Adventures of a girl from the Naki

KL - Day Two!

2012-01-28T20:14:00.024+09:00

Hello World! I haven't really been blogging much lately - this is due to a lack of internet connectivity. The wifi in the hotel seems to be working well right now, so I thought I'd take the time to sit down and write a post and let you all know a little bit about what I've been up to.

On my second day in Kuala Lumpur I was flying to Phuket in the evening, but that didn't mean I couldn't do lots of things in the morning before my flight.

First of all I decided to go to the top of "Menara Tower" also known as "KL Tower" - I love visiting tall buildings whenever I travel to new cities and it can be difficult to get tickets to the Petronas Towers (they only issue 500 a day) so I decided I would check out KL tower instead.

I took a lot of photos at the top of the tower - I loved the view - especially seeing swimming pools on top of a lot of the buildings, I thought that was pretty fun and I can see why apartments would need swimming pools on the top floor in the KL heat!

As part of the ticket price for the tower, you also got entrance to a "Malaysian Village" which was a collection of traditional Malaysian houses. I actually really liked the exhibit, it was well set up and it gave you a small view of the diversity of Malaysia.

Also as part of the ticket price you could choose one other "activity" at the tower - I've found that with a lot of towers I've visited that they fill up the area with other activities for tourists, most of which are lame (just for the record, if you go to Tokyo Tower - don't bother with the wax works museum). At KL tower I bought the "budget" ticket which meant I could go to the top of the tower, the Malaysian village and one other activity for "free". I choose the mini zoo they had at the tower. To be completely honest, parts of the zoo were pretty sad. I thought the monkeys cages were way too small and they also had a LOT of rabbits together, it looked like too many rabbits for one space. Also I thought the aviary was too small. But most of the reptiles seemed to be kept in conditions that were ok, but then I don't know too much about reptiles.

The snake in the picture below was HUGE - he was 7 metres long and weighed 120 kilos - much, much bigger than me. The man at the zoo said I could have my photo taken with the snake if I wanted (for a small fee) but I politely declined.

After visiting KL tower, I decided to check out the Malaysian Visitor Centre, the main reason for this was to check out the old colonial building it was located in. It was also an added bonus that the building was decorated for Chinese New Year.

The giant shoe was advertising a "Shoe Festival" that KL is having in April, I can think of a few friends that would like to attend that festival!

Once I finished at the Malaysian Tourist Centre it was lunch time and I was pretty close to the Petronas Towers, so I decided I would go to the mall inside and find a place to eat. It was also the chance to take more photos!

Last of all - as I was walking back to my hotel I stumbled across a temple and even more Chinese New Year decorations, so I took a few photos. When I arrived back it was time to head to the airport and make my way to Phuket. I will post more pictures soon xoxo

Holy Crap - I'm in Kuala Lumpur!!

2012-01-21T09:58:00.015+09:00

Like I said - Holy Crap I'm in Kuala Lumpur!! I am also lucky enough to have endless wireless internet in my hotel. I am about to head out for more adventures but I thought I'd share a few photos I took yesterday first. This was my breakfast yesterday, a Malaysian spin on pancakes - banana and ice cream on sweet roti bread. It was pretty good! It's Chinese New Year at the moment and of course there is a big Chinese population in Malaysia so the city is decorated - it's pretty impressive.I stumbled across this cool collection of painted bears, each one represents a different country and they are to raise awareness of peace, humanity and generally looking after each other.Here's New Zealand bear - I loved all the native birds over his body and the fact he has Tuatara on his feet.I went inside the Petronas Towers yesterday, which felt a whole lot like being in Taipei 101. I went to the most amazing book store and bought a great craft book which I will share sometime in the future.The KL Aquarium is near the towers, so I decided I HAD to go, if you've been reading my blog for a while you know all about my love of aquariums. It was also a chance to get out of the KL heat!
There was a small but lovely park next to the towers and aquarium which I took a stroll around. You had a great view of the towers from the park.Feeling pretty excited about everything - or maybe just going a little crazy due to the heat!Finally - some lit up trees near my hotel, I took this on my way home from dinner last night and they were really pretty. I couldn't really capture them that well with my wee camera, but I tried.I am off for more adventures now and then its time to fly to Phuket tonight - I can't wait! Hopefully I can blog more soon xoxox

Wednesday Wardrobe Challenge - Pearls

2012-01-18T15:18:00.011+09:00

Today's wardrobe challenge was "Pearls" and whilst I don't have any "for real" pearls I do have my fabulous oversized pearls from Diva or Equipt - I forget which!I am actually more excited by the dress I am wearing in this outfit - its one of my "to do" projects from my January sewing goals. It's the tunic dress from my Sew La Tea Do sewing book. Here's a close up of the fabric I made the dress from - it may have been designed with 5 year old boys pj's in mind. But I don't care! I think it's totally rad and I love my shark dress! My non-pearl accessories for the day - lots of red to match the little red fish on the dress.

Red tights and white shoes seem to be just perfect with this frock!

So with all the recent eye drama I've decided to try and become much more of a lipstick girl, rather than an eye make up girl. This is the colour I've been wearing all this week - I kind of like the idea of having a signature shade of lipstick
OUTFIT DEETS:

Dress - Made by Me! Fabric from spotlight

Cardy - Glassons

Pearls - Diva or Equipt

Belt - From another dress

Ring - Reincarnation, Wellington

Plastic Bracelet - I forget :P

Beaded Bracelet - Handmade Gift from my friend Jess

Tights - Farmers

Shoes - The Big Shwop

Also, as you'll all know I'm sure, Chinese New Year is here! One of the ladies at work gave me a Chinese New Years present today.

I got a "Chanel" Purse - oh how fancy!

Finally I want to have a wee round up of how I went on my January sewing goals, I am off on my trip tomorrow so there won't be any more sewing this month (well not the type of sewing that requires me to sit at my machine). I had four sewing goals - a maxi dress, dress for my cousins wedding a capelet and a tunic dress.

This month I get 3/5 - the only thing I didn't make was a capelet - which means I will have to take an emergency scarf on my trip. But all in all I am pretty happy with my progress. I have included a photo of the maxi I made below. It's not an action shot - but I am sure you will see some holiday photos of me wearing this frock.

Like I said, I am off on my trip tomorrow - first stop is Christchurch to have brunch with Helga Von Trollop then its off to Kuala Lumpur! I will try and update when I can whilst I am away - but if things are a little quiet you will know I've either without the internet, exhausted or just having too much fun. See you all soon xoxo

Oh Strumpets! Valentine Swap

2012-01-17T16:48:00.003+09:00

It's official, I've signed up for my first craft swap over at Oh Strumpets! Blog - it's a valentines swap which should be pretty fun. I already have a few ideas floating about in my head of what to make. I'm just waiting to hear back from my partner to see if she has a blog and get an idea of her likes/dislikes.
In another note - two more sleeps until my trip! Getting slightly nervous now, but I know it will all be fine once I actually start travelling - just the thought of it is a bit scary, but I know when I am on the first plane I will be fine.

Pink and Hibiscus Dress

2012-01-16T14:46:00.005+09:00

I have now finished the dress for my cousin's wedding in Phuket which is coming up mighty soon, only three more sleeps till I fly out to Kuala Lumpur.

I made this dress with a vintage pattern and put a lot of work into it, but I'm not sure now if I actually like it or not! But I put so much work into it I'm going to wear it damn it!

I decided I wanted a pink dress, I'm not sure why, it was just a mood that struck me on the day. The dress has a big pleat at the front, so I decided to insert hibiscus print fabric instead of being all pink.

I inserted an invisible zip into the frock using this tutorial which I found really useful, if you're planning on inserting an invisible zip for the first time I would recommend checking it out.

I did have a small drama with this dress, I made it maybe 6 months ago and at that time the dress fit fine. However, recently I lost quite a lot of weight which means the dress didn't fit correctly any more and I had to take the whole dress in which took a while.

The little bow at the side is actually a removable bow I made, so I could wear it elsewhere on the dress if I fancy and I can also take it off when the dress needs a wash.

I am not crazy about this frock - but maybe I'll like it more with the right accessories and the yellow shoes I bought for the wedding.

I am happy its finished, I have something to wear to the wedding and I can tick something off my list for my January sewing goals. I have also made my maxi dress and I hope to put up a photo before I leave on Thursday.

Lyall Bay to Wellington Walk & op-shopping fun

2012-01-15T14:31:00.013+09:00

Yesterday Rich and I went to have a drink and bite to eat with our friends Paul and Nankz in Lyall Bay. We decided that we would walk home from Lyall Bay along the waterfront seen as it was a beautiful day - even though it was extremely windy! The walk ended up taking us two hours and some parts were quite tough due to the high wind.

We walked through Kilbirnie on the way home which is home to my favourite op shop - Opportunity for Animals. We stopped off for a quick visit and I picked up a few goodies.

I got this crazy maxi skirt for $4 - I am unsure if it will stay a maxi or if I'll shorten it to knee length. But I think the pattern is pretty rad and as an added bonus its a home made skirt, which I think makes it even more special.

I also found this big bag of lace for a grand total of $2 which I was pretty happy with it - its so nice to have little bits of lace like this to finish off projects. I think a lot of it is vintage as well.

Here's a close up of some of my favourite pieces of lace from the bag - I especially like the blue patterned lace.

Speaking of op-shopping, I wanted to share this photo with you all - it was taken before Christmas. I was pretty excited to find this Barbie game, it looks about as old as I am and its very much of the "Girls can do anything" generation I am part of - pretty sad to see that idea isn't so popular with young girls currently, most likely something to do with the non-stop stream of pink toy/clothing companies feed them.

I opened the game and looked at it and it seemed the basic theme of the game was for Barbie to decide upon her career path. Unfortunately Public Servant wasn't an option for Barbie. But I was glad to see that Doctor and Pilot were included as career choices as well as model and actress.

I was very tempted to buy it - but living in a one bedroom apartment, I really don't have room for "extras" such as this. Which may be for the best actually - if we had a lot of room things could quickly get out of control.

Did you all have a nice weekend? Any rad op-shop finds recently?

Fancy tights Friday - White, Poka Dots & Velveteen Shoes

2012-01-13T15:43:00.002+09:00

Rich and I have just returned home after having some delicious Korean food for dinner - yum!

