Honeymoon Pool

 

...is where we camped on the weekend. Isn't it beautiful? I had no idea such a lovely spot existed so close to Perth - it's about two hours away, near Collie. The campsites were nestled in amongst beautiful bushland, and there were sweet little winding paths travelling through the bush and along the nearby river. There were lots of lovely swimming spots at the river, too, and it looked so clean and sparkly I would definitely have gone it had it been about ten degrees warmer! I think we'll have to go back in a few months...

The countryside around there was so pretty, too - lots of lush, rolling hills and orchards, and wildflowers lining all the roads. We took a little drive to Donnybrook (see the apples!) and Gnomesville (stay tuned for a separate post on that...), and on the way home stopped in at the Wild Bull Brewery to taste some delicious beers and ciders.

I forgot how much I love camping! It was freezing cold at night, we were squished onto an incredibly uncomfortable single-sized mattress (long story), we didn't shower for a couple of days, cooking, cleaning and even brushing our teeth were major operations...but still I loved every minute of it! Going for bushwalks, playing boardgames, reading, cooking delicious campfire meals, toasting marshmallows...and crawling into the tent at the end of the night - I loved every minute of it! And already can't wait to go again :)

Wrapping Revamp

I hope you all had a nice, relaxing long weekend, and enjoyed Eko's lovely post yesterday. Camping was fantastic! The place was so beautiful and we had such a great time...I have lots of photos to share but I stupidly left the camera at home today!

So instead, I thought I would show you the beautiful new wrapping paper at Mr Sparrow! I was really excited to discover recently that my go-to people for wrapping paper, The Wrapping Paper Co., have released a new Enviro range of 100% recycled paper. I have been on the lookout for a beautiful recycled paper product for a long time so I jumped at this opportunity to give Mr Sparrow's gift-wrapping a bit of a revamp. I love my old wrapping paper (and I still have a few half-rolls that I will be using up here and there) but I think you'll agree that this botanical pattern is really pretty and knowing the paper is 100% recycled will help us all sleep better! The quality of the paper is just beautiful as well - it's a strong 100gsm with a lovely matt finish. I also ordered some pretty gelato striped grosgrain ribbons while I was at it so now there are two lovely new wrapping options at Mr Sparrow! Gift-wrapping is free with any purchase from the store, so just ask if I forget to offer! And you can also get your online purchases gift-wrapped - just tick the box that says Gift Wrapping at check-out.

Look down!

Eko here... happy holiday!

Why can't we make our manholes and street markings a little cooler in Australia? Check out some that I snapped whilst on holiday - most of them are from Japan. Attention to detail - gotta love it!

FAC Print Award

Last night a group of us went to the Fremantle Arts Centre Print Award and saw some of the most exciting art we had seen in a while. There were some really beautiful pieces, including my favourite, Traces (Collection) by Anna Ephraim (the one with the bird figures above) and Seeing Between II by Rebecca Beardmore, which took out first prize (in third image from the bottom above).

It was a great atmosphere, too - a big, enthusiastic crowd, beer provided by Little Creatures, Timothy Nelson & The Infidels playing (we all fell in love with the beautiful girl in this band!), and of course the beautiful setting of the Fremantle Arts Centre.

We also got to check out the exhibition of our friend Poppy van Oorde-Grainger, which is running alongside the Print Award exhibition at the FAC. Her exhibition is called Watercolour paintings on the pavement and it documents her experience painting a series of miniature suburban vistas onto the pavement near her home. This work won Poppy the Print Award in 2002 and is really beautiful and definitely worth checking out at the same time as the print award.

I'm off camping for the long weekend, so I will see you again on Tuesday! We're going to this place, which looks beautiful - I can't wait!

Happy Friday!

I almost forgot to wish you a happy Friday! Here is my little deer guarding this week's flowers - simple, sweet-smelling freesias picked from the garden.

Have a lovely weekend!

Rumpledcake

Rumpledcake is the first in a new line of all-natural fragrances by Twigscent. Myra Callan has been designing hair adornments and accessories for her Twigs & Honey label since 2008 but after discovering she could not wear chemical scents she decided to use her degrees in environmental science and geography to develop an all-natural alternative to the increasing number of chemical fragrances and harsh ingredients around. The result is Rumpledcake eau de parfum, with more fragrances to be released seasonally and additional products such as home fragrances, lotions and bath salts introduced over time.

I have been looking for a line of beauty products for ages now that is a bit different but also a really good, all-natural product in beautiful packaging...and I think I may have found it in Twigscent!

Rumpledcake sounds beautiful - according to Myra it is floral, warm and sweet with top notes of violet flower, bergamot and neroli, middle notes of tea tree and base notes of sandalwood and rose. I can't wait to smell it for myself!

It's on its way in 30ml and 15ml bottles to Mr Sparrow now so look out for it arriving soon!

All images thanks to Twigscent.

blt

...with crispy pancetta (my latest obsession), lettuce from the garden and cherry tomatoes - yum! So not good for me but sooo delicious!

Shopfront makeover

***Sorry,  I had some internet problems yesterday and couldn't post this!***

I realised I never showed you the results of my shopfront makeover, so here they are! After finding this inspiration, I bought a fantastic antique bench to go under the window from the Empire warehouse and some fairy lights to border the window. I also potted a gardenia in a large white pot - it's small now but with all the Northern sun it should be huge in no time!

What do you think?

It is such a beautiful day today, I have a spring in my step!

Wisteria season

I love, love, love wisteria season! When those beautiful lilac blossoms burst out and their sweet, heady scent fills the air you know spring is finally here! It's such a beautiful day here today, too, so it seemed like the perfect time to share these photos of the wisteria flowering in our backyard. It makes me think it might be time to dust off the outdoor table, give the barbie a good clean and spend an evening sitting out here...

I had the most wonderful experience on Saturday - I was given the day off as a surprise! It was all the work of my amazing friend Eko, who rallied together my mum, James and James's mum and together they all covered my shift. It was done so fantastically, too - James suggested we go to the Farmer's Market for breakfast before I started work, but then we were running late (it turns out, deliberately!) so we went straight to the shop...when we arrived his mum was waiting for us, saying she wanted to pick up a present for a friend. So I'm busily going about, opening up and sorting stuff out...when James announces that I'm not actually working today! I was so shocked I nearly burst into tears! The next thing I know, Eko and Rick are there and the four of us are going out to breakfast while James's mum worked at the shop. The others divided the day up into shifts and I had the most wonderful, spontaneous day off! It reminded me once again how lucky I am to have such incredible friends and family around me :)

Art in Bloom

Hi - it's eko again! Anna and I went to Art in Bloom at the Art Gallery of Western Australia yesterday and I thought I'd share photos of some of our favourite entrants with you today. It was a great celebration of flowers and art! Lots of native flowers and plants were used which was great to see and controversially entrants didn't even use flowers! Flowers or no flowers the displays were all a pleasure to view and a good reminder of the wonderful art to be seen in the gallery.