Drea Morsby

2010, The Year That Was.

2010-12-31T12:58:00.009+10:00

Well the year is almost over ...

2010. Gone! Already? Sheesh that was fast. Then again have you ever heard anyone moan about how slow a year was?

All in all I'm pretty happy with how the past year has unfolded. I'm please to share with you that I achieved some pretty important milestones.

In April I got my driver's licence and I could finally drive my little broom broom as much as I wanted, whenever I pleased. Having a licence to wheel has changed my life dramatically, for the better of course!

I completed my Certificate IV of Fashion Design ... almost. In three weeks time I will complete the last 3 assessments I missed due to my surgery.

I appeared on my first magazine cover!

Cruzin Magazine

So go buy a copy

In a matter of weeks I completed a huge painting. Not only that but it was my first full blown attempt at painting both a car and the likeness of a real person (the beautiful India Rose).

This painting was a huge deal as it was my greatest and most ambitious work yet. I was extremely proud of the outcome and the whole experience finally gave me the confidence in my own work that I have been lacking all these years. I sold the original and broke even (another first) and I'm looking forward to making some prints.

My sister give birth! In mid September little Chloe arrived into the world. Ok so her milestone not mine, but none the less it was a new and exciting thing to become an aunt.

Ambassador for DimitySO. Getting to be a part of the DimitySo campaign was an amazing experience. From popping up in huge mainstream magazines to gracing billboards in the streets of Sydney and Auckland!

The best part of the entire experience was the wonderful bra and brief sets I recieved. For the first time in my life I had bras in my correct size. It is also the first time I've ever had good quality lingerie. My old cheapo bras would have stretch out long ago but one year on these babies are still going strong. Counting Petals and Pepper Dream were the styles I wore the most.

Also:
- I got my hair bleached blonde for the first time
- 5 new tattoos were inked into my arm
- I was in attendance at 2 weddings

Best wishes to all my friends, family and readers for the New Year. And for the New Year 'bah humbugs' this one goes out to you.

Cheers!

Cruise to Ferry Road Diner

2010-12-28T15:18:00.011+10:00

Cool cars are for ~~driving~~ cruising so we will think of any good excuse to take them out for a run. Such as a friendly group trip down to the 'not so local' diner. Why the heck not? Riding in cars to get some noms is a darn good combination.

This all happened a while back and it was my first outing after the worst of my wisdom tooth surgery recovery. Matt's front guards of the tank were away on holidays for rust repairs so we scammed a lift in Bundy's car. His XM falcon came with the unexpected perk of a personal lap warmer, Sanchez the english bull terrier.

About 15 of us crammed into 3 cars and off we were off! Sanchez made sure we stayed cozy when the chilly winds came at us through the window on highway.

I had no idea where this joint was but it felt like it took a long time to get there. It wasn't really but when you're hungry a few k's feels like one hundred miles. But then we finally arrived at Ferry Road Diner! The good thing about this place is that there was plenty of parking out front for the old rides.

Nom time!

After scamming some of Rhea & Chuck's nachos I discovered that they were the best I'd ever had. Sweet chilli sauce on nachos, who'd have thought that would be SO good!? I ordered a hot dog but it was no where near as good as it should of been, given I had to dissect it to accomodate my sore mouth. It's just not the same. But all was forgiven with an ice-cream sundae complete with chopped nuts, a corinthian wafer and maraschino cherry! It tasted so good and my poor swollen mouth squealed with joy.

Heaven!

Another thing I should mention is that they stock Wimmer's soda in the most beautiful vintage style glass bottles. Their traditional creaming soda flavour about 10× better than the ubiquitous Boylan 'Creme' Soda that's imported from America. Wimmer's is a home grown Queensland company. So if you're ever faced with the choice you know which one to go for!

If you fancy a nibble yourself, here's their site:
www.ferryroaddiner.com.au

Hopefully we'll cruise back down sometime soon for more gritz now that my mouth is ship shape again. I'll be the one zeroing in on the nachos.

Gettin' Organized. It's easy!

2010-12-21T22:04:00.004+10:00

Does it take you about 10 minutes longer to find something that you should?
Does a messy environment around you stress you out without you realising?

I know it does for me. After a year of full-time study and medical dramas I was left with living quarters the resembled a war zone. Looking around I decided that a good portion of the problem was that I just had too much stuff.

And thus I enacted phase 1:
"If you don't use it or don't love it, toss it!"
but not necessarily straight into the bin. That's wasteful!

I made three piles:
- Trash
- The not sure / maybe pile
- Things to sell or give away

If you are having trouble choosing which clothes have to go, turn all the coat hangers in your wardrobe the wrong way around. Come back in 3 - 6 months. Taking seasonal items into consideration, note which garments you did not wear. Now get rid of them!

Ahh. That's better. So much less clutter. But the job's not over yet. I took some valuable advice from the Zen Habits blog. The most valuable thing I learned was this. DON'T SAVE STUFF!. What's the point of 'saving' something if it just sits around gathering dust. For example:

- Quit saving the special watercolour paper. Paint on it!
- Quit saving a piece of clothing for a special event once a year. Just wear it!
- Quit avoiding putting on your favourite shoes for fear of scuffing them.
... ugh, what was the point of buying them? Put them on, go out and look hot!

Next I set about organizing myself by getting a time planner from Kikki.K.

The wonderful things about these diarys is the ring binder which allows for movement and insertion of pages and inserts. A flap in the back allows a pad so my diary is going to double as an A5 sketch pad that will always be on me.
Debden & Filofax offer similar systems.

Remember. Clutter is the enemy!

On and ending note, sheesh! Where has the last few weeks gone? Blink and you will miss it. I think I'd better organize my blogging some more and do a bit of catching up. I'm only just discovered that you can queue blog posts so I'll have to implement this when I'm busy. Stay tuned!

Sweet treats to gift your sweetheart this Christmas

2010-12-02T20:23:00.019+10:00

Giftmas is on the horizon. We know this because there is no longer anything half decent to watch on TV!

I'm sure you are all racking your brains for gift ideas. It's not the easiest thing to do when you're looking for something a little different or alternative. But guess what? I LOVE compiling wishlists. But not just for myself, I like making lists of things I think my nearest and dearest would love.

For the Kittens:

Pin-Up Luggage Tags from Pretty in Pink
What girl wouldn't love one of these cute lowbrow art pin-ups to jazz up her bags and help identify her luggage easily at the airport. All these luggage tags are so cute that I find it hard to choose which one I like best.

Retrofuturist Opaque Lipstick at Lime Crime
Let me start off by saying that this is my favourite lipstick ever! It is the most perfect pin-up red, lasts ages, smells divine and feels good on my lips. Any 50's enthusiast or rockabilly girl would be mad not to love it. The only con is that everyone I've shown it to in person thinks I'm trying to show them some kind of a mini vibrator :(

For the Cats:

Hawleywoods Gift Set from Hawleywoods
When it comes to guys who like to pomp or slick their hair, I don't know a guy who doesn't love Layrite. I even have some tub myself as it's perfect for smoothing flyaways when styling up dos. The annoying thing is my boyfriend keeps gouging huge scoops out of my tub. I'd buy him the 9kg tub if the postage wasn't so furping expensive.

Large Tiki Soap scented with Bay Rum from Sailor Mouth Soaps
How cute are these guys? And yet they look and smell manly enough for your guy. I've seen this girl's beautiful handmade soaps around Brisbane here a few times and have been meaning to get some. If you want soap in time for christmas you've got 4 days to order.

And just for fun!

Skel-A-Flamingo Featherless Friend from How Cool
Hee hee! How cool are these. I'm loving this rather macabre take on the traditional kitschy pink garden flamingoes. Put these on my wishlist please :D

FYI I'm not affilated with any of the companies that make this stuff. This is just a list of stuff that appeals to me and I think would appeal to others. Enjoy and happy gifting.

Note: I found the first image in this post on tumblr. If anyone knows who created it please let me know as I would love to credit/check out their other work.

Drea's guide to surviving wisdom tooth removal

2010-11-26T10:14:00.004+10:00

So I'm bored, home alone and still recovering from my wisdom tooth extraction. So needless to say I haven't done anything terribly interesting lately. But given that I've been through most of the horror I can impart my advice and experience of this procedure for anyone that is looking at or is needing to have it done.

Don't drive while taking codeine. There is a good chance you're popping pills before your procedure due to utter dental pain. Like me you're probably going to ignore the instructions on the codeine packet. But take heed! I almost crashed into someone whilst in codeine la la land. You might not be so lucky.

What's cooler than cool? Ice cold! Ice yourselves kittens. Non stop! On yer face. Your cheeks are going to puff out like a chipmunk's and they will feel like a Victorian bushfire. The hospital give me this neato thingy-ma-jig that you filled with ice cubes and hung around your face. Everyone that had previously had their wisdom teeth out where jealous of it. They just had ice in a chux cloth!

Keep a bucket on hand This tip isn't for everyone as it depends on your reaction to anaesthesia. If you're like me though you'll be puking for a couple of days. What a joy that was let me tell you. Those travel puke bags are good too. My hospital gave me one and it sure came in handy in the car, though I felt incredibly sorry for the other 3 passengers in the car having to live through the experience with me.

Eat real food. I can't stress this enough. It was pretty rad getting to eat as much jelly, ice-cream, mousse, KFC mash and snack packs as I wanted. But it wasn't long before it just made me feel sick eating so much junk. Eating real food like mashed and cooled roast vegetables with gravy and puree fruit was much more satisfying not to mention healthy.

Movies! Watch lots of them. You can't do much else anyway and they make the time fly by.

Stay at home. It so happens my boyfriend's best friend's engagement party was on the day after my surgery. We were adamant we were going and besides, I needed to go where my carer went. I thought 'well, this will be sweet, I'll sit in the corner with my jelly and everything will be dandy'. If only. I think I lasted 2 hours before I was alternating between being back in bed feeling like Jabba the Hut or in the bathroom hugging Karen and Allen's toilet bowl. FAIL.

I hope this helps anyone out there who is going to live though this experience. Just remember once they're out and healed, it's all over. You'll never have to do it again. If there is any experience to scare you into taking amazingly good care of your remaining teeth this is it.

Tell you what I am looking forward (very much so) to reaching the finish line. But for now, it's mashed p'taters and gravy until then.

The tongue is ever turning to the aching tooth

2010-11-17T21:25:00.006+10:00

If you read my last post you might remember I did a fair bit of complaining about my teeth. My wisdom teeth to be exact, which had been giving me a fair bit of pain. Between then and now everything just went from bad to worse. Not content with the current plan of doping up on pain killers and waiting for the term to finish, I booked in to see my dentist. He told me to get an x-ray and referred me to an oral surgeon to see about getting the nasty little suckers out.

It was at the oral surgeon's office I was told that stress of end of semester exams and assignments were aggravating the pain in my teeth as I no doubt would have been clenching and griding my teeth in my sleep. I had the charming choice of having surgery right in the middle of all these assessments or wait over a month.

Not one to wait around in pain I chose the soonest possibly option. Glad I did because the following weekend I experienced the worst pain of my life. The doctor gave me painkillers strong enough to knock out a horse (and give me a stomach ache to boot!. Needless to say I have been incapacitated for most of the week. I've been feeling a tad better today and tomorrow I think I'll try go to TAFE. Hilarious given that the day after I'm going to be knocked out to have my teeth torn out, so I'm going to feel like a trainwreck for the next 5 days there after. Fun times!

Bring on the ice-cream and jelly I say.

Before I leave here is something to freak you out with. An Xray of my teeth. Note the offenders. Also, does it creep you out that you can see my skull ... and jaw bone ... and part of my neck? So gross and cool at the same time. It makes me sad that I wasn't the person to got to do these amazing shots for the Eizo Pin-up Calendar. Hahaha! Enjoy!

See you on the other side of anaesthesia.

Sunshine Coast Getaway

2010-11-08T22:17:00.014+10:00

I haven't been around much lately. Did anyone notice I was gone? Part of it was due to hanging out in the sun, sand & surf. Apart from that I've hit snags in the river.

First of all it's the end of the semester and with that comes the turmoil of giant assignments that are drawing to their due date and gulp ... assessments. Then there is my current vexation, my wisdom teeth making themselves known! My bottom wisdom's are getting pushy in there and it's giving me an endless headache, an aching jaw and my ability to chew is being sporadically compromised. So put the two together and you have one big pain in the head.

But there is a happy intermission to this story. Matt and I had a two night stay at Noosaville to use so we scrambled off to relax. The stay was an awesome joint birthday present from the lovely and wonderful Karen & Allen.

We arrived mid afternoon. Luggage was immediately dumped and after sussing out our pad for the weekend we headed out for a walk on the beach. I collected cuttlefish bones for a friend's parrot. It's a habit after years of budgie ownership. A quick costume change later we raced off to dinner, keen for some fresh seafood at The River Deck Restaurant.

The River Deck catch. So good! It was an effort to eat even half of this.

But I still had room for dessert! Friday night ice-cream on Hastings Street is a bit of a tradition I'm told. Gelatissimo is where it's at! I chose scoop of creme caramel with a scoop of coconut. Matt's caramelised fig was more caramel than fig.

60's Rat Fink surfboard at Noosa Longboards. Yours for only $4,900!

The next day we happened upon Noosa Longboard's famous woody wagon on Hastings Street. I've seen this vehicle many times at car shows but it's an entirely different thing when you come across a car like this in it's native habitat. It took a bit of courage to strip off on the busiest street in town, but oh woody wagon, I did it for you!

Once again here I am being a giant poser. This time at the edge of the pacific ocean in Noosa's Laguna Bay. Look at that sky! Perfect weather.

I've never seen bush turkeys on the beach before. They were everywhere. Some of the cheeky buggers were trying to get into the satchels of unaware sunbathers. Even more hilarious was watching a plucky little turkey crossing the road on Hasting's street with the rest of the street folk.

