~* Festive Season Silliness *~

It's been a crazy and busy holiday season so far for us! We are currently renovating the new house we moved into - it is being painted as I type - the exterior and interior - plus lots of other decorating... But more about that in a future post.

The day after my last day at work we took my in-laws and my parents out to dinner to thank them for looking after our daughter so I could go back to work part time! We went to a lovely chinese restaurant and we shouted them all their meals! This is the casual outfit I wore:

As you can see I'm wearing my Tru-Blood t-shirt which I adore!

I also got to go to playgroup with my daughter for the first time (normally I'm at work and my Mum takes her there). That was a fun day. Then at night we went out for dinner with all the ladies at playgroup - it was a lovely evening out.

Here are some outfit photos from The Husband's and his Dad's birthday celebrations (their birthdays are both a couple of days apart so we celebrate them together). We had a BBQ at my mother-in-law's place!

Here you can see I'm wearing my new coffin backpack - I adore it so much! I'm also wearing my new corset-style top with my new sheer blouse (both birthday presents from my sewing friend). It's hot weather here nowadays (Summer)  so I wore my lightweight, sheer long skirt to be more comfortable! I'm also wearing my Emily the Strange skirt brooch that I made myself, and my Summer hat with a handmade headband decorating it.

The next day we went to the beach with my daughter for the very first time. She went in the water, collected shells and made sandcastles and had the best time ever! It was lovely! Then we went afterwards for icecream and drinks. I'm really enjoying this family time!

It was our anniversary of six years of marriage recently - wow - I cannot believe how quickly time flies! We have actually known each other for over 9 years but we've been married for 6. We went to a lovely mexican restaurant for dinner in Chapel Street and then to a cafe for coffee and cake and it was the same cafe we went to on our first date, so it was an enchanting evening and very romantic!

On Christmas Day we went to my Mum's BBQ with some family friends which was fun and the food was delicious! I also watched Nightmare Before Christmas with my daughter - we watch it every year on Christmas Day - our little tradition.

Happy Holidays to you all! More outfit photos to come (I just need to find the time to sort and crop them)!

~* Birthday Merriment, Frankenweenie and Quick Update *~

Sorry as usual for the lack of regular posts, we have been so busy lately (which is to be expected at this time of year I suppose)...

♥ Birthday Merriment ♥:
I honestly can't believe I'm another year older! Where did the year vanish to?

It was my 32^nd birthday (I feel so old!!) and I had many merry moments because it was a lovely, long, *birthday* weekend (I didn’t have to go back to work until Thursday of the following week).



Off to see Frankenweenie to celebrate my 32nd Birthday

To celebrate, we went out for delicious dinner three times; plus several afternoon teas with the family; fun and games at Eleni's 2nd birthday party; a date night to see Frankenweenie (I adored it, especially the character development, voices, animation & the fact it was in black & white -- 8.5/10);

...as well as shopping adventures for gorgeous birthday presents (a cute coffin backpack with PVC bat and a splendid Spin Doctor Victorian skirt ♥) at Victorian Gothic shop in Brunswick St.



Birthday gift 1: This is the gorgeous Spin Doctor Victorian style skirt (from Victorian Gothic)



Birthday Gift #2: This is the PVC Coffin Bat Backpack (from Victorian Gothic)



I can't wait to wear and use my gifts! So excited! Also, a huge thanks to my splendid sewing friends for throwing me a delightful post-birthday soirée in class the other day!

In other news, I have only one assignment left to do and then I will have completed my course - Yay! Nearly there...

Here is what I wore to see Frankenweenie (sorry for the bad photo quality):

My standard Vintage black hat, blouse and skirt with cameo necklace.

Also a pic without my hat on!

~* ::Old Photo of the Day:: Lady in Red *~

Here are a couple of old photos from 2010 when I attended a friend’s semi-casual afternoon wedding. It also displays a bit of the home decor of the place we used to live in (this is the way it looked before we repainted the walls pewter cup grey with shiny black borders and skirting boards etc).

I decided to wear a red and black outfit. As usual, I'm wearing a vintage outfit: a red pillbox hat from a thrift store (or opportunity shop as they are known in Australia); black beaded choker; red rose brooches; vintage cameo; red fishnet top under black top with red-and-black singlet over it; with a tiny red handbag. I'm also wearing one of my all-time favourite velvety skirts (you can slightly see the black and red striped legwarmers underneath).

