A Savage Adventure

On Friday Ruby and I had a great adventure, worthy of many a short story, no, a novel even, possibly written by Neil Gaiman or Francesca Lia Block if either of them were into Savage Garden.
It began on a normal Friday morning after some public transport related frustration for Ruby (which unfortunatly is very common in ye old Melbourne town) and some sleep deprivation for me, when we decided to take off in Ruby's little blue car for some roaming around the far eastern suburbs with her camera and a second hand dress. Like most great adventurers, we had no plans in particular, but after some frolicking in the fields down behind an old decaying railway bridge, we somehow ended up at th fine establishments that are the Lilydale Salvation Army and St Vincent de Paul Op Shops (affectionatly termed the Salvo's and Vinnies. Australian's abbreviate EVERYTHING!) We did not expect much, yet what we found would change the course of our afternoon. Hidden amongst the old discarded classical music tapes and a questionable cassingle by Peter Andre (ew), we found a copy of 'Affirmation', by Savage Garden. Words cannot describe our excitement, but it can be likened to either winning the lottery, or finding a large diamond amongst a pile of rocks (or some steaming turds if we're counting Peter Andre). After purchasing a couple of second hand garments from the lovely saleswoman, we spent the rest of the afternoon driving around reminiscing about how much we really loved all of the songs on this tape, for their simple, unashamedly pop-ness and the nostalgia that came with it. There was no talk of tits or ass, bling or cars, no boasting of sexual prowess or inclination towards bondage and fetishes, just good old fashioned emotional angst and boy meets girl pop (or as we would later learn boy meets boy).

Here is a taste of the beautiful photos Ruby took, click here to see the full set. You may notice it features the lovely dress I bought from Mockingbird Vintage :) I've already worn it twice and I love it to patchwork pieces!



Note: This is not on the Affrimation album (just in case you are wondering, which I'm sure you are) this is off their first self titled album which was released in 1997 (thankyou wikipedia). Oh how I miss the ninties sometimes. But anyways, this will always be my favourite Savage Garden song. If anyone owns a cassette tape or cd of this album, I will pay you extremely good money for it :)

Take Comfort in a Sad Sad Song

Encyclopedia

There are feelings here
they sit deep in the stomach pit
rotting like fruit
six weeks old – fermenting
until I am drunk
with anger

The Encyclopedias were the first to go
invisible- not until removed
did I notice any absence
of spines or clothes
I suppose that’s why you’re leaving
because I only expressed my deepest emotions
in your absence

I used to read those books
Notice the gaps in our knowledge
too many, too wide to fill
with flesh, with love
that stemmed from something less tangible
more mysterious
than common interest conversation
it was glorious at first, I’m sure
Like a meteor shower, a great work of fiction
I wish you had left those books, for a day or two
So I could burn them

Give a thought, would you,
To those things you took, those that
you cannot see
youth, beauty, faith even
more than words to push pins into
to fill an index
and memories
they stick like pins in my eyes
they make me cry

There were feelings here
Strong, clear, uncalculated feelings
and all of them for you
But notice, how quickly feelings can change
When you become better educated
on the nature of a man

Record Collector

How friggen cool are these!!! I would love it if any of these albums were books,especially Joni Mitchell's, because her songs are filled with a narrative-esque quality and would make a beautiful novel. Click here for more

Mockingbird Fair and Dream Vintage

So I have kicked this handmade/recycled challenge off a little early with a couple of purchases that were unintentional, but I am sure I will not regret :)

The first is this gorgeous pair of coral clip on earrings from Dream Vintage, a seller that I have been following on facebook and now etsy for some time now. She has a great collection of great quality one off pieces ranging from floral shirts to denim cuttoff shorts to vintage jewellery!


Click here for her etsy, and search Dream Vintage for her facebook page :)

I also bought this beautiful vintage white dress from Mockingbird Fair, another vintage reseller I found on Facebook (see, its not just for tagging your friends in bad photos and stalking people you really don't like all that much).


Its so cuuute, I couldn't resist, and if you join their facebook page before the end of the long weekend (tomorrow), you will recieve a discount code for 40% off all items on their website. It's a win win really :) They list good quality vintage dresses, knits, bags, accessories, and all kinds of lovely new and pre loved items on their own website, www.shopmockingbirdfair.com, at very reasonable prices, at least compared to what I've seen whislt trawling through facebook and the bloggosphere.

