The Divine Miss Perry

Hi Everyone,

it's been a while since we last met and I apologise for my prolonged absence. It has been for an accumulation of reasons that I have not been posting lately. My outrageously busy schedule is the main culprit, however it has also been a lack time to pay attention to my surroundings and inspiration that has prevented me from sharing with you all.

It means so much to me that you read my posts and I really wouldn't want to subject you to some crap that I threw together in mere minutes just because I'm supposed to post at a certain deadline. I thank you for your patience and for your continued support.

An update on the competition that marked the beginning of this wonderful blog, Star in a Bra. The beautiful winner was announced last week and I am pleased to announce that it was the beautiful Cassie Hayes. Congratulation beautiful lady!

Now, I have literally just finished watching a movie that I was actually really dubious about; Katy Perry - Part of Me. I'm not really into this whole 'let's make a movie about me' masochism that seems to be sweeping the music industry at the moment. This little gem, however, was really quite great. What an amazing young woman she is. Such an amazing story.

Two things really struck me about her during this film. Lady Gaga is always touted as the amazing individualistic powerhouse, which I am certainly not arguing with, did someone say 'meat dress'? But I was really impressed with the message that Katy sends to her fans also. The persona that she projects is certainly quite kitschy and young, appealing to both young and old. It's really great to see such a positive role model out there for our adolescents who are too afraid to move away from the 'norm'. 

 The thing I really loved was how real it was, not just a sweetly edited version of her life. Famous or not, when a relationship ends it is a really low and exhaustively emotional time. My heart bled for the girl going through a divorce, sobbing her little heart out as she walked onto the stage of her sold out tour. Smile through that and you deserve a medal! 

Everyone knows that gut-wrenching feeling of something being over. When you really loved that person it honestly feels as though there is a whole in your heart. It's hard to believe, when you are in the midst of it, that anyone else could possible have felt this awful and in pain. But we have, an might possibly again some day, so just remember that you are never alone in the fight and the healing.

Another label I have recently discovered is Maripossa. Their story is a unique one of design inspired by psychology and travel. Their intricately woven chain is to die for and a real inspiration to my own designs. Check them out at www.maripossa.com.au 

Well that's all from me today, hopefully it won't be as long between meetings next time.

Speak soon, peace and love

Serra xxx

Perception of Creation

Hi Everyone,

hope you have all had a wonderful weekend. I had a lovely time catching up with some old work friends at a baby shower on Saturday. It was wonderful to catch up with these amazing women and I also had a great time meeting some new people as well. One thing that really stood out to me through was just how far I have come since I left almost 9 months ago. Not in any bad ways of course, my time spent in this woprkplace was a wonderful experience that I was apprehensive to give up. Needless to say, settling in at my new workplace was a difficult time. I am not what you would call a proponent for change, and although the concept of spontaneity excites me, it is much better suited to the 'exciting' people of the world. I knew it was time for me to move on and I never second guessed my decision, but it wasn't an easy transition. But here I am at the other end and I'm so happy in my job and in my life in general. Seeing all of these ladies again really highlighted that for me, and I am so grateful to still call them my friends.

Anyway, enough gushing, onto business. I wanted to talk today about that tricky concept of creativity and more specifically of what is considered to be creativity and what is considered to just be a hot mess. As someone who has always struggled to define exactly what it is I wanted to create, I can totally relate to people who feel as though they wish they could be creative (or arty farty as my eloquent mother would put it). My mum thinks anyone with dreadlocks and who dresses a bit bohemian is 'arty farty', but personally I don't think it is that easy to identify. I can't speak for any other designers or artists out there, but for me it has always been a struggle to describe myself as creative and have really confidence and pride in what I create. I don;t know if it is because I can see all the minor mistakes I made when making the piece in question or because I know how easy or difficult I found it to make, but whenever I see a piece of mine I always see the flaws before I can see its beauty. Perhaps this is a kind of beginner's anxiety or something, but now that I think about it, I see it all the time around me.

