Camperdown Cruise 2014

I have wanted to enter a Pinup competition for a little while now, but have always missed the cutoff dates or just made excuses as to why I shouldn't enter, but this year I really wanted to attend the Camperdown Cruise, one of the largest Rockabilly weekends in Victoria. It's set over three days and encompasses all I love in Rockabilly culture; music, hot-rods, dancing and of course, fashion.

Flyer for the weekend

So I finally entered my first pinup competition which will be on the Saturday of this weekend. Below is my image and bio that I submitted along with two other photos. I now have to wait to see whether I am selected to compete. Competition includes 3 rounds, which are Day wear, Beach wear and Evening wear, with questions in each round! How fun!

Keep your fingers crossed that I get selected! xx

Mermaid Life

I have always loved The Little Mermaid, and was finally given the opportunity to cosplay Ariel this week. I utilised a pair of leggings from Living Dead Clothing, by sewing a faux fin to the bottom of the legs using green chiffon and a mermaid fabric from Spotlight. I pinked the edges and gently shaped the ends so the effect was soft and flowing. It was also relatively easy to move in, but gave the desired effect of a mermaid tail when posed correctly.

I also bought a red wig from eBay, and customised a shell with rhinestones and self-adhesive pearls. As I would be at work I didn't want to wear a purple bikini top, so chose an off-the-shoulder lilac crop from Asos. To complete the look, I chose my usual pinup make up with red brows and a more dramatic winged eyeliner.

I'm really happy with how it turned out, and it was a relatively simple costume. Hope you like it! x

Ariel with her dinglehopper!

Baking Therapy

I have been a bit quiet here for the last couple of weeks, and this day marks the end of an incredibly long and disastrous week. From locking myself out of my apartment, to smashing my phone screen, and dropping my prized Kitchen Aid, my mood has been a little down. I definitely needed some baking therapy but unfortunately my oven has also broken this week! Luckily the promise of baked goods assists in the donation of an oven to use!

I don't think you can go past a perfectly baked scone, with a light fluffy centre paired with whipped cream and strawberry jam, and it's exactly what I fancied eating.

Firstly, thanks to my Mum for this delicious recipe and also the handy hints!

Traditional Scones and Jame

This is an incredibly simple and quick recipe, and you only need a few ingredients. Apologies these measurements are in imperial but you can change them to metric if needed.

You will need:

1 lb Self-raising Flour
1 tsp Salt
4 oz Butter
2 oz Caster Sugar
1/2 pint Milk
Jam and whipped cream to fill.

Firstly pre-heat your oven to 230oC, these treats are baked quickly but at a high heat. You will also need to prepare a lightly greased baking tray.

1. Sift flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Rub in butter until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

This may take a little while to get to this stage.

2. Add caster sugar and mix lightly. Then incorporate the milk and mix to a soft dough, it may be slightly sticky so you can add a little extra flour if required.

3. Turn onto a lightly floured surface, knead quickly and pat out to approximately 1.5cm thickness.
Note: Do not use a rolling pin, this can cause the dough to become tough and not rise as effectively.

This recipe will make approximately 20 scones

 4. Place scones on a greased baking tray and bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes. You can brush the tops with milk/whisked egg but it isn't necessary.

5. Cool on a wire rack, halve and enjoy with whipped cream and jam. I'm also looking forward to trying these with some home made lemon curd.

Top with jam and cream and enjoy!

After a little baking, and some sugar I'm feeling happier and I can look forward to a better week. Let me know if you give these a go. Have a lovely week! x

Weekend Outfit Round Up

I thought I'd post my weekend outfit posts- I usually use Instagram but thought I could provide a more detailed post here.

Friday night I met a lovely friend for dinner in Prahran. I don't usually get to wear heels much but I took the opportunity to wear a moderately heeled shoe! I love the Deadly Dames Voodoo Vixen top, and it can be easily dressed up and down. I hope to purchase a few more colours that have recently been releases!