We still have these antique Victorian chairs - they are ebonised wood from the 1800's with red velvet. I love them but they aren't very practical, especially with a toddler running around the house. We plan on getting another dining room setting very soon as well as other furniture we need. I will write future blog posts about our gothy home decor and renovation plans for our current abode.

We still have this rug also - it took us a long time to find it and decide on it - it has an ornate Victorian-style border and plain black in the centre.

~* Gothic Lolita Style - Recent Outfit of the Day*~

I apologise once again for the lack of posts, it was my birthday recently as well as a long weekend where I live (and also Halloween) so I have been super busy.

Here is a recent outfit I wore to a One-year-old birthday party. It is sort of Gothic Lolita inspired and I am wearing my lovely Retroscope Fashions skirt that I found and purchased at the amazing Black Market (alternative market) back in July this year!

 

I wore my black and white skull socks, high-heeled boots with skull laces, skully-dog badge, fishnet fingerless gloves, my gothic lolita black and cream coloured top, skull lady cameo necklace, tattoo choker, Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas badge, skull shoelaces in my hair, and my floppy hat again (decorated with heart and skull hair clips).

It was a cold day so I got to wear my vintage seond hand military jacket and my skull scarf! This jacket had a button missing so I just put a badge over it instead. It's one of those "Goth and Proud" pins which I think makes the jacket look better! I also wore a cameo ring and various other accessories (I personally don't believe in the "Less is More" philosophy - if it's done right I think More is good)! <3

Do you believe "Less is More" when it comes to fashion and outfits?

~* Polka-Dot Party Decor and Food *~

As promised, here are the photos of some of the decorations and food for our daughter's Polka-dot themed 2nd birthday party (sorry for the delay in posting this)! We went to a bit of effort organising it all and it turned out quite nicely I think! What do you all think?

I created the invites which were black and pink in theme (with polka-dots of course)... For the decorations, I created polka-dot-related posters on the computer and laminated them (the photos are from Google images)... There were also purple and black balloons around the place... On the food table, we had polka-dot straws, polka-dot placemats, polka-dot table cloth and table runners, polka-dot napkins, polka-dot candles for the cake (and for decor), plus polka-dot tea pot, saucer and mugs... For the favours, I put lots of candy and toys into a black and white polka-dot bag that was pegged together with a little ladybird (there were also ladybirds scattered on the table as decor)... In the back yard, we had colourful lanterns and a great deal of CDs (to go with the circular theme) scattered around the garden...

For the food, we tried to include "circular-style" foods such as: fairy bread in circle shapes, chocolate chip cookies, gorgeous hand-decorated cookies made by my brother-in-law's very creative girlfriend, marshmellows, circular candies, cold meats, punch bowl, apple pies, cherry tomatoes and other vegetabes cut in circular shapes, dips with crackers (circular of course), chocolate ripple cake, and a big birthday cake with smarties on top etc.

Activities were mainly just playing with toys and whistles etc, plus we had a lovely family friend doing some entertaining - she made all the children balloon-animals and also sang songs and played music on her guitar etc... Totally awesome indeed!

~* Outfit for My Daughter's Polka-Dot Birthday Party *~

Sorry for the lateness of this post, life has been so busy as it was my daughter's Second birthday party on the weekend and I've been busy organising it as well as other things. We had a Polka-dot themed party and it was a huge success - everyone was thinking circular and had lots of fun with the spots and dots!

Here are some photos of my Polka-dot outfit: I am wearing handmade polka-dot hair ribbons that I sewed myself; fascinator, skull hair clip, polka-dot earrings, polka-dot scarf; polka-dot singlet with my spider-web top underneath...

including my custom-made velvet and satin waist-cincher with a polka-dot belt over the top; silver pearls, a jack skellington badge; two polka-dot skirts on top of each other (layered); and skull tights!

Also wore fishnet gloves, polka-dot bracelets, red and black nail polish (one nail red then one black nail alternating) and fancy rings...

Here is a close-up of my spotty shoes and socks!

In my next post I will focus more on the party decorations and activities etc...

~* Recent Casual Outfit of The Day *~

Sorry for the lateness of this post. Life has been very hectic at the moment but more about that in a future post...

Here is a recent casual outfit of the day from a relaxed Sunday afternoon - going out for lunch at a Hotel Bistro with a group of people...

Most of this outfit is vintage, from a thrift store (except for the Nightmare Before Christmas t-shirt which The Husband bought me one year for our anniversary and the hair clip). I'm wearing a long sleeve skull top under the t-shirt, together with black beaded cardigan and synthetic shiny plastic skirt. The standard jewellery and accessories as I was in a rush!!
Also wearing my high heeled boots with shoelaces that match the shoelaces in my hair (that I often use as ribbons).

