no paint kept on premises

 

I honestly cannot believe that it has me so long to share these photos - it's crazy talk.

But the post is finally here and I am stoked to be showing you the images I shot over at the Powerhouse. The whole building is an entire project capturing the creative outlook and powerful ideas in the minds of graffiti artists all over the country and bringing them together on the largest scale imaginable. 

Forty five years ago the three thousand square meter power station along with it's six acres of land was abandoned. It is a story in itself and everything is kept in basically original form. As Australia's largest indoor space express yourself through street art, it focuses on recycling and sustainability producing amazing pieces of work using existing items around the place and imperfections in the wall as part of their art. So far over 220 graffiti street artists have worked in the space and they run kids workshops, painting classes and have a variety of projects underway all the time including a current collaboration inviting international artists to come and produce their work on the largest wall mural in the world.

So after reading about it on the internet and seeing incredible photos, and hearing my dad rave about it, we took the afternoon a few weeks back to visit the site. Let me tell you...it is a photographer's heaven! I experimented with so many different shots and was in absolute awe the whole time I was there. Each wall would compel you to stare and stare and simply think for a moment. 

The photos speak for them selves really, even though I just wrote over 250 words. Oh well.

If you want to know any more details go here to their web page or here to see their snaps on Instagram. 

Have an brilliant rest of your Sunday arvo!

Much love, Chelsea x

cups of coffee

I cannot express how thankful I was to not wake up to an alarm this Monday morning. Thanks to our Queen over England way, today was a public day off and to unwind a bit before the week officially started I spent my day walking around furniture stores, exploring vintage markets and devouring some delicious treats made by the guys at The Picker's Union. 

A mix of coffee culture and quirky furniture all with a vintage twist, the caf� itself is a photographer's dream with delicate delights and chairs from every era on display there. The bookshelf in the corner has a beautiful collection of biscuit tins, old pots and jugs, a couple of books and even some cartons of long life milk. 

Looking through the menu (and after much time staring at the display counter) I chose the Jam Doughnut Muffin which, put simply by someone who knows nothing about food, aka me, it was a recipe for doughnuts put into a muffin shape, stuffed with jam and rolled in sugar. It was heaven and to make matters better still I selected a hot chocolate from their drinks menu. 

You can check out The Picker's Union here on Facebook and here on the beloved Instagram or even pop in for a cup of coffee next time you fancy any beverage served the best way possible....in an embellished tea cup and with welcoming smile.

Well, that was my daily adventure. Anything knew with you?

Much love, Chelsea x

catching up with april

Hello again, 

Apologies for the lack of blog posts recently. I was hoping that I would have a new piece up before now but unfortunately I was caught off guard by the list I had no idea was actually there, watching me whilst I procrastinated some school work and decided to work on my blog. Whoops! Anyway, sorry that it has taken me about a week to update my blog.

So a few weekends ago I had to pleasure of finally catching up with my friend April of Everything April Blog. We both went to school together back in the good ol' days when I was around the age of six or seven but April left to go into home education so it was lovely to be able to chat for a few hours and take photos together. I still find it amazing how our little blogs and Instagram accounts have allowed us to come back into contact with each other and share our passions we didn't know we had yet as Grade Twos.

With our cameras either in hand or around our necks (safety of photography equipment come first), we adventured out in the freezing conditions that Winter brought along one Saturday and explored the neighbouring car parks and alley ways that surrounded April's house. We found some walls covered in pretty bushes that were flowering gently in beautiful shades of purple, swung on various poles holding information on where to park and even snapped some shots of each other taking photos.

After a little exploration and walk about the neighbourhood, we went back to April's house to relax for a bit. With her Japanese tea pot, which by the way is a beautiful textured shade of white and gorgeous shape, sat down to some tea and savoury snacks of crackers and a hummus dip. I still need to pick up that delicious tea we drank that day, a delightful blend of blueberries and pomegranates infused into a green tea (which I am a newly converted drinker of green tea) and it was absolutely divine to sip on while April edited some photos and I flicked through frankie Magazine, searching for blog post inspiration.

