diary XIV // creative ideas and winter outfits

A few little things to do if you're bored: brighten up your room with some flowers in a glass bottle! it's easy, inexpensive and very pretty, make cupcakes with passionfruit and white chocolate (recipe courtesy of my friend Belle; they're so good), and play around with double exposure on photoshop! I'm still a rookie, but it was fun putting these pictures together all the same. 

Happy Monday! Sorry it's been so long since the last update - school has officially started again and I've hit the ground running (literally). It's been very busy the last few days with school work, social events and other things but it's nice to finally sit down and write for you guys and for myself. Today I went a little (OK, a lot) out of my comfort zone and joined the school soccer team because a) I've been testing out this whole 'yes' way of life similar to the move Yes Man where I don't say no to opportunities and b) I just kinda thought it would be fun. 

In all honesty, I was freaking out so much about it because sport is not something I am very well acquainted with; I generally stick to the half hour runs after school each day and that's that. Hand-eye coordination is a little rusty. Anyway, soccer was a grand success, I had a blast and our team won our first game. I am absolutely exhausted but it was great because the only thing I was thinking about was the ball. Sometimes I think pushing the boundaries of your comfort zone (or in this case, completely knocking them down), leaves you feeling like you've made a huge difference to your confidence/ well being and your attitude to everything else. I didn't want to participate today; I felt sick and I was moody, but as soon as the ball went into play I just forgot about everything and had a good time. I learnt something new about myself today. 

Here are some Winter/ Spring outfits! I've been experimenting with layers a little more this Winter and I'm loving the result. It's so much fun throwing different textures, shapes and patterns together. I love the pastels and the pop of red lipstick in the first outfit, the "horse riding" chic inspired jacket in the second outfit and the relaxed 90s feel of the third outfit. 

instagram 101 // my favourite filters, overlays and tips

Wardrobe things (from top left): Pretty pink Oasap bag and the current state of my Spring wardrobe. I'm getting a little excited because we are only a month away from the warmer months! A favourite mint lace blouse as well as some pearl and gold cat ears. StyleLately sent this beautiful statement necklace it went perfectly with my favourite cream sweater. 

My favourite Instagram filters: Rise, Valencia and Lo-Fi. I love the look of vintage photos so these effects are my absolute favourite especially when it comes to taking pictures of clothing or accessories. 

Food: My favourite breakfast lately has been fruit salad topped with organic Greek yoghurt, honey and all-brain or muesli, so filling and delicious (perfect if you want to start your day off well!). Fresh baked white chocolate and macadamia cookies, an almond croissant (so, SO good!) and fancy pancakes with ice cream and strawberries at my favourite cafe. 

My favourite overlays: I love adding special effects to my photos, especially if they need that little extra something. AfterLight has a beautiful selection of light leak textures and dusty overlays. They add a really pretty effect to your photos and fill in any white spaces well. I also like adding light bokeh to my photos using PicFx, the hearts are my favourite! 

Outdoors: The beautiful (this photo just doesn't do it justice, this plantation was absolutely beautiful!) garden at this Montville rental property was the most magical place ever. I stayed there for a night with some family friends (which included an epic mud fight, the most unlady-like thing I have ever done, mind you!), and old Western movies around the fire. This is a picture of the rockpools at Coolum Beach. My Biology class was taken on an excursion to analyse sea creatures and their behaviours and this was the highlight - so pretty! The cabins at our Art Camp in May, very appropriate, right?! 

Went out to get the mail and saw this magnificent angel cloud swooping across my house. Times like these when one really stops to appreciate the small miracles in life. 

Text and frames: Sometimes a simply white background is all you need, which is where Whitagram comes in! Perfect for portrait photos that you don't want to crop. ABeautifulMess app is a major favourite for me right now too because of the gorgeous and artsy frames and little drawings you can (very easily, I might add!) add to your pictures. 

Outfits: Pretty pink blouse and a gorgeous blue floral skirt seen here. Wearing the gorgeous StyleLately necklace and a thrifted sweater in this post. Frolicking around in the sun in a girlie, colourful outfit seen here and being fancy and French-inspired in this post. 

Tips: Share your pictures with your other readers on various platforms! I always share my pictures on Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter as I've found it to be quite effective to gain a wider follower range - so, connect up your accounts and get sharing! If I'm posting a picture of an outfit featuring a particular brand, tag them in it! If they see it, they like it, they might even repost it (which is like giving you a profresh 'shoutout'). Also, creating a hashtag for your blog name can help new readers find you easily. If you search #avenuemaria on Instagram, I've tagged most of my outfits so new readers can find me :) 

What are your tips and tricks?! Do you have any favourite filters, apps or overlays? Please comment and let me know, we can all share our favourites with everyone! I hope you have a beautiful day, love you all xo

frankie, retro prints and dotted cookies

1. Lilac and gold dotted nails against pretty retro car print skirt (find it here for only $14!) 2. Relaxing reading for a gloriously sunny Saturday (incomplete without tea!) 3. Outfit for a trip to a fancy cafe

4. Makin' a yummy smoothie to help cool down during the unpredictable current Australian weather 5. Cupcake heaven at a baby shower! 6. Dotted cookies and chai lattes at a beautiful cafe 

7. Izzy and I prior to video filming a few weeks ago 8. Cleaning and organising my wardrobe (you should have seen it before-hand (bomb sight)) 9. Mirror pics are #chictothenextlev and #totesamaze (watch this, now!!) with Izzy!

