Farewell, 2012! Bring in the New Year!

Farewell, 2012! It's been a good one! The Pineneedle Collective has had a pretty amazing year. As I only started blogging properly last December (only one year ago), it's crazy to see how much this little space has grown in 2012, particularly as I also started commuting 4 hours a day to university at the same time! One of the highlights of blogging for me this year was that I was able to "meet" so many lovely people, either in the blogging community or those who are just readers. You've been nothing short of amazing. I'm constantly amazed by the thoughtful comments you leave, pictures you draw me and intelligent thoughts you leave in relation to my science posts! And even if you haven't left me any comments or sent me messages (goodness knows there's so many blogs that I silently creep on), it's awesome to know that there's so many of you reading and appreciating what I have to say. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Here's some of my blog highlights from the past year! My DIY Valentines tights - with more than 50000 pageviews, this was a post which I had the most awesome feedback on, and have subsequently seen popping up all over the internet! It is amazing to know they've inspired so many people! Dying my hair pink, lilac and blue... and (accidentally) green... Learning how to make my own dresses and then subsequently making a whole heap from anything I could find, including pillowcases and tablecloths. Starting a love-affair with wigs in this post (may have also been a consequence of attempting to maintain my bright pink hair and subsequently destroying it...) Introducing my science alter-ego in this post and beginning to add a scientific fact to each  outfit post! This is the thing I'm most proud of in 2012, especially as it's helped me to discover other fashionable science bloggers and the fact that I have a whole bunch of intelligent blog readers! I'm inspired by the feedback I get on my science posts, especially the few messages I've received where someone's told me they want to do science because of my blog! I aspire to be a Brain Cox-esque science communicator one day, so it's been a very modest, but good start. This outfit (which I named Crouching Tiger, Hidden Lion) is my favourite of 2012. I'm  pretty proud of it. And just this month, opening my own store! This is an idea I'd been toying with for months and I finally did it! And I've even made some sales, so I've been pretty chuffed with that :) And that brings us to last night. I wanted to share with you all some shots I took last night with my boyfriend's little brother (hi Johnson!) who has just started getting interested in photography. I wanted to show him how to do "long exposure" shots and this is what we came up with! I felt like they were quite appropriate photos for bringing in the new years, and so this is how I'm ending the post. Happy New Years, everyone! I attempted to write "Pineneedle" in the one below, but failed pretty badly. It kind of looks like it says Pineneedle, right?  And because Johnson is also a 13 year old boy, I was obliged to do one that said "Batman". Hahaha. Hope you all have a wonderful New Years and that 2013 is full of learning, love, laughter and good things. I'm very excited (and nervous!) for 2013. Did I mention that I'm going to Japan in 27 days?? And then moving out of home?! I will have one last post tomorrow showing off a New Year's countdown outfit!

Mermaid Bay

wearing dress - c/o Faith & Lola swimmers - Asos I promised you guys I'd get some beach shots while I was on holidays. Shooting at "golden hour" on a beach with a flowy, over-the-top dress (and credit for the photographs goes to my boyfriend Luci) is something I have wanted to do for so long now. It's probably cliché but it's also really pretty, so who cares? These beaches are amazing, and basically deserted, meaning we often have them all to ourselves. I am so lucky to be able to visit these beaches for a holiday, and when the sun sets, and the stars come out (spectacularly - due to there being very little light pollution) it feels pretty magical. Hope you're all having a beautiful day,

Praise the Sunshine

wearing clips - Little Pineneedle blouse - Vintage sweater - c/o Sheinside shorts - Asos shoes - Asos hat - c/o Oasap I've got some brand new things in my shop, including these heart shaped collar clips! I also wanted to ask you guys - which colour heart clips would you guys most like to be made? The red ones are up in my store already, but maybe you guys want to see some other colours? In fact there's a poll in the sidebar which you can use to vote :) I'd really appreciate it! I really like these red heart ones - you all know I'm obsessed with anything heart-printed or heart-shaped - so consequently I've been pairing them with every single outfit lately. And I have to admit that this outfit probably went a little over the top with heart print items - my clips, my shorts AND my sweater. Ah well. One can never wear too many hearts. Astronomers recently took this picture (the one of the left) of the surface of Titan and have deduced that it is very likely a river. Titan is one of Saturn's moons and likely the most habitable body in our solar system after Earth, and the only other world we know of with stable liquid on its surface. The scientists don't think the river is water however, more likely liquid ethane or methane. Still, it's pretty exciting to imagine an alien world with a running river and possibly even oceans. The image on the right is an artistic representation by Ron Miller of this river. Even though it's not a real photograph, I love these kinds of images almost more than the real thing - and they're so valuable to scientists in helping capture people's imaginations and create interest in the work that the scientists are doing. Plus imagine how cool it would be to look up at the sky and see Saturn just hanging there. I hope you're all having a wonderful day!

