Amy, 24, Melbourne, web designer, piano student, Slytherin, nostalgia (and chocolate) addict, and languisher in all things baroque, rococo, and Tolkien.
One characteristic of a mind that constantly flits about and over-analyses is that it requires stimulation and inspiration (or is prone to over-stimulation, listlessness and boredom). I’ve inherited some intense need to “collect” (and hoard somewhat…), to catalogue, and to display.
As a kid I filled cassette tapes with 90s music and recorded all the tracks in a book, created at least three magazines series (usually a satire on popular teen girl mags but full of cuttings from Family Circle), filled diaries cover to cover, kept scrapbooks full of whatever I was obsessed with, and stored paraphernalia from exhibitions or holidays in manila folders. We don’t use cassettes any more, but I enjoy creating playlists to suit various occasions, moods or car trips. With the digital age my drive to make magazines shifted to compiling websites instead, at about age 13, and I still keep scrapbooks and folders (and now a blog) to record all the things I am constantly nostalgic about.
First up I’m plugging Illamasqua, purveyors of the left-of-field makeup that goths (goths with money, anyway) are happy to get their hands on after so many years of using greasepaint, ManicPanic, and the most “ivory” shade to be found in Priceline. Actually, Illamasqua stocks shades for almost any occasion, but the emphasis is on dark contrast, punky glamour, burlesque, and particularly the early 20th century Berlin club scene.
I have been really happy with the liquid foundation (very pale) and powder (white) I purchased, which have even proven too pale for days I want to look “natural”. At last, somewhere that stocks truly pale makeup for those of us not wanting to look like a carrot or a Guidette! I can blend it with my other makeup in any case, but what makes me happy is that it goes on quite thick and a little goes a loooong way. I was given a quality booklet and found their Theatre of the Nameless concept quite striking:
Onward. The following are a number of websites that have left an impression on me, or that I turn to for a bit of inspiration when I seek to create something myself:
And now for my own bits and pieces!
My latest collection of little treasures above. A 1m² piece of pretty upholstery fabric (laid out), a straw bag, an old Sutherland LP, a white tea box from an op shop I thought should house my accessories, some hairclips from Bodyline, The “Memoirs of Madame du Barry”, a Purcell biography, and another few titles to add to my growing collection of books on “historical ribaldry”…
Various pretties from my dressing table.
I love collecting darling pieces of stationary – the only problem is that I can’t bear to write letters and part with them.
A raunchy pile, includes “Treasury of Ribaldry” and “Memoirs of a Georgian Rake”
My books on some of my favourite composers. Some of the older books are really just biased, whimsical observations full of speculation.
Historical history books, novels and fantasy
A beautiful selection of my floral scrapbooking papers
Victorian themed papers – with Steampunk and “Shabby Chic” and “French Provincial” themes becoming popular, a lot of awesome decorative pieces are being made. But they’re so nice I don’t want to chop them up!
I even found an official Harry Potter set!
Thanks for reading – or scrolling, whichever you bothered to do. Stay “tuned” for the next inspiration post which will cover music instead!
My newest client, Yarra Valley Zumba, has just had me design their website. It’s bright, reminiscent of the Yarra Ranges and simple. The emphasis was on bright colours (like Zumba uses on their website and products), on ease of use for less computer-savvy folk, and was to be easily updatable. My client was very happy and I had a bit of fun putting together something that’s a bit different than usual. The initial hard part was working out how to use their logo properly, because using it straight was uninspiring and they have a long list of rules as to how it should (or should not) be used; there are also any number of ways of using the word “Zumba” incorrectly in a sentence, which we needed to be careful of. I ended up purchasing the font they use and creating one from scratch instead, which was just what we needed.
Have you ever found exactly what you’re looking for, only to find out you can’t possibly have it? And nothing else will do? A few weeks ago I found these on a classifieds website, so I immediately expressed my interest to the seller. I sent a “yes, I’ll take both!” message, provided the other tentative buyer pulled out. And of course they didn’t, and I can’t find anything as good for the price. Nonetheless, I am still hunting for a Rococo or Queen Anne style dressing table. I can only afford reproductions or revival furniture, it should preferably be white, second-hand, and have room for a stool underneath.
- Oh dear, we just bought a queen four-poster bed from a friend! What a good day! I have bought and received far too many lovely things lately, and everything else is going well.
- My eating and exercise habits seem to be leaving me feeling better than ever (or at least not sluggish and unable to cope with events day after day!) which I am attributing to cutting out sugar, and most breads or carb-heavy foods. The vegetarian thing doesn’t have as much to do with it, but I’ve saved money from not buying meat and have levelled up in cooking considerably.
- Christmas Eve and Day were nice, and tomorrow I’m going to the city again with family.
- Then I’m having my Harry Potter collection photographed and sending off the pictures in an entry to a book. I’ve also just opened The Elder Wand, which is a Tumblr blog at this point.
- We’ve been playing lots of Battlefield Bad Company 2 (I’m unlocking all the sniper rifles at present, and Adam has collected about 70 dog tags since we bought the game a few days ago).
I am really happy to have had some new clients and design jobs lately. It’s given me the opportunity I needed to bring my knowledge up to current standards and improve my design and professional approach. This portfolio website, recently completed and opened, is for a Melbourne makeup artist. Her skills and attention to detail are obvious, but she was really easy to work with on this project and her photos were professional. We gave the website a dark colour scheme to reflect her alternative style, but a sleek, boutique-ish and slightly minimalist design that should be simple for anyone to navigate. The content speaks for itself, it’s fully xhtml and css valid, and it’s run by a database so it can be easily updated with news and photos. In fact, new photos are appearing all the time, so keep Rebecca in mind for your makeup needs!
Oh, and perhaps keep Elven Design in mind for your website needs!
Other than trying to get a post up before midnight (after tweaking the layout so I’m something close to happy with), today’s mission has been to change my Tolkien website so it just uses CSS for positioning — no tables! Overcame a few hitches but was ultimately successful. Unfortunately, the code in my html file and stylesheet are still woefully deprecated and I need to rework it from the ground up to have something fully Web 2.0 compliant. I’ll save that for another day. Regardless, the site is fulfilling its purpose; to present an aesthetically pleasing vista and to capture somewhat my nostalgia for ages past.
I have a number of other website projects either planned or in the works and will post about each once they’re completed. They include:
- JustUs Productions – Theatre & musical production company
- Singing Gardens – Gardens/tearooms in Toolangi on the only property C.J. Dennis ever owned
- Torturin’ Time – A Sims 3 blog with a twist
- Alchemic Photo – Portfolio for Mark Boyle
- St. James, Wandin – Church website
Thankfully my energy has picked right up in the last week so I’ve felt able to work on things, practise more piano, even go outside!
Sister Blog
Juliette at Classical Doll