For Those Birds Nest Days...

Hair accessories by CamilleJaval

Ever since I was a kid I've loved putting things on my head :)  As an adult my hair accessory of choice always seems to default back to flowers of some sort.  So I thought why not make some little bird hair clips to nestle amongst the flowers as well?! (especially good for those 'birds hair nest' days!).

I'll be selling these birdie hair clips at the North Melbourne Market this Sunday 11th along with other fun pieces of wearable delight ♥ ♥

xx Camille Javal

Ideas For When You Have Too Many Ideas!

So a friend of mine heard this little talk by Laura Simms at Create as Folk and immediately thought of me, as I am apparently known to frequently utter the cry - "Argggggg I HAVE TOO MANY IDEAS!"  

I get overwhelmed and don't know what to do with all those ideas swimming around my head at all times of the day/night (particularly when I'm walking in the forest or bike riding i.e. getting some earth time on!)

Laura says that, 

"Having a lot of ideas is a wonderful thing!  The issue is not knowing which one to take action on." (Light bulb - Ding!!!)

Laura chats about 4 steps to ease the burden of this 'problem':

1. Instead of telling yourself you have too many ideas, remind yourself you have the opportunity to choose which one to take action on.  Then you no longer have a problem; you have a situation that has a solution. 

2. Write all the ideas down and get them in one place so your brain is not responsible for carrying them all. (I do this but I now have the problem of an excessive number of journals, post it notes etc lying around my bed/studio/floor/bag!) 

3. Come up with some way to prioritise these ideas, because if they all have the same amount of importance then none of them are important.  So you might choose a filter to run them all through, e.g; 

♥ Which project are you most excited with?  

♥ Which project feels most urgent? 

♥ What generates you income? 

4. Pick one - and take action on it!!  Now you're actually doing something with one idea instead of drowning in a sea of many ideas.

Laura says to then let those other ideas chill out, let them breathe and they will age beautifully and be ready for you when you're ready for them.

I love it.  I've got too many ideas to start her tips right now... but tomorrow for sure!

xx Camille Javal

Soul Full

Spending the day making jewellery and listening to;

♥ Lydia Cole
♥ The Twoks
♥ Gossling
♥ Ólafur Arnalds

♥ ♥ My Soul Feels Full ♥ ♥


xx Camille Javal

Fashion Week And Getting My Market On!

All earrings CamilleJaval

Here are some more tropical inspired birdie earrings from my label, CamilleJaval!  They are best worn with balmy nights, hot pink shoes and friends :)

In exciting news I'll be having a stall at the upcoming North Melbourne Market this Sunday 11th March as part of L'oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival woop!!

Get your market on and after you've had a frolick through all the pretty handmade pieces by local Aussie designers make sure you pop over and say hi! 

xx Camille Javal

Reflecting On A Journey

It's funny how we consider life a journey but often lament and don't give our bodies permission to actually reflect that journey!  The stretch marks that marked the transition from girl to woman, the scars from falling off scooters and learning to roller blade, the spider veins from hours spent waitressing to earn money to travel overseas, the stretches and sags from creating a child, the lines from laughing, the creases from tears.... We prefer to agree with the media's preference towards a pre-pubescent female body that is unmarked, unlined, unscarred and a 'blank canvas'.

Is it so impossible to believe that a body that has LIVED, and reflects this, could be the ultimate expression of physical beauty?!

I'm about to turn seventeen again again (this is my groundhog day of birthdays!) and I'm by no means skipping down the street with joy as each year brings another set of interesting developments in the ongoing adventure of ageing... but now that I've been seventeen for a number of years I've decided to try also giving my body permission to reflect the journey that my mind, creativity, relationships, knowledge and faith do.

Attempting to make peace with my body - deep breath - Go!

xx Camille Javal

Who You Gonna Call...?!

Best overheard conversation today goes to the cutie pie 3-year-old girl on her toy mobile phone - 

"I'm just calling the ice cream truck!"

You read my mind ♥

xx Camille Javal

Queen of Hearts

Happy V-Day! (Um... the Valentines variety... not, erm...)