Close up of my broken-heart and bones hair clip - from Best and Less department store (one of my favourite shops at the moment).

Close up of the Emily the Strange brooch on my skirt that I sewed myself...

~* Obituary Challenge *~

I was tagged by Dani Death Biscuit for the challenge to write your own obituary! Thanks Dani, and sorry for my delay in posting this! Also I was wondering if my lovely followers out there could please, please "like" my Facebook page The Stardust Castle so that I can choose a username - I would really appreciate your help! Thanks in advance. ♥ 

The Rules:

• Link back to whoever tagged you. Done ^
• Put these rules in your tag
• Write an obituary about yourself.
• Write a paragraph or two (or more if necessary) in length.
• Have fun, because creative writing is one of the greatest joys in life!

Quite a recent photo of me at ♥ A romantic evening out for Valentine's Day at Soda Rock Diner 2012... ♥ I tried to wear a Gothabilly/Rockabilly outfit - I am also wearing my new black velvet waist cincher with a black rose lacey cardigan on top, my top hat with a black flower in it, my skull lady cameo necklace etc...

My Fictional Obituary:

Mrs Stardust Castle passed away peacefully on Wednesday the 18th of June, 2112 while in deep slumber.

She lived a long, delightful and fruitful life with many spendid moments. Well-known for her New Age, Gothic, Jewitchy eccentricities; she also relished her roles as dedicated and devoted mother, wife and grandmother...

Stardust achieved all her main objectives in life which included:

To share true love with her children, husband, grandchildren and other relatives

To share true friendship with her special comrades

To learn and grow in various different ways - mentally. physically and spiritually

To weave her own brand of new age, gothic, jewitchery into the world in order to create positive changes and help people

To write, edit, publish and design media that will help and change the world positively

She was a successful and professional Advertising / Publicity Coordinator, Writer, Editor, Publisher and Designer and she continued to work on different projects as well as volunteer pursuits until her departure from this realm.

The Echanted Forest Funeral Service, has been entrusted with arrangements.

~* Someone Special Theme *~

Well, today is Father's Day where I live and I thought, what better day to take part in Sophistique Noir's Someone Special Monthly Theme post?

This is the second Father's Day that The Husband is celebrating (our daughter is almost 2 years old already) so it is definitely something special... There is a surreal, mystical feeling today since there was a full and blue moon recently and there are some big changes happening in our life at the moment (I'll tell you more in future posts). So I am viewing this as a sign of New Beginnings and a fresh start, the end of an era and the start of a new chapter in our lives...

Here are a couple of photos of us on our wedding day in 2006 in honour of Victorian Gothic Romanticism. We have been together since 2003! We met at a mutual friends house party and we were friends for a few months before officially going out! He is the love of my life, my soul mate... We connect mentally, physically and spiritually and we undertand each other which is what's most significant to me...

~* Liebster Award Part Two *~

Firstly, I just wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you to all my new followers and readers! I sincerey appreciate your support... ♥

Secondly, I was recently tagged by the lovely lady, Madame Mari Mortem for another Liebster Award. Thank you!

Since I was awarded this recently, I will revert to the 11 facts about me here.

To answer her questions:

1. If you could live anywhere and be anything, what and where would it be?
To be honest, I love living in Australia. It is a beautiful country and I'm really happy with it. I am also going to be honest and say I am very happy being ME. I am proud of my past, where my life has taken me and all the various things to look forward to. I love being myself.

2. Have you seen any kind of "wonder of the world" attraction, and if so which? ( ex. Grand Canyon, Northern Lights, Eiffel Tower, Stonehenge...)
I've travelled to Europe back in 1999, and visited many countries, but what I cherish the most is my visit to Jim Morrison's gravesite in Paris at Pere Lachaise. It was a very spiritual experience to me, a real pilgrimage. As you might guess, I am a huge, devoted Doors fan. The Doors have changed my life and continue to do so. I wanted to pay my respects. I left a poem I wrote for Jim on the gravesite.

3. You're a chef-- what's today's special?
Chocolate mousse and freshly baked Strawberry Cheesecake mini cupcakes. Yum! Sorry, I only do desserts!

4. In the past month (not "ever"), what was one limited item you wanted SO badly but ended up not buying and deeply regret that decision?
There are so many for this question! But to speak of just one item, there was a coffin bat backpack I wish I purchased because they are now sold out so I am very upset.

