Giveaway - still ON!

Hey friends,

Sugar sugar sugar, it's busy! I've stopped off at QANNO CLUB, because I'm flying to Splendour in the Grass, a music festival, in Queensland for work. This means live radio, offsite, broadcasting from a large tent, for 3 days. It could be dirty, it could be yukky, it could be hot, it could be freezing, so I've packed for everything.

I also have gumboots with red love hearts on them. Stylish.

But I thought you should know that my giveaway, where I make YOU an outfit (dress, skirt, tshirt etc) once my sewing room is up and running, is still OPEN. BECAUSE, my sewing room looks like this:

There's Joanie looking at home, with my creations in the cupboard...

And there's my sewing desk, my machines (still with covers on dammit) and my BEAUTIFUL new piece of furniture (with pink cupboards) behind me! I'll show you more of that later, but at this stage... NO OPERATIONAL SEWING ROOM.

So, better for you to enter my giveaway! Hooray!

Talk next week guys!

Certainly not one of *those* people

We all know those people, they love their iphone so much they talk about it all the time, and say things like 'Let me just show you this cool app'... I'm certainly not one of those people at all... at all... well, you and I are friends now, so I can be honest. I FREAKING LOVE this iphone.

I had to get a new phone because my hours changed, so handed back my work blackberry. I was going to hang out for the iphone 4, but jumped into a cheaper option anyways, and so today I bring you my lardy dar hipstermatic iphone phots:

Husbie with Doggie Darling and our new brick lounge/dining room wall.

Husbie always takes better photos!

This one is quite nice, it's my train station getting 'updated' by workers earlier this morning. It was totally SO cold here in Melbourne this morning, and I froze on the way to work. I started to get a little head cold through the day, and there's a bit going around apparently. I tried to work really fast, but got a little weird so luckily Husbie was in the city and picked me up and we drove home.

I've been sleeping this arvo, and trying to keep heaps warm in bed. I hope your week is ok, and that you're living out your wildest sewing dreams for me, as it's still ages away from me even looking at my sewing machines. xoxo

We haz TV, need propz

We're googling like mad to find some inspiration for our flat screen TV. We used to have it housed on an old $10 low drinks/cutlery cabinet that we drilled holes into for the blu ray machine and the sound bar and all that technical jazz. As Husbie is in the film making biz, we realised only last year that we'd been staring into a little 4 by 3 ratio 15 year old tv, and perhaps needed to 'Get With The Program'.

Now, it's a little hard to be a vintage lover with a new shiny black TV and it's extra bits. For heaven's sake, we even have a Sub Woofa. LOL

What to do, now that the space for the telly, in our new house, is only a metre and a half, instead of two and half metres? The dorky cabinet is out. I thought I'd get a bunch of phots together, to see what's possible, but if you have some ideas, please let me know!

Photo sourced from Apartment Therapy's Easel as Television post and a great idea, but will have to get something like the shelf to put the accessories involved, the soundbar, the blu ray etc.

But what are you guys up to? I'd love to know something you've seen or spotted online! Husbie has been searching for actual old workbenches from carpenters sheds as well, as a really different option. What I really don't want to buy is a corner TV cabinet, I'd love something old or unexpected. The tricky thing is about holding those 'Extra Bits' like the bluray, and those cords!


P.S. STILL haven't been able to set up the Sewing Room, so the giveway is still open. Maybe for another week too!

Wonderful wonderful wonderful Melbs

And so it begins dear friends. Falling in love with Melbs is so easy, so quick!

Today was a great real normal day for us. A Saturday of doing things, and I just loved being 'normal' in this town. I got my hair done at Corrin's Hair Lounge and these photos will never make it look right, especially since I mucked around with them in lightroom:

It's a more white-white, than yellow-white, and at first I thought it came across a little silver, but that appazza will fade. I LOVED my hair style though, my darling hairdresser set it like 60s Brigitte Bardot. NICE!

Then I went next door and bought the best shoes in the world, as a present for getting my new job.

Yay for me!

They're Melissa shoes (AGAIN) and are the 'Troupe' variety and totally dreamy! I'll have to actually do a separate gush post about Emina's shoppe, but OK OK is the place, and my new fave store in Melbs. Emina has Melissa shoes, AND the best tights and hosiery (LOL, what a cute word!) you'll ever see in the whole of the land. PLUS SHE DESIGNS ALL THE CLOTHES HERSELF AND THEY'RE MADE IN MELBOURNE. I am absolutely stoked and amazed at her skillz!

Be sure to be sure, I shall visit again, and might even bring my awesome Husbie:

Yay!

80s Breakfast Club Style

Oh boy, I've been a little mad without my Husbie and my STUFF around me.

Everything is still half in boxes, all over the house, and today I picked up my clothes and realised I'd spread them around to 5 rooms. I am a grot! (As my mum might say)

But, here's a GREAT tablecloth I got at the cheap department store up the road, a closing down sale. Very kitsch to go with the rest of the house!