10. Magical lamp post fromNarnia (just kidding, I wish Narnia existed!) 11 & 12. Slightly obsessed with pretty nails in case you couldn't already tell ;) 

 13. Gorgeous artificial flower arrangement 14. Marie Antionette mints from Paree! 15. Practising the winged eyeliner... I'm getting better, yay!

If you'd like, you can follow me on instagram: @avenuemaria
♥♥♥

stepping stones

 1. My favourite nail polishes. A lovely purple colour called 'It's my year' and a sparkly pink called 'I Lily love you'. 2. My favourite outfit post picture from this week... the lighting is just so beautiful. The suns rays are always welcome in photos. 

3. Blueberry muffin for morning tea! 4. Getting ready for Emma's tea party ♥

5. Teeny tiny flowers for my ears. These are so pretty and dainty! 6. It was a lovely meal! 

7. Bambi earrings... these are good luck charms, I swear! 8. A bracelet I made on a school retreat a few weeks ago as a souvenir of the lovely time. 

9. Flower headbands I drew and added sparkles to... If you're wondering what I do when I'm procrastinating it usually involves drawing mindless little pictures, hehe! 10. Whilst sorting out some magazine clippings for a little project, I came across this bike. Yep, it's my dream bike. Pastel? Check. Basket? Check! ♥

11. My room/ sanctuary/ little place. 12. I love going through the archives of this blog... it's astounding how much I've changed; my style, my writing... this photo was taken in September last year. Time really does fly!

You can follow me on instagram via @avenuemaria if you like :)

diary II

This is a little collection of photos I took over the last holidays... It was full of green lawns, sunshine, surprise packages in the mail, cookbook reading, organizing precious things and trips to local cafes and the windy beach. It makes me happy looking at how beautiful these photos and places are. The nostalgia is so pleasant, especially when I'm not having the best of days...

Gorgeous roses complete this charm bracelet. 

The gorgeous array of macarons at a local cafe. I know I have featured this photo before but I just love the look of macarons! Whenever I buy one I always feel slightly reluctant to eat it because it's so pretty. I sound silly! 

The Retro Cookbook by The Women's Weekly is beautiful. I borrowed this edition out from the library and instantly fell in the love with the gorgeous layout and recipes that depict the 'olden days' so well.

I'm a little obsessed with Izzy's pointe shoes! The last time I went over her house and fiddled with her camera, I draped them in tulle. I can't help it! They are so beautiful. It's wierd to think how much pain they cause ballet dancers. 

Rosey (my eldest sister) stirring her luxurious french coffee... and eyeing off a divine lemon tart for the side! 

I'm actually not a huge 'beach person'... I don't like sand or salty water (how depressing) but the day I did go to walk along the board walk it was looking more stunning then ever. The water was a vibrant blue, the sky 100% cloudless. 

This little keepsake box is where I store most of my stationery. It's quite large and fits perfectly in the shelf of my bedside table so I can easily reach it whenever I need to write a letter. 

life through the lens #2

 1. Cake pops & colourful cupcakes from a baby shower 2. Cute pens and a pretty notebook. Perfect for making lists and such. 

 3. The endless macaron selection at the local French bakery. I went with the lavender and rose water flavours. It was quite interesting... but I think I prefer the raspberry flavour overall! 4. Blue sparkly nails -- entirely appropriate for winter holidays. 

 5. Mimco headband and a floppy bun! 6. My make-up was a little bit different yesterday. I've been experimenting with a Revlon lip liner and colour in 'Rose'. I like it so far!

7 & 8. Two gorgeous little packages from international friends ♥ 

You can follow me on instagram via @avenuemaria 

P.S: Lily from A Ride Home interviewed me on her blog, have a peak!

life through the lens

1. Some beautiful tea party invitations I stumbled across whilst preparing to write to pen pals. My stationery box is a little overloaded and needs sorting out desperately! 2. Chai lattes and sparkly nails. Essential for sleepovers in winter. (Well, sparkly nails are actually essential all year 'round)

3. It was quite chilly at the beach on Sunday but this coat kept me nice and snug! 4. Starbucks is not only the perfect place to relax after a long stroll at the beach but their chocolate frappés are the best!

5. Out-takes from Izzy and I's little photo-shoot. This photo makes me laugh; I look so...jubilant! 6. The gorgeous flowers that sat on our heads.

7. It was a polka dot and white accessories kind of day. This dress is perfect for the sudden (and unpredictable!) weather changes in Australia. 8. I couldn't believe it when I was featured was featured on the cover of Teen Vogue's snapshot app. I still get excited thinking about it!  

9. I was scrolling through my archives yesterday and I stumbled across a hair bow tutorial I did last year! I remember being really proud of how pretty it turned out. If you'd like to make a bow like this one, here's the link: Hair Bow DIY (hopefully the instructions aren't too hard to understand)

You can follow me on instagram via @avenuemaria

P.S: My little sister, Jo, just made a blog! She would really like some new visitors so take a peak if you fancy ♥