If any one is joining me in this challenge, I would love to hear about/ see what you've bought :)

The Handmade Challenge

As of the first of May, I've decided I'm setting myself a wee bit a challenge, just for funsies :P I have decided that for the whole month I will only be purchasing handmade or recycled items in a bid to raise my ethical consumer standards and to try and support local enterprise and handmade culture instead of mass production. I shall be documenting my purchases in order to keep tabs on my spending, and hopefully this may curb it a little, although with the amount of cool stuff on etsy at the moment, I have a feeling it wont! Anyways, feel free to join me in clensing your consumer conscience and supporting the vast array of local and international crafting talent :) You may find it a lot easier than you think.

I bought these gorgeous little buttons from a great supply shop called Popalicious Too! which stocks heaps of beautifully designed buttons, and you can choose whether you want flat backs, pin backs or hollow backs :) I think I might use these as little additions to birthday presents, and maybe make a couple of cute hair clips or a ring or something :) Not bad for under 10 bucks!

Buttons for Beans

So although I have a job this time (I now work at the RSPCA Animal Welfare facility in Burwood. YAY!), I've had a bit of spare time during the mornings, aside from housework and assorted other regular life goings on. So I took up my glue again and made new hair barrettes :) It's nice to feel creative again. I don't have proper names for them yet, but they are up on my very rudimentary etsy
Let me know if you like them or if you'd like them xo

In the Springtime of her Voodoo

The witchdoctor writes his words in the dark. He can cure you of all the flaws of the human condition, but always in return for a price higher than you can pay.
His twin sister is a medicine woman, but her potions only work to cure the soul of ailments, not to appease its festering desires.

We are all looking for witchdoctors, but what we need is a medicine woman.

Photographs come from an incredible series by my style icon Pandora. Click here to view in it's entire splendour. Words by me. Best taken with Witchy Jams, another inspired 8 tracks mix by Hannah Metz, who has reminded me how much I love sixties pop, Enya and Fever Ray.

I Met My Lover At The Bus Stop

So I was listening to an 8 tracks mix by Hannah of Hannah and Landon and I came across this song by the Hollies, which as soon as I heard it filled me with waves of nostalgia and faint images of family road trips to New South Wales and Queensland to see my cousins, and a mixed CD that my dad had made of all of his favourite songs from the fifties and sixties. At the time I don't think I really appreciated what an awesome collection of songs they were, being in a Hanson and Spice Girls haze that left little room for anything else, but I always liked this one. I like the idea of someone meeting their wife at a bus stop, it reminds me how much of our lives can be influenced by fate, and that we shouldn't take little moments like that for granted. I wish I could find that CD. I would have liked to be alive when simple things like bus stops and umbrellas were instigators of romance rather than facebook and twitter, even just for a day or two.

I am now listening to Hannah's Halloween Mixtape entitled halloween part 1 (vampires). There are so many cool retro songs about vampires that were released way before the birth of Stephanie Meyer and well, we all know what happened to them after that. *Sigh* Enjoy!

We Found, We Kept

I know this is a little delayed, but well, my brain is always pretty jumbled up so I guess it makes sense that my blogposts are too. oh well.

A couple of weeks ago Lovely and I went to the Finders Keepers Market :D This is my favourite market because it's more than a market, its a two day handmade independant creation extravaganza :) and I am so glad they have finally started bringing it to Melbourne! There was music, and vegan cupcakes (altohugh sadly we missed out on them they were so popular! I'm having these guys cater my next party though), hipsters, oragami, hipsters wearing oragami, and of course the ridiculously talented designers and their beautiful creations. One of my favourite things about Finders Keepers, and all markets really, is that you get to meet the people behind the products, have a chat (or in my case just gawp at them embarrisingly whislt hiding behind my boyfriend -_-) and let them know how much you like what they're making :) It's always nice to be acknowledged, especially when these labours are of large amounts of love, energy, and often at the expense of finacial security.
Here are some of my favourite stall holders, with all images taken from their respective websites/blogs etc.

