Chain gang

OK, I promise that this is my last post about National Swap Day! It does seem to have been the event that just keeps on giving, but I'm sure you're all sick of me rabbiting on about what I managed to grab there in exchange for stuff that I no longer needed. Apart from the things I showed you the other day, I also managed to pick up a necklace.

It's the outermost one shown here, which is very similar to two that I already have as you can see, but I had plans for it as soon as I saw it.

These three necklaces were originally all the same length (did you know that there is a standard length for necklaces? Check any beading book and it will tell you the measurements) so that made it hard to wear them all at the same time as they would knock into one another and not sit nicely. Therefore, some fiddling was required.



Fairly minimal fiddling, admittedly... all I did was use some pliers to attach a length of chain to my National Swap Day necklace and to one of the other ones that I had. I used a longer chain for the NSD necklace because I wanted to wear it on the outer of all these three, and attached some chain to the middle necklace too. Now I can wear them all together and feel kind of like Iris Apfel!

Treasurette at Fame Agenda

(Photo by BusinessChic)

One of the great pleasures of being a blogger is not, as the above photo would suggest, holding hands with creepy wooden mannequins wearing fabulous rings. It is, rather, getting to hang out with other people with a passion for fashion while admiring beautiful clothes. And that's exactly what I did last weekend at Fame Agenda in Melbourne Central.
This is Monica, the charming and very sparkly owner of Fame Agenda, holding my cupcake while I take her photo.

(the cupcake didn't last for long after that, and nor did these)

Fame Agenda and Couturing.com hosted an exclusive event with Treasurette, a relatively new boutique which I'm yet to visit, but after seeing much of their stock at this event, I think I better make a trip up there soon. Here are some examples...

Jewellery by House of Harlow (I think? there was a lot of great stuff so I'm not sure now. Oops!)

These serious heels are from Finsk... I couldn't walk in them, but they looked good!

More sparkle from Pedro Garcia...

Scarves for dog lovers...

Patent ballet shoes from Repetto (with my face reflected in the mirrored counter... more creepiness...)

The Treasurette treasure was showcased among Fame Agenda's other fabulous frocks such as these...

And we got to try them on, too! This dress by Sretsis was my favourite, it's sparkly, so how could I resist... (plus it was displayed on the mannequin in the window too, so I felt like a had a headless twin... always a good thing?)

Check out this ring by Dominic Jones... it could do some serious damage but looks amazing...

(both above pics by Businesschic.com.au)

I paired the dress with navy wedges by Elizabeth and James which are super tall but actually really comfy. Once Buy Nothing New month is over I think I might have to make a rare new item purchase!

Despite me wearing navy, there was actually a fair bit of whimsy happening in the store. Here's one of the Fame Agenda staff wearing Romance was Born (you might remember that I went to the exhibition which used this print).

These Sretsis prints reminded me of My Little Ponies (did you used to have them? My cousin and I used to do fashion shows with them!)

And look at the colour blocking going on here with Sarah and Cheryl... (Sarah was trying on this dress, she doesn't usually go around wearing belts with the tags still attached!)

All in all, a delightful afternoon. Thanks Fame Agenda, Treasurette, and Couturing.com!

National Swap Day scores!

Look what the weather was like in Melbourne yesterday.* 30 degrees in the city!! Perfect for some backyard cavorting and capturing what I got at National Swap Day last week.

Here's a more objective look at my favourite find. I'm wearing it back to front because it doesn't have any bust shaping and the open neckline (it closes with a button at the back) looks better at the front.


I'm wondering if it needs any fiddling... I'm thinking of adding long cords with tassels to the front lapels and bunching the sleeves up a bit as these bracelet length sleeves don't really do much for me. The length is also a bit strange - should I cut it to knee length or add some different material to make it longer?

Kyra called it "the Kandinsky dress", and having all those thoughts about altering it, it does feel sort of like a work of art in progress. The pattern is gorgeous but the colours are a bit washed out, so I'm also thinking I could go over some of the squares with fabric marker to make them more intense.


