my creative space . . . 'romancing the hair'

Greetings all,

Earlier this month Christina of Hair Romance launched a fantastic eBook '30 Days of Braids' & i have been braiding up a storm ever since.  It's not just exciting for my daughters to pick out a hair-style-du-jour & creating fantastic hair styles, it's peaceful quality time where i'm not asking them about homework or chores . . . it's just fun & carefree.  

Yesterday i plaited two Dutch Braids into my eldest daughter's hair for school.  Little did i know by the evening we'd be at Accident & Emergency getting a fractured wrist Xrayed & set in plaster.  Her hair looked fantastic & this morning - sleeping soundly with her precious wrist  - it was hair perfection.

As my 3 girls have different hair types, colours & lengths, i'm experimenting with a variety of styles.  The Waterfall works brilliantly in short hair, across the head or sweeping down.

Out to dinner on Saturday night, i criss crossed her head with waterfalls.

For a day out with friends, i created a strong rope like tight style, it stayed put all day!!

 Her twin sister has waist length platinum hair, it's not as thick, however, it's glorious to work with.  We went French with this sweeping side style, again, first attempt, i swirled it rather than straight across her hair, but it was soft & lovely.  

 I just love how it looks the next day!!

 I've done this one a few times now, it's a Dutch Braid which joins with another one, then combines to create this incredible vine like finish.  I adore it.

 This is how it faired after 6 hours of high winds at the Floriade flower festival.  Whispy!! 

It looks pretty fabulous in shorter hair too.  Wish i finished it with a flower though.

 This is how the Dutch Braid looks . . . simple.  Also know as the Reverse or Inside Out Braid.

 Or try a regular French Plait on an angle, it always looks elegant.

 I've been having fun over on Instagram with these hair styles, i keep getting feedback that mums are all thumbs or just can't braid, they're hopeless at it.  I only learned how to French Plait earlier this year by Kylie from Mealy & i, the month before i had both hands operated on.  Trust me, i was not just thumbs & hopeless, my fingers were numb & i could barely grip a hair brush!!  I persevered & this has been about as creative as i've been all year.  It has given me great confidence in my hand skills though, i'm coming back!! 

For more Creative Space adventures, check out Village Voices.  Love Posie

social commentary Sunday . . . 'just enjoy YOUR life'

Greetings all,

I was going to do a social commentary on why are we so quick to get angry, hate & judge people we don't even know, other than how the media portrays them or they are classic celebrity disasters . . . i just can't get in the negative mood . . . so i'm just doing a post on 'just enjoy YOUR life.'  You get one life right, so why not just embrace what you have, adore who is around you, indulge mostly your needs . . . with a sprinkle of wants.

 How could i possibly get all bent out of shape when my day started with sweet fresh strawberries from the Farmer's Markets . . . 

 i have pink Stock prettiness on the dining table . . .

 my husband made butter to spread on delictable Italian bread . . . 

& we added a new chicken to our flock, a stunning Australian x Indian Game bird.  We planned to go with Indian Games as our table bird (meat) for when we have a farm, so to find one at the markets was a kick start to loving this breed.  I think i impressed the farmer with my knowledge too.  She is not pretty enough to show (not that we had planned to put her in pageants) but was ugly enough for a discount (imperfect beak.)  Like i said on Instagram, we love an under dog.  Welcome the enormousTrombone.

On to other blissful things . . . working through the 30 Days of Braids eBook with Hair Romance & loving every style.  Today we tried the French Side Sweep Braid, which i need to work more on sweeping, rather than swirling.  A happy 11 year old regardless.

 To wrap up the weekend, we took a drive to the country, that's about 10 minutes in any direction from Canberra, a very regional bush capital city . . . & spied some gorgeous properties (not all for sale) but farm-ideas-building.  No one in this family needs convincing that country life is the way to go for us.   

 So folks, just enjoy your life, it's so easy to make changes for good - focus on the positive & don't get bogged down by the negativity in the world which is so largely irrelevant to your own personal life.  Everything here was under $10 each - the strawberries, flowers, butter & eBook, except the discounted $25 chicken.  Money makes life easier yes, however it doesn't bring you happiness . . . you need to seek that out in every corner of your world, often in places you least expect it.  We never knew chickens would be so awesome, making our own butter would taste so good, or that i could do fancy braids in my daughters' hair.  We are planning a farm & a wholesome country life, yet are still living in suburban Army housing - that's not going to stop up practising how we want to live in the future, now.  Just open your heart & these good things will happen too, making the lovely out of the every-day-simple-needs.  Love Posie

spiral braid up-do-how-to

Greetings all,

Last month i put up an image of my middle girl with a spiral braid around her head - many asked for a tutorial - so i did her hair again for choir at Floriade flower festival & took snaps along the way.  Now this girl has waist length platinum blonde hair, it's quite thick & dead straight.  To French plait, you have to ensure the hair is absolutely tangle free, a tiny knot will be your undoing.  

