Yes, it’s that time again.  Time to gather your girlfriends and meet up for a coffee with the Girlfriend Club.

Tuesday, 3 April 2010

Please note:  We are starting this Girlfriend Club at 11:00am.  Now there is no excuse for not being able to get out of bed to join us. )

Cnr Scarborough Beach Road and Oxford Streets, Mt Hawthorn.

You can’t miss it, it’s right on the corner and looks like a bookshop/Cafe.

Please invite the women in your world that you’d love to spend some time with…we’ll be inviting ours.  This is an excuse to get out of the house, to have an empowering time with women who are positive, motivated and resourceful.  You never know when you might meet someone who is going to be instrumental in helping you take the next big step in your life adventure!

We have opted for the Tuesday because of the Easter Long Weekend, so make the most of the opporutnity to connect with some great ladies.

Look forward to seeing you there!

Hayley

Dawn Russell, a lady that came to our last Girlfriend Club meeting was so bummed that she couldn’t come to our event that she decided she would lend her support in the only way she could…by wearing her petticoat on the slopes of Aspen.

She caused quite a stir there and helped to promote International Women’s Day.

I was so elated to recieve her photos that I have decided to invite women from around the world to send us their pics in their petticoats, pearls and tiaras and we’ll create a community photo wall in here and then maybe even make it into a YouTube.com video to share with the world.

Invite your girlfriends to send us a pic or short video. You can upload them here by using the email form below. A special prize for the most creative photo or video (Prize winner to be announced 31 March 2010).

Looking forward to sharing this wonderful day with so many fabulous women!

To view entries, go to Events > Influence Event > Fun Community Photo Comp > Pick an entry to view.

[contact-form 4 "Fun Photo Wall"]

As many of you may be aware, Jayne Barnett has had to go to Tasmania to be with her ailing father.  This meant our Fashion Parade was in jeopardy of not happening which would have been a disaster.

I am very excited to announce that Internationally acclaimed local designer of couture hand painted 100% silk Kaftans, Linda Ellis from Almond-Tree will be showing her collection at our event.  We are very grateful that Linda is willing to travel up from Busselton to be at the event and show her gorgeous courture garments.

Special thanks to the Kelly girls for being willing to model for us.  You girls are gorgeous so I’m sure it will be a wonderful parade.

If you haven’t seen Linda’s fabulous garments then you are in for a treat.  Here is a sample taken at a recent event:

These silk Kaftans are so beautiful to see on…they are vibrant colours, gorgeous designs, free flowing feminine garments.  I can’t wait to see Linda’s range.

Please visit the Almond-Tree site to see more information.  There is a whole gallery of photos taken from the runways in New York and Paris, where Linda’s work has been featured.

She has been told she is in the top five new designers in the world!  Quite an accomplishment for a Perth girl.

The following items have been donated for our Charity Auction to raise funds for the Chaplain’s Program at Woodvale Senior High School.  For those who are not able to attend the event, we are opening up the opportunity to bid on items.

To place a bid pre-event:

1. Please email item number and amount to Hayley Solich.

2. All bids received pre-event will be announced during the auction by a proxy bidder.

3. Please include a starting bid and a maximum bid price.

4.  If your bid is the winning bid, you will be notified via email directly after the event and will need to pay via our online payment system or by direct deposit into our account within 7 days.  Account details will be forwarded via email.  Or you will need to pay for the goods upon collection from Hayley Solich (Dianella area).

5.  By offering to bid, you are entering into a binding agreement to the value stated if you are successful.

ITEMS FOR AUCTION:

1. Wardrobe Makeover Consultation with Remodelling and Design Consultancy, Elli-J Creations.
This item is a 1 hour consultation where Jayne will look at your wardrobe and discuss how to coordinate your clothes and identify possible garments that could be remodelled to give them the designer look.

Valued at: $300

2. Basic Website Package including website customisation, banner design, uploading of content for five pages from The Creaticians.

Valued at: $600

3. One-to-one Creative Expression using Technology Session with The Creaticians (Hayley Solich). Can include making a photo book, writing and recording a song, creating a promotional video, photography session, designing your own t-shirt or other printable item or any other creative expression using technology.

Valued at: $1000

4. One-to-one Executive Coaching – Where you’re heading, what you want to achieve in life and how to get there with Executive Mindset Coach, Chanty Lang-Vermaas from Business-Spirit.