And here is a dead puffer fish I found washed up on the beach while scouting the sand for driftwood to put in my fish tank. Not the find I was looking for but it was interesting enough to take a photo of. We also found some knickers on the beach! Gross.

It wasn't always out and about. Our resort had a heated pool and spa set in a tropical garden that provided much enjoyment. I also slept on the shaded deck chairs beside the pool. Until some ignorant jerk splashed me when he got into the pool that is.

I did a lot of sleeping on the trip home too. It's so good to get away from the stress of life every now and then. You don't realise how refreshing these trips are until you do them. I am going to make sure I chill out more often from now on.

Lowbrow Local Talent. Reppin' for QLD

2010-10-22T15:13:00.018+10:00

There are oodles of people all around me that have the most amazing skills. Queensland's got talent! And I just love the wonderful underground lowbrow art that goes on.

Some of you might be asking what is Lowbrow?

Lowbrow, or lowbrow art, describes an underground visual art movement that arose in the Los Angeles, California, area in the late 1970s. Lowbrow is a widespread populist art movement with origins in the underground comix world, punk music, hot-rod street culture, and other subcultures
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_surrealism

So that gives you a basic idea. It's mostly a term used for art but I'm going to use the term loosly and extended it to other areas. While everything here may not strictly be lowbrow it drums to the same kind of beat. It's all made of fairly underground, left of the middle, alternative and old timey styled goodness. And without further ado, let me introduce the talent!

ARTIST: Leigh Carnachen

I first fell in love with Leigh's Art when I saw her amazing piece 'Filled, Raked & Slammed' in the Lowbrow Art Show at my second Greazefest. Leigh (who goes by the alias Leighderhosen) has this beautiful tattoo inspired style with a dark and broody old timey feel about it. You can find a lot of her work emblazoned on t-shirts and regularly exhibits at Melbourne's Kustom Lane Gallery.

The thing I love most about Leigh is that she regularly posts her art on deviantArt. She just keeps pumping these beauties out and I get excited every time I see an update. If only there was somewhere closer to home for her to exhibit her work! I'd be all over that like a fat kid on a cupcake.

leighderhosen.deviantart.com/

PHOTOGRAPHER: Kate O'Brien

Ahhh where do I start with Kate O'brien? I love her! I first encountered her work through the good old Internet but I got to know it a whole lot more when I got the chance to work with her. Boy those have been memorable experiences. Having been a fan of her work for a few years now it's been amazing to see her grow. Kate O'Brien started off as a painter before switching to photography. However her photos are not unlike paintings. Every detail is attended to and with her super crafty skills she will make costumes, accessories, props and build sets all from scratch. Not only that but she is a fantastic graphic designer. A multi skilled wonder. Her own house is so meticulously decorated that it looks like one of her amazing photo sets.

Kate's style is one that is totally unique. I'm yet to see another photographer who can match the uniqueness and calibre of her incredible work.

www.kateobriencreative.com

TIKI CARVER: Marcus Thorn

Marcus carves tikis. Good tikis. Amazing tikis! In fact he is so good that he carves tikis for hotels in Hawaii and restores the antique tikis they have there. When he is not doing that he's carving up original one of kind wooden gear shift knobs that are so popular in the Kustom Kulture Hot Rod scene these day. You can even hire his tiki carvings for your wedding and party.

Tiki Marcus (as we call him) also runs tiki carving workshops from time to time in cities around Australia. I'm hanging out for this next one to try my hand at a bit of tiki carving. What the hey? I'm sure it will be a ball and you've got to try everything once right? We all love Marcus and he is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet.

Incidentally you might remember a tiki themed pin-up shoot I did a while back where I posed with a Tiki. That was one of Marcus's old ones!

http://www.tikibeat.com.au

Makeup Artist: Loretta Lee

Loretta is a fairly new in the makeup world but she is already making waves as her talent is undeniable. With a penchant for over the top dramatic bright and vampish make-up, her work is turning heads. She is also the girl with the ever changing hair. It changes more than her underpants. So it's safe to say she's also got the convenient talent of hairstyling to boot.

Given that Loretta is mostly self taught she is a force to be reckoned with. What will she come up with next? You can find out via her blog. Loretta also does tutorials of unique makeup styles where you can let her impart her skills to you at the whim of your mouse. Cool!

Munster Makeup

Well I think that's enough for today folks but I hope to keep this feature running regularly. Like I said there are oodles of talents around me so I've got a lot more sharing to do in the future.

I want a platinum blonde life

2010-10-11T21:30:00.008+10:00

Booyah! I am now an official bottle blonde. This was all thanks to the beautiful Cress who hooked me up with hairdresser Jess who we both went to see to do our hair.

Blonde has all been a long time coming. Since I was 15 I dyed my already very dark hair raven black. Two years ago I decided I'd like to try the other side of the hair colour spectum and thus began the slow process of growing out supermarket black box permanent dye.

Black as black hair, captured by Teagan Renee back in 2008

I had heard endless horror stories about overzealous blondie wannabies frying their hair by waging the battle of bleach versus dye pigment. Given that my hair is naturally quite dry and frizzy to begin with, I was more than happy of taking the safe and slow route of reverting to virgin hair.

Natural brunette, 2010

The long wait paid off. My hair lit up within 20 mintues of the bleach being applied. 20 vol strength was all that was needed for my roots. Stronger stuff was applied to the ends where some remaining black bleach was turning a charming orange colour. Most of that was chopped off and I was left with very respectable shoulder length hair.

And the contrast, the new blonde, looking very yellow under that light.

Even though my hair lightened very easily, it was not left completely untouched by the ravages of bleach. Puffy, frizzy, coarse! Treatments, moisturizers and end sealer was thrown in. My hair responded very well. After a well earned rest period for my tresses I'll be going back soon for another round to rid of this goldilocks colour to become platinum!

The Holy Grail of chemically enhanced hair!

Blonde is only the beginning. Expect some crazy experimentation with pink, red and maybe even cobalt blue. After having had huge chunks of fire engine red in the past, I know my white shirt collars and shower tile grout will bother me with their adopted hues again.

On and ending note, it's been 7 days, I'm already sporting noticeable regrowth. Grr! Damn that hair of mine growths fast. Mind you I've got to say that growing a full head of hair from roots to shoulder in 20 months is pretty darn impressive.

4 Tasks in 4 Days

2010-09-29T11:20:00.005+10:00

As most of you all know I am currently on holidays from my full time study as a fashion design student. The build up and execution of the end of term assessments ends up being rather stressful, so when the holidays roll around I shut down and relax. Last holidays I told myself I wouldn't waste all that free time again. However after being sick and lolling about in bed for an entire week, erm, let's just say it wasn't the best start to get the ball rolling.

So I'm getting motivated. I've got my gave face on. There are only 4 free days left for me these holidays. So I sat down and drew up a plan. 4 tasks to complete in 4 days.

Game Face, yo

Yep I know you can't read it. It's too small and my webcam is a mirror image so everything is back to front. For the sake of your ocular health, it reads:

4 TASKS IN 4 DAYS
Wed, Thu, Fri & Sun

1) Commissions (pin-up painting, 3 x watercolour works, BBQ cover for dad)
2) Holiday Homework (toile, rendering, samples, studio, visit Queensplaza)
3) eCommerce (list old stuff on ebay, list art/handmade/vintage on etsy)
4) Restore Queen Anne Wardrobe (sand, refit, paint)

It doesn't look like a lot and yet ... it is. And It's already noon on wednesday and I haven't started yet. YIKES! I'm going to have to get a move on. In between this all I need to bake a lemon meringue pie, go to the gym and go to my rock & roll dance lesson.

Game on petals. I'll keep you updated on how I go each day.

30 minutes later: Oh yeah I have a photoshoot tomorrow. It's going to be busy until Sunday!

Subcultural Weddings

2010-09-22T13:09:00.020+10:00

Lately I've been fascinated with weddings of an alternative theme. Not because I'm planning on getting married anytime soon (trust me, that's light years away). It's because they're so damn delicious to look at!

Neo Gothic table setting

Weddings are just one of those things people seem like spending a lot of time, effort and money in order to make it their perfect day. And why shouldn't they? It's an important right of passage in life. One of the most import things for people who invest a lot in their weddings, is to hire a professional photographer to capture their big day in photos. When these photos have this off beat rock n roll vibe to them, it's like eye candy for my soul.

Rockabilly/Western style groomsmen getup

Is anyone else over the sickly sweet generic flavour of the mainstream weddding industry? I swear you open up a bridal magazine or blog and see the same thing over and over and over again. Boring!. My sudden interest in weddings with a twist started when I stumbled across alternative wedding blogs like ruffled and rock n roll bride.

Blue shoelaces on his converse that match his tie. And a fedora. Too cute!

Ruffled focuses on indie, vintage inspired and DIY weddings. Rock n Roll bride loves to feature off beat weddings that are a representation of the couple's individuality. You see weddings with tattooed brides, rockers, punks, and many other styles.

But the main factor both blogs centre on is how couples around the world aren't afraid to let their individual personalities shine rather than falling into the normal wedding convention.

Colour coordination, set by the 'hawk of course.

I've only been to 3 weddings in my little life so far. I haven't seen anything outrageous so far but plenty of vintage styled goodness. Take Paulie and Karen for example. Their wedding was really special to be able to attend as I met Karen the night Paulie did as well. It was super cute seeing them first hit it off and then get hitched!

Paulie & Karen had a 57 Cadillac and a 59 Chevrolet as their wedding cars. The wedding reception was held at a bowls club full of furniture that dated back to the 1950's. It also contained a dance floor big enough for the live band and all of us to execute the wide swings and spins that rock n roll dancing entails.

Does anyone else have any good stories of left of the middle weddings they have been to? I would love to hear them.

Tales from Lurgyville

2010-09-15T12:13:00.011+10:00

The winter lurgy has caught up with me in what should be the nice enjoyable season of spring. Now I can't go outside because the sunshine stings my eyes and until today the computer screen was far too blinding for my sensitive eyes. I'm feeling a little better than yesterday though the dizzyness, fevers, body aches, headaches, ear aches AND eye aches remain with me. In the very least I can walk properly today.

I had some really special posts lined up but I'm afraid while this lurgy is with me I won't have the brain power to carry them out. In the meantime I'll share a few little tid bits with you.

DimitySO on Farmer Wants A Wife: I found this out from Nat's blog which was a pretty neato to wake up to this morning. Nat's got the link up on her blog so pop over there to have a squizz. The three of us show up in poster form for a split second at 19:41. Hah! Famous ... sort of.

One more day until Holidays: I haven't been to TAFE in 3 days (I'm not missing anything important, thankgod) but tomorrow I HAVE to suck it up and go to finish just one last assessment. At the end of the day all us girls are going to Sizzler again for our end of term chow down.

This time it's particularly siginificant as we are being merged with another class next term. Our class has dwindled down to a meagre 8 members, which is a waste of money according to administration. So half of another class is joining us. Looks like we're going to have to stake out our favourite tables.

Fashion Forward: Looking over the contents of my blog the past year, I've been appalled to notice how little I've focused on fashion. From a fashion student's perspective I'm rather ashamed of myself and I vow from now on to post more about what is my central focus these days. Things I'm going to inlcude are daily outfits, examples of my work and more coverage on the fashion events I visit or am incolved in.

I'm aware that every man and his dog these days does 'daily outfit' photos on their blogs but the audience seem to dig it. And I know I would love to have a little photographic archive of the all the cool outfits I've put together. There are so many I can think of looking back that I never got a photo of and it makes me sad I didn't capture that moment *sniff*

Also I've never really posted my work up here because I've been worried about it being stolen, which is just bollocks really. I really need to stop hiding under a shell and just put myself out there. If it's up here everyone should know I thought it up first. Right? Right!

Three Years ♥: Three years ago this day my boy and I got together. Amazingly I still got a kiss this morning even though a fidgety, squirming feverish Drea kept him up all night. Is that true love or what? I'm just hoping I'll feel well enough to attending a celebratory dinner dinner for two tonight. Hopefully a dose of ibruprofen will do the trick.

Rightio folks, I'm going back to bed!

Hot Rod Photoshoot

2010-09-08T08:37:00.009+10:00

I think it's easy to tell how much I love old cars because I get super duper excited when I get to do a photoshoot with a good one. So when I recieved the shots from my last shoot I just about flew through the roof!

Dale Haberfield that wonderful lovely photographer of a man made sure he got some photos to me so I could show you all here on my blog! Isn't that sweet? Only he sent them two days ago. I've been up to my eyeballs in end of term assessment work I haven't had a chance to post these yet.

I freaking love them! And I love this rod. I'm still in awe that a 17 year old built this, starting at the age of 15. What an awesome dude. His whole family, who all attended the shoot, were lovely people and were a joy to meet. Many thanks to them all for lending me use of their bathroom to get ready not to mention all the help with doing up all the various laces all over me!

And of course thankyou to Dale for giving me the opportunity to participate. Love your work!

Dear Diary... is it the holidays yet?

2010-08-31T08:27:00.005+10:00

It wouldn't surprise me if the last month of so has been the busiest 6 weeks of my life. Everything has been a blur of painting, sewing, working on assignments, making up fashion boards and everything else in between. I was horrified when I started to get sick however my immune system must have been feeling super duper. In no time I was fighting fit again. Take that seasonal germs!

To motivate myself and keep me going I have stuck an 'Epic To Do List' on my wall and I take great satisfaction in striking all those various tasks off.

On Sunday I did a pin-up photoshoot! I haven't done one of those in a long time. It was such good fun. I got to pose with the most awesome hot rod, so awesome that it is hard to believe a 17 year old built it. Nice taste dude! Dale the photographer even gave me a home baked white chocolate and macadamia cookie when the shoot was over. I washed down with an iced cold solo. Oh yes, that is my kind of shoot. I'm looking forward to sharing the shots with you all.

Then I had to come home and work on assignments again. Aww. It's all been a bit stressful and with nothing immediate to be done I decided to chill out last night and see a movie. I ended up going with Matt to see Salt because he had already seen Inception. Is there anyone who hasn't yet seen it? I need someone to go with! Salt was none the less a good actioned packed all around entertaining movie. I must say I was rather mesmerised by Angelina Jolie's lips more than anything though!