Layered Up on Boxing Day / Adventure Time Comp winners!

It's cold :( But I happen to love this outfit, so nevermind. Another mix of neutrals and browns - I love this kind of colour combination! I also found the perfect blouse to go with my handmade bear pinafore. And I'm also very happy to announce the winners of the Adventure Time clip giveaway! The winner was randomly selected from an amazing 584 entries :) Kelsea and Jasmine, check your inboxes. I'm really happy that I decided to add a second set because Kelsea, who entered the "draw me a picture" competition, happened to be one of the winners! You guys should also check out the amazing illustrations done by my blog readers showcased here! They're sooooo good, and I am amazed by their creativity - I seriously love you guys :) wearing blouse - c/o Oasap pinafore - DIY necklace - c/o Oasap bag - c/o Oasap hat - c/o Oasap boots - Asos Image credit. In talking about the end of the universe and the expansion of space the other day, someone asked me via twitter "well what is the universe expanding into?" Good question, and this astronomer says "time". A really interesting answer (and this is just one perspective), click here to read it.

Happy Holidays!

I don't often post photos of "life" things, but today was such a lovely day that I thought I'd share some of the snaps I took. Enjoy, and I hope everyone is having a lovely day! (Or is about to - it's still Christmas eve for my American readers! Make sure you go to bed before Santa gets there!) Dinosaur jars I made for my boyfriend's sister, re-purposing some old jars and dinosaur toys, following Kitten Bear's awesome DIY. A whole heap of presents for a very large family!! And our teeeny little Christmas tree (we got the tree too late and so had to settle for something small. I think it's cute though.) An amazing Christmas breakfast spread, featuring mini pears, dates, mascarpone cheese, pomegranate, mango, cherries, nectarines and peaches. Yuuuum! Present from my boyfriend's parents - Chemistry mugs!! The nerdiest/coolest gift. Here it's filled with some hot chocolate because it was cold this morning (it's definitely not a typical Australian christmas)/ The present my boyfriend got me! Unfortunately it didn't arrive in the mail in time, so he made me this card of it, featuring Princess Bubblegum - It's a SOLAR SYSTEM MOBILE!!! Hahaha I am so excited for it to arrive :) And what I got for my boyfriend - a Kindle which I loaded up with a whole bunch of science fiction and David Mitchell's autobiography. And of course - a snap of the Christmas outfit I decided on! (and OMG my real - and very windblown - hair!) Dress is c/o Koogal, sweater is vintage and shoes are from Asos.

Lady in Red / End of the world

This is a dress that I've had since I was 14, and have almost gotten rid of a countless number of times. I am glad that I have refused to let go of it (via a little bit of a hoarding problem) - because it's the perfect little Christmas dress, goes perfectly with this cardigan from Oasap, and has an awesome plaid pattern which I am loving right now! I also did a more "grown up" look with some heels. wearing dress - Ally (?) cardigan - c/o Oasap socks - Cotton On boots - Ebay heels - Wholesale So I didn't want to add to the ridiculous end-of-the-world hype before the 21st, but now the world is well and truly not ending, here's a list of ways in which scientists think the universe might meet its eventual demise! And don't worry - they're not going to be happening for a number of billion years yet and our world will most likely not be around any more, having being burnt to a crisp by our exploding sun. So it's all good! :) Image from here. Ways the universe is predicted by physicists to end: 1. The big freeze The universe is currently expanding. It will continue expanding forever. Expanding causes the universe to cool down until it reaches absolute zero, at which point life cannot survive, and atoms themselves stop moving. Estimated time left: trillions of years. 2. The big crunch The universe is currently expanding. At some point, it will reach maximum expansion, then come rushing back in on itself until it's condensed into a black hole. Think of it like the opposite of the big bang. Estimated time left: between 10 and 20 billion years. 3. The big rip The universe continues expanding forever. It reaches a point where everything is so "expanded" that all matter, including all the atoms, rip apart. Estimated time left: 20 to 22 billion years. 4. The big bounce Like the big crunch, the universe is going to collapse into itself. However it will then "bounce" back out again in a kind of a big bang, and continue this cycle infinitely. Estimated time left: infinity (although not much is going to survive the universe continually condensing in on itself). Wikipedia has a good page on the "ultimate fate of the universe" if you're interested in further reading on the subject! Oh, and uh, Seasons Greetings guys!