I'm absolutely beside myself because Husbie is flying to Melbs as I type, and will officially be a Melbournian in half an hour to an hour, as he comes home for good. I've had to survive as a single mother for the past week and a half, and I've been a little bit bad... drinking red wine til LATE last night, watching live music and freaking working... bad mummy. Doggie Darling has hardly noticed; I came home today with a gorgeous neighbourly note from a household who share our back fence, and they adore her! I bet she's been spoilt all through the day! No wonder she's tired when I get home!

So! I'm heaps keen to get the rest of the house unpacked and finally finally finally get my life back in order. I had to dag it up today, 80s Breakfast Club Style. My hair was even bigger at the start of the day, and my skirt way shorter, and my knitwear was way baggier.

I even rolled up the sleeves. Oh yeah! My mum actually knitted this big jumper for me, it's really soft pinky wool, and I think I may have been 8 years old when I got it. Either she knitted it way too big or I just never grew... and because of the 4 foot 11 height that I reached today, I'm thinking a bit of both.

Well done to you if you've already seen my Blog Giveaway, where you do lots of stuff like follow/like/befriend all for the gush of fashion n stuff! There's still time because I'm no where near setting up the sewing room. I found some fabric unpacking and then realised the boxes the removalists had labelled 'Linen' actually meant fabric, and I had wondered why there were so many freaking boxes with towels and bedsheets in them. I have a little too much 'Linen' and lets hope I get to unpacking those boxes this weekend, and not Husbie. Whoops! More STASHBUSTIN' to do!

Talk soon! So the giveaway is open until that Sewing Room is set up, perhaps this Sunday?

xoxo

Unpacking + Giveaway

I'm ballsdeep in wretched moving boxes, but thankfully they're getting emptied rather than filled up. We have moved to a wonderful neighbourhood, with darling friendly people everywhere! I've found my favourite coffee shop, and my local markets. Doggie Darling and I have explored the doggie parks in the 'hood too!

BUT! Sitting around here at my new home, I thought how wonderful would it be to have 200 followers on this blog, so what about a GIVEAWAY?! But how should I do the giveaway, I wonder?

I'm just hanging in my 1970s kitchen. Getting ready to amp up the kitsch. Kitch VS Kitsch!

Pincurls work in Melbourne - Yay! (For some reason, I worried the water would be different and it'd be the wrong kind of water for pincurls! Worry Wart anyone?) Um, I did say 1970s kitsch right? Wood panelling everywhere! And wooden beams as well, in case you didn't have enough wood.

This is my 1970s dining room/mini lounge room, brickwork for you Oonaballoona! FUNNY, but at least the brick breaks up the wood right?

Cannot WAIT to show you a real photo of the carpet, and yes, they are the same blue as my tights. (I'm leaning down here, I'm not really that short. Pint sized yes, not pot sized! MELBOURNE REFERENCE!)

Doggie Darling says hi! So perhaps perhaps perhaps... Perhaps, I'll run my giveaway suchly:

I'll make a garment for you. Yep, I'll make a garment, of your choosing, for you, if you are the winner of my 'Yay for Melbourne' Giveaway! 'Yay for Melbourne' because I'm happy to be moved, happy to be in M-Town, and will be able to show you how great Melbourne is now that I'm here! So you'll be also saying 'Yay for Melbourne' soon too!

So, if you leave a post here saying what kind of garment you'd be keen on... and remembering that I do make a lot of things from vintage patterns or stretch tshirt tops (not trying to hinder your garment choices, but perhaps play to my strengths!)... BUT, leave a post here and then I'll do a random 'drawn out of the hat' type thing. Timewise, you've got until my sewing room is set up, which at this stage could be 2 weeks. Your prize will also be the first thing I'll sew in the new sewing room too! Yayz!

So get your thinking cap on, or search my archives, and leave your comment about your desired garment below. AND, if you like facebook or twitter, you can become my friend IRL, or 'like' my veronica darling page, or hashtag #yayformelbourne and follow me on twitter (or here on the blog) and each thing counts as an extra entry to the giveaway. So if you leave a comment, follow me on twitter, become my friend on facey, and 'like' my fanpage, that's FOUR freaking entries friends! Sounds great if you love a wiggle dress! Or perhaps a great versatile tshirt dress?

 Talk soon! xoxo

*** And YEP, this is open to international peeps as well, I don't mind where you live, I love everywhere!

Beep Beep!

Imagine if I was actually writing you this, saying 'This is my New Car':

Woo hoo!

My friend emailed this to me with the subject 'Your Hot New Wheels' and I would be hot (as in toasty) inside this little beauty. I'm doing heaps of crochet at the moment (making a scarf for Husbie) and finding it SO easy to do on the train!

Yep, I've started my new job here in Melbourne. It's a little different because I'm not working on a daily radio show anymore, so I get to listen to the radio and plan ahead about a whole lot of projects instead. It's great so far, and because I've been waking up normally for 9 to 5 hours, I've been going out heaps! Yay! Saw Dan Kelly play last night (He's a gorgeous musician, nephew of famous Aussie songman Paul Kelly) and then Adam Hills do a comedy gig. TWO nights out this week!