At any rate I'm looking forward to finishing all my work and getting into the holidays. I'm going to have some fun and do a few photoshoots. I haven't done enough this year. My new and very different life as a student can be blamed for that. I'll also have some more time to myself to engage in more creativity. Making myself some clothes and accesories perhaps? Or even get a little work experience under my belt. The possibilities are endless.

But for now ... back to work.

Life as a Tattooed Lady

2010-08-19T08:27:00.011+10:00

It's a rare day when my tattoos aren't noted, be it from a stranger, a family member or a friend. Usually on those days I'm all covered up. I find that I am forever being stopped in the street to be complimented, questioned and sometimes even tutted at by strangers in regard to my body art.

"Did that hurt?!" is by far the single comment I'm asked the most. Of course it bloody hurt! It was created by numerous needle penetrating my dermis at 3000 repetitions per minute. But the reality of tattoo pain all depends on where you body is being tattooed, your pain threshold and how well you distract yourself. Eating a square meal is important as well. If you're in the right frame of mind the pain is tolerable and sometimes non existent.

The second most frequent question I get is "Do Your Tattoos Mean anything?" It's also the most annoying. Many folks seem to think a tattoo must have some kind of earth shaking deep and meaningful symbolism in order to get it and that you're happy to divulge this meaning to any Joe Blow passer by that happens to ask. After three years of taking time to explain, I'm over it. They may have a meaning but they're mostly there because I like them aesthetically. I am a lowbrow artist after all so I don't believe all art has to be deep and heavy. Tattoo's aren't exactly high brow.

Thankfully it's rare to have someone lecture me or talk to me in a dissapproving way when they see my ink. The best compliments I've been delighted to receive are from mature ladies and gentlemen who say they don't usually like tattoos but think that mine are exceptionally beautiful! A comment like that can make my whole day.

I love my tattoos so much. Without them I wouldn't be me. I don't feel naked when I'm naked but I'd certainly feel naked without my permanent artwork. Each design has been thought out at length, designed and drawn by myself or my artist whom I highly respect.

I can't wait for the day when I have a day job where I don't have to cover them up. But I get my own back. On the odd occasion a customer spots a birdie's head peeking out from under my collar and they then make me show them the whole bird. They love it and think it's cute. Pure gold!

Greazefest Kustom Kulture Festival 2010. Sunday Hot Rod Show.

2010-08-09T22:42:00.019+10:00

... continued from Greazefest Kustom Kulture Festival 2010. The Night Gigs!

Sunday morning the 1st of august, the day of the Greazefest Hot Rod Show! I had stayed up until 3am altering the size 14 top I purchased to fit me. Yeah I know, I should have done it earlier (and no they didn't have me size!). However I had been preoccupied working on my painting! My alarm was set to go off at 5am but I might as well have not bothered because I slept right through it. After I feebly managed to drag myself out of bed at 6am, I begun to get ready, put on my clothes, did my hair and makeup and loaded the odds & sods in the car.

You may be wondering why I was so eager to be there so early. The first reason is so we could score good spot for the car. The second reason was to make sure I could enter my painting in before the hanging space ran out. Paramount if you have a huge canvas like mine! After all that is sorted one can mosey at all the cars, art and stalls before the place becomes indundated with punters.

If only I could wake up to this every day.

Relieved now that my artwork was hung on the wall, I couldn't help but be proud as punch. All the weeks of organising and hard work built up to this moment and it was a good feeling to have reached the finish line. My artwork is of the beautiful India Rose with Luke's gorgeous XL Falcon in a mysterious, moody setting. Good company was nearbt with my art next to Mimsy's tattooed lady painting. So many incredible artworks were present in the tent this year. I was blown away by all the local talent.

'Incursion'. Acrylics on Canvas. Photo taken by the lovely Pete Walker.

Bella also entered her own little artwork in the show. Hilariously enough, our own mugs were also part of the art show in the form of photographer Pete Walker's canvas prints.

The day became a joyous blur of good times, good cars and good friends. Jane and I indulged in cupcakes. She had red velvet cupcake and I enjoyed lemon meringue cupcake. Sussing out the stalls was then in order. I ended up with a 60's rayon/silk slub weave dress in a periwinkle blue. For lunch it was picnicing with friends on a blanket in the grass, all whilst watching the live entertainment onstage. I made of special spoint of seeing The ReChords, The Ten Fours and The Sugar Shakers. So many people came to join us that we had to retrieve a second blanket from the car.

Beanie and Josh were evening braving the sun for a few dances. I didn't have any energy. I was all danced out from the two previous nights.

After the middlle of the afternoon when the trophys were announced, the day started winding down on the oval. Cars began leaving the previously chock-a-block oval. With room to move we parked all the cars together, just hung out and goofed off.

Somehow every Greazefest someone ends up riding on top of a moving car

Bundy atop his XM Falcon that he's had since he was 15. It's been hit, written off, patched up and he still loves it. Pure gold!

Busting a pose with the gorgeous Bianca

The beautiful Polly!

Kool with a K! Mez's beasty EK Custom

By the end of the day I was exhausted so I reverted my white heels to some comfy ballet flats. As the afternoon grew cold and dark, the group of us sauntered up to where the bands were playing in the pavillion. A lot of people were still partying but most of us were pooped! We just sort of sat around, relaxed and enjoyed the good music and company.

An adorable moment I just had to capture!

And just like that another Greazefest was over for the year.

I slept in until noon the next day!

Greazefest Kustom Kulture Festival 2010. The Night Gigs!

2010-08-06T11:04:00.021+10:00

So as my last post entailed, Brisbane's own annual Greazefest took place last weekend. I think I've only just recovered. Too little sleep and lots of party party makes Drea a bit of a zombie for the rest of the week. Anyhow I'll just go over the night gigs in this entry otherwise I'll probably make blogger.com's head asplode trying to cram so much in.

I'll start off with WHAT A HOOT! My initial uncertain feelings about the festival changing to a new venue were quickly quashed once I realised how much nicer it was to have sufficient space to move around. Also, because the night gigs were now in an outdoor covered area I didn't sweat all my make-up off. That's always a plus.

On Friday I was furiously painting for the art show on Sunday. No surprises there. So on both nights I didn't allow myself time to do anything decent with my hair. I'd throw my brushes down and got ready in a whirlwind.

Myself, Kurt and Kirsten a.k.a Beanie

Matt with Bella in her gorgeous Holly Golightly inspired outfit.

With the gorgeous Bianca! And er ... Chucky.

The Line up for Friday night was:

The Flattrackers

Doug Wilshire & The Tailspinners

Bertie Page performing burlesque

The Detonators

The Go Go Haunters

The Detonators, from afar.

At the beginning of the night I was too busy socialising and didn't see a whole lot of the first two bands. However the snippets that I saw of Flattrackers and Doug Wilshire were as good as they always are. Bertie Page did a striptease in a giant milkshake a la Dita Von Teese. The Detonators were amazing! I wish they came to Brisbane more often. Last on for the night was the Go Go Haunters. Their post punk/ garage/ horror sound was in stark contrast to all the other bands of the night, a good thing considering the psychobilly band presence last Greazefest was sorely missed due to the Sinner's Ball being axed. The punks and rockers were out in force busting their moves in front of the stage. By that stage of the night I was too pooped to dance, so I contented myself to standing behind the dance floor and watching.

Meanwhile the cheesy 'shirts and skirts' rock and rollers seemed rather daunted by all the noise and were making to leave. I couldn't help but smirk into my cardigan. Good riddance! I must tell you all about the great divide concerning kustom kulture, rockabilly and 'the rock and rollers' but I shall leave that story for another day.

The gents

The Line up for Friday night was:

The ReChords

Big Kitty & The Scaredy Cats

La Viola Vixen performing burlesque

Benny &
The Fly-by-Niters

Deke Dickerson
& The Ecco-Fonics

Pat Capocci Combo

I went to bed at 2am on Friday night and woke up 7am Saturday morning to work on my painting. I was painting really furiously by this stage in order to finish it. At 7.30pm that night I finally threw the paint brushes down one last time and started getting ready for the gig. No time for the hot rollers I wanted to use. Oh well. By the time we rocked up at Rocklea we had already missed the ReChords and La Viola Vixen. Daaaarnit. However I was happy to be there to enjoy the rest of the gig. I really really dug Benny and the Fly-by-Niters. The saxophone is truly a sexy instrument and more bands should have one!

Myself, Lawrie and Laura

Yeeeaaah!

Deke Dickerson put on an extremely entertaining show, but I must admit the dancing by his drummer 'Sugarballs' was the highlight of the night. He then stole the show with his own song ... about balls. Pat Capocci Combo rounded the night up. I always enjoy seeing Pat play. He is a truly talented musician and singer. That boy is going to go far.

Pat Capocci, once again from a fair way off. I didn't fancy pushing in front of all those people.

Rhea and Aleisha busting out some moves on the dance floor.

The beautiful Beanie, hot and sweaty from dancing. Three of us fanned her cool.

Stay tuned for my review of Sunday's Hot Rod Show. xo

Counting down 'til Greazefest

2010-07-25T16:37:00.008+10:00

It's less than a week until my favourite event of the year! Yep. I look forward to Greazefest Kustom Kulture festival more than my own birthday. It's the perfect mix of the kind of old cars I love, music, dancing to said music, art and SHOPPING at the markets. Not to mention hanging out and catching up with friends.

My favourite shot from GF 2009

I have all my tickets ready, my super cute outfit for the Sunday hot rod show has been picked out and I'm furiously painting in order to have my artwork for the Low Brow Art Show ready to hang. Matt is even fixing the hand brake on the tank because ... er ... I broke it. I did that while I was doing a photoshoot with it for City New's Greazefest article.

Page 3, City News July 15th 2010

I've also been popping up in numerous local publications around brisbane with an old photo Pete Walker took of me at Greazefest 2008.

The painting I'm working on is HUGE. Why did I pick such a large canvas? It's taking me forever to complete. I've also realised that I have a good chance of being intensely embarrassed by my monolith artwork hogging the hanging space. Oh gosh, please let people like it and forgive me for it's size!

It's a heck of a lot Cheaper than Splendour in the Grass and organizer Lori Lee puts on a heck of an event. If you're coming along, come and say hi! I'll be the one with the ruffly red parasol. Tickets are available on the website or at the gate. See you there kittens!

www.greazefest.com

To Bang or Not to Bang? A Hairstyle Story.

2010-07-21T20:37:00.013+10:00

I am an ex subscriber of the 'Bettie Bangs'. I sported them since I was 15. They were inspired by a band I love, The Dance Hall Crashers, rather than the lady who made them famous (see below). I wore and loved them for a good 5 years before I decided I needed a change. It took a whole year to grow them out. But I can't help but miss them.

If you don't know what 'Bettie Bangs' are, here is a perfect example on the lady who gave them her namesake.

If you don't know who this is, for goodness sake google her or hire out 'The Notorious Bettie Page' from the video store.

Some examples of my fringe over the years:

Unstyled bangs at 15, with a hack dye job only a 15 year old would do to boot. Hah.

My bangs with a concave bob at 16. BEFORE Posh made it famous, thankyou very much.

Age 20. Neat and perfect!

I'm one of those creatures who tends makes a dilemma out of minute details. A perfectionist you might say. Yep, that's me. I'm the one who will stand in the Grocery aisle for 10 minutes deciding on a particular product. But now that my hair is long and fringe-less I ache for the ease and good looks of bangs. Lately they have been popping up on famous celebrities. Even in Chanel advertisements in glossy magazines such as Vogue.

Beyoncé

Katy Perry

Damn you beautiful celebrities. Stop making me miss what I no longer have! Here's a funny story. When I flew down to Sydney for the DimitySO photoshoot I was almost certain I was going to have my bangs cut back in. It surprised when they didn't and a little part of my was actually disappointed. It was like I wanted an excuse to cave in! It's amazing how my mind works.

In order to put a perspective on things, here is the breakdown on Bettie Bangs.

PROS

Extremely easy to style. Perfecto hair is achievable in 5 minutes!

It looks damn good!

It different, alternative and individual on the mainstream where the mainstream is concerned

You never get hair in your eyes

It looks fantastic with creative dying.

CONS

Having to trim the sucker all the time.

'Sweaty Bettie Bangs'. Sweat tends to build up underneath your precious fringe and it feels pretty disgusting

Being at the mercy of the 'split fringe'. This happened on my formal. (Grrr!!!!) due to a hairdresser who doesn't understand short bands. Very few do!

Lack of styling versatility where fringe styling is concerned. Say goodbye to forehead rolls, Jessica Rabbit hair, Pompadours etc.

Having the same hairstyle as 85% of the girls in the rockabilly circle. Ok ok, we should all like what we like, but you can't deny it gets a little tiresome sometimes.

It takes me a whole year to grow out. Longer for others

Uh oh, the cons certainly are piling up!

While I do love the Bettie Bangs I think I will resist them while I am still a dark brunette. As much as I love Bettie Page I'm over being compared to her. The bangs were never about Bettie Page for me, it was all about Elyse Rodgers from The Dance Hall Crashers.

Elyse Rogers

I can imagaine myself cutting them back once I've taken my hair to a lighter shade. I have almost mastered the 40's style faux with the help of a hair rat and a tutorial by Fleur De Guerre. So for the moment I can content myself with that.

The ever elegant Fleur with her fauxbang / victory roll combination.

I just need to collect enough of my hair to cover the ends of my hair rat. But err ... that's another story.

From Film to Fashion.

2010-07-15T19:58:00.015+10:00

For my Fashion course I had to research, interview and write a feature article on someone in the Fashion industry. Given my interest in photography and how fashion is depicted I knew I had to interview Rose Bertwistle of Fallen Rose Media. I am a huge fan of her work. She is a very talented, kind, funny and wonderful young lady. I have even been lucky enough to work with her before on a couple of shoots. Rose is very creative and fashion focused so I knew she was the perfect person to interview.

