Monthly Homework Assignment: What's on Your Cutting Table?

This month Franny over at The Curious Professor Z asked bloggers to describe what art projects we had laying around. Luckily for me, I started a crochet project not long ago.

I'm crocheting a granny blanket for my sister's birthday in April. I don't think she reads my blog, so I'm safe to mention this :)
I've never completed a knitting or crocheting project before, because I get bored of it.

I'm not doing a normal granny square, but instead a sunburst granny square which has some interesting textures. I'm using purple, which turned out looking pink in this photo. I would have chosen green but I couldn't find different shades.
I'm going to border the whole thing in black. Now I just need to make a million more of these squares!

I find it very difficult to follow pattern instructions for knitting and crochet, I don't understand the abbreviations they use!! Instead I'm using YouTube videos, which really help me understand which stitch I'm doing and how to do it. The below video by Bella Coco is simple and to the point. I also find that a British accent helps too!

My squares don't look as fancy at the below example. I'm guessing because she uses expensive wool and I'm stuck with cheap acrylic.

Monthly Homework Assignment: Polkadots

I actually don't own anything with polkadots, apart from a pair of fancy knickers, but you're not seeing them ;)
I don't like polkadots, I don't know why but I've never been a fan. That's why I found this months homework assignment from Franny a bit hard.

Luckily, inspiration came in the form of Robert Smith

I first painted my nailed Double Decker Red by Rimmel.

I cut some toothpicks in half, and used them to dot black polish over the red.

I'm right handed, but I found it easier to use my left hand for dotting (strange)

Wait for this all to dry, and then put a clear coat of polish on top.

I now match Robert Smith!

Please excuse the messy sides of my nail, I didn't have a chance to clean them up.

Monthly Homework Assignment: April Showers

It has been rainy here in Perth the last few days. Sadly, it's not cold so the resulting days are humid :(

I've been on the lookout for a good umbrella for a long time. I love compact umbrellas, so I can fold it and carry it in my bag. Whenever I buy an umbrella, it seems to die once a gust of wind comes along. Apparently, Perth is the second windiest city in the world, so that doesn't mix well with umbrellas.
I don't ask for much in an umbrella, I want it to cover my hair and makeup. I don't want the rain to wash off my eyebrows and ruin my hair!

My favourite rain boots are my Dr. Martens. I make sure to polish them well, so they are water proof. They're great for splashing around.

These are my current boots and they're looking a bit sad.

 

They have a hole in the sole, that lets in the water! :( That means I get sad wet feet.

 

Luckily, I have bought a new pair.

I got these second hand on ebay. I totally recommend buying online, as they are much cheaper than getting from a store. You can do the sneaky thing, and go into a store to find your size then buy online. It seems a bit low, but the shoes in the store can cost $200 when they're only $100 online.

 

I'm not looking forward to breaking them in, there will be many blisters and bandaids. Once I have broken them in I will have a lovely pair of boots for the coming winter! Yay!!

The Professor's Monthly Homework Assignment: Spring

 

 This month Frannie at The Curious Professor Z asked us to write a little bit about Spring. Well, sadly, I can't because it's not Spring... It's Autumn. :)

Summer is finally over in Perth, but that doesn't mean it's any cooler! Usually it takes until the end of April for the weather to cool down. I'm looking forward to cold nights, so I can light candles and get snuggled in a jumper and blanket. I have recently brought a whole bunch of jumpers ready for winter.

 

Stud jumper from City Chic.

 

Rib cage jumper from Kill Star Clothing. It's really warm!

 

Bat jumper from Sourpuss

Our native trees don't change colour and shed like other trees do. Luckily, there are oak trees in the park next to my apartments so I get to see all of the pretty colours. I love kicking through the piles of orange leaves.

When the weather gets cooler I'm planning on doing some sewing projects. I would like to make some tote bags and decorate them.

I hope that you're enjoying the changing weather in your part of the planet :)

The Professor's Monthly Homework Assignment: Date Night

 

 Natalie's date night in photos:

Step 1: Take off makeup

Step 2: Put on an ugly/comfy outfit

(I'm holding/eating dried mango. I also look super classy)

Step 3: Get a movie and popcorn!

Step 4: Imagine you are Sarah. Instead of saying "You have no power over me" scream: "TAKE ME NOW JARETH!!"