These are the tights and shoes I wore today, I really have a thing for white tights at the moment and unfortunately this is the only pair I own - they are especially awesome as they have polka dots.

I really love these shoes - I picked them up for an absolute bargain at an op shop - they were $3!
I can't believe this time next week I will be in Kuala Lumpur - you know how it is when you plan something well in advance, keep telling yourself its ages away and then BOOM its suddenly here!

Over the weekend some sewing is certainly in order - I must finish the dress to wear to my cousins wedding as well as my wee cape. I also should do as much packing as I can, I have started but I really need to refine what I'm taking. I booked a city tour of Phuket today! Excitement.

Tights - Equipt

Shoes - Op shopped, Hospice Shop, Kilbirnie

Meet my new friends

2012-01-12T15:15:00.007+09:00

You might remember a while back I posted about the little mermaid softies I made for Meg for our softie swap.

I received a package in the mail from Meg which included two adorable creepy cute softies - I call them Ms Kitty and Mr Skully.

Here's me hanging out with my two new friends - I like them a lot. They are hanging out on my couch right now, watching Rich as he cross-stitches.

Meg also made me a little something extra, this necklace which I love, it has such pretty colours. I am always getting comments on the other jewellery she made me when I wear it.

I also thought I'd share part of the card Meg sent me - it was actually a Christmas card that turned up after Christmas. She makes me giggle.

Wednesday Wardrobe Challenge - Rock star

2012-01-11T15:37:00.011+09:00

Today's wardrobe challenge was "Rock star" so I decided to go with black, red and animal print *rawr*.
I actually changed by cardy before I went to work, as when I looked at this photo on the back of the camera I thought it looked pretty big on me.

On Monday morning when I went to the gym for my personal trainer session I knew I would have to weigh in, normally I'm pretty fine with that because I'm quite committed to my healthy eating and exercise programme. However I didn't feel like I ate as well as I should have or exercised as much as I should have during the Christmas/New Years break. But on Monday morning I discovered that I had lost 2kg (4.4 lb) over the break. I was pretty happy about that. I have to say now after losing 9.5 kg (20.9 lb) I am starting to notice some of my clothes are getting a little big. But that's what op shops and clothes swap parties are for - new (to me) clothes!

I decided biker boots and animal print tights would be pretty rock star - these tights are actually of the footless variety, but we all know how I feel about footless tights (I don't like them at all!). I bought this week bat brooch at a craft market we used to have in Wellington YEARS ago called Craftwerk, it was such a rad market. Rich and I used to sell fimo badges at that market - it was a whole lot of fun. I bought this scarf from a cheap and choice accessory store and I have worn it SO much! Sometimes the things you buy on a whim end up being your favourites.

You can't really see from this photo but my earrings have skulls all over them - bad ass.

I like this shiny bracelet - I really don't have enough bracelets!

OUTFIT DEETS:

Boots - The Big Shwop

Tights & Scarf - Equipt

Brooch - Bought at Craftwerk

Dress - Op Shopped, Opportunity for Animals, Kilbirnie

Cardy - Glassons

Bracelet - Op Shopped

Earrings - Diva

Christmas Stocking & Sewing Goals for January

2012-01-08T12:13:00.006+09:00

I know the Christmas season is now well and truly over but I just wanted to share with you all these mini Christmas stockings I made for the Christmas stocking swap I did with Alicia from So Pauve, with all the seasonal craziness I ended up sending off these stockings late so Alicia has only just received them, which means I can now post pictures.
I've decided that this year will be my year for sewing, I did start to get into it this year, but to be honest I still found sewing hard and a little uninspiring at times.

However, the book "Sew La Tea Do" which I bought as a Christmas present to myself has helped to inspire me A LOT. Plus the instructions are so simple, I have to admit I've bought some patterns and then I've been put off making them as the instructions seemed like a total mystery to me. I guess that when these things are drafted there is an assumption that the person who will ultimately end up sewing them will have a certain degree of pre-existing sewing knowledge - which isn't the case with me.

So here is my list of sewing projects for January 2012 - I'll have to admit I am being pretty ambitious seem as I am going overseas for two and a half weeks on January 19th!

1. Make a Maxi Dress

I thought I'd start with this one as I have already completed the project - I was evening planning on taking some photos so I could do a post about it today but the weather is just horrible! I can tell you that I made the dress with a pattern I bought from this website. It was a pain to have to print out all the pattern pieces on A4, stick them together and cut then out and then cut the pattern out. But on the upside the instructions on how to put the dress together were really simple. I made this dress for my trip as I imagine its going to be REALLY hot so a thin cotton dress will be really useful. I may even make a second one if I have time.

2. Dress for my cousin's wedding

I am planning on making a dress for my cousins wedding and I am starting to cut it out today. I think its going to take up quite a lot of my free time over the next week and weekend but hopefully it will be worth it. I am planning on using the same pattern which I used for my very first dress which I blogged about here. However, seem as the wedding is in Phuket I am planning on making a more "tropical" version and there may even be heart shaped buttons involved if I can pull it off!

3. Capelet

This is something else I have wanted for a while and I think will be especially useful for my trip. Once Rich and I went to Hanoi and whilst there we decided to visit the tomb of Ho Chi Min. We were lined up outside in the EXTREMELY hot Vietnam weather waiting to enter the tomb when one of the guards told me I couldn't go in because my shoulders were showing. He also told me I was lucky because there was a store around the corner which sold tee shirts and scarves and if I went and bought one I could go into the tomb. I am pretty sure I was scammed (at least it wasn't just me - about half of the women in the line were told they weren't wearing enough clothes and had to buy a scarf/tee shirt to cover their legs or shoulders or both) so this trip I thought it would be a good idea to take a capelet to avoid repeating the situation. I've found a wee capelet pattern on burda style for free, so I will try and make that.

4. Tunic Dress

I am also planning on making the final dress from the Sew La Tea Do dress I haven't make yet - its a cute tunic dress and I have shark fabric to make it from. That's right people - fabric covered in sharks!!

I also have a few other things I would like to make this month, I think I could pull all of these projects off if I wasn't going away. But seen as I am only here for half the month I realise I must limit myself! The other projects include a pair of boxer shorts for Rich, two bibs for impending babies (Rich needs to cross-stitch them first though) and a movie blanket.

What's your January crafting plans?

Fancy Tights Friday: Pink & Rawr!

2012-01-06T15:01:00.003+09:00

I took a break from fancy tights Friday over the Christmas/New Years break but I decided to get back into it today. I found these animal print flats hiding out in the back of my wardrobe and decided it was time for them to see the light of day again. I paired them with my bright pink tights - sadly this is the last time these tights will see the light of day, I noticed there was a small ladder in them this morning and tried to stop it from getting any bigger with a dab of nail polish.

However, by the time I got home today it was all over - farewell fancy pink tights, you were one of my favourites!

Deets:

Tights & Shoes both from The Warehouse

City to Sea Walkway

2012-01-05T12:38:00.009+09:00

One one of the last days of our Christmas/New Years holiday Rich and I decided to do the Wellington City to Sea walkway. It had originally been our plan to do loads of day walks during our break but a combination of my contacts failing and bad weather meant we couldn't do very much walking at all, which was a bit of a downer.

Here's a few photos we took on the walk - we didn't do the entire walkway, but we did walk 10km of the 12km walkway so we did pretty well.

This walkway largely exists within the town belt, so the whole time you're not too far from civilisation if you feel too exhausted and feel like you need to catch a bus home.

I do think I need to make myself a walking dress though - I don't really have anything suitable to walk in and I just don't wear trousers outside of the gym.

Wednesday Wardrobe Challenge - Blue

2012-01-04T15:13:00.009+09:00

Today I had to go back to work after about ten days off - it was difficult to get back into the working groove. So it was kind of appropriate that the theme today was blue.I bought this vintage dress AGES ago and loved the colour, but it needed taking up so I didn't wear it. This challenge finally made me alter the frock and I was pretty excited to wear it today because I think its just so pretty. Please ignore the suitcase in the room - its due to be taken to the op shop! Here's the front of the dress - I really love the shape of it and the fabric covered buttons - fabulous! This frock is a little bit lady like so I decided to wear the very lady like cameo that Meg made for me. I also wore pink shoes and pink fishnets to go with my pink cameo. I also wore my little cloud - which is kind of appropriate given I was feeling a little blue about having to return to work. Also wore my newly op shopped 80's bracelet - I think it's pretty rad.

OUTFIT DEETS:

Dress - Vintage, Recycle Boutique, Wellington, Altered by me

Cardy - Glassons

Tights - Farmers

Shoes - Retro Room, Willis Street, Wellington

Bracelet - Op Shopped

Necklace - From Meg at Meg's Ragged Edge

Brooch - Craft 2.0

Snake and Space

2012-01-03T05:50:00.005+09:00

Here's a couple more dresses I've made over the Christmas/New Years break. They are actually both different versions of the Miss Marlo Dress I already made from my Sew La Tea Do book.

First up is my Miss Marlo Snake Dress:

I bought this snake fabric at fabric-a-brac back in November and it is great to finally make something with the fabric. I really like this version of the dress, one side is a little wonky, but you can't see it too much (I hope!).

Next up is the Miss Marlo Space Dress:

I have had my eye on this fabric for the longest time, its rows of planets with stars, but I resisted buying it as I didn't know what I'd do with it. But the fabric shop I go to was having a half price sale and I knew I could make a Miss Marlo Dress with two meters of fabric so I decided to buy it. This is my favourite of the three Miss Marlo dresses I have made, perhaps its because its the best sewing I've done or perhaps its because I love the space fabric? I'm not sure, but I do think its a pretty rad frock.

The Big Shwop - December 2011

2012-01-02T14:06:00.011+09:00

Hello All - I hope you're enjoying your first few days of 2012, I only have one more day off work and then its back to business (well until 19 January when I take a two and a half week trip to Asia).

This blog post is actually going back in time a little bit, back at the start of December some friends and I went to The Big Shwop which is a semi regular even that happens in Wellington.

What is The Big Shwop, well its pretty simple, you pay $20 of the organisers and turn up on the day of the swap. The event I attended was held at the St James Theatre - you bring along with you any good quality clothes and shoes you have to swap.

