Calendar Girls

When I left that last flight, almost a year ago now, and finally made it back to my little country hideaway on this side of the world, I never in my wildest dreams would have expected this year to end with love in my heart, a fire in my soul, and applause (APPLAUSE?!?!?!?!) upon entering a room...

Those who have been following my blog for a while might recall that I've been much more open to leaving things to fate in recent times.  If you missed it, have a read here. It's amazing, awesome, fantastic, and incredible what can happen in a short space of time.  Eight months can teach me I actually do have patience, I just don't like using it, and a month.... In a month two women with a vision can create something magical and bring a whole community together.

The Kollective

Months ago I was introduced to a group of local business women through the local cafe (the only one we have - it's a small town, but the cafe is aweseome!) and it was great to catch up regularly with women who were in the same position as me.  At that very first meeting, once people knew what I did, the idea of a calendar was mentioned.  I think it was after the second meeting, or maybe a little later that I discussed the idea further with Vicki who is a hair & makeup artist, also living here in Kooralbyn.  We got together and started talking about the idea of presenting our fellow business women in images which spoke to what they do, in a playful and somewhat cheeky manner.  We came up with a bunch of ideas for quite a few of the business women, and decided to take it to the group as a project we'd like to do.

Miss January

Unfortunately, the next meeting I went to only had a few people there.  We talked about the idea and it was received well, but without others to consult with we weren't really sure how to move on it.  I got busy with my design and product photography work, and the next few meetings were called off due to school holidays.  After that, I didn't really know when they were on so I kind of skipped a few and concentrated on my work.

Then, fate firmly kicked me up the butt.

 Miss February

I lost the design work I had been doing every 3 weeks, almost like clockwork for the past seven years, and with it 40 percent of my income.  It was a shock to the system, but not a surprise.  I had seen the signs, and steeled myself against the blow.  I just wasn't entirely sure how I was going to move forward.  All I knew was I had to push, fast and hard, into the abyss of starving artistry.  It was time to hold on tight, and go for a ride.

The October Lads

Three days later, that kick finally landed.  I had felt pretty blue for a few days.  It was the end of an era, afterall and a pretty scary idea to no longer have a regular income.  I really wasn't feeling like being around people, or talking about business when I felt I had none.  Meetings for the group had moved to Thursday afternoons at the pub across the road, and I decided that I needed to drag my butt outside, smack that happy face on, and be around people.

Miss March

To my joyful surprise, I arrived to see Jo sitting with Vicki.  Jo hadn't been to any of the meetings that I'd been at, but I knew her through taking some photos for her corporate website and doing some designs for her earlier in the year.  It was just the three of us this meeting, but oh my did fate have something in store for us.  Jo laid out some new ideas for the group.  Firstly, the name Kooralbyn Kollective, and the focus: Local business women unite to develop and grow services and events in our community.  We talked about a whole host of things, including better communication and roles within the group so things were more organised and better able to move forward.  As soon as I mentioned what had happened with my work, Vicki's response was to ask if we could now do the calendar.  Better yet, can we get it done before Christmas.  Keep in mind, this was late October (maybe even early November).  I said yes, but we would have to get right on it and make it happen.   That's exactly what we did.

Miss November

The very next meeting, there was a whole bunch of people.  Thanks to our new drive, organisation and communication.  I came with pricing and an idea of how the logistics could work.  I also had pictures as examples of what we wanted to do.  I expected people to be hesitant, and negative about having their pictures taken.  No such thing happened.  Everyone was amazingly positive, and enough people put their hands up that we had the majority of slots filled there and then.  The calendar was a happening thing, and we had exactly a month to get it all organised, shot, edited and designed.  My time was officially filled!!

Miss July

With the help of Leigh doing the calling and organising, selling ad space and generally project managing so that Vicki and I could concentrate on the creative work we pulled it together.  14 photoshoots, lots of early mornings, several venues, hair, makeup, costumes, lighting, smiles, tears, cheers, 3 all-nighters and major exhaustion and it all came together.  The wait to have them back from print was nerve wracking.  I'd never used this printer before.  To my delight, they arrived three days early and looked fantastic!!!

Me!  Back Cover Girl

Monday 22nd December saw us having the Kooralbyn Kollective 2015 Calendar Launch Party.  Cheryl from Australian Mortgage Brokers sponsored the drinks, and Valley kitchen the nibbles.  There was a local lad playing an acoustic set for some great background music and we even had Santa join us and get some photos with the kids.  The place was full, lively, loud and, best of all positive!!!  The feedback from the calendar has been just amazing.  It's brought a real positive streak to this hideaway country town, and I just can't wait to see what fate has in store to come.  Yes.... I do say that with fingers crossed, eyes closed chanting "a trip to...".  There's two endings to that sentence, and two people who know them both...

xx

 

Calendar Girls & Guys & Santa at the Launch Party

PS - There's more to come.  I'll be posting profiles and pics for each month as I edit images so watch this space!

