Twin tone

 

  

  

  

I've just unpacked a box of beautiful new ceramics from Perch! of Brooklyn. Aren't the Spot Bowls beautiful? I really love the colours! They're part of Perch!'s new range, which uses overspray to apply beautiful, bright colours to ceramic vessels. The Shake-a-Leg Salt & Pepper Shakers are actually a Perch! classic but are new to Mr Sparrow. I think they're so cute! The last photo shows my whole little Perch! display, nestled next to an original 1950s Poole Pottery teaset. Isn't it amazing how good these look together when they were made more than fifty years apart? I guess that's timeless design for you.

One piece of paper

 

  

  

  

 

 Aren't these amazing? They are entries in an art contest at the Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC, and each piece is created from a single sheet of paper. Thanks to Daniela for showing me these, and to here for the images. Click here to see even more amazing paper creations.

A strange week...and thank you!

I'm sorry for the quiet start to this week. It's been a pretty emotional couple of days as we've had some family dramas...not illness or anything like that, but it's been a bit tough all the same.

I wanted to share with you a couple of photos that will be part of the online store. I've been busily working away, taking photos whenever I get a free minute, and it's looking like the store will be launching in a couple of months (I'll be finalising this date soon so I'll keep you posted!). What do you think? My friend Eko and I came up with this concept...I really wanted to do something a bit fun, rather than just your standard white-background shots. As you can probably tell by looking around Mr Sparrow, I think the context in which products are displayed is so important, and it gives something so much more meaning if you can see it in use, rather than just packaged-up and on a shelf. That's why I try to make things look "at home" in the shop, and I really want to try to translate this feeling to the online store, too - to try and get a bit of that Sparrow vibe in there if I can!

I also wanted to say thank you so much to everyone who responded with so much love and support to my last post about the issue of stealing. GemmaJoy and Sue both posted really lovely, supportive comments and I received a really beautiful email from another blog reader and customer, Karen...and when I checked my postbox this morning, there was a very sweet little note from another customer, Debbie, who had read my post and wanted to show her support. She finished with "Hope you are having a much better day today!", at which point I burst into tears! Feeling all this support from people out there, coupled with my rather fragile emotional state today, just moved me so much. Thank you so much, everyone - it really makes all the difference to know that I have so many people on my side out there!

It makes me sad...

Stealing, that is. In the past couple of weeks, two beautiful (and expensive) pieces of jewellery have been stolen from my shop. I know this sort of thing happens a lot but I still find it shocking when it happens to me. Maybe it's because my shop is the size of a shoebox...maybe it's because I sit perched at the counter all day long, where there isn't a centimetre of the shop I can't see...but probably it's because everyone that comes into my shop is so lovely that I just find it incomprehensible that any of these people would steal from me! I honestly feel like everyone that comes in here is my friend in some way, that we share a passion for the little things I've collected here, so when something like this happens I feel betrayed. It was yesterday that the second thing - a ring - was stolen. I have no idea how or when it happened (maybe right under my nose, maybe when I was behind the little partition for a few seconds?) but I just looked up and noticed in a second that it was gone. I know every inch of this shop like the back of my hand so it doesn't take me long to notice something isn't quite right. My first reaction is always shock, then anger, then sadness. I found myself wondering who it was...whether it was one of the lovely customers who had bought something, or one of the equally lovely browsers, or someone so quick I hadn't even seen them? One of the things that surprised me most when I opened Mr Sparrow was just how friendly and supportive everyone who came in here was, and I continue to feel that love from my customers every day, which is exactly why this theft leaves me so perplexed...and yeah, just sad.

RAW Comedy Competition

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Check out more on Fomato, RAW Comedy,  An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman, and Comedy Lounge.

Ballet at the Quarry

  

 
A couple of weeks ago the lovely Alex of West Australian Ballet rang to invite James and I along to their season of Ballet at the Quarry. It was such a wonderful gesture! We were both really excited because we've been in previous years and loved it.

We arrived early and had a delicious picnic in the fading light on the grass steps of the amphitheatre, then sat back to enjoy the show under the stars. 

