Whimsy and Wonder

I can't begin to tell you how good it feels to recharge my batteries and do things that bring my pleasure and happiness, rather than slaving over a hot text book and studying for hours and hours in a day. Today I am trying to go without mindless television and only turn it on to play Banjo Twooie on the Nintendo 64, in between blogging as well as catching up on the books I've borrowed from the library. The photographs chosen for this post have a gentle air of enlightenment about them and I'm going to try and achieve the same thing today in my own state of mind.

Last night I bought two Penguin book bags in orange and dark green and also plan to treat myself to the pink and purple covers of the bag too when I have all my financial affairs sorted out properly. I've hit penguin fever and also scoured Etsy for second hand copies of penguin classics I plan to buy as soon as the payment for advertising space on this blog comes through. Till then I'll have to properly manage my bookshelf space in my room and get through the Terry Pratchett novels I borrowed from my local library. He writes fantastic and witty fiction, there's about thirty or so books dedicated to his own magical and celestial world of wizards, witches and other creatures by the name of Discworld.

If I really was on holiday I wouldn't be wearing the tracksuit pants and jacket that I am not but perhaps a loose fitting blouse and vintage cut off shorts while strolling around the streets of a forbidding looking market. Although there are plenty of activities in my own city, I find it hard to play tourist and do the tourist thing- but make no mistake that when I do go out to the city I wear my best clothing and protect my skin from the sun by means of a well placed and dapper looking straw hat.

While I have dedicated a good two months to slothing around the house and doing nothing all day, one can't help but wonder that I have been too lazy in rousing myself from this creative stupor and I could have been doing better things with my time up to and including learning rudimentary language skills in Japanese or creating DIY Doc Martens. Of course, that would involved finding a plain white/ pink pair as well as enough cellophane sparkles and a good quality glue to attach them to said boot.

What could be more relaxed and unimposing then a pair of loose fitting and baggy jeans as well as a crisp white blouse and perhaps a floral garland for your head if you so desire. That's what I envision when I think of holidays to inviting lands full of perfect weather. I suppose these types of outfits would be a staple part of your routine if you were to travel to somewhere exotic like the Greek islands but there's also your very own backyard in which you can host small little garden parties and possibly play croquet, weather and landscape allowing it.

Garden parties too small scale for you? Feel like taking on a real challenge of epic proportions? Why not host a fully-fledged dinner party showing off your finest silverware with grand looking candelabras down the middle of the main table, fine glassware to drink from and also a chandelier threatening to crush the heads of your enemies below? I think I would love to have something like this set up in a spare room or something like that, but I know in my heart of hearts that I will never have anything as grand as this scene in any home that I live in.

The perks of owning such a grand home with dinner parties and the like is that you can dress as an 'eccentric' rather than being labelled as a friendless wonder who probably has dementia and social problems. On occasion, I will sit down and join my mother to watch period pieces or murder mysteries by Agathy Christie simply to see the decadent style of 1920s flapper girls as well as beaded fringing and feather plume headbands. I loved seeing the Art Deco exhibition a few years ago with my parents and getting to ogle the cars, snuff boxes as well as Egyptian artifacts and Ming dynasty pieces that were popularised at that time.

While many of the whimsical things I blog about are in the composition of a photography of the styling chosen for a model, places and lands of exotic spice are equally as wonderful and thrilling and I can't wait to get another taste of travel in little more than a year. I will be heading to Canada and while their culture can't be too far off from that of Australia, maybe I'll be hearing a little bit of conversational French while I'm there as well although I will be in an English speaking province. It's fun to be immersed in a foreign language and culture for about a week or so, but after you tired of not being able to understand and communicate with others around you. It's socially isolating without having someone to share ideas with about this new culture you're experiencing.

Feminine Mystique

After staring at photographs of Vogue models for far too long last night it seems that I finally kicked myself into high gear to do a little exercise both last night and this morning. I even had a little salad on the side of my breakfast of leftover pasta this morning! I've been pretty slack recently in terms of keeping up with a diet but I really do want to be skinnier this year and look lovely when standing in front of flowers and buy ballerina inspired shoes...