As this braid swirls around her head, i find it easier to part & separate the hair into small sections.  This is not for the faint hearted (or stubborn) . . . your child will literally have to contort their body & twist their head off to allow for the best angles.

Quick tip: her hair was freshly washed & still damp, very easy to handle.  

I had her lay down & twist, it was very manageable (for me.)

 Basically i kept going around her head (twice) & i curved the corner at the starting point, kept going until i had one round patch of hair left (centre), which i plaited to the end like a tail.

 This was the end result, looks far more complicated than it really is.

 This took a solid hour (thus not filming it, yawn) using many hair clips to hold things in place as i twisted my daughter's head & body around.  When i got to the whispy front hair, i actually did a mini French plait, to hold it tighter, then joined it up to the next round of the spiral.

 As i said on Instagram, this child cares for her hair, happily brushing it like Marcia Brady every night.  She has zero split ends & thoughtfully turns off the water while she combs conditioner through it, so she doesn't hog 6 people's worth of hot water.

 Da dah, end result, a little whispy but nice & tight, held together for days (she slept with a shower cap on, i need to make her a silk sleeping cap - Little House on the Prairie style!!)  She loves it, even pops little fresh flowers in there.

 While i'm no Hair Romance (hello Christina) i do try with my girls hair styles & hopefully can avoid the added expense of up-do-appointments for future dances, formals & events times 4 children.  Try French plaiting ladies, it's so much fun - basically plait flat & every time you switch to a side -  collect a strand of hair, it's pure magic & looks a million dollars.  Do check out Christina's stunning hair styles, she's a doll.  My girls watch the tutorials like television & love to have braided hair at athletics, so neat & tidy.  In the end, success of failure . . . it's nice mummy-daughter time.  Love Posie

Blogopolis - my very first blog conference

Greetings all,

Thank you for the enthusiastic response to my 600th post giveaway.  I found a draft post which is now obsolete & deleted, so this is technically my 599th post, again.  I'm thrilled as i have a fantastic post for the actual 600th - what blogging is truly about - heart & soul!!

  Now that is sorted, i can chat about the Nuffnang Blogopolis blog conference.  I will do my best to present a genuine opinion, without sounding too much like a hyped up groupie, as it was truly fantastic!!  Here's a basic run down of the day & a little who's who of Australian blogging.  

 Personally i thought the value for money from the ($99 early bird) $117 event ticket was excellent, with a great goodie bag, Twinnings sponsored high tea on Royal Albert china & the mixed buffet lunch was delicious.

 The venue was the Sofitel Hotel Sydney, i mingled bravely & found sweet bloggers i follow & met new ones i'll have to check out (over 200 blogging attendees!!)  

 Throughout the day, a huge screen ran the live conference Twitter feed, extremely distracting & entertaining (like reading all the notes being passed around a classroom.)  One tweet said "let the cake photography session commence", indeed, look at the cakes!!   

 I sat with Corrie from RetroMummy (my best friend in the blogopshere) & gazed at Nikki from Styling You's perfect hair all day.  I introduced myself, after hugs & kisses, she shared her hair styling secret - L'Oreal Professional steam pad (new at hair salons.)  Nikki even let me touch her hair . . . it was soft & lovely.  EDIT: she offered!!  

I didn't enjoy the first talk of the day: Idea Sourcing & Content Creation, by an image consultant, i wished it was stylish Nikki up there instead!!  The presenter wore black top to toe, against a black curtain, you could only see her face & hands.  Tip for presenters . . . bring an alternative colour top/ jacket/ scarf to stand out on stage against light/ dark backdrop, or ask in advance if it's light or dark!!   

 Then the room was split in half with a partition for different sessions, first up: SEO (search engine optimisation) is a dry topic, yet Jeff Tan was personable & engaging, with real blog examples on how to grab reader attention, move up search engine rankings, use analytics & social media referrers.       