It may surprise you that one of Brisbane’s new young talents, fashion photographer Rose Bertwistle, has never had any actual training.
It was as a cinematography student that she was encouraged to take up shooting stills.
“I’ve never looked back since,” she said.

Since Bertwistle started her own business, she has been published in Peppermint magazine and gained the acclaim of seasoned photographers.

Rose’s work is typified by her soft vintage style enhancing the natural aesthetics of her subjects rather than resorting to extensive retouching.

Originality and storytelling is an important factor in Rose’s vision for her work and she pays special attention to styling and emotions conveyed.
For a finished photo to reach fruition, Rose invests time conceptualising the idea before developing it further with regular collaborators before securing a team for the shoot.

Not only for her love of new places and culture but in order to get more work, Rose sees travel as inevitable.
“The fact of the matter is, there is little to no paid work here.
“International designers go to teams down there [Sydney and Melbourne], not to us,” she said.

Eventually Rose hopes to make it to Melbourne or Paris as she does not see fashion photography taking off in Brisbane anytime soon
“I hope it does [take off]. There’s a lot of talent here.
“It should be seen,” she said.

Her advice for up and coming photographers and fashion designers is to choose a model to suit your garment.
“You wouldn’t get a Gold Coast bikini babe with fake everything to model your haute couture gown.
“You know your garment and what you want to say with it, so choose a model who is right for it.”

Rose’s deliberate selection of models is evident in her work with tall slender girls for high fashion; lush classic beauties for her vintage inspired imagery; and seasoned, fine art models that can morph from look to look like chameleons.
She also makes use of actors for her work for their evident ease in front of the camera and refined ability bring emotion into an image by ‘acting in still shots’.

It is Rose’s left of the middle approach to fashion photography that sets her apart from the rest. In her cinematic setting garments take on new life and energy, meshing seamlessly with the wearer, their mood and the story unfolding around them.

Rose's Blog
View more of Rose's spectacular work in her portfolio.

The lady behind the lens

Photoshoot with Neill Hooper

2010-07-09T15:01:00.009+10:00

My latest bundle of DimitySO goodies arrived in the mail last week. After much 'squee'ing and excitement I decided I should probably do something with them. There were 7 sets, 4 of them with the matching camisole/slips. Plenty of choice. I'm so spoilt!

Last Friday I teamed up with Neill Hooper and did a photoshoot with some of my lovely new lingerie. Neill was responsible for a beautiful collection of tattoo photos he exhibited at the The Art Factory Gallery in Brisbane earlier this year.

I picked my favourites, Rose Beat and Courtesan Night. Also behold my newly coloured tattoos.

7/10 times I usually do my own make-up on shoots and when I do get an MUA they've recreated my look. The young lady who did my hair and make-up on this shoot, Jes Schefe, was having none of that and transformed me into something a bit different away from my usual super clean 50's pin-up look. She tousled my curls and subdued my make-up.

Well ... it was subdued until she unleashed the purple eyeshadow :)

After lounging on that baby, I would like a plush velvet couch too. Whoops, forgot to flip the ruffle over.

The Last Wintersun in Coolangatta, 2010: Day 3

2010-07-05T13:03:00.010+10:00

Continued from The Last Wintersun, 2010: Day 2

The night before the last day of Wintersun was quite funny. After our night out, Bella, Matt and I were all sitting on the couch bed talking. However we were so tired the three of us just kind of slumped and passed out from exhaustion. When I woke up in the middle of the night Matt was still lying next to me, fully clothed in his suit, Bella had awoken earlier and gone to her bedroom. I had a bird's nest of hair, furry un-brushed teeth and still had my full skirted dress on resplendent with a tulle petticoat. Ugh Wintersun, where sleep is the enemy. I mustered the energy to yank my bra and petticoat off from under my dress and curled up back to sleep again.

Everyone slept in that morning. We all needed some well earned rest. There isn't terribly much that goes on at Wintersun on the last Monday morning and we couldn't be bothered going to the 'best of Wintersun' gig. Matt and I headed upstairs to the larger kitchen Aleisha and Scotty had to make some pancakes. They were delicious and we ate them with lashings of pure Canadian maple syrup and whipped cream.

Pancakes in the making. Also .. what I look like in the morning with unkempt hair and no make-up. Hawt.

The pancakes were great. The problem is that I made too many. So what does a bunch of 20 something year olds on the 13th floor do with a whole plate of unwanted pancakes? Frisbeeee!

It just so happened that there was a couple making out in the outdoor spa way down on the ground level. They might as well have had a big red bullseye on them. We launched our first pancake. It flew in the wind and landed near the kids in the mini-golf course. But they were not our target. A second one was launched with wind direction in mind. It flew right off course and then flung around in a curve ball. Down, down, down it went.

Bam! Right into the spa. We flung ourselves off the balcony into the lounge room in a fit of giggles. When we peered over the balcony again that darned couple were smooching again. The soggy pancake had been placed on the tiled edge. Doh!

Matt and Aleisha started packing. We filmed ourselves throwing more pancakes but they all ended up in the garden. That spa shot had to be a fluke. Scotty and I lolled on the couch digesting pancakes and watching a bit of Top Gear, possibly inspired by meeting Hampster's doppelganger the day before.

Packing is boring. Why would you film it?

I headed back to my room to wash the past 2 days worth of product build up out of my hair. There was no escaping it, my brushes couldn't penetrate my tangle of hair. Lunch was well due by then so we bundled into the car and went to the Kirra Surf Club for some food. I ordered a seafood platter and it was one of the most enjoyable meals I had ever eaten. I couldn't finish it all and I felt so bad for wasting good food. My platter had fresh oysters, large juicy whole prawns, a grilled piece of wild barramundi, half a Moreton Bay bug, a huge pile of seasoned calamari, a bowl of chips with Aoli for dipping and a fresh vinaigrette garden salad on the side.

My half eaten plate and yet still so much tasty food!

I would drive to Kirra for another plate of that please. Yum. Afterwards we whiled away the afternoon perusing 20th Century Antiques and it's neighbouring clothing store. I walked away with a red 80's belt. The whole day was really relaxed. I packed up all my gear and watched South Park on the TV back at the hotel while Bella got ready for the final gig of Wintersun. I bade her goodbye and left that night as I had to go to TAFE the next day.

It was the last Coolangatta Wintersun, for now anyway and I am glad I made the most of it. Thankless to all my wonderful friends for all the good times and memories. See you all at Greazefest!

The Last Wintersun in Coolangatta, 2010: Day 2

2010-06-27T22:51:00.014+10:00

Continued from The Last Wintersun, 2010: Day 1

It was 9am when my alarm went off. I groggily pulled some clothes on and went down into the street to buy some hairy lemon tablets. Hairy lemon is an evervescent tablet like Berocca except it has added guarana in it to really pep you up. Bella, Aleisha and I had one and felt reasonably better. Matt was too far gone for it to have any effect. I headed downstairs to the room to work on my hair, using Bella's straightener and rollers and was rather chuffed with the results!

Proof I need to steal Bella's hair straightener

Aleisha, Scotty and I met Matt down at Big Chief for a quick feed. Not wanting to smear all my lipstick on a burger I ordered some grilled fish that I ate with a fork. If anyone knows me they know I love fish!

Our next destination was Goodwin Park for more perusing of cars.

A Victorian Viccy! Tasty Note the excellent red flats I picked up from the markets the previous afternoon

We even arrived in time to catch the vintage swim suit parade. Laura was modelling one of the suits and she looked like a fox as always.

The fabulous models in the vintage swimsuit parade. Too bad I'm only 5ft high and was so far away.

Falcon parked near Goodwin Park. I have an immense fondness for cat's eye headlights.

Being the typical girls, Aleisha and I then demanded to go and see the markets for some more shopping. We had quite a haul. We bought some hair flowers and bows from Pin-up Parlour. I also got myself a beautiful black draped dress.

We hung out in Bernie’s stall, Cowpunkabilly, for a bit while Scotty was trying on some jackets, however given the wonderful collection of wares Bernie has we all ended up buying something. We were hanging around for so long that the sun went down on us, so after giving Bernie a hand putting his stall away it was off to get some gritz.

Laura inside Bernie's stall. She looked like a fox (again) in her beautiful vintage dress

I was dismayed when I was dragged into Grill'd again. Don't get me wrong, Grill'd do great burgers but I wasn't thrilled with my friend's lack of variety in my friend's dinner venue choices. So I made the best of it and ordered a burger I normally wouldn't choose. It was satay chicken with coriander! The verdict: I'd eat another one of those again... but maybe in a few weeks time. On the way back we found this guy who is a dead ringer for Richard Hammond.

Aleisha with the Hampster look alive.

I ventured out with Bella that night. Matt, Aleisha and Scotty went off to see Dean Z, Bobby Brookes and Lance Lipinsky's show. They certainly do a great show but there wasn't anywhere to dance at their venue. And I was really itching for some more dancing.

Bella immaculately beautiful as ever. I snapped this one before we headed off

I arrived at Cooly Hotel too late. I missed the Rechords. Darnit darnit darnit (but all is not lost as I will see them at Greazefest). The queen of Rockabilly, Wanda Jackson was performing. She dated Elvis back in the day you know! And like every gig she does, she paused to tell everyone how in 1973 she found Jesus Christ. It's like clockwork so I remember that fact so very well. She's an incredible lady who still retains her amazing voice, even at the ripe old age of 73.

Mimi & Bells

Shenanighans between Leo from the Rechords and Lorraine

The Last Wintersun in Coolangatta, 2010: Day 1

2010-06-18T16:04:00.012+10:00

It’s been a yearly tradition to go down with a bunch of friends and stay the weekend to hang out and party at Wintersun. For those who are unfamiliar with this event, Wintersun is a 50’s era rock & roll festival that has taken place annually in Coolangatta for the past 25 years. The festival consists of 10 days dedicated to all things of the 1950's era such as:

Vintage cars

Rock & Roll music & dancing

Rockabilly music & dancing

Horrible Elvis impersonators (expect for Dean Z, he's really good!)

50’s music

Themed markets

Vintage fashion

... and the list goes on. Everyone dresses in in their beautiful vintage, reproduction and rockabilly styled attire. The cheesy rock & rollers dress in tacky sequinned poodle skirts arm in arm with their husband wearing a matching shirt. It's absolutely hideous but it's good for a laugh.

Oh yes, and the poodle skirts bring their poodles.

Despite its long history of being a part of the Gold Coast, I am sad to say that as the title of this post suggests, this year was Queensland’s last Wintersun. Next year it moves to Port Macquarie. I seriously can’t be stuffed travelling down there next year. Wintersun IS Coolangatta and I just can’t imagine it anywhere else.

I almost didn’t make it this year as I had originally thought my assessment period clashed with the main weekend. However in the weeks counting down I realised I was in error and the Wintersun weekend was in fact 2 days after I handed in my last assignment. Sweet! Thanks to my lovely friend Bella I was able to secure myself some last minute accommodation. She was staying just one level below where I stayed last year and it was lovely to be in familiar surroundings again.

Bright and early at 6am we rolled into Cooly through the sea of old cars that the owners were hurrying to put out before they closed the road. It was so surreal. There wasn’t a new car about so it felt like we has stepped back in time. That was until we saw a couple of ugly billet rods and the feeling was ruined for us. Hahah. After dropping my things off at the hotel room Matt and I met up to walk around and see all the cars before the general public arrived and clogged the streets. It was so beautiful and quiet at that time. Just like a private showing. And then I saw sex on wheels...

A 1949 customised Buick. I was salivating. I took an insane amount of photos of this car. Never have I seen a custom look this good and so subtle that it doesn’t scream custom. Can I have one please? I met the owner later in the day and was a really nice guy. Dig your style buddy!

Friends out and about were telling me the markets were hard to navigate due to the crowds the day before so I took the opportunity to cruise through early even though they were still setting up. I happened upon the art stall Tiki Markus and was pleasantly surprised to see American artists James Owens and Max Grundy also there selling their wares.

Max Grundy

James Owens

I had a really good chat with the three of them and they were giving me some tips on how to get around in the art world. I treated myself to a James Owens print and one of Max’s t-shirts. I also got a sweet Tiki Beat shirt, like James is wearing, from Marcus.

The beautiful giclee print I bought off James, titled 'Furious'. Mmm 1958 Plymouth Fury goodness. It's going home to live with the Max Grundy print Matt already has.

I caught up with Bella to go and see Pat Capoicci combo playing in the street.

Lauren Rebelle and I met up to get ready for our shoot with Erin of Poco Rojo pictures. Lauren’s Hair was turquoise and it was the maddest thing I’d seen in a long time. Given the impossibility of trying to find someone willing to move their car at Wintersun, we shot on the astro turf green of the resort’s put-put course.

L - R: Aleisha, Myself, Dean, Matt, Lance, Scottie

Once again I met up with gang but was disappointed to find as soon as I’d got out that they were now headed back to the room. Thankfully my good old mate Turkka wasn’t headed back yet so I grabbed a sweet Langos, a yummy Hungarian snap fried bread (yum yum) and we headed back to the markets. I didn’t have any flat ballet shoes to go with my skirts and rather than kill myself wearing heels the next day, I decided to make it my mission to find some ballet flats. Not an easy a feat as it seems. I started to despair. I bought another pair of heels because well, they were pretty and I couldn’t resist. But no flats! My saving grace was at the very end of the markets. Red patent shoes with a strap and the tiniest of little wedge heels. Is there such a thing as a kitten wedge heel? They were kind of like that.

After pumping a few victory arms we called it a day. But not before we got a photo of the gorgeous Libie who was helping out at Mimsy's Trailer Trash Tattoo.

Hottest 'Trailer Trash' I ever did see

Back at the hotel Bella and I got ready and I gleefully put my new TUK heels on. I threw some barrettes and a big sweeping roll in my hair and headed upstairs to Matt, Aleisha and Scotty’s room for some pre-drinks. A few tequila’s later we left for Coolangatta hotel which is earmarked as Rockabilly HQ for the night time gigs.