I think back to that baby shower I attended on the weekend and my heart warms at the thought of how it was all brought together. The lady it was held for hails from China and, due to her culture, was not familiar with the Western tradition of baby showers. The girls wanted to celebrate for her and so they organised the shower, providing a venue, food, games, prizes and presents all for her. How lovely is that? On top of this, two of these ladies actually hand made gifts for the bundle of joy. Hand made little teddy comforters. We all sat around as she opened the presents and did the obligatory 'ooohhs' and 'aaahhs' for each gift. When these hand made gifts were opened it was brought up that they were just that. I was so impressed, particularly as someone who cannot either sew nor knit. I complemented them both on their efforts and they both shrugged them off as 'not a big deal'. One of them actually apologised to the guest of honour because 'it was my first time, sorry, the legs are too skinny!'

Through my eyes both gifts were perfect and I was totally blown away by the effort, thought and talent that went into creating them. I honestly think they could make a little business out of it (although i think that EVERYTHING cute and fun should be made into a business), but through their eyes it was just a simple gift, even worth an apology!

This got me thinking about the way we see our own creations. Perhaps everyone else marvels at the jewellery I have made as I secretly critique in my own head (one can only hope). And furthermore, what makes creations 'good'? Is it just down to a person's individual taste, or is there a kind of universal standard and anything above that is considered 'creative'? I guess it's that age old debate that surrounds abstract art. Is it really art or is it just something that my nephew could have painted at preschool?

I asked myself these questions and I decided that, for me, creativity is about engaging in the process of creation. Anyone with that urge to create something can be classified as creative. As far as which of these creations is considered 'good'? Well, beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder, but I will certainly keep in mind that I think all designers and artists are their own biggest critics. This can only make me work harder and improve upon my craft.

I heard a great quote recently (from a Justin Bieber song of all places... shame) that I think relates really well to this discussion. The singer ponders the age old saying of 'the grass always being greener on the other side' correcting it by saying 'the grass is always greener where it is watered'. This is so true and just goes to prove why Justin Bieber is a world wide teen sensation! My point here though is that instead of looking at others and wishing you were as creative as them, you should spend your time respecting and tending to your own craft and soon enough it will be a talent to be reckoned with.

On the other hand, maybe this pic will explain the differences in grass colour more aptly

Peace and Love

Serra xxx

I'm Baaaaaack

Hi All,

sorry for my extended absence! Just licking my wounds after my outrageous loss!!! Lol just joking. I'm currently on my prac for uni and it is taking over my life! But I'm back and ready to blog my little heart out!

So what to say today??? Well for starters I would like to say how HAPPY I am for the 5 beautiful ladies who made it to the top 5 in the Star in a Bra competition. In the week that I was campaigning for my spot I was lucky enough to befriend all 5 girls on Facebook and I have got to say that, although I do wish there could have been a couple more spots, I am totally satisfied with the girls that got through. The main question on everyone's lips ( well maybe not everyone but you get my drift) is who will I be voting for as the winner of the competition. I'll be honest and say that it's a very difficult decision, and I really feel as though any of them would be a great ambassador, but I'll publicly announce that I will be voting for Mindy Reading. This girl has got an amazing story behind her, full of accomplishment and rising above the challenges of life. Although I don't know the exact details, I do know that Mindy has worked her behind off, literally, to lose 30kg!!! What a legend! That is no easy feat and for this I truly admire her. In addition to this she is working hard at becoming a nurse and wants to utilise this knowledge by helping disadvantaged people all over the world. What a woman! So, to everyone who voted for me in the top 20, I urge you to now pass your vote over to Miss Mindy Reading as Australia's Star in a Bra for 2012. Once the voting has opened I will post a link for you all to follow if you do decide to vote.

Anyway, let's move on to other things. I've been hitting the sketch book hard over the last couple of days, coming up with some more designs for my blossoming jewellery line. I've been checking my instagram quite consistently and this has become one of my major sources of inspiration. I love seeing the wonderful snap shots from amazing designers and bloggers such as spell and the gypsy, Samantha Wills, ManiaMania and Sybil Steele. It looks as though I have some great pieces in the pipeline and I will post some pictures once they start to materialise.

