Floreali

I've been re-adjusting my life routines to fit around uni work after the first week has been complete (and soon to the the second week completed). It's always a bit hard in the first few weeks to get used to the daily tasks that kept me focused and working. But I think that I am settling back into the flow of things!

I've been keeping myself constantly creative by working on personal projects, as well as keeping myself inspired for my thesis writing by researching heavily on my chosen subject area, which as I previously mentioned here, is on zines vs. mainstream magazines and their connection with the female experience, drawing on their role in the "Riot Grrrl" third-wave feminism movement of the late 80's/90's. It's a topic I'm passionate about and find deeply interesting, so I'm happy that I've chosen a topic that is going to keep me interested so I don't wind up in a rut of complete boredom and regret!

Studio work has recently ramped up, meaning that I'm going to be inundated with projects for the rest of the semester, which is good because I like keeping busy ad I know that taking on more work will enable me to keep pushing myself to produce the best work that I possibly can.

This past week in images:

1. Reading a biography of Frida Kahlo, who is without a doubt one of my favourite female artists - she is iconic and her story is such an inspiration. What she did with her short life is admirable.
2. An illustration featuring model Soo Joo I completed recently, which can be viewed in its entirety under the Portfolio link.
3. Flat-lay of a recent outfit I wore this week, featuring boyfriend jeans from Dotti, leopard tank from Cotton On, shoes from Catwalk by Innui and a book about Egypt I received for my 21st birthday.
4. Mango season! Yum!
5. Kate Moss illusration finito!
6. I succumbed to the ugly Birkenstock shoe trend, but I am not ashamed of that fact as they are soo comfortable!

I've made a mix which I will probably be regularly using whilst I write my thesis - its due on the 25th of June and I am quite stressed about that! I want to make it the best I can, so hopefully the songs included in the mix will help me to stop procrastinating and work on it!

❀ Grrrls Thesis Mix ☾ from bambisvalentine on 8tracks Radio.

Until next time! x

Tea and strawberries

It seems this is my 100th post on this blog! As celebration, I am going to post an illustrated list of 100 things that either I love or that inspire me. I will split this list in half and post the other half in another post. ♡

It was also my 22nd birthday in late November - it feels so weird having birthdays now as I feel so old! It's like, when you were younger your birthday was the one day (apart from Christmas for some) you got so excited about, but now it just feels like "oh, another year older!" It's funny how perceptions shift with time. I decided to buy two new charms for my Pandora bracelet which I received as a gift for my 21st last year - an owl and a mermaid. They're so cute! Now, onto my list!



If you wish, have a listen to this playlist whilst reading this list, it's chock-a-block full of some of my favourite tunes this moment. ♥

♡ #1 from bambisvalentine on 8tracks Radio.

ღ

I feel super stressed an a little lack-lustre about life right now. I think I just need some time away from the computer and escape into the country to rejuvenate my body and mind, as well as gain a little inspiration for design. So because I'm stressed and feeling really time-pressured, this will be a short but sweet post update. Basically, I've been getting a lot more sleep, trying to catch up on doing things other than uni work that I love and take in as much culture as possible this study break. I'm scared about my marketing exam result, but I tried really hard and studied so much, so hopefully I'll be right as rain. :)

These are my instagram updates of the things that have been going on in my life of late.

1. Free time left over to draw - it's actually such a relaxing thing for me to just sit down, empty my mind and draw freely.
2. Finished my latest little illustration, which can be viewed at a larger size in the Portfolio section on here.
3. Yummy breakfasts consisting of green tea + muesli with strawberries, almonds, chia seeds, LSA, blueberries, bananas, organic honey and Greek yoghurt - a great way to end my morning run!
4. I'd been eyeing off this necklace from Sportsgirl for some time now, was down to $4.95 so I bought it! The diamantes in the doorknocker ring are so amazingly sparkly in the light!
5. Playing around with Illustrator to create interesting selfies, haha!
6. Spring / Summer = fresh strawberry season. ❤



Until next time, have a listen to this 60's/70's summer inspired mix and keep on dreaming. ♥

Anywhere and Anything from bambisvalentine on 8tracks Radio.

☂

The symbol used in the title of this post is extremely appropriate and relevant to the weather right now - it has been on and off raining all week! I used to love heavy rain back at home in the country, but now that I'm living in the city and having to run all there errands, it really gets in the way! Plus umbrellas can be such a nuisance to carry in strong winds - I find they always invert and then render totally useless. Oh well, that's life! I still love rain when I'm staying indoors drinking tea and reading, or watching a film. I've basically just been working on some projects before class goes back on the 29th of July and I just started a marketing class last Tuesday, which was interesting but a little draining in some areas, it may be useful to my future career though so I think I shall stick with it!

I find it so hard to keep up weekly post updates, even though it doesn't seem like much to do it actually requires so much time and energy to design one - it should be a graded project all in itself!

