Susie Bubble is adorable. Even though I don’t care much for straight sized fashion, I do follow her blog because she puts together really incredible outfits that speak more to style than slavish trend following. I really appreciate her approach to mixing up pattern, texture, proportion and colour – particularly in this outfit!

Like so many wonderful images on Tumblr, this has been orphaned. I can’t tell you where this beautiful building is, but I would very much like to claim it as my own club house. The detailing looks distinctly Art Nouveau, a period in art and design I love.

Another orphaned image this time, I can’t wait to have a go at making my own fruit ice blocks! I might go have a hunt on ebay for some freezer moulds. We always used to make ice blocks as kids but never any this fancy or delicious looking. Oh wait – I just had a thought! What if I could find an ice block mould in the shape of the crystal knuckle duster up there? AMAZE.

I am loving all the shoulder accessories I’ve seen in the last few years, but this is the most incredible one I’ve seen so far! Imagine how fabulous this would look with a really super fancy floor length formal gown… I just don’t think people would know what to think if I ever wore such a thing out in Brisbane! This wonderful piece is by gTIE and you can see more photos on OutsaPop.

No real insightful commentary on this hot nail job by WAH Nails of London but I’m gonna give it a go, that’s for sure.

Another Tumblr find… the embroidery of ¡no confíes en los artístas! on flickr this time. I love embroidery and want to play with it a bit more. The stitches are so small and perfect on this!!!

Adding to my collection of dream gardens is one of my favourite things. This little one room treehouse would sit perfectly in my dream mountain house. Perhaps I could use it as my studio? Oooh good idea Natalie, but chuck a comfy chair in there for reading too. This photo was taken by turnintosomething.

It’s a fancy deer. I have no words. (Ganked from Jessica’s Tumblr.)

I’m sure I’ve posted the lovely work of Vessels and Wares before but when I saw this adorable cake stand I knew I had to include it in this week’s fance. I love how you can thread your own ribbon through the holes in the stand and match it to your cake decoration!

With the benefit of lots of time distancing me from this era, I can look at this photo and do a little air punch because it’s a pretty rad sight. But in reality, were these women just sideshow spectacles? I can’t find any info on this photograph through Tin Eye so I’m going to recognise the potentially problematic past while still admiring these fabulous women.

Slang from Chaos is one of my new favourite blogs because it’s just a barrage of awesome looking images. This awesome looking image in particular is fabulous because I love old packaging, especially on potions and lotions!

Let’s not tarnish this incredible moment with words. All you need to know is that Ginger Williams created this, for you.

fancy |ˈfansē|

adjective ( -cier , -ciest )
1. elaborate in structure or decoration : the furniture was very fancy | a fancy computerized system.
• designed to impress : converted fishing boats with fancy new names.
• (esp. of foodstuffs) of high quality : fancy molasses.
• (of flowers) of two or more colors.
• (of an animal) bred to develop particular points of appearance : fancy goldfish.
2. archaic (of a drawing, painting, or sculpture) created from the imagination rather than from life.

verb ( -cies, -cied ) [ trans. ]
1. feel a desire or liking for : do you fancy a drink?
• find sexually attractive : he saw a woman he fancied.
• ( fancy oneself) informal have an unduly high opinion of oneself, or of one’s ability in a particular area : he fancied himself an amateur psychologist.
2. [with clause ] imagine; think : he fancied he could smell the perfume of roses.
• [in imperative ] used to express one’s surprise at something : fancy meeting all those television actors!

noun ( pl. -cies)
1. a feeling of liking or attraction, typically one that is superficial or transient : this does not mean that the law should change with every passing fancy.
2. the faculty of imagination : my research assistant is prone to flights of fancy.
• a thing that one supposes or imagines, typically an unfounded or tentative belief or idea; notion or whim : scientific fads and fancies.
3. (in sixteenth and seventeenth cent. music) a composition for keyboard or strings in free or variation form.

Fancy is a good word. You might have noticed that I use it a lot. Almost every Friday for a while now I’ve been sharing pictures of things that typify my personal version of fanciness; these pixel illustrated forms delight my imagination and demonstrate my aesthetic. I shortened the name from “Fanciful Friday” to “Friday Fance” along the way, probably because I’m Australian and we apparently have a tendency to shorten words (and add “o” to the ends of other words) and since that time the idea of “fance” has been percolating inside of me. People have asked me what it means, and until now I’ve never actually tried to describe it; typically I mumble something about self-expression and imagination, so now I will try to capture exactly what I mean when I talk about fanciness, or fance.