L - R: Myself, Bella & the beautiful Emma who also plays in the The Sugarshakers

We arrived fairly late but were in time to see such and such and Men Into Space.

Men into Space, now with added tattooed extra terrestrial!

I spent the night dancing to the bands, having drinks and and having an all around good time. It was around 3am by the time Bella and I got to our hotel room and we both promptly collapsed with exhaustion into our beds.

Good times had by all!

Click here to see how we all fared the morning after

New tattoos. Extending my sleeve.

2010-06-12T00:24:00.002+10:00

This morning I rolled into True Love Tattoo to see my artist AJ Traynor to do some work on my sleeve. After spending a bit of time perfecting the designs and positions, I was ready to go under the needle.

The outlining and black shading was completed. In a couple of weeks I go back for colour.

I love them so much. AJ did a fantastic job. The exciting thing is that they will look 10x better once they're coloured.

Assesments are over. Time to party!

2010-06-10T23:10:00.008+10:00

Everyone in my class sighed a sigh of sheer relief as we all handed in our last assignment today. It's been a busy couple of weeks full of practical tests and late nights putting the finishing touches onto mood boards and story boards. A few of us decided to celebrate the end of the semester by having a good ol' chow down at the local Sizzler restaurant. Like true students we stuffed ourself to get our money's worth.

The gang, fat and happy after much stuffing of buffet food. At this stage I was thoroughly regretting wearing a skirt belted at the waist.

Obligatory cramming as much dessert as you can into a sizzler's bowl. Can you see any ice-cream under all that?

Here are a couple of photographic insights into the last fornight of semester mayhem:

A tattooist I know told me how his first lightbox consisted of a drawer, a light and a pane of glass. Very useful information to know when you need to trace images for trade drawing. It's dodgy, but it works!

The Sewing room at TAFE. Look at all that industrial goodness!

Last minute t-shirt assessment freak out. As awesome as the purple leopard print was I wanted to be on the safe side and sew an easier fabric. So black rugby knit it was.

My shirt turned out awesome. My boyfriend now wants 5 of them.

The Real Bambi & Thumper + other YouTube videos.

2010-06-01T22:55:00.008+10:00

Funny how you end up watching YouTube when you're meant to be doing assignments. Before I hit the books again I figured I'll make my time wasting worth while and share my favourite online videos with you.

A baby deer and a rabbit frolicking around like they are the best of friends? Hey, this sounds awfully familiar. But seriously it has to be seen to be believed! Especially the fawn wigging out.

The original Margarita story - by Cointreau staring Dita Von Teese So that's where the Margarita came from! Dita Von Teese is as stunning as ever, though she looks strikingly pale for a Mexican :)

Mad Fabricators Society I love these guys! I have all their soundtracks and have watched all the DVDs. This is a really good clip that gives you a snapshot of what the Mad Fabricator's are all about. I dig those customs cars. Drool! Worth listening to for the Knuckel Drager track alone, if garage and grungy surf music tickles your fancy.

US Soldiers in Afghanistan, dancing tribute to Lady Gaga, Telephone Troops busting out hilarious dance moves to Gaga. If you haven't seen it yet, do it now! Otherwise I'll unleash the chat roulette tribute on you.

Jessica Rabbit - Why don't you do right My favourite scene in one of my favourite movies that I've loved since I was a wee kid. This amazing cross of live action with animation has always fascinated me. Not to mention Jessica Rabbit is a fantastic character. Often imitated but never duplicated.Well, almost :)

Delicious new DimitySO!

2010-05-25T22:48:00.006+10:00

DimitySO have released an advanced look on their Facebook page of the new styles in the next forthcoming collections. I think they are so so beautiful. I even did a little dance in my excitement. Think I'm exaggerating? Wait until you see my lingerie draw. I have more lingerie than clothes. It's insane. My drawer is going to have a wait a little while for these styles though. Unfortunately my post is rather pre-mature as the collection is rolled out over a few months. I'm a terribly impatient person however and couldn't wait to share them with everyone.

My first favourite is Heartbeat Cherry. It mixes the love of my favourite colour (red!) together with lace and pink contrasting seams. I love it when designers are daring and use pink and red together in a classy, well put together manner. I have to wait until November for this little number *sigh* Just in time for Christmas right?!

White Note. It looks so luxurious and I must say that the black lace on vintage grey satin makes me swoon. This would be the perfect set to writhe around on some satin sheets for a vintage glamour style photoshoot. In fact ... I think I may just do that. This one isn't available until October. Hmmm. My 3 year anniversary with the boyfriend falls in that month. I must remember to send a few well timed elbow jabs and some not so subtle hints his way.

... and when I thought White Note couldn't get any better I see a cute pink version WITH FRENCH KNICKERS. Oh gosh I love French knickers. So cute, classy and perfect for a girl like me with a booty. Righto, I need this colour too. The pink one comes out in August. 3 months to go!

Bon Vivant! Peaches and cream! Well ... Vanilla Cream & Peach to be more exact. It's lacy, girly and feminine with a vintage feel to it. I love it. Girls on the larger breasted scale take note because this one goes all the way to J! Another October affair. It looks like October will be Underwearsville for me.

I could post more and go on forever but ... well, you'll just have to check the rest out for yourselves.

Vintage Bambi Saga Continues

2010-05-23T22:31:00.010+10:00

Because I'm obsessed with all things vintage Bambi, I couldn't pass up this vintage Bambi lamp that I scored on eBay for $46.00. Bargain! I've seen another one go for over $100. The previous one that got away had a prettier blue lampshade and had no damage. This one had lost it's tail which has been dutifully glued back on. I don't care though as it's barely noticeable. It's awesome and affordable. Not to mention just so darn cute!

When I showed my boyfriend he groaned and rolled his eyes. He is very familiar with my Bambi obsession and is concerned my collection will overrun our future home. But it's really not that bad at all. He certainly doesn't have grounds to to start a 'Bambi hell' blog where he can unleash Bambi related anger, frustration and ridicule like the hello kitty hell guy.

I've promised they will all be tastefully spaced around the house. Not like the freakish little Bambi shrine I have going on in my bookshelf. I'm just keeping them all safe there. I promise.

My darling gifted me some of my best and expensive pieces. Not to mention being the best boyfriend ever by expertly gluing the leg back on my favourite Bambi that was knocked off the shelf by the 1946 bambi picture book. Gah arg, my Bambi's are all turning on each other!

I'm surprised he didn't freak when I showed him the little deer tattoo I designed the other day. Ah! True love is a man that will support your weird obsessions.

A Quick Update

2010-05-18T17:11:00.009+10:00

The past week has flown! How did it go so fast? What have I been doooing? Nothing terribly exciting other than working on TAFE assignments. Well there were a few things I suppose.

My Leather Jacket arrived from England. I searched high and low through Brisbane for the perfect leather jacket and after soaking my poor sore blistered feet in warm water I eventually resorted to eBay! Whyhadn't I thought of that before? It's getting warm in England and no one wants their jackets any more. Snared this one in fantastic condition for $100 including postage. Bargain!

I also discovered a new favourite drink. Bundaberg Peachee. Brewed from peach nectar. So tasty! I have only ever found it at Jackpot Noodles. I wonder if anywhere else sells it. Has anyone seen it for sale anywhere? I want more!

I've booked more tattoo appointments.
Wintersun is fast approaching!
Greazefest will rapidly follow.
And school holidays in between.
So between then and there will be a HECKLOAD of assignments due.

See you on the other side folks.

Finds from the Brisbane Vintage Fashion Fair

2010-05-10T21:05:00.008+10:00

Last friday night Juliet and I ventured over to the new venue of the Brisbane Vintage Fashion Fair. It was at eagle farm race course. When we arrived we must have come in the wrong end, because we ended up in the spooky empty horse stalls.

So we persevered, circumnavigated and eventually reached our destination! Tally Ho!

Well like any lasses that love shopping we dived right in. Juliet was right into button stall! Like all vintage fairs I can't help but succumb and buy lots of things. Here are my finds.

My first score was this cute vintage fabric. I'm going to make a cute blouse with it. It was marked $8 but the lady only charged me $5. Thankyou lady! I think it was because she liked my outfit.

Seriously, $20 for a real crystal lead vase like this is such a bargain. I've been looking for one of these a decent price for AGES and I was so stoked to snare this beauty.

Vintage bunny moulds! I had never EVER seen the metal version of these before and I instantly fell in love. A steal at $6 for the set of 3. I have fond memories of making jellies and chocolate in the smaller plastic versions at home. But the old metal ones are just so special. Just you wait. I'll be dishing up pink marshmallow bunnies on a lawn of green coconut next Easter!

Vintage glass earrings in a rose pink. Because they are gorgeous. And they were only $4.

Not sure why I bought this other than it looks cute, would look good on my dresser and could possibly come in handy. Juliet suggested putting cold cream in it. $8

Hat pins. Both beautiful and handy for stylishly pinning little fascinators to your head. Most of them were pretty pricey so I picked up the cheaper $6 and $8 numbers.

I've been collecting vintage crystal for some time now. Most of my collection resides on my dressing table. There will be more to come.

I was particular proud of the cute little swirl I did in my hair! So I made sure I took a snap before I took it out to go to bed.

Drea the bullet bra pin-up

2010-05-07T15:49:00.007+10:00

Just wanted to share with you a photo taken by Photographer Mike McGhie back in October last year. I've never been game to post it until because I can be terribly self critical of myself. I've realised what bad thinking that is. I'm acutally quite proud of this shot.

Mike is amazing. He has the biggest stash of props and clothing I've ever known a photographer to posess. Now that's dedication. I am wearing a beautiful vintage bullet bra, high waist knickers and gloves that he supplied. He was so nice that he let me keep that beautiful spiral stitched bullet bra to take home. I think the fact that all his costuming was taking up room in his house and encroaching on his wife's space had something to do with it. Hehehe.

When my boyfriend and friends came to get me from the hotel after the shoot, I couldn't help but rip open my blouse and go "BAM! LOOK WHAT I GOT!" You've no idea how hard it is to find a vintage bra that fits. Not only is my bra size obscure, but they way they sized their bras back then was even more obscure. I wouldn't say the bra is a perfect fit but it looks good on and that's all you need for photos. My old vintage bra was a terrible fit and I spilled out all over the place. Not a good look. I'll have to re home that old gal to something with a smaller bust.

Sick as a Dawg

2010-05-06T22:46:00.008+10:00

The sick season has begun. And guess who caught the bug? I've been a wonderful bundle of snot, fever and dizzyness for the past few days, no thanks to one of those charming viral cold & flu numbers. No cure but to ride it out.

The sore throat began on Monday. I thought I had just been yelling to much at Pete's party. By Thursday I felt horrendous and didn't go to my classes. By Friday I still felt awful yet considerably better than Thursday, so I sucked it up and braved my pin-up photoshoot with the lovely Cress. The location was against a bomber by the highway. Darn Tootin' we got a few honks pulling that stunt. HONK! HONK! I wonder what those truckies would have thought if they had heard my husky voice. Would they think it was a sexy late night phone call voice or something that more resembled a cross dressing man? I shudder to think which.

Saturday I figured I would be fine to work. FAIL. Big mistake. I was out for six after that. I like to be natural and try all kinds of herbal concoctions. Garlic. Lemon/honey/ginger brews. Herbal cold and flu tablets. While the brew was soothing none of it did much good to be honest. So I hit the hardcore stuff from the chemist. No, not the one that requires identification because criminals cut drugs from it. Just it's milder younger cousin. It sure sorted me out quickly and I was back at class AND work today.

I think a lot has to be said for keeping a natural, healthy lifestyle. However the way I see it, it's more of a prevention thing. If a nasty bug is going to punch me down, I'm going to put on the 'iron gauntlet' and punch it back so I can get on with life a lot quicker.

Good luck with the flu season everyone. Keep your bunches of garlic and local chemists at the ready.

Anzac Day Long Weekend

2010-04-29T18:34:00.006+10:00

For the past few years I've rolled out of bed before the birdies were even awake to attend an Anzac Day dawn service somewhere in town. Sometimes the local one, other times the big service in the city around the Shrine of Remembrance. This year I went with my Grandfather to the service in Toowong. He served in New Guinea in World War II. He's told my sister and I some pretty crazy and amazing stories about his time in the army. The Toowong service was really good. All the music was played live by a band.

Here is a photo of us at the breakfast after the service. Some diggers were there cooking up right proper breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausage and toast that you could wash down with juice, coffee, tea or the Anzac favourite: rum and milk. The old diggers were right into that stuff! Gee those old diggers are funny. They banter and bag each other out just like they were young fellows.

Later that day Matt and I headed out to Laidley for Pete's Shed Warming Party! That's right. A shed party. No house. Just a big grassy block of land with nothing but Pete's brand spanking new shed. Seriously it was the best fun ever. Everyone camped out, we hung around the fire, toasted marshmallows, had a bbq dinner, lounged under the giant tent marquee and watched the Ten Fours play. I see the Ten Fours all the time but they never get old. Later in the night we all sat around the fire singing along to the tunes Mitchy was busting out on his guitar. When we feel sleepy and decided to retire, all we had to do was crawl into the tent. And most of all, it was in the country! I love nothing more than getting away to the country.

The Ten Fours

Matt & Aleisha's wheelbarrow shenanigans! As Pony says "These guys crash every party!"

Toasting marshmallows with gin & juice in hand while sporting some AWESOME cowboy boots. Any excuse will do to wear those boots.

No bottles of champagne here 'cause out in the west Big Guns Paul christens new sheds with his sweet Harley.

Awoke in the morning to a Chihuahua in our tent. DARNIT ALEISHA! ...At least it wasn't a snake.

