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

Happy Friday!

I did some hunting and gathering at Dwellingup last weekend for the upcoming workshops, and came across this sweet little mushroom scene - I wanted to pick the whole thing up and plonk it in a terrarium, but instead I left it undisturbed in its happy natural state. I did gather some other lovely fungi, though, and lots of beautiful mosses and other bits and pieces...

For this week's tune for your weekend I've gone with a track off Fiona Apple's new album, The Idler Wheel... I've always been a big fan of Fiona Apple's and was excited to hear she was finally releasing something new. This song, "Every Single Night" is the first single off the album and so far also one of my favourites (and does anyone else hear a bit of Felicity Groom's "Finders & Keepers" in there??). I hope you enjoy it!

I'm off to Canberra for the weekend to visit James. I hope you have a great one, whatever you have planned!

Leif colour chip boxes

Ok, so you already know about my obsession with wooden spoons, so I may as well confess to another obsession - wooden boxes! I just can't resist buying a lovely wooden box when I see one...little wooden jewellery boxes, sweet old-fashioned pencil cases, lovely big antique wooden crates - there's something special about them all! Plus they're handy for storing lots of other special little bits and pieces (those wooden spoons, perhaps? :)).

These colour chip boxes from Brooklyn designers LEIF are particularly delicious. Handmade in Copenhagen from plexiglass and Danish wood, they come in some fantastically fun colours and have a wonderful little sliding lid. I'm just itching to get some treasures into one of these!

*All images from LEIF, found via Oh Joy!

New from O-Check

If you're a bit of a stationery nut like me you will probably already be familiar with Korean designers O-Check - their cards, notebooks, stamps, leather goods and other cute things are always popular at Mr Sparrow. And like me you'll be excited to hear that they've just released a bunch of beautiful new products!

The new releases include patterened fabric ribbons, coloured cotton twine (in 4 colours), albums and a lovely new collection of wrapping paper (the final image above is one of the designs). All these items have now arrived at Mr Sparrow and I'm busily unpacking them as we speak - I'll have them online soon!. Plus there is also an amazing new O-Check Kids collection on its way so keep an eye out for that one!

*All images from Telegram

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

Happy Friday!

The weather here has been so beautiful the past couple of days that I just had to take a couple of minutes to wander around our back garden this morning and enjoy the chilly loveliness. It's not long now till I leave so I want to make sure I soak it all up before I have to say goodbye.

Here are a few things I found in my wanderings...
 

Oh, hello, Toshi!

Now for a tune for your weekend! I am a little bit obsessed with this song at the moment - there is just something about the beat and Amber Coffman's amazing voice that means I can't get enough! Anyway, here it is: "Get Free" by Major Lazer, featuring Amber Coffman from Dirty Projectors.

Enjoy!

Have a fantastic weekend!

P.S. There is a new post on my other blog, givemakewrap, today!

Coming soon...

These beautiful vintage prints (and others!) are coming to the online store just as soon as I get a minute to put them up! Most of them date from the 1960s...

Aren't they lovely?

Page Thirty Three

I have been loving Sydney object designers Page Thirty Three from afar for a while now, so I'm excited to be getting up close and personal with them...by stocking them at Mr Sparrow!

Co-founders Bianca Riggio and Ryan Hanrahan create unique and unexpected pieces by evolving household objects into functional art pieces. Their products are all beautifully and thoughfully made, but also have a sense of fun about them! Their latest collection also sees Page Thirty Three evolving into a more Australian-made and sustainable label.

We now have the ceramic jigsaw plate, wooden jigsaw serving board, life sucks drinking straw, book bag and bath tonic in store at Mr Sparrow, and the beautiful essential oil burner will be here soon!

Sorry, these aren't online yet but I'll get them up there asap. In the mean time pop in and have a look in the Subiaco store if you can...

***Update: now online here!***

*All images by Page Thirty Three

Before & after vintage desk

I picked up this little desk from a neighbour's verge during the last bulk rubbish collection, and recently finished doing it up (even though accumulating new pieces of furniture is the last thing I should be doing at the moment...but how could I resist this little guy?!).

The top surface was originally just covered with white contact, so James cut a piece of shiny white board to size to make a nice new top. The wood was all in really bad condition so I sanded it all back and used a black stain and varnish. Finally, I painted the metal legs white to tie in with the top and I replaced the knobs with some vintage glass ones I found on etsy. I really love this little desk now! Here are a couple more pictures...

New wrapping!

