Camera Woes & Cosmic Ordering

Today I've traversed the length and breadth London Town looking for a camera doctor for my snappy friend that decided to have a midlife crises at the beginning of the week. 

Once the patient had been checked into hospital and I had been told that it could take up to four weeks before he may be better again, I totally panicked!

It is quite impossible for me to live without a camera for up to four weeks,
impossible I say!

Besides critically needing it for work purposes, I feel totally lost without my camera cause it chums me everywhere...you just don't know when the next 'must-capture' will occur,  it can happen when you are doing something quite ordinary and dull like popping to the post office.

So when I got back home I threw myself on the compy (it did hurt a little but I am fine) and ordered a replacement on the Jessops website, to be picked up in store on the same day.

Huzzah, thought I...in two hours I will be cameraless no more, sadly I was wrong!

I jumped on a bus and after a 45min ride found myself being told by the dude at the store that due to an stock update error, they didn't actually have the camera I had ordered in stock but that I could have their old fusty display model for the same price...
thanks but NO THANKS!

Still, I'm not one to give up that easily so I got hubby to order one from another Jessops in town.

Another 45min bus-journey later and lo-and-behold, the exact same thing is repeated in the other store.

I'm again told that I'm either facing a three day wait for the model that I am after or that I can buy one of their greasy display models at no additional discount....
the barefaced arse cheek of it!

By now invisible fume is bellowing from my nostrils cause I provided both stores with my telephone number on-line when making the orders, so they should have called or at the very least texted me to tell me that the camera wasn't in stock, utter slack-ass behavior, they deserve to be slapped in the face with a rotten cucumber or perhaps even several cause I'm in that sort of mood! 

Anyway, on the way back home I called hubby to have a moan down the phone and he said that he'd try to order yet another one and then give the store a call just to make sure it was there.

So hopefully tomorrow morning I shall be the proud owner of a brand spanking new camera...third time lucky?! 

Before my other snapmonster decided to have its breakdown we managed to shoot a second lookbook for the shop.
We entitled  this one 'Indian Summer'.

Yes, autumn may be lurking just around the corner here in the northern hemisphere but I am cosmically ordering an Indian Summer for us all, lets see how that one works out ;)

I've just added lot's of stunning vintage frocks to the shop and I'm slowly wrapping my head around the whole process of running it.

Here are the 'Indian Summer' lookbook pics...

All the dresses and the skirt above are already available from the shop.

If all goes to plan with my new camera tomorrow we will be doing yet another photo shoot this weekend in a slightly more dramatic setting this time, I hope it doesn't rain...maybe I should cosmically order a sunny Bank Holiday weekend  too while I'm at it ;)

All the best to you my fabulous friends!

Lot's of love,

Jennie

xXx

Where u been girlfriend, we all thought you were dead?!

It has been a while since I blogged with regularity but I have not been idle my friends.

For the past month I've been setting up a web store and hey-ho didn't you know that takes a helluva lot of time and effort, especially when you are as cave-dwelling as I am as regards to technical stuff.

Thankfully my husband has the patience of a saint and can explain things to me in a kindergarten manner and even though my eyes still frequently glaze over and his voice morphs into Charlie Browns teachers voice, I'm slowly getting there.

I started selling on eBay back in 2004 but I've always dreamt of having my own shop; something that I can put my personal stamp on & even though web shop platforms are becoming increasingly popular and the main job isn't really with the shop but getting the word out I still wanted to give it a bash.

Admittedly I am not the world champion in social networking but I hope that my arduous efforts to learn its magic teamed with what I believe to be a fabulous selection of products will slowly get the trade going.

Fingers, legs, arms, toes and eyes crossed ;)

 If you haven't already, please pop over and peruse my wonderful wares at FROCKTASIA....

Here are some of my current faves... 

clicking on the pic will take you to the item in the shop :)

'Addicted To Love' Banging Bodycon Dress:

This dress is super sexy and if I could fit into it myself it would never have gone in the shop but hey my loss is some lucky girls gain.

'Midas Touch' Vintage Metallic Cocktail Dress:

This sassy glamtastic vintage 80s gold lamé frock is by Veni Infantido, 

it's frigging awesome!

'Killer Queen' Vintage Butterfly Sequin Trophy Top:

You are not a true disco diva until you have at least one of these in your wardrobe ;)

'Dancing With Myself' Vintage Moschino Belt Bag:

Whilst perusing eBay the other day I found that some crafty beggar had totally ripped my web store description plus "borrowed" all the pics to sell their own Moschino belt bag scandalous. I mean don't get me wrong I borrow and get inspired by stuff too but I generally try to at least put my own slant on it and not make it so blatant. They hadn't even removed the song title product name that I give each and every one of my items, the height of laziness me thinks.

'Temple Of Love' Handmade Moroccan Duffel Bag:

The perfect bag for a hippy chick!

At the moment I only have a total of 33 items in store but I'm hoping to add many more within the next few weeks.

Unfortunately I am having to juggle my Frocktasia shop activities with my bread and butter eBay auctions cause the rent and bills still have to be paid somehow...pants!

Moving swiftly on to something more cheerful, three new little helpers moved in with us yesterday, they will model hats and headdresses so that I don't have to ;)

Whilst on the subject of headdresses,

I've got one of those up for grabs in the shop too.

'Dear Darkness' Unique Rose Crown Headdress:

My plan is to do a lot more vintage revamps and unique Frocktasia creations, cause being creative is a big part of who I am so it makes perfect sense really. 

The shop will be a window into what I have to offer and hopefully things will grow from there.