PPS - You can also buy the calendar!!  It's only $6 plus postage.  Just visit www.scarletharlotte.com and click on the Kooralbyn Kollective 2015 Calendar link.

About Time

It's been a while since my last post. When I saw that it was back in October, my first thought was geez I've been slack. There are some very good reasons though. It's currently well past 2am, on what I guess now is Christmas eve so I won't elaborate too much. I will though, dear reader, let you in on a peek at what has been my life for the past 2 and a bit months.  

Burngate
As you may or may not be aware, I am just about the most accident prone person in existence. If there's an accident waiting to happen, I'm the one it's happening with. Four days after my last blog post, I went above and beyond, and managed to outdo anything I've done before. I was cooking a stir-fry (oh.... yeah if you're squeamish at all, you might want to skip a few paragraphs) in my rather massive wok, and had the oil all nice and smoking hot, as you do when cooking a stir-fry. Especially when it's on an electric stove (groan). Admittedly, I did put more oil in than I would normally have done. Not a huge lot, but I generally use very little in a stir-fry. As I put the meat in from its packet, it kind of came out in an unexpected lump, and fell at the side of the wok, instead of closer to the middle. By now, you probably know what's coming next. The wok tipped with the weight of the meat on the side, and the hot oil was flung from wok, to me. As luck (or lack thereof) would have it, I had just gotten out of a bath, and popped on my favourite little satin chemise for the night (I've mentioned my lingerie obsession, right?). The satin and smoking hot oil combination really isn't a good one. I won't go into the really gory details. All I will say is I'm very glad my bathroom is right next to my kitchen so I could run for the shower. A month's worth of hospital visits later, including the burns ward at Royal Brisbane, and I was able to leave the super special silver-laced dressings behind. It's been a bit over a month since that point now, and the healing is going well. I did manage a spot of full-thickness (never one to do something half-way) and the rest was 2nd degree, in splotches from just past my elbow to just above my navel and all bits n pieces in between on my right-hand side. I've been pretty darned lucky to be honest. Nothing of significance on my face or really anywhere I can't cover with a t-shirt. It's now just time to heal, while my "crispy bits", as I have donned them, fade into insignificance. It will be a few months away yet, but all in good time.

 Yes, I am learning patience the hard way.

I kept working through it all, of course. But once the dressings were off, I could dive in again at full function (my shoulder copped the brunt, so editing was a bit tricky and uncomfortable). Sadly, the catalogues I have been designing every 3 weeks for a client have been sent to print-heaven and so that work was no more. As fate would have it though, the local business women's group I am involved in kicked into high gear in that very same week. I'll save the details for my next post, but I have spent the last 5 weeks shooting, designing, editing, promoting and celebrating a calendar for the group.

 I've been a very busy gal!!

 I also finally got around to making www.scarletharlotte.com a living, breathing, thing today. You should definitely check it out, and share far and wide.

Until next time, here's a bit of an arty image I shot when I was all patched up with dressings. It's a bit of a multiple-meaning storytelling arty thing. Just like me I guess!

Day... off?

I'm really not entirely sure what to write today.  So take my hand and let's see where this thing goes, shall we?

Please don't expect all that much.  I had designated Mondays as my advertising/marketing/blogging days a couple of months ago, and I stuck to it pretty well, but the last few weeks have had other plans for me.  I went to bed last night with the realisation in my mind that I had achieved really well over the past week.  There were other things playing on my mind all week.  Things I couldn't change yet left me feeling like my kickass heels were buried in the back of the closet, and nothing I could do in my profesional life could quite manage to dig them out again.  There may have been an anxiety attack, and a pretty big case of the sads involved even.  Once I stoped and thought about what I had gotten done during the week, and reminded myself that actually I am pretty awesome, and not too many can kick it like I can, the clouds cleared.  I found my heels and those babies are firmly attached once more.

So, waking up today and realising that I really had no obligations was rather nice.  I wasn't on deadline and while I usually do all my social networking, advertising, marketing and just generally creative thinking on a Monday (when a gazillion images and product codes aren't dancing in front of my eyes from the "day job") I allowed myself to choose whether I even did anything at all.  If I wanted the day off, I would take it and if not, I'd get to it when I was good and ready and not a moment before.