Anywho hope you've been spreading the love to all the special peeps in your life - partners, pets and besties!  In the words of Mother Teresa;

"Love has no meaning if it isn't shared.  Love has to be put into action.  You have to love without expectation, do something for love itself, not for what you may receive...  Small things, done in great love, bring joy and peace."

Though I'm by no means a guru on love, off the top of my head, here are my 3 genius Valentiney ideas:

♥ If you happen to be flying somewhere convince the pilot to announce your love for "insert awesome person/pet" over the speakers (The Wedding Singer style!).  Extra snaps for singing a song too.  If you don't have any frequent flyer points to use up consider a more local approach.  Ask your supermarket supervisor to declare a special on love for "♥" over the speakers.  (A word of warning - make sure you don't mention anything along the lines of Code 100 - this is specially reserved for people with sticky fingers)

♥ Build an indoor cubby and plan your dinner date in there - deck it out with fairy lights, pillows and love infused foods.

♥ Lads impress your lady by renting the BBC's Pride and Prejudice series AND the Keira Knightley version and enjoy Darcy's harrumphing around with her.  Ladies impress your fella by renting Terminator's 1 and 2 (skip 3) and get Willow instead.  Fun lovey times :)

xx Camille Javal

Things That Make Me Happy...

There's a party on the clothes line would you like to come?!

xx Camille Javal

P.S Streamers aren't just for kiddies parties... this clothes line was covered in streamers at the beginning of the night, but gradually they got streamer-napped and used to create calisthenics style dance moves!  Highly recommended for your next partai :)

P.P.S Clothes lines break if you swing on them... oops... nobody tell mum

Alive...Beautiful...Finite...Hurting...

xx Camille Javal

As A Man Thinks...

"As a man thinks, so is he." - King Solomon

I caught up with a friend today and while we were getting our chatting on she mentioned how last year was a good year for me.  My response was something along the lines of; ...Really!?  So she listed off all the reasons she thought it had been a good year.  And she was right, they were all amazing things!  But I guess when I look back over the year I skim over the good things and focus on the goals and dreams I've been wishing for that still haven't eventuated yet.  

It was a good reminder about perspective and being grateful...  I have so many random and cool things happening in my life all the time but they often get brushed aside as I get back to my official job of focusing on the things that realllly matter (as though I'm a qualified Senior Knows What Really Matters Somethingorother...). 

So I've decided to add Don't Be So Focused On Achieving Your Wants That You Miss The Cool In Betweeny Things Along The Way to my not really making new years resolutions but sort of list.  

xx Camille Javal

Princess Power

Some girlfriends and I were recently in a I Feel Like Watching A DVD Nothing Too Heavy I Don't Want To Think Tooooo Hard, Something Nostalgic Ish Would Be Great Hey Maybe A Little Princess?! kind of mood.  Often when you go down nostalgic lane and re-visit movies from your yonder years it ends painfully (take my word for it and do not revisit Dinosaurs the TV series, just remember the Not The Momma hilarity in your mind), but thankfully A Little Princess still has charm and (Camille I'm pretty sure I remember you falling asleep halfway through!  Erm... Maybe... but it was so I'd be fresh for the second more emotional half!) childlike but for adults appeal.  

Plus a girl can never have too many Princess Power speeches in her life:

Miss Minchin: Don't tell me you still fancy yourself a princess?  Child, look around you!  Or better yet, look in the mirror. 

Sara Crewe: I am a princess.  All girls are.  Even if they live in tiny old attics.  Even if they dress in rags, even if they aren't pretty, or smart, or young.  They're still princesses.  All of us.

To all the gorgeous princesses in my life - Yay!  Cuddling up on the couch with a DVD wouldn't be the same without you :)

P.S This photo was taken at my Tacky Wonderland themed birthday party a few years ago and won awesomest shot of the night!

xx Camille Javal

A Body of Wisdom

"Respect your body's wisdom.  The body you're in today isn't the same one you grew up in.  It may have given birth, survived an accident or an illness, or carried you through difficult times.  You wouldn't trade the lessons you've learned or the wisdom you've gained from those experiences, so give your body permission to reflect the changes it's been through."

