Mr Sparrow

Happy Friday...and a tune for your weekend!

2012-01-27T15:55:00.000+08:00

Happy Friday!

It doesn't feel much like a Friday, after the public holiday yesterday, but nonetheless it is, so hooray! Did you have a fun Australia Day? We kept a low profile for most of the day and then had a barbeque at our friend Dave's place in the afternoon, where we survived the heat by dipping our feet in his temporary paddle pool. Which brings me to this week's tune for your weekend! During the barbie, Dave was playing The Road From Memphis by Booker T. Jones, an album he declared his favourite of 2011, and I have to say I was pretty taken with it myself! So here is a track from that very album, Harlem House, featuring The Roots.

I hope you enjoy it, and thanks to Dave for the hot tip :)

Have a fantastic weekend!

P.S. The photo is from Australia Day last year - sunset at City Beach :)

Golden surprise

2012-01-25T17:44:00.001+08:00

I'm helping plan a fun surprise event at the moment and I'm going for a gold theme for the decorations.

Here's where I've been finding inspiration:

tassel garland by Confetti System
"Grace" paper garland by concrete and honey
giant polka dotted wall by Oh Joy!
sequin photobooth & confetti eggs by Oh Happy Day
giant balloons from Geronimo!

Sorry I can't share more details at the moment but I'll keep you posted on how it turns out!

P.S. Mr Sparrow will be closed tomorrow for the Australia Day holiday, but we're open as normal on Friday and Saturday. Have a fantastic Australia Day, whatever your plans!

Workshop #1

2012-01-24T16:37:00.000+08:00

We had the first workshop on Sunday, and it was lots of fun! I was so impressed by the skills and creativity each of the participants brought to their creations, and it was exciting to see how different each terrarium was at the end of the day. Below are images of each of the terrariums made during the workshop. I think you'll agree they're all beautiful!

Thanks so much to everyone who took part! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did :)

Happy Friday...and a tune for your weekend!

2012-01-20T16:15:00.000+08:00

Happy Friday! It was the craziest weather in Perth this morning - thunder, rain and so much wind! Kind of a nice change from the relentless heat, though. I took these photos of the little window above our bed this morning - I loved the way the wind was dancing the curtain around the little succulents.

And also...

...some amazing David Austin roses I picked up this morning, when collecting the moss for the workshops. I wish you could smell these because the scent is amazing. I thought they'd look pretty alongside our afternoon tea after the workshop on Sunday :)

With Australia Day just around the corner, and with it triple j's Hottest 100, I've been thinking about my favourite songs of 2011. So for this week's tune for your weekend, I've chosen a track that would definitely make it into my top ten of the year, Cut Copy's Need You Now. The first time I heard this song we were having a barbie at Eko and Rick's and because we were sitting outside, the music playing inside was really loud. When I went inside for a drink this track was pumping and it completely blew me away with its brilliance! So wherever you are, I hope you can play this song nice and loud, but whatever volume you play it at, enjoy!

Have a great weekend, and if you're coming to the terrarium workshop on Sunday, I'll see you there!

Square Peg Prints

2012-01-19T18:03:00.000+08:00

I'm loving these new cards by Square Peg Prints out of Melbourne. Designer Andrew Tesdorpf dropped in a few days ago to show me his wares and I fell in love with the rich colours and the sweet designs - I think they look a bit Scandinavian, don't you? All the cards have cute names like 'To Market, To Market' or 'Bear Necessities' and they are printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper, using vegetable based inks, so they're super environmentally-friendly.

Look out for these designs and more at Mr Sparrow soon...

*Image 1 by me, images 2, 3 & 4 by Square Peg Prints

New to sale

2012-01-18T17:24:00.000+08:00

I've just added a few new things to the Sale section on the website (including these beautiful KAHLA Touch! twin sets) so take a look!

The sale items are 50% off....plus if you enter the discount code NEWYEAR at check-out you'll get an extra 25% off...so it ends up being...well, a ridiculous bargain! :)

Happy Friday...and a tune for your weekend!

2012-01-13T15:51:00.000+08:00

Happy Friday! This year I've decided to share a photo from our garden each Friday, rather than sticking to the little deer in his corner each week (although he will likely still make an occasional appearance), which will mean I can share some lovely things like this beauty of a tomato! This was the first tomato we picked from our bushes this year and I was pretty excited about it. We've had a couple more since and there are lots in the works - cherries and bigger ones like this - so I'm looking forward to lots of tomato-eating! There's nothing quite like the taste of a homegrown tomato.

I hope you've got something nice planned for your weekend! We've got a busy one, with a quick trip down to Dwellingup tonight, some more workshop preparation, and a swapmeet on Sunday! That's right, I must have forgotten quite how horrendous that 3.30am start was last time, because I've decided to sell at the Melville swapmeet again, this time with James in tow. We've gone through each room of our house and done a big clear out of a lot of stuff, so if you fancy a trip to Melville on your Sunday morning, come by and say hello!

With all the busy-ness in mind, I thought I'd ease myself into the weekend with a nice chilled out tune, Oh Girl by 70s soul group the Chi-Lites. I really love this song and was reminded of it the other day when it featured in an episode of The Sopranos (James and I are working our way through the series - so good!).

I hope you enjoy it...

Have a great weekend!

Pocket calendar

2012-01-12T15:08:00.000+08:00

Last year I had a fantastic pocket calendar from Delfonics and I just loved it! Each month had a pocket where we kept any tickets, invitations or vouchers relevant to that month. It made it really easy to look and see if there was anything on that month, and also meant we knew exactly where our tickets were as we were running out the door! At the end of each month I also put any mementos from that month in the pocket - those same (used) tickets, show programs, cards and notes from friends, and so on. It was such a nice, easy way to store these little memories and keep them safe, and meant at the end of the year I had a neat little collection of 12 pockets of memories from 2011.

Late last year I was disappointed to discover that Delfonics weren't making the pocket calendars for 2012...until I realised it would be really easy to make my own! I whipped this one up this morning in under half an hour, so it's a really simple project, and I've already started filling up the pockets! Here's how to make your own:

Create a calendar in Word using one of their templates. I used one of the 2012 12-Month Basic Calendars. You will need to adjust the layout so that it is portrait-style, not landscape. The calendar should take up about 2/3 of the page.
Print your calendar onto 12 sheets of A4 kraft paper. You can buy pads of kraft paper at Jackson's (and some newsagents) for about $4.50 for 50 sheets - I use it for everything!
Trim your calendar sheets down, leaving about 2cm on the top and bottom of the calendar (don't trim the sides). Each sheet should now measure approximately 18.5cm high x 21cm wide.
Take another 12 sheets of A4 kraft paper. Place glue along the two sides and the bottom of the back of one of the calendar sheets, and attach to one of the blank sheets, leaving a pocket at the top. Repeat for each of the 12 months.
Punch holes in the top of each of the 12 sheets and thread a piece of twine through to hang your calendar.

Voila, you have yourself a nifty pocket calendar!

Tree, Line

2012-01-11T17:42:00.001+08:00

Aren't these images amazing? They are part of an ongoing project by Welsh artist Zander Olsen called Tree, Line. The works are in Surrey, Hampshire and Wales and "involve site specific interventions in the landscape, ‘wrapping’ trees with white material to construct a visual relationship between tree, not-tree and the line of horizon according to the camera’s viewpoint." The result is incredible.

See more images on Zander Olsen's website.

*All images by Zander Olsen. Found via Trendland.

Summer workshops update

2012-01-10T14:48:00.000+08:00

The first of Mr Sparrow's Summer Workshops is less than two weeks away and I've been busily getting prepared! I've gathered a nice little collection of different vintage and new vessels for the terrariums, and I've been making some cute miniature houses and mushrooms to decorate them. I've fallen a little bit in love with these tiny houses - I might need to make a few extra to keep for myself!

All three of the workshops are now fully booked, but please let me know if you missed out (send me an email to info[at]mrsparrow.com.au) because I'm planning to run another round, probably in late February or early March. If you let me know you're interested it will give me an idea of numbers, and will also mean I can make sure you know straight away when I announce any new workshops!

There's also been a suggestion that perhaps a "Terrariums for Kids" workshop might be fun - what do you think?? Obviously the shop wouldn't be the best venue for this one, but if we could hold it outdoors somewhere it might be fun! Anyway, please let me know if you're interested so I know whether to start brainstorming some ideas!

Mulberry picking

2012-01-09T15:28:00.000+08:00

It's back to work for me today, but before I get down to business, this is a bit of something fun we got up to over the summer break! During our couple of days at my parents' place in Dwellingup after new year, we saw that the mulberry tree was covered with deliciously ripe red berries. I grew up with a mulberry tree in our backyard and every summer my sister and I would get ourselves covered from head to toe in blood-coloured stains as we picked the fruit. I couldn't wait to get back into it at Dwellingup, and yep, I got myself completely covered in stains again (James, meanwhile, walked away completely un-marked...hmmm what does this say about us?)! We're still enjoying the delicious berries - particularly good with ice cream - but nothing tastes as good as that first one picked straight off the tree!

Now, summery good times aside, Mr Sparrow is now open again after our little break, and we're having a sale! There is 25% off everything in the store and online (look out for the discount code on the website when placing your online orders) from now until the end of January. Look out for even bigger discounts on selected items in the SALE section of the online store, too - more products will be added over the next week!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-03T19:17:00.000+08:00

We saw in the new year with a beautiful country wedding at a friend's vineyard near Margaret River. It was a fantastic night spent with all our closest friends, some we hadn't seen for ages. We had a fun couple of nights camping at the vineyard followed by another couple of nights at Dwellingup, so I'm feeling nice and relaxed and ready to start this new year!

I haven't made any new year's resolutions, but I have some great hopes for this year, for myself and for people I love. Whatever happens, it's going to be a big year of change for me.

I hope your new year was all that you hoped and you've had a fantastic start so far to 2012!

Announcing the second terrarium workshop!

2011-12-30T09:15:00.000+08:00

I've had a great response to Mr Sparrow's Summer Workshops, so I've decided to run a second Make Your Own Terrarium workshop on Sunday, 5th February. If you're interested, please sign up on the website or email me at info[at]mrsparrow.com.au. The first workshop is fully booked, so this is your only chance to sign up for the terrarium workshops.

There are still a few places left in the Make Your Own Kokedama workshop on 29th January, too. I know these aren't as popular as terrariums at the moment, but there's actually a little more skill involved in making them so they're a bit special.

All the details are on the website, but don't hesitate to send me an email if you have any questions!

Although the store is closed until January 9th, I will send out vouchers for the workshops immediately so there's no need to wait to sign up!

The taste of summer

2011-12-29T13:22:00.001+08:00

Every year at around this time I start looking for passionfruit recipes to use the glut of fruit we have from our vine. This year I stumbled across a recipe I had cut out from a magazine years ago and stored away in my recipe folder but never used. It was for passionfruit cordial and since it sounded incredibly easy and totally delicious I thought I'd give it a go! Sorry, I have no idea of my source for this one but here it is:

Passionfruit Cordial

4 cups caster sugar
2 cups water
1 cup passionfruit pulp
1 teaspoon citric acid

Place sugar, water, passionfruit pulp and citric acid in a medium saucepan over medium heat and stir until sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil, remove from the heat and allow to cool. Store in the fridge for up to 4 weeks.

