what's been going on.

Hello
Yes, it's been a while (over a month) which is really bad and I've missed this a lot! I'm on holiday now and school is over. I'll be year eleven next year, which is my first year of exams and absolutely terrifying and I'm also moving to a different school which is equally terrifying.
I think I've learnt a lot this year, most of it outside of school and hardly any of it to do with maths, science or any of that fun stuff.
2016 has been a growing year, it's funny how much you can change in the space of a year and looking back at 2015 thinking what was I even doing makes me so excited for the things to come and how much I'll change next year.
This year I travelled to America and experienced a culture completely different to my own, I sold my prints at the NZ Art Show, became vegan, met one of my favourite bloggers Chloe and finally launched this here blog which I've somewhat neglected this term!
Although I love the holidays and without them I think I would go insane I'm also looking forward to the many changes that are happening next year (most of them positive) and I'll try and share as much as I can on this blog.
There are always so many things to look forward to in this funny little world.



I feel like my style is constantly changing and it's quite hard to keep up with sometimes but some things I've been loving recently are these photos, this store, this article, this, this and these.
As next year the new school I'll be changing to doesn't have a uniform I can finally wear whatever I want, which is so exciting!
Some clothes that I've been lusting after come from the trusty ASOS, Storenvy and Emporium Vintage where I've found several awesome vintage pieces this term (you'll be seeing those soon).
Fashion is definitely something that I've fallen more in love with this year and including a lot more colour into my very monochromatic wardrobe has been a mission of mine. I've been loving finding a mix between online purchases from places like ASOS and more expensive pieces from vintage stores like Emporium and Thrifted.
I'm looking forward to sharing many more fashion and style inspired posts and videos with you these holidays!
I hope you all have a relaxing christmas with your families and friends and watch this space for many more posts over the summer.
Bella.

"She loves the smell of
warm coffees,
bloomed roses
and new beginnings."
- Sonia Azalia

a colour study / 01.

I love the way that certain colours compliment each other, how one persons view of a colour or shade can be completely different to your own.
I have always been interested in colour composition, when I was younger I would often colour code things like my bookshelf or my stationary etc (I'm sure I wasn't the only one). As someone who enjoys styling, designing and creating, colour is such a big part of what I notice in everyday things, I am constantly looking for new combinations to fall in love with. This is why I've decided to start a series here on the blog all about colour.

I took these pictures in the holidays of my lovely friend Martha using the Lumix G7 with a 25mm lens and I'm super pleased with how they turned out. It was a pretty overcast day, the sky was this perfect grey to white shade at about midday and although I love shadows for me this was the perfect lighting for the kind of portrait I was looking for.
One of my favourite colour combinations is pink and green, it's pretty much my whole aesthetic (shocker!) After looking at these photos I felt that despite the pink they looked a little washed out especially because I'd heavily desaturated them. So I decided to look at the way the green from a picture I had of the mandarin tree at the vineyard looked with the pink of Martha's jumper.

I'm a very new photoshop user so I'm still getting used to it but coming from hardly any editing software at all, just wow. I've become especially obsessed with just swatching a whole bunch of colours from my images and playing around with colour blocking etc.
I am really pleased with how the end photos came out and I just love the olive-y green that I took from one of the leaves on the mandarin tree with the pink from Martha's jumper. Although I would consider myself to be quite a minimalist when it comes to colours (black, white and grey - hello) I've really been feeling rusty oranges, greens and yellows recently so I'm just gonna go with it and I'm sure you'll be seeing more of them around here soon!
Let me know what colours you've been loving lately.
B.

city.

photos by Martha - ig

bomber / emporium vintage
shirt / asos
denim / levi's 501 thrifted
belt / farmers
shoes / adidas
socks / country road
bag / letliv

The holidays are coming to an end. Bonfires, car trips, vineyard runs, thrifting and photo expeditions, good food, fresh air and rainy afternoons have consumed my two weeks away from school.

On this particular day my friend Martha and I decided to have a city cafe hunt, finding lots of amazing vegan food, taking photos and stopping at a few thrift stores on the way. I managed to pick up this sandy coloured bomber (which is actually a mens large) in Emporium Vintage which I was super pleased about + some more vintage Levi's because you can never have too many pairs of 501's!
I've been loving the simplicity of a plain tee shirt and denim, especially for a day in the city or even just lounging at home (me) I've basically been rotating my denim with a black or white shirt for the whole holidays - I just love it!

For now I'm going to spend the last few days I have left away from school sleeping in and catching up on leftover homework + possibly sneaking in a couple of episodes of Stranger Things! I hope your having a relaxing day or night wherever you may be!
B.

why this summer is going to be great.

I'm currently staying at our holiday home for the weekend and it's been raining for the entire day, it smells like wet concrete and countryside (because it is) and apart from a few birds and Bastille's new album it's completely quiet. I feel like in the middle of all the busyness and school craziness it's so important to have those days where you're just completely relaxed, not thinking about much, eating good food and listening to good music.
I've always considered myself a city person but recently I've realised that I love the countryside just as much. It's so quiet and I can actually hear myself think and just breath.
There are so many fruit trees here - even a fig tree which I'm most excited about. The best part is that I have no idea what some of the fruit trees even are so as they start to bloom they'll be a complete surprise.
There's a cute little cafe walking distance from the house that does the best smashed avocado on toast and there are just so many flowers and animals, the people here are nice and soon I'm going to plant my own veggie garden. That's why this summer is going to be great.

Here are some cool things that I've been looking at that you should look at too,
This throw is the reason i love the colour yellow
I want to make these
This is awesome
In love with these pictures
This backpack
And this apartment

B.