Saturday, February 27, 2010

Perfect Match

I remember when I first set eyes on the designs by Elisea Carter of Gold in the Night, it was love at first sight--her sexy dresses were never tarty, and her beautiful gowns, though elaborate, were never over the top, and this gown I'm wearing today, courtesy of Elisea, is another example of pure luxe. I also found the perfect necklace and earrings to go with this elegant gown, a most exquisite crystal set from PB Collection, which has just undergone a major renovation and is now bigger and better than before. Finally, to complete the look, I added this lovely shimmery silver bangle from NC Paris.

Gown: Venere (includes matching shoes) from Gold in the Night
Hair: Autumn Hair from Topaz Square
Necklace and Earrings: Crystal Drops from PB Collection
Bangle: Fine Bangle from NC Paris









Friday, February 26, 2010

Still My Latest Craze...

...regarding accessories from Pelletteria Morrisey, that is, and I matched them with other favourites of mine...

Booties, Purse and Brooch: Baroque from Pelletteria Morrisey--120L (for all three items)
Dress: Fatima (choker and gloves included) from La Dulce Vida
Hair: New 1 from W&Y
Earrings: Love Set (includes necklace not worn here) from PB Collection







Thursday, February 25, 2010

Pretty Elemiah Dollarbies

I first heard about Elemiah Design during the Shoes and Accessories Hunt and immediately fell in love with the delicate and pretty dresses and lingerie, and when I re-visited the store recently, I was delighted to find that there is a corner for dollarbies as well...

Dress: Play 6 from Elemiah Design--1L
Hair in all pics: Vivi from Junwave--40L
Jewellery: Fascination Set from Moon Dance Designs








Dress: 4You2 (earrings and scarf included) from Elemiah Design--1L





In My Shoes: Please write two

Photo from: Lace and Tea

This is a continuation of the Seeking inspiration post story I put up titled: Please Write. In this feature, I hope to be able to present life dilenmas to you my darling devotees and I hope that they will get us to think and feel outside our realms of experience. It will be part advice column, part cliffhanger tales. If you have any life problems or situations you want advice on, or if you want to do an In My Shoes piece, email me at aury4eva@gmail.com. Hope you enjoy the first piece.

Days, weeks, months go by and I have not heard from him since he left. Extreme anxiety turns into despair.

What did I do wrong?

Is he trying to break up with me?

Did something happen to him?

He Hates Me!

He's never coming back , is he?

At first, I made excuses for him. I told people that he was too busy, the post is really slow, the network is terrible out there, and at first they believed me. After awhile though, it got much harder for them to believe. I could see the doubt in their eyes, the ever-present gaze of sympathy and pity in their eyes. At these times, I would be ready to scream that he is coming back, although in the depths of my heart I no longer believed it myself. I stopped checking for letters an
d emails from him and instead began to live a ghost-like existence, one that consisted of merely going through the motions. I no longer lived fully. Each day became a struggle. Depression crept up on me and slid in through the cracks of my demeanor, soon engulfing me.

Then one day, six months since he left, a letter came in the mail.

Eliza my love,

I can no longer lead this half existence. I need to be with you but with each passing day, I come to realise that our work here, while incredibly noble, is not enough to satisfy my heart's thirst. Each time I try to contact you, to reach out to you, and let you know how I feel, they tear me away. We work all day and most of the night and hardly ever see anyone from the outside world, and although we have made progress, it has been very slow and today they told us that the projected date of completion is 5 years away. We can no longer take in any new scientists into the community and if any of us were to leave we would never be able to come back. We now have to choose between leaving our old lives behind us and surrend
ering ourselves completely to the program or disbanding from the project, never to return.

I want to leave. I know how many people I could save, how much praise and acclaim I could receive, how much success would be mine, but I also know that I could not live a life in which you weren't a significant part of. There are quite a few incredibly intelligent scientists in the group and I do not doubt they can find the cures without me. I am ready to leave. All I ask is will you take me back?


Will you marry me?

Yours Forever.


What should I do? Should I let him leave? Should I take him back? What would you do if you were in my shoes?