Use it like regular cordial and top up with iced water, or sparkling or soda water for a delicious day-time drink (we use our SodaStream to make almost-free sparkling water, which we drink on its own and mix with just about everything!). For an evening twist, add a shot of white rum - we served this up to our friends Denis and Laura the other night and they declared it the pefect summer drink! I imagine gin or vodka would also work well, and I'd like to try adding a shot of the cordial to a glass of sparkling wine, too - yum!

If you don't grow your own passionfruit you could also make this using store-bought fruit or even the passionfruit pulp you can buy in a jar. The fruit you buy are much larger than the home-grown version, though - I used about 15-20 passionfruit from our vine for this recipe but you would probably only need 4 or 5 store-sized fruit.

I promise if you give this recipe a go you'll be declaring it the taste of summer before long!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T09:02:00.002+08:00

Merry Christmas from all (two!) of us at Mr Sparrow!

We're taking a little break and will be closed for two weeks, re-opening on 9th January 2012.

Thanks so much for all your support this year, and I hope you have a wonderful Christmas break!

I'll be popping in and out of the blog over the next couple of weeks so hopefully I'll see you here :)

Christmas crackers

2011-12-24T08:56:00.001+08:00

One of my Christmas traditions since I was very small is to make Christmas crackers for my family every year. If you've never made your own crackers, why not give it a go this year? It's really very easy (definitely achievable on Christmas Eve!) and the result is so much nicer than any of the crackers you can buy. Here's a quick and easy DIY!

You will need:

toilet rolls (one for each person, plus two extra)
cracker snaps (to give you that satisfying sound! You can find these at craft shops and most newsagents these days)
sweet treats to go inside
jokes to go inside
small gifts or novelties to go inside
one sheet of paper per cracker, measuring 30cm x 15cm (you can use any paper you like, even old Christmas wrapping, as long as it's strong enough not to tear when you tie the ends but not too strong so it won't rip when you pull the crackers - I used ordinary kraft paper this year)
string or ribbon
anything else you like to decorate your crackers!

1. Prepare all the special little things to go inside your crackers!

for my sweet treats this year, I used this idea and rewrapped mini mentos in cute stripey paper
for my small gifts, I made mini personalised magnets by using a pastry cutter to cut circles out of this fantastic air dried clay (available at art supply shops and some newsagents), then using alphabet stamps and other cute stamps to personalise them. When they were dry I glued a plain magnet to the back (from office supply shops).
I went for classic corny Christmas jokes this year, but other years I've included quotes, fortunes or fun facts instead (last year they were all New York themed facts!)

2. Put all your bits inside a toilet roll, making sure not to forget the snap! It can be fun to also sprinkle a bit of glitter or confetti inside your crackers to make it extra fun when they burst open...as long as you don't mind cleaning up afterwards! If you've personalised your crackers, write the name of the person on the outside of the toilet roll so you don't lose track of them.

3. Place the two extra toilet rolls at each end of the main one (over the ends of the snap), leaving a gap of about half a centimetre. Wrap your paper around the toilet rolls and secure with sticky tape in the middle.

4. With your fingers, find the little gaps between the toilet rolls and scrunch them in a bit (this makes it easier to tie without ripping the paper). Take your string or ribbon and tie it around the scrunched area, making sure all the goodies are still inside the main toilet roll (they have a tendency to slip out if you're not careful!). Having an extra toilet roll in each of the end sections helps to give them a nice shape. Tape down one end of the snap to the paper so that it doesn't slip out. After wrapping up each one, write the name (or just a letter) in pencil inside one of the ends so you can keep track of which is which. You can rub this out later.

5. Decorate your crackers! Keeping with my sparkly theme this year, I used shards of paper covered with red glitter and I stamped the names using cute mini alphabet stamps from Remedy. I used red and white twisted twine (from Mr Sparrow) to tie the ends.

6. Give them to family and friends and watch their faces light up!

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!

Happy Friday...and a tune for your weekend!

2011-12-23T17:50:00.000+08:00

Happy last Friday before Christmas! In true festive spirit, this week I have a Christmas wreath for you! Remember how I said I wanted to try making a living wreath? Well, yesterday I got my chance. My sister has been visiting from London for the last week or so and last night we had a bit of a pre-Christmas party for her (because she is leaving today so won't be here for the real thing). Mum asked what I wanted to do for decorations and I immediately thought of a centrepiece-style wreath. I bought a couple of peach branches, a couple of bunches of viburnum berries, a bunch of leucadendron nuts and a bunch of the most amazing fuschia-coloured peonies and basically just had a play around! I used the sturdy peach branches to form the basic wreath shape first, and held it together with a few pieces of wire, then I added in the bushy viburnum berries, then the leucadendron and finally the peonies. I discovered the trick to keeping it a nice shape is laying all the branches in the same direction, and making sure there are no gaps. I popped the ends of the peonies in tiny bottles of water that fit snugly around their stems, so that they would last the night and it seemed to do the trick!

I also made this strawberry cream pie for dessert from this recipe. It was pretty easy to make and totally delicious and fresh-tasting!

Now for the final Christmas tune for your weekend! I thought I'd finish off with a song that always leaves me with a good feeling, Merry Christmas, Baby, by Otis Redding. I hope you enjoy it!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, filled with all the good things that Christmas brings!

I have one final Christmas-themed post so will be back with that before long...

Wrapping ideas

2011-12-21T17:12:00.000+08:00

If you're stuck for wrapping ideas, a few lovely creative people have posted DIYs for some simple but effective wrapping ideas! Check these out...

stitched packages from shimtokk (there are lots more ideas for stitched packages on their blog, and free downloadable pdfs!)
snowglobe gift wrap from Present & Correct on Design*Sponge
wallpaper gift bags from Oh Happy Day
pastel and pop coloured giftwrap from hello sandwich on Martha Stewart

Still stuck? Why not try one of these easy ideas for jazzing up plain kraft paper?

paint your paper with blackboard paint (or just a strip across each present) and write a message in chalk. It doesn't have to be black, either - we have tins of TMOD chalkboard paint in lots of fun colours!
go crazy with mt tape (lots of ideas here)
make cute mini bunting from foil wrappers, alfoil, paper or mt tape
wrap a paper snowflake garland around your package

Happy wrapping!

Bright, shiny packages

2011-12-21T12:37:00.000+08:00

With Christmas only a few days away, hopefully all you have left to do is wrap your presents!

My wrapping this year sort of came about by accident. I had a completely different idea planned, involving white paint and a mini roller brush, but when I tried it out it just didn't look how I had imagined. So I decided to ditch it and go for something completely different! I looked around our study to see what crafty supplies I had and this gold glitter caught my eye - it's a particularly nice, chunky glitter I bought to use in the kitschy baubles. I had gold on the brain a bit, having just been ogling this.

I traced around the lid of a jar to get a circle, then cut out about 20 of them from plain white paper. Then I spread a layer of the glitter over a large sheet of paper and spread glue over the surface of one circle at a time, then pressed it into the glitter - this gave a nice, even coverage. I wrapped each of my presents in brown paper and once the glitter circles were dry I glued one onto each package. On smaller packages I wrapped a circle around an edge, so it ended up looking like a semi-circle. Then I grouped together the presents for each person and tied them up with natural twine. I really like the unexpected combination of glitzy gold and subdued kraft paper and natural twine.

Although it's a bit more time-consuming, I like wrapping each present individually, and then tying them together if you have more than one per person. It makes the unwrapping process much more exciting! I had a customer a few months ago who bought about 10 small presents for a friend's birthday and asked for them all to be individually wrapped. She said the birthday girl had so much fun unwrapping each package and seeing what surprises were inside!

I always try to link my Christmas cards and wrapping, so this year I decided to use some leftover glitter circles to make my cards. I was inspired by Lillian's beautiful mt tape wreath cards, so I decided to cut up my glitter circles into little shards and shape them to form a sort of wreath or starburst. It was quite fiddly glueing each of the little shards on but I was happy with the result! I stamped the "merry christmas" message using some super cute alphabet stamps I picked up at Remedy.

I'll be sharing some other wrapping ideas later today so if you haven't got Christmas all wrapped up yet, I hope this provides a bit of inspiration!

A handmade Christmas

2011-12-19T17:46:00.000+08:00

This year I'm trying to make as many presents as possible, because it saves a bit of money and because there's no better time of year to bust out all those creative projects I've been wanting to try! So I had an industrious weekend dyeing, painting and baking.

These are a few of the handmade presents I'm giving this year:

gingerbread biscuits (I'm also turning some of these into gingerbread ice cream - yum!)
dip-dyed pillowcases in a range of pretty hues (I just can't get enough of dip-dyeing)
fluro yellow screenprinted pillowcases (discovering fluro fabric paint changed my life!)
my traditional fruit mince pies
bottles of chilli and garlic flavoured oil (not pictured)

I've also started doing my wrapping and making my cards and crackers so I'll be showing you Christmassy things all week!

Christmas at our place

2011-12-18T14:43:00.000+08:00

Our Christmas decorations are a mix of old ones handed down years ago by my grandmother, handmade ones from my childhood and a variety of ones given to us over the years by family and friends. While putting these up on Friday night I commented to James that a Christmas ornament is actually a really nice gift to give or receive because you'll remember that person every year as you decorate your tree. I have one that I was given by a boy I kissed when I was sixteen (!) and at the time I thought it was a really bizarre gift but I still have it and it's kind of a fun memory now! Of course, we also have Daikon Man on the top of the tree (bought in Japan a few years ago), which is kinda crazy but just the way we like it!

As well as the tree, we have a cute little wooden nativity scene, which was a gift from my sister from Canada some years ago, the lovely vintage nutcracker from Elizabeth, a few kitcshy deers and - my favourite bit - my snowdome collection!

I'm also sticking with the new tradition I started a couple of years ago of buying a new ornament each year (thanks, Louise!), and this year I couldn't resist these pretty bone china wings from Have You Met Miss Jones.

Happy Friday...and a tune for your weekend!

2011-12-16T15:47:00.000+08:00

Happy Friday! Keeping in the Christmas spirit this week, this is my annual pointsettia. It always feels like Christmas once I have this splash of bright red on the kitchen table!

We bought our tree this week as well (we always get a real one), but haven't had time to deck it out yet so tonight I plan to put on some Christmas tunes, decorate the tree and whip up my traditional fruit mince pies!

Speaking of Christmas tunes, I'm keeping to the Christmas theme for the last couple of tunes for your weekend for 2011. This track, Christmas in Hollis by RUN-D.M.C. is always part of my Christmas mix and something a bit fun when you're getting tired of the usual Christmas fare!

Enjoy!