- You'd Be So Pretty If... by Dara Chadwick

I've been reflecting quite a bit recently on my attitude towards my body over the past, oh, twenty ish years!  Basically since the age that pot bellies went from Oo so cute, to Um no more cake for you!  I thought I'd be kind for once, so:

To the body I've never appreciated and spent waaayy too much time dissing - you rock! Keep pumping the oxygen and doing all that breathing jazz I take for granted.  P.S Lets be friends :)

xx Camille Javal

If You Can Dream It You Can Become It

"If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it." - William Arthur Ward

Oh and on a completely different and completely random note, I find it interesting reading some of the keywords people googled which ended up leading them to my blog.  Here are a few that caught my eye:

♥ Where's wally beanie pattern

♥ Whatever happened to Camille Hayton (... erm)

♥ Stratigraphic charts showing productive oil and gas wells in Oklahoma (hmm... can't imagine they got what they were looking for!!)

♥ Patrick Moberg and Camille Hayton break up

♥ Women's Weekly choo choo train ingredients

♥ Best ever pecan pie

♥ Bum flaps bodysuit

♥ Camille Hayton in love

And the award goes to:

♥ Crunchy toothpaste (??!)

xx Camille Javal

The Way You See Yourself Is Who You Become

"Just as you are what you eat, you also are what you think.  The way you see yourself is who you become. Every action is based first on a thought. Once your thoughts start to change - about yourself and life - your life starts to change. Because actions are the results of thoughts, to see change you need to allow your thoughts to be conditioned in a way that will bring you maximum results in every area of your life. You need to take control of your thoughts and not allow just any thoughts to dominate your life." 

- Natural to Super Natural Health by David Herzog

I'm not making official New Years resolutions this year (cue scene from the film New Years Eve with Zac Efron and Michelle Pfeiffer when he agrees to fulfil her list of not yets... oops just lost ten minutes googling Zac Efron pics haha ok Camille focus!), but I have decided to make an effort with getting some control over my thoughts/words.  Negative words seem to be so potent that one hundred positive words can be negated in a fast swoop by only one tiny nasty one.

More and more I'm starting to see the power in the words I think and speak over my life and the life of my friends and fam.  That we can literally speak out the changes we want to see happen, even though we might not see the new result straight away.  Like dropping ink into a bath of water the positive life words begin to saturate and totally transform our lives with new colours (preferably of the fluoro kind!).

xx Camille Javal

Dreams Are Made of Strong Elastic

Happy New Year!!  In the words of Mary Poppins:

Anything can happen, it's a marvel
You can be a butterfly
Or just stay larval
Stretch your mind beyond fantastic
Dreams are made of strong elastic
Take some sound advice and don't forget it
Anything can happen if you let it... 

Broaden your horizons
Open different doors
You may find a you there that you never knew was yours
Raise the curtain
Things you thought impossible
Will soon seem certain 

Though at first it may sound clownish
See the world more upside-downish
Turn it on its head then pirouette it
Anything can happen if you let it
Life is out there waiting so go and get it
Grab it by the collar, seize it by the scruff
Once you've started living life you just can't get enough!

- Mary Poppins "Anything Can Happen"

xx Camille Javal

Summer Of Love

Today's theme is Bohemian Bride Meets Whimsical Flower Child!

My friend Rosie got married recently and showed that you really don't have to spend a lot of money on your outfit to look breathtaking - beautiful - amazingness! (... haha I realise I might be a tad biased)

I LOVE how her simple pretty make up, fresh flower headpiece and vintage wedding dress allowed her natural beauty and love to completely shine through.  Instead of the standard flower bouquet Rosie decided to get a friend of ours to hand make flowers out of coloured paper.  They contrasted beautifully with her outfit and should last a lot longer than the traditional ones too!