Love you all and stay inspired,



P.S. So let me know what you think. What would do if you were in Eliza's shoes. Would you take him back? Would you let him leave? Would you marry him despite it all? Feel free to let me know in the comments below.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Parting The Red Sea

Now that Valentine's Day is over and the Chinese New Year season (which lasts fifteen days) is coming to an end, it's time for the sea of reds, pinks and shades in between to make way for other colours, even if for awhile, and the vibrant colours of these lovely creations from The Faerie Wind by its talented and equally lovely designer Janire Coba are truly a welcome sight indeed and a breath of fresh air...

All dresses and gowns from The Faerie Wind
Hair in all pics : Endra from Analog Dog Hair

Party Dress I (with detachable wings)--1L



Party Dress III (with detachable wings)--1L



Oreade (two skirt options)--50L





Naiara--50L



Meliade (with detachable wings)--50L (courtesy of Janire--thanks Janire! Muachhh!)



Annis (two skirt options)--50L





With such a beautiful collection, it's quite hard to decide which ones I love most, but if I really had to choose, I think my favourites will have to be Oreade and Meliade:-)) But do join The Faerie Wind group because Janire's latest dresses and gowns are usually at 10L for about 48 hours only, after which they will be sold at 50L (which is still quite a steal)!! Oh, and Janire has just sent out notices about a new gown at 10L even as I write!!! Janire, wait for meeeeee!!!!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Beached

Nothing beats a lazy day at the beach with the constant sound of waves beating against the sea shores and in a complete outfit like this Brown Flower Bikini ensemble for lazy people like me *grin*...

Outfit: Brown Flower Bikini (includes capri, bikini, sarong, shoes, hair accessory) from Sun Made Fashions--1L
Hair: Melissa from Junwave--40L
Necklace, Earrings, Bracelet: Beaded Set from Diamond Dreams--60L







Monday, February 22, 2010

A Day in the Life: Thank you my darling Canadieren

Photo from : Jessica Ortwerth

Dearest Devotees,

So a little while ago, the fabulous Canadieren tagged me for the Beautiful Blogger Award! She is one of my favorite fashion bloggers and you should definitely stop by and give her my love. So now I'm supposed to say seven things about me and tag some of my favorite bloggers.
Seven things about me you may not know:

1. My real name is Frances but Aury is my Artistic Alias (sort of like a pen name, that I use for my books, this blog and other creatively linked things.)
2. I am Nigerian, and can understand and speak, albeit not fluently, a language called Esan.
3. I get really excited for the most random things... (Random thing of the Day: Hey Arnold! reminisces in Methods of Construction class).
4. I frequently wish I could fly but I am deathly afraid of heights.
5. I love the beach but huge bodies of water (read: the ocean) scare me too.
6. I wish Katie Soloker was one of my best friends.
7. I love people A LOT but I also really enjoy my own company.

It appears I am a paradox.

I pass this award to the bloggers of :




Love you all and Stay inspired,



P.S. So let me know what you think. Are you as paradoxical as I am? What is (or seems) really conflicting about your personality? Feel free to let me know in the comments below.

Psychedelic

This cute dress reminds me of the psychedelic 60's...colourful, confused, attention-grabbing--think I kinda like it:-))

Dress: Private Dancer Mini Dress from HOX--free
Shoes: Pink Love from TGIS--free (group gift)
Hair: Cleom (includes colour hud for hair band) from LiNe
Bag: Paris Pink from Malt--free (group gift)







Sunday, February 21, 2010

Black Sunday

I don't often wear black, but this dress is so cute I just couldn't resist it and the relax cut is just right for a sunday afternoon picnic in the park; plus...it goes so well with my latest craze--bags and shoes from Pelletteria Morrisey :-))

Dress: Little Black Dress by Meriworth from The Shoppe in the Rose Garden--free
Hair: New17 (includes colour hud for bow) from W&Y
Bag: Ischia Bag from Pelletteria Morrisey--free
Sandals: Flat Sandals from Pelletteria Morrisey--free (lucky board)
Necklace and Bracelet: Surfer from Baby Monkey--free







Checking in With Reality: 21/02/10


tumblr_kw00ed4WVp1qa9utro1_400_large.jpg

Photo from: We heart it

Dearest Devotees,

Since the last time I posted on this topic (two weeks ago. I know I'm sorry) I have accomplished this:

  • Redesigned and renovated my blog, complete with new header and tons and tons of new ideas I can't wait to share with you.