I do love the flared effect around the hem though ... it looks so pretty swirling around the ankles... hmmm... what to do...


Meanwhile, here are two more scores which are also going to need some work... I would never wear them together normally but for the purposes of efficiency here they are in the one shot. Crazy red and gold frilled synthetic shirt (WAY too hot to wear on a 30-degree day) and long pale grey skirt.

I only have to adjust the shirt to make it more my size, as there's not much I could add to it (it's just SLIGHTLY over the top already). The skirt needs to be taken in a little bit around the hips and I think I'll add a huge brightly coloured ruffle to the hem from about the knees down. That's the plan at this stage, anyway. Or do you have another idea?

I also got a necklace, but I'm going to show you that in another post because (surprise, surprise) I fiddled with it, and it could actually be handy for you to see the results.

And finally, the only things I bought which I don't have to fiddle with...

Practically BRAND NEW sandals from Zomp (I know this as they came with the box and receipt!!). Pretty happy about that!

*It's Melbourne. So today it's 17 degrees and raining. Surprise, surprise.

That's a load of rubbish!

No, this post is not actually about my bedroom, although given its current state, you'd be forgiven for thinking that.


Why is it such a mess? Well, it's partly because I've been too busy to clean up, what with work, my freelance writing, and doing the most boring course in the world (which, in answer to Katie's question, is Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, and I'm only doing it because three years ago I paid over $1000 for it. It's taken three years for me to do it because I hate it so much. There just always seems to be something more important to do. Like clipping Suki's claws, or picking hair out of my brush... am I making it clear how boring the course is?).
Also I keep accumulating stuff (all of which, of course, might be handy later, which is why I can't throw it out). The problem is, I actively go LOOKING for stuff to acquire. Last week I went on a hard rubbish adventure with a fellow scavenger and I found this chest of drawers...


(They didn't come with clothes in them, unfortunately. The clothes are my scores from National Swap Day on Monday, I'll post about them another time, suffice to say I was very happy with my finds!)

I also found this cute Japanese picture... well, it looked cute in the dark, but it's actually quite old and yellowed. The kids' hair is meant to be black but it's faded to brown!! Never mind, I like old crappy stuff, as you've probably guessed by now.



I've saved the best till last. This was from the same place as the other picture, and I'm guessing these people liked Japan at one stage, because this is also a bit of Japanese kitsch.


The frame's kind of old and falling apart and there are a few spots of mould on the picture itself, but, um, it adds to the charm??

I love how the artist has gone down the multi-media path and used old photos to stick on over the oil paint... and there are bits of mother of pearl on the roofs of the houses too.



My co-scavenger managed to find a dodgy poster which he described as "stoner art" (still in its plastic wrap!), an electronic typewriter (which he said he would sell to a hipster), a pie tin, two Persian rugs and a mirror. Not bad!

Of course after all those finds, I still didn't have enough stuff, so I had to buy this bag from the Salvos on the weekend. It's African-themed. It's got fringing. It's real leather. It was $6. There's no way I could resist.



How about you? Have you found anything good in the hard rubbish lately? I know someone who has... pattern envy going on here!!

National Swap Day - let's make it a date?

Just a short one this evening, and no glamorous pictures of me cavorting in the backyard today as I'm just a little bit exhausted after a weekend which involved:
- a run around the block (taking care to avoid the magpie which swooped me the other day)
- writing articles for the next issue of Peppermint
- teaching kids to make stuff out of crap
- dressing as a native American for a wild west-themed murder mystery party for a hen's night
- nearly finishing the most boring course in the entire universe
- proofreading a program guide for the Fair@Square fashion show which I'm in charge of
- trying to clean up the obstacle course in my bedroom which has been created thanks to several finds in the hard rubbish last week (pictures to come)

and

- trying to come up with ideas for how to decorate the catwalk for above-mentioned fashion show on the cheap. I'm meeting with the amazing, talented Sian Pascale tomorrow to try to workshop some concepts... I'm kind of liking the idea of balloons all in one colour, kind of like this, but probably in white instead. And maybe with gold ribbons?


