On tinytoadstools In Sydney.

Over a year ago, Shan Shan - the Japanese-based creator of the intricately-quirky artisan berets she calls "tinytoadstools" - put out the call on her blog for ladies all over the world to take part in her new project: the whimsically titled hello tinytoadstool!.

I was certainly tempted - I had always wanted to examine a tinytoadstool in all its woolly wonderfulness beyond my laptop screen. But doubt made me hesitate from sending Shan Shan an e-mail. Why would she want a non-fashion blogger participating in this distinctly stylish experiment?

But then, Shan Shan posted that she hadn't heard from any volunteers in Australia, and she was really hoping the country could be involved in her project - would anybody from Down Under like to play along?

You can't get a more clear-cut sign than that, my friends.

I signed up and thought nothing more of the project for a long while (except for reading the updates on Shan Shan's blog of the beret's progress as it travelled throughout Europe and America).

But then, in the week before Easter, I received a too-cute package from the US...

Wrapped up neatly and nest-like in polka-dot tissue paper, the tinytoadstool had finally arrived in Australia!

The first part of the project for me to tackle was found inside a nondescript brown envelope: each participant had to fill in a little cue-card for Shan Shan. I channelled my ten year-old self and (with my "good" coloured pencil set) sketched an opal. I didn't worry about drawing well, only about the joy derived from the activity - which is something else I haven't done since childhood.

Now onto the real purpose of my being temporarily bestowed this gorgeous beret - according the rules of the project, I was to photograph myself wearing the tinytoadstool in three ways:

One. A headshot (which I took in front of my colourful inspiration wall);

Two. At an icon of my city;

Three. However I liked!

One of attempts at the self-portrait is pictured above. It is actually a mistake - one of the odd occasions when my digital camera likes to spontaneously amp up the contrast as soon as I press the shutter button. I was also practice-posing to see where to best position myself in shot.

However, I love the accidental outcome and it's fast become one of my all-time favourite photos of myself. (As somebody who isn't particular photogenic, I think I look quite nice and natural beyond all that super-saturation.)

Shan Shan asked me for an explanation to as why I chose the spot for the second lot of my tinytoadstool photos, which nonplusses and amuses me - isn't the answer to this question is incredibly obvious?

I mean, there is only one place a Sydneysider could go to show off their hometown:

Very early on the Thursday before Good Friday, I picked out my most toadstoolian outfit to go with the beret, grabbed my camera, and caught a bus to Circular Quay.

The tourists that normally swarm Bennelong Point, obstructing the views, were still tucked in their hotel beds. Beyond the occasional jogger passing through to the Botanical Gardens and the curious-but-trying-not-to-show-it security guard on duty at the Opera House's stage door, I had the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House steps all to myself.

So I spent the next hour or so in play with my own image:

Sydney is extraordinarily lucky to have this beautiful example of modern architecture in our own front yard. I have spent my whole life in this city, and am still awed when I see those magnificent pearl arches shining in the sun.

For the third, free-choice photograph in my tinytoadstool series, I wanted to capture the beret in my inner-city neighbourhood of King's Cross. King's Cross is home to Sydney's red light district, and has a history of criminal activity. Nowadays, however, with the increasingly gentrification of the area, it is becoming quite a trendy (and expensive!) place to visit. People always express a little fear for me when hearing I live here, but I've never had a problem since moving in almost two years ago.

Several of the previous contributions to this project have opted for photos of the beret outdoors, in peaceful pastoral scenes; I am much more of an urban woman and wanted to express something different to softness and greenery - something more me.

The Coke sign is a lesser-known Sydney icon, but an icon nonetheless - it is heritage-listed and is considered a landmark, rather than an advertisement. It is also the largest billboard in the Southern Hemisphere. I decided to pose here because I liked how the sign's colours matched the beret's exactly.

At first, I was rather nervous about going out in public and taking photos of myself, by myself. But the task turned out to be hardly a task at all - on the contrary, it was fun. Because of my aforementioned belief in my ability to be photogenic, I seldom feel comfortable in front of the lens - but by the end of my photo sessions, I was a veritable pro at posing!

There was a freeing quality to doing something so obviously out of the norm in broad daylight - to being so flamboyantly creative. I am so proud about how all these photos turned out.

Thank you once again to Shan Shan for letting me participate in the hello tinytoadstool! project. I had a genuine blast getting to be in possession of your lovely wearable art for a week.

You can check out all the photos I took for this project here in my hello tinytoadstool! Flickr set :)