Just a reminder, you've only got a couple of hours left to place your orders online if you choose regular post and want guaranteed delivery by Christmas eve! If you choose Express Post, you still have until next Tuesday.

Have a great weekend!

A Mr Sparrow Christmas

2011-12-14T17:46:00.002+08:00

I'm sorry it's been a bit quiet on the blog this week! Consider it the result of it being the opposite of quiet at Mr Sparrow...aka Christmas madness!!

While we're on the subject, I suppose it's no surprise that I could quite happily have a whole Christmas of only Mr Sparrow gifts! Despite owning a fair few goodies from here already, there are still quite a few things I wouldn't mind finding under my tree!

a beautiful brass trivet by Oji Masanori
a cute cloud bread board by snug
any of the amazing planters by Pull + Push to keep this one company
a new pendant by Lila Rice to add to my collection!
some polka dot towels by Yoshii
some magnetic sticks by Daniel:Emma
a macrame plant hanger by Stämpel
all of the fantastic new stamps by Kia Hing Fay! Especially the Happy Birthday ones so I can make fabulous cake toppers like these. (Sorry, new ones are not online yet, but you can find some others here.)

...and that's just the start :)

You can make your own Mr Sparrow wishlist by viewing any product in the online store and clicking "add to wishlist". All the details are here.

P.S. The terrarium workhop is now fully booked! If you're interested in the workshop but missed out on a spot, let me know via email {info[at]mrsparrow.com.au} - if there's enough interest I'll run a second one! There are still a few spots left in the kokedama workshop, so sign up on the website or via email. Thanks for all the interest!

*Image #1 from Oji & Design, #2 from snug., #3 from Pull + Push, #4 from Lila Rice, #6 from Daniel:Emma, #7 from St ämpel, #8 from Kia Hing Fay.

All I want for Christmas...

2011-12-10T13:48:00.000+08:00

Doing a bit of (somewhat unrealistic) Christmas wishing...

Sunday chair from Jardan
Stripe tank dress from bassike (actually, pretty much anything bassike and I'd be happy!)
Workroom Design yellow 'lean' floor lamp from Douglas + Bec
Penny round cushion from Castle (but which colour to choose?!)
Recycled glass vase from Father Rabbit
Shiny yellow Saltwater Sandals
Mid-length pocket tank from American Apparel

Of course, there's also my Mr Sparrow wishlist...which I'll share with you soon!

Happy Friday...and a tune for your weekend!

2011-12-09T15:41:00.000+08:00

Happy Friday! One of my favourite flowers is in bloom at the moment - hydrangeas. After nurturing a couple of tiny little plants for a couple of years I'm finally being rewarded with a few pretty blooms this year! These are in a sweet little antique jar that Eko brought me back from David met Nicole.

Now for a tune for your weekend, thanks to...me this week! With just over two weeks until Christmas, I'm getting into the spirit by busting out the odd Christmas album at the shop. I have to confess, I'm a big fan of Christmas albums and am gathering quite a collection. One of the latest additions is She & Him's A Very She & Him Christmas. I particularly like this song, The Christmas Waltz.

Enjoy!

I hope you have a lovely weekend and enjoy getting into the spirit a bit!

A Christmas DIY

2011-12-09T15:11:00.000+08:00

If you take a wander over to the We Love Perth blog today you'll find a DIY tutorial I did on making a paper snowflake garland. It's such a fun and easy way to make your home feel Christmassy, so I hope you give it a go!

Thanks so much for asking me to be a part of this, Jelena!

Bubble Calendars are back!

2011-12-08T15:57:00.000+08:00

Remember these? A huge hit when we first stocked them back in 2009, Bubble Calendars weren't available last year as the designers decided that the bubbles needed to be bigger and better! Now they're back with a new and improved design for 2012 with heavier bubbles for a bigger pop!

We had one of the 2010 ones and I have to tell you, there is something very satisfying about popping your way through the year, one bubble at a time!

We have heaps of these in-store right now (and also in our online store), and at $39.95 they are pretty much the perfect gift for everyone, don't you think?

Also, try the Bubble Calendar Game on their website - so much fun!

*Image by Bubble Calendar

Delish Ice

2011-12-07T18:05:00.001+08:00

I think it was about a year ago that my friend Katie announced with excitement that she had bought an awesome retro caravan and was planning on doing it up. If this had been me, that rust bucket would still be sitting in my backyard, full of promise but not much else! But Katie wasted no time in turning it into something amazing.

Now completely transformed, that little caravan is "Iceblock", the super-cute home of Delish Ice, Katie's gourmet popsicle business. Delish Ice makes absolutely delicious popsicles using fresh, seasonal ingredients. They love experimenting with weird and wonderful flavour combinations - like spiced chocolate, chilli and raspberries, peach, orange & vanilla or coconut & lime - which might sound a little wacky but all of which come with a deliciousness guarantee (if you don't like it they'll refund your money or exchange it for a new flavour of your choice).

You'll find Delish Ice at a whole bunch of music festivals this summer, including Breakfest and Southbound, plus at the Vasse Markets or Margaret River Farmer's Markets most weekends. "Iceblock" is also available for hire, so you could have your very own popsicle van at your wedding or summer party. What fun! Delish Ice also have a selection of vintage and vintage-inspired bits and bobs like teacups, cutlery, picnic sets, croquet and twister for hire, so you can pretty much leave the whole event up to them!

For more details (and enough photos of popsicles to get your mouth well and truly watering!) check out the Delish Ice website or facebook page...and look out for popsicles making an appearance at Mr Sparrow's Summer Workshops in January!

*All images from Delish Ice

Living wreaths

2011-12-06T17:01:00.000+08:00

Have you got your Christmas decorations up yet? We always get a real tree, which means we don't get it until a couple of weeks before Christmas, but I like to put a few other bits and pieces up in the first week of December to get me in the mood! One of my favourite Christmas decorations is the wreath. We've had our wreath for a few years and I'm not mad about it, but one of these days I'd really like to make a living wreath, or better still one with dried twigs and berries so it will last year after year.

Here are some beautiful ones I've found. If I had any one of these on my door, I think I'd just gaze at it all day long!

Images are, from top:

Also, We Love Perth have a Christmas Wishlist feature running all this week over on their blog. They’ve asked a few different stores around Perth what their favourite products are for this Christmas and put them together into some lovely guides.

Pop on over to have a look and start getting inspired!

Happy Friday...and a tune for your weekend!

2011-12-02T16:12:00.000+08:00

Happy Friday! This week's flower is a bit special. I came home from work a couple of days ago to a bright splash of red beside the driveway. This poppy had just appeared in the most unlikely of spots - a tiny patch of sandy soil half-buried underneath a huge concrete pot. It made me so happy to see it there, all cheery and bright, and so unexpected!

Now for a tune for your weekend....this week James and I combined forces! We've chosen Baby's Arms by Kurt Vile. We're going to see him play tomorrow night at The Bakery and we both love this song off his latest album, so it seemed a fitting choice.

I hope you enjoy it!

Have a great weekend!

Summer Workshops

2011-12-01T16:25:00.000+08:00

Today I'm really excited to announce something completely new...Mr Sparrow's Summer Workshops!

This summer I'll be offering two fun workshops! These will be held at the store on Sundays, and will include a delicious afternoon tea and a goodie bag for participants.

The two workshops available are 'Make Your Own Terrarium' and 'Make Your Own Kokedama'.

Make Your Own Terrarium:

Do you love all things green, growing and mossy and long to create little worlds of your own? Do you love Mr Sparrow's cute moss terrariums and want to create your own versions? Then this is the class for you! In this hands-on two-hour class you will learn how to create terrariums incorporating moss and small plants. You will be provided with all the materials needed to create your own terrarium on the day, including a variety of vintage and new glass vessels, different types of moss and plants, pebbles and sweet little hand-made miniatures to dress up your terrarium. You will leave with your own beautiful terrarium and the skills to make many more! After the workshop is finished, you will be served a delicious afternoon tea and receive a Mr Sparrow goodie bag to take home (all included in the workshop price). Questions? Please contact us at info@mrsparrow.com.au.

Price: $65
Date: Sunday, 22nd January 2012
Time: 3pm – 5pm
Where: Mr Sparrow, Shop 3, 223 Bagot Road, Subiaco WA

Make Your Own Kokedama (moss ball):

Do you love all things green, growing and mossy and find joy in bringing a bit of greenery indoors? Do you love Mr Sparrow's beautiful hanging kokedama and want to create your own versions? Then this is the class for you! In this hands-on two-hour class you will learn how to create kokedama, Japanese-style growing moss balls. You will be provided with all the materials needed to create your own kokedama on the day, including special soil mixes, moss, a variety of plants and several options for displaying your kokedama. You will leave with your own beautiful kokedama and the skills to make many more! After the workshop is finished, you will be served a delicious afternoon tea and receive a Mr Sparrow goodie bag to take home (all included in the workshop price). Questions? Please contact us at info@mrsparrow.com.au.

Price: $65
Date: Sunday, 29th January 2012
Time: 3pm – 5pm
Where: Mr Sparrow, Shop 3, 223 Bagot Road, Subiaco WA

Sign up on the website, or email me at info@mrsparrow.com.au (if emailing, please make sure you specify whether you would like to participate in the terrarium or kokedama class). Spaces are very limited!

December opening hours

2011-11-30T15:05:00.000+08:00

Good news! We're extending our opening hours all through December to make it a bit easier to get all your Christmas shopping done. We'll be open until 6pm midweek (and 7pm on Thursdays, as normal), and we'll be open from 11am - 3pm on Sundays!

The new hours start tomorrow, December 1st, which means we'll be open this Sunday! Please come down and say hello, so I'm not here all on my lonesome :)

If you'd rather do your shopping online, here are a couple of important dates to note...

You can still order after these dates (we'll be open up until Christmas Eve) but we can't guarantee delivery in time for Christmas.

Happy shopping!

More strawberries...

2011-11-29T17:18:00.000+08:00

...from our backyard! Delicious.

Sorry, too busy today to write much, but I have an exciting announcement coming in the next day or two so keep an eye out!

Happy Friday...and a tune for your weekend!

2011-11-25T14:11:00.000+08:00

Happy Friday! My roses are going crazy at the moment, and I love the unassuming beauty of these white icebergs.

Now for a tune for your weekend, thanks to James.

James: Because it's almost December, some friends and I have started talking about our albums of the year. EMA's Past Life Martyred Saint is definitely on my list and I love this song, California, in particular.

Enjoy!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Free shipping!

2011-11-24T18:21:00.001+08:00

To help make your Christmas shopping that much easier we're offering FREE SHIPPING on all orders placed online from midnight tonight AEST until midnight next Thursday, December 1st!

Just enter the code YIPPEE at check-out :)

Look out for our Christmas gift guides in the newsletter out tomorrow, too! (sign up to the mailing list on the website or send me an email if you miss out and would like a copy)

There are some new products up online, too!

Peonies & jacarandas

2011-11-23T15:48:00.001+08:00

Pinks and purples...it's beautiful at the moment in this part of the world.

