More Mr Sparrow in your home photos...and some news!

Here are a few more photos in the Mr Sparrow in your home collection!

• The top picture is from Grace, whose T2 loose leaf tea stacks look fantastic next to her vintage canisters on her kitchen windowsill. I love the little set of duck measuring cups!
• The middle picture is from Alice and shows a Have You Met Miss Jones milk bottle, a vintage glass apothecary bottle, and a "tiny basket" from Perch! If you look closely you can also see a little Mr Sparrow badge in the bottom left corner and, inside the tiny basket, a Marjorie Victor necklace.
• The bottom picture shows a "Klara" bowl from the "Dance of the Glasses" collection from Raumgestalt, and is thanks to Jean.
  

Thanks so much, everyone! Keep em coming!

Oh, and I almost forgot - the news! I have been meaning to share this for a while but keep getting caught up in other things. You may have noticed that I haven't been posting anything on Mondays for a while....that's because there's a new young sparrow in the nest! (no, anxiously-awaiting family members, I'm not pregnant!) What I mean is, Mr Sparrow has his first proper, permanent employee! Since opening almost 1 1/2 years ago now, it's just been me here six days a week, with my wonderful mum helping me out when she can, and even though it's the best job in the world, it was starting to wear me down a bit. So I'm incredibly happy to welcome Elli to the Sparrow family! Actually, Elli has been working here for some time now but only on a sporadic, when-I-needed-her basis, but it's much better for both of us that she now has a regular shift. This kind of snuck up on me by surprise because I had been planning on waiting until after Christmas and then starting Elli on a regular shift next year...but a number of factors came into it and now here she is! You'll catch her in the shop most Mondays and occasionally on Saturdays, so make sure you say hi :)

Nabe-licious

James and I were lucky enough to be invited around to Eko and Rick's place on Sunday night for a nabe. A nabe is a popular type of dinner party in Japan (especially in winter), where the food is cooked communally at the table in a special pot, and is similar to the East Asian steamboat. Eko and Rick leant the tricks of the trade when they lived in Japan a few years ago and have been talking about having us around for one ever since. What I didn't appreciate until we arrived is just how much work is involved! As you can tell by the spread on the table, our friends had prepared a vast array of different ingredients, which had been sourced from all over town. There were prawns, chicken, special thinly-sliced beef, two different kinds of tofu, enoki (Japanese mushrooms), udon noodles, wonton (not Japanese, but delicious!), daikon, Asian greens, and a variety of weird and wonderful fish balls, including one shaped like a little sausage! I can't say I was brave enough to try these (I am well-known to be a fussy eater but am gradually improving, and aim to one day eat like a normal person) but James did and said they were delicious! Everything is cooked together, in batches, in a big pot of stock in the centre of the table. Once it's done, everyone fishes out the bits and pieces and dips them in various sauces, before drinking the delicious broth. It was so much fun - I love any sort of communal cooking-and-eating - and definitely one of the most delicious, wholesome and satisfying meals I've had in a long time. Thanks so much, guys! Oh, and I just had to include the last photo of Eko and Rick's cat, Maus :)

They're getting married!

I've been itching to write about this for ages but had to wait until the cat was 100% out of the bag! My very best friend Eko and her other half Rick have just announced they are getting married! They wanted to keep it as low-key as possible so have been planning it for the last 18 months without telling anyone (well, almost anyone), then announced it with these fantastic invitations! I was in on the surprise but almost wish I wasn't so that I could have experienced the incredible excitement of opening my mail and finding this! The idea for the invitation came from this fantastic photo booth wedding invitation I found online, coupled with a general love of all thing photo booth (when travelling around Europe, Eko, Rick, James and I had our photo taken in a photo booth in every city we visited, and James and I had photos in the same booth in Prenzlauerberg with everyone that visited us in Berlin - I'll have to share these some time). Unforunately, in Australia these booths are a rare find, and in Perth I'm pretty sure they're non-existent, so in order to recreate a realistic photobooth shoot, Eko's dad Max took a series of photos of Eko and Rick, without telling them when he was going to take the shot - that way they managed to capture the spontenaeity of a real photo booth shoot. I think it looks fantastic!