Step 5: Go to bed and dream about Bowie.

END OF DATE

The Professor's Monthly Homework Assignment: Purses and Bags

Another month, another homework assignment from The Dancing Maenad. This months theme is purses and bags, but sadly this is going to be a VERY short post. You see, the thing is I don't suit purses. I never have. I'm not a girly girl, and anything small and cute really doesn't suit me. It feels funny and not right to have a little tiny handbag that dangles off my wrist. I've gone my whole life with backpacks and shoulder bags. Right now, I only use two bags.

I found this bag in a small asian fashion store for $10. I had been looking for an everyday bag to fit my day planner, books, wallet, etc. I sewed the Bauhaus patch and put studs around it. I painted the spiderweb, and also a bat on the inside flap. I would LOVE to have an Oxford type bag with lots of buckles, but they're expensive.

This is my going out bag. It's small, but fits my wallet, handfan and lipstick. I use it for when I'm going to a club or out to dinner. This bag is long enough to go across my body, which I like.

The best thing about being a DJ is that I can put my bag behind the DJ booth, so I don't have to carry it around all night :)

The Professor's Monthly Homework Assignment: Things I Can't Live Without

First off, Mary from Le Professeur Gothique has started a new blog at The Dancing Maenad. She has her reasons for this, so please look at her blogs for more information. Mary is a wonderful woman, and I'll be following her blog no matter what.

This months assignment is to feature one item that I can't live without. I didn't know what to choose! I was going to go for my music, I listen to music every single day. Or maybe my winklepickers or makeup. But my book collection finally won out.

This is only one of my bookshelves. This one holds all of my fiction, the other holds all my non-fiction.

Books have played such a huge part in my life. My dad helped my book love when I was a kid, he was a manager of a bookstore in the Perth city centre (the bookstore is still there, but he's changed jobs a few times).
I went through a period in Primary School not reading books because it was too 'popular' but I quickly changed my mind. I'm the type of girl who always re-reads my favourite books. Reading a familiar book is like having a close family, who you can tell anything to.

During my teen years I would read books all day. I had a really tough family life, I had to live with my neglectful mother. We were very poor, and she would spend welfare money on drugs instead of looking after me and my sister. Reading was an escape for me.
I would go to the library and check out the maximum amount of books possible, I would read them all in a week and return them.

I also didn't have any friends, I was very much a loner. Books really helped me pass the time.
My favourite book is Little Women. I love reading about their life and adventures, I never get tired of reading it. I'm a big fan of classic novels, and my other favourites include The Secret Garden and Jane Eyre. I enjoy reading about female characters.

I love all of the different stories that my bookshelf holds. I can pick up a book and be in Narnia, or I can visit Notre Dame, or I could be in Victorian London, or in Maine USA.

Funny fact, I remember starting to read Jean. M. Auel in year 7. If you don't know, Auel writes a popular series about a prehistoric female going through her life. It's filled with quite a bit of X-rated caveman sex, this was most likely where I found out about human desire (I figured out how babies were made when I was in primary school)

My non-fiction section contain a lot of occult books. I've been very interested in the occult, ever since I was very little. I never believed in anything written in the books, but I really enjoy reading the spooky stories and interesting legends. As I've grown older I've found Skepticism, which has helped me understand about why people believe strange things.

Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed reading about my love of books. I'm so glad that the Internet exists, I can now buy books online for really cheap! www.bookfinder.com is what I use all the time, I can get books for under $10 including shipping :)

Le Professeur Gothique's Monthly Homework Assignment: Artistic Inspirations

It's time again for another homework assignment from the lovely Professeur Gothique. This months task was to draw inspiration from my favourite artwork or artist. I'm cheating a little bit and choosing  Pre-Raphaelite artworks.

I was very lucky to visit the Birmingham Art Gallery while I was in the UK. My Grans friend took me. Birmingham is the home to many artworks by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

The brotherhood was formed in the middle of the 19th century and contained around seven members. They rejected the artwork of their time and focuses on creating different art that focused on mythology and storytelling.
In other news, I love art history but I'm terrible at writing essays. Just read the Wikipedia article :P

I saw The Death of Chatterton by Henry Wallis. I bought a print too :P

I love the paintings of Jane Morris. She was a muse to two of the brotherhood. It's strange seeing photographs of her, as she seems very plain. Victorians have a different sense of beauty, it seems.