Crochet Bambini

2011-11-22T16:26:00.001+08:00

I thought it was time I introduced you to some recent arrivals at Mr Sparrow! Meet Wesley the monkey, Milly the rabbit, Noah the elephant and Henry the giraffe, a group of sweet crocheted toys by Crochet Bambini. They are designed by Perth local Emma Young and handmade in super-soft organic bamboo. They're designed to be safe for newborns, with yarn eyes and no small parts.

My lucky little nephew got Wesley from his nonna for his first birthday last week, at which point his older brother ran and got his toy monkey (given to him some time ago and therefore not quite as shiny and new), handed it over to his brother and said "Here, you have this one!", as he grabbed Wesley for himself! I guess that's proof that kids love these guys!

You'll find Wesley, Milly, Noah and Henry at Mr Sparrow now and online.

*All images by Crochet Bambini

Just added...

2011-11-21T17:02:00.000+08:00

I've been busy, busy, busy photographing new products and popping them up into the online store! All the lovely new things from Perch! are now there...and also some sweet new vintage bits and pieces...

Check out all the new products here!

Happy Friday...and a tune for your weekend!

2011-11-18T14:42:00.001+08:00

I don't know what was up with yesterday's wind and rain, but summer is definitely in the air today! Nothing says summer to me like delicious ripe strawberries...I'm growing these ones in our backyard at the moment and there are a couple just about ready for eating - yum!

Now for a tune for your weekend, and this week I'm taking the reins! James and I are both big fans of Canadian R&B artist Drake and he has just released his new album, Take Care, this week. So far I'm loving what I've heard. This track, Headlines, is the first single...just a warning, there is a bit of explicit language in this one.

I hope you emjoy it!

Have a great weekend!

Songbirds

2011-11-17T18:21:00.003+08:00

snug. songbirds mobiles have arrived! They are so sweet! There are six different songbirds (including a cute little sparrow :)) in the prettiest of colours. I've just popped this up into the online store so you can take a look now or check it out next time you're in the store.

Also just arrived from snug. are these adorable caravan bread boards...

...coming online soon!

{Update: the caravan is now in the online store, too! Check it out here.}

*All images from snug.

Almost advent

2011-11-16T17:00:00.001+08:00

One of my favourite parts of the lead-up to Christmas is the daily ritual of the advent calendar. I have fond memories of brightly-coloured cardboard versions from my childhood, when my sister and I would take it in turns to open a window each day to reveal the picture inside (yes, just a picture, no chocolate! But we still found it so exciting!). These days they seem to be getting tackier and tackier and it's pretty much impossible to find a chocolate-free version...that is, until now! Local Perth designer Trudy Baker of Mokoh has produced this beautiful Australian Advent Calendar, featuring 25 numbered cards with cute Australian motifs, 25 brown paper bags, 25 wooden pegs, and 3 metres of butcher's string for hanging, all packaged in a lovely gift box. You can fill the bags with anything you like (including chocolates!), and you can use the calendar year after year.

I have this one up at the shop, ready for December 1st, and filled with...yes, chocolate, but delicious chocolate!

They are available to buy from Mr Sparrow now - both in the store and online.

Also look out for another advent calendar with a difference, the TMOD Scratchie Advent Calendar, arriving soon!

T2 tastings!

2011-11-15T13:06:00.000+08:00

Have you ever tried iced tea? I have to confess that I had never tasted it until recently, but now I am completely obsessed. This is going to be the drink of summer for me! It's light, refreshing, a little bit sweet and totally delicious!

If you're an iced tea fan, or if you've never tried it, or if you're just feeling a bit thirsty while visiting us, I have good news for you! As of today, you can sip delicious, refreshing T2 iced tea while you shop at Mr Sparrow! We have four new flavours for sale that work really well as iced teas - Citrus Punch, Strawberries & Cream, Turkish Apple and the special 2011 White Xmas blend - and each week between now and Christmas we'll have a big, cold jug of one of these made up for you to taste in the shop. We also have the fantastic T2 Takeya jugs for sale!

Today there is tasty Citrus Punch, but I have to warn you, you better be quick if you want to grab a taste of this one because I'm struggling to keep myself from drinking it all...YUM!

If you want to try making your own iced tea, here how (thanks to T2):

1. Double the amoung of loose tea that you would normally use i.e. for hot tea use 1 scoop her 250ml, for iced tea use 2 scoops per 250ml.
2. Half fill your T2 The Jug with hot water, place the loose leaves in the infuser basket and brew the tea at the same temperature and length of time as hot tea.
3. Remove the tea leaves and fill the T2 The Jug with ice. As ice melts the hot brew will dilute, that's why you start off with a stronger brew. [Or you can just fill up the rest with cold water and refrigerate if you're not drinking it straight away.]
4. Garnish with fruit to add flavour or just look pretty - lemon, orange, pineapple, passionfruit, mint, strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, apple and rose buds work well.

Enjoy!

Happy Friday...and a tune for your weekend!

2011-11-11T15:30:00.000+08:00

Happy Friday! This week I thought I'd update you on the nastursiums I have growing in my Hei Planter. They haven't grown much, have they? Maybe because their roots don't have much room to move...or maybe because I keep forgetting to water them!! Still, they're looking kind of cute, I think.

Now for a tune for your weekend, thanks to James.

James: Oneohtrix Point Never is one of my favourite artists from the past few years and this track, Sleep Dealer, is from his fantastic album of this year, Replica. He predominantly makes music on vintage synths and is heavily influenced by 80s easy listening (his name is a play on the US radio station 106.7, which specialises in this type of music). It's great stuff to listen to while reading or drifting off to sleep, which are two of my favourite activities!

Enjoy!

Here's hoping you have a lovely, restful weekend!

In the spirit

2011-11-11T15:24:00.001+08:00

I've just put the finishing touches to the Christmas display at Mr Sparrow! What do you think? There are a few bits and pieces still to arrive but most things are now in the store and online (I've just added lots to the Christmas section so it's brimming with lots of lovely things now!). I'm particularly excited about all the lovely new things from Have You Met Miss Jones, including some cute felt ornaments, and the Winter Wonderland Postcarden is so sweet, too!

I made a new display for the window this year, too, which I'm really happy with. I took a big branch from Dwellingup, painted it white and hammered in tacks along one side. Then I hung it with string in the window and hung this year's baubles from the tacks. I finished the window off with a "Vive le Vent" decal from attik72. The nature baubles and kitschy baubles are going to be in Habitat in The West Australian as a DIY step-by-step soon - I'll let you know when!

Just arrived!

2011-11-10T16:14:00.000+08:00

These brilliant magnetic sticks from Daniel: Emma have just arrived! They are seriously fluro and such a fun way to display photos or notes. I don't know about you but I think they'd made a perfect Christmas present for just about anyone!

I have Christmas on the brain today because I've just finished making the shop window all nice and festive - I'll post some photos soon. Our little Christmas display of ornaments, cards, candles, stockings and other festive bits and pieces is now in action, too, and I'm just about to unpack a whole bunch of new arrivals from Have You Met Miss Jones to finish it off, so come by and take a look!

I've also just added lots of new products to the website, so take a look here to check them all out.

*Images from Daniel:Emma

Thank you, Home Ideas magazine!

2011-11-09T16:02:00.000+08:00

There is a little bit of an interview with me in the new issue of Home Ideas Magazine (out today!). I really enjoyed doing this interview as Danielle asked some great questions about the shop's space, its products and the challenges I've faced.

Pick up a copy of the mag to have a read (and see all the other lovely things inside!), or you can have a bit of a preview here.

Thanks so much to Danielle at Home Ideas for the feature!

Designer interview: Perch!

2011-11-08T13:19:00.001+08:00

One designer whose work has always inspired me is Amy Adams of Perch!. I've been stocking her beautiful designs since Mr Sparrow opened and have been excited to see lots of new products emerge since then. The most recent additions to the Perch! range stocked at Mr Sparrow are the cute Henrietta the Bird ornament, fun and functional Stacking Cups, delicious Scented Candles and the brilliant Basket Bowl.

If you'd like to find out a bit more about the processes and inspiration behind this Brooklyn designer have a read of my interview below!

This interview will also appear in the Sparrowmail newsletter out today (look out for your 20% off code if you're a subscriber...and if not, make sure you sign up before next month so you don't miss out!).

How did Perch! come about?

Perch! came about because I needed to make things! Right out of graduate school I had A LOT of ideas and not much time or money to have a studio. So I started making small things literally in my kitchen and backyard. It just ended up being a perfect medium for my designs. Perch! the word actually refers to perching on a stool because I always thought I'd be doing furniture.

Where do you create your designs?

Where doesn't matter - it's all just swooshing around in my head. Right now I set up a separate desk in my studio to draw at but that is rare. I sketch a lot in my notebook so I could be anywhere for that. I guess I don't design at a computer. As far making everything, the studio is a well oiled machine of 1000 square feet on the waterfront of Brooklyn.

What inspires you?

Water, sun, wood, white, black, squares, stools, house shaped things, cement, hanging things.

What is your favourite material/medium to work with?

Favorite medium would be clay - earthenware - and glaze. And I love designs MADE of wood, but I am not much of a woodworker, it's too precise for me. I am hoping to learn to weave sometime because I'd like to work with something soft.

What's next for Perch!?

Next for Perch! is getting bigger while staying small. Our little studio has an open to the public store and that is the small side. People can come and see where it's made and buy it directly from us. At the same time, I've designed some products that won't be manufactured here and will be sold worldwide - so I am hoping to do more of that!

Thanks so much, Amy!

I'm still working on getting the new Perch! items up online but in the mean time you can find the Stacking Cups, Scented Candles, Henrietta the Bird ornaments and Basket Bowls in the store and the Tiny Basket, Tray Tray, Early Bird Pendant Light, A Container for One Thing, Shake-a-Leg Salt + Pepper Shakers, Birdfeeder, Spot Bowl and Plant Pod both in the store and online.

*Images courtesy of Amy Adams

P.S. If you missed last month's interview with Chris Plumridge of Claystone Pottery, you can check it out here.

Happy Friday...and a tune for your weekend!

2011-11-04T16:26:00.000+08:00

There's a lot to be said for the classic daisy, don't you think? So simple and sweet. I was reminded of how great they are at Laura's wedding, where they featured here and there (including as very cute button holes), so I picked these ones from one of our bushes this morning.

Now for a tune for your weekend, thanks to James.

James: This week I've chosen one of my favourite country songs, 'I'll be Here in the Morning' by Townes Van Zandt. This tune's off his debut album, For the Sake of the Song, released in 1968. I'm in a bit of a country mood at the moment, having just returned from a work trip into outback Australia and now heading down to Dwellingup for the weekend, so this felt right.

I hope you enjoy it!

Whatever you're up to this weekend, I hope it's a great one!

Food Finish

2011-11-03T16:01:00.000+08:00

Pretty amazing, huh? This edible food varnish spray is called Food Finish (or Esslack) and is made by German food cooperative, The Deli Garage (who also make a whole pile of other weird and wonderful food products!). With a can of this stuff - which is apparently completely harmless and tasteless - you can spray paint any food you like gold, silver, red or blue, and munch in!