There are a number of volunteers at the swap and they check out what clothes you've bought along, to make sure they are good quality. You can bring along a maximum of 20 items of clothing, for each item The Big Shwop volunteers accept, they will give you a voucher which you can use for "purchasing" other clothes in the Shwop. The vouchers in this swap were puzzle pieces. There is a couple of hours break between the drop off time and the time the shwop begins, this is so the volunteers can arrange all the clothes into type and size. Here's a sneak peak of the clothing racks when I handed over my clothes for swapping, as you can see they are already pretty full and the drop off time wasn't even finished. The whole event was sponsored by Triology, which is a Wellington based skincare company. Whilst we were waiting for all the clothes to be sorted for the shwop we were able to pick up some free products from the Triology table, which was pretty rad. The products we received may have cost more than the ticket to the event!

Here are the goodies I got from the event, the black boots actually used to belong to my friend Ria! I had 13 vouchers but I only got 16 things, I think the main reason for this is that when the swap was officially open, people kind of went crazy and I'm just not that pushy when it comes to shopping. Most of the things I've picked up were passed onto me by my friends who found them and thought I'd like them.

Due to all the pushy people at the shwop, I'm not sure I would like to go along again. My friend Kat runs clothes swaps fairly regularly and I think I prefer these types of swap as they just aren't so crazy.

I have worn a few of the clothes I have received in the swap recently - here's how they looked!

Cheetah Print Top and Biker Boots

White Shoes

New Years Eve 2012

2011-12-31T12:54:00.003+09:00

Hello Folks! I hope you all have a super New Years Eve tonight, it seems the weather in Wellington is now officially "broken" with two cold, wet days in a row.

Tonight Rich and I are off to celebrate the new year at a friends house, but unfortunately the BBQ has been cancelled due to the rain. Boo! I am sure there will still be plenty of drinks, nibbles and perhaps some singstar organised for the evening.

Also I am planning on wearing my newly made "space dress" - hurrah!

I have also been thinking a little bit this afternoon about my goals for 2012 - I don't have an exhaustive list like some people, but there are a few things I really want to do over the next year:

Theatre sports

I have wanted to do theatre sports for the LONGEST time, but I just never seem to get there. But at a function a few weeks back I met a friend of a friend who seemed so much fun and she does Theatre sports here in Wellington, so I have decided to give it a go. She said the best way to start is to enrol at the night course at Wellington High School - so I am hoping to start the course in February. It would also be a fun way to meet more interesting people.

Reach my weight loss goal

I have been working hard to lose weight recently and I do actually feel a whole bunch better - I have been focussing on healthy eating and exercise and everything seems to be working out just swell for me - who knew! I hope that this year I'll reach my goal - fingers crossed.

Sew more

I know I go on and on about how I love sewing/crafts but I never have any time to do them. This year I really want to sew more though - I've even created a list of things I want to sew in January.

I hope you all have a super night tonight and I'll see you all in 2012 xoxox

Miss Marlo Dress

2011-12-30T04:51:00.006+09:00

Here's the dress that made me completely crazy for about a day, let me explain. I decided to make the dress from some cheap fabric I bought from Arthur Toye Fabrics (which is only about 10 minutes from my house) - the fabric was usually $10 a metre, but it only cost $5 per metre with the half price sale they were having.

The dress is another one from my new Sew La Tea Do sewing book - I cut out all the pattern pieces and I was trying over and over to line up the back interfacing with the two back pieces of the dress and it just wouldn't work! Eventually I asked Rich to have a look at it, just to make sure I wasn't going crazy and he agreed that they didn't line up at all and that I should go online and she what I can find out as there may be something wrong with the pattern.

Turns out he was right, there was a printing error with the book and most of the pattern pieces were wrong! The next day I printed out the new pieces from the the "Meet Me at Mikes" blog (the author of the books blog) and went and bought even more fabric (thankfully they had more and it was still $5 per metre) and cut out the pattern again and began to sew the dress.

When I was almost finished I tried it on an I realised just how short it was - I'm not a tall girl by any stretch of the imagination but this was more like a long top than a dress. So I used my limited skills to add some extra centimetres to the bottom of the dress, I think its actually a kind of cool feature and it came out surprisingly well given I had no idea what I was doing!

I wore the dress all of yesterday and it didn't fall apart or anything so that's a very good sign - I'm not sure if I would wear it with a belt again though. I'm just one of those girls who feels like I need to wear a belt with everything. This slightly awkward photo is taken in the driveway of our building that leads to the car park - its just like Europe :P Actually its a really weird spot for a mural as even on the sunniest of days its still dark in this part of the building. I also need to remember that outfit post should be taken at the start of the day not the end of the day - this dress looks creased from a couple of hours shopping, being taking off and put back on again when I went to the gym (I am a bad person and didn't hang it up when I was at the gym) and a few hours of crafting which involved crouching on the ground to cut out pattern pieces.

What do you all think - I feel like I am FINALLY making some kind of progress with my dressmaking. I think that today may be a craft day as its raining rather heavily outside! Oh New Zealand summer, you are so fickle!

Mermaid Softies

2011-12-29T15:02:00.006+09:00

Recently my friend Meg and I decided to do a softie swap - I really love making softies but I just don't seem to get around to doing it enough.

I especially like making softies that are a bit different - we have all seen a million softies of cats, that doesn't mean cat softies are bad, but personally I like to try and make something a little different.

Meg loves mermaids so I decided to made her a mermaid (or two) I used a pattern I found on Softie Making, which is a pretty rad website if you're looking for a softie pattern - especially seen as the patterns are free. I did alter the design a little bit and I gave Meg's Mermaid's bikinis.Here's a close up of the faces - sorry the blue haired mermaid picture is a little blurry, I didn't realise until I downloaded it that it was like that and by then it was too late to take another as she was on her way to the States.

What do you folks think of the mermaid softies? Any ideas for other quirky softie projects?

Wednesday Wardrobe Challenge - Floral

2011-12-29T04:12:00.006+09:00

First of all - I want to say thanks for all your lovely comments on the skirt and dress I made - I am such a novice dressmaker. I am at the stage where everything still seems quite difficult and when I talk to friends who are sewers or read sewing blogs where someone has whipped up a dress in an evening my mind in blown! It still takes me HOURS to make something simple, so its really great to have people say great things about what I make - you all rock!

Onto yesterdays challenge which was "floral" - I have about three floral dresses I thought I could wear. The first one I call my "nineties dress" as it looks like something I would have worn in the nineties had I been cooler and dressed more like grunge rock chicks I aspired to be like. I was wearing the grunge/nineties dress for a few hours before I realised some of the stitching had come away at the shoulder and I was showing off a rather striking bra strap! So the dress had to come of and has been added to my continually growing mending/alteration pile. Before I had a sewing machine I never had one of these, now its growing ALL the time - what's with that?

This is the frock I changed into - its not vintage, but it retro and handmade to boot which makes it even better. I think it has a kind of Sixties vibe with Seventies floral fabric.

You may be wondering where exactly I am standing? Well I did meant to ask Rich to take a photo of me when we were out on a walk earlier that day but I just forget. By the time I did remember that I needed a photo it was almost dark.

We did decide to do something a little different for a photo though as I am standing in the lift in our apartment - I love this lift as it reminds me of something out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie, we rarely use it as we only live on the first floor but I do think its pretty rad.

I really love living in our building, there are a lot of apartment buildings in Wellington but a lot of them are really modern and soulless - unlike our art deco apartment building.

The dress has a whole bunch of buttons sewn to the neckline, which is a cute feature and I think it looks great as it keeps with the black and white of the dress.

OUTFIT DEETS:

Shoes - The Big Shwop

Tights & Cardi - Glassons

Dress - Trade Me

Necklace - Equipt

I also finished another dress yesterday! There was much drama surrounding the making of this one which I will explain when I post pictures, but Rich was notably impressed last night when I showed him the completed dress and he isn't easily impressed!

I also have plans to do a spot of shopping today for my January/February trip whilst all the sales are on, I really need some sandals and as mentioned previously togs!

Sunny Day Dress

2011-12-28T04:44:00.012+09:00

I decided to by myself the book Sew La Tea Do as a Christmas present, I've looked at this book so many times but I just couldn't justify the price. However, when I found a slightly damaged version on sale for half price at Whitcoulls I couldn't leave it behind!

This is the first project from the book - the "Sunny Day Dress" it's a bit sack like so you really need to wear a belt or a fitted cardy over top to give it some shape. It does have pockets though - fancy!Yesterday was another beautiful day - I keep hearing that rain is on the way but no sign of it yet!

This photo was taken when we went on an afternoon walk in the Botanical Gardens - here's a few more sunny day photos.

I made a circle skirt

2011-12-27T05:10:00.004+09:00

For the Christmas/New Years break I have around a week and a half off work and no real plans - which doesn't happen often.

So I have decided to spend at least some of my free time sewing and crafting - here's my first completed creation a circle skirt. It was pretty easy to make using a tutorial I found here. However there are a couple of things I will do differently next time - I am thinking of making another one in some kind of fun craft cotton fabric.

Secret photo Rich took of me walking away - I kind of like it.

Finally - the photo in which the Wellington wind becomes a little bit too much for my hair and actually makes it look surprisingly long.

Happy Christmas!

2011-12-26T15:55:00.015+09:00

Hello Everyone - I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas! This year Rich and I decided to spend Christmas at home in Wellington. We started off our celebrations on Christmas Eve by checking out the Christmas Tree at the waterfront. It's a little trippy - but pretty too.

On Christmas morning Rich made us French Toast for brunch and it was AMAZING. I love summer berries.
After breakfast we opened our presents, I got to open my Christmas Stocking from Alicia at So Pauvre

Alicia fed my Hello Kitty obsession with a whole bunch of kitty cuteness!

We also opened the presents from my parents, which included this cute cupcake painting.

After brunch and presents we decided to head out for a walk as it was an absolute stunner of a day in Wellington.

I love that someone dressed this guy up as Father Christmas!

You have to love these Santas enjoying the beach at Oriental Parade, complete with Christmas tree.

I was pretty happy to find a yarn bomb on Christmas Day.

Finally a photo of our Christmas dinner, Nandos Chicken, eaten under the shade of a tree on the waterfront.

The rest of our day was spent hanging out, reading and watching "Bad Santa" - hope you all had a great day too!