Their wedding is going to be a private ceremony in Denmark (a beautiful area about 400km south east of Perth), at Eko's parents' house, followed by a late lunch at Forest Hill, one of their favourite places to eat and drink. Only immediate family, James and I and my parents (my mum is a celebrant and is conducting the ceremony) are attending so it should be very intimate and special. I think it's a lovely way to do things and very true to Eko and Rick. Then two months later, in early January, they are holding a big party - their wedding reception - at the WA Rowing Club with all their extended family and friends. It'll be so much fun, I can't wait! Eko being the incredibly creative person that she is, both events are sure to be just beautiful, and given that she has already planned for photos of all the little details, I'm sure there will be some fantastic ones for me to share with you! I wish I had put more thought into this sort of thing for my own wedding, but that's the beauty of retrospect, I suppose!

While I'm talking weddings, James and I are coming up to our first anniversary in three weeks (and ten years together in 3 months!) and I thought that might be a good time to share some photos from our wedding, so stay tuned if that sort of thing sounds up your alley - I know I always love looking at photos of other people's weddings, even now that mine is done and dusted!

Oh, and congratulations, my fantastic friends!

More Mr Sparrow in your home photos

Some more pictures in the Mr Sparrow in your home collection! These photos are courtesy of Vanessa, who I will admit is my mum, and therefore the owner of a large Mr Sparrow collection! These photos won't be entered in the competition but I thought I would share them with you as there is no-one more experienced at incorporating Mr Sparrow items into the home, with both her homes (in Perth and Dwellingup) like shrines to my little shop!

From the top, they are:

• handpainted beeswax candles from Queen B
• bone china "paper bag" vase from Have You Met Miss Jones, "terre toute nue" candle from C.Quoi, and vintage apothecary bottles
• "bird" teapot from Claystone Pottery, T2 tea stack, Finum tea filters, and oak salt & pepper container from Raumgestalt
• "hanging out" wall decal from Decorette
• "poppy flowers" wall decal from Decorette, paper tealight shades from Raumgestalt, bone china "coral" jewellery holder and "paper bag" vase from Have You Met Miss Jones, and felt coasters from Filzfelt (coming soon!)
• "klang" porcelain hanging vase from Raumgestalt

Thanks for the lovely photos, mum!

Kia Hing Fay

Kia Hing Fay is a Brisbane local with an interesting mix of Scandinavian, Chinese and Scottish heritage. She makes the most beautiful handprinted cotton applique kits, perfect for customising clothing, bedding, tableware or whatever takes your fancy! They come complete with very easy-to-follow instructions and Kia promises projects can be completed in under 2 hours. I'm just about to place an order for some of these for Mr Sparrow - I think they'll fit in beautifully! I'd also love to stock her adorable crocheted rattles - aren't they the cutest thing you've ever seen? (bottom pic) I'm not sure that it's going to be possible at this stage, though, but fingers crossed. Kia says her work is influenced by nature, domestic life, Japanese and Scandinavian design, which I can definitely see in her simple but perfectly-detailed pieces. You can read more about this very creative lady on her website - I particularly like what she says about the Danish concept of hygge. What a lovely way to approach each day!

Thanks to Kia Hing Fay for the photos.

Ode to the anemone

There is finally a bit of sunshine around today, and a touch of warmth to the air, so I thought I would take the opportunity to do a bit of a photographic ode to the anemones and ranunculus that make this time of year so lovely. The freesias around at the moment are beautiful, too - their smell is 100% spring to me! Winter feels like it is dragging on forever this year so I can't wait till it gets a little bit warmer and you really start to feel spring in the air...it can't be far away, surely?

So long winter sale

Despite the lingering wintry weather, I thought the vernal equinox was a good time to clear out the last of the winter scarves, gloves, hats and blankets to make way for new stock in time for Christmas - yes, Christmas already! Oh, and I know I'm a day late with the equinox but you'll forgive me.

Mr Sparrow still has lots of lovely scarves, wrist warmers, lady lamington wristlettes, creature hats, elf hats, mocassins and tree-by-leaf scarves from Mosey Handmade, plus some beautiful cashmere driving gloves and cashmere/silk scarves from Adventures of Jessica Rose. There are also Yokoo warmers and merino and mohair throws from Waverley in a range of colours...and they are all at fantastic prices with 30% off! Winter doesn't seem to be going anywhere any time soon, so it's not too late to get some use out of these these lovely things, plus it's also a good opportunity to pick up an early Christmas present for friends or family overseas who will be very grateful when their winter rolls around!

Come in and check them out if you can...

Mr Sparrow in your home photos

After launching Mr Sparrow in your home last week, I have received some fantastic photos from Mr Sparrow customers, showing their purchases in their new homes!

The top photo is from Kristen, who sent me this lovely photo of her Laikonik Once-A-Year Book on display - doesn't it fit in perfectly on her shelf?