I have been thinking about the future of this blog and what I would like it to represent in my life. Firstly, I would just like to give a shout out to my wonderful supporters and friends. I was overwhelmed by the amount of people that came through and showed me true loyalty and friendship in voting for me and pretending that I was the most beautiful girl in the competition (lol) but the thing that has been the most rewarding part of this whole experience has been the feedback I have received from this blog. As I chronicle my own coming of age as a strong and confident woman (a lifelong journey I expect) I have inadvertently provided a voice to many of my readers. I am so proud to be someone of inspiration or motivation to such incredible people, because anyone who reads something written by yours truly must be freaking INCREDIBLE, and I plan on continuing this. I really hope to be able to reach as many people as possible and cover as many issues of being a human being ( not just a woman) as possible. I encounter many daily struggles, however minor they may seem, but in order to deal with as wide a scope as possible I would really love your feedback. If you have any topics that you would like discussed in this blog please pm me on Facebook or comment on any of the posts so far. Your privacy will be honoured and pseudonyms will be used :)

Peace and Love

Serra xxx

Announcement Eve

Hi Everyone,

just a quick post tonight because I need to be doing something other than continuously checking Facebook to see if anyone else has voted for me, not that I would know either way lol. So it is the night before the announcement of the final five in the Curvy Kate Star in a Bra competition and the nerves are racing around my body.

Its amazing how often your mind can change about something when you CONSTANTLY think about it! Although there is a limited amount of things I can do to change the outcome of this competition now, I can't help but think of nothing but the competition whilst sitting there staring at my computer screen! AAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH! Lol.

So to combat this I decided to give myself a little cheers. I poured myself a glass of wine and gave a little toast to myself for being so brave, putting myself out there and flaunting what my mama gave me!

So in keeping with this notion I would also like to make a toast to the other fine as ladies that entered. All 19 women are absolutely gorgeous and are probably the only other people on the planet right now that can completely relate to what is going on in my head right now. I truly wish we could all win and that they could just choose a lingerie set for each of us to model, dedicating a page oin their catalogue to each of us. But, alas, this is not the case and there can only be five. I have voted for my favourite three and really hope to see their faces in that line up (along with my own) but it could be anybody's game.

Thank you to all my friends and blog followers who have voted and shared the information about this amazing competition. Ultimately the goal is to spread the message far and wide that real, curvy, beautiful women belong in the media. I think I have appropriately reached many people with that particular message, and for that I say "CHEERS TO ME!"

Peace and Love

Serra xxxx

Being the best version of you!

Hi Everyone,

sorry for my absence over the past few days. I have been hit with a nasty chest infection and have been bed ridden for a while. Due to this illness I have been really out of whack with my normal routine and it has sent me into somewhat of a tailspin! I had no idea how reliant I was on my routine! I always used to  think of myself as really wild and spontaneous, but I'm slowly coming to terms with the fact that I am certainly not! 

I am an extremely habitual person, something I noticed when I recently quit smoking. I was so concerned with all the stigma surrounding how difficult it can be and all the weight you can put on that I constantly convinced myself OUT of quitting smoking for years before I actually did it. The key was to changing my routines so that at the times of the day that I would normally smoke, I included somthing else that I could look forward to like a magazine at lunch times.
In addition to chanign my regualr routine, I also needed to add to it. In my anxieties about putting on weight, which is a common side effect of quitting smoking, I immediately joined Weight Watchers and hiked up my gym sessions.

Fast forward almost five months and I'm still not smoking and 10 kg lighter... and a finalist in a lingerie competition (Star in a Bra, if you haven't voted yet head to http://apps.facebook.com/starinabra-au/models/41 and vote for me)! I can barely believe what I have achieved so far.
I was reading the interviews from some of the other finalists in aforementioned modelling competition and one of them, Nadine, remenisced on making a vision board to plan for her future. She described the obligatory handsome boyfriend, nice house, great job and slimmer figure and it got me thinking what I might put on my vision board.

