A Nuffnang Sponsored Post

I was once told that geniuses choose green. I have no idea why that is, so perhaps I’m not that much of a genius after all.

I was asked by Holden to design my own custom Barina Spark and showcase my style. Given that the car is such a small, cute thing anyway, going for the full on pink Kawaii-ness may have been a tad much.  So instead I decided to think about it in a practical way (shock horror).

I’ve actually been spending a lot of time looking at cars recently, trying to figure out just which car says ‘Me’, and that I can actually afford too.

This says “Me”…. but poor.

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This also says “Me”… but completely broke.

The only problem is that just like my taste in clothes, my taste in cars tends towards the outlandish and expensive. So having a chance to put my own personal stamp onto something that my bank manager will approve of was rather cool.

Here is my very own Barina Spark; I like to call it Style to Burn.  If you click on the image it will take you through to the page where you can view the car from several different angles to see the full design.

First off this may not be what you’d expect from me, (but then many of you have come to expect the unexpected, so perhaps you would? Confusing much?) but stick with me.

When it comes to cars, my tastes run to two things – Classic muscle cars and things that look like they could bite your head off.   I wanted sleek, stylish, slightly dark and something that would make you look twice.

I could have gone for a predictable black with pin striping and flames, but that just wouldn’t work quite the same when exiting it in a swanky evening dress. Instead I wanted something that that made you double take. Something smooth and sophisticated, that on a second look, revealed a layer of wickedness and the potential for some racy moves.

I’m not sure I’m going to be able to stop at designing just one though, Designer Spark is as addictive as those online paper doll games! Even better than those though, is that Designer Spark has a whole swag of chances to win awesome prizes, just by bunking off from what you should actually be doing and playing around with colours!

When you check out the Designer Spark website, you’ll find a bunch of different designs from various personalities, and just by voting on which ones you like best, you can win some very cool prizes like Myer vouchers, iPads, Goldwell hair products, Kit Costmetics packs… the list goes on!

Of course even better than all that is that there is the chance that you could win YOUR very own Spark Eeeep! How incredibly cool would that be?  I’m all over this one and already thinking about how I could trick it out.

So clickety click across to Designer Spark where you can vote for my design if you think its as cool as I do, or create your own!

P.S: If any of you are awesome Steam Punk masters, I SO want to see what you can do with this challenge!

P.P.S: If anyone wants to give me one of my stunning namesake cars too, I may just tattoo your name on my body!!

The other week I received my first pair of shoe clips.  I’ve tried my hand at (dodgy) DIY versions before as I loved the idea of these versatile accessories, but had never looked into finding some specifically built for the job. And let me tell you, this is a VERY exciting style moment! *Disclosure* – Yes, Emmersen sent me these as they thought I would love what they create and boy were they right!

Being a vintage collector I’ve seen my fair share of dress clips and fur clips, (not always still in matching pairs) but hadn’t seen anything new until I came across Emmersen. Exclusive and made by hand here in Australia, Emmersen is producing a stunning range of shoe clips along with matching gloves (yay!) and even limited edition pieces like their tulle bustle – also a brilliant style add on. So I spent quite a bit of time the other week browsing through the site trying to decide on two different styles of clips that best worked with my look and would be the most versatile.  The first of these you will have noticed in the previous outfit post – the stunning red AVA clips that I added to the back of my shoes.

Given that I was already plotting the myriad of ways I could wear these, the decision to choose the vintage diamonte ones ( On the Rocks – what a name!) was a foregone conclusion. I am imagining them on capes, collars, bags, hats, furs, hair slides…. and I’m sure I’ll come up with even more options as time goes on.

Anyway, when my little package arrived I was equally impressed by the beautiful boxed packaging. They’ve obviously thought about the type of women who will wear these and the best way to keep the pieces in tip top condition.  The box is a lovely heavy weight card with a matt laminate finish and a cello window so you can always see which pair you are looking for. The clips themselves are a quality french mechanism with tiny little barbs to stop them slipping or disappearing off your shoes.  I put my AVA clips through their paces on Thursday night and not once did I have to readjust or go looking for a rogue bow. The more I played with these the bigger fan I have become.

The Ava shoe clips that I wore on my black patent shoes in the last post. They are so lovely! The finish is satin and the backs are a super soft felt to that there is no danger of scratching and it also helps them grip a little better to the slippery patent leather.

The On The Rocks shoe clips in all their sparkly, swanky glory. I really, really love these but to be honest I’ll probably wear them more as dress clips or on hats as I want to see them all the time, and if I always wear them on my shoes I’ll likely trip for always looking at them!