I love the idea of gold and silver fruits, and the biscuits look fun, too, but I'm not sure sure about the roast chicken...or a steak, as The Deli Garage suggests on their website! Wouldn't this be handy if you were having a gold or silver themed wedding or party, though? Imagine the possibilities!

*All images from The Deli Garage. Found via Trendland.

Concrete & wood

2011-11-02T13:04:00.000+08:00

I've mentioned before that James has been experimenting with a bit of woodwork lately, and I've been doing some experimenting of my own...with concrete! I think it's such a beautiful, organic-looking substance that only gets better with age and wear. Experimenting is the right word, though - there have been a lot of midadventures as I work out the complexities of the stuff - but I think I am starting to make some progress! The hardest things have been working of the right blend of cement, sand, stones, reinforcing fibres and water, and finding the right kind of moulds (I've sacrificed many a pot, dish and bowl to the cause!).

James and I decided to combine our forces recently to create a planter as a present for our friends Denis and Laura. I created three small concrete bowls that are just the right size for little succulents or tealight candles. James then took a nice piece of old wood (from the Balcatta haul) and drilled three holes just big enough for the bowls to sit in comfortably. We were originally going to hang it from leather straps but couldn't find anything strong enough so we went with a nice jute rope instead, which James attached to the four sides with studs. I then bound the rope together in the middle, at the point where it should hang, with some fine leather. The end result was a bit more rustic than I had originally imagined, but I liked it all the same!

I made a larger concrete pot and planted it with succulents as a housewarming present for Eko and Rick last week and I'm looking forward to bringing my concrete creations into Mr Sparrow once I've fine-tuned the process!

New from O-Check

2011-11-01T17:05:00.001+08:00

Sweet new pop-up cards from O-Check are now here! The 'love' design unfolds to reveal two embracing flamingos and the 'thank you' design pops out a pretty flower.

I love the bright colours and the fun paper folds - they take my back to the good ol days!

These are in the store now and coming online soon...

*All images from Telegram

snug.

2011-10-31T17:41:00.000+08:00

Have you heard of snug.? They are a German design duo whose products have been making a bit of a splash lately. They make the sweetest homewares and jewellery and I have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of some of their seriously sweet products for a couple of months now.

I'm happy to report that a huge box of snug. goodness has just arrived at Mr Sparrow! Everything you see here - incredibly sweet cloud and bear bread boards, brilliant wooden geometric jewellery, super sweet wooden umbrella and raindrop magnets and seriously fun magnetic blackboard flags - is now here, and cute caravan bread boards and wooden songbird mobiles are still to come!

I'm still in the process of unpacking these but pop along for a look in the next couple of days and look out for everything in the online store soon!

*All images by snug.

Happy Friday...and a tune for your weekend!

2011-10-28T18:26:00.001+08:00

Happy Friday!

I picked these wild poppies from a vacant block in our street this morning. I love how poppies spring up in the most unlikely places at this time of year, and the tiny little ones like these are my absolute favourites!

Now for a tune for your weekend, thanks to James.

James: It's an obvious choice this week if you're a Western Australian, as it's a public holiday today to celebrate CHOGM with the Queen in town. So what else could it be but a Queen song? I've gone for 'Don't Stop Me Now' as it's my favourite and a good one to dance in the weekend.

Enjoy!

Have a great (long) weekend!

A country wedding

2011-10-27T17:12:00.000+08:00

Our friends Denis and Laura were always going to have a beautiful wedding. Laura is seriously creative and crafty (this is the girl who introduced me to etsy and thus changed my life!) and they are both the sort of people who just do things their own, unique way. Their wedding was in Gundaroo, which is a tiny town in rural New South Wales, about half an hour's drive from Canberra, where Denis and Laura live these days. Their reception was at the amazing Grazing restaurant, and the ceremony took place in the garden, with chooks and ducks running around and the most amazing vegie patch. It was one of the most beautiful ceremonies I've seen and I was struggling to hold it together! Laura's bridesmaids all wore dresses they had chosen themselves in various shades of blue, turquoise and green, which I thought looked amazing, and the groomsmen had individual ties in similar shades. Laura bought her beautiful vintage dress from etsy (of course!) and she teamed it with a bright yellow flower in her hair and yellow shoes - so fun!

Everything about this wedding was impressively DIY. Laura and her sisters did all the flowers themselves, in a mix of yellows and white, and they were dotted around the tables in a range of jars and bottles of different sizes. For bonboniere (or favours), the couple had made two different preserves - rhubarb chutney and strawberry & vanilla jam. Den and Laura are famous for their delicious preserves so I can't wait to taste them! The tables were named after favourite book characters, and the bridal table was decorated with super cute paper dolls (including a mini bride and groom!).

The food was absolutely amazing - we all ended up sharing each course so we got to taste everything! We finished with the wedding cake, which was gingery and delicious and made by a friend of Laura's (wow!)...and the cute little bride and groom on top were knitted by Laura! I told you she was crafty!

There were fantastic speeches, the best bridal waltz I can imagine, and lots and lots of dancing by all! It was such a wonderful night - so much fun catching up with friends we haven't seen in a long time, and so lovely to see such a sweet couple so very happy.

Congratulations on a truly beautiful night, you two!

Perching roses

2011-10-26T17:13:00.000+08:00

My amazing mum grows the most incredible roses at Dwellingup, and today she brought me in a huge bucket of short-stemmed beauties in a breathtaking array of colours and scents. I've arranged them all over the shop, but I particularly loved how sweet they looked in the new Perch! stacking cups. I'm beginning to think these might be my new favourite vessels!

Photos of our trip to Canberra, the beautiful wedding, and more presents are coming soon...

For a happy marriage

2011-10-22T23:44:00.002+08:00

This is one of the presents we gave Denis & Laura for their wedding, and perhaps my favourite! Inspired by this great idea, I put together a box of little cuttings that represented a few things essential for every happy marriage.

I lined the box with dried moss, then laid the cuttings, leaves and pine cone on top, and glued a piece of paper explaining the meaning of each item to the inside of the lid. Then I bound it all up with string and stamped their names on the top of the box.

Here's what was inside:

an oak leaf for strength
maples leaves for selflessness
a birch branch for truth
a cherry branch for compassion
a pine cone for peace
primrose seeds for eternal love

What else could any marriage possibly need? :)

Happy Friday...and a tune for your weekend!

2011-10-21T13:14:00.000+08:00

Happy Friday!

It's a beautiful day here in Canberra and we're having a lovely time eating, drinking and catching up with lots of old friends.

This week's tune for your weekend, 'Getting Married' by Yellowman, goes out to two of those friends…and now over to James!

James: Since our friends Denis and Laura are getting married tomorrow (albeit not 'in the morning') this dancehall reggae take on a classic wedding tune seemed like just the ticket!

Enjoy!

Have a great weekend, and to Den and Laura, best of luck tomorrow!

Chalk love

2011-10-19T17:50:00.000+08:00

I'm off to Canberra tonight for our friends' wedding on Saturday (and some fun activities either side!).

I'm not back until Tuesday but I have a couple of posts planned over the next few days so it won't be totally quiet around here...and I can't wait to show you some photos from what is sure to be a beautiful day when I get back!

Plus, as soon as I can I will show you what we are giving the happy couple...and reveal how this photo of their names in chalk comes into it (I got the idea from here).

See you soon!

Leather

2011-10-18T16:16:00.000+08:00

As of today, James and I have been married three years (and together almost 12 - yep, we were younguns!). Since we got together on the rather seedy date of New Year's Eve, we relished the opportunity to start celebrating a new anniversary once we tied the knot, and so far we've also enjoyed sticking to the traditional wedding anniversary presents (we're going with the tradtitional U.S. version as it's easier than the U.K. one). It makes it fun and after twelve years of present-giving, it helps to have a theme to stick to!

The first year was paper, last year was cotton, and this year was leather. We agreed to keep it small, and James bought me this beautiful make-up purse, which is perfect, and I bought him this personalised luggage tag (he loves to travel) and this belt (his favourite brand).

Unfortunately, we're celebrating on other sides of the country today, as James is in Melbourne for the week (between buck's and wedding), but we went out for a fantastic dinner to this place on Friday night as a pre-anniversary celebration, and we'll be reunited on Thursday morning when I arrive in Canberra for the wedding - I can't wait!

Happy anniversary, my love!

News from frankie

2011-10-17T10:17:00.000+08:00

I've just heard from frankie that they have completely sold out of their 2012 diaries and calendars already! In order to keep them limited edition, they will not be reprinting, which means once we sell out we won't be able to get any more copies.

We've already sold almost half our order of diaries and quite a few calendars, so if you were hoping to snap one of these up you better be quick or you might miss out!

Find the diaries and calendars online via the links or in the store.

*Images from frankie

Happy Friday...and a tune for your weekend!

2011-10-14T17:53:00.000+08:00

Happy Friday! I haven't got a photo of the usual corner this week, but I thought these magnolias at Dwellingup were beautiful enough to make up for it!

And now for a tune for your weekend, thanks to James. This week's song is a special one for our good friend Denis, because James is hopping on a plane tonight to celebrate his buck's night tomorrow in Melbourne. Next weekend we'll both be at Denis and Laura's wedding in Gundaroo (a small town about half an hour from Canberra, where they live), and we can't wait! This week's song is 'This Charming Man' by 80s alternative rock band The Smiths. Now over to James...

James: Denis and I met at university, where we initially bonded over a mutual love of The Smiths. This is one of my favourite Smiths songs (in fact, I even had a t-shirt featuring it back in the day), and I thought it was a good one for Denis because he is indeed a charming man!

Enjoy!

Have a great weekend!

Last chance

2011-10-12T15:37:00.000+08:00

Sadly, there are a few products at Mr Sparrow that won't be available for much longer, so this might just be your last chance to snap them up!

Brooklyn innovators Design Glut have sadly decided to close their doors. This means that Jar Tiles, Dow Jones Hankies, Vanity Bookmarks, Balloon Necklaces, Flux and Tribe Necklaces (sorry, not online), and one of our best-sellers, Egg Pants, will not be available again once they sell out! Hookmakers have already sold out and Egg Pants are running low so if you've always dreamed of dressing your eggs in pants you better be quick or you'll miss that opportunity!

Another very popular designer, Kasia Jacquot of Laikonik, has decided to move onto new creative pursuits and is closing the wholesale side of her business...for now, at least. This means her popular Once-a-Year Books, Photograms, wrapping paper and cards (sorry, not online) will all no longer be available once they sell out. Kasia hopes to return to wholesaling in time, but until then this will be your last chance to buy these beautiful products from Mr Sparrow (Once-a-Year Books will still be available through Kasia's website, but all other products will no longer be available). If you've been thinking about buying one of these beautiful baby books, or the equally lovely Photograms, don't put it off or you might miss out! We have most colours in stock now, with others arriving soon - our last order!

