^ via.

I bought a yearly Flickr Pro account a few months ago and it is probably the most useful tool I use online; I use it every day, I've got hundreds of photos stored there, there are lots of cool features, fun pools to contribute to, little communities to be a part of, and, unlike the regular account features, you can upload as many photos, and at as high resolution as you please. If you take a lot of photos, you like to share those photos and you have a blog, it's very useful. [End of selling the idea of Flickr to you!]

More to the point, I bought a Gift Flickr Pro account to send to someone whose account had just expired and who was in need of a new one, but someone beat me to it! And now it's just floating around without anyone to gift it to, so I thought a giveaway may be in order!

♡ What do you have to do to enter this giveaway?; Send me a photo of something that makes you happy. You can take the photo yourself or it can be a photo you've found online. Interpret this as you will! Upload it somewhere* and leave a comment here with a link to the photo.

♡ If you're a follower, or if you tweet or blog about this post you're entitled to an extra entry (comment) for each, but this is definitely not mandatory. Make sure there's some way to contact you in your comment(s).

♡ I will draw the winner on Wednesday 12th of May, two weeks from today. Best of luck! :)

♡ Extra details; The account is valued at $24.95 and is valid for one year (you have a year to enter the code and the account will last for one year from the date you enter it). If you win, all I have to do is email you the code, you enter it in and that's it! If you don't already have a regular Flickr account, you can create one for free (free accounts have an upload limit of 200 photos). And, if you already have a Flickr Pro account and you win, this gift will add an extra year to your Pro account (or you can give the code to someone else).

* If you're using an image found online, make sure to upload it somewhere yourself and don't just hot link to a web page - they might delete it.

^ via mrypwrs (whose brilliantly curated Tumblr images I always seem to steal)



It was a long weekend over the past three days and with only one little uni assignment to complete (create a self portrait using only text/type/font) I dedicated the weekend to scribbling down some letters and it was a lot of fun. I made it to ten, which was my self imposed aim on Thursday afternoon (the tenth was just decorating a mix for C to send out). I apologise in advance for the sheer lengthiness of this post. This is what happens when I don't post regularly - mail overload!;


^ This was my desk when it was all done.


^ A ready to burst little package for Melody.


^ A teeny letter for Suzan who sent me the biggest postcard ever. I've been making address labels for the backs of envelopes from Google maps!


^ A long overdue letter to miss Mary P. The envelope is made from this thin rainbow-coloured plastic sheet that they sell in various colours at the uni supplies shop. I have to prevent myself from going in there on uni days or I'd spend a lot of money.


^ Another very late reply, to Aaron. Envelope made from a magazine page. His letters are wonderful.


^ A collaged envelope using children's book images, for Kristin.


^ Something red for miss Cari.


^ Something pink for darling Micaela. I'd so been looking forward to writing her back.

I participated in Kittycat's mix cd swap and had two partners to send two cds to - Danielle and Liana. Here's what I sent out to them;

For Liana;


For Danielle;


^ Hope they like!

I love mix cd swaps. If you're interested there are some lovely ladies holding a mix swap here.

I packed all of the letters into my mail bag and took them with me to uni today. Very full!;





Well, mail karma seems to be instant today - I sent out nine and I received nine;



Amongst the letters were some things I've purchased lately (MUST CURB SLEEP-ETSYING);


^ Some of these sweet 3-D ink pens that I saw Pugly Pixel use here, and had to track down.


^ When I first saw Vividot I bookmarked it and vowed never to visit her site again unless I wanted to come out of it having bought way too many things. I stumbled across it again last week and limited myself to two items (so hard) and Molly sent them out for me this week and even included a little teacup bookmark freebie, so cute!


^ One of my (surprisingly few) Australian penpals, Bree, told me she'd finished her postcard zine and I was very excited about receiving it. I'm going to crack it open and sip some tea in bed later on, looks so good.


^ Ria told me she was sending me something unconventional through the post and I was curious to see what it was. It made me laugh when I saw this little package on my desk today; a stamped and addressed jelly box. Can't wait to make the it! (Americans say jello, Australians say jelly)


^ A very sweet postcard from Aaron from his recent 'mini vay-cay'.