5. You just won a $500 gift card, where is it for and what will you buy there?
I would love to use such a gift card at one of my favourite online stores, Uncle Festers. There are so many items on that site (everything really) that I would love for both my gothiness and my witchiness.

6. How do you resolve a conflict? "Make love not war, man" or "Let's find the happy median" or "DEMS FIGHTN WORDS!!!1!"
I would say it is the "Let's find the happy median" because life is about compromise and sacrifice for your loved ones, you need to find a middle ground and agree on something or even just to agree to disagree so to speak.

7. You just won backstage passes-- what show/band are they for?
The Doors of course. Back in the 60s when Jim was still alive. That would be my dream... ♥

8. Au naturel or Eau de toilette (no perfume or perfume)? If you chose perfume, what is your favorite scent or scent combo?
Perfume - definitely. I love to use Calvin Klein - Eternity. Not just for the smell, but it is the only scent my husband can tolerate and is not allergic to (he has many allergies).

9. When you die will you be buried or cremated? And during your funeral will your casket be open or closed, and why?
Buried. Closed Casket. Both answers are because of my Jewitch heritage.

10. What's your idea of a romantic or awesome day out?
Romance to me is a state of mind. It's the little things. I love being near nature, a rainforest, while sipping a glass of Absinthe, with my husband reading me his poetry or vice versa. Simple things. An awesome day out would be much the same, except my awesome daughter would also be with us and we would all probably go see some animals at a farm or zoo or go shopping and we would all eat some icecream or something like that - divine! ♥

11. If you could learn an ancient fighting style, from which culture would you pick?
Hmm, that's a difficult one. I would like to learn something like Tai-chi because it would also be used for relaxation purposes, not just fighting. Or perhaps Fencing would be interesting, although I don't think I could learn it realistically.

~* Flashback to Mother's Day 2012 *~

Since I haven't had the time to take any current photos this week, I thought I would show you all what I wore to celebrate my second ever Mother's Day as a mum (Yay!) - a flashback to May this year.

As you can probably guess, I chose a theme of red and black for my outfit - which is a common colour scheme I use in my wardrobe. So I suppose this would be belatedly appropriate for Sophistique Noir's Red and Black Week a couple of months ago. Here I am wearing my red mini-top hat together with a red silky scarf, red fishnet gloves, lace black flowing skirt, red and black stripey t-shirt under a black singlet and a long, red necklace of heart-shaped pearls.

I'm wearing my red and black Emily the Strange badge - I love Emily items, I collect them, I also have an Emily book and comic - very cute.

This is my skeleton-dog brooch. I love it. I wear it very often. Two of my good friends bought it for me while they were in Japan - in the amazing town of Harajuku (the home of Lolita fashion trends and elegant gothic lolitas too) which I long to visit someday.

For my second Mother’s Day as a Mum we firstly went to a High Tea at my Mum-in-Laws’ place to celebrate her birthday together with Mother’s Day. It was lovely and I baked triple-chocolate cupcakes and brought a cold meat platter. We also managed to see my parents and go shopping with them and enjoy a coffee and cake so it was a delightful weekend indeed!

How did the bloggers out there celebrate Mother's Day (whether with your own parents or with your own children etc)?

~* Belated Bat Fit Entry *~

My sincere apologies to The Professor for the lateness of taking part in Bat Fit… I have been a member of the Bat Fit Facebook Group for a while now but I was unable to participate until now due to illnesses etc.

Bat Fit Challenge #12 is to review the last six months and take measure of your progress.

2012 has been a strange year for me so far. I thought it started out well but things haven’t really been tremendous since I have been sick 5 times and my daughter has been ill 7 times. There is something seriously wrong with my immune system and I am not sure what that is. Since getting the flu vaccine at work in May, I haven’t been AS ill but I still have caught another head cold off my daughter.
So because of these persistent health issues, I have not been able to get enough sleep and thus haven’t been dedicated enough with getting up early, exercising in the morning etc. But to focus on the positive, I have accomplished a lot with my studies - I am more than half way through my course and also have started completing practical on-the-job experience recently. So my career and education goals are going well – I’ve even begun a Wicca course this year which is going superbly. I’m also still attending sewing classes and trying to incorporate more creativity into my life.

Main Bat Fit Goals for the next 6 months:

1) To exercise daily and eat correctly every day! Try to cook more and buy more fresh foods. Try to sort out all problems with my health and immune system.