Tiki Bar Pin-up Photos with photographer Pete Walker

2010-04-22T23:17:00.013+10:00

I did this very exciting Hawaiian/Polynesian themed Tiki Shoot late last year with Pete Walker a.k.a Pix By Pete. He's the wonderful photographer behind many of the photos for Greazefest, the Twilight Hot Rod Show and many of the Brisbane rockabilly gigs. The wonderful location is my good mate Rik's bar which he was keen to have photographed before it was all dismantled when he moved house.

I've actually got a bit of a beef with many of the Hawaiian themed photo shoots these days because the models are always wearing those nasty plastic grass skirts. I do. not. like. them. They always look so fake and tacky and I vowed never to wear one. Thankfully another great mate of mine, Rob lent me his authentic Tahitian grass skirt. It is absolutely beautiful. It was unbelievably hot and heavy to wear. I also had to be very careful not to break/shed as little of the grass as possible. Not as easy at it seems! I wonder how long these skirts would hold out for the Tahitians.

Cuddling up to an angry Tiki

One thing I learned on this shoot is that coconut bras are not in any way flattering! You don't realise it until you're wearing them but your boobs are lost inside these coconut shells making you look entirely flat chested. Meanwhile the string straps are cutting into your skin and offering no support whatsoever. My bandanna wrapped around my strapless bra worked much better don't you think?

Our lovely host Rik refused to send us home with empty stomachs after hours of hard work shooting and fed us pizza. Yum yums.

Pete and I!

This is all making me think that gee, I haven't done many photo shoots this year! I must organise some more because they are good fun. My next one is with Cress, a photographer I haven't work with before. We're going to be shooting with an old war plane so keep your eyes peeled for an update on that one.

Cleveland Auto Spectacular, Swap Meet & Other junk

2010-04-19T19:11:00.010+10:00

I was back at school last Monday, thrust headlong into sewing zips and waistbands. I've done these before but it good to learn the right way as opposed to sitting in my sewing room trying to teach myself and pulling a few good hanks of hair out in the process.

Ice skating on Friday night! Went with the boy. I impressed him with my super skilled backwards skating and he impressed me by bowling over some orange witches hats with his body. The gross thing was that those witches hats were covering a section of bloodied ice. Matt slid right through it. Erk erk erk! The blood we can only assume came from someone who had a nasty stack earlier on the ice. When we arrived we noticed an ambulance in the car park. Hopefully that person was ok! Matt's hilarious stack left him with nothing more than a few superficial scrapes and an innate sense of pride for knocking over witches hats whilst airborne.

Sunday I awoke at the crack of dawn to do one of the things I love to do best. Go to a swap meet! This time it was at the Cleveland Showgrounds for the Cleveland Auto Spectacular. Alec made a good point point of saying "I'm not sure what's more fun, checking out the cool cars, or laughing at the really really bad ones"

The Good

The Bad

The Ugly

... and just plain old 'What the heck?'. We couldn't help but think this would make a GREAT Chinese home delivery car.

The swap meet was sorely disappointing this year. There was nothing good on offer at and to top it off we all got rained on. I was saturated and rather cranky. So I slunk home for a hot cocoa before retreating under the doona to catch up on the sleep in I missed out on. From the depths of the doona I watched New Moon. I shamefully enjoyed the book but heck ... that movie was pretty bad. Things got worse when I watched Underbelly and a nasty fellow threw a cat off a balcony. Boy I was glad when yesterday ended.

Niagra & The Hitmen + The Jim Rockfords live at the Step Inn.

2010-04-11T18:35:00.013+10:00

Niagara the amazing pop artist and singer was in Brisbane this weekend and there was no way I was missing that. I've been a big fan of her art since I was a youngin' writing assignments about Niagara for art class in high school when I was 15. I take my lunch to work in a Niagara lunch tin! Niagara does amazing artwork like this...

While I was more familiar with her for her artistic career rather than for her music I still figured $30 was worth shelling out to check out her music for the first time, to see her sing with the Hitmen as well as seeing my friends band The Jim Rockfords who were opening for the night. It was a night of Rock, Punk and Garage! I met up with Bella, Paul, Sam and Mitchy Mayhem who was there to drum for the Jim Rockfords.

The lovely Bella & I.

Mitchy Mayhem!

Paul, Sam & Bella. Mitch and I think these guys should start a band and call themselves 'The Spectacles'. Har har har ... errr.

It was a bit of a strange night because we felt like we were the only 20 something year olds there. Save for a few others that I couldn't even count on my left hand, the crowd consisted entirely of middled aged folks. I mostly noticed the over enthusiastic, sweaty middle aged men who tried to mosh. Oh yes, I forget that about punk gigs. They're rowdy and boisterous and it's a bit intimidating for a little girl like me who likes to watch the band from the front. I had to get a bit feisty and shove away the big men that tried to get in front of me.

The Jim Rockfords

The Hitmen

The Beautiful Niagara

Niagara was amazing. But I didn't expect any less. I was right up the front, dancing around with Paul and Niagara reached out and grabbed my hand as she sung. Meanwhile I'm freaking out thinking 'Oh my god! Niagara is holding my hand with her beautifully manicured one! Oooooh!' Paul and I swooned over her the whole set. She is such a fox and is still rocking a hot body at 54! Heck. She doesn't look anywhere NEAR 54! I want to look that hot at 54!!!

P.S. Damn. I didn't get a photo of myself in my brand new jeans. Seriously I spent good money to buy high waist extreme skinny jeans in order to wear my cowboy boots without that irritating gathering above the knee, and I can't even show them off in this post. Boo-urns! Until next time folks.

Hey Drea, just want to say hi. I've become a huge fan thru the Dimity site. You're an awesome girl with sass and there should be more like you in the world. I'm a middle aged mum now, but a lifetime ago you and I weren't so different. Love Samantha.

2010-04-07T13:21:00.002+10:00

Thank you Samantha! xo

Got a burning question?

Formspring question: Where did you go to get your gorgeous swallow tattoos?

2010-04-05T16:54:00.008+10:00

My swallows are my own drawing and were tattooed by AJ Traynor at True Love Tattoo in Sherwood, Brisbane when I was 18.

I discovered the shop after asking a girl where she got her beautiful tattoo work on her back. I booked in without even visiting the shop but they did not disappoint and I have gone back there to AJ for all my tattoos ever since.

Ask me anything. Fire away!

The Ten Fours kick off the Grease Pit at Zuri

2010-04-02T11:34:00.011+10:00

When I heard there was a rockabilly gig at Zuri Bar & Dining I bundled myself off after work before you could say 'The Ten Fours'. It was the first time I had drive alone through the city/valley and was a little nervy. I just never know if I'm in the right lane! But I got there without a hitch!

Zuri is this amazingly opulent bar on Brunswick Street in the Valley and I hadn't yet had the chance to check it out. It was packed! Apparently there was a burlesque dancer earlier however I was too late and missed out. And I am told there was also Boylan soda and all kinds of nom noms from onion rings, hot dogs, burgers and fries but I was either too late for that as well or more likely, too involved watching the band to have noticed.

Here's a quick video on the Ten Fours in action. Now this was the first time I used my phone to record a clip and like the idiot noob I was, I turned it on it's side not realising that it would not go and correct itself. Oops! But I endeavoured to still put it up, simply because it's a great song.

And another video that's actually the right way up.

Freedom at last

2010-03-26T22:22:00.008+10:00

I'm terribly happy to announce that I got my licence yesterday. I'm finally free! Knowing I no longer having to rely on lifts and public transport is a very liberating feeling.

I marked the occasion by driving over to the other side of town where my boyfriend lives to surprise him. Since I hadn't called him straight after the test he had assumed I had failed, so he was pleasantly surprised when I turned up on his doorstep with the biggest of grins on my face.

Heck yes. No more 2 hour bus trips home from TAFE! Now it will be an easy 30 - 40 minutes.

Gayware FAIL

2010-03-19T09:12:00.008+10:00

I found another piece of the 1950's Kitchen container brand 'Gayware' I had been coveting on the internet. The elusive cheese dish! I snaffled that baby up for $36. Bargain! This brought the total amount of items I need to complete my collect to the minuscule number of 3!

Behold! The cheese gayware dish

Unfortunately stories like these do not always end up like eBay fairy tales. Because this my friends, is how my new prized possession arrived.

" Nooooooo! "

No. It was not unceremoniously shoved in the letterbox. The manager of the postage centre brought it to my front door with most sincere apologies. As I knew, it had been raining in Brisbane for over a week. The postage contracter slipped over in the rain and fell on top of my treasured Gayware container.

The box and bubble that contained it would have been no match for whole man's weight. I can't get too angry because as in life, these things do happen. Thankfully I had the good sense to purchase postage insurance. The $2.70 ensures I get my $36 + postage reimbursed to me.

The thing is ... when will find another one of these containers in such good condition again? They are a dying breed! If I see one again how much will it be then? $50? $100? The price of Gayware just goes up and up as it becomes more & more collectable. It's almost an investment. I know I would much rather have another container than my money back.

If anyone ever sees a white and red one out and about in the antique stores please don't hesitate to email me and let me know! I will love you forever! ♥

Ok the NEXT post will be 'fail' free. I promise!

Fancy skirt sizing FAIL

2010-03-18T17:31:00.008+10:00

I've been after a fancy satin look pencil skirt for some time and decided to investigate this craving further this afternoon. Mainly because I had to walk past the fancy Kitten D'Amour store on the way home.

In a nutshell the story is: Girl finds super pretty bustle back laced ruffle skirt. Girl falls in love with skirt. Skirt in correct size still does not fit. Oh the tragedy. Oh unrequited love. And I was willing to pay $189.00 for it! Well ... if it fit.

Oh so pretty! But it shall never be mine.

I love a fitted skirt but many are just not made for a 7.0 waist to hip ratio like mine. That's the same ration Marilyn Monroe had. The skirt could have done with a few good darts. It fit around the hips but flapped around in the breeze around my waist. FAIL. I could have stashed 5 or more packets of Malteasers in that waist to hip overhang. Mmm ... Malteasers.

Thankfully there is light at the end of the tunnel. I've been doing lots of skirt patterning in class lately. This skirt would be tricky to make but I after a learn how to do fiddly things like binding, lace and sew fabric that is not cotton based I should be set. Hmmm, maybe a way to go but it will happen. One day.

Oh skirt! You shall be mine!
Next time I hope to have a story with a happier ending.

In the mail: DimitySO goodies!

2010-03-14T13:32:00.004+10:00

As with Nat, I also got a lovely bundle of brand new DimitySO bras and lingerie in the mail this week. It came in a HUGE envelope which I tore open with glee. I extracted the contents which I proceeded to try on one by one all whilst dancing around the lounge room. I got a wonderful mix of Counting Petals, Pepper Dream and Melancholy Diva with their assorted coordinates. It was like Christmas!

So this week was actually the first time I got to wear an 8DD bra. Before I knew about this brand I had never heard of or even seen a size 8DD my entire life. The bras we wore for the shoot were samples that were adjusted to fit. After much scrutinising and fiddling to adjust the bra to my size, the fitter at the shoot proclaimed I was so tiny around the back that I must be an 8. My jaw dropped. So much for being a 10D like the shop fitters had told me! But then again, what else were they going to put on me? It's not like they had any size 8DD's until now. And they sure as heck weren't going to tell me a size they couldn't sell to me. That's sales staff for you I guess.

I was almost unbelieving of this new knowledge. 8DD? Me? Surely not! But these beautiful new 8DD bras have confirmed it for me.

For the first time in my life my boobs feel lovely and secure. The band is wonderfully firm around my back so those puppies aren't going anywhere. My right nipple can no longer bust out of it's cup whenever it feels like it. And thanks to the little beauty that is the Pepper Dream strapless bra, I no longer have to do the shift and pull all night when wearing a strapless number. The feeling is truly liberating! I feel safer, secure and amazing in these new bras. And I swear they hold everything in place more ... neatly? It's hard to describe but there is a notable difference. I just looks so much better!

I am also very impressed with the quality of all these garments. All the buckles and hooks are coloured metal! I think the Pepper Dream strapless impressed me the most. Instead of 2 hooks it has three at the back for extra support. There is silicone on the inside for extra security and grip on the body whilst. The cups are covered in a lovely smooth Lycra that looks fantastic under a garment yet band of the bra is a very pretty and feminine lace. There is even two loop holes on each cup for the straps. Genius? Who designed this? May I shake their hand please?

Oh and I've been learning about textiles in my fashion course so I can't help touching the fabric and feeling the handle of it. It feels so wonderful.

Anyway, I was going to upload some photos but my Nikon inconveniently ran out of battery. FAIL. I'll be back after this baby gets a recharge.

Noodles & Cocktails: Wagamama & The Bowery.

2010-03-03T20:07:00.010+10:00

My darling friend Juliet and I went to Wagamama for dinner and the Bowery Bar for drinks last Friday night. As we share our birthday in the same month, we decided to embark on a night of good food, good drinks and of course, each other's good company.

Wagamama is a restaurant modelled on the ramen noodle bars popular in Japan. Having eaten there before, Julz and I decided to share an Udon noodle main mean knowing that is quite difficult to eat such a huge serving on one's own. This allowed us to enjoy two starters that were absolutely delicious. Chilli and Garlic steamed green soy beans known as Edamame (tastes better than it sounds, trust me) and hand cut sweet potato chips with wasabi mayonnaise. Accompanying my meal was my favourite apple, lime and mint juice. Juliet had some kind of exotic long island iced tea. I sampled said drink who's name I forgot and quite liked the taste.

After dinner we hit The Bowery in Fortitude Valley. The Bowery is a small unmarked bar filled of very well dressed barmen reminiscent of the prohibition era of New York. They even serve drinks from that time. Juliet went for a Sidecar and I was made a Raspberry Spire by our friendly bartender because I was indecisive. Best. Cocktail. Ever!

Juliet was also happy with her choice but it was a bit strong for me. We made ourselves comfortable in the high backed leather bench seat and chatted away in the low light of the bustling little bar.