It was such a fun filled and happy afternoon, I did not stop smiling from the amazing miniature expedition we took.

You can have a browse of April's post over on her blog here and watch her video she created here.

Much love, Chelsea x

saying hello

Ever since I first thought of the idea of wanting to begin a blog, I have been contemplating how to write up the sentence for my first post (well, it is kind of my first post). A snapping quote or something with an inspirational vibe to motivate me were ideas that first popped into my head but all I could think of lines from my favourite film 'Finding Nemo' by Disney Pixar, but specifically Dory's script. But I played it safe and rethought that idea since I don't usually tend to greet people with "just keeping swimming!" or "quit following me!"

But with that aside, hello. My name is Chelsea, I am 13 years old and live along the south eastern coastline of Australia. I am a dancer, wannabe minimalist, occasional baker, leaner of photograph and design, dreamer of fashion and advocate for a cup of tea a day keep the doctor away. When I am older and am finished with my secondary studies, I would adore to go to university and take a photography or design course and work for a cute store, at a magazine as a stylist or even start up my own little cafe.

A few notes on what I love....

Shops + Cotton On, Kikki K, Country Road, Factorie and Gorman.

Food + Sushi, Tea, Figs and Lemon Meringue Pie.

Reads + frankie Magazine, Humans of New York, it by Alexa Chung and Blogs.

Hobbies + Dance, Photography, Blogging, Exploring and Relaxing.

Music + Gabrielle April, James Bay, Ella Henderson, Montgomery, Lorde, London Grammar and Coldplay.

Enough about me though. Your all here to read my blog so to give you a little preview I am going to be sharing photos from my travels and adventures, outfits I have wearing recently, little bits I have been making. All sorts really. My blog is very much a going to be a place for me to express myself, my opinions and everything I treasure. I hope you enjoy my blog and please feel free to follow me on my social media platforms.

And a big thanks to April who shot these photos for me. A post is coming up soon from our little adventures together and some photos I took of her in a few car parks and alley ways.

Much love, Chelsea x

#NextWeekNicaragua

Nicaragua fell into my lap.

I caught wind of great airfare, convinced a buddy of mine to join, threw our airfare onto my credit card, got my PTO approved, and went about my Friday at the office.

Over the weekend I decided on a few cities to visit, and the following Thursday morning we were wheels up to Managua.

Instances like this remind me how INSANELY lucky I am to live this life, and be able to up and leave the way that I did. I remember being in Belize and talking to a handful of backpackers who had been making their way up the coast, and every one of them raved about Nica. I couldn't wait to go find out for myself...

01.02

You know what's fun... waking up New Year's Day with the flu.

And no, I don't mean the whiskey flu. I wish it would have been that. I would have felt a hell of a lot better today, then. Instead I'm still battling a 99somethin fever, a headache best equatable to an over-inflated balloon pending pop'age, and a quarantine sign on my office at work!

At least it waited to strike until after all the NYE festivities. I can't be TOO disappointed, I did have a blast ringing in 2015 with some of my most favorite people!

To continue on my quest of never having to step foot in a bar on New Year's Eve, we hit up a friends house (apartment?) party, decked to the 9s in our sparkles and smiles.  It's hard to be too bummer about being sick when I've only got a few more hours in the office before the weekend hits!

I hope this year brings everyone the happiest of happy days, 365 of them!

San Pedro: The #OMGBelize Adventures

I'll let you in on a little secret. Occasionally, blog posts need to percolate on a blogger's mind for a month or two (or more) before they actually get written. You just can't rush these things...

In all actuality, I have a really hard time talking about Belize. Thankfully, I think the grin and the twinkle in my eye that appears at the first sound of the country speaks for itself. Something about it just spoke to me. That country was my jam, my love language.

Here at the tail end of another Indiana winter, writing about warm, sunny, happy Central America sounds like the perfect plan for my day though.

