I love presents!

My lovely friend gave me this awesome present the other day!! Now I have the perfect mug to drink my coffee from when I  blog. Thanks James!! You are the best!! We are going to fashion week next Tuesday. I'm a wee bit excited! We always have a ball together. Tuesday couldn't come fast enough. I'll take lots of photos to share with you. Peace xx

Spring back to beads.....

Sydney is coming to an end.... Very sad to be leaving...... Time to get beading........

I'm going home to Melbourne today. Time to refocus the light onto Melbourne delight.... If only. The one thing I hate about visiting Sydney is going home. All good things must come to an end. I've made some new beads which go with everything. They remind me of spring, all the fresh flowers budding and pollen popping..... My happy beads :)

I

SYDNEY

Spring is getting Sexy in Sydney.....

I'm back in Sydney for the weekend. It is absolutely beautiful up here! The sun is shining, the weather is sweet....
Today was the first day I've driven in Sydney and I'm telling you it's very, very hard. Well it's hard when you're driving a manual, reading a map and don't know where you're going! I dropped my sister off at the airport, she is off to Copenhagen! Very jealous!! The quickest direct route had me drive from Sydney Airport to Double Bay via Pyrmont and Paddington, don't ask me how I managed to get myself back to Double Bay but I managed. So here I am in her apartment relaxing to a little Bob Marley and eating my favourite snack .....

Oh did I mention it was Daffodil Day!! I hope you have all bought a Daffodil or donated to the Cancer Council if not you can now, just click the link :) http://daffodilday.com.au/ 

 My sister has this photo on her fridge, it was taken last summer. Oh how I wish I was going overseas with her!! Watch this space I have a new piece for the Kalinda Collection.... It will lift your mood lots of colours perfect for Spring. Hope you all have a Safe and Happy weekend.

Re-design for a friend

I'm not sure if you remember but I posted this photo a couple of weeks back. My lovely, adoring friend saw this and asked me over the weekend if he could borrow them. The fact is I hadn't finished them because I couldn't decide on whether to attach a ribbon or a clasp. He wants to wear them to a wedding with his suit and I was just thrilled in the fact that he liked one of my designs! It's one of the most flattering things that I've experienced. Someone admiring your work and actually wanting to wear it!! I was sure to finish them ASAP. I changed them a little as I wasn't really happy with the choice of colours. I sent my friend a photo and he just loves them!! Thank God!!! Here is a couple of shots; one in the making and the final piece. What are your thoughts??

I think he is going to look super cute with these on. I'll be sure to get some shots of him wearing them, he is such a spunk and uber-cool, he is so ahead of his time. Can't wait to get some photos of him all dressed up. Stay tuned...

Kalinda's Maple

I'm heading to Japan in November, YAY!!! It will be the end of Autumn so hopefully I will get to see the Maples in all shades red and yellow, it will be so magnificent to see all the different colours. My parents have quite a few throughout their garden. Dad especially likes to make plants from cuttings so in Autumn our garden is an array of red, orange and yellow. The photo above is from our garden. I've decided to make a design inspired by the yellow maple leaves.

This design sits really well around the neckline. I wore it all weekend, so some of you have already seen it. You can dress this up or down and wear it long or short. I picked up some more ribbon today so might change the grey ribbon (featured in the photo above) with black ribbon. What do you think?

My first

 I think this was one of my first creations that I designed. Such a long time ago!! I hope you like!!

Dressmaking.....

On the weekend, I found this fabric which I bought a couple of years ago when I was studying pattern making and garment construction at The Melbourne School of Fashion. It's a cotton/ linen blend with woven metal through it, which gives it a slight shimmer when the light catches it on different angles. Its really beautiful quality and the print is quite retro.

I really love pattern making, getting all the measurements right and having a product that you can wear at the end is always an added bonus! I thought I would try and keep the pattern simple, as it's been awhile since I've done any sewing. It didn't take long till it all started flowing back.... It took my ages to finish and I still need to do a couple of finishing touches but here it is.... Kalinda Designs a dress :)

Front of dress: the design is shorter at front than back, it doesn't show up very well in this photo but looks really good on.

Back of dress.......

YAY!!! So proud that I could remember how to draw up a pattern and sew it all together. Now I must get back onto my beads. Hope you like!!!

Europe

Just reminiscing about my holiday to Europe. My sister is going at the end of August, I wish I was going with her. So many of my friends are over there at the moment and it looks sensational. I love how the buildings are painted different colours, it looks so majestic. The food, the language, the art, there is so much history and culture to immerse yourself in. I think I need to start planning my next trip! Oh how I miss Europe! Hello to all my European friends. I hope you're enjoying summer. It's freezing in Melbourne!

The Melbourne Art Fair

On the weekend I attended the Melbourne Art Fair. It was so inspiring so many talented artists exhibiting their work. I really wanted to see some of Miranda Skoczek's art but unfortunately there wasn't any. Hopefully her work will be exhibited in a private showing soon. I recommend you check out her work it is really something special. I love the colours that she uses, there is something about her work that grabs me. I can't wait to purchase a piece! Check it out... http://www.mirandaskoczek.com/index.html

Walk like an Egyptian.....

My latest creation!! I love the tribal/ Egyptian feel to this design! The fluoro orange against the black is really effective. I've decided I'm going to make this same design in pink and yellow.
Over the weekend I caught up with a few of my friends who gave me some really great ideas!! Looking forward to sharing them with you..... Hope you all had a grand weekend!!

Night Time Beads

So I managed to use nearly all the beads I bought the other day. I'm still trying to work out which ribbon I'll use to finish it off!! What do you think?

Some more beads I bought yesterday. Love all the different colours!!