Anyways, I'll have the internet on by tonight hopefully, so I'll blog you about my house over the weekend! I can't WAIT to set up my sewing room and show you my hopefully finished crochet scarf!

Last day before the First day...

I *promise* I'll find more interesting photos soon! I'm at a cafe right by my house, having brunch and gathering my thoughts and notes for the day ahead tomorrow. My First Day at my new job in Melbz!

It's an absolutely gorgeous day in the West is Best suburb of Yarraville! The sun is streaming through the cafe, and it's a darling blue sky day. I'm all like WTF, thanks Melbs! Thank you for your lovely wishes yesterday, and thank you also for sticking with my little posts on NON-crafty things!

BUT, I started thinking about fashion and history and style recently, as I just finished watching Project Runway Season 5. Luckily I've had the season on my computer, and as we've been without the internet and without tv and possessions this past week, I've caught up on Dexter and now Project Runway. I'm sure there's still a few more seasons that I have to catch up on, for the PR fans out there, is there currently 7? Or is in up to 8 already?

Anyways, this year I was happy with the winner Leanne:

I liked a lot of her stuff through the show, and loved (of course) the sustainability and future-style she was keen on. Yay for Leanne! And how brilliant that 3 women were in the top to show for the fashion week thing. But what I started thinking about, was the history/trend of fashion, especially since there was a few comments made to Kenley that her creations were similar to some really famous designs and designers.

I was really happy she made the finals, because I totes loved her frocks but I can't really comment on her attitude and personality (as I wasn't there at the filming of the series, and frankly reality tv is *not* reality)... but I am curious about that collective conscience and that if Kenley's designs were similar to these bigger, more famous designers, and she didn't know about them, or their designs. Now, I'm a little like that at times. Some people I know are all like "blah blah [insert designer name here] and your skirt, blah blah [insert designer name here] and you could try the same" to me, and it's great they think I know about these fashion designers... but most of the time I'm like 'Yeah yeah,' but I have no idea. AND, I don't read fash mags or look at runway collections and stuff, so I really have no idea if what I ever make is already being made.

It made me think that if I go further into fashion and designing for realsa, I should really know who these people are. Tim Gunn was all like, if you come this far and you don't know who these people are... then people (like media/fashion peeps) will tell you ... and you don't want to be called copycat. When I searched for Kenley's photo before: "Project Runway Kenley" and then copycat was the first thing that came up... so the most popular search terms together.

What do you think? Do you know a fashion designer's creation, just by seeing a photo? Or are you a little bewildered like me? I probably could only could spot a Jean Paul Gaultier design because he's quite largely into some 'signature things'. (LOLZ!) But, I don't know where to start really, I love my vintage patterns and pattern making books, so I am understanding form and structure and togetherness at the moment... but to get into high fashion and know what's already *been* and *being* designed is a HUGE commitment.

I know I've got my career hands full as it is, and it would honestly be a HUGE commitment to change industries, but it's very interesting already as a Holly Hobby Seamstress. Perhaps I'll never make the change, but I *love* thinking about all this stuff! Maybe I'll do a 'Getting to know Fashion Design' posts here and we can all chip in with what we know about Fash and Peeps and the like.

Thoughtfully, Veronica Darling xoxo

Hello Melbourne!

I am brimming with thoughts, gossip, stories, adventures, crafting (a little, OMG!) but most of all love!

Yay!

We're in our darling new house in the west of Melbourne, and loving the area completely! I can walk easily to Yarraville village, Seddon village, and freaking Footscray (my fave!) with the best multicultural shopping strips and restaurants I've ever seen! I'm going to eat myself silly!

Hooray! It's great to finally make it to Sunday night though, beause after I left Wagga Wagga things got a little crazy. Doggie Darling and I got cabin fever big time (but we love each other again now), I got crazy overtired because I became a worry wart about the move. Our stuff *still* hasn't arrived from Sydney. I have no idea where it is, but it's in a shipping container somewhere even though the 'relocation' company initially guaranteed three days and no more of transit. During my initial discussions with them, I believe the words 'Next Day Delivery' was even mentioned.

But, it's Sunday now, and I'm sitting on our new Ikea guest room bed (we were going to buy one eventually, so at least we have something to sleep on now) and we've spent a whole lot of money but we've also got some amazing little pieces of furniture and a fantastic house with fabulous neighbours!

And I braided my hair today:

Double Yay! AND, whilst we've been watching Dexter (season 4, wtf omg etc etc etc!) I've been crocheting a bit of this scarf crossed with this scarf (who is SO gorgeous btw) for my Husbie. It's a different kind of cold here in Melbs, but not utterly as freezing as I thought it would be! I have had to get some extra singlets from the oppie and tights from 'Forges' in Footscray to prepare from that 8am commute!

As for Dexter, Husbie wanted me to tell you that when we were walking through Seddon village today, we spotted a vintage carving knife with the brand name called 'Dexter' and we thought that interesting at the time. Especially since Dexter uses a lot of knives to cut people up with. And you were totally right Oona about the 30/70 good/bad part... the twists in the last 2 episodes. OMG ick!

Talk soon, I hope!