Valued at: $600

5. Original Abstract Painting by local artist, Jo McNeilly.

Valued at: $500

6. Nationally Recognised Training for Certificate IV in Small Business Management workshop and coaching includes materials & daily lunch from the Consilium Institute

Valued at: $3000

7. Nationally Recognised Training for Certificate IV in Small Business Management workshop and coaching includes materials & daily lunch from the Consilium Institute

Valued at: $3000

8-18. Non-accredited training workshop from Consilium Consulting  (10 individual sessions)

Valued at: $125 each or $1250 as a package.

19.  1 x 5 hour business mentoring session from Consilium Consulting

Valued at:    $688

20. A family sitting with free A3 sized print from HazelB Photgraphy

Valued at:  $240

22-23.  Australian Girl Doll (2 items)

Valued at $112 each (2 dolls)

23-53.  3 day remote adventure gift vouchers (30 items)

Enjoy a remote adventure.  You virtually go on holiday, with a proxy holiday maker sending you footage and photos from location, a postcard or other knick knacks as if you’d gone yourself.

Valued at:  $20.00 per item or $600.00 for all 30 vouchers

54. 5 Lesson sewing course from Sewinista

Valued at:  $140

55.  Gift Voucher from Vandra Stenton, Creative Memories Consultant for a Creative Memories product, workshop or combination

Valued at:  $100

56.  Luxury Dog Bed from Barking Kisses

Valued at:  69.99

57.  Aveda Elemental Nature Facial Includes Scalp and Foot massage from Deep Hair Salon, Guildford

Valued at:  $95

58.  Bubble Bath, Shampoo, Hair Conditioner and Lavender & Strawberry Jam from Cape Lavender, Swan Valley

Valued at:  $50

59.  Premium Pack: 1xbottle 50 year old Rare muscat $75, 2 x bottles $35.00 each from John Kosovic Wines, Swan Valley

Valued at:  $145

60-62. Bottle Ambrook Classic White Wines (x2) from Ambrook Wines, Swan Valley

Valued at:  $30 each or $60 for both

63.  Voucher for lunch Mon-Fri or Dinner Fri-Sat from  Feral Brewing Company, Swan Valley

Valued at:  $80.00

64-65. Family Pass for Botanical Golf (2 items)

Valued at:  $48 each or $96 for both

66.  Pet Grooming Gift Voucher from Bow to Wow

Valued at: $55.00

Good luck with your bids!  All proceeds raised through our auction go directly to Woodvale Senior High School’s Chaplaincy program to support their ‘Shine’ girls program and other events.

[contact-form 3 "Charity Auction"]

When Jayne suggested to me that she’d be willing to help people get their costumes together for this event, I was grateful for her enthusiasm but really didn’t know what she had in mind.  Then I turned up with my friend, Amanda Reed, for our first discussion about what Elli-J Creations could do to get us two Belles ready for our English Garden Tea Party – Princesses in Petticoats & Pearls event – and I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised by how the morning turned out.

First of all, we met at Jayne’s home in her gorgeous new studio/workshop, which is decked out with sewing machines and all the paraphenalia that goes with sewing.  The bright boxes and bins are chocka block full of clothing to be remodelled or swaths of fabric ready to be sewn.  There are little drawers full of boxes of beads and sequins and ribbons.  The whole workshop is completely inspirational for anyone with an ounce of creativity and Jayne is just so grounded and eager to help you create something that will show you off to advantage.  So when Amanda and I arrived, it was to be greeted by a very excited Jayne, eager to serve us and to see what little treasures we had brought, as Jayne has a policy of bring something to the table to exchange in the way of used garments.

Amanda brought Jayne an old ball gown from the 80′s.  It was cream in colour, had an intricate bodice with bead work, huge mutton sleeves, laced up at the back and a big flouncy skirt.  It was so dated that we all laughed at it, remembering how ridiculous we all looked back then and swapping balls and wedding gown stories.

Now have to say, this is where Jayne’s brilliance as a designer and clothing remodeller really impressed me.  Immediately she saw within that mutton sleeved garment something quite stunning.  With Amanda’s permission she cut off the sleeves, creating a gorgeous sleeveless vest.  She then cut off the skirt, leaving a short  ”frill” (shaped like an ice skater’s costume) and edged it so it looked like it was meant to be part of the top.  This looked very flattering on Amanda and was designed to conseal any problem areas in the hips and thighs.  She also fitted the bodice to Amanda’s shape, adjusting the shape of the garment and adding boning to support the bust area.