All I want for Christmas

2011-12-24T14:50:00.003+09:00

A really LONG time ago Olivia from Wait Until Sunset tagged me in her "All I want for Christmas...my top 5" post. I have been meaning for some time to write a list of my top five Christmas items, but I just didn't seem to get around to doing it!

It is now Christmas Eve, so it really is now or never, here are my top five for Christmas:

1) My eyes back to normal

I went to the optician yesterday and my eyes still aren't better, I am now on three different types of eye drops including a steroid eye drop! I really want my eyes to be better so I can go back to wearing my contacts and having a normal life again. Fingers crossed my life will FINALLY return to normal next Friday (30 December), I am due to see the optician again then and I am hoping she will tell me that the eye virus is finally gone.

2) More time to craft and sew

I really, really, really want to spend more time crafting and sewing. I do love to craft and sew and my job is pretty technical so I do need my creative time, but I need more of it dammit! Not sure where I will find it.

3) Some decent gym gear

If you follow my blog regularly you may or may not have noticed I have shrunk a bit recently, I've lost about 8kg (17.6 lbs) and I have also lost 14 cm from my waist (5.5 inches) and 6 cm from my thigh (2.4 inches). My gym clothes are all pretty naff, just old t-shirts and shorts I picked up from The Warehouse for about $15. Whilst my gym is not a posers gym it would be nice to have some decent gym gear - it might ever encourage me to go to the gym more!

4) No more earthquakes in Christchurch!

If you look at a map of New Zealand which show the tectonic plates, you will see that we are split between the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates. Earthquakes are just part of life in New Zealand, I've experienced them my whole life and Wellington has them relatively frequently.

However, the earthquakes which have happened in Christchurch over the past year are something else. There were at least two more decent shakes yesterday when we thought everything was settling down and life was returning to normal for people in Canterbury.

If Santa could work out some way to make the earthquakes to stop so people in Christchurch can get on with their lives, that would be pretty rad.

5) New togs!

Which you may know as swimwear, a cossie or bathers depending where in the world you're from. Here in New Zealand we call them togs! I had the most fabulous pair of togs but they got lost somewhere in-between Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan and New Zealand. I really like these togs by Broad Minded Clothing and also these ones from Mod Cloth.

But I don't want to spend too much on my togs until I reach my goal weight, so perhaps I'll get these ones from Glassons for this summer and invest in a better pair next summer.

Happy Christmas Eve!!

Christmas Hairbows

2011-12-24T04:49:00.002+09:00

I nearly forgot to post a picture of these bows! Since I learn to make bows I really can't get enough of them, they make a great simple gift an you can turn them into all kinds of things.

These three are all the classic "hair bow" I made one for Alice for the swap we just did at Crafty Foxes, on for Ria and the middle one is for me to wear tomorrow.

Happy Crafting xoxox

Crafty Christmas Goodies from Ria

2011-12-23T15:55:00.008+09:00

Earlier this week I met up with my friend Ria one final time before she heads home to Adelaide for Christmas.

I knew Ria had made me something for Christmas - but I didn't know just how amazing my present would be! I love skulls and all things Mexican, so Ria made me this Mexican Day of the Dead style bag. Isn't it amazing? I LOVE this trim!

If you want to know more about how she made this beauty you can check out some more of the details on her blog here.

She also made me some traditional German Christmas Cake called "Stollen" - I have never heard of it before, but it looks amazing and I really DON'T like the traditional English style Christmas Fruitcake with almond icing. I am saving this for Christmas Day - it looks amazing.

If you want to learn more about how to make stollen, or see how Ria's kitchen exploded when she made this stollen, check out this post.

Finally, Ria very generously bought me "Make!" by Cath Kidston - I have wanted this book FOREVER but I could just never bring myself to buy it, I have looked at it at book stores a lot though.

Believe it or not, this book even comes with supplies so you can start crafting straight away! No need to make a mad dash to the fabric or craft store.I just thought I'd share one of the projects in the book - they are all so pretty, I love the vintage style and all the pretty pictures.

First Day of Holidays

2011-12-23T13:09:00.009+09:00

Yesterday was my first day of Christmas holidays, I've officially off work until early January.

Yesterday Rich and I decided to go out to Upper Hutt to Swish Dish to pick up the ceramics we painted a few weekends ago. We were both really happy with the results of our work after firing - the firing process made the colours so much more vibrant.

Here's the cupcake trinket box that I painted - I think it looks really great, I especially like the purple on the inside.Rich painted a "blokes mug" as a city scape - the colours look so good now its been fired. This mug is huge - you could fit a days worth of tea in this mug.

After some sushi in the sun, we decided to head to The New Dowse Gallery and see what exhibitions were on display. There were are few different things happening but my favourite was "Bedazzled" which is an exhibition of costumes worn by the Royal New Zealand Ballet.

There were costumes on display from a number of different ballets - I really liked the "White Swan" and "Black Swan" costumes. I also loved the "Ghost of Christmas Past" costume from A Christmas Carol. There were lots of sketches around the walls of all the costumes as well. I have actually never seen a ballet performance - but I did love these costumes - so much exquisite detail.

Crafty Foxes Christmas Swap

2011-12-22T17:47:00.007+09:00

On Tuesday my craft group the "Crafty Foxes" had our hand over night for our last craft swap for 2011. The theme for the swap was of course Christmas. For my partner Alice I made a wee wreath. I guess it's not a wreath in the true sense of the word, but I think it's pretty rad. I have seen a load of crafts around the internet which make use of embroidery hoops and this is my attempt to use an embroidery hoop as part of a completed project. I even included a piece of ribbon to hang the wreath on a door (or anywhere you want to hang it).

This is what I received from my swap partner Hilliare - confused? So was I at first. Until I unwrapped everything.

The blue thing wrapped around is a vintage scarf (I can never have enough scarves) and the heart shaped things are luggage tags and finally the book is a travel journal. Some of you who have been following my blog for a while will know that I am going away for a few weeks in January/February to Phuket (for my cousins wedding), KL and Singapore - Hilliare made me some goodies to help me on my trip. She also reminded me I REALLY need to sort out the final stages of planning - including my hotel in Singapore.

Has anyone else out there been busy with Christmas crafting?

Wednesday Wardrobe Challenge - Hair & Make-up challenge

2011-12-22T12:37:00.011+09:00

This week's wardrobe challenge was the hair and make-up challenge which basically meant do the opposite of what you normally do.I normally wear mascara and eye shadow every day - but I can't at the moment due to my eye virus.

So my make-up all week has been different to the usual - which worked out perfectly for the challenge.

I have a reverse mullet style hair style so its kind of hard to "style" it any differently, I could have straightened it, but then I don't have hair straighteners so it was out of the question.

Instead I decided to add a hair bow - I really want to get back into wearing hair bows more often.

I wore my biker boots again, tights with wee bows on them and my new (to me) animal print top. It's hard to tell in the photos but it actually has cheetah heads on it *rawr*

OUTFIT DEETS:

Hair bow - Calico Jacks, Wellington

Top & Boots - The Big Shwop

Scarf - Bought at Asian import store at Left Bank Arcade, Wellington (I can't remember the name of the store)

Dress (worn under top) - Pagani

Tights - Valleygirl

Sunday Baking

2011-12-19T16:06:00.002+09:00

I am usually a pretty happy person, but on Sunday wearing glasses was really getting to me. I could bitch about it here, but I figure why relive the whole day again - it wasn't the best.

But I did get around to making some truffles for Christmas presents for a few close friends, they are very rich truffles. But they were fully endorsed by my team at work today when I took some along to share for morning tea. Also they look super cute in these little jars.

I hope your Sunday was better than mine - I can't believe that next Sunday is Christmas *eek*

New Hair - Pink!

2011-12-17T14:47:00.002+09:00

The wearing of glasses continues, I can't wait till next Friday, cross your fingers that I will be able to get back into wearing contacts by then.

Today I went to the hairdressers, I wasn't sure what colour I wanted for my extensions when I went in but I decided on magenta. What do you all think?

Fancy Tights Friday & the glasses debacle

2011-12-16T16:16:00.006+09:00

I like to think that this weeks fancy tights Friday is a mix of Victorian lady and biker chick.I love these tights a lot and I don't wear them nearly often enough - then when I "discover" them again I always think they are rad and wonder why I don't wear them more.
Today was a bit of a disaster to be honest, most of you don't know this but I wear contact lenses. I got my first pair of glasses when I was about 8 and my first set on contact when I was around 17. I LOVE wearing contacts and its not just a vanity thing, my eyesight is bad, like REALLY bad and I just find glasses aren't practical for me at all. They just make life so much more difficult.

However for the last couple of days my contacts haven't been feeling quite right and they have been getting worse and worse each day. Today I came to accept something was wrong and decided to go to the optometrist and sort it out. It turns out I have a virus in my eyes which is causing all the problems *sigh* which means for the next week I will look like this.I am not really happy about having to wear my glasses and it's not just a vanity thing. My glasses prescription is much weaker than my contact lenses, so I feel pretty blind. Plus this week is my last week of classes at the gym before the instructors take a holiday for a couple of weeks for Christmas and there is no way I can attend my classes wearing these, they will most likely go flying across the room. Also work is very difficult - my job is quite technical and requires a lot of work relating to maps and historical documents, not ideal when you can't see very well. I am actually considering taking Thursday and Friday off, but I will just see how I am feeling. It's not really a great Christmas present! I really hope all is cleared up by next Friday *fingers crossed*

Finally I thought I'd share a photo of what I wore today seen as I decided to wear one of last weekends op-shopping finds. A lady in the lift at work was quite taken by this skirt and said it was quite "festive". My hair is totally out of control at the moment, but I am having a haircut tomorrow which SHOULD cheer me up a bit.

OUTFIT DEETS:

Cardy and tights - Glassons

Boots - From "The Big Shwop"

Skirt - Mary Potter Hospice Shop, Kilbirne

Top - From a friends wardrobe clear out

Necklace - Vintage, used to belong to a great aunt who has passed on

Wednesday Wardrobe Challenge - Shorts

2011-12-14T16:20:00.008+09:00

So there is clearly something wrong this outfit post - I am not wearing shorts. I don't in fact own any shorts and don't remember the last time I did. Most likely it was when I was a child. With the obvious exception of shorts I wear to the gym - but they are something I really don't want to share with the world!
But I decided I show you what I wore to work today anyway - its along a green and blue theme. It is spring, almost summer here, but Wellington isn't the kind of town where you can rely on the weather remaining the same all day. I decided to wear my blue cardy to work, because you never know when the weather may change!

