other day of the year to change or try new things. That being said, I still have my mini goals for the new year that I would love to accomplish since it is a brand new school year which will be a long road to my biggest future success. Within these next 4 years, I'll be studying and succeeding, whilst planning and saving for what I feel like now is the dream to live. Perhaps after a year of graduating, I'd save for a long trip with my only love and explore the ruins of an old abandoned city. Sure, we've talked about this. Absolutely no holding back on where we'd like to go and what we'd like to do. Finally, I've met someone who wants to visit all the places in the world that aren't exactly tourist attractions (my dad is one of them and after travelling with a know-all, I think I'll quickly appreciate isolated populations), where exploring is what we'd rather do than smiling in front of a famous land mark and rushing for the next tour. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to say that they're all the wrong things to do. There's a reason why all those places are tourist attractions; because they're beautiful and worth seeing. But although I was pretty young, I know well enough how much I appreciated those places but I've been there, done that. I can't wait to travel once more and get lost in places that I still don't know exist. Indulge on the food and fall in love with culture and people and be in wanderlust of all the places I could be. All with Peter of course. As we spoke about this, I did mention how exciting it would be to have our own travel journal -assuming it would be all put onto my blog. I'm not exactly inclined to write in a small journal, myself... but I couldn't help but browse through a couple and found some favourites I thought I'd share. And yes, most are made of kraft paper, but anyone who knows me, knows that I love to use kraft paper on anything!

by Print Stitch And Paste

by Degnodi Nota

by miss ArAyA

by Pudel design

Weekends Away

Ahh... It's summer and it's holidays for most if not some. Even though I had not been at school the entire year, I somehow did feel like a weekend out of Melbourne was a break I actually deserved and needed. After a rather silly and somehow eventful Christmas, I think a long drive and free accommodation was definitely worth what everyone bargained me for. My Tita has property up at Venus Bay which has now been vacant and we were able to have it for the weekend. There wasn't exactly much to the house but acres of land, bushes, trees, a fair view, mattresses and a kitchen table. But we managed to make the most out of the time that we spent there. Barbecues, long beach walks, scorching weather, finding pipis and endless innuendos along with them, cooking, playing board games, more beach, and sleeping is basically all we enjoyed and did. It was a wonderful weekend, being able to get away. Breathe in the fresh air, while the sea's salt whisked through our hair. Mind you, I was having such a terrible time with all the cameras we brought along. I forgot the SD card for my dad's camera, didn't load my polaroid correctly and wasted almost half of my cartridge, broke Peter's Konica and took absolutely no fancy pictures even just for Instagram, so here I leave you with an overly edited picture of Peter as he was testing my camera during one of my saddest moments of camera-parental-fail. The scenery was very country cross beach side. It was exactly that though. Where the house was, was all land and farms and wildlife reserves and just over the other side of the hill is an immaculate view of an endless sea with dark blue and green hues stretching for what seemed like miles to me. The waves roared and water was crystal clear. Our toes wriggled in the sand and our fingers managed to find pipis as we dug around. 

Before I forget to mention this anywhere, I have to make sure I have a record of this somewhere and here seems like a liable place to make it. It was the first and only time I will ever have too much to drink. I strongly suggest not drinking at all to anyone, but I think saying that is too late for anybody. It was a horrible feeling. I think it's silly how people drink to achieve that state of mind BUT that is another argument for another time at another place which is not here. Venus Bay, I do miss it already but I have aaaaaaall the time within the new year to come back and relax.