The fashion show will be held in the BMW Edge at Federation Square on December 2, just in case you wanted to come along.... just coincidentally, tomorrow evening I'll be there too, to take part in National Swap Day. Exciting, yes? I already mentioned it here, actually, so you can see what I'm going to swap if you like. Hope to see you there?

Sisters in crime

Well, if craft were a crime, that is. This post is a blatant attempt at self-and-sister promotion, namely, my sister has a stall at the Made 'n' Thornbury market this Saturday. She will be selling things that she has made, like these critters (some of her creations are made from old socks! We don't throw anything out in our family)....


...these conjoined twin elephants...

...these owl quintuplets (I'm sure they'll be sold separately, although if you wanted to keep them together as a family they'd be very pleased)

...and even brooches...

My sister's brand is called Make it Wednesday, so look out for that, or just look out for the person who apparently looks exactly like me (which would mean she also looks like Lindy Klim?? Recently my relatives were showing a picture of me around and everyone thought I was her. Flattering, but weird. Just by the by, I have had a market stall next to her and her husband Michael before and they are lovely people - AND they even remembered me when we bumped into each other a while later!)

And what will I be doing this weekend? Well, the Stringybark festival is on again, so I will be at the Remake Remodel tent helping kids and teenagers learn how to refashion clothes, just like last year. Come and visit if you like! I'll be the one who looks nothing like Lindy Klim.

Haribo macht Kinder froh...

... und Erwachsene ebenso! (or: Kids and grown-ups love it so, the happy world of Haribo).


Haribo, in case you were not aware, is the company responsible for Gummibears, which I know would not normally feature on this blog as they have little to do with style and probably aren't the best material out of which to try to fashion earrings (although I could always give it a go, I suppose). No, the reason I am mentioning them today is that a friend from my university days in Bonn, Germany, recently told me that every autumn, great queues of people line up in front of the Haribo factory with bags of chestnuts and acorns. Some even stay there overnight. Why? Because the owner of Haribo needs chestnuts and acorns to feed his deer and boar, and exchanges them for Gummibears. Even though I can't see why you'd need that many Gummibears, and I'm not so keen on the reason he needs to feed the deer and boar (to fatten them up for hunting season) I have to love this bartering idea from such a massive company - perfect for Buy Nothing New month, yes?

And on that note, another message from my friend in Bonn made me very happy today. An avid gardener, she's been reading all my stuff about Buy Nothing New month and was inspired to go to a plant swap, where she was thrilled to swap her roses for some daisies and chat to people who are as crazy about gardening as she is. She's also finally started her gardening blog, so if any of you read German and like pottering around outside, please take a look.
It's such a great feeling to know that what I'm doing (and of course what the people at Buy Nothing New are doing) can make a difference, however small, in someone's life!! How about you - do you have any great Buy Nothing New stories to share? Erzaehl mal!

Chilled out weekend

So, it's theoretically spring here in Melbourne, but in true crazy Melbourne style, today was more like mid-winter. Seeing as I had mountains of writing work to get through, the rain and cold didn't bother me. And of course because I had mountains of writing work to get through, I decided to fix up some leggings that I bought at Vinnies a few months ago. Here's what they looked like originally:

And here's what they look like now.

Yes, I should have taken a "before" photo of me wearing them but of course I didn't think of that. Basically all I did to them was take them in along the sides and let down the hems (which turned out to be rib-finished, yay!) and then I added pockets for a bit of detail at the front. I wanted to use leather but then I actually thought about it (rare, rare event) and realised that would mean I couldn't just chuck them in the washing machine. So the pockets are made from bits of an old jumper instead.

There is a green/navyish jacquard pattern running through the material, although I don't know how well you can see that here.


So there you go. Mid-winter ski-inspired style in the middle of spring.

I've teamed them with some kind of glam accessories, including this cool snake bangle which was from Madam Virtue...


I was kind of inspired by this amazing shoot from Australian Vogue's July issue. If I only I could look this glamorous when it's freezing outside.