The Sweet Life

I've been super busy this week and honestly can't believe it is Saturday again. Anyway, this has been the first week of the supposed "break" but it hasn't been a break at all for me - I've been working on uni work all week! At least I am being kept busy, but that's really the only positive thing I can say about being overloaded with things to do! I haven't been much inspired to blog this week, so I'm just going to keep this update short 'n sweet.

I've completed a new illustration this week, the mini GIF version is down below and you can find the static image/s in my portfolio page. I watched a documentary about Helen of Troy earlier in the week by Bettany Hughes, who I think is brilliant because she presents with so much passion and enthusiasm about the subject. I have always been fascinated by intriguing women in history and Helen of Troy is one such enigmatic figure, so I decided to commemorate this illustration to her legend, drawing inspiration from antiquity and nature. Plus, it features leaves! I love leaves, much like David Attenborough (please refer to related GIF).

My week in pictures

1. Finished illustration - a good way to procrastinate!
2. Early progress shot of the illustration in the works.
3. Illustration for a Medieval themed poster design I had been working on diligently throughout the week.
4. Starting to read The Man Repeller book by Leandra Medine, who is pretty much one of my top style icons.

This week's inspiration mood board has consisted of the following - I'm still really inspired by Dolce and Gabbana's Fall/Winter 2014 Byzantine Collection, especially after watching lots of history documentaries focusing on the Byzantine Empire.

Until next time! x

New-ness

Since the time I last posted I have been feverishly working on all my creative pursuits - namely finishing illustrations - but also creating a Society6 shop which you can view here, where I will be selling some of my illustration and other design work as prints. I'll admit I was a little apprehensive at first in setting up a store here, but I thought it might be a good way to extend my presence in the great wide stratosphere that is the world wide web! The above illustration is one of my recently completed works, showing the "before and after" and is available to purchase now.

I've also created a portfolio website, where I'll upload all of my work to date as a digital portfolio, which links to other bits and bobs such as my resume and social media pages. It can be viewed here.

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

1. Amazeball (yes I really just used that word, but it is necessary in this context) shorts by Cameo the label.
2. A bowl of cherries always reminds me of Summer.
3. A portrait I completed of Sophia Loren for my mum.
4. Breaky of muesli, yoghurt, fruit, almonds and chia seeds is my farourite kind of breaky
5. Current progress on an Australian themed piece I'm working on, featuring Indigenous model Samantha Harris.
6. In 40 degree (celcius!) heat, all I really feel like is froyo.

Oh, and how amazing is Lana Del Rey's rendition of Once Upon a Dream for the upcoming Maleficent film starring Angelina Jolie?! I think I died and went to heaven listening to it. ♥ What do you think of it?

That's all for this post lovelies, see you next time! x

Acquiesce

*Just a friendly warning - this is an image-heavy post! I'm sorry in advance if your internet loading time is quite slow!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season and a wonderful New Year! I'm so happy to be here at home with my family celebrating the silly season with our traditional food and lots of corny Christmas music and television specials (including Andre Rieu haha). ♡ I never set new year's resolutions, but instead seek to continue the positive energies I utilised from the previous year and bring that into the new year. However, my one main continual goal will be to keep up my healthy lifestyle, as I've honestly not felt this good in years after taking up running and cutting out a lot of stodgy foods that just leave me feeling heavy. It worked for me in 2013, so I hope it will work for me this year and give me all the energy I'll need for my final year of my Masters!

I've been busy working on some illustrations, which I've included in the portfolio page. It's so good to find time to catch up on personal projects! I've also been reading a lot more, this is basically the only time during the year that I can find the time to do so, sadly enough! Below is some of the illustrations I have been working on during my study break.

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

1. An illustration I completed of the Australian model Montana Cox, who won Cycle 7 of Australia's Next Top Model.
2. An illustration I completed of Rihanna.
3. I found these Finders Keepers Winter Bird shorts at a sample sale earlier in Adelaide and bought them without realising the zip was faulty! But I had them fixed and now I can weart them - the print and fabric are of such a high quality, I am in love.
4. An illustration of model Nastya Kusakina.
5. Progress shots of an illustration I'm working on, feat. Lana Del Rey.
6. Chili print shorts, purchased from Mombasa Boutique. ❤



II

That's all for this post lovelies, see you next time! x

Freedom.

Hi everyone! This is just a quickie post letting you know that I'll be back to my blogging self shortly, as I've just submitted my final uni assessment for the year! I've finally made it! Now I've got the time to get back to the personal things that are close to my heart. ♡

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.