Brand new from Perch!

2011-10-11T16:59:00.001+08:00

Brooklyn ceramicists Perch! have some fantastic new products! Their scented candles (which you might have seen around Christmas last year at Mr Sparrow...if you were quick!) are back in new designs and delicious scents like bergamot citrus or green tree & willow. There's also Henrietta the Bird, a tiny 10cm ceramic bird that hangs from a leather cord and makes a sweet decoration to hang. And Stacking Cups, white earthenware cups with bold stenciled designs in a range of colours that stack nicely and are great for water, tea, coffee...just about anything!

Scented candles and Henrietta the Bird have just arrived at Mr Sparrow, along with the popular Spot Bowls and new Basket Bowls (like a big version of the Tiny Basket). Stacking Cups are coming very soon, along with the sold out Birdfeeder and Plant Pod.

Come in and take a look, or look out for new items in the online store soon...

*All images from Perch!

P.S. I didn't take out the Excellence in Retailing Award at the Subiz Awards last night, but it went to Subi Cleanskins so I didn't feel too bad losing out to the big guns! And Mr S got some exposure to the 200 odd people there so that's got to be a good thing :)

Christmas is coming

2011-10-10T17:13:00.000+08:00

I know, I can hardly believe it either, but Christmas is only a couple of months away! There are quite a few Christmas goodies still to arrive at Mr Sparrow, but in the mean time you can check out our current range of Christmas decorations, cards, tags and more in the new Christmas section of the online shop. I'll be adding to it regularly as new products arrive, so keep an eye out, and look out for the fun Christmas display in the store in coming weeks!

P.S. I'm off to the Subiz Awards tonight, where Mr Sparrow has been selected as a finalist in the Western Suburbs Weekly Excellence in Retailing Award, so wish me luck!

Twins!

2011-10-10T14:42:00.000+08:00

The twins are here!! Eko and Rick welcomed their two little bundles of joy into the world in the early hours of Saturday morning. It was a little earlier than expected, but everyone is doing really well, and Otis and Henry are two of the cutest little baby boys you'll ever see!

I've been excitedly gathering presents for these babies for months and we had been planning a dinner for next week when we were going to hand them over to the parents-to-be...but then those babies decided to come along a little earlier than expected! As we were rushing off to the hospital on Saturday morning, I said to James, "Should we bring the bunnies?" These bunnies have been sitting on a chair in our bedroom for a few weeks, and it seemed like the right time to hand them over, so along they came!

I made the bunnies a few weeks ago from this Martha Stewart pattern, using fun stripy IKEA fabric and some scrap denim for the ears. It was a really easy project and I had so much fun doing it! I added a little tag to the back of each, saying "♥ A + J", so the twins would always know who their bunnies came from. I made the tag by stamping the letters in VersaCraft ink (which works really well on fabric) onto a scrap of calico.

Congratulations to Eko and Rick, who are going to be such amazing parents! I can't wait to meet your little guys properly and share so many amazing times with them in the years to come :)

Happy Friday...and a tune for your weekend!

2011-10-07T12:56:00.000+08:00

Happy Friday! There is so much flowering in the garden right now, I found it hard to choose something this week for my favourite spot on top of our bedhead. The climbing rose on our side fence is flowering like a madman, there are still ranunculus and anemones galore, and the wisteria is hanging on to its last few fragrant blossoms. In the end I decided on this chinchincheree, which is a fantastic flowering bulb that I've planted regularly for the last few years. I love it because it comes up now, when a lot of the other bulbs have finished (except those anemones and ranunculus, of course!), and it lasts for weeks as a cut flower. I love the green and white colour combination, and I think it has such a pretty shape and a sort of classic, old-fashioned look - actually, I think the first time I saw chinchincheree was amongst our wedding flowers, where I think it looked so lovely (some pictures at the link, but none of the chinchincheree, unfortunately!).

And now for a tune for your weekend, thanks to James. This week's song is a favourite of both of ours, 'Ruler of my Heart' by Irma Thomas. Now over to James...

James: This is one of my favourite songs of all time and a beautiful way to start the weekend. It was written by Allen Toussaint, one of the all time great New Orleans rhythm and blues musicians. During the 60s and 70s he wrote and produced a string of hits for a whole host of successful New Orleans R&B artists, Irma Thomas among them. Toussaint is actually playing in Fremantle tonight, as part of the 'Legends of New Orleans' tour, so if you're lucky enough to be going along, listen out for this tune!

Have a fantastic weekend!

That time of the month

2011-10-07T11:28:00.000+08:00

In the first week of every month, I gather together a selection of lovely little things that will make up that month's Gifts-of-the-Month. If you don't know about the Gift-of-the-Month club, it's basically a way to give multiple surprise gifts to a friend (or yourself!). You choose from 1, 3, 6 or 12 months and each month a fun package will arrive on your doorstep containing a beautifully-wrapped gift!

Here are a few of the gifts that went on their way yesterday:

a Yoshii tricolour hand towel

a Claystone mini milk jug

a Raumgestalt flower nail notepad & a Swarovski pencil

I hope the lucky recipients enjoy their gifts!

Read more about Mr Sparrow's Gift-of-the-Month Club (or sign up) here.

Finally...the bicycle!

2011-10-04T17:12:00.001+08:00

Hooray! The Papillionaire bicycle is finally here!

It's a fully-customised Sommer bicycle in ferst (green), with a custom leather saddle, leather grips, a wicker basket and a rear carrier. It's exactly the same as the bike we had about a month ago, except that the basket is slightly different (it's open instead of closed). The price for this one is $749, which is a bit more than the last one (that was a one-off special situation), but still about $50 cheaper than buying through the Papillionaire website.

It truly is a beauty, so come down and take a look, or even take it for a little bit of a spin...

Thanks to my magnificent husband for putting it together for me :)

Bunting, oh bunting

2011-10-04T16:54:00.003+08:00

Beautiful fabric bunting from Made by Mosey is now available in the online store - I really love the greeny blue floral one.

And also...

...a gorgeous hankey blankey (only the one because the other sold before I could put it up! But there'll be more soon.)

Follow the links to take a look!

New look online shop

2011-10-03T12:00:00.002+08:00

The Mr Sparrow online shop has a new look...and two new categories! Yoshii towels, Thea & Sami soaps and lots of other nice bits and pieces are now easily found in the bathroom, and gift vouchers and the gift-of-the-month club now have their own gift vouchers category. And that gap on the top right? That will soon be filled with all things Christmas!

Click here to take a wander through the new look shop...

P.S. You might notice the blog also has a slightly new layout, with bigger pictures - I hope you like it!

Gift for a new home

2011-10-01T15:25:00.002+08:00

Sorry I've been absent for a couple of days - I've been sick and not doing much at all :(

I'm excited to be back in action, though, and these bright, sunshiny pillowcases seemed just the thing for the almost summery weather we're having here today!

I mentioned last week that Eko and Rick have just moved house, and for a housewarming present I decided I'd try and dip dye some pillowcases. It's no secret that I'm a bit obsessed with dip dyeing (or ombre) at the moment, and pillowcases were one of the things I most wanted to try. I used yellow because yellow and white is a favourite colour combination of both mine and Eko's, and also because I imagined it going well with this fun yellow spotty sheet from Castle that I gave Eko last Christmas. They made such a cute little package all wrapped up in this fun spotty mt wrap!

Dip dyeing was incredibly easy to do and I was pretty happy with how the pillowcases turned out...although there's still room for improvement! I tried to get a bit of an ombre effect (or two degrees of colour) by dipping first quickly to one level and then re-dipping (and leaving it for longer) to a lower level. You can't really see this much on these ones, but I've since done some blue ones for us and I'm getting better :)

I want to try them in every colour of the rainbow now :)

*Images 2 & 3 by Eko

Made by Mosey

2011-09-28T16:16:00.001+08:00

A little while ago I mentioned I was making a quilt from my grandmother's beautiful old hankies, despite not really knowing what I was doing! Well, that's still a work in progress, but someone who has made many a hanky quilt and really does know what she's doing is Madeleine Sargent of Made by Mosey. Being a mother of two, Madeleine is an expert in all things soft, cute and cuddly, and all her products are made by hand with love and care in Melbourne.

Her 'hankey blankies' are absolutely beautiful handmade patchwork quilted blankets made from vintage handkerchiefs, filled with 100% organic cotton batting. They come in two sizes and each one is unique. I think they would make such a special gift for a little one!

Madeleine also makes beautiful handmade mobiles, with sweet little patchwork birds suspended from painted white twigs, and fantastic colourful bunting made from a mix of vintage fabrics.

Made by Mosey quilts, mobiles and bunting have all just arrived at Mr Sparrow so come in and take a look - you really can't appreciate just how special all these lovely things are until you see them up close. They'll be up on the website soon, too!

Speaking of which, I've made some changes to the Shop page on the website so take a look....more changes are in the works, too, including two new categories!

*All images from Made by Mosey

Frankie diaries and calendars are here!

2011-09-27T17:55:00.000+08:00

The 2012 frankie diary/journal and calendar have just arrived! They are as beautiful as always and are sure to be super popular again this year.

The calendar features the work of artists Elisabeth Dunker, Ashley G and Drew, Pin Pals, Donna Wilson, Catherine Campbell, Amanda Blake, Anke Weckmann, Nancy Mungcal, Ana Albero, Marjorie Liucci, The Black Apple and Sarah McNeil.

Meanwhile the diary has some fun extra features this year like calling cards to hand out to friends and a secret little pouch for all those essential bits of paper, as well as beautiful illustrations from Melbourne artist Amy Borrell.

Both are now in the store and I've just popped them up online as well...

*Images from frankie

Designer interview: Claystone Pottery

2011-09-26T09:45:00.001+08:00

If you came into Mr Sparrow in its first month of existence, back in June of 2008, you would have noticed some pretty empty shelves. I opened with just a small about of stock, which has gradually built up over the years into the madness that you see today (these days the thought of those much-emptier shelves is very appealling!!). One of the designers whose work was here from the very beginning, though, was Chris Plumridge of Claystone Pottery. I completely fell in love with his bird teapots and tea bowls as soon as I saw them, and they've been a fixture at Mr Sparrow ever since. Since last year I've also been excited to stock his mini milk jugs and egg boats, both of which have been super popular.

I have always admired Chris's passion for his work and his absolute commitment to quality, which is why I was really thrilled to have the opportunity to ask him a few questions for this month's designer interview.

This interview will also appear in the Sparrowmail newsletter out today (look out for your 20% off code if you're a subscriber...and if not, make sure you sign up before next month so you don't miss out!).

Here's what Chris had to say...

>How did Claystone come about? 

I created the name Claystone Pottery from my own initials CP.

The             name actually applies to a type of hard sedimentary stone made up of             clay and minerals found in the ground and it also applies to the concept  of a clays tone - the sound of fired clay, especially stoneware or  porcelain when it is struck, it rings. All my work is high hired and has  this capability of making a wonderfully high ringing sound when struck.  It sounds like a bell. 

>Where do you create your designs?