I chose to try and recreated Death The Bride by Thomas Cooper Gotch. It was a bit hard because I don't have feminine features, or long hair. Here is what I came up with:

Oh man, sometimes I'm too goth for my own good. I'm always channeling Theda Bara
The poppies are the ones I gather from Remembrance Day, which falls on the 11th of November (the day after my birthday). They have old people selling them for a gold coin donation, so I try to stock up as they're so nice.
I love poppies. Fun fact, if you squint at the photo you can imagine what I used to look like with black hair! It's been so long!

Le Professeur Gothique's Monthly Homework Assignment: India

Le Professeur Gothique's theme this month is India! Yay! I love Indian things, especially silver Indian jewelry. I love bracelets with little bells and bindis! I always have a stock of incense (my favourite is currently Tree of Life) and I have a large Kali wall hanging.

I got this nose chain while in Leicester, it was originally a bracelet. I usually have a sleeper in my nose, so I can connect my chain, but I've recently had the other side of my nose pierced and my piercer wanted the jewelery to look the same. She changed them to closed rings, so I can't wear nose chains until she gets some special jewelry in for me. I just kind of poked the chain through my ring, because I want only taking photos and not dancing :)

I'm wearing two bracelets. One is actually an anklet, but I have fat ankles :(

The only thing I hate about little bells is that they get caught while dancing and I arrive home from the club with less bells than I started out with.

I don't think my head thing is very Indian, I bought it in Manchester. I've never actually worn it anywhere because I don't know if it's a necklace or something else!

Channeling Theda Bara.

 

Now for a short little history about the nose piercing. Nose piercing was brought to India from the Middle East in the 16th century. It is thought that the nose is related to the female reproductive organs and getting it pierced would make you more fertile and childbirth more easy (in that case, watch out future boyfriend!).

The thing I love best about Indian jewelry is the nose chains, which are worn primarily at weddings. The Indian nose ring is called a Nath. Chains connect the Nath to the hair.

I'd love to get a Nath with chain, but it's hard to find in silver!

Le Professeur Gothique's Monthly Homework Assignment: "I Forgot I Even Own This!"

When Le Professeur Gothique posts a new homework assigment I do it straight away. Sadly I've been very down lately, so my contribution is a little late.

Also, I have absolutely nothing hidden in my wardrobe! I recently moved, so I went through all my old clothes and did a sort out. My old clothes were from my baby bat days, so they weren't very attractive.
Luckily I have something that I rarely get to wear.

Victorian!

Skirt: Made by me

Shirt: DIY by me

Corset: Vollers

I used to wear long skirts all the time, but then I got used to shorter skirts. It's also a bit hard to dance in a long skirt.

I think the main reason I don't wear this is because it's hot.

I made the skirt from a Vogue pattern that my friend gave me. It's a bustle skirt.

The shirt I customised from a mans shirt and I added lace to the cuffs and neck.

I'm not a fan of this corset. I bought it years ago ($400) but I don't like overbust corsets because my boobs aren't big enough to fit them properly.

This hat I got from a fancy dress store. I've only worn it out once! I guess it's because I feel naked without my big hair.

Cameo. No idea where I got this from.

I'm pretending to be Theda Bara :)

Le Professeur Gothique's Monthly Homework Assignment: Ice and Frost and Snow, oh my!

Another month and another assignment from Le Professeur Gothique. This month is to find inspiration in snow and ice, and to produce something creative. I chose to use makeup as my medium. Club Unknown had a club night yesterday, so I was able to do some awesome makeup! I was also the door girl for the night so my makeup didn't run off with sweat (but I didn't get to dance, sad)

I found this assignment a bit hard to think of as the weather around here is far from cool. Perth is never really cold, and it has never snowed (I'm pretty sure it's never even snowed in my state. Maybe over east near Sydney though)

Anyway, I used my new lip balm from Morgana Cryptoria which I added Lipcoate to make it last all night.

I used limecrime eyeshadow base and generic eyeshadow. I have a 120 eyeshadow palette I got from ebay.

I used Rimmel liquid eyeliner, and glued gems to my face with eyelash glue. I added white eyeliner to contrast the blue.