These pics where taken in my boudoir/studio where most the product pics for the shop are taken, it's crammed full of  fabulous frocks, vintage goodies and knick-knacks from all corners of the world.

I'll leave you with a sneak peek of two recent vintage revamps that will go into the shop within the next couple of days...

Fringing fabulous ;)

You would really ROCK MY WORLD if you popped over to like my Frocktasia facebook page and if you have one yourself and I haven't liked it yet then just give me a nudge and I'll return the favor.

I will be doing discount codes and special deals for Frocktasia likers, fans and followers in the not too distant future but I just want to get a bit more stock in the shop first.

Hope you are all doing well :)

Lot's of love,

Jennie

xXx

A hangdog confession

Forgive me friends & frockers for I have sinned, it has been many days since I last made a beep in the blogosphere.  

I accuse myself of the following sins, stalking your blogs without commenting & admiring your fabulousness from afar without giving credit where credit has so blatantly been due.

I have also made my own blog into a drought zone but rest assured my dearest blog sisters I aim to redeem myself within the coming weeks.

It is my intention to post much more regularly from now on and this will be a much easier task come Friday when I free myself from the shackles of the old nine to five.

Yes it’s true, I’m giving up the day job to have another bash at making FROCKTASIA my livelihood.

This time I have a much better mindset and I’m going to work my ass off to get it off the ground.

The FROCKTASIA on-line shop is already up and running but I am still adding stock & tweaking stuff.

Mark and I shot a ‘lookbook’ for the shop a few weeks ago and here are the resulting pics… 

I'm doing all the modelling for the shop myself at the moment but I am hoping to work with other people in the future cause as much as I love pretending to be Jessica Stam (in my dreams), I'd actually much rather crack on with the styling malarkey.

So it's all excitement, adventure and really wild things for the Jen monster at the moment and come Friday evening I'll be doing summersaults all the way back home from the wage slave labour camp.
Only three more days of  working for the man, huzzah, I'm almost wetting myself  in excitement :)

If you want to keep in touch with what's going on in the shop then why not head over and LIKE my new Facebook page, that would really
ROCK MY UNIVERSE!

Hope you are all doin' grand my dears!

Lot's of love,

Jennie

xXx

Highland Games

It's raining, it's raining,

There's pepper in the box,
And all the little ladies
Are holding up their frocks.

Hubby and I went for a wee stroll in the park in-between downpours yesterday and staged an impromptu game of good old Highland caber tossing :)

What I Wore:

FROCKTASIA revamped denim shorts

90s Alien clubbing top with grey cami underneath

Miss Selfridge tights

Steve Madden kick-ass boots

Crochet knit beanie

Turkoman bag

80s sunnies

An assortment of bangles

Caber tossing action, hai-yah...

I'm hoping to revamp some more of these funky cut-offs in the near future. 

I've got a whole stash of hubbies old jeans, a mega lot of Dylon that I scored on eBay a couple of years ago and more decorative buttons and embellishments than you can shake a stick at ;)

I've also got a rather fabulous book about different tie-dye techniques that I'd like to try out.

When I made these two pairs a couple of weeks ago I just winged it with a whole bunch of rubber-bands.

I still think they turned out really cool though...

Last but by no means least here's some caber tossing action by my beloved hubster...

Hope you are all enjoying the weekend :)

Lot's of love,

Jennie

xXx

Frocktasia's Mohairy Midsummer

It's been a while since my last installment, just haven't had the time nor the inclination lately :(

However I thought that as it's midsummer already, I'd better do at least one posting before June ends :)

So far summer has been a a story of starts and stops, just when you think you can push the tights & jumpers to the back of the wardrobe temperatures take a nose dive and I'm back sporting my trusty grey beanie.

We have had a few cracking days though so I guess I shouldn't complain too much...this is England after all!

We had planned to get out of London this weekend, pitch our new tent somewhere on the coast and just sit on a beach and chill-out but we decided against it as the weather forecast pretty much spelled rain in bold capital letters for most of the country.

We did go for a wee walk along an urban nature trail to forage some elderflowers and snap some pics instead.

I brought with me a few of my current wardrobe faves and a couple of bits that I have made/revamped recently... 

I love this quirky 80s mohair jumper that I bought on eBay a few years ago.

It's super comfy and it goes really well with my bright orange revamped cut-offs...

These denim cut-offs were made from a pair of hubby's old jeans.

I tie-dyed them with Dylon and embellished them with faux-gems salvaged from a top that I got from the car boot sale.

The kick-ass Steve Madden boots were also a car boot sale buy from a few years ago.

Whilst on the subject of  fabulous car booty buys...

I bagged this frigging awesome camo jacket from the car boot sale a while back.

I absolutely love camo jackets and I love Bob Marley so for me this jacket is DA BOMB!

I bought this refashioned desert camo jacket from a shop in Camden a few years back.

It's fabulously fitted :)

The vintage Moschino belt was a second hand market find, the 80s aviator sunnies where dead-stock off eBay and the funky handmade African earrings were a pressie from my folks.

I made the headdress from a bunch of  deconstructed chiffon scrunchies fashioned into cabbage rose shapes and mounted on a wide padded Alice band...

My trusty grey knitted beanie...

...that I'm rocking a helluva lot more than I should be doing considering it's late June!

Never mind, there is still time for summer to sort itself out and when it does I'll be on the first coast bound train out of here, armed with my tent and sleeping bag, I can't wait ;)

Hope you are all having a wonderful Midsummer weekend.

Lot's of love,

Jennie

xXx