I had meant to take more photographs in the new year, rather than present what other people have been doing and achieving but I have greater motivation to toil away over the keyboard and watch things such as my stats for this blog rather than getting out into the field and getting back into photography again. I have a few rolls of film sitting on my desk and waiting to be developed from last year as well as numerous 35mm film I stocked up on but nothing really exciting is happening in my life at the moment. Instead I'm stuck in this strange purgatorial half living state from when high school has finished and university has yet to begin.

The outfit posts I've contributed to this blog have been amateurish at best- I suppose I don't think enough about the use of props and coordination of accessories. I'm still nervous about positioning myself in front of the camera and delivering a fierce look rather than the overall presentation. Having a large and colourful bouquet of flowers more similar to exploding fireworks would be a good excuse not to look at the camera or to worry about make-up. It's a pity I don't know of any largely weeded gardens or fields to stand in front of for such a photograph though; still, I am quite content with the plain wallpaper of my hallway as well as the framed pictures of birds for my outfit posts.

As damaging as it is, I would like to go blond just once in my life, but with my dark brows the dye would become even more prominent and I enjoy not having to worry about my roots showing and the up-keep of dyed hair. My usual routine is a wash and brushing away fallen bits, maybe a braid overnight or using the hair-dryer but things have been really simple lately and I think since I last attacked my split ends with scissors my hair grew a little bit in response but it doesn't seem to be growing much at all now. Still, I can boast having long mermaid length hair like the model above and it's as shiny as her in my respective colour. Today was the day I was meant to get a trim but the postponement of that appointment can be attributed to the fact that Chinese New Year is tomorrow.

Photographs such as the one shown above of a fairy is the precise reason I favour film photography over digital now. Sure the effect can be achieved by filtering and effects, but the grainy and dream-like quality of an all plastic camera can't be beat. I love the large floral wreath in her hair as well as the shape of her wings, they're very pretty and realistic to that of an actual butterfly. Currently one of my favourite stores, Tree of Life, is selling a large variety of white cotton dresses so maybe you'll see me dancing around my yard in a similar getup one of these days.

My room doesn't quite resemble a studio space but maybe that wouldn't quite be a bright idea considering I may be inspired to put together some crazy photographs inspired by illustrations. I will never be swayed to photograph myself nude, no matter how much pink is involved or how tasteful it is.

As a student under the discipline of science I know that there's no such thing as fanciful mystical beings such as unicorns and sprites but there's still the artistic side of me that holds on to a small seed of hope. Some of my favourite pieces of romantic literature and poems revolve around magical beings and as a child I loved reading about mythology of any origin but like all good things I've had to abandon my childhood dreams and ideals to become an adult. It always seemed a lot easier when I was younger, also a little more fun that it actually is.

Tomorrow if I can rouse myself off my fat ass and get over to the shops I'll be handing in my resume left, right and centre to see who wants to take me on, maybe buy some nice scented candles and finally check my eligibility for my staff discount where I was a Christmas casual. I assume the portal would be closed by now but I have my fingers crossed to get some book bags for university as well as a brown leather looking satchel and cheap Exercise books.

I really do need to read more magazines and literature if I ever hope to splice images together such as this mountain and these pink daisies. I quite like the combination of the two together since they have a similar type of lighting used- it's the sort of thing I imagine I would do if I bothered with scrap booking as well as reading more magazines. Newspaper quality could never do justice to such interesting and colourful tableau.

A Faery's Song

The hormones seem to be finally settling down and I have resolved to reuse a few of my favourite golden photographs for photo sets like this one so it seems I'll be pumping out a few more posts involving magic and crystals and the like. This post seems to have a more soft and feminine influence about it, but maybe that's because I want tender womanly care and not the banshee banter my own mother is abusing me with. I think I set a world land speed record for taking the shortest amount of time to anger a person over something that did not matter in the slightest. You'll see my names darlings on the walk of fame any minute now...

I can't wait to play in the flowers and trees of a local park tomorrow when I see my gal pals for a picnic.If all goes to plan I will remember to bring my Lomo LCA+ and not lose it or have it stolen from me and we will keep all our clothes on up to and including bras. I do rather like the dreamy tone of this photograph, the soft focus and the use of a low hanging tree branch covered in blossoms to partially obscure this woman's chest.

