Several months ago (before I got more heavily involved in working with sterling silver) the lovely team at RUSSH commissioned a bespoke neck piece from me to feature in their New Faces photo shoot with photographer Stephen Ward. You can win this one-of-a-kind, custom made neck piece by visiting the RUSSH website and entering their Bespoke Jewellery competition. Good luck!

Some of my best memories have been made at live music gigs. You never feel quite as alive as when your fighting for breath amongst hundreds of fans in a pit, struggling to move a little bit closer to the stage, being physically lifted by the force of the people around you dancing and shoving, thrilled to be part of the atmosphere and the music.

So many precious memories that you can never really impart with words; like the electricity in the air at Rage Against The Machine at their only Melbourne sold out solo gig at Festival Hall. Or like the breathlessness of being trapped in the pit two rows away from Trent Reznor at NIN’s last solo Melbourne show before they quit touring indefinitely.

Debit MasterCard is giving one lucky Sea of Ghosts reader their own memorable experience with a double pass to see one of the UK’s hottest rock outfits Kasabian at Peninsula, in Melbourne’s Docklands on Wednesday October 5th.

Competition now closed.

Tickets to the Debit MasterCard Priceless Music gig for Kasabian go on sale Thurs the 25th of August at www.mastercard.com.au/music - only with your Debit MasterCard!

Good luck!

Inspired by magic and sorcery, New Zealand’s Charlotte Burkhart has been designing and creating jewellery for over 10 years. Her young independent label, Little Sister Designs, incorporates her interest in the occult from a young age, taking both obvious and obscure reference from her love of the enchanted as seen in television and film.

Charlotte has generously offered one lucky Sea Of Ghost’s readers a chance to win a pair of gorgeous Balance Earrings (pictured above) worth $70. To enter, like Little Sister Designs on Facebook and Sea Of Ghosts on Facebook. Then jump onto the Little Sister Designs Etsy Store and comment back here with the name of your favourite piece. Competition is now closed.

Charlotte is also donating money from sales on select items through her Etsy store to the Christchurch Red Cross Earthquake Appeal. Visit her store here to score a beautiful piece of jewellery and help support earthquake victims.

The fashion industry relies on a cycle that begins with the luxury houses and ends in the bargain bins. Trends are filtered down the fashion chain and pieces pop in at various levels of affordability. Some of us have incomes and lifestyles that afford us the luxury of being able to indulge in the very best of fashion, and some of us need to be creative with our purchases by shopping chain store or even thrift store to get the look for less.

Most of us work hard for our money, whatever our income – and the debate on how one most sensibly spends it is ongoing. On the Vogue Forums  How do you afford your fashion purchases? threads invariably pop up and are guaranteed to incite drama, because talking about one’s personal finance is often perceived as taboo.

As I recently discussed, right now my disposable income is at an all time low. New expenses have come into my life and have left little room for the joyous frivolity of shopping. Once an impulse shopper, I’m slowly learning to radically change my shopping habits to budget and allow for things I only really love.  Although I do tend to have tastes outside my means, even a $50 purchase needs to be carefully considered before I can allow myself to part with my finite funds. In the past I might buy something new once a week or more, but between August and October particularly I could count all of my fashion purchases on one hand.

The most extravagant thing I’d bought in this time was a black woven maxi dress from The Outnet. I needed a dress for a friend’s wedding and knew that this purchase needed to be versatile as well as beautiful enough to make me feel good in it. It’s probably the most expensive dress I own but I already have at least two more events planned for the dress so from a cost-per-wear basis it works out to be more affordable than if I’d bought a new dress for each event. Any remaining unease over the cost of the dress was instantly invalidated when I tweeted on the way to the wedding ” OMG I am so in love with my dress!” because I really meant it.

The Commonwealth Bank recently put together a video for 30 Days Of Fashion And Beauty from September and had this conversation with several Australian personalities and fashion insiders. The thoughts they share on this topic resonate well with my new financial situation and subsequent purchase choices.

Competition is now closed.

Post sponsored by Nuffnang.

Thanks to Bonds and Nuffnang I’ve had lots of reasons to convince you sharing stuff is awesome. But sometimes it isn’t. Like when you share your favourite new jacket with your best friend and she burns a cigarette hole in it. Or when you get a tattoo with your on again/off again husband and share a needle but end up contracting hepatitis*.

But Bonds think those examples aren’t enough to prove that sharing isn’t always caring, and they’re putting their money where their mouths are. They’ve generously offered a $500 cash prize to the Sea Of Ghosts’ reader who can share the best “when sharing sucks” story. Remember to leave a valid e-mail address with your story so I can contact you if you’ve won. Competition closes 5pm, Wednesday the 24th of November. The competition is open to all Australian readers. Click here for full terms and conditions.

Post sponsored by Nuffnang.

*Obviously that one isn’t an anecdote from my personal archive but it’s pretty relevant and embarrassingly amusing.

Ever since mechanicalShdws and I did our Bonds Made 2 Share photo shoot we’ve had our favourite pieces from the range on high rotation.  He loves the super-soft cotton Crew Tees but quite unexpectedly for me it was The Striders that I’ve been wearing incessantly due to their 90′s appeal and undeniable comfort.

Thanks to Bonds and Nuffnang, I’m offering a chance for one Sea Of Ghosts’ reader to win a Bonds Made 2 Share prize pack valued at $275. Entries have now closed. You will be notified via e-mail if you have won.