If you're feeling inspired the delightful Miss Martha Stewart has loads of tips and tutorials for making your own paper flowers here.

xx Camille Javal

After a Hurricane Comes a Rainbow

So often I sing along to songs without paying any attention to the lyrics whatsoever (it's actually a skill I have that my best friend pointed out to me... I unconsciously sing along to every song even if it's the first time I've ever heard it!).  Anywho I'd heard Katy Perry's song Firework loads of times, but the other day my mum heard it and decided it should be 'my' song!  I listened to the lyrics again and love the following verses:    

You don't have to feel like a waste of space

You're original, cannot be replaced

If you only knew what the future holds

After a hurricane comes a rainbow

Maybe your reason why all the doors are closed

So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road

Like a lightning bolt, your heart will blow

And when it's time, you'll know...

Thanks Miss Perry :)

Things to do toady:

Shine brighter than the moon, moon, moon...!

xx Camille Javal

Being In Love

"Being in love is a good thing, but it is not the best thing.  There are many things below it, but there are also things above it.  You cannot make it the basis of a whole life.  It is a noble feeling, but it is still a feeling... Knowledge can last, principles can last, habits can last; but feelings come and go... But, of course, ceasing to be "in love" need not mean ceasing to love.  Love in this second sense - love as distinct from "being in love" - is not merely a feeling. It is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit; reinforced by (in Christian marriage) the grace which both partners ask, and receive, from God... "Being in love" first moved them to promise fidelity: this quieter love enables them to keep the promise.  It is on this love that the engine of marriage is run: being in love was the explosion that started it." - C.S. Lewis

xx Camille Javal

Merry Happy Christmas!

I received this text message the other day:

Dear Santa,

I don't want much for xmas, I just want the person reading this to be happy.  Friends are the fruit cake of life.  Some nutty, some soaked in alcohol, some sweet.  But mix them together and they are my friends.  Send this to all your fruit cakes who brighten up your life. xxx

So from me to you, thanks for brightening up my life fruit cakes.  Merry Happy Christmas!

xx Camille Javal

Looking Forward to Ahead

"There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind." - C.S. Lewis

Let's believe that 2012 is going to be the year of awesome... Amen!

xx Camille Javal

Stationary - Heck Yeah - Take That iphone!

Hands up if you love stationary?  Awesome lets be best friends!

My 2012 diary arrived in the mail today woop! (I've been bagged out for still using a physical diary instead of an iphone... but this is because 1) I don't have a smart phone and 2) Scuse me but diary's are the best chuck out the rest and the day iphone's come out with an app that lets me use actual stickers is the day I will stop using my daily planner!)

I finally decided on this one from ebay (but close runner ups were planners from here and heres).  The diary has the perfect combination of cutesy, kitsch, sticker and choose your own adventure.  Oh and I'm guessing you will most likely want/need a cat pen to go with it.

Alrighty time to finish stickering everything :)

xx Camille Javal

A Touch of Whimsy

"You don't have a soul.  You are a soul.  You have a body." - C.S. Lewis

xx Camille Javal

London Town

Being told "You look like a Londoner"
Forgetting to convert currency from Pounds to Aussie
Hilarious/ridiculously inappropriate 80+ tour guide
Total Cost of Trip = Priceless!

P.S Brrr I don't know how the Brits do it!  Apparently the week I was in London the weather was unseasonably 'warm' for that time of year... umm... to normal people though - it was FREEEEEZING!

xx Camille Javal

A Sweet Conscious

And the Official Award For Awesomest Vegan Chocolate That Actually Tastes Like Chocolate goes to....

Bye Bye guilty conscious - hello sweet organic goodness known as Conscious Chocolate!  A vegan friend of mine got me hooked on this new raw, organic Australian made choc.  It's so smooth and much creamier than a lot of other vegan chocolate I've tried (it's a tough job hunting down the perfect choc but someone has to do it!).  The ingredients are all natural and I give this two green thumbs up!

The runners up Chocolate Award goes to Loving Earth for their range of raw chocolate bars sweetened with coconut sugar.  The texture doesn't quite have the smooth moves that Conscious Choc does but when the sweet monster comes knocking I'll happily knock back a few pieces of choc from their range (pfffft... liar!  When have you ever stopped at just a few pieces?!)

