∞

I am struggling to comprehend how I haven't written on my little nook of the internet in over two months! Time has just escaped me once again as I am in the final semester of my degree and the year, so understandably this has been my top priority, unfortunately. But it wont be like this forever, promise! ∞

I'm still under pressure even though I am on my 2 week mid-semester break (break, what break?!) so this post will just consist of my Instagram updates and some inspo to carry you through the rest of the week.

1. Illustrating flower blooming stages for a project.
2. Post workout brekky consisting of yummy Greek yoghurt, muesli, fruits and nuts. The only way I can get through my workout is if I know I'm gonna be eating this afterwards!
3. Illustrating.
4. Project progress for a made-up organic dried fruit company I am currently designing packaging for as part of a uni project.
5. Some more work on my organic dried fruit company's branding.
6. Illustrating creepy weird little insects (something new for me!) and working on some handmade typography for a collaborative project.

My inspo of late has consisted of largely Spring/Summer vibes, as here in Australia we are currently in the midst of Spring and the heat is slowly coming back into the air. My mind has been all over the place as I struggle to keep a float of my projects for uni, which I think is reflected back into my bipolar, justaposed inspo of these past two months.

Until next time! x

☀

Ugh I know, I know - I thought I'd be back to regular weekly blogging again during this break but clearly this hasn't happened! However, this doesn't mean that I haven't been busy!

I have been working on some personal illustrations over these past two to three weeks, which I have featured below and can also be seen under my Portfolio page.

Paeonia Lagoon

Iris

Intergalactica

Instagram Updates

1. Cameo the Label lily palm print top - I am in love with this.
2. Drawing Gia Carangi, my model inspo.
3. Floral illustrations.
4. Warming myself up with homemade pumpkin soup and breakfast tea.
5. Is my floral obsession obvious?!
6. Progress of a recently completed illustration.

This month I have been drawing my inspiration from musical sources, such as FKA Twigs and Lana Del Rey. Style-wise, I have been interested in the juxtaposition of bright metallic and nude, blush and muted grey shades. I'm wishing the warm weather would return soon so I can enjoy sleeping by the pool and basking in the summer sunshine. I need more Vit. D!

Until next time! x

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

Auras

Another Saturday, another week gone by. Next week will be Week 5 of my semester, I honestly can't quite get my head around that fact. It seems like I've only just started by really I've been working away for weeks now! I feel I have a better grip on my time management this year though, after last years debacles which I do not want to return to! But procrastination still gets the better of me sometimes!

This week I have been designing ideas for a poster that focuses on the topic of peace. Since this is also a poster that is to be designed with the intention of being exhibited by the client as a celebration of their 25 years in operation, I'e decided to take the approach that focuses on their legacy and input into the community by creating an illustration of their key figure - Graham F. Smith. The little sketch I've done as a starting point is below.

Here's my week:

1. Beginning a sketch of a beautiful photo of a model whose name I do not know, but she has the loveliest freckles ever!
2. Progress + milky cups of tea, a typical afternoon of yours truly.
3. Finally decided to get my mitts on this little book with some birthday money I had stashed. I think it doesn't even need introducing, the cover is already so iconic I think! Anyways, I've had a brief flick through it and so far I am excited to read it.

For my inspiration this week, I've really been digging simple palettes of black and white with a dash of bright or neon colour thrown into the mix. I used to love constant colour, but right now I've just been looking at more tailored and simple approaches to my personal style. I'm still obsessed with photographic prints, mirror prints and florals, don't think i'm ever going to get over them - they are the only statement item you'll need when you're wearing them. Green is also not a colour I'm greatly fond of, but recently I've been loving a nice palette of fresh green hues to get me dreaming of tropical rainforests and exploring jungles.

Until next time! x

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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

Flux and Flow

Well it's university time again, and that means less posting! I want to try and keep up with it more this year though and continue to upload a post a week, even if it is just something really small or a quick update, it is better than nothing!

For the past two weeks I have been settling back into my city lifestyle after coming back from my holidays in the outback. Now that I've finally unpacked and gotten ready for my final year at uni, I have been striving to keep my regular plans in place, in regards to diet, exercise and study. I hope that I can continue to keep up my routines so that I can be as organised as possible, but we all say that at the beginning of a New Year, only to start to fall into bad habits as the year pans out! I'm going to try my very best not to get into my procrastinating habits though!

This week I'll just update you about my past week/s through my instagram images:

1. Eating fruit platters in the Summer.
2. Leopard + black never fails in an outfit.
3. Received this beautiful Cameo Hillstomp dress on Valentine's Day - who needs a Valentine's when you've got the postman!
4. Work in progress.
5. Finished my illustration of Melusina, available to purchase here
6. Miranda Kerr illustration progress.
7. Miranda Kerr illustration completed, available to purchase here.
8. Cameo's new collection is killing it - such a cute Bambi print!
9. At one with nature in the Botanic Gardens.
10. Magdalena Frackowiak progress.
11. Finished illustration of Magdalena Frackowiak, available to purchase here.
12. Love these mirror floral print shorts I picked up at Ally fashion - such good quality for this store!
13. Purchased these holographic chunky sandals from Betts recently for the steal print of $20 - I can't help but feel like a space ranger wearing these!
14. I'm going to miss all the Summer berries when they're not in season anymore - strawberries, blueberries and raspberries are my favourite things.
15. Working on a Kate Moss illustration - Moss is boss.

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

❄

It's uni time again, so that means epic amounts of stress and little time left over for blogging! So I am sorry in advance for the lack of posts that will be posted over the next few months, but it can't be helped; my studies and my future are very important to me, so they must always come first. But I'll aim to try to keep on posting whenever life gives me a breathing moment!

I've got a few interesting projects to work on at the moment - I am still working on the ISTD Student Assessments Sound Bites brief - here are some studies I have been working on over the week. I am trying to extract the language and the different ways the same words are spoken in various dialects and accents.

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

1. I went to a restaurant for my sister's birthday and tried a haloumi dish for the first time - I am now in love with it!
2. It was finally warm enough during the week to take out my jellybeans for a stroll in the park!
3. This is an amazing elephant print crop t-shirt by Minkpink which I scored the last one of, in my size! I paired it with my moon necklace and horse shoe necklace, which I am coveting at the moment.
4. My black jellies and a coin chain collar necklace from With Love Kirsten, which I adore!
5. I was so excited to find this Frida Kahlo t-shirt by Minkpink that I just had to have it - it is so amazing!
6. Spending a lovely warm afternoon in my fluoro pink Quay sunglasses at the Botanic Gardens. ❤
7. Getting inspiration at the Art Gallery.
8. One of my uni outfits of the week.
9. Another uni outfit - I am loving lots of jewellery at the moment and I love to mix and match different tones, like gold with rose gold.

Until next time, keep on dreaming. ♥
(Happiness by John Duncan)