Let it never be said that I don’t wear colours other than black! I seem to suit murky, moody tones best – no pastels or creamy shades because of my ultra-pale skin. Non-black tones I love wearing most include navy blue, charcoal grey, pure white and burgundy. Actually I prefer to call it garnet red because I feel burgundy lacks a certain depth. Like burgundy, garnet red is darker than normal red. It’s hypnotic, multi-faceted with tones of rust, scarlet and deep pink.

Old readers will remember the two fluoro red streaks I wore for several years in my hair – despite their fluorescence they were still in the garnet red spectrum so they were well suited, although faded too quickly to a sickly pinkish red. Needless to say my adoration for this spectrum carries on. Almost mindlessly I collate pieces of the same spectrum; sometimes IDENTICAL tones.

It was love at first sight when I pulled these shoes out of their box. Remembering back to when I’d purchased them; struggling to choose between the burgundy or grey – both tones would have been right at home in my closet but the red was intoxicating and they found their way into my shopping cart.

Despite being available on several online stores I ended up purchasing them on Endless.com using Paypal’s new international shipping service HopShopGo; by taking advantage of a discount, a free shipping and a reduced shipping offers – I paid just $125AU all up for  current season shoes that retail at $160AU on other online stores excluding shipping. Although HopShopGo is not always the most economical option, it was in this instance and I felt a little rush of adrenaline for having been so savvy.

To celebrate the launch of HopShopGo, Paypal are offering one Sea Of Ghosts’ reader the chance to win a $200 PayPal credit to spend using HopShopGo. ENTRIES ARE NOW CLOSED. You will be notified via e-mail if you have won.

Good luck!

Garnet Red Knit: Cheap Monday
Black Camisole: Savers
Black Jeans: Cheap Monday
Garnet Red Shoes: Dolce Vita

This chunky, geometric, mirrored cocktail ring embodies everything I am loving right now in art, fashion and design. From the lovely people behind Sterling Shadows, their beautiful range of genuine sterling silver jewellery are hand-chosen for their versatility, all classic in design but contemporary in style.

To celebrate the launch of Sterling Shadows‘ brand new eBay store, I have one Mirrored Boulder Ring worth $39 in size P (US 8/ EU57) to give away! This ring is hollow and cannot be re-sized, but this common size will fit most adult women on at least one of their fingers.

To enter, leave a comment below with your name, a valid e-mail address so I can contact you if you win. The competition is open to entrants WORLDWIDE and will end at midnight on Sunday, August 29th. The winner will be notified on Monday, August 30th.

For more ways to win genuine sterling silver jewellery, follow Sterling Shadows on twitter where they do regular jewellery giveaways exclusively for followers! Good luck.

Black Nail Polish: Liquid Leather by China Glaze
Mirrored Boulder Ring: Sterling Shadows

Direct from the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Tim Burton: The Exhibition explores the art and imagination of one of Hollywood’s most unique filmmakers. An Australian exclusive, the landmark show brings together over 700 examples of concept designs, drawings, paintings, photographs, puppets, costumes and films. This extraordinary range of artworks charts Burton’s 28-year career from his earliest works to his most recent portrayal of Alice In Wonderland.

I was delighted to have been invited by ACMI and Nuffnang to review the exhibition and visit the Burton Bar. Arriving at just the right moment, I was also very lucky to get a seat in the Masterclass with Burton hosted by Margaret Pomeranz.

In the Masterclass Burton discussed growing up feeling normal but being treated like an outsider, and how he empathised with the antagonists in horror films as a child. It was such a fantastic experience being able to hear in his own words his choices and inspirations behinds his most famous works. Sadly Burton did not have the opportunity to go into more detail about his work as an artist; I would have loved to have known more about his choice to go back to poetry and art with the release of his book The Melancholy Death Of Oyster Boy in 1997 after a slew of cinematic successes.

Although I’ve felt less of an affinity with several of Burton’s more recent film re-visitations (you couldn’t really call them re-makes when generally they’re all vastly different to their original counterparts) I’ve been a dedicated appreciator of Burton’s highly stylised and delightfully deranged artistry for many years.

A feast for the senses, Tim Burton: The Exhibition is the largest temporary exhibition to ever be staged at ACMI. Curated in three thematic sections; Surviving Burbank, Beautifying Burbank and Beyond Burbank; the exhibition includes several elements not previously seen at MoMA. I loved the exhibition so much I’ll most certainly be returning before it closes on the 10th of October.

Thanks to ACMI and Nuffnang, I have five “buy one get one free” passes for Tim Burton: The Exhibition to give away. ENTRIES ARE CLOSED. Thank you for entering – if you’ve won you’ll be notified via e-mail! xo

Post sponsored by Nuffnang.

Coco & Igor tells the story of the tumultuous and passionate love affair between the two creative giants as a penniless Stravinsky and his family move into Chanel’s villa in Garches, 7 years after the disastrous reception of his work “The Rite of Spring.”  Starring Mads Mikkelsen (CASINO ROYALE) and Anna Mouglalis (NOVO, and model for Chanel) and directed by Jan Kounen, Coco & Igor is a sensuous, beautiful film and will be in cinemas from April 15^th 2010.  It also features some original Chanel garments as well as a few pieces created specifically for the film by Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld.

Madman has generously sent me FIVE double passes for this exciting new film. To enter, just leave a comment with who you want to take to see Coco & Igor. Make sure to include a valid e-mail address so I can contact you if you’ve won. Entries close midnight, April 5th. Winners will be chosen randomly, and will be notified on April 6th. Sorry, this contest open to Australian residents only.

Click “Read More” for a list of participating cinemas. Good luck!