^ A very sweet letter from Shona, who has just started her own blog, checkit.


^ A lovely little letter from Sophie with some cute additions.


^ Last but not least, a great first letter from Diana, my first Romanian correspondent. She asked me in her letter if I spoke Romanian, because I have a Romanian quote on the postcards I made and I didn't even realise (I'd cut it out from somewhere). Luckily it doesn't say anything unpleasant - it reads; "All day I wait for the night" - which I do! Perhaps I should learn more Romanian.

As you might have seen, I made some tags for my incoming and outgoing mail sections using the delightful miss Pugly Pixel's free tags (I am addicted to her blog, plus she's got a cute tape giveaway going on). Hope you like!;



I made a visit to my favourite little Newcastle shoppe last week, Blackbird Corner, to buy the new issue of Frankie. I finally got to properly meet one of its lovely owners Nici (we're tight Twitter-friends) and she had a little package for me that she was about to send full of my favourite postcards and other goodies - so sweet! It was so great to properly meet her and it made me feel quite sad about moving away so soon and not getting to visit she and her pretty shop any longer. Thank goodness for the interwebz;



I'd always wanted one of those cute Dymo embossers and tonight the price was right (at Officeworks) and now all of my embossing dreams will come true!;



Tomorrow I have a day off so I don't have to feel guilty about it already being 1am and being about to go for a bike ride to the 24-hour Kmart because I feel like buying pretty underwear and sweets. Haha.

Hope you're having a great start to the week :)

^ via (wish I knew where from)

One of my new favourite bloggers, Meg of Paperjot, tagged me to answer a few of these questions (and I added some of my own);

Three names I go by:

-- Bianca
-- Bee
-- Ank

Three jobs I've had I'd like to try for a day:

-- Graphic designer

-- Professional athlete

-- Astronaut

Three places I've lived:

-- Wonthaggi, Victoria, AU

-- Stroud, New South Wales, AU

-- Islington, New South Wales, AU

Three favourite drinks:

-- Rooibos tea

-- Banana chai smoothies

-- Baileys on the rocks

Three TV shows I watch:

-- Madmen

-- Big Love

-- Breaking Bad

Three places I've been:

-- Victoria

-- Queensland

-- Tasmania

(Well travelled I know!)

Three places I'd like to visit: (I'd go anywhere!)

-- USA & Canada

-- South America

-- Japan

Three favourite old TV shows:

-- Daria

-- Aaahh!!! Real Monsters

-- Hey Arnold

Three favourite dishes:

-- Anything C cooks

-- Vegetarian Supreme pizza w/ stuffed figs from Crust

-- Vegetarian laksa from Al-Oi Thai

Three make-up products I cannot live without:

-- Chapstick

-- Thick mascara

-- Red lipstick

Three things I'm looking forward to:

-- Finishing this semester of uni

-- Moving to Tasmania

-- International travel (far off in the future)

Three superpowers I wish I had:
-- Selective mind reading abilities
-- Time travel
-- Telekinesis

Three places I love to shop:
-- Blackbird Corner
-- Etsy
-- Ebay

Three pets I've had and their names:
-- Layla - cattle dog.
-- Pat - different coloured-eyed blue heeler.
-- Mesca and Rigby, cute but not very cuddly cats.

Three bands I'd want to see on a festival line-up:
-- Why?
-- Feist
-- Death Cab For Cutie

Three favourite comfort foods:
-- Smoked salmon
-- Hot chocolate
-- Toasted cheese sandwiches

Three songs currently on rotation:
-- French Navy - Camera Obscura
-- The Barber's Son - Jack Ladder
-- Personal - Stars

Three people I'm tagging:

-- Megan of Time After Tea
-- Elissa of Cerebral Excrement
-- Meghan of The Perfect Compilation Tape

(and anyone else who'd like to participate)

After I've finished this assignment and I hand it in tomorrow I get an almost uni free weekend! Then it all starts again next week, boo.

I think these pictures speak for themselves. Audrey Tautou = Hot lady.

(Yes I did the unthinkable and posted a bunch of uncredited images in a post, ha!)