                           

On Saturday I headed to the Love Vintage and Retro Show held at the Royal Exhibition Building. I wore a new to me vintage dress, in a beautiful floral print and paired it with simple back seamed stockings, a vintage nylon headscarf and flat black pumps. I bought a couple of bits and a dress that requires some love which I'll blog about at another time.

                         

On Sunday I headed to the movies, so just paired my favourite Freddie's of Pinewood jeans with a simple white top. Comfort being the key to this outfit!

                          

I might try to start bringing a weekly roundup of outfits to the blog, but I rarely photograph during the week! x

Celebrate your Curves

This is a subject I am incredibly passionate about, and wanted to address in a little post. This morning I was flicking through a recent copy of Emporium (a magazine freely given to Myer customers, here in Australia), when I was stopped in my tracks with this image below and the tagline 'Celebrate your Curves'.

I have struggled with this exact concept for many years, and it has only been the last year that I can say I have ultimately become happy with my body - despite a daily fight with my head and every single image that confronts me in the media.

I have given up reading trashy celebrity magazines, which frequently tell me women are 'too skinny' next to 'How to lose 5 kg's' and I give my full support to body positive movements, preferring to read interesting, funny and positive blogs such as Fuller Figure Fuller Bust, Curves to Kill and Tess Munster.
                         

Too Skinny!

Too fat!

So what upset me with this advert? Looking at this image I see a beautiful woman, covered totally with baggy, ugly clothes that ultimately do not celebrate this lovely ladies figure. The antithesis of 'celebrating' her curves.

There are many clothing brands such as Pinup Girl Clothing, Domino Dollhouse and Collectif - that allow women of all shapes and sizes to wear beautiful, form-fitting and fun clothes. Fashion shouldn't be limiting and I encourage everyone reading this to think about their own body confidence. How do you feel about your own body? Do you put other women down for their choices? How do you want your daughter/niece/god-daughter to feel about their body?

 Now I certainly don't believe that one body type is better than another, and we should be teaching young girls to love themselves and celebrate their individuality no matter what shape or size they are, not only this, but to accept others and embrace diversity.

                       
So I guess the point of this post, is to open you eyes to your beauty, to give you some options to those trashy magazines and shapeless plus size clothing, to embrace your individuality and make you think about how you treat not only yourself, but other women. We all have our 'flaws', but ultimately what makes us different is what makes you, you.

I could talk forever about this, but ultimately you need to be kind to yourself and to others. This is just the tip of the iceberg, and if you are still searching for your own body confidence I would highly recommend switching those awful magazines, to a couple of the blogs I mentioned (and there are many more out there!) x

Beautiful Birdie

Anyone who knows me, knows my absolute love for Pinup Girl Clothing. For anyone new to this clothing company, I strongly suggest you visit their site! Not only is it a clothing store, but a community of beautiful, glamorous and intelligent women, plus everything in house is made in the USA. They have an active style forum, Facebook and Instagram page, and this community is something I hold dear to my heart.

I stalk their social media almost daily and nothing could contain my excitement when I saw the new colour-ways for the Birdie dress. I already own this dress in Red Rose and it's one of my favourite pieces, it's a great go-to for any occasion.

During the online yard sale, I had the perfect reason to order this dress (Note: I can always find a perfect reason to order a dress!) and I eagerly anticipated it's arrival. Thanks to Pinup Girl Clothing's super fast Fedex delivery I had my yard sale goodies in my finger tips in 5 days and awaited the perfect opportunity to give this dress it's first outing and my first blog review.

Apologies for the heavily imaged post.

3/4 Sleeve Birdie in lavender $118

This dress is made from rich stretch cotton sateen and has a delightful heavy quality to the fabric. My most favourite feature of this dress, is the oversized collar, which folds into a modest V shaped in the front, which is both elegant and demure.

