dresses

Feeling Flat after Frocking up 18-28/31 #Frocktober

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It’s been a whirlwind week of gallery visiting, travelling for work, then spending the weekend connecting with family. A medical appointment today after an unsettled night (a lightning and thunder show) has not increased my energy. However, we are in the home stretch, so onwards to the frocks!

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Have a fabulous Sunday #frocktober

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A dress I picked up for $8 at my local Salvos store last year. It’s a lovely blue linen dress- with pockets! I wore this on Sunday when I took a child-free jaunt to the local art gallery to indulge in a little soul food.

I had a meeting in Brisbane for which to prepare so it was a frantic next couple of days- I did cheat and put up my wedding dress as a stopgap measure. Red is my favourite colour!

Brisbane was fantastic frock wearing weather- I made sure to head out early in the morning to go for walks along the river- across the Go-Between Bridge (Mr BG is a HUGE fan of the Go-Betweens) and for a stroll through the Botanical Gardens. The jacaranda trees were amazing!

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Jacaranda #botanicalgardens #brisbane

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I wore my red floral dress one day, and this dress from Ezibuy another day. A tad crumpled from my suitcase, but it’s a pretty navy linen with an embroiderie anglaise style to offset the navy.

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Frocking up for planning days #frocktober #brisbane

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I wore this dress out to a dinner with the meeting participants- senior staff members of the library. We meet once a year for 2-3 days of intense planning for the next year. It is a great opportunity to connect with people you only really contact via phone or email.

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Frocking up in Brisbane! #frocktober

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We headed out to Sovereign Hill on Saturday- I will admit jeans were the preferred option today, as most of my dresses were in the wash! I had empited my suitcase intto the washing machine while I whiled the afternoon away looking at the diggings, admiring little gardens and going to school with Miss BG. That was tricky, as I had to write with my right hand :).

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Emily at school #ballarat #sovereignhill

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Sunday I found a lovely gem in my wardrobe- I swear, my wardrobe in which I keep my frocks is sometimes like the Tardis, or at least Mary Poppins carpet bag. I bought this dress at least 5 years ago off eBay I think. It has shoiestring straps and is cut on the bias. I wore it with a navy cardigan and it looked a treat!

Which brings us up to Monday…This is a skirt gifted to me by my neice Kate- it’s a wrap around skirt from Sussan. I had to head to the hospital for a MRI on my hip. The saga of my hip is another blog post in itself…

Today saw me in a black maxi dress I picked up at a Blue Illusion sale from around 3 months ago. The light jersey fabric is good for layering and I think itll be good when the warmer weather arrives.

It has been a great month so far- I have $100 left with which to accomplish my pledge of $700.00 Hopefully I will make it 🙂

 

 

 

Mini BG

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Here is a photo of me when I was 5. It was the day of my fifth birthday and my mum had dressed me in a pink crochet dress. The crochet had stretched over the years, as it was originally created to fit me as a two year old.

me on my 5th birthday

My mum, bless her, had kept a number of clothes belonging to my sister and I and passed them on to me for miss BG. This is she wearing said pink dress.

Pretty in Pink

It has stretched a bit and it’s missing a ribbon which was worn around the waist, but it’s cute to see her in something I remember wearing :). As a little person, she loves dressing up in mum’s clothes (and shoes and makeup), and this was one thing she could wear which remotely fitted her.

I don’t remember what I was like at that age, and my parents are somewhat vague on the matter. Was I as headstrong, funny,  needing to be cuddled, annoying, and lovable? I do look at her and wonder, how much of me is in her? She is a delightful puzzle and one I will continue to decipher…

Bookgrrl’s Creative Space

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It’s been a while since I did anything crafty. I must admit, I associate knitting and crochet with the colder months and my days have been filled with other things like school, kinder, house, garden, kids and husband, and now work again after a hiatus.

Summer is now autumn, so out comes the wool…

1. Baby Blanket- finished project!

My baby blanket which was started about 3 years ago, is finally finished, and will be going to my sister and my lovely nephew soon.

I had to do the lace edging, and sew up the panels, which was what slowed me down. It was a labour of love and if I do another baby blanket, it will be in crochet- it’s so much faster.

