Well now, June certainly got away from me this time! Unlike so many other industries, Winter seems to be my busiest time of the year, running pillar to post trying to fit everything into fifteen plus hour days, seven days a week. So as penance for my appalling absence this month, I’ve set aside the most of July to catch up on all the things I’ve yet to show you, all the articles half written, and all the video tutorials that are awaiting the editing room.

It’s become clear that my usual planning skills, although pretty darn good, just haven’t been up to the task of the last month; so I’ve decided to bring in the big guns and get myself a copy of the new book by fellow blogger Nicole Avery, “Planning with Kids” from the blog – Planning with Kids of course!  I’ve spent so many hours in airport lounges of late, that reading and browsing bookshops has been like a spotters sport. It’s always smile worthy to see a friends name on the shelves.

I love the addition of the little plastic T-Rex on the cover – that’s often how it feels when you have two (or more) small people after your attention all the time.

In order to make sense of the whirlwind of a month I’ve had, I thought I’d do a little mini photo diary for you over the next few days. Partly to remind you what I look like, I’ve been so absent this month; also in part because it all gets so mad at times that I forget what I’ve done from day to day and it’s nice to look back and take a moment for it all the sink in.

So back at the end of May, I headed up to Queensland for the Garterbelts & Gasoline festival. You’ll remember we had a bit of a vintage shopping tour and all kinds of tiara’d shenanigans. That’s where the next six weeks of craziness began…

Because we like to travel in the style we’re accustomed too (nothing to do with how much luggage we have..) we arrived in the stretch limo, champagne in hand. Yes, I know; it already looks like trouble!

.

Oh so demure at breakfast as we fortify ourselves for the day ahead… but you wouldn’t believe what some of these ladies could put away!

.

This really had to be seen to be believed, but on Miss Nada’s plate is the biggest single scone known to mankind -and she actually did it!

.

Miss Nada, Me, Miss Chrissy and Bonnie Rose – hanging out and shopping up a storm in Mt Tambourine.

.

Do we have fun? Ummmm… well I can tell you that onlookers certainly do when we hit the streets!

.

The festival had a fantastic little art show, the only disappointment for me is that all the pieces I loved weren’t for sale!

.

.

.

But of course it wouldn’t be a nostalgia event without the Show n Shine part of the weekend. We ladies are all partial to a bit of vintage transport, and spending the afternoon wandering around through all this shiny, shiny eye candy is sometimes more than you can bare. So of course we make sure to take a few snaps of our favourite to add to the wallet as a reminder of why we need to keep on saving out pennies for a few of these beauties of our own!

.

Bonnie Rose shows her wild side.

.

Harry Deluxe, the indomitable Rockabilly chanteuse, goes with something red hot to match her red hot voice.

.

and me, well I was rather partial to this sleek and dangerous number.

.

But what about when the lights go down? Silly question – we have a good old knees up!

Candice DeVille, Bonnie Rose & Helen McLean.

.

Yes, indeed I do dance; in fact dancing and shopping are currently vying for first place in my list of thing I love to do.

.

Bonnie Rose and I propping each other up after a very long weekend.

.

And that’s only one weekend in May! As I said, I’ve lots of catching up to do as I get a chance to go through all my images from the last month, so if there’s something you’d particularly like to see, let me know and I’ll see if I can dig something up for you. And thanks for sticking around while I disappeared!

Xxxx!

If you follow me on Facebook you’ll have a pretty good idea of where I disappeared to this last week. As usual, I leave town with all the best intentions of blogging while I’m away, then find myself working and or socialising every minute of the day… and night.  The last week in Port Macquarie was no different, with so much to do that I somehow managed to do a whole week on no more than 3 hours sleep each night! Yes, self inflicted torture but what fun!

Having never been to Port Macquarie I didn’t really know what to expect of the town. In fact I had done so little research that it didn’t even occur to me that it would have a beach… duh. And while the weather was wintery as to be expected at this time of year, the entertainment was so hot that we had an unforgettable time.

Getting to Port Macquarie meant a 5 hour layover in Sydney (my bad planning), so I decided to be conscientious and use the time to answer emails while watching the planes taxi off. So I sat by the window, tapping away furiously on the laptop catching up on emails, when an older chap (not elderly by any stretch of the imagination), came and sat beside me. Concentrating, I kept on working away, typing like a demon until about 45 minutes later he interrupts to say, ” My you’re a busy little beaver. Is that work you’re doing there?” Of course I smile and say, “Yes, I’m catching up while I have a chance.” Imagine the stunned expression on my face when he gives me the look one gives a clever child and says, “Now who would give such a pretty girl so much work to do?” Seriously… WTF?! But the lady in me won out over my inner bitch and closed the conversations politely so I could get back to the task at hand.