Once the skirt was off, we looked at the petticoats underneath.  We saw that there really was enough fabric there to make a couple of petticoats, so Jayne cut one for Amanda and one for me.  At one stage, both Amanda and I were standing in the skirt!  It was hilarious. Jayne went on to create an overskirt out of the top layer of fabric, and used the petticoats to created a Moulon Rouge effect, complete with the notion of adding a bustle to the back of the dress to give it a real oomph.

The overall affect was absolutely brilliant and if Amanda doesn’t win a prize on the day, then there is seriously something wrong!

Our next step will be to convert the left over petticoat into the bottom of my dress, adding a caramel silk bodice and then creating a small cropped jacket out of some antique lace fabric I was given a few years ago by a mature lady that I interviewed for Pearls Women’s Magazine.  I was in her sewing studio and I admired the fabric, which was a 1950′s embroidered lace and was just stunning.  She gave it to me and I’ve always wanted to be able to do something special with it.  So hopefully, out of one garment, will come two stunning dresses designed by Elli-J Creations.

Photos coming soon…so check back in a day or two.

What are you going to wear to this event?

Some suggestions:

- Add some pearls to an old petticoat (you can pick one up from the opp shop).  You can get pearls with holes in them so you can stitch them on.

- Wear something comfortable (a dress would be good) and add a tiara.  You can pick up a tiara from Red Dot for $2.00 or thereabouts.

- Add a string of pearls to your outfit.

- Hire a princess costume or make one.

Just so long as you link to the theme Princesses, Petticoats & Pearls, you won’t feel out of place.  I encourage you to enter into the joy of the day, after all, it’s not every day you have the chance to dress up like a princess.

If you haven’t book yet, places are filling up fast, so please book now.  Links to booking pages on the home page.

-

Hayley

Our Princesses in Petticoats & Pearls event is rapidly approaching.

There is so much activity going on behind the scenes and I am getting very excited.  I don’t know when I’ve felt more excited about an event before.   I can’t wait to see the Lily of the Valley Cafe flooded with petticoats, pearls and tiaras.  I’ve been working with Jayne from Elli-J Creations and I am seeing some beautiful costumes coming into shape.  There is going to be some stiff competition for our prizes for the best dressed and the most creative costume on the day and lots to admire in our fashion parade!  I don’t know how I am going to be able to sleep in the last week…

If you are planning on coming, now is the time to secure your ticket.

We can only admit a certain number and I don’t want you to miss out.  There will be no tickets sold on the day due to catering.  We will be opening tickets up to the school community very soon, so you might want to get in before them.

You can pay online via PayPal or Credit Card. If you would like to pay by direct deposit into our account, then please pop us an email and we will send you the details.

If you really hate both of these payment options, you can always pop into Dianella and drop off the cash to me. Give me a call first, 08 9375 2007 or 0404 732 578, and I will give the directions.  Might be a good time for a coffee and chat.  Or alternatively, arrange a drop off to Jayne Barnett (08 9305 4564)  in Pearsall or June Quinsee (08 9305 1774) in Quinns Rock.

Upon receipt of payment, we will send you a confirmation email that will have a map of how to get to the venue and instructions on what to expect on the day.  When you arrive you will receive your name tag and a ticket for the scrumptious and lavish devonshire tea.

Why not sort out your payment method now?

Help us out by registering early so we know how many are coming.

We have been so thrilled with the response to our Charity Auction – we have so many great items for you to bid on.  From massages to bottles of vintage wine; Australian Girl Designer Dolls to Accredited training in Small Business Management…we have so many fabulous items that will be up for auction!  A list will be going up on this site in the final week before the event, so make sure you pop back then to check out what will be on auction.  We will need everyone to bring some spare cash if they want to snap up a bargain.

There will also be some raffles, a lucky door prize and a fun photo booth, with one lucky photo selected for a prize.

With so much to see and do on the day and so many gorgeous women to meet and mingle with, I just know this is going to be a talking point for days to come.  After all, the girls are already talking about making this an annual event…