  • Met and made friends with loads of lovely people in my classes and on my Catholic Centre retreat.

  • Found some scholarships to apply for, and begun to work on them.

  • Moved to whole new plane and level in my spiritual life, courtesy of fab CC retreat.

  • Come up with a new song and started recording on my new Mac!!!!

  • Formed study groups with aforementioned lovely people.

I have modified this:

  • I realised that I want to partake in NaNoWriMO with other people and since I only have one novel I want to get done this year, I'll do it then.

  • I need to spend more time on practicing piano skills and will therefore up practice time by an hour for awhile.


I have learnt this:

  • I need to make an all encompassing schedule-calendar that shows me all major projects, and minor ones and when they need to be done.


I will do this next week:

  • I will get up some of my new post ideas. I really hope you like them :)
  • I will get all of my files moved from my old laptop to my new mac.
  • I will study hard for all my exams and do all my major projects . If my costume design renderings turn out well I'll share them with you all.
  • I'll practice singing and playing my songs.

How have your aspirations been coming along?

Love you all and Stay inspired,



P.S. So let me know what you think. By the way, thank you for all of your constructive criticisms and beautifully encouraging comments. You help become better and give me such amazing support. I am so glad to have such amazing devotees and I promise to continue to give you my best efforts.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Beyond Freebies

When I got this notice informing me that there are some freebies all over Elorian Gardens, I just had to go check it out (of course*grin*)!! Well I didn't manage to find all the freebies, but oh the sights, the colours, the beauty of it all more than made up for it!

Outfit: Belle from KLD--free
Hair: New91 from W&Y
Choker: Silver Watemark from PB Collection--70L
Shoes: Ella from VDI








Outfit: Special Valentine from KLD--free
Hair: from KMH--free (thanks to my dear friend Xanthe for telling me about this hair shop!!)
Jewellery: Four-Leaf Pink Set from PB Collection--100L





Seeking Inspiration: I always come back to you


Picture From: We Heart It

Dearest Devotees,

Love is probably one of the oldest and most popular sources of inspiration out there. Whether it is love lost or gained, unrequitted or acknowledged, young or old, fillial or romantic, love definitely emotes incredibly strong feelings from us. Art work is usually born out of a desire to express strong emotions, and this is why there is so much art work with the theme of love out there. Also since it is such a popular human emotion in all of its various forms, art work love as a major theme tend to resonate with a lot of people and are therefore very popular and usually high in demand. Artists use it again and again with the hope of being able to depict it more completely with each effort either by covering a less publicized angle or using a never-before-seen metaphor. Sometimes, when I'm feeling low on inspiration I find a way to tap into this familiar emotion and use it as a spring board to something great. The montage below is my latest way to connect with love:


I have been collecting a list of movies to see, particularly movies that could inspire me on some level. This montage reminded me I really need to see When Harry Met Sally. It has become a popular culture reference and that means it says something important about world today. If you know what this message is or have an idea what it is feel to let me know in the comments.

Links that inspired me this week:

I am loving these little treasures.

Desire to keep up with the Olympics has made me wonder if it would be good to invest in this. Any thoughts?

Fashion Week!!! I want to be a designer my loves. What do you want from me? :)

What is love?

Nothing like interaction with other artists to inspire the artist within you.

I wish I had such pretty dreams .

There is just so much truth in this post.


Inspirational Exercise


'Tis better to have loved and lost' ?
sometimes I truly wonder.
For can one miss what was never got and experienced at all?
It seems for most things in life the answer is a loud resounding NO.
But once again love is the exception that drives both those who've never had it and those who have lost it to perdition with desire.
Desire to feel pain, joy, anything but this utter emptiness that resounds like a hollow bass drum.

Oh this most cursed and blessed feeling!

(You can actually tell that the majority of what I've been reading lately has been Shakespeare :P)

Love you all and Stay inspired,



P.S. So let me know what you think. How do you translate the image above? What are your views of love? What inspired you this week? Feel free to let me know in the comments below.