The second photo is from Jo, who is pictured wearing a vintage necklace she bought at Mr Sparrow. I was particularly fond of that necklace so I'm glad to see it's being put to good use!

The bottom four photos are from Lisa, who has photographed her Mr Sparrow purchases in her London home: a Table Stories by Tord Boontje plate, an "Au Nom de la Prose" slate and vase by C.Quoi, a Queen B beeswax candle and an Amelie's Room "The Kitten's Mittens" cot blanket being put to very good use!

Thanks so much for the photos, and please keep them coming! Remember, if you get them to me by the end of October you could win a Mr Sparrow prize pack!

Orange burst

These photos are courtesy of my best friend Eko, who went to the official opening of enex100 earlier this week. You might remember me gushing about this place before - it's a new shopping centre in the city with a particularly delicious food hall. Even though the centre has been open for a few weeks, it wasn't officially launched until Monday night, and Eko was there as one of the interior architects involved in the design of the food hall. Orange is my favourite colour, so I love the orange theme of the opening, and the giant orange balls and fairy floss have me particularly excited! I wish I could have been there...still, enex100 are putting on a whole series of launch events for us commoners until Friday 25 September, so maybe I'll just have to go to one of those instead!

The streets where I live

There was the most amazing sunset a couple of days ago. I saw it through my windows as I was driving home from work and as soon as I got home, I grabbed the camera and raced out to take some pictures...but, of course, it was all over. The sky was still beautiful, though, so I took a wander around the neighbouring streets and took these pictures. Here's what they are, from the top:

• This is my favourite spot at the moment. I discovered it on a walk a few weeks ago - it's a vacant block down a laneway not far from our house. There are these enormous cacti at one end of the block, and around them a huge pile of junk - old tyres, abandoned furniture, broken bits and pieces. Then in the middle of the block is what's left of what looks like an outhouse (you can see it on the right in the photo). It's fantastic that that's the only structure left on the block.
• This is a church at the top of the hill on Shakespeare Street, right around the corner from our street, Austen Lane - all the streets around us have author's names, which I really like.
  
• I love this house. You can't tell much from the picture but it's so pretty and has a beautiful, rambling garden. Hopefully this is where I'll live some day!
• A cherry blossom tree in our street - so beautiful!
• The last glimpses of that magnificent sunset.

We live in Leederville, which is actually a really small suburb, especially the residential part, which can get frustrating when you go for a walk and keep hitting major roads every way you go! Still, I love our little burb, especially all the laneways, which are everywhere you turn (we live in one!) and the vacant blocks, which seem to always be plentiful, especially at the moment - there are three in our lane! I don't know what it is about a vacant block I love, but there's something about nature running wild in the midst of suburbia that gets me excited. A few years ago I stumbled across a vacant block a few streets away, which was completely filled with poppies - it was the most magical sight. I didn't find anything like that this time, but there were still some pretty sights to be seen.

Mr Sparrow in your home

I'm happy to announce the launch of "Mr Sparrow in your home"...and my very first giveaway! Inspired by customers, friends and other shopkeepers, I've decided to ask you to show me where your Mr Sparrow purchases have ended up. After all, while Mr Sparrow’s goodies might look nice in the shop, where they really belong is in the homes and the arms of the people who love them most - you! I would love to see in what happy homes my little treasures are housed, or with whom they spend their days! So if you've bought something from Mr Sparrow, please send me a photo of your hanging swallow on its perch, your teacup full of tea, your Marjorie Victor necklace with your favourite outfit, or your gardening gloves in action! If you'd rather not send in a picture, but would like to drop me a line to tell me how your purchase is going (or anything else!) pick up one of Mr Sparrow's new free “Wish you were here” postcards (bottom two pics) next time you’re in the store and send it in...or if you like, do both!

I’ll post all your photos, postcards etc here on the blog and will display them in the store as well. This is an ongoing project but if you get your photos and/or postcards to me by October 31st you'll go into the running to win a Mr Sparrow prize pack! The prize pack will contain a limited edition Mr Sparrow t-shirt (men's or women's), a Mr Sparrow calico bag, a sparrow badge...and a mystery gift! Don't you love mystery prizes? I promise you it will be something lovely and exciting from the shop! I'll send the prize pack anywhere in the world so if your purchase has ended up overseas, feel free to enter.

Email your entries to info@mrsparrow.com.au or post to C3/223 Bagot Rd, Subiaco WA 6008, Australia.