I just felt like including lots of antique looking medicines bottles full of old labels. There's nothing really feminine about them but it's a nice little reminder that I've been accepted into what is arguably, the second most coveted university in the state and into the faculty of science. So although the world of science is underrated and supposedly full of geeks and fashion won't mix, I vow to be one of the more beauteous female students in the faculty and have brains and maybe a little beauty too. Having both would be nice, but push come to shove I think improving one's intellect is a more worthwhile pursuit and a little easier to improve upon if you're not blessed with raw goods. What could be more magical and intriguing in this life than to engage and reciprocate in love? It has such a wasting power but when you get it right it's like a limitless supply of energy, though it is also draining on occasion too.

One of the best things about being a woman and having looks is attention from men; now, that does sound incredibly unfeminist but hear me out. When all else fails over the last year and a half I've still been able to depend on my beau when he's around to cheer me up and he is one of the sweetest things in the world. I just wish I had been able to talk to him tonight and let him now that I love receiving and exchanging attention with him and it does make me feel a little more womanly to indulge in a romantic relationship.

I'd love seeing thick and spindly looking dandelions, plucking them in small bouquets and breathing life into the spores to spring up more plants and gain more chances at wishing. At the time, I had a few rabbits to feed the empty stems to and the more I did this the more I would get to feed them. Dandelions are still a picturesque and unique plant to look at and maybe I'll get to study plants more as a part of the science faulty at Monash but I'd be more interested in gems and metals really. I must be spending way too much time looking at online jewellery stores but at the moment it, all I can think about is going into the highest paying profession when I finish my degrees.

A few years ago, maybe one or two I would have been all over the raw and crystal jewellery as well as the use of silver in this photograph but it seems that people change and mature and silver is no longer my metal of preference. I keep forgetting to wear jewellery when I'm out with my friends or my beau but that doesn't mean that I've completely stopped wearing it. When going out to work and handling register and stock I took great pride in wearing thick rings and when I go out with my family as well.

I always associate long hair that's messy and untidy with magical beings be them good or evil. Mermaids are often depicted with hair long enough to cover their chest even when wearing bras made of shells and I'm glad I've managed to squirm out of my appointment with our hairdresser. I was rather pleased with the textured look I had this morning when releasing my hair from it's overnight braid but it does look a little dry and like it could do with a trim or at least a product to restore it. Despite being a little dry, my hair is no where near the state of my brother's wiry hair and it still has a neat shine to it thanks to using expensive conditioner meant for coloured hair. I've lost any streaks that I did have in the past and it just gives my hair a healthy shine.

 

I've always wanted a gorgeous framed mirror or painting to decorate my room but it seems I don't visit the local second hand shops enough to know where the opportunities are and buying online for something that fragile and large is often a nightmare. Even if I don't think people think highly of my appearance, I can be quite vain and happily perch myself in front of a mirror to see my reflection. I don't use windows though or black screens unless I'm checking for signs of love bites or sunburn.

Floral Wreaths

What better way to reign sovereign over the realm of nature than while wearing a crown of flowers shaped in a wreath? I've lusted over a crown of fake flowers for a while now, but I haven't been able to find anything suitable- not even on eBay while searching all manor of words to aid me in my search. I saw one vintage reseller sell a cool one a year or two ago now and I should have snapped it up but I didn't have the money at the time. Being reminded of losses on eBay are what spur me and push myself to accept every shift I'm offered- preventing being in the poor house as much as I can. This is why I'm so jealous of stylists, they have access to a series of great fashion accessories and pieces to bring out the best in a collection while I'm here, sitting at home and stuck with squat.

Still though, it's not all doom and gloom. I may not be even able to view all the lovely photographs of other fortunate girls adorned in floral wreaths. Now that's the kind of thing that would really bring you down when sitting around with spare time on your hands during Summer holidays. I think that if I were able to get my hands on the raw materials of fake flowers and their stems, I may have a slim chance of being able to figure out how it all fits together to make a crown as it were. I would love to do it wit real flowers, but the practice is time consuming and the flowers die after a few short hours as a crown sitting atop my head.

There's so many beautiful photographs featuring I'm missing out on recreating due to my floral wreath withdrawal- unfortunately their a bit of an oddity and a rare item to com across. What I really need to do is do some honest-to-goodness second hand shop scouring for pieces of such finesse and quirk. Everything I can find online is an ornament for a wall and not your head. It looks like if I'm to get the gypsy and natural look I'll have to source it from America or use real flowers- if only I had been alive in the sixties.

