MAKE ME SMILE MONDAYS

Flowers, Flores, Blumen, Fleurs, Fiori, to me these words all translate to one thing:  Happy Dance!

I have to say, I really do LOVE flowers.  Sometimes it's the simple things in life!  Now it's not just due to the romantic connotation of them(well maybe that does seep in just a little!).  But I think it's more about the natural beauty, living and growing as your own private art backdrop.  In the plant world Tulips are the equivalent to a Miranda Kerr in the modelling world.  Fresh, flirty, fun, happy and beautiful.

Now the words "Natural" and "Beautiful" don't always put a smile on your face.  For example, you are about to indulge in that third chocolate biscuit and think about that natural blemish that will appear on your beautiful skin!  No, not the same affect, but flowers do have a tendency to bring up feelings of joy, romance, happiness.  And in some cases bring hope and comfort to a sad or difficult situation.

Growing up I have always been lucky enough to be surrounded by a garden.  I have never been without some pretty petals to peruse whilst searching for inspiration in my visual diary, or having a cup of tea.  So knowing all this, it was no surprise that flowers would be on top of my list for things to include for a charity event I have been invited to style.

Having never really "arranged" flowers before, because they've always arranged themselves so perfectly in the garden, I ventured to my local florist to get the lay of the land so to speak.  Some time  later I returned home with an armful of different flower types and colours to begin the exciting and creative process of styling and arranging!  I had a wonderful afternoon, sipping on cups of tea and creating some wonderful arrangement options for the event.

Below is one of the many that I arranged today, not sure if it's going to make the cut,  but it's definitely a beautiful bouquet for my bedside.

As the "Peanuts" characters say:  "Happiness is one thing to one person and another thing to another person".

What makes you happy?  Do you love flowers as much as me?  Whatever it is, I hope you have a lovely week.

page taken from "Happiness is a warm puppy" by Charles Schulz.

To know more about the concept behind "Make Me Smile Mondays" please click here.

BEAR IN HIBERNATION

After what may seem like a virtual lifetime away, I have returned back to the bloggershere to continue along my blogging journey.

So I thought I would write a quick note, a "post it" if you like to say thank you to all  who keep checking back and reading my blog(although lately it has been more like a bear in hibernation, but a really cute one with rhinestone buttons, and pearls).

With half of 2012 already complete, it's time to reflect on what the last 6 months have brought.  And perhaps what the next 6 months will bring.  Can we all believe it has escaped so quickly?

Being winter in Australia, my blog posts , or should I say lack of somewhat resembled a snow storm.  So today, I cleared the air with uplifting sage, orange and lemongrass to what I hope to be a more productive and upbeat blogging journey.


Spiritt xo

MAKE ME SMILE MONDAYS

Mondays and I have always been great friends.  Although Mondays are traditionally the start of the conventional working week, I have rarely ever suffered from Mondayitis.   

The mystery of my immunity to this disease can be traced back many years,  when I was first at college, and had Mondays as a day off.

Because of this, Sunday nights were spent dancing and having fun with friends, with Mondays being left to do lovely things like brunching, vintage shopping , afternoon teas and the odd beauty treatment. I was able to enjoy the day without the hoards of crowds that usually accompany a day off on the weekend.

 

When I did begin working on Mondays I would combat the disease by flipping thru the pages of a book that I came across from one of my favourite cartoons. The book “Happiness is a warm puppy”  was first published in 1962 and is by Charles Schulz.  It features all the old favourites from the popular cartoon “Peanuts”.

So every Monday at work the girls and I would turn to a new page and it would act as a type of inspiration for the week ahead, as well as a distraction from Monday and its itis!

These days I am very fortunate to again have Mondays as one of my days off work.   So as a weekly or forthnightly segment I thought I would bring back this little tradition of mine for you all to share, along with something that makes me smile – chances are if you're reading this I hope it makes you smile too.

 So this week I have just put up my new blackboard from france along with my new chalk to write on it with.

page taken from "Happiness is a warm puppy" by Charles Schulz.

Happiness definitely is 18 different colors, but since my chalk has a more limited colour range I'll settle for just under eight.   