I started experimenting with a few different ways of wearing these and decided to try them both out on one of my structured vintage bags, and the diamontes were just the thing to add night time glamour to my new vintage hat.

They clipped on very easily and didn’t damage, leave dints or holes in anything which is always a concern when you pin things in to vintage garments.  Here is a close up of how they work.

Each time I wear these differently in an outfit I’ll show you how I’ved used them and try and give you even more creative ideas, but this morning after pin curling my hair  and popping on the scarf to keep them warm, I had a brain wave.

Thanks to Emmersen I’m having my very own Aunty Mame moment!

One of the goals I’d set mself for this year was to tackle so many of the outstanding personal projects sitting around neglected in my studio. Things like yesterday’s jeans had been on the waiting list since Septemeber!  So far, I appear to be off to a cracking start even if that does mean hand stitching by lamp light feeling rather Dickensian as my vision slowly fades….  Which is why I was quite thrilled to be featured in the January issue of UK magazine SEW!

Here is what it says…

-What do you write about and what inspires you to blog?

Super Kawaii Mama is primarily fashion and style related. It is all about choosing to live your most glamorous life, regardless of your income level or parental status!  Rather than focusing on the latest catwalk looks or fashion that needs to be constantly updated, I am passionate about vintage, recycled, cottage industry and alternative fashion.  It is all about creating a style that is unique to yourself and finding a sense of joy through what you wear everyday.

Amazingly, I never seem to run out of things to blog, in fact I have a hard time keeping up with my brain and sometimes have some very sleepless nights as it won’t shut off!  I don’t find much inspiration in current fashion trends but rather in things I come across in daily life that, when looked at from a certain perspective, open up a whole new world of possibilities. It could be a certain colour, a great old movie, or even a wheat field seen from the window of the car that inspires me to start thinking about Little House on the Prairie type fashion!
Everything is fair game and is interpreted through the lens of my own sense of style then served up on the blog ready for consumption.

-How does blogging aid you in the creative process?

Blogging has been the biggest boon in terms of aiding my creative process. It is a brilliant way to connect to like minded individuals as well as people that see things very differently to myself and thus open my eyes to the new.  It forces me to make sense of many otherwise unformed thoughts which means that so many projects that would never have made it out of my head, have been able to become a reality.
Blogging is also a great validation. When your life is so busy being a parent, wife and everything that goes with that; it is often difficult to justify the time we want to spend on projects for ourselves. Especially those that are simply frivolous fun!  So if I feel like making a fancy Cinderella gown that I may only ever wear once, I can justify it to myself when I share the process with others… Well at least that is what I tell my husband!

-What are your favorite things to make?

Wow, my studio is testament to my favourite things to make as it is full of supplies for projects I haven’t even started but have very good intentions to! I have a large collection of vintage patterns from the 1930’s – late 1950’s as well as reams of vintage fabric. I love making reproduction vintage pieces as it means that I can have the garments I really want in just the right size, as finding an authentic piece that is just what you want isn’t always possible.  I try to use all the original techniques and materials were possible when I’m doing these.  There is such a sense of triumph involved in getting some of these pieces right as the tailoring is critical, especially when the fabrics have no stretch and some that have no closures, just a complex construction.

If I don’t have the time to devote to such a big project, the other favourite is things that can be knocked over in a short space of time. Usually taking something old and altering and customizing it to become something entirely different.

-What are your plans for the future of Super Kawaii Mama?

There is some much in the works for Super Kawaii Mama in the new year.  The site is being redesigned for more depth and better navigation of archives.  I also get hundreds of requests for help and tutorials each month so I’m trying to find a better way to give readers what they need.  I have a number of creative collaborations in the works that will see the pages open up to a whole new audience and give you more choices in how you choose to interact with me. In short, I guess I never stop making things and never stop coming up with more and more outlandish ideas!

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What about you?

Do you sew, do you want to sew or do you fear even the mere thought of reattaching a button?

This weekend was the big day – Miss 5′s birthday party! My own first memories of birthdays past began at my fifth birthday.  I remember mum making a “Dolly Varden” cake from the Women’s Weekly cookbook, complete with faux Barbie inside the cake.  I remember receiving the coolest gifts from my friends and family; my first “lipstick”, a set of fashion plates (which I have since recovered via the magic of eBay) and a special dress with matching hair ribbons.  As I thought about my own fifth birthday, it occurred to me that so much of what happened on that day and the type of gifts I received, have gone a long way to shaping who I am today.  And so it was that I decided that this birthday had to be a cracker for my own daughter,  something that she would remember for the rest of her life as a fabulous pink dream.

All these intentions are well and good, but just how the heck do you pull something like this off without a team of event organisers and caterers at your finger tips? Here are my tips for making your own Unicorn Pony Party.

