Our good friends at The Design Federation recently interviewed a young lady with a great idea & a huge motivation to succeed. With such focus on the environment these days, Shaughla Ahmad from Swap My Style looks to have the future “sewn up”!

Tell us how you came up with the concept?

Growing up with two sisters, swapping and sharing clothes with each other is quite common. Our styles are so different; I think that’s what makes it so great. I have access to three amazing wardrobes. The idea of swapping and sharing with my sisters got me thinking about how many more people out there like to swap fashion items. Imagine being able to pick an outfit from more than three wardrobes. Swap My Style has evolved from a group of sisters and friends organising social fashion swaps to a much anticipated fashion event for over 200 women.

See the full interview here.

Welcome to the Limestone Coast of South Australia’s most spectacular coastal family Arts Festival! – It’s Arts with Attitude! Beachport is located 37kms north-west of Millicent on the Southern Ports highway (Alternate Highway One) and 80kms west of Penola. It is approximately half way by car, travelling from Adelaide (4 hours) and Melbourne (5 hours).

There are a number of competitions with lots of prizes & giveaways for everyone. A tradition of the Beachport Festival is the Limestone Sculpture Competition which  incorporates the regions beautiful stone. Find the artist in you and purchase your stone block and entry form. Have fun!

The Travelworld Millicent 2008 Beachport Festival Non-Acquisitive Art Prize offers you the opportunity to be creative and use your imagination to explore all the possibilities that the theme ‘Roll and Rock’ has to offer. There is fun for the whole family.

The Beachport Festival by the Sea runs from the 22nd February to the 24th February 2008. Get away & see this beautiful country of ours.

On Thursday, 24th January, 2008 the CMAA will showcase 12 of the best new country artists – those with the potential to become the next generation of country music superstars. The CMAA is pleased to present a new event for the 2008 Festival program called the ‘New Stars of Country, with Legendary Special Guests’ Concert.

The three-hour concert, hosted by Jim Haynes, will showcase the exceptional rising talent in the Australian country scene embracing bush ballads, contemporary country, bush poetry, country/folk, hillbilly and bluegrass.

Taking to the stage will be Lou Bradley (36th CMAA Finalist Maton New Talent, APRA Song of the Year), Amber Lawrence (36th CMAA Finalist Female Artist of the Year, Maton New Talent of the Year), Amos Morris (36th CMAA Finalist Bush Ballad of the Year) The Pigs (36th CMAA Finalist Video of the Year), Drew McAlister (reigning CMAA Awards Winner in Vocal Collaboration, Finalist in 2008) 2007 CMAA Awards Instrumental of the Year Finalists, The Davidson Brothers, 2005 Telstra Road To Tamworth Winner Aleyce Simmonds, Markus Meier 2007 graduate of the CMAA Australian College of Country Music and riding the success of his recently released album RainDance, Danny Hooper and Melanie Dyer 2007 graduate of Camerata and NSW Schools Spectacular with Tom Curtain (Finalist in 2005 CMAA Awards for New Talent and Bush Ballad) round out the top line of artists appearing.

The Danish film Blood Sisters (Blodsostre) won the $5000 prize for Best Film yesterday at Flickerfest (the 17th annual Australian International Short Film Festival, held at the Bondi Pavilion), while the $1250 Award for Best Animation went to the Canadian Madame Tutli-Putli. The Australian producer Kath Shelper and director Warwick Thornton got the Short Film Award for Nana, while Dugong, written by Erin White, won Best Original Screenplay.

A four day indulgence away from reality, the Rainbow escape is like no other. The Rainbow Serpent Festival runs from the 25th January to 29th January 2008. Offering a unique combination of music, art, performance, spiritual education, relaxation and healing all in the surrounds of the lush Victorian bush, the festival is a chance to connect with other like-minded individuals and celebrate nature, community and harmony.

Offering a hypnotic array of live acts and DJs, the Rainbow experience is one which spans the entire spectrum of electronic music, dishing up psychedelic trance, progressive, electro, house, breaks, dub and ambient (with a few others surprise thrown in for good measure).

Always conscious of creating an eco-friendly environment for festival goers through the use of recycling initiatives and compositing toilets, Rainbow will be taking things up a notch in 2008 with the aim of becoming carbon neutral. This will be achieved in part by reducing the emissions of the festival in all viable areas and offsetting any remaining surplus through tree planting and carbon credit initiatives. As a further environmentally friendly initiative, every ticket bought through GreenTix – Rainbow Serpent’s official online ticket provider – will see a tree being planted as part of the festival’s ongoing commitment to sustainable and greener practices.

All these factors combine to make Rainbow Serpent the ultimate festival experience – minus the carbon footprints. Start marking the days off on your calendar, it will come around quicker than you think!

It’s no big deal to meet a bartender who’s also an actor or a would-be singer-songwriter. Bartender-artists are a rarer breed, though, and finding someone active in the arts who is working in a bar not so much as a sideline to support themselves but as a dual profession or indeed another form of artistic expression is a singular experience indeed. It might sound like a lot of high-falutin’ talk when, at the end of the day, we’re talking about hooch, but then Der Raum is no ordinary bar, and painter-cum-bar owner Matthew Bax is no ordinary bottle-jockey.

Since it opened in Richmond in 2001, the bar has been showered with accolades, and named among the world’s best. We like them because they bring the same care and knowledge to making drinks that the best sommeliers bring to selecting wine, but never lose sight of the fact that bars are, after all, all about having a good time. For bucks and blazers, cups, punches, fixes, rickeys, highballs and mules, we make ours Der Raum.

Getting your foot in the door of commercial galleries can be the most difficult step an artist has to take. ‘Off The Wall’ provides a great opportunity not just to sell work, but also to get noticed by some of Australia’s best galleries, curators and consultants.

Up to 20 artists are selected by a panel of art industry professionals and have their work showcased to thousands of the art buying public. ’Off the Wall’ provides a launch pad for many artists careers. Register now!

Art Melbourne 08 deadline   – 1st February 2008

Art Brisbane 08 deadline   – 4th March 2008

Art Sydney 08 deadline   – 1st August 2008.

Lang Leav is launching her long awaited second book on the 14th of January 2008.

Her first book The Teddy Bear’s Picnic sold out in 3 days so make sure you join her mailing list to be the first in line to get your hands on one!  Titled Quaint Little Rhymes, the book is a collection of her illustrations and poems. The release is timed for Valentine’s Day.

Midsumma is Melbourne’s premier gay and lesbian arts and cultural festival. The 2008 Festival will be a mind-blowing and ever-eclectic showcase of queer culture with over 180 unique events programmed. Featuring the finest performing arts, visual arts, cabaret, live bands, spoken word, film, forums, fashion, community, sporting and family events, the 2008 program will be  presented across five municipalities and located in over 80 different venues throughout Melbourne and greater Victoria.

See What’s On in the massive 2008 Midsumma Festival program.