My  ideas for my designs come from many sources. I dream up shapes  sometimes in my sleep and in unusual places as I am waiting for a train  or bus as I travel to and from work - my studio in Highett, Victoria  near Sandringham. 

Sometimes I see             a shape from nature and interpret it as a form for my ceramics, like my             'Bird' Teapot which came to me one day as I sat looking at black birds             in a garden. 

>What inspires you?

I am inspired by my surrounds, the environment, nature and sometimes politics. My conical shaped mini milk jug was inspired by the idea of moving forward. It started from a ready made plastic wine goblet which was made in China and I thought to slice it and reassemble it angled forward. Most jugs have two parts, the body and a handle which is attached. The mini milk jug is all one form with a hole cut for the handle.

>What is your favourite material/medium to work with?

I  love to work with clay, stoneware and porcelain as it is so plastic and  easily shaped. It is also very forgiving as it can be remodeled if it  gets slightly misshapen. 

I also like plaster which allows me to enclose the space surrounding a shape so that I can repeat a ceramic form by making a mould.

I make all my own moulds to replicate unusual shapes, to provide my customers with a consistent product. 

>What's next for Claystone?

I  am about to make some cosy covered egg cups for a Christmas exhibition, I  did not think of the idea but I am very fortunate to have had it  suggested. I make the Perfect Poached Egg Boat, so an egg cup is a  natural progression witha  lid to cover a boiled egg. It is a practical  shape to keep your breakfast meal warm and a wonderful shape to design.

Thanks so much, Chris!

You can find Chris's beautiful mini milk jugs, egg boats, bird teapots and tea bowls at Mr Sparrow now (both in the store and online).

*Left-hand image courtesy of Chris Plumridge

P.S. If you missed last month's interview with Andrea Shaw of Stämpel, you can check it out here.

Happy Friday...and a tune for your weekend!

2011-09-23T15:56:00.000+08:00

Happy Friday!

Another anemone today, but how could I resist that colour? It's sitting in one of these sweet bone china milk bottles...

I've just popped up the new Yoshii polka dot bath towels (featuring that cute little Domenic) and face towels online so take a look!

And now for a tune for your weekend, thanks to James. This week's song is 'Circadia/Under a Blue Sky' by Canyons. I love these guys! Now over to James...

James: Canyons, who are originally from Perth, are among my favourite dance acts because of the sheer diversity of their music - they can throw some absolutely crazy stuff into a song and still keep it danceable. This track from their upcoming album illustrates what I'm talking about. I've seen them play some amazing DJ sets over the years and can't wait for Keep Your Dreams, as the album is called. In the meantime they'll be playing the closing of Semi Permanent at the Bakery next week and Anna and I will be there!

Have a great weekend!

New from Stämpel

2011-09-22T17:31:00.003+08:00

These lovely new things from Stämpel have just arrived! The 'Driftless' plant hanger is a much larger and more complex version of the small macrame plant hangers. It's an impressive 1.5m long and holds fish bowls or other large vessels - I love it with with fruit salad plant in my window! It's available in natural jute or multi-coloured...

The 'Fasset' flower vessel is a sweet little vase handmade from post-manufacture timber waste. The timber has been finely sanded and treated with eco wood oil, giving the natural grain a lovely finish, and the inside is lined with soy wax to make it waterproof. Each one is unique, and they look so lovely holding a couple of small stems.

These are both in the shop now and I'll be getting them up online as quick as I can!

*Images 1 & 2 by me, images 3 & 4 by St ä mpel

The perfect model

2011-09-21T17:18:00.001+08:00

I needed a little one to model the new Yoshii towels, and who better than my adorable 10-month-old nephew, Domenic? Didn't he do a great job? I just want to pick him up and cuddle him in that towel!

Thanks to Lisa for the loan of her little cutie, and to James for these great photos :)

The towels should be up on the website in the next day or two...

Little bits of spring...

2011-09-20T14:45:00.000+08:00

...from around our place. Spring in this part of the world is a strange thing - hot and sunny one day and cold and wet the next and sometimes, in-between, just perfect. I don't mind that it's gone back to being a bit wintery this week because it means we might get a bit more of that perfect in-between weather before summer bowls in, and that sounds pretty good to me.

New from Yoshii

2011-09-19T16:16:00.000+08:00

Looks Like Monday is on hold for a couple of weeks, as Eko has just moved into a beautiful new house in Fremantle...along with her husband Rick and their baby bump, of course (did you know about that one? Yep, in less than a couple of months these guys will be welcoming not one but two beautiful babies into the world!). So while Eko is busy setting up her new home - and internet - it'll just be me around here. Hopefully she'll be back to bust out a few fun (baby-themed?) Looks Like Monday posts before those babies come along!

And speaking of babies...these super-cute spotty towels from Yoshii Towel have just arrived! They come in grey, pink and blue and in hand-towel and bath-towel sizes and I think they'd be perfect for a new baby or a little one of any age. Because Yoshii towels are made with exceptionally soft twisted ring threads, they are soft and light enough for newborns. Which is not to say they wouldn't also be great for adults, cause I'd definitely like a couple for myself!

You can find other Yoshii towels in the online store here and here, and these spotty ones are in Mr Sparrow now and coming online soon!

*Images from rikumo

Happy Friday...and a tune for your weekend!

2011-09-16T15:12:00.000+08:00

Happy Friday! With the riot of colour happening in our front garden at the moment, of course I have a sweet little anemone on the bedhead this week!

I picked this bunch of anemones and ranculus from the garden this morning, to display in the shop, and I loved how crazy-beautiful they looked all in a bunch, with so many different colours in there!

And now for a tune for your weekend, thanks to James! This week's song is '8 Steps to Perfection' by Company Flow. Maybe not quite your usual Sparrow tune, but I did promise diversity! I'm going to hand over to James to take it from here...

James: I've been thinking of Company Flow a lot lately because they've reformed to play All Tomorrow's Parties curated by Portishead in NYC late this month. I'd give anything to see them! I think they were perhaps the best/my favourite hip hop group and I love the fact that a lot of hip hop these days is going back to that really sparse and dark production - people like Odd Future and Shabazz Palaces. I hope you enjoy!

Just a warning, this contains a bit of what they call 'language' :)

Have a great weekend!

Conniptions

2011-09-16T12:30:00.000+08:00

Oh, oh, oh, so excited right now! Daniel : Emma's D.E collection has just arrived at Mr Sparrow! After I wrote this post, I wasted no time in getting in touch with the Adelaide designers to see if I could stock their beautiful products at Mr Sparrow...and here they are! I am having conniptions of excitement here! I just can't get over how thoughtfully designed these pieces are. They strike me as having a very Japanese aesthetic - the simple, clean designs, the emphasis on quality materials, and the understanding of the importance of beautiful, unfussy, intelligent packaging (the boxes alone are lovely, but wait until you see what's inside!).

Polished brass paperweights, acrylic rubberband balls, solid pine magnetic towers, cork cones and resin and acrylic stationery containers are now in the Subiaco store, with fluro red Tasmanian oak magnetic sticks arriving soon. I'll be aiming to get everything up in the online store in the next week so keep an eye out...and in the mean time come in and take a look at the collection in the flesh - I predict you'll be blown away!

Now online [& closing early]

2011-09-15T16:19:00.001+08:00

I've just added lots of new things to the online store! Some of them are new new (like the sweet Burgon & Ball Twine in a Tin), some are old new (like the cute vintage aprons), and some have been at Mr Sparrow for a while but are new to the online store.

You can check them all out now under the New section online...

Also, just in case you were planning to stop by tonight, I'm afraid we're going to be closing early (6pm instead of 7pm). I'm very sorry for the inconvenience, but it couldn't be avoided! Next week will be back to normal :)

Emiti

2011-09-13T17:03:00.001+08:00

These gorgeous wheatbags and cushions from Emiti Design have just arrived! Aren't the colours and patterns beautiful?

All Emiti products are made from original fabric designed by Kim Stark (originally from Perth and now living in Melbourne), and are screen-printed by hand onto organic cotton and hemp fabric using water-based inks. Everything is locally made in Melbourne and is designed to last the distance.

The wheatbags come in lavender or clove (lavender is great for helping you to relax and clove can assist sore muscles) - I have a real soft spot for lavender so it's only a matter of time before I take one of these home for myself! In the mean time I'm enjoying their lovely smell filling the shop :)

*First image by me, 2nd and 3rd images from emiti

Yep, it's amazing

2011-09-13T14:16:00.000+08:00

It happens every year - I get blown away by the beauty of anemones and ranunculus. Our front garden is awash with dozens of these at the moment. I love the variety of colours and shapes and sizes...it's the sort of beauty that makes you wonder at the workings of nature. I mean, how did nature come up with that hot pink?! Brilliant.

Our back pergola is smothered with the sweet purple blossoms of the wisteria at the moment, too, and the scent instantly transports me to summer...although I'm not sure why as it always blossoms at this time of year, and summer's still a few months away. A big fat pigeon has set up a nest amongst the tangled wisteria vines on top of the pergola, too. It's not the best spot, because there are a lot of gaps, but it is protected by the climbing rose hanging above. We get pigeons building nests here every year, which is sweet, but man are they crap nest-builders! It's not your nice, rounded little nest - more like a flat little bundle of twigs, far too small for the huge pigeon plonked on top! But she's doing her best and has a nice-looking couple of eggs in there. I've been enjoying checking on her from our upstairs window every day :)

Looks Like: A puzzle rug

2011-09-12T09:00:00.001+08:00

Great ideas for decorating a kid's room are on my radar at the moment and I love the look of this puzzle rug from Youlka Design. Found via Bloesem Kids.

Happy Friday...and a tune for your weekend!

2011-09-09T14:17:00.000+08:00

Happy Friday! What better for this spingtimey day than some pretty pink blossom? This is flowering plum, part of a few big branches I brought back from Dwellingup last weekend...

Last Friday I started something new - a tune for your weekend! Every week James is going to bring us a song to ring in the weekend. This week's song is 'Premonitions - The Fantasy' by Bobb Trimble. Trimble is a psychadelic folk musician who James recently discovered and has since become obsessed with. He only released two albums (in the 1980s), but has a bit of a cult following, including people like Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth. You'll probably notice that he sounds an awful lot like a woman! I don't know what it is about gender-defying singers that works, but somehow they are often pretty fantastic. Nina Simone and Victoria Le Grand from Beach House both have voices that could be mistaken for men's (I admit, I thought Beach House had a male singer when I first heard them!), and there is something so powerful about them. And Antony Hegarty from Antony and the Johnsons has such an amazing, feminine voice...

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this trippy, happy tune as you ring in the weekend!

P.S. The Papillionaire bike has sold!! Sorry to anyone who had their heart set on it! But don't worry, we will be getting another one in....I'll keep you posted :)

Hei, nastursium!