Being someone who travels to all manner of places, I’m not much fazed by different locations and having to think on the fly; but one thing I always forget is that people aren’t quite used to me.  So stepping off the small propeller plane onto the tarmac in Port Mac with the locals awaiting their loved ones, faces pressed up against the wire fence; my cashmere, full skirts, sequins, dark glasses and hat boxes were quite the sight! This is when you feel a bit like Moses parting the Red Sea… but it is useful for getting to your luggage quickly!

And how beautiful was the first morning…

.

Breakfast in the sunshine with the fabulous Miss Chrissy

.

I’d like to tell you that each morning was this leisurely experience kicking back in the sun, but generally we were all working so flat out that not much sun (or rain) was seen.  The beauty of mixing pleasure and business on these trips is working with friends, but it does mean that you don’t really get a chance to see all the cars and performances. We spend all day at different ends of town on our various gigs, so of course when the sun goes down…. all bets are off!

My buddy Scotty Baker and I pose for another “Classic 50′s moment snap shot”, of which there were many.

So after a little healthy pizza parlour action for the crew we were sufficiently fortified to hit the town!

A little from my personal party photo album of the week…..

Casual night for kicking up the heels with a bit of Swing dancing.

The fabulous Catherine and Bonnie from Bonnie Rose Vintage

Tara from Lucky Trix, the suave Scotty Baker and Miss Chrissy.

The incredible Heather from Pretty Things Peep Show and Miss Catherine.

yes… the usual suspects.

The Rockabilly Diva Miss Harry Deluxe entertaining us at the after party.

We might possibly be the most glamorous party animals ever.

If you’d like to see even more of our rabble rousing and secret videos, check out my Candice DeVille Faceboook page. Now that I’ve managed a few good nights sleep I’m back on deck and ready to tackle the next project. Stay tuned tomorrow for a look at the big Wintersun 2011 vintage fashion parade in all it’s finery!

Winter in Australia can be really miserable what with the rain, sleet and all round bad weather; especially in Melbourne. But in June, there is one absolute lifesaver of an event that will fix every kind of Seasonal Affective Disorder. Wintersun!!  This fabulous nostalgia festival has been running for the last 24 years and is going from strength to strength.  This year for the first time, it is being held in sunny coastal town of Port Macquarie, where all of my favourite vintage festivities will come together.

Originally begun as a bit of a Show n Shine type of event, Wintersun has grown and morhphed into the biggest and most lauded nostalgia festival in the country.  Running over ten days (yes that’s 10 big ones), there is everything from cars to pin up girls, markets, vintage fashion fairs, vintage parades, the best swing and rockabilly bands from around the country, dance work shops, fashion and style workshops (that’s me amongst others), and more retro contests and activities than you can handle!

I’m telling you about this now so you can start planning your winter get away and shining your dancing shoes. In fact, let me give you an idea of a common day at Wintersun for me…

9am – breakfast on the balcony, swathed in silk and watching the shiny, souped up classic cars drive by.

10.30am – a bit of a promenade down the street with my vintageous lasses, arm in arm as we head down to the market.

10.45am – pose for photos with cars enroute and eye off the talent.

11.00am – find beautiful vintage frocks at market; squeal with excitement and make deals as to who gets what without loosing an eye.

12.30pm – lunch on the terrace at main street, checking out dapper chaps from behind our sunnies and making plans for the evening.

2pm – Vintage fashion parade – strut some stuff.

4pm – Hanging out en’masse in our apartment, doing each others hair and talking beauty tips (yep, super girly)

5pm – Cocktails and comparison of purchases. More excitement, donning of sequins and a little dancing around the living room.

7pm – Dinner with as many suitably attired people as you can muster, all descending upon a local establishment where Mojitos are on the menu.

8.30pm – Arriving at the first band venue

Until at least midnight – (or 3am for some of us)- Continue to dance until you can’t stand up, laugh, joke, chat and give those vintage frocks the time of their lives.

….. then do it all agin the next day!

So just what is in store this year? Well read on and click through to Wintersun’s VINTAGE ALLEY for information and ticket details for each event.  Be there or be Square!

.

.

.

.