I love these green shoes with my blue tights - I think it's a perfect colour combo.

The little rain cloud brooch is perfect for a green and blue themed outfit.

My ridiculous oversized fake pearls - when Jess and I went for a mani pedi a few weeks back the beautician asked if they were real! In my dreams! They cost a HUGE $15 and were bought at equipt (cheap little accessory store).

OUTFIT DEETS:

Top & Skirt - Acquired at a clothes swap at my friend Kat's place

Cardi & Tights - Glassons

Shoes - The Warehouse

Necklace & Ring - Equipt

Bracelet - Bought from street vendor in Hong Kong

Brooch - Craft 2.0

Early Christmas Gifts

2011-12-14T03:41:00.005+09:00

Well its almost Christmas - I only have one and a half working weeks left this year and I can't wait to have a break!

Yesterday I met my friend Jess for lunch and we exchanged a few Christmas goodies - I made Jess this mini Christmas stocking. My original intention was to fill it with handmade goodies like truffles but unfortunately, I ran out of time completely *sigh* so instead it was filled with store bought chocolates.

Jess made me some Rocky Road for Christmas - isn't it amazing. It even has sprinkles!

Rocky Road cross-section - looks delicious!

Saturday Op-shopping

2011-12-12T15:53:00.009+09:00

Last Saturday I decided it was time to have a wee op-shopping adventure again, it had been a long time since I'd hit up the op shops. Usually op-shopping is a solitary activity, but this time Ria agreed to come along with me so that made the morning a whole lot more fun - we even had delicious quesadilla's for lunch.

We did all of our op-shopping in Kilbirnie and Newtown - unfortunately where I actually live in Wellington Central there is only one op-shop and it is well picked over. So when it's time to go op-shopping I need to get out of the central city.

Here were my finds for the day - in no particular order:

GOLD SHOES

I bought gold shoes and they even have a heel! If you follow my blog you'll know that I usually run screaming from heels but I couldn't resist these. I wore them to a play on Saturday night and I didn't end up with nasty blisters or sore feet. I won't wear them to work as I have a stand up desk and they aren't the kind of shoes you can stand up in all day. However they will be rad for special nights out. Also did I mention they are gold? Amazing!

PARTY DRESS

This dress was included with the shoes for free as it had a small stain on the hem - I was thinking that I may have to look up some kind of intensive stain removal techniques on the internet to remove the stain. I was even considering shortening it to get rid of the stain.

The I washed it and when it came out of the machine the stain had disappeared - turns out it just needed a good wash.

Considering wearing this wee frock on Christmas day! I think its super cute, but it is made from very weird fabric. It's a little like the kind of fabric a light raincoat would be made from. I am totally cool with that though - it rains a lot in New Zealand so its an all weather dress.

ROSE PRINT SKIRT

Under normal circumstances I think I would run screaming from a "rose print skirt" - it brings up images of pale pastels and sickly sweet patterns.

But this rose print skirt is pretty rad! It's a wee bit Gothic - I think it will look pretty great with my doc martins and fishnets.

It's a little bit crumpled in the pictures as it had just finished drying - unfortunately it looks like the kind of skirt that MAY need ironing, which means I may only own it for a short time as I am not friends with the iron.

HEART BUTTON TOP

This is a simple little top with a slightly vintage feel - when I am sick of wearing it I think I will cut off the buttons and sew them on something else. The buttons are the main reason I bought this top.

PRINCESS BUBBLE GUM DRESS

This dress doesn't look like anything special on the hanger - it just looks like a pink vintage mess. But trust me it looks a whole lot better when I'm wearing it and I love the cute buttons on the shoulder.

*RAWR* ANIMAL PRINT CROSS FRONT DRESS

I have been trying to mix up my style a little bit lately and get out of always wearing the same type of frock. This isn't my usual style but I really liked it on so I thought I would give it a go - I'll have to use it in a outfit post soon!

Well that was Saturday's op-shopping - I also went to a clothes swap on Sunday so it was a weekend of clothes. I'll post photos of the goodies I got at that event soon xoxox

Hello Kitty Christmas

2011-12-11T12:44:00.004+09:00

So the Christmas season is upon us and everything is starting to go a little crazy. Everyone is decorating their houses and workplaces with trees and tinsel and everything else Christmas.

Rich and I don't have a Christmas tree or anything else remotely Christmas like in the apartment - but I did find this Hello Kitty Christmas Kit in with my craft supplies, so I decided it was time to set it up.

I bought this little kit just before I left Taiwan - hard to believe that on 18 December I will have been home in New Zealand for one year.

Here's the Kitty Christmas set up - she is meant to have a bunny friend but it totally fell apart whilst I was making it *sigh*. It looks a little bit lame - but hey its a wee bit of Christmas to add to the apartment.

Wednesday Wardrobe Challenge - Corporate Pirate

2011-12-09T05:55:00.002+09:00

Hello Folks! I have been a horrible blogger this week - there seems to be so much happening and so little time for blogging. I think that next week will be better *fingers crossed*.

Anyway I didn't even have a chance to do photos for Wednesday Wardrobe Challenge. The theme was Corporate Pirate and I think I pulled off the look pretty well - even if the only photo I have to prove it is this one I took with my phone.

The dress is pretty amazing, its called the "Graveyard Dress" and it designed by Kitty Bridges, who is a NZ designer who lives in Auckland and is pretty much my favourite designer in the world. If I could afford it - all my clothes would be Kitty Bridges Designs.

OUTFIT DEETS:

Boots - Doc Martins, Dongdamun Fashion Town, Seoul, South Korea

Tights - Baby Girl Boutique

Dress - Kitty Bridges

Bling your Bra - Judgement Day!

2011-12-05T15:37:00.010+09:00

You may all remember a while back that I blogged about my creation for the "Bling your Bra" contest/Breast cancer fundraiser.

Last Monday was the time for the competition judging and it was also a chance to have a look done by all of the other competitors . Here's a few photos of some of the bras that were on display - there sure were some creative minds at work.

This amazing bra was the winner - it was named "Come on boobie light my fire" - LOVE IT!

That's my bra on the far right - I was pretty proud of my work!

This one was pretty epic and its entitled - "Candle-la-bra". I loved the names on some of the bras, next year I will have to come up with a more creative name!

I love all things horror movie and zombie - so I LOVED this bra. You can't see it so well in this picture but those are zombie hands on the bra. Here I am with my creation - looking pretty happy with myself! Also my support crew came along - Rich, Nilanka and Ria. Thanks Guys!

Finally all of the competitors received a goodie bag which included this cute pink cupcake in support of breast cancer (the whole event was a breast cancer fundraiser).

Fancy tights Friday - Space Shoes & Hearts

2011-12-03T07:50:00.002+09:00

For some reason these shoes remind me of space - or more correctly "60's future" they seem like something Jane Jetson might wear. All I need to do is pair them with a dress like this and I will totally rock the 60's future look.
Shoes - Number 1 Shoe Warehouse

Tights - Farmers

Wednesday Wardrobe Challenge - Rainbow!

2011-12-01T15:25:00.008+09:00

Sometimes when Wednesday Wardrobe Challenge rolls around I have no idea what to wear and end up thinking about it for ages.But then sometimes I know I have the perfect outfit in my wardrobe already - this was the case this week. The theme was rainbow which meant it was time to bring out the rainbow dress!

I love my little monster necklace - I bought him on a trip to Melbourne in 2008 and he has been worn pretty regularly since. Here's a close up of the slightly crumpled dress! I usually take wardrobe post picture before I head off to work. It's actually Rich that takes the photos but he had to head off early to a conference breakfast on Wednesday morning and by the time Wednesday evening rolled around and we took these photos the frock was crumpled from a days worth of wear. I like fun chunky rings - I like them a lot. I don't think I will ever wear "grow up" jewellery, its not for me at all. Crazy costume jewellery for life!

I look pretty sleepy in that last photo - it must have been a long day!

OUTFIT DEETS:

Dress - Vintage, Trade Me

Cardy & Belt - Glassons

Tights - Valleygirl

Shoes - The Warehouse

Brooch - Craft 2.0

Necklace - Bought in Melbourne

Ring - Reincarnate, Newtown, Wellington

My weekend in pictures

2011-11-29T14:46:00.019+09:00

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend - Rich and I did but it was pretty busy as well went meant it was over with far too quickly!!

On Friday night Rich and I went along to see Carousel Cabaret Burlesque as my friend Ria was performing as her alter ego "Galaxy Fox" it was a lot of fun but I was surprised how many people in the crowd were dressed in amazing costumes! I felt a little under dressed and that doesn't happen often. My mind is buzzing with a few ideas of what I could wear next time - even though I won't be able to go again until February (they have the show on the 23rd of each month).

On Saturday morning Rich and I went to the "Monster Garage Sale" at the church which is about 2 minutes walk from our apartment. We managed to pick up a few books and other bits and pieces for dirt cheap (we bought four books for 50 cents).

However, the church folks were pretty innovative and had come up with a few other ways to raise funds - including charging $4 to let people play their church organ for 5 minutes. It was pretty fun.

We did have another reason for visiting the church as well:

We had a general election here in New Zealand on Saturday and the church was our closest polling booth. I generally don't talk about anything political on here as I am a public service, but I will say I was really disappointed by the poor voter turnout - 31% of New Zealanders did not bother to vote in the election. It makes me kind of sad and angry that women fought so hard historically to get the vote and people all over the world are still fighting to have the right to vote but 31% of New Zealanders can't be bothered to head to a polling vote, especially when I know friends in both Australia and the UK made every effort to vote even though they don't live in New Zealand any more. On Saturday night we went to a friends house to watch the election coverage and have an amazing dinner. I provided the dessert for the evening - it may have strawberries on top but its actually a banana and chocolate cake and it was pretty good. Which I was really happy about - I always get a bit nervous about full size cakes. If you make cupcakes you can always test one to make sure it tastes good but with a full size cake its all or nothing! If it goes horribly wrong all your friends will know - eek.