Hooray! New fluro pink, yellow and orange ribbons have just arrived at Mr Sparrow, so from now on if you ask for your purchase (either online or in the store) to be gift-wrapped, it will come in one of these fun packages! I love the unexpected combination of natural kraft paper and bright fluro ribbon - I think it's the perfect match for the kind of earthy/crazy mix that is Mr Sparrow (and me, too, I guess!).

We do still have our pretty botanical paper, too, if you prefer :)

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

Happy Friday!

The very first paperwhites of the season have popped out in our garden, and of course they smell amazing! If happiness has a scent, this is it. I swear these get earlier every year (and looking back at this post from 2009 and this one from last year, I see it's not just my imagination!). I'm not complaining, though :)

Now for a tune for your weekend! Like a lot of people, I've been really enjoying Spotify in recent weeks. It's such a great way to hear new albums and discover new artists. I particularly like the Artist Radio option, which creates a playlist based on an artist of your choice (thanks, Eko and Rick, for introducing me to this...and James for introducing me to Spotify!). I've tried out a few different artist radio stations ("Friends" was particularly great), but my favourite has to be the one based on Sam Cooke because it has such a great mix of all my favourite soul musicians, not least of all Sam himself! If ever I'm feeling a bit down, all I need to do is pop on a bit of Sam Cooke and I instantly feel better. He was such a prolific songwriter and recording artist (he had 26 U.S. top 40 hits...and he died at only 33!), and every one of his songs is beautiful, but there is also something about the tone of his voice that just lifts me up.

This song, "Don't Cry On My Shoulder" is probably my absolute favourite of his, so I hope you enjoy it!

Have a great weekend!

P.S. Just an update on the workshops: both terrarium classes are full already (!), but there are still spaces in both the kokedama classes (book on the website). Send me an email if you're interested in the terrarium workshops and missed out, though, because I may well run another one if enough people are interested! Thanks!

Winter Workshops

I'm excited to announce Mr Sparrow's Winter Workshops!

After the success of our summer and autumn workshops, we've launched another round in terrarium- and kokedama-making. These will be held at the store on Sundays, and will include coffee at Spring Espresso and a goodie bag for participants. The two workshops available are 'Make Your Own Kokedama' and 'Make Your Own Terrarium'.

Make Your Own Kokedama:

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 sitting or hanging 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 coffee at Spring Espresso (across the road) and receive a Mr Sparrow goodie bag to take home (all included in the workshop price).

Price: $65

Date: Sunday, 8th July 2012

Time: 10am – 12pm (class #1) OR 1pm - 3pm (class #2) (please specify which class you would prefer)

Where: Mr Sparrow, Shop 3, 223 Bagot Road, Subiaco WA

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 coffee at Spring Espresso (across the road) and receive a Mr Sparrow goodie bag to take home (all included in the workshop price). 

Price: $75

Date: Sunday, 15th July 2012

Time: 10am – 12pm (class #1) OR 1pm - 3pm (class #2) (please specify which class you would prefer)

Where: Mr Sparrow, Shop 3, 223 Bagot Road, Subiaco WA

Sign up on the website, or  email me at info[at]mrsparrow.com.au (if emailing, please make sure you specify which class you would like). Bookings are essential and spaces are very limited (I can only fit 8 people in a class and there are only 4 classes, so that's a total of 16 people for terrariums and 16 for kokedama!).

Please note: if you missed out on the last round of workshops and have registered your interest for this round, we will not automatically hold a place for you (as we don't know which class you would prefer). You still need to sign up on the website, or reply to this email as soon as possible to book your place.

Please visit our facebook page for more photos from our last two rounds of workshops.

New from Stämpel

These lovely new things from Stämpel arrived from Melbourne last week.

The Spot Vases are the same as the beautiful Fasset Vases but with sweet little hand-painted spots! They are the cutest! Made from post-manufacture waste timber, they are finished with a plant-based eco wood oil and a beeswax-lined inner cavity to enable a little water for a single stem.

Andrea has also been making some lovely new Patch Scarves from 100% reclaimed fabrics. These are made from predominantly cotton fabric that has been lovingly sourced (and washed and washed again) from many an op shop. Each piece is different but there are three similar colour stories. They look fantastic wrapped around three times.

The Spot Vases are online now, with the Patch Scarves coming soon!

*All images from Stämpel

Four

Today is exactly four years since Mr Sparrow opened his doors! In some ways it has flown by and in other ways it feels like a lifetime. It feels like a particularly significant birthday for my little shop because it will be the last - as a physical shop, anyway. I'm pretty proud to have made it this far, though, and can honestly say I have loved every minute in this job over the last four years. So happy birthday, Mr Sparrow!

Oh, and these little bags of vintage marbles are now for sale at Mr Sparrow (coming online soon!).