The three quarter length sleeves, are roomier than I was anticipating which makes this dress comfortable and easy to maneuver in. The full skirt shows off your silhouette, and coupled with the matching belt nips in your waist so it can be perfectly defined.

I am wearing this dress with a pink petticoat from Kitty Rose Couture and simple back seamed stockings - a necessity for any fifties loving girl. This petticoat is by Spin Dance - Vintage Collection and is not scratchy or too voluminous for every day wear. I don't tend to wear petticoats on a daily basis - I prefer to keep them for special occasions, but this may change!

The full skirt is shown beautifully without a petticoat but for added fullness it definitely enhances my figure, it's also great for twirling!

I wear a medium in most of Pinup Girl Clothing dresses and separates and this is no exception. The waist is tight but not uncomfortable and I find the length perfect on my 6ft frame. My measurements are 36-28-40 for reference and the size chart can be located on the right of the image on the website. Their Facebook page is always active if you need help with sizing.

I don't think I can go any further without mentioning the stunning print and lavender colour - it definitely makes you stand out from a crowd and I had many compliments on it's first outing. It's coming up for Winter now in Melbourne, and even though this is part of the spring line, I will be wearing it a lot with tights and my leather jacket. It's too pretty to keep it away for Summer!

I am already wanting this dress in the Magenta colour and will be adding it to my wish list! Now let's put some more photo's in so you can appreciate the beautiful dress in all it's glory!

Such good quality fabric, and vivid print.

Always twirling!

Amazing twirling abilities - as I said!

Pinup Girl Clothing pretties always flatter my curves and this dress is the epitome of that. I feel glamorous and pretty, totally girly and I love it. The quality is unquestionable and the design eye catching and feminine. 

If you have any questions on the fit of this dress or any other items from Pinup Girl Clothing, please feel free to ask. I hope you enjoyed my review and found it useful x

Red Velvet Dreams

Today mark's a day I am incredibly proud of. A small step closer to making my dreams possible.

I attended a presentation skills training session at work a couple of weeks ago, as a warm up exercise we were asked to select a topic card, and then talk for 2 minutes on that particular subject, with no preparation. The card I selected at random was; your favorite food. Obviously, I passionately rambled on about my love for cupcakes and sweet things in general, and I was told my excitement was infectious! The conversation continued during morning tea and I was asked if I ever made cupcakes to sell, I nervously said that it was something I'd love to do

Roll on to yesterday, I was approached by a co-worker to see if I would be able to bake something, in time for a Mad Hatter themed bridal shower this weekend. I immediately felt anxious, I'd never actually SOLD a cake, I had no idea how to price or charge for my work or time. In my mind I was thinking who would actually pay for something I had made?! The sudden doubt about my capabilities crept in, but I reluctantly accepted the challenge.

With the short time frame, I suggested Red Velvet - with the red/white colouring I thought it could symbolise The Queen of Hearts another Alice in Wonderland character. Plus they're delicious! Luckily I only had to bake 24, nothing too far out of my comfort zone but I needed each one to be perfect. A scary thought, considering I was trialling a brand new recipe, provided to me at my cupcake baking class.

Nothing more inviting than Red Velvet batter

Perfectly risen and baked 

Today, I put all my love into baking 24 perfectly iced Red Velvet cupcakes. I love the colour of the batter, and the excitement of adding the vinegar at the end to watch the explosion of air bubbles incorporating into the mixture! Again, my trusty oven thermometer, allowed my oven to be the correct temperature allowing for perfectly even cakes.

Adding the cream cheese frosting and tiny love heart decorations

I'm so please with how each and every one of the 24 came out, I would be so upset to present a box of ugly cakes - but these are pretty, and I had a sneaky taste and they are yummy too!

My main grumble about cupcake stores is the amount of icing they put on top - I have a sweet tooth but I usually end up scraping a bit off as it gets too sickly! So I consciously took that into account as I piped my cream cheese frosting on.