Then we both got a 50's era cocktail named The Pussyfoot #2. Not only did it look nice, it only cost $10. Raspberry Spire promptly lost it's crown. The combination of some kind of mandarin liquor, Cointreu, a whole egg and whatever the heck else was in it had my taste buds in absolutely awe. It was SO good that the next day all I could think about was that taste. I'm not even kidding.

The Bowery. Oh yes. I shall return. Next time will be during the week when they have live jazz.

Notions of Beauty: Different in Every Culture and Era!

2010-02-24T20:39:00.010+10:00

I love Beyoncé and JLO. They have made being bootylicious sexy and being bottom heavy myself I hold them in high regard. Having a callipygous shape in this world isn't always easy when the media aggressively promotes the hopelessly tall and skinny straight up and down types.

What I have come to learn however is that the appeal of different body types changes just like the fashion you wear, only much more slowly. Not even that but it can all depend on where you live and the social conditions around you.

Firstly, what is beauty? Beauty is different for every person and every time period. The old saying that beauty is in the eye of the beholder remains truthful today. It is not only the person that dictates what is beautiful; the time period during which beauty is portrayed must be taken into account as well. The aesthetic ideal of the Renaissance is quite different from that of today's typical "beauty." - Larcombe Teichgraeber

It was an incident at TAFE yesterday that brought this subject to my attention. A Tongan employee stopped me during my lunch break to tell me that I have a wonderful figure that would be highly revered back in her country. She specifically noted my 'big legs and pretty face' and indicated at my shapely hips with a hand gesture. It really made my day to hear that somewhere, in some other country I would be considered perfect given that my shapely legs and short stature have been subject to the odd comment of ridicule in their time here in the western world. Interesting, no?

Here are a few examples I've found of what is considered attractive and why in different cultures and times.

In traditional African tribes, pendulous breasts were considered the most attractive and the women would bind their breasts down flat to promote this look.

In Ye Olde times, it was more attractive to be curvy and pale as that indicated you were rich enough to eat well and spend your days leisurely inside. Their superficial veins appeared blue through their pale skin and thus explains the term 'blue blood' for nobility. Some women even went so far as to draw blue veins on their skin to attain this exclusive, noble look. Poor people weren't as well fed and had to work in the fields all day thus they were slender and tanned.

The industrial revolution brought all the 'poor' workers inside into factories and thus it became fashionable to be tanned because that indicated you had enough time and money to partake in leisurely activities outside in the sun.

In the 1920's the fashion for women was to bind their breasts flat against their chest.

Small wide set breasts were considered perfection in the middle ages.

Nowadays large, rounded close set (think cleavage!) breasts are considered the most attractive

I also read somewhere that in countries where HIV is a problem, the men find curvier women more attractive as being skinny is associated with having HIV.

Until about a hundred years ago, women in china had to bind their feet in order to be considered eligible for marriage. Bound feet were considered as 'dainty' and attractive because they rendered the woman vulnerable.

Womanly curves were considered as most desirable in the 1950's. Then Twiggy came along in the 60's with her up and down figure thus sparking the 'new look'. She became the first international super model. Twiggy had said that she 'desperately wanted curves and didn't like the way she looked. She thought everyone had gone stark raving mad!'

Asians consider a creased eyelid to be very attractive and many undergo plastic surgery to alter their eyelids with an epicanthic fold.

Oh and I remember all sorts of other things like drilling holes in teeth and filling with jewels, head flattening, neck elongations, lip plates. The list goes on! Considering how much society obsesses over beauty, it's incredibly interesting how the definition of beauty varies all over the world and throughout history.

Here are a few links detailing the trends of beauty:
www.letslookbeautiful.com/Beauty_in_Other_Cultures.php
www.fashion-era.com/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beauty
The Existence of Beauty: An Analysis of Cleopatra's "Beauty"
Beauty through the ages - The Renaissance

So remember, beauty IS INDEED in the eye of the beholder. Yes, ideal beauty might be dictated by fashion and what appeals to the majority of society. But of course the majority of society may like apples and yet there is still a good number out there that don't. So what does that tell you?

DimitySO ads in Sydney!

2010-02-20T21:22:00.011+10:00

So according to my friends in Sydney my face is all over the city. My friend Mel even went so far to write on my Facebook wall saying 'ARRGH! YOUR MAGNIFICENT RACK IS TAKING OVER THE WORLD.' So of course a handful of our male friends noted that a world ruled by boobs would be a wonderful world indeed. Hah. Typical boys.

Anyway, being in Brisbane I hadn't seen any of this, only heard about it. Tonight however my lovely Sydney resident friend Stephy and another mate Dominic who was down there on holidays, uploaded some snaps for me!

The ad has also turned up in a full page ad of Madison Magazine this month. Page 181! It's the one with the Miranda Kerr on the cover. I've also been told by a friend in New Zealand I'm on a billboard in Auckland. I'm also a facebook ad, various street posters. It's insane! Where will I show up next?

Oops. As you can see I somehow managed crease my own face by accident. I went over to a friend's for wine and cheese tonight and took the magazine to show them, creased as it was. But Fran and Helen got terribly excited when I told them the bras were stocked in David Jones. Fran and Helen have cup sizes of F and H and have previously only been able to buy their sizes online or in wholesale stores that have crazy hours opening hours to the public. I forgot to tell them to go to the city one. The display there is so pretty.

Keep your eyes peeled for Laila and Nat's photos too!

Fashion School

2010-02-18T22:46:00.009+10:00

I just finished the 3rd week of my 2 and half year fashion design course and I am absolutely loving it. After months of months of wondering if this was really for me and trying to justify the thousands of dollars the course will be costing me I finally know that this is really for me! It's such wonderful feeling to finally know what goal in life you want to pour all your energy into. Because It's awfully depressing being in limbo of where you want to take yourself in life.

I've been learning this wondering mix of sewing, pattern making, design, illustration, computer class and then the theory class where we learn how the whole industry works. My mind has been overwhelmed but I am soaking up all this marvellous education and practical hands on learning like a sponge.

Before I had decided on Fashion Design I had thought about studying Graphic Design however I decided against it. Sitting in front of a computer for a career didn't sound all that fun to me. I love to be practical, use my hands, get amongst it and be tactile with things. Which is why I think I didn't excel as well as I could of at school. Listing to a teacher talk on and on and copying notes off a whiteboard did little to engage or inspire here. So Fashion school is just a whole new world for me It is just perfect for such a visual person like me.

For me, it's like how the old MasterCard ad goes ...

Semester fees: $3000
Equipment: $600 +
Being inspired, feeling driven and having a sense of direction? Priceless!

21st Birthday

2010-02-10T20:21:00.003+10:00

Yesterday the 9th of February was my birthday and being my 21st I guess you could say it was a milestone. Not that it was a terribly exciting day. I still had to get up at 6am in the morning when the birdies were still rubbing the sleep out of their eyes in order to get to my pattern making class on time. When I finished that I had to commute home, quickly get changed and go to work until 9.30pm! Phew what a day! But heck, who's going to party on a Tuesday night anyway? After all, I had fashion design class in the morning!

But in many ways it was still good. I got lots of lovely Happy 21st Birthday wishes from friends and family via Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, text messages, phone calls, snail mail. You name it! I also got a couple of presents including my lovely present from my man. It was a very glamorous ruffled red top from a store in the city that I always enjoy visiting to admire the beautifully designed and adorned clothing that was always a bit too pricey for me. Hah, I am such a scab when it comes to buying clothes. I'm the quintessential bargain hunter.

On Friday night I am having dinner with family on my father's boat which I am very much looking forward to. Then I have two other parties coming up with friends and family. So I don't really care that I didn't do much celebrating on my actual birthday. Why would you when you get to do it 3 times at later dates. Woo! It's like Gwen Stefani having two weddings just so she could wear her custom made couture wedding dress twice. Dig it.

Oh and I forgot to mention it was my man's birthday too. He turned 25. We share the same birthday. Crazy huh?

Photoshoot with BJ Nichols

2010-02-05T14:15:00.010+10:00

Last Sunday I did a photoshoot with photo maverick BJ Nichols, a.k.a Benjamin of Big Fry Photography who continuously astounds me with the creative and imaginative quality of his work.

He likes to do images in bundles. Lately it's been 50's monster movies, comic book cover recreations and film noir styled photos. I teamed up with Dan who owns a very beautiful 1955 Chevrolet to help Benjamin create one of his film noir photos.

This photo was taken in the middle of a suburban street full of Queenslander houses and bommadores. How Benjamin managed to photoshop in a mid century American street I do not know. Like I said, he's a maverick.

Dan and his lovely lady Kelley drove all the way up from Tweed Heads to participate. I think I owe them both a drink for that.

Week in Review: Twilight Hot Rod Show, Left Hand Drive and Australia Day

2010-01-30T09:41:00.010+10:00

It's been a busy week! Which is probably why I haven't made a peep on here until now. But I am happy to say that yesterday was my last day of full-time work and next week I become a part-time worker around being a full time fashion student. I will miss some of my day time co-workers but I'm still glad to be seeing less of the place and leaping head first into learning, study and spending more time being creative. Because being creative is just who I am. I had my TAFE (which stands for Technical and Further Education) orientation on Wednesday and I am really pumped!

Apart from all the TAFE hoohaa the most exciting thing I did this week was drive my boyfriend's car. It's a 1959 Custom 300 Ford imported from America but we just call it the Tank. I've been a learner driver for the past year and half or so and my driving wasn't quite up to scratch so he wouldn't let me touch the thing. But last week I finished my 100 hour learner log book. Once I got my P plates I wouldn't be allowed to touch it for 3 whole years because it's a V8. In good 'Ol Queensland you can learn in a high powered car but driving one is a no no on your provisional licence. Which is ridiculous because in the southern states they have a weight/power ratio. The Tank easily weighs a good two tonnes so I have a feeling that would have worked in my favour. Hmm. 'Where else but Queensland?'

As for actually driving the Tank, it was nothing short of amazing. Driving a left hand drive car on Australian roads was not anywhere as near as hard as I thought. I didn't stall the car once. My take offs were superb, even on hills. Turning wasn't too much of an issue either. It was just the brake that spooked me. They were awful. Then again I'm told brakes in most old cars are awful. To get these old drum brakes to do my willing I had to brake a LOT earlier and then pump my foot furiously get this big tank to stop. Once I got used to it I felt a lot more confident about halting the two great tonnes of steel I was commandeering.

Here is the tank with L plates. Sexy. It also looks a bit worse for wear because falling seasonal flowers have stained it. Heed my words, DO NOT park under a Crepe Myrtle!

So the next day I asked, no ... begged for him to let me drive the tank to the Twilight Hot Rod Show. He wasn't even planning on going so I bribed him by offering to pay his entry fee, paying for petrol and feeding him lemon meringue pie. It turns out Matt just can't say no to lemon meringue pie. The way through a man's heart? Most definitely his stomach.

Now I HAD planned on taking a whole bunch of photos and writing a nice big review of the show for you all the enjoy. However the excitement of driving the tank, telling everyone I drove the tank and catching up with everyone kind of eclipsed that. Oops. Sorry guys, I was just enjoying myself far too much. I was digging Twilight's new venue at the Rocklea show grounds as there was plenty of shady places to retreat. It was an awful, hot sticking day and my make up gave up the ghost and melted. So naturally I got excited and did a little dance when my friends and I found the snow cone van. Yum!

So like all car shows I walked around admiring all the car entries, chilled out in the shade to watch the bands, milled around with friends and perused the stalls until we all got the boot at 8pm. It was a Sunday night after all.

A snap my friend Kris took of me driving (looking as pleased as punch) on our way out.

In conclusion it was a great day out. Props to organizer Lori Lee for another great event. I spent the following Australia day on Tuesday at a Barbecue. I ate a streak burger with beetroot and all the trimmings and washed it all down with some lemon, lime and bitters Wimmers soft drink. Dessert was lamginton cake and pavlova with fruit and cream. It was all very Australian.

Whew! That was really long winded. I must learn to write shower blogs more often. Enjoy the coming week folks. I will get back to you all with all my TAFE happenings. I am spending today buying all my stationary, books and haberdashery!

Weekend Roundup: Vaudevillians, Photoshoot & Avatar

2010-01-19T10:19:00.012+10:00

For the first time in over 18 months I had a Monday to Friday working week. And you know what that means? I could go out on a Friday night without having to worry about sleep deprivation when I started at 7am the next day. Oh the liberation!

Robot International was holding one of it's Rockabilly Psychosis gigs at the Step Inn featuring interstate band The Vaudevillains for their album launch supported by local bands The Sugar Shakers and Captain Twilight and his Six Shooters. Problem is, because I hadn't been to a gig in awhile I got caught up talking to everyone on my way in. It wasn't until the other bands had finished and the Vaudevillains were on that I actually managed to make it to the stage! So my stint watching the band was short but sweet. I can't complain too much though because it was great to catch up with everyone.

Here's a snap of the Vaudevillains playing. It sure was dark in there however it just looked wrong when I used a flash. Bars just aren't pretty in oppressive lighting. I enjoyed a couple of Gin & Tonics with some friends, and drank copious amounts of water at the next bar we visited as New Years Eve was still fresh in my mind.

I enjoyed a good sleep in on Saturday morning and did a make-up trial for my red and black themed photoshoot that I had lined up on Sunday.

The big black smokey eye won out. I did like the black/red combination but my red eye-shadow, though brighter than it appears in this photo, still wasn't bright enough and colour rich for my liking. Thankfully I didn't have too much trouble replicating it on Sunday. I shall post photos from the shoot when they come through.

After the photoshoot on Sunday morning, it was so hot that I was zapped of all energy and had a cat nap. My boyfriend and I decided we should retreat to some air-conditioning and went to the local shopping mall. But we were foiled! All the shops were closing already. So I bullied my him into seeing Avatar with me, which I had previously seen and loved. Turns out he liked it after previously calling it 'stupid' every time I brought it up. I think the reason being that a lot of people don't realise how much action there is in it until they see it. Avatar has plenty of 'biffo' for the boys and the gooey love story for the girls. I'm hopeful that they will make a sequel. I would go and see it in a heartbeat.