Nicole Avery from Planning with Kids discussed Branding - your blog has a brand - which is everything from your personality, writing style, subject matter = reader perception, that's right, it's not about a logo!!  Nicole encouraged us to use surveys to find out what people think & being consistent across all your social media.  

 Gorgeous Rachel Devine from Sesame Ellis gave a talk on Photography.  Polished to the end, her tips & tricks, pamphlet & explanations will have everyone posting quality photos forever more.  I took my point & shoot camera to the event as handsome soldier took our big fancy Nikon DSLR to Taronga Zoo with the children, thus my less-than-amazing images.

 Rachel has written a book Beyond Snapshots, which i purchased at the event (under $40) filled with real life examples, not just a manual.  What i love is that she wrote it with Peta Mazey from Style Me Pretty, so one uses Nikon, the other prefers Canon, one uses Mac, the other prefers a PC.  They truly cover all the bases.  RetroMummy has a copy of the book to giveaway on her blog NOW - we are all mums with twins too!!  

 In the afternoon there were discussion panels: Finding Your Own Voice & Staying Relevant with Phoebe from Lady Melbourne (fashion), Zoe from Good Googs (parenting), Eden from Edenland (life) & Penny from Jeroxie (food).  An unusual mix, their genres clashed with opinions on topics like 'have you ever regretted hitting publish on a post' & Phoebe was having none of Eden's deep personal publications about recovering from drug addiction.  Many started blogging anonymously too.  Personally i could have just listened to Eden on her own, chatting about blogging from the heart, fearless of the consequences. 

Utilising Different Platforms to Optimise Your Blog & Traffic included presentations on Pinterest with Christina from Hair Romance (stunning & informative); Podcasting with Caz from yTravel (she said "yes, your voice really does sound like that" - i actually like my voice, maybe one day i will do a podcast??) & YouTube with Janice from Chaigyaru (quirky, adorable, no wonder she has millions of hits!!)    

 The final panel: The Australian Blogosphere included Trevor Young (PR), Kate from WoogsWorld (life), Sarah from A Beach Cottage (decorating) & David Krupp (Nuffnang/ event host) which made for another interesting mix of personalities.  Comments like "i've never met such an amazing bunch of women" from Kate; "blogging is a personal learning curve" from Sarah; "the future of advertising on blogs is exciting" from Trevor; & "blogging has never been more healthy" from David, capped the wonderful atmosphere of the day.  They all discussed blogger influence & how you should never advertise for free on your blog, the conflicts of making money from your blog - actually the discussion went a bit off topic, i left with my head spinning.  I'm glad i had a train trip back to my family to clear my mind.     

 Look at my beautiful home town of Sydney, just glorious at sunset!!

What i learned??  You can manipulate statistics & trick readers to your blog with popular key words & catchy titles, however, i believe if it doesn't come naturally (writing, topics, genuine opinion) you will struggle to post frequently.  

What i loved??  Bloggers get each other, non bloggers don't know what they are missing out on!!

What i loathed??  OMG, do NOT give me your card or details unless i ask please.  If you do shove a card in my hand, how about you ask who i am too??  I don't do impolite, pushy or social media climbers!! 

Would i attend again??  Absolutely.  I would love to see how my photography improves (using the proper DSLR & flicking it off auto) & organise to meet more bloggers in the crowd.

What will i change??  Even as a mathematician, i'm not going to analyse my statistics & let them rule what i blog about, i will still post across many genres & blog from the heart, rather than just one particular popular expertise (parenting, sewing, loving my husband!!) 

Will i use every social media platform possible??  No, it's not my obsession, no one else is running the house, going to the gym, walking the dog or driving the school run for me while i blog!!  I will stick to a few tweets, pins & FB updates each month.  I don't even have a smart phone, so it's my desk top or nothing!! 

Will i blast you with advertising??  I think the fact i didn't even attend the 'Opportunities Gained Through Blogging' talk says is all (it was packed) it has never been my focus or the reason why i blog!!  Again, things should evolve naturally & slowly, keeps your ego in check!!

I hope this was informative & encourages you to attend a blog conference if one comes to a city near you.  I wasn't nervous or worrying about what to wear, i am me.  You will leave knowing how to make your posts concise & easy to read with great images.  Now i have one question for you - what do you think my 'brand' is??  Love Posie

PS just follow & comment at here to win an awesome 600th post giveaway!!