The more I thought about all the things I wanted, the more I realised that I had begun to set all of them in motoin already. I already have that handsome boyfriend, I'm saving money for a deposit on a house, I'm almost finished with my university degree for that great job, I also love making jewellery and plan on opening that up as a small business very very soon (more on that later) and, having just lost 10kg and on track to hit my goal weight soon, that great (not necessarily slim) figure is right here and being flaunted in a lingerie competition no less. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I am literally being the best version of myself right now (chest infection excluded). 

I haven;t always been this way, in fact I have most recently been known as the 'I'm gonna' girl. You know the one who every time you see her she is always talking to you about that amazing thing she 'is gonna' do next. I was always saying, "I'm gonna start saving soon," and "I'm gonna start making jewellery," or "I'm gonna go to the gym more." Saying these things would make me feel satisfied for a short period of time, but then i would do nothing about it and fall back into my slump. I'm not saying my life was terrible, in fact it was quite satisfying thank you very much, but I always wanted a little bit more, expected a little bit more of myself. 

I discussed in an earlier post about feelings of jealousy vs. feelings of admiration. Well lets just say my feelings haven't always been as rosy towards others that were living what I considered to be an enviable existence. In my eyes this would normally constitute someone with great personal style who is generally happy and easygoing with a creative/intellectual job and many interesting things to talk about, like the most recent place they travelled to and what amazing pieces they discovered there. I still reach for those things for my own life, but insetad of recognising them in others and resenting it I began to look at my own life and tweak things so that they could eventaully morph into someone I might have been envious five years ago. 

If you are feeling a little disillusioned with life, start small but PLEASE START! Things will only change if you make it happen, and don;t be so concerned with everyone around you is doing. The more you think of yourself and being the best operson you can be, the mroe you will begin to realise that you are actually pretty damn great after all!

That is all for now, 

Peace and Love 

Serra xxx

P.S. Vote for me :)

Self Love

Hi Everyone,
 this is just going to be a quick post. I wasn't going to post today but I was just on the Curvy Kate Australia Facebook page having a look through past posts (not incessantly checking to see what progressions have been made in the competition I'm in...) and came across some posts made by disappointed women who weren't as lucky as I to have made it through to the top 20. I felt really sad for these women, and not in a condescending way either. In the way that I totally could relate to what they were feeling.
 Now it's time for honesty. When I told my beautiful a close friend about the fact that I had gotten through to the final of this competition (Star in a Bra - Vote SERRA) after their initial congratulations, their mood became quite subdued. I was totally confused, taking this to mean that they were uncomfortable with my entering.
"We are never like this," I thought to myself, knowing my friend to be supportive and funny. I had to ask them about it, and after some poking and prodding they finally admitted what their fears were.
"I know you babe, and I know how passionate you get... and how disappointed you get. I don't want to see you get depressed if you don't get through..." they explained, reluctantly.
Now, these concerns are not unfounded. My friend is certainly right in saying that I am a very passionate person, someone who gets their heart set on something and can't stand the thought of having taken away. But the unfortunate facts are that there are some things we cannot control, the way this competition will eventuate for example.
To be perfectly honest with you, I had already assumed I had not gotten through. I was under the impression that the company was going to get in contact with the finalists well prior to the announcement and, since this had not happened, I was imply just having a squiz at who had gotten through when suddenly my own face jumped out at me from the bottom row. What a wonderful surprise!
Would I have been disappointed if my picture had not been there? OF COURSE! Will I be disappointed if my face is not amongst the top 5? ABSOLUTELY! Will it effect the respect I have for the company Curvy Kate, the other girls in the competition and, above all, myself? NO FREAKING WAY!