.

.

Tickets for all Wintersun events can be found here!

.

And you know what… you can even apply to be the next Face of Wintersun!

So book your tickets, pack your suitcase and come hang out with me vintage style!

Yes, it did go a little quiet around here. I took off last week for a fabulous weekender in Queensland, but it was a zone of no phones and no internet, but many, many photos! To kick off the ultimate girls weekend away, what better party was to be had than a Royal Wedding occasion.

Friday morning, my girlfriends Bonnie Rose, Nada and I, all pilled into the limo and headed up to Tambourine Mountain in Queensland for the Garterbelts & Gasoline festival. Complete with tiaras we packed out bags for a weekend of music, dancing, frocks and frivolity.

The lovely Bonnie Rose riding side saddle on the way up the mountain.

Even though we knew we had a big night ahead of us with a ball to attend, the Royal Wedding came first on the list of priorities, and so it was out with the pimms and tiaras.

Nada and Helen get set for an evening of regal fun.

And even if you didn’t have your own, a little tin foil tiara and a bit of expert pin curling will do the trick!

Now it may look like the girls went gaga for WIlls, but the dress had us all shrieking in delight! In fact, earlier in the evening we’d been taking wagers on dress and hair styles that were bang on the money. And let me just say that while I thought Catherine did a fabulous job of putting herself together each day, her wedding choices were nothing short of spectacular! But more on that later.

So after half a dozen Pimm’s, and much applause or derision of the wedding guests outfits, we frocked ourselves up to head off to the dance.

This may all look rather fancy, but I have to tell you that we were the amongst the very few people quite this spectacularly attired in a room that even contained denim and polar fleece! I’m beginning to believe that any event labeled a “Ball”, should also come with a proviso that you should be at least this well dressed to enter!

This ‘little’ weekender was such a big one that I have a whole pile of lovely things to show you and I’m flat out editing photos to share. So stay tuned tomorrow for a look at Miss Chrissy’s big Vintage Shopping Tour!

The last few weeks have been a couple of the biggest and busiest I’ve had in a very long time. December is flying past in a blur and I’m only just today beginning to think about Christmas. I’m kind of surprised my body has managed to keep up the pace what with all the working, partying and coming in at dawn.. eehemmm..

I’ve posted a few shots on Twitter as the week progressed but I’ve put together a selection of my favourite pics from the last week to give you a glimpse into the goings on.

We kicked off last Thursday with opening night for The Ultimate Rock n Roll Jam Session in Melbourne with a seriously fun photo shoot and the cover of MX!

Ezra Lee and I looking all 50′s glam.

The wonderful Helen McLean came along and took some great shots of the morning too.

There was a whole lot of larkin’ around going on with the boys, (sorry Dave, I couldn’t resist) as they jostled for position over who was going to get to drive the Cadillac. (That would be none of them!) But we managed to stop traffic quite effectively that morning, and one poor punter even went totally upside down crashing into a park bench as he couldn’t take his eyes of the scene!

Even though I was running around like a crazy person, Mr SKM and the rest of my family still managed to come and see the show on opening night. How’s this for an iPhone photo of Mr SKM and I? I’m so impressed by the quality of these.

Fashion note: Mr SKM’s shirt is from Route 66 and my dress is an original 1950′s sequinned wiggled dress! It even has a matching jacket to go with it. Sigh…

An after show Christmas party saw me faffing around with some $2 shop holly to fashion into a last minute headdress backstage.

Lipstick note: I know you’ll ask so, this lipstick is a super cheap $3 one found at Priceline; “Poppy” by Savvy DB.

Then this Friday was an even bigger night again as we had a short spot on the 7pm Project, 50′s Friday to run and then get off to see The Reverend Horton Heat concert too!

I must have had about 30 or more dancers out on the pavement as well as all the boys and my lovely pinup girls. We made quite a sight outside the theatre!

Some of my lovely friends who helped out on 50′s Friday, Katie Cupcake, Nada and Miss Meg.

Friday night’s outfit was a special custom made dress from Something Else Clothing and it is simply divine! A scarlet red cotton sateen that fits like a glove.

Can I keep it? Please?

Then after all these evening shenanigans I headed off to see The Reverend Horton Heat at Billboard with friends and another very special ‘Flame’ dress from Something Else Clothing made just for the occasion!

It has been an absolute whirlwind and and absolute blast these last few weeks, so I am very ready for  great big Christmas nap. Bring on the pudding and the brandy!