2011-09-09T13:45:00.000+08:00

A couple of weeks ago I treated myself to a Hei Planter from the Pull + Push range. I think I will probably have to own all their planters eventually, as I love them so much, but it was the Hei that I was most excited about because I thought it would look so lovely on the table. It's usually pictured growing grass, which I think looks great, so I thought I'd plant some cat grass for Toshi, but I couldn't find any in seed form. Instead I decided to go with nastursiums, which I think should look really pretty spilling over the sides. It would be great to try some herbs in it as well - I like the idea of just plucking off a few leaves of basil to add to my meal - so maybe I'll try that next!

The little nastursiums started popping up a couple of days ago - aren't they just the cutest thing?

Newbies

2011-09-08T14:09:00.000+08:00

Some fun new things have arrived at Mr Sparrow in the last week...

Maybe you remember these fun pop-out cards from way back here? Well, they're now here in four cute animal designs!

New stamps and VersaCraft ink from Kia Hing Fay have arrived, and they are now sitting happily in Kia's adorable new display box...

There are new Volant notebooks from Moleskine in a beautiful range of colours and sizes, as well as a mix of ruled and plain pages. My favourite is the yellow-orange combination - almost good enough to eat!

There's new Twine-in-a-Tin from Burgon & Ball, and their whole range (twine, plant labels and tool sets) is now available in soft pink as well as soft green and blue.

And, finally, there are some cute new teacup plants!

Oh, and some pretty freesias in the window :)

Come in and take a look today (we're open till 7pm if you didn't know), or look out for all of these lovely things online soon...

Daniel : Emma

2011-09-07T16:51:00.000+08:00

I am really, really loving the 'D.E.' collection by Adelaide designers Daniel : Emma. Beautiful materials, simple shapes, perfect design...there's so much to love! Plus Daniel To and Emma Aiston seem like such a lovely couple, which always helps :)

The pair have worked in London for some major design studios (including Thorsten Van Elten and Marc Newson!), and won a number of prestigious design awards for their work. The 'D.E.' collection is their first production collection, and is available through their website and a few stores around Australia...and just maybe from Mr Sparrow soon, as I don't think I'll be able to resist these much longer!

And possibly my favourite thing about Daniel : Emma? Their aim is to create designs that are 'just nice'.

Find out more on the Daniel : Emma website or read some great interviews with them here or here...

*Images from Daniel : Emma

Good wood

2011-09-06T13:00:00.001+08:00

James has been developing his woodworking skills lately, and I couldn't be happier about it! Maybe you saw his handmade birdhouses featured in the Habitat section of The West last week? We headed out to the Balcatta Salvage Yard yesterday with the ute and returned with a huge haul of magnificent old wood in all kinds of shapes, sizes and hues, and I'm looking forward to seeing what it becomes.

It's possible I'm getting a little ahead of myself, but here are just a few little things I'd like him to whip up for me when he gets a chance :)

*Images 1 & 2 from Nightwood, image 3 from Concrete & Honey, images 4, 5 & 6 from Design*Sponge, images 7 & 8 from Herriott Grace.

Looks like: A ferris wheel

2011-09-05T08:56:00.000+08:00

High Wheel is a video project by Maider Lopez where the main structure of a ferris wheel has been removed so that it looks like the carriages are floating in the air. Looks like fun!

Happy Friday...and a tune for your weekend!

2011-09-02T15:17:00.000+08:00

Happy Friday! It's a bit of a grey day today so I think this bright little ranuncula is just what's needed! I always plant hundreds of ranunculus and anemones out the front of our house and I love it when they start to appear in all the colours of the rainbow.

Now for something a bit fun...this week I'm starting something new on Fridays! Every week James [that's my other half if you're new to this blog :)] is going to bring us a song to ring in the weekend. If you've been into the store, you'll probably guess I like a pretty diverse range of music (some days you might hear Sam Cooke, others Annie and others The-Dream, which is probably not all that Sparrow-appropriate!), and that's thanks largely to James, who is always introducing me to new music.

So to kick it off, here is 'Intro' by M83 featuring Zola Jesus. I love M83 and am really looking forward to their new album (this is the opening track). James saw Zola Jesus at Field Day in London recently and was completely blown away by her amazing voice - in fact, he rated it as one of the top 5 performances of his life. I hope this tune kicks off a fantastic weekend for you!

[sorry, I couldn't embed the video, so you'll have to click here to listen]

*Image of M83 album from earmilk.

Silencio

2011-09-02T14:27:00.000+08:00

Mulholland Drive is a film that freaked me out. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's the scariest film I've ever seen. Not horror scary, but whaaat the hell is going on?!?! scary. And probably the scariest bit was the scene in Club Silencio, where Betty and Rita watch some truly bizarre performances involving dwarves, backwards talking and a rendition of Roy Orbison's "Crying" that still makes it hard for me to listen to that song! So maybe David Lynch's new Parisian nightclub - also called Silencio and inspired by the club in the film - wouldn't be the best place for me to hang out. But it does look pretty amazing! Located down six (!) flights of stairs in a building in rue de Montmarte that is steeped in history, the club features furniture designed by Lynch himself. In fact, he has overseen every aspect of the club in an attempt to "coax out some of the atmosphere and the characters from my films, and even from my music."

With smoked glass walls, gilded mandalas, black on black toilets and chairs designed to "induce and sustain a specific state of alertness and openness to the unknown", it certainly sounds like a pretty extraordinary place...and maybe if I took along a friend or two, I wouldn't be that scared!

*Images and quotes from The Guardian.

Ombre-licious

2011-09-01T10:57:00.001+08:00

I am a little bit obsessed with all things ombre at the moment. A French term meaning "shade", it's usually created by dip dyeing ie dipping fabric or other material into dye of varying intensities to different levels on the fabric. I experimented with dip dyeing some scarves earlier this year and really liked the result, and I'm now really keen to try my hand at a few other things! I'm most excited about trying some pillowcases and maybe even sheets, and I also love the look of these cushions and paper cups...it's so easy to do and the possibilities are endless!

*Images are from (from top):

Looks like: Post-it notes

2011-08-29T09:00:00.000+08:00

Gotta love post-it notes! Here's a post-it note structure made out of 30,000 cells at ARTZONE in Kyoto, Japan. It took three days to complete! Found via Frame magazine.

Happy Friday!...and a birthday package

2011-08-26T12:13:00.000+08:00

Happy Friday! Is it just me or has the smell of spring been in the air lately? With the warmer weather we've been having, and all the almond and cherry blossoms bursting out, I've been smelling it everywhere...and I get a little thrill every time I do!

I picked these freesias this morning and they smell exactly like spring to me. I love just keeping a few nearby and every now and then catching a whiff of that amazing scent. I've been trying to take as many walks through the neighbourhood as I can lately, to take in all the spring blossoms, and the freesias growing by the roadside - I just love it.

Fridays make me think of celebrations, and celebrations make me think of birthdays...which I why I thought I'd share with you this birthday package I made recently for a friend. I love a matching present and card combo! For this one, I wrapped the present in kraft paper and prettied it up with some of these fantastic dot stickers, then tied it up with plenty of string. To make the card, I decorated the back of a mini kraft envelope (from MUJI) with the same stickers, then glued it down to a plain white card. Inside the envelope I put a little hot pink card with the message "happy birthday!". And then of course inside the card I wrote a personal message. You can't beat an interactive card!

Here's to a lovely weekend filled with fun celebrations!

A work in progress

2011-08-25T15:13:00.000+08:00

When Mini passed away she left behind a huge number of beautiful handkerchiefs. There were bundles of them in her drawers and every time we opened one of her incredible handbags we'd find another one or two - I'm sure she never went out without one. They were all so beautiful and delicate - such fine fabrics, delicate embroidery and pretty colours and patterns. I bundled them all up and took them home, not really sure what I was going to do with them. I'm not sure how or when I came up with the idea of a quilt, but when I did it just seemed perfect. The hankies would be preserved and appreciated and it would be a lovely way to be reminded of Mini every day. I was originally going to make one large quilt, combining most of the hankies (there are around 50 in total), but when Eko suggested an all-white one, I loved the idea, so I decided to make two smaller quilts, one mostly white (with little bits of colour here and there) and one combining all the pretty coloured ones.

For the last few weeks I've been busily working on the white one and it's almost finished! I've never made a quilt before and I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, but I'm just making it up as I go along. I don't mind it it's not the right way to do it (and I'm quite sure it's not!) - what's important to me is that I made it myself. I've been thinking of Mini the whole time I've been working on it and it's been lovely. Here's what I've done so far...

Laid out all the hankies on some calico. It took a lot of rearranging to find a pattern that worked both in terms of the colours and the different sizes of the hankies. I didn't want to cut them or lose any of the pretty edges, which made it kind of hard!

Attached the hankies to the calico using iron-on adhesive. Toshi liked to 'help' during this stage...

Measured diagonal lines going both ways across the fabric, and drew these onto the back of the calico.

Stitched along these lines, resulting in a criss-cross pattern across the hankies.

Stitched around the edge of each hanky. I wasn't originally planning to do this, hoping instead that the adhesive and criss-cross stitching would be enough to secure the hankies. The edges were coming up here and there, though, and I wanted it to be really secure to stand the test of time! I was originally worried the hankies wouldn't hold up to so much stitching because some of them are so delicate, but they actually proved to be hardier than I thought! I also thought it might look a bit busy with stitching around the edges but it was barely visible in the end.

And that's where I'm at! Next up is to add some 100% cotton batting and a fun fabric for the reverse. I'm hoping to have it finished in a couple of weeks, and I can't wait to show you the result (hopefully with much better photos than these - sorry!).

The quilts will measure about 115 cm x 125cm, so they will be perfect for a child's bed or doubled over in a baby's cot...no, I don't have the kids to use them yet but hopefully one of these days they'll be put to good use! I love the idea of telling my children stories about Mini as they're snuggled under a quilt made from something that was once hers...

Loom rugs

2011-08-24T14:59:00.000+08:00

I just came across these beautiful rugs by Loom, after seeing them in Megan Morton's home on The Design Files. Based in Melbourne, Loom source antique rugs and also make their own collections out of new or antique yarns (read their definition of Old Yarn here - it is amazing). The colours, the patterns, the materials are just breathtaking. They're really more like works of art than rugs, don't you think?

These are just a few of my favourites - take a look at the Loom website for the whole stunning collection.

*All images by Loom

Pastel rainbow

2011-08-23T17:22:00.000+08:00

I've just unpacked a big box from Claystone Pottery, filled to the brim with egg boats and mini milk jugs in a whole range of beautiful colours.

Egg boats (for poaching the perfect egg) are now available in white, green, yellow and clear blue, and mini milk jugs (so cute as a little bud vase!) now come in yellow, clear blue, green, deep blue, black, natural white, pink and translucent porcelain. They look so pretty all in a row!

Most of the colours are available online, with the rest coming soon...

Looks like: Koskela

2011-08-22T09:00:00.000+08:00

I recently was lucky enough to see some Koskela products brought over from their Sydney store. My favourites were the Bye Bye Birdy pendants, the PBS table and the Twiggy stand. These guys design and manufacture all their products in Australia and have some truly beautiful products!