On Sunday we decided that we needed a break from the city and seen as it was a beautiful day we decided to head out to Paekakariki Beach which is about an hour from Wellington. I really like it out here but this is the first time I have been since we returned from living overseas (which will be a full year next month!).

After we had finished walking and looking around the beach we decided to grab some drinks from a cute cafe/design store. Here's a few photos from the inside of the store - its a mix of vintage things, new things, ice cream and hot and cold drinks.

Well that was our weekend in a nutshell - I hope you all had a great time too xoxox

Fancy tights Friday - Business in the front, party at the back

2011-11-26T11:50:00.005+09:00

This weeks fancy tights Friday looks a little boring - black tights and green shoes - so what? You many think.
However - SURPRISE! The tights have a red "Ladylike Seam" (that's what the package said) down the back. Hurrah!
Shoes - The Warehouse

Tights - Farmers

Swish Dish

2011-11-24T15:00:00.008+09:00

Recently I bought a couple of vouchers from a one day deal website for a place in Upper Hutt called Swish Dish. I've always wanted to go there and try it out but I never seemed to make it there.

Swish Dish is one of those places where you can choose some kind of ceramic and paint it up all pretty, you leave it and the store and they fire it and when you come back in a couple of weeks time its ready to use.

Here's the completed creations - Rich painted a "Blokes Mug" which is going to fit a whole lot of tea once its been fired. I chose the cupcake trinket box - I felt a little like I cheated as I didn't have to put too much thought into the design.

After grabbing some sushi for lunch - we walked along the Hutt River for a bit, you can't see it in these photos but it was a SUPER windy day!!

Wednesday Wardrobe Challenge - Nail Polish

2011-11-23T15:20:00.011+09:00

Another easy wardrobe challenge this week - nail polish! This looks like such an awkward photo of my hand. The nail polish actually has flecks of green glitter though it, but its really fine and didn't show up in the photo at all.I could have just shown you the nail polish, seen as that was the challenge, but here's the rest of the outfit!
I have had this vintage frock FOREVER but it was originally a really weird length - it fell mind calf which really isn't flattering. In fact it looked just plain weird. Last night I FINALLY got around to shortening it.

A close up of the sparkly polyester awesome-ness.

The collar on the frock is pretty epic and it has wee plastic golden buttons down the front.

I love my wee horse necklace even if I don't really like horses that much! The last time I wore it one of the ladies at work said I should have worn it on Melbourne Cup Day - that would of been brilliant! Perhaps I'll remember to wear it for Melbourne Cup 2012.

I bought this a while back at Craft 2.0 and I love it!

This photo looks slightly like I am clawing at the wall trying to escape - I promise I'm not. I just wanted to share with you what I think is an octopus ring, although it only has four tentacles, I am pretty sure it's meant to be an octopus.

Hot pink tights and gold shoes - yes please - I am really loving my gold shoes right now.

OUTFIT DEETS:

Nail polish - Bought it South Korea

Dress - Vintage, Trade Me

Cardi - Glassons

Tights & Shoes - The Warehouse

Brooch - Craft 2.0

Ring - Uijeongbu Underground Mall, South Korea

Bracelet - Made by my friend Vany

Necklace - Equipt

Finally - my friend Meg posted a link on facebook over the weekend which encouraged me to make a pair of shoe clips.

I am the first to admit it - pink shoe clips don't really work so well with pink tights! But you guys get the idea. I really want to make some more now.

Bolton Street Cemetery Walk

2011-11-22T15:35:00.006+09:00

A couple of weekends ago Rich and took a guided tour of the Bolton Street Cemetery, which is the burial ground of many of the original residents of Wellington city. It's been closed for many years (since the 1960's) and a motorway has been built through the middle of the cemetery (they had to move a whole bunch of graves and there is a mass burial plot for those that had to be moved) and it is an incredibly interesting place for a history geek like me.

The oldest house in Wellington is also in the park - it's now used as a residency for artists. I think its actually the oldest surviving house in Wellington, there were a couple of fairly major earthquakes in the city in the late 1800's in which I am sure lots of buildings were destroyed.

Greatest Halloween Ever

2011-11-19T13:04:00.013+09:00

This post is a little late, but as the saying goes, better late than never! Some of you will remember from a while back the swap I was doing with my amazing friend Vany leading up to Halloween.

Well on about the 9th day I received a card from Vany telling me that the last few days of the swap were all related - so I could choose either to wait and open everything on the very last day or I could keep opening day by day.

On the last days leading up to the swap I was opening packaged of bloodied dolls clothes and tiny accessories - then on the last day I found myself face to face with a couple that seemed so familiar....

It's zombie Trees & zombie Rich!! It's so amazing!! The dolls are beautifully made, I love them so much.

Here's a few details of zombie Trees

Close up of her face - she even has hair extensions like me!

A bit of brain hanging out the back...

Close up of her bloodied rib cage.

Cute ballerina flats are an absolute must for the zombie about town!

Next up - a few details of zombie Rich.

He has a bit of a sore eye, not sure why?

He's wearing a robot t-shirt and the real Rich loves robots.

The real Rich likes to sketch, so zombie Rich has a bloodied notebook and some tiny pencils.

Finally - the real Rich loves his converse sneakers and so does zombie Rich.

Fancy tights Friday - Blue & Gold

2011-11-18T14:24:00.002+09:00

Tights - Glassons

Shoes - The Warehouse

Here's the sequins!

2011-11-17T15:49:00.008+09:00

I know that a few folks out there want to know about my brand new sequinned craft project - well never fear! I will explain all!

Last week I stumbled about a Bling Your Bra competition that is currently happening in Wellington. The competition is pretty simple, get an old bra and bling it up!

It costs $20 to enter the contest and all the money goes towards the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation, which is a cause very close to my heart as I lost a good friend a few years back to breast cancer.

I ended up spending quite a few nights recently sewing on sequins as I only found out about the competition a few days before the closing date (which was today!).

So here is a BEFORE picture of the bra I used - I've had this bra for a long time, but I hardly ever wore it because it was kind of uncomfortable. Sorry the photo is a little fuzzy.

Here is the after photo - I was inspired by the whole idea of Mexican Day of the Dead and the bright colours of Mexican Art in general.

Here's a close up photo of the bra in all its sequinned glory.

The competition is officially judged at the Southern Cross Bar on the 28th of November which is pretty exciting - I can't wait to see what everyone else created!

Wednesday Wardrobe Challenge - Skinny Belts

2011-11-16T15:56:00.009+09:00

Sorry I have been blogging over the past few days, I have been a bit busy completing a crafting project for a competition and I will tell you all about it tomorrow and yes there will be pictures and it involves many, many, many sequins.

Today's wardrobe challenge was "skinny belts" and I only own two belts I'd consider skinny, being a wide belt kind of girl generally, so I decided to wear my white skinny belt today.

I think the fabric this dress is made from is pretty amazing, its inspired by Gustav Klimt and you can see small parts of his painting actually printed onto the dress. When I saw this at a op-shop my heart did a little skip and then I tried it on and it actually FIT me! I was astounded - some things are just meant to be.

A couple of fabric close ups for you all - its a pretty incredible frock.

Here's a close up of my necklace - its an hour glass - well actually more like a few seconds glass but it is actually functional.Here's a close up of a rosette made by my friend Grace which goes just perfectly with this dress.When I left for work this morning it was absolutely POURING with rain and windy and cold so I wore my boot, but then by lunchtime it was sunny again! But then that's typical spring weather - its not time to pack away the coats and scarves just yet. I wore my day of the dead ring today and I am kind of loving how its eyes are glowing in the picture.

OUTFIT DEETS:

Dress - Vintage bought at Reincarnation, Newtown, Wellington

Cardy & Tights - Glassons

Boots - Bought in Dongdaemun, South Korea

Necklace & Ring - Diva

Brooch - made by my friend Grace

Belt - From another dress which I bought off Trade Me

Fancy tights Friday - Purple Tiger

2011-11-12T14:46:00.001+09:00

You would have worked out by now, I rather love tights, especially brightly coloured ones. So I thought I'd add a new feature to my blog where I share a pair of tights with you each Friday. Starting off with these beauties - Purple Tiger - Rawr!
Tights - Calico Jacks, Wellington

Shoes - Kilbirnie Hospice Shop

Blog Giveaway - Win!

2011-11-10T16:24:00.003+09:00

I always enter giveaways on blogs, but I never seem to win. So when Chole at Wasted Fashion - An exercise in Trivial Pursuits was having a giveaway I had to enter.

However - this time I knew I would get something - why you ask? Well instead of doing the whole leave your name and comment thing that usually happens on giveaways, Chole listed a whole bunch of stuff she loved and the first person to say the wanted something got it!

Which is very generous of her and it also meant I could pick up these awesome Hello Kitty earbuds all the way from Singapore. I like them a whole bunch and strangely my current earbuds have just stopped working - coincidence? I think not!

Thanks so much Chole and I would recommend that if you love cute a quirky fashion you check out Chole's blog as she has amazing style.

Wednesday Wardrobe Challenge - 1950's

2011-11-09T16:50:00.011+09:00

Today's wardrobe challenge was the 1950's - the dress I was planning to wear is a little big and needs to be altered and the other dress I could have possibly worn was still damp from washing. So I didn't end up looking very 1950's at all but I thought I would still share my outfit for the day.The dress is another Kitty Bridges creation - the dress is called Tokyo Cherry and I like it a whole lot. I've worn it in all parts of the world as its flattering and really comfortable as well. I love the pattern and the red trim.

A close up of the fabric of the dress - cherries and little blossoms.

I decided to wear the bloodied heart that Vany made for me in our 13 days of Halloween swap.

This amazing beaded cuff is also made by the amazing Vany in another 13 days of Halloween swap we did - there are four pop art inspired skulls on the cuff. I do love this hair bow and I haven't been wearing hair bows much lately - I'm not sure why, maybe because its winter and I have been wearing hats to work? Now the weather is warmer I think its time to bring back the hair bow.

I must have been making up for the lack of bows in my life in recent times as I wore bow patterned fishnet stockings as well.