Translucent

Well, as I mentioned previously in my last post, the weather situation is dark and dreary with the constant rain clouds looming over the city, causing downpour every so often, There has even been predicted hail and snow up in the hills, so this has definitely been the most rainiest winter I have experienced in a while! It makes for plenty of time spent indoors with a good book or film and some warm beverages - so lots of catch-up has been the order of the day and week! I return to uni next week too, so for this reason I am likely to be blogging very infrequently, due to commitments related to that.

I've been inspired by monochromatic clothing quite a bit of late, this may be due to the weather, but I also find that a simple black and white outfit combined with a slick of brightly coloured matte lipstick really is all one needs to "dress to impress" in a really simple way. I also loved the simplicity of adding bright, bold accessories to a simple outfit - it's just such an easy way to jazz up a combination of clothing which seems to be missing that "x-factor", so accessories such as rings, statement necklaces or sunglasses are always things that you can never really have too much of (its just an excuse to have more shopping sprees!).I've also been feeling inspired by models of the 90's, in particular Kate Moss and Claudia Schiffer, who were/are such babes and always possess effortless and enduring style.

Here's been my week in images:

1. I made a mean stir-fry the other night - packed with veggies, heart-smart pork strips and a layer of black squid ink pasta - so nice!
2. Another illustration in the works, which has been in the works for quite some time now (due to uni responsibilities, of course).
3. Mixing and matching jewelry with this rose gold skull bracelet I found at Sportsgirl the other day with 30% off already reduced price - you can't go wrong with that!
4. Trying out some neon nail-polish - the funny thing is that this colour looks dull and gross under artificial light but when you're under natural light man, it sure packs a punch!
5. Staying with my family at my grandmother's house, which has this amazing 60's sort of blue floral wallpaper, which contrasts so nicely against the white framed oval mirror. The house itself is extremely old an part of a heritage site, I believe. As kids we would always hear from our parents the stories of the ghost that haunts this house, who was the original commissioned and owner of it which always scared me, but it's just a story!
6. Time for tea! ❤

That's all for now,
until next time,
keep on day-dreaming. ♡

☂

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! ♡

☆

So it has been quite a while since I posted something proper and meaningful on this little ol' blog! But as you may have read on my last update post, things have been incredibly hectic and I've felt so much stress, but I've somehow managed to push through it all and come out fighting fit! Except though, I have come down with a nasty winter cold, so I'll be trying to fight that battle now, with a healthy diet, plenty of exercise and lots of TV and film catch-up, such as Time Team and Poirot! I've also been meaning to see Farewell, My Queen for ages now, but alas time has escaped me! But now I'm on a bit of a break,I think I can reward myself with it. As you may have already discovered, I'm quite mad about anything related to Marie Antoinette, so this film looks right up my alley!

A few changes to my blog layout; I've removed the link to the following of my blog through blog reader (because as you have probably already known for months, it is about to become obsolete) so if you wish to follow me, I've updated the button to take you to my bloglovin' page. I would rather they have decided to keep blog reader alive, but you can't always have your cake and eat it too.

I've also been having serious cases of nostalgic hits (could be something to do with the shoes I just purchased...) and I've been drawing inspiration from my childhood, relating back to the certain toys I used to play with. One of the most prominent of those was the Polly Pocket franchise. I seriously miss these little opening and closing bundles of joy, they just were so amazing, so portable and so cute! I remember having quite a dew, including the mermaid storybook and the massive village! Did any of you, dear readers, own any of these wonderful toys when you were younger? Please share. ♡

Here's my month (or so) in images:

1. Getting through hours of study is made easier with a tasty breakfast such as this! Muesli with Greek yoghurt, raw almonds, bananas, strawberries, natural honey and chia - mmm!
2. Saw The Great Gatsby, which I have been wanting to see for over a year now and it luckily it did not disappoint me! Baz Lurhmann is a genius!
3. My (growing) collection of my most prized lip product - Revlon lip butters! Such amazing pigmentation with great moisture, no wonder everyone is obsessed with them!
4. Break is here, time to settle into days of drinking milky tea whilst fawning over the wonderful smelling pages of the new Frankie magazine.
5. I was so excited to receive these in the mail last week. I had been umhing and ahhing over whether to get them or not (although there was never any doubt that I would be getting them in the clear with glitter), but I caved and decided I must have them if I am able to properly show-off my sock collection with pride! As you can see, they are the cutest things ever. Even that synthetic plastic smell makes me all nostalgic for my youth! If you're dying for a pair to relive your childhood memories like I once was, you can head over to Jbeans and snag yourself a pair for $34.99.
6. I have been practicing my sewing skills for a project looking into British accents and dialects. I'm quite a terrible sewer so I'll need a lot more practice!