DVDs and a movie night with the ladies optional :)

xx Camille Javal

Funny Bizness

tUnE-yArDs - 'Bizness'

I'm loving the dance moves and incredible color cardboard scenery in this video clip by tUnE-yArDs!  A friend thought I'd like their music and he was right - everything about this clip is totes amaze :)

xx Camille Javal

New Beginnings

"We will open the book.  Its pages are blank.  We are going to put words on them ourselves.  The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day." 

- Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Um... where the heckles did 2011 go?!  If anyone else is feeling a little bit anxious apprehensive unsure of what new directions to take in 2012 then you're not alone!  I love collaging and one of the things that helps me make decisions and see my thoughts more clearly is to do simple collages like the one above.  The emphasis isn't on aesthetics so much as just cutting out words and images that you are drawn to... the less you over think the process the better - just flip as though you're at the supermarket checkout!  It's amazing when you stick all the words down what it reveals about your true dreams, desires and subconscious.  (This is also a no pressure project which is great for people who thinks they aren't creative - I promise you are!)

I think my collage makes it pretty clear that a completely new direction is on the horizon for 2012!  I made this one while watching DVD's with a friend down at my beach house. She provided the old magazines, I provided the floor space!  The first magazine I happened to pick up was the New Year special from the mid noughties so it was very appropriate. 

"I always thought that once you grew up you could do anything you wanted..."

xx Camille Javal

A Fluoro Family Christmas

My mum has caught the fluoro bug :)  A week ago she asked me if I had any ideas for a Christmas wreath as her house was looking decidedly bah humbug.... I gave my usual reply- "Anything fluoro!"  Cut to a week later and mum had obviously been busy getting her craft on.

If you want to try your hand at DIY Christmas decorations then this one's fiddly but fairly fail proof!  You can pick up a circular frame from your craft store and then just knot/tie strips of fabric and tafetta all along the frame until there aren't any gaps!  Optional bow for extra cutesy factor.

My mum sent me the following text today: 

"I'm buying a mini fluoro Christmas tree - hot pink orange or yellowy green?!"

I love how fluoro is taking over the lives of the people around me!

P.S Say hello to your mum for me ;p

xx Camille Javal

You Can Tell a Lot About a Person By Their Shoes...

My girlfriend burst out laughing the other day when she noticed the difference between our shoes.  Being Canadian, Adaeze is more of the Always-Take-Your-Shoes-Off-Neatly-At-The-Front-Door variety.  As an Aussie I tend to lean more towards the school of Leave-Your-Shoes-On-In-The-House-Unless-You-Are-Sharing-With-A-Canadian-Friend-Then-You-Have-To-Up-Your-Cleanliness-Factor-So-At-Least-Remember-To-Take-Your-Shoes-Off-Just-Kick-Em-Off-If-Need-Be-And-Wherever-They-Land-Shall-Be-Their-New-Home!

(I'm also from the school of dump your bag in the middle of the floor and voila new wardrobe!)

xx Camille Javal

Something True and Worthy

"What is the point of worrying oneself too much about what one could or could not have done to control the course one's life took?  Surely it is enough that the likes of you and I at least try to make our small contribution count for something true and worthy.  And if some of us are prepared to sacrifice much in life in order to pursue such aspirations, surely that in itself, whatever the outcome, cause for pride and contentment." 

- Kazuo Ishiguro The Remains of the Day

xx Camille Javal

Fall In Love -

WITH YOUR LIFE!

xx Camille Javal

On The Second Day of Christmas

My true love gave to meeeee -

Two ridiculously cute girls wearing matching red and green mini dresses!

Yay for Christmas fashion!

(It's true I'm a big fan of accidentally turning up somewhere and being matchy matchy with your girlfriends :)  I think it's a gorgeous indicator of being in sync!)

xx Camille Javal

Let The Summer Begin!

... first up on my summer to do list - lots of lazy lying in the park days.  YAY!

xx Camille Javal