Pick Your Colour

When you’re a five year old girl, you just can’t go past pink. Sugary sweet it can do your head in, so pick your shade wisely. We decided that “Musk Stick Pink” would be our shade of choice, and then applied that to everything we possibly could.  It helps if you already have a bit of a colour theme to your home decorating and can scam pieces from your own collection to help pump up the ambiance. I brought out every pink table cloth, bowl, picture frame, flower and outfit I possibly could.  Even Mr SKM got in on the act wearing a pink and red shirt!

Carry Your Colour Theme Through to the Food

The easiest way to make your party table look fancy is to carry you colour theme over to the food.  When your catering for kids, this is 100 times easier than trying to come up with adult versions of coloured food! So we had every pink and white lolly we could think of, musk sticks, marshmallows, jelly snakes, white chocolate cover red licorice… enough to make your teeth fall out just looking at it. Savoury food was covered by those ever popular “little boys” also, reddish in colour, and the usual mini quiches, pies etc.. and for desert (as if all those lollies weren’t enough) mini pavlovas with pink whipped cream and raspberries.

Pink Cake Too!

Rather than staying up till midnight the night before, creating some elaborate confection that was way above my culinary skills, I decided to stick to cupcakes again this year.  I still haven’t gotten the hang of that perfect icing yet, and spent much of the previous evening licking strawberry frosting off my elbows as the piping bags continued to burst mid swirl.  They passed the taste test with flying colours though.

Goodie Bags!

Every good party comes with goodie bags, but after such a sugar laden day, I didn’t think that sending people’s children home with yet more sweets would be the best idea. As some of you know first hand, mixing both sugar and red food colouring is akin to baby crack, so sending them home with yet another stash would have probably seen me relegated to parental purgatory.  The goodie bags are a fun, cheap and easy way to win good party points with all your guests. Once again, make sure to stick to your colour theme, but think of things that can be used over again and aren’t simply going to break or end up in land fill.  They needn’t be expensive, but just make them look pretty!

For our stash we put together little pink organza bags containing My Little Pony makeup sized bags, super cute doggie sticky note pads, scented erasers shaped like cookies, and a little Cuppa Chup lolly pop.

The Piece de Resistance

All the best parties have one event that makes them the stuff of legends.  The stuff that shapes memories and imagination.  When I was asked for a Unicorn Pony for her birthday I knew I had a challenge on my hands. But with the magic of the internet, a little saving up, some glue and glitter; I managed to work a miracle.

Behold – The Unicorn Pony!

And now after all that, I plan to retire from partying for at least another month… until Miss One turns Two!

I love a good market, and Worn Wild is my favorite kind. Part caberet, part market; this is the best way to shop between acts with friends.  Last time I attended Worn Wild, I spent the day interviewing and happy snapping all over the place.  This year, I decided to go incognito and shop. Well, at least shop.

Images by Richard Hryckiewicz

Jacket – Tuxedo from formal wear shop, customised by me. Skirt – Red crinoline petticoat purchased from Circa Vintage. Shirt – Cue. Skull tie – Customised necklace and ribbon by me.  Shoes - Zoe Wittner.  Opaques – Voodoo.  Headband – Disney store USA.  Red heart earrings – Six.

So maybe not incognito, but then the only way I could achieve that would be by slapping on some fake tan and Juicy Couture! Maybe next Halloween.  I hadn’t really planned what to wear for the day and was still searching the reaches of my mind for inspiration only an hour before I had to leave home.  In the end I decided to go with something a bit Alice / fairytale and this is what resulted.

I did snap a couple of shots of some of my other favorite outfits and people for the day, but for the most part, enjoyed catching up with friends, drooling over stalls and watching some be-tasselled beauties dance about.

Seriously, how cute are these?! I fell in love with this girls work and am wearing one of these lovelies as I type.  I see more of her creations in my future.  They can be yours too! Check out The Loli Shop.

I met Michael at last year’s Worn Wild, dreaming of a life in fashion.  I was so pleased to hear he is following his dreams and making it happen.  I love his tailored, but relaxed alternative style.

One of the highlights of my day was meeting and being photographed by Sarah. You don’t need a crystal ball to see where she’s headed!

These sorts of happenings are my favorite part of Loreal Fashion Week.  All of the independent, alternative and ingenious designers out there, that have a chance to reach a more mainstream audience.  For those of you in Melbourne, I encourage you not just to attend to the usual headline shows, but investigate the cultural calendar that goes hand in hand with the parades.  This is where you’ll find some real gems, affordable pieces and inspiration to take your wardrobe to a whole new level of fabulous.