The intertwining of natural flowers and leaves on a mountainous setting at sunset- that's supposedly when magical powers are first at play progressively getting stronger till the witching hour; midnight. Fake flowers are best teamed up with a material to soften the look and make the flowers look more realistic by comparison, whereas when using real flowers I think using stems and leaves is quite charming and becoming.

I love the effect of a floral wreath arranged with matching shades of tulle and silky ribbons, the kind you would find on bridesmaids at a wedding. I like the new modern take on it though to wear it with casual attire. It makes you look like a fairy queen and more romantic- all of which are characteristics I now cherish after having undertaken Literature as a subject in my final year of high school. It was one of my more enjoyed classes too and a lot of fun. The floral wreaths and halos remind me of poems such as the Lady of Shallot as well as La Belle Dame Sans Merci.

Baby, it's Magic

Being alone in the house for much of the day means I can burn candles in my room to make it smell good, waste away much of the day on blogging sites and type and write to my heart's content. If I had any sort of real motivation I would clean my room and make it look nice and tidy as well while listening to music but due to my slight OCD tendencies I feel I need to get through a whole lot of tabs open in my Internet browser. Still, it'd be nice to make my room a nice, clean space where I can practice music again and somewhere I enjoy relaxing rather than just a place where I sleep and study. Goodness knows I need a place where I can actually use my tripod for photography, too bad I lack the motivation to decorate my room with picture frames and photographs with candles and cut-out from Vogue magazine on the walls.

At the moment my occult admiration and behaviour has only lead me as far as candle burning, I haven't yet given myself some biro tattoos yet, although that may be the next step or wearing a lot of lace and black. At a sort of hippy store I saw a plethora of white festival dresses and I felt drawn to them, only the store was closed at the time. I should be careful not to become such a lover of magical things but it's rousing my interest and all the novels I'm reading at the moment have to do with witches and wizards! I'm a big lover of science fiction and fantasy, I make no secret of that. Maybe soon it will be reflected in my personal style, I have my eye on some zodiac medallions even if they're not my astrological sign as well as ear wraps featuring dragons. This strange mood has either evolved from boredom, or suppressing all interest in things mythological and cosmic for the last year or so.

My next purchase at work after my next pay comes through will be a wooden hand model which I can put my rings on when I'm not wearing them- it may also be fun to take some different photographs of the different ring combinations I wear day to day. This photograph is magnificent, I love the contrast of the red-orange lighting as well as the sleek black plastic hand and thick silver rings. I spy some shaped in a pyramid stud, large shield motifs and an Egyptians style ankh. There are some great stores that have that sort of Egyptian styled ring but I can do better to search on eBay rather than pay their ridiculous marked up prices.

One of the activities I was most looking forward to while away on schoolies was to play around with sparklers in the backyard and take photographs. Alas, we missed our opportunity and that never happened. Probably due to our reluctance to play around with matches more than we needed to but I still can't shake the fact I missed an opportunity to imitate a photograph in this vain and style with bright stark light against a dark and foreboding background.

 

The best effect filtered and added on to a photograph is the speckled sort of fairy dust effect that imitates the stars speckling over the black night's sky. If I was to ever invest in Photoshop it may be for a purpose such as this or to digitally change the colour of my hair and have a tentative guess at what the results may be if I were to do it for real. The long trailing skirt made of a silken material as well as the black velvet top with puffed shoulders and a  bejewelled neckline goes so well with the pink pastel mass of curls on the models head and the natural setting. This is how a modern, 21st century fairy should look- bewitchingly beautiful with a fantastic melding of colours and a long trailing midnight blue skirt. I bet American Apparel manufacture a dress of a similar bright cobalt blue colour.

 

The final bit of whimsy, teenage mysticism that I'm caught up in is the simple combination of messy bedraggled hair and white, whether that be cropped and loose jersey white singlets or some of the festival inspired and light white dresses I spied the other day. I usually avoid white things especially when I'm out and about say in the city where I'll end up sitting on the ground at one point, but at the moment I'm lured in by the clean, pure colour of white. The contrast of the soft streaked sky and clouds as well as the bony arms in the air completes this photograph.