If you refer to the definitions of fancy, you’ll find that it can be a way to refer to stuff created from the imagination. I think imagination isn’t given enough credit. The notions of play and imagining are so tied with childhood that adults who give in to flights of fancy are seen as foolish or irresponsible. That makes me really sad, because the way I see it creativity and progress are linked with imagination, and to dismiss it seems a bit silly.

To fancy something is to be attracted to a thing or a person, or to be human and feel connected. It’s a pleasurable thing, maybe even a little hedonistic at times, and to be deprived of such feelings of attraction, kinship and bond would be a sad thing indeed; an inhuman thing, certainly. I don’t mean to say that wanting material things is human, no, I mean… we all have these touchstones that speak to certain comforting things, and most of us certainly derive pleasure and meaning from connecting with kindred spirits. To fancy is to desire is to be human. To fancy is to teeter on the edge of having and not having, and the not having can be sad, even painful – very much the counterbalancing human experience.

One of my favourite uses for fance is to apply it to very visual things – the ornate, elaborate, overblown and intemperate. I am quite obviously drawn to hedonism and enjoyment of life, you might be noting at this stage, but fanciness need not strictly apply to extravagant things. A fancy thing need only be just a little bit better than average, and the mark of betterness is most personal indeed!

So I guess a thing’s fance can speak to quality, desire and creativity, all self-adjudicated of course, but even though it sounds like a fairly flippant and whimsical idea, for me it strikes right at the heart of what being human is about. My life is very, very short and my fascinations might be inappreciable to most, but to make meaning from the things I see, appreciate and imagine is important because I am a creator of stuff (pictures, words, and things) that become artifacts that are passed around and accepted and rejected. Other people think about these artifacts I send out into the world, perhaps they even discuss them, and if these ideas or things suit the fancy of a person they will send them on. Things that appeal to us, with any degree of fance, are things that get explored, discussed, dissected, elaborated and acted upon.

No one idea of fance is the true idea of fance. We all have vastly different experiences and memories and aesthetics and fascinations. Sometimes the fance that speaks to me doesn’t really speak to anyone else and that’s ok too. There are so many ideas and things in the world that they can’t all inspire creativity in everyone, so we humans play an important role acting as filters as well as processors of thought. Fance is flexible and very married to your identity – to me it’s more about self-awareness and not so much concerned with fad or trend. Admittedly, it’s hard not to buy into faddish things in Western society because escaping trend cycles and advertising and word of mouth is nigh on impossible. The most important part about fance, for me, is finding my own version of delightful, thoughtful and inspiring rather than plugging directly into the newest in-vogue thing. Recording the stuff I come across that appeals to me is a helpful, enjoyable activity that enables my imagination and my creative practice. I highly recommend it!

Anyhoo, onto the fance which is desperately late this week I know, and I throw myself at your feet and beg for mercy. Is mercy mine?!

Had I the resources, my childhood forts would have looked like this. Unfortunately I was limited to picnic blankets and stacking volumes of Encyclopedia Britannicas. This lovely photo is by somethings hiding in here. (Am I too old for a fancy little fort like this?)

We might have a little bit of a regressive theme going on tonight, but how could anyone go past a wall full of colour pencils? Social Designer supports meaningful causes with products like 500 Pencils and the gorgeous Aurora display system. Yes please!

Combining two of my favourite things, Dudes With Beards Eating Cupcakes is a blog that had me hitting “FOLLOW FOLLOW FOLLOW!” inside 10 seconds of the page loading.

Recently I’ve been on a little nail polish kick and was overjoyed to discover The Daily Nail. This blogger has committed to painting her nails every day for a year and she doesn’t just slap on two coats – she does some beautiful, clever and funny designs too! If you’re ever stuck for nail inspiration, I highly recommend popping over and having a browse.

Shane Waltener‘s installation “Auntie Peggy Has Departed” featured cobwebs made of doilies. What a pleasant and comforting world we’d live in if spiders could weave doilies!

I am hoping to finish drawing April’s desktop this weekend. I’ve got a new arm brace and I’m working my way through all my pens just to finish it!