I've been inspired by a few things this past week, here they are presented in collage format:

Here's been my past two weeks in images:

1. Work in progress photo of my illustration of Brigitte Bardot, which I finished and uploaded in my last post.
2. Another illustration in the works.
3. Flowers collected from the garden for illustration studies.
4. Kind of in love with this Minkpink chiffon sleeveless shirt I purchased from Princess Polly, I can't pass up something with such cute gems on the collar!
5. Another purchase from Princess Polly (can you tell I'm a little bit obsessed with online shopping yet?) - Minkpink leopard print dress and kitten eye sunglasses.
6. Although I do love the winter time, I crave the energy of spring and summer, as well as the scents at the fruit markets and the flowers blooming in the garden - this ombre dress will be a staple in summer, as well as this lace cardigan from Topshop, I envision!
7. More end of financial year purchases from Princess Polly - another Minkpink item - this marigold coloured skirt will be so nice for the springtime paired back with a white tee or high neck singlet and my jellies + Mum managed to score these two barely worn shoes by Lipstik and Zu at the local opshop back at home - they fit perfectly and are so lovely. This is one of the reasons why I love opshopping so much!
8. After all the dark clouds and rain downpours, a pretty rainbow managed to make it's way out in the city.
9. I spent a lovely day out breathing the fresh air in the countryside last Sunday, although it was so freezing out there! This is an image of the little ruin on my family's block of land. I hope one day to built a home in the countryside and live there but right now, that's just a wonderful dream.

Here is an 8tracks playlist I created in dedication to my favourite Twin Peaks character, Miss Audrey Horne.

Vixen from bambisvalentine on 8tracks Radio.

That's all for this week's entry, till next time! ♡

Welcome to the Doll-house

This week has been quite full on, even though it is a study break (not for me, now that I'm post-grad now)! But I do enjoy a bit of a challenge from time to time. As I write, the weather is quite dreadful outside - it is pouring rain everywhere and is freezing! Though I do love this type of weather when I am safe and tucked up in my bed with a good book and a lovely cup of warm milky tea. I've been working fervently on my projects this week and I am glad I still have another week to catch up to the level I wish to be at.



Here's my week in images:

1. While the weather was still mild and lovely, my sister and I visited the beach and walked along the jetty - it was a nice change of pace from the city environment.
2. My old ceramic teapot finally gave up the ghost and thus I desperately needed a new tea pot, so I purchased this one from T2, which is of course my new obsession!
3. New purchases - pretty mint jumper from Vinnies for $12, Picnic at Hanging Rock special 2-disc edition (I have been wanting to see the documentary on the making of the film forever!) for $15 and 4 Maybelline Babylips lip balms in Berry Crush for $10.
4. A little more additions - Dotti pork pie hat in a khaki colour for $9.95 + floral anklet socks for $5.95 and scored some free American Apparel hold up tights, which I have been needing for winter!
5. New Frankie magazine (so beautiful, I love the embossing on the cover!) and Sportsgirl studded slipper shoes for only $13 from $80! Bargain!
6. One of my favourite outfits from this week - my new favourite mint jumper, pleated chiffon mini skirt, heart print tights and my classic gold watch.

The following images are things I had been working on during the last month and a bit of this month as one of my studio projects for a design forum held at my university - basically I just designed some of the promotional material for the afternoon. This included a GIF animation to be displayed in the lecture theatre and a series of posters at different sizes, which were stuck up around the university. I was looking at incorporating the notion of designers as multi-faceted individuals, layered and diverse (as illustrated by the spectrum the 10 creates). The gradation goes up/down by 10% and there are 10 10s in the spectrum. The concept also draws upon the idea of light rays and direction.

The animation. The poster series.

This is one bit of the concept work I am currently doing for a cover design of the next British Journal of Aesthetics competition. I am looking into the motion of the framework and skeletal structure as the function behind the form of the object it supports (as the theme is form and function) and studying the process of metamorphosis and change through blooming flowers and life cycles.



Here is another playlist I created this week to herald in the notion of transcendence and lightness.

≈ Transcendence ≈ from bambisvalentine on 8tracks Radio.

Inure

I'm just going to do a little quick update of my week as my weekly post, as I have been so under pressure this week and I'm in need of some time away from the computer to focus on reducing my stress and doing some more uni work, which is the most important thing to be right now. I'll be back sometime this week to post some more, though!

Here's my week in images:

1. I am an avid collector of flower hairclips and crowns, I just love them so much.
2.Two new basic shirts from Princess Polly, the white one is by Finders Keepers and the black is Minkpink, the white one I almost happened to ruin in the wash (silly me!) with the classic case of red mixing with white! Luckily, I managed to revive it to it's original white colour from the patchy pink it was - thank-you RIT Dye Remover, you are a godsend!
3. Finding flowers to make studies of at the Botanic Gardens.
4. A few more additions to my accessories collection (it is quite extensive) - I am quite fond of delicate, simple and little jewelry these days, it seems.
5. Random fun at the supermarket whilst doing the weekly food shopping with my sister - these scrubbing brushes resembled us so we thought we'd take a photo of them.
6. Reading back issues of Lula whenever I have the chance!