Outfit Deets:

Shoes - Cotton On

Tights - I forget :P

Dress - Kitty Bridges

Cardy - Glassons

Necklace & Cuff - Made by Vany

Hair Bow - Received in a craft swap

Fabric-a-brac - November

2011-11-08T15:44:00.004+09:00

Last Saturday Ria and I attended fabric-a-brac which is a semi-regular (I think its held quarterly) event in Wellington.

The event consists of a whole lot of stall holders selling fabric, patterns, notions and all things sewing related. The stalls sell second hand stuff - some things are vintage and some are contemporary and you can find some really amazing things.Here's my haul for the day - that fabric in the background is blue snakeskin! I think I will make some kind of high waisted pencil skirt with it. I really LOVE this pattern, its a little small but as its pretty basic Ria is going to help me make it a little bigger. I bought the buttons especially to go with the dress I am going to make with the pattern, its going to be a kind of black and white theme. Finally the stuff that looks like skull and crossbones bias binding is actually elastic so you can use it on stretch or non-stretch fabrics.

I also just wanted to share this song, because I love it at the moment!

Wrights Hill - Walk & Old Gun Emplacement

2011-11-07T16:01:00.011+09:00

A few weeks ago it was Labour weekend which meant a three day weekend which is always good (The last one until Christmas). On Monday morning Rich and I decided to pay a visit to Wrights Hill.

Wrights Hill is a pretty good walk on its own, however on public holidays its extra special as the old gun emplacement on the hill is opened up to the public and you can walk around and have a look.

When we arrived at the summit of Wrights Hill it was a little windy - it is Wellington after all!
From the summit of Wrights Hill you can see some of the cities wind turbines. There often seems to be resistance to putting up more wind turbines, but I really like them and I think they suit the Wellington landscape. The old Wrights Hill Gun Emplacement was built during the second world war to help defend Wellington city from invasion from the Japanese. I remember reading once that the Japanese were so confident that they would be able to invade New Zealand that they had already printed the money. The reason for the invasion being a simple one was the fact that most young, able-bodied men were fighting in Europe and apart from some US troops we didn't really have any defences. But back to that money - at Wrights Hill they have money that the Japanese had printed in anticipation of the invasion of New Zealand and Australia, both New Zealand and Australian Dollars issued by the Japanese Government.

A few photos of the gun emplacement, the gun is gone now, the NZ Government sold it for scrap after the war. In an ironic historical twist they sold it to the Japanese.

A few more photos from inside the gun emplacement, its a whole maze of tunnels, you could spend hours down there and the historical society that runs it hasn't even opened up all the tunnels yet. Maybe its just me, but I couldn't help but think you could make some excellent horror movie down there or perhaps run a ghost tour, although there would most likely be too many health and safety issues for a ghost tour.

That was how we Monday morning on Labour weekend, we are hoping to do lots more walks now the weather is warmer so hope to have more photos for you all soon.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-06T13:41:00.009+09:00

I know my Halloween post is a little late, in fact nearly a whole week late! I don't seem to have enough time for blogging lately.

Halloween isn't a huge event in New Zealand , there were some parties and events on the Saturday before but Rich and I didn't end up going to any. I think we will have to make a bigger effort next year.

However, on Halloween night I was lucky enough to see John Waters spoken word show at the Wellington Opera House. He was pretty amazing and hilarious. I was so lucky to see this show as I got a ticket from Ria at the last moment when her boyfriend had to make an emergency trip home to Australia.

Some people still dressed up for Halloween even though they were going to John Waters - Ria went as a cat. I wish I had a costume I could have worn!

Image from here

I also had the most epic Halloween themed mail day last Monday! First of all this lovely package from my new pen pal - Alicia at So Pauve - look how pretty the wrapping paper is!

What was inside the package you ask? A whole bunch of American Halloween lollies. I am planning on using the pop rocks on cupcake or cakepops to confuse people that eat the baked good. But Alicia did tell me to put them on at the very last minute or the pop rocks will turn to sugary mush and have no pop. Alicia also send me a cute little ghost necklace I bought from her blog - he's too cute. I love creepy cute.I also received a package from my friend Dani in Florida - no prizes for guessing what my favourite part of this package was - Hello Kitty Halloween Socks!

I hope you all had a fabulous Halloween!

My Second Dress - 80's-o-rama

2011-11-04T16:08:00.008+09:00

A couple of weeks back I completed sewing my second dress, the pattern I had was pretty 80's and I ended up with an 80's looking dress. I showed you all the pattern I was going to use WAY back in this post, clearly I shortened it a lot as it was far too long for me.
I am pretty happy with my sewing, the dress is made from jersey stretchy stuff which was at times a total bitch to sew. However I finished it, it looks like the pattern and everything but the problem is, I just don't like the style! If you follow my wardrobe posts you will know I like to wear vintage frocks which are generally fitted. This frock is just lacking in structure for me, I feel a bit like I am wearing the kind of tee shirt nightie I used to wear as a teenager. In fact if it wasn't for the belt, this frock would be a bit of a sack.

I am happy with my work, just not happy with the style, but I guess this happens to a lot of sewers or at least I hope it does? I have found from being a crafter that sometimes what you imagine something to be and what it actually ends up being are two distinctly different things.

Final photo of complete silliness - I made a headband of this fabric for an earlier Red Velvet project so I thought I'd wear them both at the same time. Oh the silliness.

Wednesday Wardrobe Challenge - Pink

2011-11-02T14:33:00.010+09:00

This weeks wardrobe challenge was pink! I actually have a few pink frocks, but I decided seen as the challenge was pink I would go all ladylike and this is by far my most ladylike pink dress.

Close up of the fabric of the dress -isn't it pretty - kind of like some fancy garden.

Some detailed photos - I wore my favourite shoes again! How could I resist, they are both pink and ladylike.

OUTFIT DEETS:

Shoes - Retro Room, Willis Street, Wellington

Tights - Farmers

Dresss - Domino Dollhouse

Cardy - Glassons

Brooch - Gift from my boss

"Pearls" - Equipt

A few photos from my weekend

2011-11-01T16:11:00.008+09:00

Hello All! I had rather a quiet weekend, but I did take a few pictures of what I got up to, so here is my weekend in pictures.

On Saturday morning my friend Jess came over from Masterton for a bit of a girly pampering morning and we went and had pedicures. I got blue sparkly toes!

Later on we heading to Invinsible Mojo at the bottom of my building, we bought the ticket for this high tea ages ago! Glad we finally had a chance to use it - the high tea was pretty good and not too over the top with the amount of food they served. I also went to Craft 2.0 which was actually in the city this time rather than out at Upper Hutt. It was still insanely busy - so many stalls, so many cool things, I could spend a whole weeks pay quite easily at Craft 2.0, but instead I settled on buying just this one necklace. Very restrained I think - particular as I was very tempted to buy a knitted fox stole with glowing eyes (not very practical for summer - but it had GLOWING eyes! amazing).I also bought this fabric over the weekend which I used to make my next project in my Red Velvet DIY Dress Up Course. I haven't really been doing much on the course over the past little while but I am determined to get back into it. I will post photos of what I made soon - the project was actually super easy, I hadn't done it as I was scared of using my machine to make button holes - lame I know.On Sunday Rich and I went to watch our local football team the Wellington Phoenix - but this time we lost 2-1 to Melbourne Victory - Boo!!Also on Friday Night Rich and I watched the remake of Fright Night - I am a horror geek from WAY back and generally I am NOT a fan of remakes. But this one was pretty awesome - Colin Farrell as a vampire, David Tennant as a Kris Angel type Los Vegas magician and equal parts blood and hilarity. I highly recommend it!

Image from here.

Hope you all had a super weekend!

13 Days of Halloween Swap - Part III

2011-10-30T11:18:00.008+09:00

Time for another update from all the goodies I have been receiving for the 13 Days of Halloween swap with my friend Vany!

DAY 7

I lose my keys a lot - well not lose them so much as I simply can't find them when they are lurking at the bottom of my bag. I think that problem has mostly disappeared as I have a severed finger and tiny zombie on my key ring.

You can even keep a spare lip gloss inside the severed finger -fancy!

DAY 8

On day eight I received all kinds of things to make me into a pretty zombie!

Some zombie themed clips.

A bloody heart.

Finally, my favourite, a zombie and brain sweater clip - I love this!

I can't wait to share what I have received over the past few days with you all - but I want to wait for day 13 tomorrow as the last 5 days of the swap all work together.

Wednesday Wardrobe Challenge (on Saturday) - Pattern Mixing

2011-10-29T04:41:00.011+09:00

Hello All! Sorry its been a bit of a quiet week from me - I seem to have been busy each night and out till kind of late so no time for blogging, but I am now back.

This weeks Wednesday Wardrobe Challenge was "pattern mixing" which isn't something I normally do. But I did try - I worn a scarf, tights and dress all with a different pattern.

This dress is by my favourite New Zealand designer - Kitty Bridges who makes super cute Kawaii clothes. Here's some of the details of the frock - look at the details! Cuteness.

Here's some of the accessory details - I wore pink and red as well as mixing my prints!

Yellow shoes to match my yellow cardi!

Wednesday was a big day in Wellington - last Sunday New Zealand won the Rugby World Cup for the first time since the 1980's. Rugby is the "National Game" of New Zealand, I was in my twenties before I really realised that in most countries football was the "peoples game" and rugby for the private school types. In NZ rugby is the peoples game - its what all the boys play at school (the girls play netball) and its not seen as being posh in any way! So you can imagine how crazy people went when we FINALLY won the Rugby World Cup again. Here's some photos I took of the Wellington Victory Parade from my office on Wednesday - it was craziness!

OUTFIT DEETS:

Dress - Kitty Bridges

Tights - Valleygirl

Shoes - Op Shopped, Opportunity for Animals, Kilbirnie

Cardy - Given to me by a friend

Scarf - Equipt

Bracelet - Bought at Hello Kitty Cafe, Seoul

Brooch - Bought somewhere online (I don't remember where!)

Mount Victoria Walk

2011-10-25T15:51:00.007+09:00

The weather is starting to get warmer and the days are starting to get longer so Rich and I have decided to make more of an effort to get out and about walking. We are hoping to go for a fairly decent walk at least once each weekend, it will end up being weather dependant of course, but hopefully we can get out and about more.