No matter what I am anxious for at that moment, whether it be a modelling competition or my latest marks  in a university assignment, I should never and will never allow that to shape my self worth. I am a good person who is caring and thankful for the love and support I have around me.
I talk about the great people I have around me, and for all of these people I am full of love and gratitude, but my biggest advocate is myself. No one will love you or care for you better than yourself, and no matter what others may say, I will always pick myself up and brush myself off because I HAVE MY BACK!

So to all those people out there who may not have received what they expected, not just in this competition but in anything through their life, please remember to always love yourself, and whoever else loves you after that will feel that much sweeter :)

Peace and Love

Serra xxxxxxxxxooooooooo

Creative Spirit

Hello Again,

 back again so soon I hear you ask?? Well, before I get into my topic for today I wanted to share an image of the movie poster for Bully, the movie I discussed in my last post.

So I urge all of you to go and check it out, and once I have I will be posting my own thoughts and would also love to hear yours :)

OK, so today I am feeling SUPER creative and wanted to chat with you all about my design inspirations. I mentioned in an earlier post that I would be discussing my creative spirit with you and now is the time I think.

I am in love with art in all shapes and forms, finding this form of expression such a rich and emotional experience. I truly believe that everyone needs at least one type of artistic expression in their life, even if it's just an appreciation for the beautiful art all around us.

My main inspirations are derived from my environment, both natural and societal. I've always been the kind of person that admires things in others, mistaking this as a jealous nature growing up. I honestly thought that I was envious of all the things that people had and thought myself a bad person for this.
As I grew up, I realised that I have never begrudged people their amazing and unique talents or traits, I only wished to model myself after them and was therefore inspired by them.
This is something I try to encourage in the children in my class and I always promote a supportive and positive environment in my room. If I think that someone looks great then I will ABSOLUTELY tell them and I think everyone should.
When someone has done a good job, has been kind, has shown great intelligence or has created something spectacular TELL THEM THAT YOU THINK SO!!! We always forget the simple act of support is so important for everyone to be confident and apply themselves optimally in their life.

Anyway, back to creative inspirations (lol) as I was saying, I am constantly inspired by my surroundings and pick various tidbits from people, nature, design, music and art. One of the amazing things about social media is that these things are constantly at my disposal and I am always taking advantage of various sites such as Pinterest (www.pinterest.com) Twitter (www.twitter.com) Etsy (www.etsy.com) and Facebook (www.facebook.com) in addition to the plethora of blogs all over the Internet. I also absolutely LOVE Instagram, purely to follow some of my favourite designers and to be inspired by their images every day.

In this wonderful age of information sharing it is impossible not to be inspired and in keeping with this notion, I would like to share with you some of my favourite artists and designers and some of their inspirational images.

Charmaine Olivia www.charmaineolivia.com

This woman is seriously talented! Her art is extremely fluid and voluptuous; every way women should be represented. The colours and subjects are always thought provoking and a little bit edgy.

This is one of my favourites of hers called "Learning to See". I urge all of you to follow this girl on twitter and instagram! She is an inspiration.

Spell and The Gypsy www.spelldesigns.com spellsjewellery.blogspot.com.au

As jewellery design is my chosen form of artistic expression, these guys are one of my biggest inspirations. I discovered them a number of years ago when their main products were gorgeous leather necklaces adorned with all sorts of divine charms, pendants and beads. Their HQ in Byron Bay is now full of all sorts of amazing designs including jewellery and clothing. I highly recommend you give them a look if you haven't already! Their earthy and natural beauty is straight from Mother Nature!

Gustav Klimt www.klimtgallery.org

Now here is a man I'm sure you have all heard of. Unfortunately, up until recently, I hadn't! Can you believe that. I was introduced to Klimt through a wonderful colleague of mine who is passionate about passing on her artistic knowledge to the children in our class. When I first laid eyes on his masterpiece "The Kiss" I was blown away. His works in the Art Nouveau movement are all amazing and truly celebrate the beautiful female form.

"The Kiss"

Well that is all for today. I hope I have satiated your artistic appetites and introduced you to some new inspirations of your own :)

Peace and Love

Serra xxxxoooo