Red Velvet Cupcake

What do you think? Would you pay for one of these...? If you would like the recipe on how to bake these yourself, let me know and I can write another blog post tutorial x

Banana and Chocolate Cupcakes

As well as my passion for all things pinup, I have a huge love for baking. Anyone who knows me, knows my ultimate dream would be to own a little vintage/retro cafe serving amazing breakfasts and sweet treats. Whilst I embark on improving my skills, I thought I'd bring you guys along for the journey of self improvement, and hopefully inspire some kitchen treats along the way.

This week I got home from work, and opened my cupboards looking for inspiration - the only thing staring at my were some brown, sad looking bananas. I'm not particularly a fan of bananas, I buy them because they are good for me, but they often sit there until I decide to turn them into banana bread (usually with chocolate chips!).

At my recent cake baking and decorating class I was taught a simple vanilla cupcake recipe, which provides a great foundation for anything you want to add, so I thought I'd experiment.

Yum! Recipe below.

 BANANA AND CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE

Ingredients all ready to weigh in.

Ingredients (to make 12 cupcakes)
100g Plain flour
120g Cake flour
170g Caster sugar
15g Baking powder
3/4 tsp Salt
3 tbsp Dutch processed cocoa powder
115g unsalted butter
120g Free range eggs
1/2 cup Full cream milk
1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
2 Mashed brown bananas

These cupcakes are not skinny, you need high fat content unsalted butter and full cream milk! Plus good quality cocoa powder and vanilla extract.

1. Before starting, weigh out all your ingredients and bring everything to room temperature (butter, eggs, and milk).

2. Pre-heat your oven to 163oC (fan-forced) or 173oC (non fan-forced).

Now, I know you're reading that thinking... '163'... yes it's precise. I have recently purchased an oven thermometer and it informed me what I thought was 160oC was actually over 200oC. No wonder my cupcakes were going mental in there!

This is called the one bowl method, for precisely that reason - everything in one bowl.

3. Sift all of your dry ingredients into your mixing bowl - both flours, caster sugar, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder.

My prized Kitchen Aid

4. Set your mixer on low speed (you can do this with a hand mixer too, you might just need a buddy to help you out!) - and add the softened butter chunk by chunk, until it's all incorporated and it resembles a sand consistency. Scrape down the bowl.

Sandy consistency of the dry ingredients and softened butter.

5. Add your eggs one at a time - keeping your mixer on slow. After one has just been incorporated add the next. After all have been added scrape the sides of the bowl down.

You may also notice the eggs are in weight - baking is a science. If you find it's about two and a half eggs - whisk the third and add until the correct weight.

Weigh in eggs, precisely!

Mixture after adding eggs.

                                     
















6. Combine your vanilla extract and milk together. Now slowly add a continuous stream of vanilla extract/milk- do not flood your mixture. Slow and steady. Again, stop and scrape your bowl down.

SLOW addition of milk/vanilla extract combo.

7. The final step, add your mashed bananas and mix on medium/high for 20/30 seconds - this allows air to get into the mixture.

Final yummy mixture.

8. Evenly distribute your mixture into a cupcake tray lined with paper cases and bake at 163oC in a fan-forced oven for 17-21 minutes.

DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR BEFORE 15 MINUTES!

9. Check on your cupcakes after 17 minutes, a skewer will come out clean if cooked. If not quite there, put them back in for 2-4 minutes.

10. Once cooked, remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool. As they cool, you can prepare the chocolate butter-cream frosting.

CHOCOLATE BUTTER-CREAM

Ingredients

125g Unsalted butter

3-4 cups of soft icing sugar mixture

1/4 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder

1/4 cup Full cream milk

1 tsp Vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

1. Beat softened butter with your paddles attachment until white and creamy.

2. Sift icing sugar and cocoa powder into a separate bowl.

3. Add 3 cups of icing sugar/cocoa powder to the butter.

4. Add salt, vanilla extract and milk, beat until combined.

5. Continue to add icing sugar until desired consistency is reached. 

6. Beat for approximately 2 minutes until light and fluffy.

This frosting will keep in a air tight container in the fridge for two weeks, yum!