  Whatever your 18 different colours are this week, make them fantastic!

ORIGINS OF AVENUE E

So much has been happening recently, that I haven't had a chance to post lately.  So to get me back into the swing of things, I thought I would take a break from the "archive" and talk about where the idea for the name "Avenue e" has come from along with its logo.

For those of you who have studied fashion, or design of any kind will know how important concept is to your design.  Everything must have a meaning and reason why you chose it - colour, shape, imagery.

For me Avenue e has relevance to New York - when you think of the word avenue - most people think of 5th avenue(well I do anyway!).  In New York there is avenue a and b, but no e.  It reminds me that in life sometimes we take different avenues, going from plan a to b to c... to get to avenue e.  Because there is no avenue e,(in Manhattan, as opposed to greater NY) it is something that I want to carve out for myself, when I make it back to NY and hope to have my own little piece of the city.

So in saying all this - how did I want to translate all this thru my logo?

 
Well the font I used, is something that I would think of 5th avenue - resonates with NY and perhaps it's subconscious, but the credits of one of my favourite New York shows are in a similar font.

I thought it would be cute to have an apple in the logo to symbolize the big apple, but then wasn’t quite feeling it - a little cliché perhaps.  I thought about another icon, the I heart New York.  After some thought I had a light bulb moment, merging the two together to show my love for the big apple.  The e is then carved out in the centre to show my quest to carve out a piece of the city for my own.

In regards to colour, as you can see I started off with black and white, which is quite striking, but I've always had a thing for grey font, esp. with black and white pictures, I think it looks great. So I decided to stick with this.  I adore certain soft colours and am not afraid to wear them either, so this seems like the right choice.

So there you have it, the reasons explaining my design process.  See below my development and progression of the label, which do you resonate with?  Do you think I made the right choice?

L'OREAL FASHION WEEK OPENING PARTY

Being a Designer in the Fashion Festival, not only allows you to showcase your garments in a fabulous parade, it also grants you an exclusive invitation to the opening party at Government House.

Even though I have lived in Melbourne all of my life, I do on the odd occasion happen to mistake one location for another.  This day happened to be one of those occasions.

I met my friend Jason in front of The Parliament House steps, after making some inquiries we realised we were at the wrong location.  The party was in fact at Government House, not Parliament House.  Ah Government, Parliament it all sounds like politics to me!

So there we were, running late for a very important date, when Jason had an idea to get us there at the speed of light.
As we walked around the corner, there stood my modern day knight in shiny armour (minus the knight).  It was a GTV 300 Shiny Black Vespa Scooter with 22.00 horse power.

Okay, I like it and it definitely has vintage appeal, but how does this picture look to you: silk satin cocktail dress, helmet hair, wind and a scooter?

After a quick trip thru traffic we arrived at our destination. Passing past the porches’, and BMW’s we arrived in classic, unique “Spiritt” style and made our entrance.

The people at ticketing took one look at us and asked “You’re a designer aren’t you?”

Well that’s one way to make a lasting impression!  Lucky for me I had my hair curled for the event, so the helmet hair just enhanced my look.

It was a great day, thank you to Jason for accompanying me as well as Justin from Ticketing.

invitation

In front of my studio wearing one of my designs

Inside Governement House

LOREAL MELBOURNE FASHION FESTIVAL PARADE

One of my first fashion memories was when I was 6 years old.

I was visiting my grandmother, and after she saw me playing with a piece of fabric decided she would help me make something.  So there, as I sat in her lap at the old singer sewing machine, her hands placed on mine, she guided me as we sewed my very first garment.

I remembered a feeling of excitement...

That feeling was translated many years later...

The Label: Spiritt - the mrs morris collection and was inspired by both of my grandmothers.

I was very lucky and grateful to have been sponsored by the Chapel Street Traders Association.

The song I chose for the parade is remixed by "Dimitri from Paris" - my all time favourite DJ   Play it below

Here is the parade enjoy

A big thank you again to all those who helped out and made it down on the night xo

Photography by Paul Loughnan Photography

Follow my blog with Bloglovin