Well that's all I've got for now, ta-ta! ♡

Time for Tea

❀ I dream of Ladurée. ❀


Hello again, ♡

This week has not been very eventful, I have just been drinking lots of tea and walking, jogging and yoga-ing regularly to keep my energy levels sky-high. I haven't been drawing as much as I'd like to lately, which is annoying seeing as I have more time spare, yet the days go by so quickly that I can barely keep track anymore!

Talk and tea is his specialty, said Giles. Come along inside... We'll see if tea and buns can make the world a better place."
~ The Wind in the Willows

The above quote from the wonderful The Wind in the Willows cements the concept of "teatime" as a positive, wholesome and joyous ritual perfectly. Taking tea with cake or any other form of delicate sweet foodstuffs is an age old tradition that has been embedded in daily life for many thousands of years. From the ancient Egyptian creation of bread saturated with honey to the elegant tiered wedding cakes, and the tea-drinkers of ancient China to modern day convenient tea-bags, tea and cake are essentially a basic part of life, a way of life and a part of humanity constantly.

Tea is a massive part of my life and existence in general. Without it, I hardly think I'd be sane! I can drink it at any time of the day, during any season of the year and it doesn't matter what variety of tea it is, it will always make me feel lovely and warm inside. Green tea is my ultimate favourite, although I usually love all tea I try. Another part of my life is cake and other sweet treats taken with tea. Although I try to limit my intake of high sugar foods, I can never resist a small smackerel of cake or a macaron in my morning or afternoon to keep me calm until lunch/dinner. I associate tea and cake with different traditions they are included in, such as morning or afternoon tea, Devonshire tea and High Tea parties. I loved, as I'm sure other girls did, setting up little seats and tables for my toys and then adorning the miniature table with components from a little children's tea set, the imaginative elements of such a game were enhanced by the natural openness of mind all children posses, which they use to broaden everyday mundane life.

I really want to visit Ladurée in gay Paree someday, they sweet delights they concoct are like something out of Harry Potter, or some wild fantasy realm where the sun always shines softly and creates beautiful rainbow refractions throughout the rays. There are pastries, cupcakes, macarons, cakes, tarts and slices, all multi-coloured and decorated with an air or magic and make-believe. I feel that the gossamer silken fingers of fairies must have produced these beautiful foodstuffs, I can just imagine little fairy huts situated in the kitchen area, light emerging from the tiny wooden window frames revealing many little creatures hard at work producing these amazingly intricate and scrumptious treats.

I am also reminded of the various scenes in Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette, with the lavish spreads filled to the brim with cake and other saccharine-sweet confectioneries. The cakes of Ladurée would fit so well with this extravagant era of history.

Tea and cake are the perfect couple and can never be separated, they provide comfort in times of need, and the sight of a little pink cupcake next to some piping hot milky English Breakfast tea will never fail to produce a smile on my face and bring the roses to my cheeks. •

❀ Collage inspiration. ❀

Here are a few snapshots of things that have related to my life at this present moment. (From L-R, top to bottom):
1. This beautiful dress is by Minkpink and was on sale, so I couldn't resist. It has a marine sailor ~vibe~ going on and is really flattering on! (even though horizontal stripes are supposed to make you look fat, it don't ever believe these things). I have combined it with my gold collar Sportsgirl necklace, Sunflower perfume, gold Topshop sandals and gold eco-drive Citizen watch.
2. Reading an illustrated edition of Picnic at Hanging Rock, one of my favourite novels.
3. Trying to work on developing my website, I have so many different concepts that it is so hard to stick to one idea, but many ideas are better than no ideas!
4. Another outfit combo, combining pastel ice cream shades - a 70s/80s pink lace and ribbon blouse, with a lavender Valleygirl skirt, lemon yellow Dotti socks, Frankie 2013 journal, Vera Wang's Princess and my ultimate favourite lip balm, Baby-Lips.
5. Found this orange and black number whilst op-shopping, it has super strong 60s ~vibes~.
6. Life affirmations to keep me inspired.



That's all I have to share with you today, until next time, here's a playlist I created which fits the theme of this post well.

In the Dollhouse Made of Ladurée from bambisvalentine on 8tracks Radio.