Well, obviously I eventually got to it.  Not before plenty of down time and a good laugh with some friends.  Sometimes, it's not until you stop that you realise just how burned out you are.  I'm thankful I took the time to breathe, and laugh, and to restore some faith in those I love.

My birthday seems so long ago now, with all that's gone on in the last few weeks.  I did manage to take some images though with my newly acquired contact lenses in, which speak to what I do.  I was surprised that I don't look as weird as I first found myself without my glasses on too.

Here's to a productive week to come, with time to breathe, laugh and love.  With fingers crossed for a little luck too...

(um... you can let go of my hand now... ok?)

New Face!

It's just a quickie and a selfie this week.  I am feeling a little overwhelmed with all there is to do and places to be so my usual blogging time is not a viable option.

I have a new face! Well, ok that's a little mix of hyperbole and distraction but it's my term for getting new glasses. They do,  after all, adorn my face during most of my waking moments and even several sleeping ones if I'm tired (or inebriated) enough. So, to me, it's a big thing.

I am still yet to give Maurice a proper introduction but for now a phone selfie will suffice. The lenses have this new fangled coating on them to block overly strong blue spectrums of light which are especially reflected from fluorescent lighting and electronic devices. I'm sure my eyes, which do spend countless hours staring at the computer screen, will thank me. The camera, however will chastise me greatly while I try to avoid reflections as evidenced below.

Another day, another challenge. Bring it!!!

Pointy-toed Boots

My Nana was an amazing woman.  I always admired her strength, and general kickass attitude.  When we were naughty, she would threaten to kick us in the butt with her "pointy-toed boots".  I never saw said boots, but there were rumours...

At her funeral in 2011, I sat stoically through it all.  I had to for Dad as I knew my strength was the very thin line keeping him upright.  Walking out of the funeral home though, it all just hit me that she was gone.  This woman I so admired for her strength, wit and bright streak of deviousness was human afterall, and had succumbed as we all do.  My head fell, my face cracked and that single tear rolled down my cheek.  A single tear was all it was.  Me being me, and the clumsiest woman in just about all the world, tripped when my brother stopped in front of me and down I went.  I was wearing heels (of course) and my ankle went on that rather horrible angle it tends to do when your heel stays upright while the rest of you doesn't and I was left to brush myself off and hobble out of the funeral home, red faced, swollen ankle and feeling silly.  My only thought was, "Thanks Nana, I needed that.".  I'd finally got the kick up the butt she threatened all those years, at just the right time because Barlow girls are bred tough.  We fight hard, and we take the blows in stride.  I didn't walk right for about a month after that.  A lingering reminder that I had it in me to blaze my own path and make of life what I wanted.  It was to be the start of something big.

I like to think I have some Viking blood in me somewhere.  I've been called a shieldmaiden and I rather like that visual too (sexy breastplate and all lol!).  Sometimes though.... sometimes those pointy-toed boots just don't want to fit.

I have my moments, like we all do.  Sometimes those moments turn into days, and even a week or more.  Believe it or not, I battle self-consciousness on a daily basis.  I, too, feel inadequate, incapable, unworthy, unattractive and alone.  Sometimes the demons surround me, and my sword isn't quite weapon enough to slay them all.  It's the pointy-toed boots, you see.  They are the secret weapon.

Life is sink or swim baby! 

There are times when you feel consumed by all those fears.  All that baggage you've built up wants you to open it up, just for a peek.   My worst is the disappearing act.  There's things that have happened in my past (and we all have a past, there's no need to elaborate) which mean I have a 'thing' about people, especially those I respect and admire, going quiet.  Not just the usual to and fro that life brings, but people I connect with on a daily basis, suddenly not connecting.  Whether they want to, or not, is of course irrelevant to the baggage.  Watch those pointy-toed boots come flying off and going missing in the closet.  It's a very quick path to bringing my fighting spirit to a cowering, insecure halt while I scurry and hide under a rock for fear of looking stupid.

But that viking spirit is hard to kill.  It's in my blood, afterall.  I can only indulge the woe-is-me for so long before I decide that, stupid as I may look or feel, I have to get back to the fight.  I don my pointy-toed boots, and being well rested as I was under that rock, those demons better watch out!

xx

Fate and the Arrival of Maurice

Well goodness it has been a while.  After a very slow start to the year, my (much more straight-edged) regular photography and design work kicked into high gear and I have been busying myself with shoots and editing enough to have very little chance to stop and catch my breath.  The fact that I've barely left town, let alone the state or the country this year, says it all really!!

But it's good.

