September Monthly Meeting

We had a very productive meeting this month.

After voting on several resolutions for results to be passed on to our State Office we then put our heads together to come up with some ideas on what sort of activities/speakers we would like to have for our monthly meetings.  We had ideas like Genealogy, jewellery making, gardening tips, etc and for some social activities we had cooking classes, Mother’s Day tours to Maleny, movie nights etc so stay tuned Belles for some fun times ahead.

We also welcomed a new Treasurer, Diane Mascelle.    Diane has been a member with us from the beginning and is enthusiastic to help the belles wherever she can. Thanks Diane for coming on board.

A massive thank you to our former Treasurer, Michelle Comollatti, who got us up and running and put together all the end of Financials for our first year as Bay Belles. We appreciate all the time and effort you provided over the last few months.

August monthly meeting – Floristry

Another successful night of fun with Lia and Anri from Bayside Florists on Edith Street coming and sharing their tips and tricks with us.

Lia showed us how we can turn what we have around the home into a budget friendly table centre with minimum flowers and the use of foliage.  Anri  showed off some Ikebana skills with a lovely arrangement placed on a serving tray.

There were plenty of tips shared and a lovely night was had by all.

July Monthly Meeting – Feng Shui

What an interesting night we had with  Master George Bennis.

Master George Bennis is one of only two FSRC accredited Feng Shui Masters in Australia. He has studied and practised Feng Shui in the United States, Canada, Australia and Japan.
George’s interest in Feng Shui began when his  teacher mentioned the subject over dinner one night in Sydney’s Chinatown. George then asked to learn Feng Shui from him. This request was refused as he was informed that Feng Shui was a ” Chinese Secret”.

After repeated requests to learn he was set a test that his teacher was sure he would fail. He was given a task to identify the reason why 4 Businesses in Chinatown had closed down. If correctly identified he would then be taught Feng Shui. After much deliberation, George successfully identified the Feng Shui problems that had lead to the business failure, much to the surprise of his teacher! George was then taught the ” Form School” of Feng Shui.

It was a very interesting and informative night and if anyone is interested in speaking to  George to provide a Feng Shui report on your home or your complete astrology chart then you can contact him via his web page at http://www.thefengshuiadvantage.com.

Dirty Dancing

Some of us woke up super excited on the Fourth of July, but not because we were celebrating all things American…no it was Dirty Dancing time. With a planned train trip in we all met up for a pre show drink before collecting our tickets and heading into the Theatre.

The performance did not disappoint. True to the movie, almost word for word, nobody was going to put baby in the corner. There were some touching moments and some hilarious moments and lots of hip grinding in between.

After the show we headed out to Southbank for some cocktails and then a few of us headed to Hop and Pickles for dinner.  A great day was had by all.

June Monthly Meeting – Scrapbooking

Our creative juices were flowing this month with one of our Belles helping us out with a scrapbooking evening.  Cazz and her daughter, Emily, helped us to create a layout and/or a card.  It was a great social event.  If you’d like more information about scrapbooking then you can contact Cazz and check out our scrapbooking events in our diary.

Cazz’s webpage is:  http://www.cazzhindley.ctmh.com.au

 

May Monthly Meeting – Millinery

What a colourful bunch we were this month. After our business meeting concluded we had the lovely Brenda Wilson from House of Windsor share her knowledge of everything hats. We learnt about all the different hats available and some history behind them. We also learnt about the different face shapes and what hats suit what shape (see below for all the info on this).

Brenda had an amazing display of some of the hats that she has made and our ladies had so much fun trying them all on (see the photos below).

We are hoping to organise a workshop to create our own masterpiece, perhaps closer to Melbourne Cup, so stay tuned for that one.

Thanks again to Brenda for coming to speak to us and if you would like Brenda to create a masterpiece for you, go to her website www.thehouseofwindsor.com.au for all her details.

Okay, here’s some tips on face shapes:

Oval:  Go with a flared, wider brim and deep crown to widen the face. Also, cloches, pillboxes and knitted hats that sit close to your head are a good choice for you.

Avoid narrow brims as they tend to elongate your face even further.

Heart shape:  Since your chin is the narrowest point on your face, avoid wide brims that will make it look narrower. Otherwise pretty much any style will work well on you.

Square shape: Choose a hat that sits high on your forehead. Soft berets worn all the way up at the hairline look great on you, as do rounded bowler hats with rolled narrow brims.

If you’ve got angular facial features, such as a square jaw, look for hats to soften and complement those lines; think sweeping or floppy brims, berets, and sculpted, folded, or asymmetrical shapes. Also look for hats that have prominent, asymmetrical trimming, such as an elegant, curving arc of feathers.

Round shape:  The idea is to elongate your face but also to balance it. Choose tall, shallow crowns to give it length, or try peaked, slanted, or creased crowns. Brims that are wider than your face help to help bring balance and make your face look narrower by comparison.

The symmetry of your face cries out for an asymmetrical shape with a high crown and peaked or slanted brim. You can further accentuate this effect by slanting your hat forward. Avoid tall rounded crowns, which will only accentuate the roundness of your face.

Small face: The golden rule for small faces: Stay true to your proportions. Just as a large-faced woman shouldn’t wear a tiny hat, those with small faces should stay away from large floppy hats. Try fedoras, cloches and pillbox hats.

April Monthly Meeting – Women’s Property Group

     

What a fantastic night we had with Emma Herbert from Women’s Property Panel.  Emma was more than entertaining with her sharing of personal stories and tips and tricks of property investing.