Oh, and here is a new mix I made based off of my favourite film, Picnic at Hanging Rock. I just love it so much, I can't even explain why or describe it - I think it might be due to its pacing and the way the shots are set, they are just really dreamy, hazy, slow and almost lazy, much like the feelings of summer.

Insouciance in a Bucolic Setting from bambisvalentine on 8tracks Radio.

Ailurophile

I have been working dilligently this week on my projects and luckily things have gone well and the fruits of my labor have not been in vain! I' m glad that I am being constantly pushed and challenged because it encourages and motivates me to put my all into my work, as well as

Here's my week in images:

1. This was my Good Friday dinner - i'd never cooked Atlantic fresh salmon before and I'd read it was a bit tricky to cook, so I was super apprehensive about messing it up, but luckily it came out perfect. I then just threw together a quick salad bed for it and it was amazing, salmon is probably one of the only seafoods I can bear to eat!
2. Thursday's outfit details - a glittery cat brooch + collar tips + my 80's electric blue jumper.
3. Pretty flowers I picked up from the Botanic Gardens - don't worry I didn't rip them off the actual plant (I would never do that) they were partially dried on the ground and I thought they would be interesting to study in my technical drawings.
4. Went for another exploration through the Botanic Gardens during the week - it is so beautifully tranquil to sit amongst the roses in the rose garden and just read and breathe in the fresh air.
5.Decided to try out a hair rat tutorial (created from a hair donut) and create a faux 40's style fringe, this is super messy but with more practice I think my technique will improve! I really like how it dramatically changes my look and adding flower hair clips to it just makes it even more interesting.
6. Little purchases on the side (study motivation!) - Faith and Lola scalloped pink drop-waist dress (so cute!) + Sportsgirl socks, I especially love the little pink frilly floral ones!

☁ I'm dreaming of fluffy clouds on a cool Spring day spent in the gardens, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a floating chiffon dress that nips in at the waist. I am still firmly attached to Summer although Winter is calling out to me, tugging me back towards itself. I feel like eating cherry pie whilst curled up with a Jane Austen novel and brewing some English Breakfast tea to be sweetened with milk. I wish to pet a deer in the middle of a cool emerald green forest while various native butterflies flit through the air like softened darts. ☁

I've created a playlist which is a tribute to my absolute favourite magazine, Lula. Every time I pick a copy up to read, I am completely immersed within the pages full of dream-like editorials and beautiful typography and can just stare at it for hours without tiring, it is a truly wonderful publication.

Waltzing through Lula-land from bambisvalentine on 8tracks Radio.

☁ Remember, every cloud has a silver lining. ☁

Raspberry Pies and Doll's Eyes

Here has been my week gone past, in instagram images:

1. Finished my portrait of Jane Birkin, goddess among women.
2. Dress making featuring my own illustrated prints, origami style! If only I were skilled enough to be able to create my own dresses in this shape.
3. I've really gotten into silk and chiffon scarves again, they have an old-world type of glamour about them and can really liven up a plain outfit! This one I thrifted for a nifty $1 at my local Salvos and it features safari style prints of various animals.
4. Trying out different outfit combinations is such a great way of discovering things in my wardrobe which mesh well and I also get the chance to revive clothes I'd totally neglected to notice I rediscovered this Edwardian inspired cream high neck blouse and added a lovely black lace bow I purchased years ago. I felt a bit like Colonel Sanders but in a more feminine and vintage way.
5. I baked my usual batch of lemon cupcakes and added some lemon cream cheese icing, which was ~ pardon the pun ~ just the icing on the cake! It works nicely with green tea and Earl Grey tea.
6. I made a green chicken curry with vermicelli noodles for the first time, it was super yummy and I can imagine it going down a treat for a cold winter's night.

Here is another mix I made with the same title as this post - it's sweet with a little bit of sass, and some forlorn love songs thrown in for good measure.

See you next time! ♡

Day Tripper

I went for a walk down to the Botanic Gardens today for the public holiday and it was glorious! Although it was slightly hotter than I would have liked, the smell of all the flora was wondrous and I felt instantly uplifted after being there. Sometimes I think we all need some time to take to ourselves and appreciate the beauty of the natural world that surrounds us constantly, despite this not so much being the case for me, as I live in the heart of the city and therefore there isn't a great deal of natural elements around. The roses were still in bloom (most of them were) and I also visited the botanical museum, which featured interesting little tidbits of information regarding various species of plants, spices, vegetables and other natural fibres. It was much more useful learning about different plants instead of actually going to the event which is the focus of the public holiday, which is like a mini version of the Melbourne Cup, only less classy (though some people's behaviours leave much to be desired at the Melbourne Cup).



The berries have been on special for a few weeks so far, so I've been taking advantage of this opportunity as it certainly wont be around for very long! Summer berries (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and pomegranates) are perfect with Greek yoghurt and muesli as breakfast, such a good incentive to wake up. :)



I created another playlist, which is inspired by the Summer Solstice and Spring Rites.

A Midsummer's Eve Banquet from bambisvalentine on 8tracks Radio.

I'll leave you with this sweet short film, which never fails to make me feel better after having a "blue" sort of day.