A couple of weekends ago we decided to start things off easy with a walk to the summit of Mount Victoria (0r Mount Vic as it gets called around here), which to me is actually much more of a hill than a mountain, but that may be due to the fact I grew up seeing this outside my window each morning.

Mount Victoria is right in Wellington city so we don't have to walk very far to reach it - I think I had forgotten how steep it was though.

It does often get a wee bit windy down here in Wellington!

I know I look like miss grumpy with my arms crossed, but I wasn't I promise, it was just really cold at the summit. Lots and lots of cold, cold wind!

13 Days of Halloween Swap - Part II

2011-10-24T12:40:00.014+09:00

Its time to share more amazing Halloween goodies with you all - here's some more of my Halloween swap with Vany.

DAY THREE

What's inside? Mmmmmm....so MUCH chocolate! I am going to set aside most of these goodies for Christmas. I especially love the "Ritter Sport" chocolate, Vany has send me this brand a few times now and its awesome. I also love dark chocolate and she has included pretty much all dark chocolate. DAY FOUR

On day four I received these amazing wee skeletons all handmade by Vany using those fusing beads. I bought a set of these once but I never managed to make anything quite so epic as a skeleton! Unfortunately the white skeletons leg got damaged on his way from Germany to New Zealand, but I can fix it easily - I love these guys. I strung them all up together in our hallway - they are a permanent fixture, not just a Halloween decoration.

DAY FIVE

Here's the packaging for day five - which I love! I just knew from the zebra print it was going to be AMAZING!
So day 5 wasn't too creepy but it was full of something else I LOVE - Hello Kitty goodies. However, Vany did manage to find a creepy kitty pez dispenser and charm. Vany also left a special note for Rich on Hello Kitty Day - to acknowledge his further descent into Hello Kitty Hell.

DAY SIX

Today I received four amazing handmade zombie bookmarks - I haven't had a decent bookmark in literally YEARS and I always end up using a bus ticket, envelope, flier or whatever else I can find lying around so these bookmarks will make for some happy books.

I love the beads on the bookmarks!

It was hard to pick a favourite - but I think I like this one best of all!

Finally the note that came with the bookmarks - it made me smile.

That brings you all up to date with my swap package so far - I can't wait to find out what else is inside. I love surprises!

Photography Course Photos

2011-10-23T15:15:00.013+09:00

I do love photography, I am known by some of my friends as the "crazy camera lady" as I pretty much ALWAYS carry my camera. Sometimes I have two or even three cameras with me (in extreme cases).

Despite loving photography I have always felt I'm not particularly good at it, so when the chance came up on a one day deal website to do a one day photography course I jumped at the chance to do it.

The tutor was great, although I must admit camera envy as my main camera is still a little "point and click" camera and most people on the course had super huge and super fancy SLR cameras.

The course was taught entirely on the Wellington waterfront, which meant I ended up taking my photos somewhere that I spend a lot of my time, I am not sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing but in did help me to see one of my favourite parts of the city in a new light.

My favourite photos are the super close up photos - its not something I usually do when I am out and about with my camera but I really like them.

Napier Birthday Adventures - Part 2

2011-10-21T15:55:00.023+09:00

Here's a bit more about our holiday to Napier a couple of weekends ago for Rich's birthday.

On Sunday morning we went to a big flea market - I didn't actually buy anything but I thought these tights were pretty rad. I was very tempted to buy some but they were all pretty much plain flesh tone tights - it was just the packaging that was awesome.

After the markets we walked along Marine Parade to the National Aquarium of New Zealand.

In the afternoon we visited the old Napier prison, its actually only been shut since 1993 and its a pretty creepy place.

We also visited the old quarry where the prisoners used to work, its now been turned into a pretty gardens and the waterfall in the last photo is man made.

On our last morning we did a spot of shopping and generally spent some time hanging out the city and of course we took even more photos!

Finally we finished our trip with lunch at the most amazing sushi place - here's Rich's sushi and yes that is a fried sushi roll at the back of the plate.

13 Days of Halloween Swap

2011-10-20T15:49:00.011+09:00

One of the nice things about the internet is meeting like-minded folks from around the world, which during the normal course of events you would never have the chance to meet.

For me one of these people is my friend Vany from Germany - we both have a love for all things creepy and zombie and crafty.

A couple of years back we did a 13 Days of Halloween Swap via Craftster (second time we were randomly paired up for a craftster craft swap) and this year we decided to do a mini 13 Days of Halloween Swap.

The idea works a little like an advent calendar, you open one package on each of the 13 days leading up to Halloween!

I have decided to share with you all the amazing things Vany sent me for Halloween - I have opened two packages so far and both have been AMAZING - I think Vany is one of the most talented crafters I know.

DAY ONE

Look at how Vany wrapped up each day - complete with a little bow and recycled newspaper packaging. Love it!
Here's my day one present - a zombie glasses case which is fabulous and useful as I REALLY needed a new glasses case (you folks only see me with my contact in but I have worn glasses since I was 8).

I love the note inside the case - it made me giggle!

DAY TWO

For day two I received this wee zombie tissue holder - which I like a whole bunch.

She even added Hello Kitty tissues as she knows how much I love HK!

Vany also included a few extras in the package - like this cupcake glitter, which is really cute.

I'll keep you all up to date with the other goodies from the package as I count down to Halloween.

Wednesday Wardrobe Challenge - Frills & Ruffles

2011-10-19T15:07:00.008+09:00

Today's wardrobe challenge was "Frills & Ruffles" so I wore a dress with plenty of frills at the bottom!

These shoes still remain as my favourites for now - so friggin cute!

I love this necklace! It is from a kind of "sub-label" (I guess that's the term) of a New Zealand clothing label called Illicit. The label was "Misery" which was the artists name - the label isn't produced any more and I read that Misery has left the art world to head out and volunteer and do all kinds of good work.

This little brooch was a gift from my friend Emi.

I actually wore lipstick today - but to be honest I'm not sure I like it!

Outfit Deets:

Dress: Bargle Fargle Blogshop

Cardy: Glassons

Tights: Farmers

Necklace: Illicit Shop on Cuba Street (Long since closed down *sad face*)

Brooch: Gift from Emi

Shoes: Retro Room

Napier Birthday Adventures - Part I

2011-10-18T15:54:00.017+09:00

Sorry I've been absent for a while - I've no real excuse either! I've just been busy and feeling a little bit run down.

Anyway as promised - here at long last are the photos of our trip to Napier for Rich's birthday.

We started off the trip at Silky Oak Chocolates, we met Rich's parents at Napier airport which meant we actually had a car for the first part of our holiday which is so rare for us! I don't drive at all and Rich hasn't driven for years so we usually rely on public transport which means we sometimes miss out on out of the way places. One of the out of the way places is Silky Oak Chocolates which had a cafe, gift store and museum.

This chocolate Easter Bunny was sixteen years old - looks like he is feeling his age too as he was falling apart.

Rich and I shared a muffin at the cafe - it came complete with chocolate sauce. We decided on blueberry which was a good choice as we had hot chocolates as well and I think a hot chocolate with chocolate sauce and a chocolate muffin would have been too much chocolate.

After all that chocolately goodness we decided we needed a bit of a walk and so visited Te Mata Peak - we only walked a small part of the way there and drove the rest as some of us (actually mostly me) weren't dressed for a big walk. I was feeling kind of ridiculously over dressed to be at the peak - until some girls turned up in heels and cocktail frocks (looked like they were on their way to a wedding).

Next up on our Hawke's Bay Road trip was Havelock North - I had never visited here before but it is a pretty little town. I liked the spring blossoms and I love the photo of Rich with the eel sculpture - he just looks so happy to meet an eel.

Finally we arrived in Napier! It was a little overcast and we did get caught in the rain just as our mini putt game was ending (Rich won of course - I do like mini putt but you know your chances of victory are small when you play with someone who has played golf since they were 11) but its such a pretty city - all art deco and pretty spring flowers.

I really loved this building - they have incorporate Maori design into Art Deco - I really like that.

Here's Rich taking in some fresh sea air at Marine Parade.

This is "Pania of the reef" she's a pretty iconic statue in New Zealand - a few years back she went missing! Turns out some cheeky monkey stole her but thankfully she was returned good a new. She is pretty kitsch - but I think that's why everyone loves her!

Finally here's Rich at the backpackers we stayed at - The Criterion. I think it must have been a pretty grand hotel in its day and as a backpackers its not too bad either. Some of the old stained glass and other pretty historical things are still in the building.
Well that's the end of day one of the trip - I still have more photos to share as I like photos a lot! So I will be back shortly with more I promise xoxo

Wednesday Wardrobe Challenge - Grey

2011-10-12T17:37:00.007+09:00

Hello all! I'd like to start off by clarifying something as my New Zealand English may have confused you all. So in New Zealand we don't call our second hand stores "thrift shops" or "charity shops" we call them "opportunity shops" - which I have always kind of liked. I guess it comes from the whole idea of "one man's trash is another man's treasure".

So when I go second hand shopping I head out to the "op shops" because no one really says "opportunity shops" and when I go second hand shopping its called "op shopping".

Now our lesson in New Zealand English is complete for today.

So today's Wednesday Wardrobe Challenge was "Grey" - I own very little grey as I have always found it to be a rather bleak colour and it doesn't suit me that much.

I do have a couple of grey dresses - one I wore last week for wardrobe challenge so I didn't feel like I could really wear it again. So I tried to wear the "other" grey dress, which Rich tells me is purple, not grey. What do you all think?

Also on the topic of "what colour is this anyway" are these tights blue or purple? I can never decide. But I do think they look rad with yellow shoes.The brooch is another Craft 2.0 purchase and the scarf I acquired from a friend who was leaving NZ to head back home to Canada.I bought a new piece of "bling" when I was in Napier - its and old NZ one penny made into a ring. The date on the coin is 1951 so the coin itself is quite old. I bought it from a cute store called House of Aroha which sells all kinds of cool NZ fashion, household items and prints. They also print their own t-shirts on site and the owner is really lovely. If you ever visit Napier you should go there and check it out!Outfit Deets:

Shoes - Op Shopped, Opportunity for Animals, Kilbirnie

Tights & Cardy - Glassons

Dress - Pagani

Belt - I forget!

Scarf - My friend Iris left when she returned home to Canada

Brooch - Craft 2.0

Ring - House of Aroha, Napier