The performances were magical and included the striking Suite No.2 with choreography by Uwe Scholz to music by Rachmaninov, the chilling Dolly, choreographed by Artistic Director Ivan Cavallari to Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No.2, and house choreographer Timothy O'Donnell's quirky twist on relationships The Games We Play. The highlight, though, was the world premiere of Petr Zuska's choreography to Stravinsky's seminal work The Rite of Spring, which shocked audiences when it premiered in 1913 and still remains one of the most challenging works performed today.

Unfortunately, there was a lot of moisture in the air (you could feel it on the ground and in the paper of the programs), which meant they had to stop the performance a number of times and dry the stage for the safety of the dancers. These interludes meant we were able to be introduced to a number of the dancers, though, and hear their backgrounds, so it made the night even more interesting!

The season runs until 6th March and I really recommend going along if you can. I've seen a reasonable amount of ballet in my time (including watching Coppelia and Swan Lake on repeat with my sister when we were little!) and I really think this was one of the best things I've seen.

Thank you so much for a lovely evening, Alex!

Chinese New Year

 

 

On Saturday night some friends and I had a Chinese banquet to celebrate Chinese New Year. I'll admit, there's nothing remotely Chinese about any of us but we enjoyed the opportunity to steep ourselves in the traditions - and delicious food - of Chinese culture. We had a nine dish banquet at this place, which was fantastic. Not only was the food delicious (the peking spare ribs were a particular highlight) but the staff were lovely and welcoming and seemed genuinely excited that we were sharing in their New Year's celebrations. After our meal there was an impressive lion dance and we all gave the lions red packets. There are so many lovely traditions associated with Chinese New Year, it makes me wish I could claim some Chinese heritage...but it's nice to know that even if I can't, they're ok with me cashing in :)

I love you because...

 

 

 

  

This is what I gave James for Valentine's Day - a little box filled with ten notes (for the ten years we've been together) telling him why I love him...and at the bottom "be my Valentine?" It wasn't so much a present as a gesture of love, which I think is what Valentine's Day is about. And what did I get in return? A beautiful bunch of flowers...and heart-shaped pancakes (and he hadn't even read this!). We spent the day pretty much like any Sunday but did make time for a sunset drink on our balcony, which was lovely. In the evening we had an amazing meal with my family at The Cabin, as it was my sister's last night in town before heading back to London. I miss you already, Katie! :(

A handmade Valentine

 Mini flower arrangements from Design*Sponge

 Blackboard flowerpot from right here at Mr Sparrow!

 

Heart-shaped pancakes from Martha Stewart  

World's Smallest Valentine's Packages from Leafcutter Designs

via Design*Sponge

Raspberry cupcakes from Cannelle et Vanille

I'm not really that into Valentine's Day - I'm not particularly against it, just indifferent. James and I usually do something like a picnic or a special dinner if we can and he always buys me flowers, which I love. Sometimes we give each other little presents, too - usually something handmade (and often edible!) because I think handmade is always nicest! So I thought I'd share some of my favourite handmade Valentine's gift ideas with you. I hope you all have a lovely, love-filled day!

Plant Love

 

 

I feel like Mr Sparrow has transformed into a sort of greenhouse this week! I'm really excited about the three Sky Planters now hanging from the ceiling, plus there are lots of new little pots brightening up the place. The little blackboard pots are the newest kid on the block - terracotta pots with a blackboard surface where you can write the name of the plant or a sweet little message in chalk. I've given all the other plants a bit of a makeover as well and now they're looking sharper than ever!


There's something so nice about having plants inside. I know they improve the air quality but they also just make me happy! I can never get enough of them!

New from Amelie's Room

These beauties are part of Amelie's Room's gorgeous new range of cot and picnic blankets. I'm so excited about the beautiful new fabrics, especially the stripes! There's also a new, family size picnic blanket (top right picture), which has been in demand for a long time! Designer Taylor Hunt was enchanted by all things "Eloise" on a recent trip to New York, which inspired the use of stripes in several of the new designs. Taylor also admits to a new love of retro 1950s fabric, which comes through in the delicate floral prints on the circle details.