My brand new tattoos!

2010-01-14T07:49:00.010+10:00

I got my rose tattoos on my hips coloured on Wednesday. Please excuse my undone pants, there is no other way to get them that low to show all the the tattoos. I took these photos the morning after. I did take some a couple of hours after they were completed but they were still really raw and my poor Bambi shirt had souvenir blood in it.

It's amazing how odd one's belly button looks when you point a flash at it. Hmmm. I sure am glad it doesn't look like that all the time.

As great as tattoos are the downside is having to heal them. It sucks more than the actual tattooing itself. The excess ink stains your bedsheets, you feel every bend and stretch of the anatomy they cover and then they get really, really itchy. Carrying large items has been somewhat awkward and bending over to pick things up off the floor is definitely no fun. Thankfully it feels better with each day, and before I know it a week will have passed and my new ink will be almost completely healed.

... now, I'll have to finish that arm of mine sometime.

DimitySO sizes D - J only

2010-01-08T19:25:00.009+10:00

Calling all fellow busty ladies, this is what we've all been waiting for. DimitySO is a new line of stylish and pretty lingerie from Bendon catering for bra sizes D - J. Hooray! The boring beige nightmare is over!

Laila, Nat and I were chosen to be to the models and blogging stars of their debut campaign. What I love about this campaign is that we were all plucked from obscurity via Myspace and Facebook instead of just hired from a cookie cutter model agency. And we couldn't be more different from each other. Nat is this loud, larger than life aspiring singer/actress. Laila is the down to earth kind of bohemian funky girl. I'm this crazy 5ft high (or low?) chick with tattoos who likes wearing 50's dresses. But we are all young women with bigger boobs who appreciate a pretty bra (that actually fits) when we see one!

We did a shoot in Sydney (see the video here) and here is the bra that I wore, on another model. I am so thrilled that it comes with boyleg knickers because boylegs are the bomb!

This was the other style that I almost wore for the shoot (the other one won). I love it as well. I just adore those cute pleats!

Wow. Pretty sure I went over board with the exclamation marks in this post. I'm just too darn exciteable for my own good!

Oh and for the record, there were GIGANTIC photos of me at the DimitySO launch. I almost keeled over in shock when I saw them. You have to wonder how the average supermodel feels when they say ... walk down the street and come across a photo of themselves taller than themselves?

Welcoming The New Year

2010-01-04T12:56:00.014+10:00

First off I'm going start off by saying 'What a hoot!' but I'm getting ahead of myself. Where was I on New Years Eve? A house party!

The home of one of my friends and his brothers from high school was the central 'gathering spot' for all of our friends for band jams, parties and get togethers. I have spent many a New Years at their place. I hadn't gone for a year or two though so this time I went they had moved and our central hub was in a completely different location. The familiar company, the vibe of the place and the good tunes hadn't changed though.

Here's what I wore. My treasured leopard print dress with my sort of matching hair bows, a black belt to break it up a bit and some black fishnets with my beloved nude heels.

Avid photographers Stephy and Chloe looking adorable. As you can see from the background the band had adjourned for refreshments.

One of those random over exposed photos you can only get at a party.

Everyone counted down from about 20 seconds. Someone handed me a popper and I popped it on the stroke of midnight with great enthusiasm. The first thing I did in 2010 was open a bottle of champagne!

This photo of Bruce and I languishing on the front porch is the last decent photo I have. I don't remember what we talked about apart from how hot his girlfriend is (truly, she is stunning). I do happen to have a photo of her but I'm not going to post it here because she is pulling the most absurd face and I'm quite sure she'd clock me on the head if I exposed it to the mercy of the internet! ... Or would she? This remains to be seen.

As I was saying, the photos from there after are all blurry or so badly composed that people's heads were cut off or only featured their armpits. That's what happens when you drink too much, you get wobbly. I was feeling awfully festive with my bottle of champagne my boss gave me. Needless to say I awoke the next day with a nasty hangover and spent most of the day sleeping and eating McDonald's. I'm sure I wasn't the only one. Usually I'm not much of a drinker so it was my first hangover in 2 years. Hopefully it will be 2 years or more to the next one because it was a really rotten way to waste an entire day. At least I felt better by the evening and went out with friends for chinese food and ice-cream.

My next post will be much more sober. I promise.

2010 New Years Resolutions

2009-12-30T11:38:00.007+10:00

So the new year is almost upon us and some of us are already drawing up new years resolutions. Myself included! I however, prefer to call them 'goals'. The new year shouldn't be the only time you think about what you should strive for, but in any case it's a good time to start.

Every year around this time I will sit down and write up my list of goals, things I want to achieve and things I'd like to acquire. I strike these off as each goal is achieved and revise the list as needed throughout the year. This year my list will begin as such:

Do well at TAFE: After spending a year and a half working full time to save the necessary funds for my course (diploma of fashion design) this one is a given!

Start saving for a house: The idea is to start small and put $10 or $20 aside a week. When I finish study I can work harder on this.

Finish five feature artworks: Every year I set out to create 5 artworks be it a painting, drawing or pastel work worth hanging. I have only ever completed 3 or 4 in previous years.

Go blonde! They say every girl should go blonde at least once to 'get it out of their system'. I intend to use it as a starting point to go pink, red, blue, whatever I want! I've dyed my hair black for 5 years so it's time for a bit of change. I still have a fair bit of black dye to grow out though.

Get my driver's licence: It's time for me to ditch the L plates. Bring on the P's. I've almost finished my 100 hours so I need to work on fine turning my driving skills so I can ace the test.

Get rid of everything that isn't needed: I have a lot of old clothes and things that are just wasting space. I'm going to try and sell things on ebay or give them away bit by bit until they are all gone. Then they can be useful to somebody else.

Then there is the list of things I want to get.

A Speedlight SB-900 Flash for my Nikon D80 DLSR camera.

A queen sized queen anne bed. I have a double queen anne bed but find a queen sized one has so far proved impossible to find!

The remaining gayware pieces to complete my collection. The last few to elude me are the butter dish, cheese dish, honey container and the salt & pepper shakers.

A new handbag! I seem to have outgrown mine. I'm such a fuss pot though so finding one I even remotely like will be a mission in itself

So that's that. It seems to be a smaller list than usual however each goal seems to hold more importance than years before. I would also be interested in hearing everyone else's goals and resolutions for the new year. Bring on 2010!

James Debenham shoot with a greasy greasy car.

2009-12-02T11:53:00.004+10:00

Photographer James Debenham and I teamed up to do a shoot involving a very dirty, greasy, half finished XM falcon.

I dearly wanted to do this shoot because this is working on an old car as I know it, not sitting on a clean bonnet of a 'finished car' sporting an oversized spanner and a bandanna. You all know the ones I'm talking about. I've actually done quite a lot of work on this car under the guidance of my very patient boyfriend, so I wanted to illustrate a more realistic version to contrast against those super clean, super primped pin-ups.

Amazingly I never made myself dirty on purpose. Just knocking about in the engine bay getting to position was enough to get me all filthy and greasy. It's very dirty in there.

Having said that. The newly rebuilt engine is beautifully clean. When we last took it out a little soap and water was all it took to get clean. This is opposed to the usual 15 minute ritual with the scrub brush.

James does the most amazing lighting in all his shoots. With his skills I think he was the perfect person to capture this theme and I'm so thankful I could collaborate with him. If you would like to check out more of his work, you can do so at www.jamesdebenham.com

Recent paintings. Delectable Series.

2009-08-16T16:47:00.003+10:00

Ginger, Cinnamon, Pepper, Honey.
Delectable series.
6" x 6" each. Acrylics on Canvas

Full views can be seen here at my website.

1959 Mazda

2009-06-25T17:40:00.003+10:00

There's been a Mazda advertisement on TV lately where they are going on about it being their 50th end of financial year sale. Which had us wondering ... what on earth does a 1959 model Mazda car look like?

Well ... we found out.

Bahahaha! Oh man, that's the most ugly and hilarious thing all rolled into one. How uncool would you feel driving around in that? It's the ultimate poindexter car.

Lastest Ebay wins

2009-05-25T09:16:00.004+10:00

I've decided I am in love with Gay Ware and want the whole collection! The love affair started when I was bidding on a red and white Gay Ware table set butter dish on eBay. I was outbid by a mere one dollar because I forgot about the time. I was so INFURIATED that I screamed. My boyfriend ran out because he thought I was hurt, only to find me sitting in front of the computer tearing my hair out. That was the day I decided to succumb and subscribe to auction sniper. It was the best thing I ever did and makes me an almost invincible force in the bidding wars. So to all you bidders on eBay. DON'T CROSS ME, or I'll hit you at the last second with my big, ugly bidding stick!

Anyhow, after that unfortunate incident, the first piece of Gay ware I won was a gorgeous salt caddy that hangs on the kitchen wall. I don't have a photo of it as I've packed it away safely for when I have my own kitchen. There's no way in hell I'm risking it's integrity in this one!

I've just received these spice containers in the mail.

Oh and I've just won the large set for Flour, Sugar, etc. as well!

All I need now is the table set of Jam, Honey, Sugar, Cheese, Butter and the Salt & Pepper caddy. The prices seem to be going up and up so it's not a cheap obsession. Hopefully I will find them all soon.

TCB Magazine Lucky 7 Party

2009-03-09T18:29:00.003+10:00

Sunday 1st March was the TCB Magazine lucky 7 party, help to celebrate their 7th issue. TCB (Tattoos, Cars, Bikes) is an Australian independently run magazine full of old school cars, bikes, lowbrow art and artist profiles, pin-up photos.

The event was held at the Broadway hotel that had nifty parking for all the sweet rides and some space for the stalls. It was such a hot day though that I spend most of the time undercover sitting around with friends, eating food and watching the Ten Fours play.

When I did venture out into the heat. I found this awesome little bike. I love the green mental flake, pin striping and black crocodile leather seat. It was so small and cute I couldn't help but think it was a Drea sized bike :D Heh. Heh.

I stole this photo from Kerry, but I love this El Camino and I didn't get a full shot of it myself. I think this is best flame job I've ever seen on a car. Usually I think flames look tacky and awful, but Kamikaze, the owner has done a great job.

All in all it was a fun and relaxing day. I picked up the latest 2 issues of the magazine that I didn't have yet, caught up with mates and saw some guy do a really awesome burnout while leaving the driveway! I should have taken a photo of those tyre marks!

www.TCBmagazine.com.au

I ♥ Smeg Retro Fridges & Dishwashers.

2009-03-09T15:07:00.002+10:00

I plan on having a deliciously vintage kitchen when I own my own home featuring the colours of red, pale blue and cream. Right now I am SO in love with the Smeg retro appliances. Of all the available colours, my favourite is the cream!

Aren't they just gorgeous?! They aren't cheap though. And sure you can get an original old fridge/dishwasher, but the efficiency would have nothing on the Smeg's modern technology. I'm all for saving electricity and water these days! The Smeg's star ratings are pretty good from what I've seen.

More on: www.SmegAppliances.com.au

Brisbane Stray Cats Concert 2009

2009-03-01T22:24:00.004+10:00

So as we all know the legendary Stray Cats are on their farewell tour. Once again they have graced the shores of Australia after 17 years. I would have been 3 years old then folks! Brisbane got two shows. The Thursday night show that frantically sold out within a week and the Friday night to make those who sorely missed out stop stamping their feet. I was one of those but I switched my Friday ticket with a mate for Thursday night. And boy was it a night!!!

The Chrome Daddies played support. It's always excellent to see a great local band score such an awesome gig! Last time I saw them play was in a 100 year old pub out Ipswich way. So it was very different seeing them on the massive stage inside The Tivoli! Yeeeehoo!

But yes, to the point ... The Stray Cats! The came onstage to a roar. They played, they crowd pleased and Loretta and I may have screamed like fan girls. They had a very fancy, spectacular lit up sign and even garbage cans on stage. My friends and I scored an awesome spot on the balcony and had a fantastic view all night without being overly squished, unlike the poor mob at the front barriers. Toward to end of the night my mate Wally pulled me 2 steps aside into open space for a dance. How's that? I can say I've danced to the Stray Cats as they played live!

And since my photos all look the same. Have a gander at a short video I took at the end of their opening song, Rumble in Brixton.

After the gig a troupe of us wandered through the Valley in search of Pizza. We found some at New York Slice. After we ate most of us went home seeing they had work on Friday in the morning. The lucky ones who had the forethought to take the next day off went out to the clubs! But not I, I had work too. I'm sure Brian Setzer, Slim Jim and Lee Rocker were getting a few good Zzz's after a big gig like that too! I could be wrong though ...

Tiny vintage porcelain deer! (and other animals)

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And so my Bambi obsession continues. Fresh out of the letterbox I bring you three very cute tiny porcelain fawns. Aren't they adorable?!

They now join my slowly growing collection of tiny porcelain animals. This collection started when one of my aunts gifted me the three little crocodiles that belonged to Nanna's mother. I'm hoping to find a suitable wall shelf case to display them in, with mirrored backing and closing glass doors.

My little animals are wrapped up and boxed safely until I find that display case. But the trio of fawns will reside with my 'Bambi Shrine' for the moment. It contains the salt and pepper shakers (on it's mothers), 1940's print edition of Disney's Bambi, porcelain doe, Disney Bambi view master reel, porcelain stag bookends, A 1939 print edition of Bambi's Children by Felix Salten and a 1940 print edition of Bambi by Felix Salten. I hope to find the german versions, the language in which it was originally written. Lucky I happen to be able to read German!

I won't be keeping my Bambi Shrine forever. The bits and pieces will be scattered around my future house. For now the one shelf is the safest place for them.

Enter.... the blogger n00b!

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Hi everyone, I'm Drea!

I've started this blog to showcase my art, modeling photos, vintage finds, bits and bobs of my life and also post photos and reviews on some of the awesome events and places I've been.

I hope you enjoy it.