After your cupcakes have cooled, pipe the frosting and add your garnish! I grated some chocolate on top of mine. These will keep in an air tight container at room temperature for 4-7 days.

12 light and fluffy chocolate and banana cupcakes -these are sweet!

Banana and chocolate cupcake with chocolate butter-cream frosting.

Let me know if you try baking them, or if you found any of the tips and tricks helpful x

My Day with Sherbet Birdie

For about two years, I lusted at the stunning imagery that popped up daily from Sherbet Birdie Vintage and Pinup Photography on Facebook. Seeing the ladies in their chosen pinup scenarios, depicting their individual beauty and personality with such confidence, was so inviting, but I never thought I would have the confidence to partake in such a shoot myself.

Finally in September last year I took the plunge and gave the wonderful Sasha a call to discuss booking my own photo session. Two years of putting off the call, made it a nerve racking moment but immediately Sasha's warm nature put me at ease. After a short discussion we locked in a date and some of my interests, and I anxiously waited for the consultation phone call.

After the consultation, I was delighted with my chosen scenarios and looks, and hoped they would display my interests as well as give me some beautiful pictures. Sasha was wonderful at understanding my concerns and her excitement was infectious!

The beautiful hub of Sherbet Birdie

Sherbet Birdie are based in Sydney, so I made the short flight from Melbourne, arriving at their 'Pamper Palace' barefaced, excited but sweating with nerves! Lucy from Lucy Topp Makeup and Sasha greeted me, the love and positivity these women exuded from the moment I walked through the door is indescribable and made me feel relaxed immediately.

Bright blooms and Finger sandwiches

Macarons and unique jewellery on hand

Lucy worked her fabulous magic, and nearly bought me to tears at the final reveal - it felt so luxurious sipping on Moet, eating macarons whilst my hair and make up were expertly applied. Such beautiful thought and detail were placed through out the day, which is such a true reflection of both ladies. Sasha gave me great direction for posing for each of my outfits, and both gave such positive encouragement through the day. It was so lovely to hear their compliments and it started to make me feel differently about the bits of me I disliked. My big bum and thighs didn't appear to be so bad anymore!

Behind the scenes -a little selfie!

We giggled and chatted through out the incredibly hot day, and time flew as we wrapped up the last scene, especially tough squatting for such a long time!

I got changed, and sipped on my rose tea, flicking through the most amazing photography book on Audrey Hepburn whilst anxiously listening to the 'Ooh's' and 'Aah's' coming from behind the curtain as Sasha and Lucy began to look through the photos. As they cut down the vast amount of images to present to me, I reflected on the day. I was feeling so full of life and couldn't wait to see the final images.

Delicious rose tea to finish the day.

As I chose the images I wanted to have printed, I was in awe at the person in the photo, a beautiful smile and a glint in the eye, I didn't criticize my imperfections once. I didn't notice my dimply thighs or big arms and my chubby cheeks actually looked quite adorable. Usually on viewing a photo, I immediately go to what I dislike, and turn my little nose up in disgust. That day marked a change in the way I view myself, and for that, I will be forever grateful to Sasha and Lucy.

I couldn't recommend their services more highly, and I am already contemplating what my next shoot will entail!

Now for the final pictures!

Something a little different - not my usual bubbly smiley picture! 

Inspiration for this image came from a photo I had seen on Sherbet Birdie's Facebook - I wanted an image to put on my wall, where you couldn't see my face. I love the bright pop of colours, and how fun this image is!

This is probably my favourite photo, due to it's sweet and nerdy nature. This vintage microscope was sooooo heavy! 

I wanted to display a sexy side but not in an overt, over the top manner - I think this is just right!

Let me know your thoughts. Would you ever do a shoot like this? If not, why not? x