San Pedro actually consisted of WAY more than just jumping into the ocean to kick it with an abundance sharks and rays and turtles. For instance, I met a soul mate.

Granted, while I appreciate his proper use of "you're"... the fact that he took the time to put ALL of this into my phone as we sat around the hostel pool one night was a bit aggressive. The fact he was barely 22 was also a bit much for me. Sorry for never calling, Buzz. Sorry for avoiding eye contact that night at the chicken drop, too.

Ha. Chicken drop. The highlight of every Thursday in San Pedro is cheering for a chicken to take a poop. I'm confident atleast 80% of the inhabitants on the island were huddled around that stretch of beach that night.

What is it, you ask? You purchase numbers and hope like hell that piece of poultry takes a dookie on your number. You win a pretty decent chunk of change if that happens. Of course you also have to clean up the mess, first. Sadly (thankfully?) none of us ever got that opportunity.

Naturally, right in the middle of the festivities, the power on the entire island goes out.

That's not an exaggeration. The. Entire. Island. Apparently the blackout stretched up into Mexico too.

So hey... foreign country, no cell service, no power anywhere... we do what any sane person would do, blind-eyed our way to the town square to get street meat. Thank the heavens for whoever invented food carts and generators!

Jenn had headed back to the states the day after our Shark Ray Alley experience, so us three musketeers had upgraded out of hostel life for the first time since stepping foot in Belize, and shelled over the cash for a hotel on the beach. Conch Shell Inn. She was a hot pink beaut, and when we blindly stumbled back to her that night in the dark we found the fellas at the dive shop on the dock having a hell of a good time, so we graced them with our presence for a while. Somewhere between the chicken drop and 9am the next morning the power had returned, and we were able to bask in air-conditioned bliss for the first time in a while.

It's weird being somewhere so laid back. I am not lying when I tell you there isn't much to do. But there isn't much to do in the BEST way possible. You can leisurely walk down the beach to grab coffee, and sit there chatting for hours. Or belly up to your favorite bar to drink Lighthouse and play Three's all night, every night. Of course, when you do that, you become the bartenders best friend. And if you're real lucky, you may even learn your bartender stars in a local island soap opera, and then you REALLY get to give him a hard time! (Be careful though, as we came to find out sometimes other patrons get so annoyed by you hogging the bartender's attention that they write about you in their TripAdvisor reviews)

The entire San Pedro adventure really hit it's pinnacle the morning we rented a golf cart. Being our last full day on the island, we realized we had yet to go to the much talked about Palapa Bar. Since it's on the northside of the island you have a few options - a long ass bike ride, or a shorter long-ass golf cart ride.

We took the cart around the island for a little exploring before venturing out to Palapa. I'll never complain about the potholes on Indiana roads after navigating those dirt paths. The bar was a blast, drinks were delicious, we made friends with some other patrons and wasted away our afternoon soaking up an equal mixture of rum and sunshine.

The problem came when we realized the day had faded into night and we had good 30 min drive ahead of us with no streets lights (hell there weren't even streets). We gracefully exited the bar where I turn the key and quickly learn our golf cart had no functioning headlights. Whit swooped in and saved the day as she grabbed our iPhones and flipped the flashlights on, proudly holding them out over the windshield. Linds is on the back is yelling at us to go faster as she's getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, we're all bouncing around because the "road" isn't really true to it's name, and I'm just trying to figure out which of the double palm trees I'm seeing is the actual one, and which is the tree that vodka invented.

We made it out alive, barely (Linds lost a shoe), and happened upon someone from the golf cart rental who had heard (damn gossipy island folks) about three girls running rampant sans headlights, so they promptly traded us for a new golf cart, and we made our way a few blocks further for heaps of chicken wings and very large glasses of water.

As we returned our 6 hour golf cart rental that we kept for an additional 18 hours I realized this is another one of those times you just thank God you are on the most laid back island ever, and they really didn't even seem to mind. Slurping up one last iced coffee and heading to the tiny airstrip I was the saddest little puppy. I was far from ready for our time in the BZE Islands to come to an end.