I have been in love with all things Amelie's Room since I first laid eyes on their blankets back before I opened Mr Sparrow -  I think they were the very first thing I ordered for the shop, actually! They are just so beautifully made, are 100% cotton inside and out, and are made in Australia, so what's not to love?

Moleskine diaries half price!

I still have a couple of Moleskine diaries left at Mr Sparrow and they are now HALF PRICE! If you still haven't got yourself organised for 2010, this is your chance!

There are only two designs left - the red Weekly Diary Twin Set (hardcover weekly diary and matching softcover notebook), which is now $18.50 (was $36.95), and (my favourite!) the Colour-a-Month Daily Diary (twelve individual daily diaries - a different colour for each month), which is now $39.95 (was $79.95).

But I literally only have a couiple left so if you're keen, make it snappy!

Family time

I'm sorry I've been a bit absent of late. I spent most of this weekend down at Dwellingup again, with my sister who's over very briefly from London. It was a lovely two days of eating, drinking, walking, swimming, canoeing and game-playing and it was especially nice to spend some time with my sister, who I get to see so rarely.

There are lots of exciting things happening at the Sparrow at the moment, and I'm excited to tell you about them, but I'm afraid they'll have to wait till another day!

If you're having a bad day...

If you ever need cheering up, this is the place to go. I'm not really one of those laugh-out-loud types but honestly, I can't even think about the fomato site without starting to chuckle. There is just something ingeniously funny about "Potatoes. A celebration for your birthday" or the image of a cartoon tomato being speared in a salad. But perhaps even funnier than the cards themselves are the little extras tucked into their website, like the staff section, featuring such characters as Boiled Potato and Sea Cucumber, whose job is "close to nothing". And if you're having a really bad day and need a really good laugh, check out the Free section on the homepage. Ha! Genius.

These will be on their way to Mr Sparrow very soon! Oh, and if these look familiar, it could be because I wrote about them back here...

oooms sixpack holder

Isn't this fantastic? It's a stainless steel sixpack holder...stylish and practical! It comes from Dutch design studio oooms, who also produce a range of other innovative and off-centre products like a solar-powered birdhouse, hats made from 100% human hair, 14 karat goldplated staples, and - my favourite and definitely the most bizarre - the City Hideout.

I'm not sure I would ever actually set myself up inside a cardboard box by the side of the road, but I can definitely see myself taking this sixpack holder to the next summer barbeque. Who knows? These might be popping up on Mr Sparrow's shelves some time in the future...

Thanks for the link, Eck!

Sauce Day

I don't know if I've mentioned before that James is half-Italian, but Sauce Day is when his Italian-ness really comes to the fore! Every year his family get together at (somewhat inexplicably) the crack of dawn and turn crate after crate of tomatoes into delicious homemade tomato sauce. The date of Sauce Day is never determined until a few days before, because it all depends on the availability of the tomatoes. This year it was on last Saturday, which unfortunately meant I had to sit this one out as I was working, but I did get James to take these fantastic photos for me.

There are several stages to the sauce-making process, and every member of the family has their role that they regularly perform. The younger family members and ring-ins (like me!) start out at the bottom of the ladder, performing the most basic jobs, and (if all goes to plan) gradually work their way up! Last year I think I even did some capping, so I've come a long way! :)

The first stage involves slicing open each tomato, squeezing out the seeds and tossing the remainder into a huge bucket (this is the bit you keep). After that, the tomatoes are all pushed through a special machine that basically squeezes out all the good bits and leaves the skins, which are discarded. The liquid tomato is then poured into king brown bottles and topped with a few basil leaves. The bottles are capped and then put into huge drums, where they are boiled away for hours. What you have in the end is sort of like a passata, or a delicious alternative to the bought tomato sauce bases you can buy (but which James's family would never consider going anywhere near!). To make his family's traditional pasta sauce, this basic tomato sauce is then cooked for several more hours with large pieces of pork or other meat to add flavour. Neither James nor I have ever done this - we just get the pre-made sauce from his mum! We do use the basic tomato sauce on our pizzas, though, and it's delicious!

On a similar note, if you're interested in growing and making your own delicious things, check out the Grow Your Own roundup on House of Annie (and look out for Mr Sparrow's entry!).