February 2015 | Joan Vanguard

Friday Finds #4

By Alexie RicRac on 27 February 2015

If there is one thing that I absolutely love about myself it’s my skin. I was blessed with the amazing peaches and cream complexion from my British heritage (thanks Dad!), and as I journey through my early thirties I’m still lucky enough to have quite youthful skin. Now, I’m the first to admit that I don’t follow a skin care regime. I don’t know if this works for or against me, but so far it’s okay. This week I’m going to show you my favourite skin health and care products to keep my skin looking the way it does, even if I do not use them all the time.

What to Wear Wednesday #3: Poolside Glamour

By Alexie RicRac on 25 February 2015

Ahhh summer, where are you my friend? I yearned for you all year, and you but teased me with a few days of heat. Not a visit to the beach has been made this season, and I’m not sure I can wait again until you arrive in the last months of 2015.

And we’ll never be lonely any more….

By Alexie RicRac on 23 February 2015

On 25 May 2014, my life became a whole lot sweeter: The Mister got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. He arranged a photo shoot with our friend who is an amateur photographer with Vinnie calling me a week before to arrange, telling me he was doing an assignment of couples for his photography club.

Friday Finds #3

By Alexie RicRac on 20 February 2015

Handmade: Is there anything better? Customised, rare, unique, special. That’s what I think of when it comes to handmade. This week’s Friday Finds are from the fabulous MadeIt. Step this way as I showcase some of my favourite items from handmaidens Australia-wide.

Our Vintage Home: The Kitchen Project

By Alexie RicRac on 17 February 2015

Three and a half years ago, The Mister and I were faced with a self imposed challenge to find a new place to live in a very short space of time. The ‘house’ we had been living in for 6 months had rising damp and despite our best efforts, we had mold growing on a lot of our possessions. It wasn’t until we dismantled our bed that we realised the extent of the damage: our mattress, our bed frame, our slats; not to mention the mould on the backing board of our chest of drawers (and finally we understood why our clothes smelled so putrid!). Within two weeks, we moved from the mold-infested place to the place we live in now.

Special Edition: Ballarat Beat

By Alexie RicRac on 16 February 2015

A chance click a few weeks ago when looking at my favourite vintage and pin-up Facebook pages alerted me to the fact that the Ballarat Beat Rockabilly Festival was coming up. I had it in my head that Ballarat Beat was a little closer to Easter. Given that Easter moves every year I don’t know why I had that thought in my head. Never the less, Ballarat Beat was this weekend and we cleared our schedules to go! We stayed with my oldest friend and her partner: Rach and I have been friends for 26 years, we went to kinder and primary school together, and we also worked together in our final year of high school. Spending the weekend with Rach and Andrew was wonderful, all four of us are so busy the last time we saw each other was August 2014. Rach works for Ballarat Regional Tourism, and Ballarat Beat is one of her babies.

Friday Finds #2

By Alexie RicRac on 13 February 2015

Summer has finally arrived – albeit two months late (did anyone say climate change!?) – so today’s Friday Finds is all about the great outdoors! Unfortunately we don’t have a back yard, so all of these items are a pipe dream until we do get a bigger place with a patch of grass.

DIY: Upcycling the upcycled – turning planter boxes into shelves part 1

By Alexie RicRac on 09 February 2015

I love our little flat, but being a rental I can’t really fix anything to the walls in terms of storage. I’d love to pop some shelves up above my desk however the need for a hammer drill and much planning isn’t really a part of our rental contract.

I hunted around on eBay for shelves to sit on my desk instead. I couldn’t find anything suitable so thought outside of the box and found some planter boxes: two lots for $40. They needed a little work to bring them up to shelf standard but I was up for the challenge.

Friday Finds #1

By Alexie RicRac on 06 February 2015

I love shopping. I love online shopping. I love finding things that are rare, not from the same mould as others – or if they are it has to have a seriously high dose of what The Mister calls ‘Hollie Flavour’. I love trawling etsy and, while I’m yet to compile an etsy treasury, I do favourite a LOT of beautiful wares. Clothing, accessories, graphics, furniture, home wares, pretty much anything goes. If I love it, I find that heart and make it my dream. Friday Finds is a little bit of everything that I am fawning over that perhaps one day you or I can add to our collections. There’s no hard and fast rule as to where things come from, just that they possess that certain element of Hollie Flavour and of course, a hint of 40s or 50s doesn’t go astray.

What to Wear Wednesday #2: Sweet Valentine

By Alexie RicRac on 04 February 2015

A day of love, a day of pain, or nothing at all? I never used to be a fan of Valentine’s Day. Not because I was single – for eight years I was in a relationship/engaged/married (hold onto your hats there folks!) – but because I didn’t like the fuss and caper surrounding the day. Truth be told, I still don’t like the fuss and caper, it’s kind of like the Wedding Industry Complex, but I do appreciate it more now that I’m in a happier place.