At the moment I am on a strict regime of the Blood Type Diet (I just realised the name of the diet sounds a bit Gothy doesn't it? Ha ha - definitely suitable for Bat Fit). Read more information on my diet here. I am Type 0 which is a very difficult diet, I’m finding it very hard to stick to since there are 34 foods I cannot eat (It is difficult to remember those 34 foods that I cannot eat). I need to increase my intake of Antioxidants, Garlic, Ginger and water. I need to stop overdosing in Sugar. I need to do more Meditation/Yoga/Breathing/Tai Chi! And try to get 8 hours of sleep!

2) Socialise - see friends. Don’t just write to them on Facebook or text messages. Don’t be lazy. Also, try to attend events of interest (witchy events and gothy events etc) more frequently.

3) Try to focus on my Altar and Book of Shadows, my blogs / web pages, and my new age gothy jewitchy Spirituality more. Don’t ignore this aspect of my life with excuses that I’m “too busy”.

~* Focusing on Accessories *~

I've been busy working part time and studying part time so I've been a bit lazy with my outfits this year. But this top works really well in a Corporate Goth scenario. I like the contrast of the cream trimmings / crochet sections with the black.

I am wearing my favourite antiquey looking necklace that has lovehearts in different colours (some gold) on it.

Also a brooch which was a gift from my father-in-law when he went to New Zealand – indeed, he knows my tastes!

I like hair pins at the moment – These ones have unfortunately fallen apart but I did like the cuteness of them, and I was able to wear them to work as they are not too ‘spooky’ – ha ha.

 
A choker I wear occasionally – also can be used in a Corporate Goth manner...

 

~* Keeping Warm and Gothy in Winter *~

Since the weather here is extremely cold at the moment, I've unfortunately started wearing pants regularly to work. I promised myself I would try to only wear skirts but the temptation was too strong because of such frosty, icy weather.

But on this occasion I did manage to wear one of my Winter skirts with thick tights underneath. I have worn this new sweater to work a few times already: it is very college-student looking but I really love the effect of the white lines with the black – I think it gives an illusion that I’m slimmer than I actually am in some small way (hopefully)! Always a bonus!

I tried to wear my hair differently here too – I am not going to wear ponytails so tight all the time as they seem to give me a headache/migraine these days. I’m also wearing my fingerless gloves (which certainly kept me warm) and my lizard brooch.

I am wearing a bracelet that The Husband bought me when he was on a business trip: It was also for my 31st birthday present together with this matching hair pin and a matching hair comb (the comb is not pictured here, but I’m sure I will post a picture of it one day).

What do you like to wear to keep warm in Winter while still retaining your gothiness? And do you sometimes dislike wearing skirts in the wintertime?

~* A bit of Crochet for the Day *~

Here I am wearing my standard Corporate Goth Attire but also with a crochet black cardigan that really gives it a bit more pizazz and interest. What do you think?

Unfortunately with my job I cannot wear very outrageous outfits, they have to be a bit conservative since I am often near the reception desk and so forth.

I’m also wearing my new Mary-Jane-style shoes that I got from a thrift store, which I decorated with some satin black ribbons.

This is an old world Victorian brooch I found at a Collectables and Antique Fair. I really fell in love with it and also managed to get it for a bargain. I also sometimes wear it for semi-formal affairs like daytime parties or functions.

~* My Everyday Make Up Look *~

This is how I wear my make up casually whenever I am not at work - either on the weekends, on my day off and so forth. I even wear this make up when I go to buy groceries, run errands and whenever I leave the house.

You can see that my eye make up is a bit more extravagant than my Corporate look. On the lid is charcoal eyeshadow with black liquid eyeliner over the top, with black eyeliner and black mascara. Sometimes I also draw a little line with the liquid eyeliner or I might draw designs or lovehearts around the eye too (depending on my mood and what time I have to spend on my make up).

For the lips it’s usually just a red or purple lipstick colour – I rarely wear black lipstick but sometimes I wear brown lipstick.

On my face I use cleanser, then moisturiser with SPF 15, then sunscreen SPF 30 then I use a brush and apply talcum powder over the top (yes, that is MY SECRET - it is just an ordinary talcum powder – it does the same job as a translucent powder that you would buy in a cosmetics counter but so much cheaper – plus, the same ingredient is in the translucent powder anyway).

I only use concealer or foundation on my face if I am going to a special event! I try not to use it too much because it makes me want to scratch my face off and also I find it makes me get pimples everywhere. So that is why I rarely use it. I find the powder does enough to cover the redness of my skin.

Here I'm also wearing my tattoo choker (I wear it almost everyday) and a sparkly black bow in my hair.