Polaroid Fun

I've been holding out on this post for a while but I'm sure you may or may not have noticed here or on Instagram that I've been carrying around a weighty polaroid with me from time to time. How inefficient does that sound in the modern world? Breaking all the rules of ergonomics, this land camera sparingly captures my favourite sights in all its impracticality. It was gifted to me for my birthday by Peter but not in it's original condition. Of course he made some minor adjustments which required him to solder a few bits and pieces but I've got to hand it to him. It works perfectly well after he managed to rig a few things to be fair with what I can still get my hands on today.  I was actually rather ecstatic to open my surprise. Way too excited to use it for the first few times. I absolutely love this camera. The polaroid has beautifully extended bellows and an impressively weighty body that basically overrules the evolution of cameras. I can take multiple exposures, and at times a few black and white shots too. My favourite thing about the camera is that it's like it has it's own random filter. You'll never know what hues are exaggerated or how well they'll turn out. It's instant and it's always exciting after every shot. I get just about overly excited waiting for the film to 'develop' before I can peel off the negative. It's fun and I don't think this can just be 'occasional'. I've tried bleaching my negatives and boy do they turn out interesting. I am yet to scan them onto a jpeg format and discover the colour plays. I've only scanned the positives and I'm sorry but these don't scan as true as the hard copies really are. But I've seen outstanding results of scanning the negatives and I can't wait to try it out when I figure out how. Below are some of my favourite shots and some were too dark so I had to lighten them up a little. But they will look completely different once the negatives can be scanned. 

No Time For Grinches And Scrooges

I do hope that everyone spent their Christmas Eve's and Christmas day's with their family and friends, celebrating the birth of the the Saviour. I'm still quite full from this week's dinners but never quite sick of the company of whom I was blessed to be with. Carols will probably always be one of my favourite things about christmas- that and decorating the house/christmas tree with baubles, lights and tinsel. I thought my presents this year were reasonably well-thought of for the ladies and the bros. Peter and I had trouble abstaining from the body scrubs we were making. Their chocolatey essence was purely seduction whilst scooping them into jars to wrap. The dreamcatchers were much smaller than I'm used to, but never the less still such fine cute little presents that Peter and I took some time to make also. Sadly I have no posts of a white christmas' and a massive turkey on the table, but we did go for a bit of a wandering "hike" for no apparent reason but 'because' and it was Christmas Eve. We weren't lost, but we weren't certain of quite a few places we drove by either. One day I'll have that white christmas but the weather in Melbourne those two days were absolutely perfect. 

Dress: Glassons

*photos taken by Peter

Bell Skirts

Travelogue fashion film from the 1950s.

Like A Sweet Sweet Home

The thought of travelling around for a month or two in a camper-van has always been such a delightful thought. Besides second (third or even fourth) hand vans being second hand woes with deteriorating interior of countless flaws, I've been very fond and overly attached to some quirky make-overs I have seen published throughout the years. I've once had a customer ask me for advice in pastel curtains for the Volks that she and her husband were refurnishing to sell. She supplied me with an abundance of photographic evidence of their progress with the van and I was mightily impressed at the present outcome. Blogger, Sarah LoCascio shared her beautifully renovated campervan from her blog Attic Lace over at A Beautiful Mess and I've fallen in love with all I have seen to say the least, not to mention her comfortable and adorable little pooch. Everything is sweetly organised with each in their own perfect place. 

Images via A Beautiful Mess

Love Locks

It's safe to say that now the weather is beginning to warm up, frozen cold drinks, slushies and the sort are the go-to thirst quenchers. Two consecutive days and I've already been taking advantage of the McDonalds coke floats. Not that that matters...

I'm looking for a copy of A Very She and Him Christmas on vinyl so yesterday, Peter and I wandered around the city since we had time to after my exam. Sadly, I came home without an LP since no one had a copy in hand that I could just purchase. I think I'll have to consider having to order it in before it's too late and Christmas is long gone *crosses fingers*. Yesterday wasn't all filled with unfortunate outcomes as we did take a few pictures of the love locks on one of the bridges from Crown to Flinders station. And we met Sherman the brindle frenchie. He's the fourth one we've met this year and I'm enjoying the short-second company they bring us when we greet them and their owners. Protruding every question we can fit into a minute without being desperate, their owners have been kind enough to tell us about the lives of their little ones with smiles. Mr Sherman surely was a happy little fella.