First cab off the rank is RaRa Superstar.
So yes, I have been watching a lot of Mad Men recently, which I think has started to seep ever so slowly into my every day brain because I want these clothes so much!!!! These are advertised as Vintage and One off Designs, using vintage and recycled fabrics. Vintage seems to be the buzzword of our generations pop culture, so sometimes I find it hard to distinguish between clothes that are actually vintage ie used to live in somebody's grandmother's closet swathed in tissue paper and mothballs, and those that are designed to emulate these eras. But with Ra Ra it doesn't seem to matter, as they have combined the two, and it works :)



Prices aren't too bad either, ranging from $20 up to $150
click here for their website, store and lookbook

Next is Limedrop, which I've seen stocked in quite a few stores around Melbourne and even at Laneway, but I need to give them a mention because their stuff is just so cool.
Created and run by Australian designers Clea Garrick and Nathan Price, Limedrop has everything from beautifully designed clothing collections to nautical rope accessories, although my absolute favourite is the cherrywood jewellery, and in particular the pop out earrings (see below). The cherrywood fox ones have been on my 'to buy' list for at least a year.


Click here to check out 'The Lake House' 2011 Autumn Winter Collection, as well as past collections and all their cool ass accessories.

Now we venture away from clothing and head to the art department.
Bespoke is a gorgeous Letterpress Boutique based in Brisbane, Queensland, but we were lucky enough to visit their Melbourne Finders Keepers stall. They use antique printing presses not only from last centuary but also the centuary before, combining letterpress with graphic design to create stunning typography prints, stationary and even wedding invitations.


Click here to see some of their amazing designs and prints.

Moving further into the depths of detail we have the almost depressingly talented Jessica Stewart. Lovely and I were both blown away by the incredible detail and sheer beauty of her artworks, which she showcases under the name When You Escape, and uses everything from grey lead pencil to spray paint to create them. I also really like the ideas and landscapes that inspire her work (Click here to read her interview featured on the Finders Keepers Blog). I will definatly be buying one of her pieces in the very near future.



Click here to visit her website and online store

And finally, last but not least, I have to give another mention to Emma Leonard, because she's just so cute and friendly, and I love her artwork oh so much, and finally getting to put it up on my wall made me very happy. She had some new prints this time around, and I was so tempted to buy them, and probably will when I go on to buy something from Jessica Stewart's collection. And maybe those limedrop fox earrings.


Visit her blog (of which I am also an avid follower) and her etsy store to buy her very reasonably priced prints.

Well thats all for now, but there were heaps more amazing designers and artists to see, envy and appreciate, and are listed on The Finders Keepers, which is always on the look out for new talent and promoting new crafting types.
Have a browse through them and I'm sure you'll find something you like. It's what I'm going to be doing for the next few hours. I need a higher paying job -_-

Hello Autumn (I've Been Expecting You)

Whether it be by updating their facebook status or vocal lamentation on public transport, it seems a lot of people are not so happy about the transition of summer into autumn. As the temperatures plummet and the number of daylight hours begin to dwindle, apparently so do people's spirits and desires to be out of doors and away from electric heaters. But I say, hey Autumn, you're not so bad, I actually think you're pretty neat; you fill my days with the beautiful hues of browns, oranges and golds, I get to unpack all my lovely wollen clothing and accessories that I bought in Peru and had to pack up and ship home as soon as I reached Brazil, in exchange for uncomfortable bikinis and general embarrasing sweatiness, and enjoy the fresh rosy cheeked sensation of cold wind against my face as I walk the city streets in my knee high boots and a snuggly pistachio green overcoat, rather than trying desperatly to hide the shiny, scabby sunburnt colour of my face with nasty amounts of foundation. Of course, these are all rather superficial reasons as to why I enjoy this particular change in season; it is of course essential to the complex infrastructure of Nature and thus our very survival as human beings. But I also enjoy how a changing season makes me feel, like there's space for something new, a time for spiritual de-cluttering; at the risk of sounding like a Woman's Weekly horoscope, it brings the winds of change. I'm not sure if this will be good of bad, but so far, the outlook is pretty lovely :) (I say as I'm knocking on the wooden wall of my beside dresser. What? I'm irrationally superstitious)
So here is my ode to the changing of the seasons, which I took while wandering through Treasury Gardens last weekend. Autumn, though others may mock you and curse your arrival, I welcome you with an open heart.

(You know what they say, the Apple does not fall far from the tree)