The Panel is made up of land developers, builders, finance providers, accountants, depreciation specialists, solicitors, property managers & more.

If you need any information at all from this month’s guest speaker then please go to their webpage:  http://www.womenspropertypanel.com.au.

We also proved our worth as QCWA ladies with such a super contribution to the plea from our head office to help out with their charity Domestic Violence Connect.  A collection of emergency toiletries was asked for and we provided.

DV Connect is an organisation that assists women and children to flee from domestic violence and be provided with a safe place of refuge.  For more information go to http://www.dvconnect.org or phone 1800 811 811.

Some more pics from the night below.

April News

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I assume we are all suitably full from all our chocolate eating.  I hope everyone had an enjoyable and safe Easter.

We have an exciting meeting ahead for us next Thursday.  The Women’s Property Panel will be coming to speak to us.  The Panel was founded by women with a passion for property investing. Women who now want to empower other women to find their passion in life, whether that’s investing in property, running a business or playing a sport.

Through education and inspiration they also aspire to help women make positive changes in all areas of their life. Perhaps you’re not as healthy as you’d like to be, or your bank balance isn’t heading in the right direction? Or maybe you just need a little motivation to get back on track.

Women’s Property Panel brings together a group of amazing women who took control of their life and now enjoy success in a variety of areas. By sharing their stories with us, they hope you too will feel empowered to take control of your life and make it extraordinary!

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Ruth Fairfax House support a cause called Domestic Violence Connect and this is an organisation that assists women and children to flee from their home quickly to avoid violence.  The organisation is desperately seeking a number of toiletry items and we’re hoping the Bay Belles can lend a hand and show some support. A Box will be provided at next Thursday’s meeting and if any of the following items can be collected it would be greatly appreciated:  Shampoo, conditioner, hair brushes, tooth brushes, tooth paste, soap, deodorants, etc.  For more information on DV Connect, please see their website http://www.dvconnect.org/ or call them on 1800 811 811.

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We are seeking volunteers for some upcoming fundraising events.  Our sausage sizzle at Masters on 7 June (long weekend) and also the Wynnum Illuminations Festival on 13 June.  A sign-up sheet will be provided at the meeting and if you could please write your name and email address down one of our Committee members will be in touch to move forward.

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The date of the Dirty Dancing social event has now changed due to poor seating at the suggested date of 30 May.  The new date will now be the Matinee session on 4 July 2015.  Cost is $89.90 and money is due by the end of May.

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The Committee believe we have a great list of upcoming speakers over the next few months so we hope you do to.  Check this list out:

April:  Women’s Property Panel

May:  Brenda Wilson from House of Windsor Millinery:  Brenda is going to share her many years of knowledge of hat making and hopefully provide a demonstration.

June:  Dress for Success

July:  George Bennis from The Feng Shui Advantage:  George will explain what Feng Shui is in detail and provide guidance to us on how we can improve our home and lives by following some basic Feng Shui tips.

Launch of the Bay Belles

What an amazing night we had to officially launch The Bay Belles.  We were blessed to have many State Representatives of the QCWA attend and wish us well.

We were delighted and very privileged to have Robyn McFarlene, QCWA President, Chair our meeting on the night.

Our inspiring Committee were all officiated and provided with our very own QCWA pins.

We had around 33 women sign up and become members on the night and the number is continuing to rise.

Our Committee is thrilled with this number and are excited and enthusiastic to provide you all with a range of diverse and interesting activities throughout the coming year.

If you’d like to see more photos of our night then jump on our facebook page at:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bayside-Belles-QCWA-Group/351341925023256

Our Launch – Thursday, 7.15pm at Wynnum RSL

Our long awaited launch is only a few days away and we have been on the countdown via Facebook with all our inspiring reasons on why ladies of the Bayside should join our group.

10: There is no other group in the Bayside where you get to hang out with a whole bunch of amazing like-minded women.

9: build your confidence by trying new skills. You may even uncover hidden talents you never knew you had (or find some things to put in the ‘been there done that, maybe leave it to the experts box’ at the very least)!

8: this is your chance to be part of Queensland’s longest running women’s organisation that supports the plight of rural women and worthy causes across the state and further afield.

The QCWA is steeped in history and has a fierce reputation – now is the time to be part of a new branch that we hope will shape the future of the QCWA and attract younger members from across the Bayside. We love nanna’s but there’s more to our group than knitting and jam (though we are a bit partial to both on the right occasion!).

7: We have a book club, scrapbooking group, craft club (kind of like Brownies… But for grown-ups!) and a social club. We’ve been for pizza and cocktails in Bulimba and there’s talk of a group outing to Bounce… What more could you want?

6:  We’ll be supporting QCWA to campaign about real issues that affect real women in today’s world! Join today if you want to make a difference in your community and further afield.

5:  We intend to be active within our community supporting initiatives and events with a Bay Belles smile and some lovely cake!

4:  We will be supporting local businesses whether it’s through giving them a forum to let our members know about their services or using local venues for events.

3:  Did we mention how much we love cake and wine?! It wouldn’t be a Belles meeting if we didn’t have both on tap!

2:  You get access to all the wonderful events, activities and fun that you can handle for the bargain price of only $65 for the next 15 months. Your money will even go straight toward some of the great projects and causes that the QCWA supports. So you get to have fun and feel good while you’re doing it!