2. Cardigan- work in progress

This was to be a knitted blanket aeons ago, but I lost heart and decided to unravel it. The yarn is Jo Sharp and such a beautiful soft green. The cardigan is an easy pattern and so far, I’ve finished the back, the fronts and am starting on the sleeves. It’s in stocking stitch and once I’m past the increasing/decreasing part of the pattern, I can let my fingers fly while I’m watching the TV or a DVD.

I’m hoping to have this finished by the end of March, or at least by Easter :).

3. Dress- project in waiting

Now this is where I will readily admit to being slightly crazy. An initial shopping expedition saw me buy some fabric offcuts in Daylesford, with the intention of making a dress for Miss BG. Six months later, another shopping expedition to Aldi saw me pick up a admittedly cheap sewing machine, with the intention of making a dress for Miss BG. Pattern has been bought and the pieces have been cut. now all I have to do is get the machine out of the packaging, learn how to use one after 25 years, and make the dress. I’m making it a size larger, as I figure it’ll be good for next summer rather than this one :).

One thing I am determined to do is to focus on completing something before embarking on another. It’s too easy to abandon something for another more interesting project. This time I am determined to do one thing at a time. I just have to stay out of Lincraft and Spotlight for the next 6 months…

What cheeses me off…(and not)

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In an ode to a favourite segment of mine from Hey, Hey, it’s Saturday…

What cheeses me off is:

  • People who feel the need to dictate to  individuals and professional library staff what they can and cannot read. As a librarian we value input into collections, but surely you should be more concerned about instilling values into your own children rather than everybody else?
  • Shock jocks who use cheap stunts and have a 14-year old teenager reveal on air her rape. Now I know why I listen to music on my iPod and stick to Triple J.
  • Developers of hotels and department stores who think bigger is better. Glass and chrome don’t really belong at the top end of Bourke Street.
  • Bookstores who have yet to send me textbooks for classes which have already started.
  • Children who won’t stay in bed…

As a counter-balance, what doesn’t cheese me off:

  • Window shopping in Little Collins Street after a fabulous lunch at the Postal Hall- saw the most gorgeous black and white linen shift dress in Anne Thomas- now,  if only I had a spare $550…
  • Re-programming my iPod and having a sublime trip into the 60s with lots of bands beginning with The, as well as Dusty and Aretha. Looking forward to my 70s and 80s trips v.soon.
  • My Hello Kitty slippers- a tattered Mother’s Day present and totally daggy, but very comfortable.
  • Friends who forgive my meltdowns.
  • People who offer to make me a cup of tea (hint, hint Mr Bookgrrl!).

Paint it black

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It feels as if winter has finally arrived- my world this morning was grey and misty and most of the trees in the street have lost their leaves.
It made me aware of how important colour is in my life.
BLACK-Yes, yes I know it’s not a colour, but a shade. My favourite colour to wear in my wardrobe, which is a hangover from my days as a Myer shopgirl. You could get 25% off black and white clothing, so I ended up wearing a lot of black in and out of work. And from my art classes eons ago, if you mixed black with yellow you got lovely shades of

GREEN- my son’s favourite colour- he insisted on his room painted in that colour. We have a lovely green vista from our kitchen/dining room into the back yard; lots of rose bushes and hedges and trees. It looks especially prety in the sun, especially against the backdrop of a clear

BLUE sky. Our bedroom is painted Brittany Blue (from Haymes). With the mantlepiece and wardrobes painted white, and the blue and white bedspread, I feel as if I have found my perfect bedroom. My perfect bedroom when younger though would have been

PINK. My daughter’s room is the palest of pink and with the north sun streaming through the window, it feels so light and airy. I had always wanted a pink bedspread, but was overruled by my mum who found a brown and yellow bedspread with girls in bonnets (it was the 70’s). “But I want pink!” I remember saying to mum.”But it’s Sheridan,” was my mum’s reply. I was five- WTF? One thing my mum and I did agree upon was my wearing

RED. Mum liked to dress me in red, and my favourite shoes when I was six were red Mary Janes. I still have a weakness for red Mary Janes and my daughter will no doubt carry on that tradition :). It’s a colour I turn to for comfort- I have a slouchy red cardigan that is years old which I will never throw out, and my two favourite dresses in my wardrobe are red. One is my wedding dress- I had never been a fan of the white meringue look. The other is a fifties-style, waisted with a belt, flared skirt, v-neck collar and short sleeves. It was bought on a whim with a friend and I love it, not just for the colour, but for the way it makes me feel- very flirtatious and sometimes deliciously naughty…