I've always had the attitude that life will throw things at you, and if you just open yourself to the possibilities, then you'll see the way forward clearly with time.  Of course, patience is the absolute least of my virtues.  I've always worked hard for what I have, and I'm happy to when there's something I want.  Those closest to me know just how hard I'm willing to push, and how far I'm willing to go when my heart and mind are set on something.  There are some things, though, that you just can't make happen, and sometimes they're better if not pushed.

Sometimes, fate just takes a hand.

Ohhhh but that drive in me to get things done, to push on through the difficulties and just make it happen is so strong, and so inate.  Lately though, I've been in awe of what can just happen, completely out of the blue.  I'm utterly amazed at just how wonderful those things can be.  I have had some things happen in my life which are just downright awesome, simply because at the right time they just came along.

One of my clients for my regular work had their camera, which we use to photograph their stock, break unexpectedly.  It just so happened that they'd just gotten their hands on an upgraded but very similar camera and had been playing with it when the disaster happened.  Thankfully, we were able to quite easily and quickly switch to this new camera and I found that it had a few features that, while they weren't useful in what I was doing for this client, they would be very useful indeed for my Scarlet Harlotte shoots.  I happened to have the same camera as these guys previously had, so the seed was planted to upgrade.

Shortly after that happened, I did a little shoot for a dear friend of mine for a birthday party.  Driving to the shoot, I pulled my camera out of my mobile office bag in a slightly too heavy-handed manner, and managed to break off a fairly substantial chunk of the plastic surrounding the lens.  It still worked well enough to do the shoot and a few other bits and pieces, but it's since been a bit flaky on the focusing and really won't stand up to much more punishment.  I really didn't want to get just any old lens though.  This one had a zoom that was a lot more than most which come standard with new cameras and I really didn't want to downgrade just for a new one.

Enter, Maurice.

I'd made myself a little email alert from the ads on Gumtree (for the Americans amongst you, it's kinda like Craigslist), and really didn't expect anything from it.  So much so, that I generally just deleted the emails without reading them (since I had an idea of how much it would cost, and that I couldn't afford it).  One day, whilst doing half a dozen other things (as I am wont to do), my peripheral vision picked up the model number of the camera I wanted in my emails.  I checked, and not only was it that camera, but it came with the very lens I was after, and stupidly, incredibly cheap!!!  The timing couldn't have been better, and it all worked out swimmingly.  So now, I await the arrival of my new camera, Maurice.

There's been a few things like that.  Quite a few, in fact.  Let's face it Scarlet Harlotte wouldn't exist without the swift hand of fate intervening in a rather fantastic and unusual way.  Even the business itself has led me to avenues, and people that I still can't quite believe I've come across.  It's amazing the curveballs life throws at us, when we least expect them.  It's completely, unfathomably, wonderfully, ridiculously beautiful, when it connects with the bat, just right.

Yep, this post is totally about my camera and my business.  No double meanings here.  Move on people.... nothing more to read into...

xx

Shoe Envy (and then some)

If there's anything that makes a girly girl like me giddy with glee it's accessories!  I'm very fortunate that with my corporate photographer hat on, I have a fashion accessories brand for a client where I can drool all over the latest and greatest in fashion accessories on a daily basis.  The one thing that's missing is.... SHOES!!!!

I love a gorgeous pair of heels... as if you hadn't noticed by the top image on this here very blog.  Well some time back, I won a runner up prize in a contest by Shoe Envy.  I have been following their facebook page for some time now, and always drool over every pair of new shoes they sell.  So, when I got a $50 voucher I was ecstatic!!

Well, I finally made a decision on my first pair of Shoe Envy shoes, and I must say I think I chose the perfect pair.  They're python heels which go with practically anything.  The heel is a great height for a wonderful leg look but with the platform sole on them, they are amazingly comfortable.  To be honest, this is the first pair of shoes I've ordered online, so not being able to try them on was a little bit of a gamble - as is sizing with anything online.  The fact that they fit absolutely perfectly was just icing on the cake!!  These are now my go-to shoes for all occasions.  In fact, I have spent all week choosing outfits to work around the shoes, rather than the other way around lol.

I think I'm definitely going to have to get some more styles from Shoe Envy!!!

Of course, me being me I just HAD to do a photoshoot to show my shoes off.  I've posted most of the images on my facebook page, but I have kept a few in reserve.  This shot is my absolute favourite from the day.  Enjoy :)

PS - I'm still running my introductory specials, so if you want awesome pics of yourself for stupidly cheap, just hit me up!  Post a comment here, grab me on facebook, or email ScarletHarlotte@yahoo.com.

Please note: I did NOT receive anything in exchange for this blog post.  I really do just adore these shoes that much.  Shoe Envy did share one of my pics on their facebook page though which is completely awesome!