StudiOH! love

StudiOH! workshops have been getting some love around the place lately.

There's a little write up on The Thousands, and a Q&A with the two of us over at We Love Perth. Check them out if you get a chance!

Thanks so much, Danielle, Jelena and Claire!

Two days in Berlin

There's always something different about returning to a city you've lived in. Even though James and I only lived in Berlin for a little while, it will always hold a special place in my heart and going there will always feel a little like going home. I love Berlin for very different reasons to why I love Paris, and the two cities are so incredibly different it's hard to believe they're only a short plane (or train) ride apart.

I love Berlin for its laid-back atmosphere, its history, its wildly beautiful footpath greenery - in fact its incredible greenness in general, its space and its attitude. It's a city with soul.

This visit mum and I revisited some old favourites but also discovered a few new gems. I mentioned a while ago on givemakewrap that I was excited about checking out the amazing über-store, Manufactum, and it didn't disappoint! I was lost in there for about an hour :) We were also taken to some great places by local friends - mum's friends Michael and Ramona took us to the incredibly beautiful Königliche Gartenakademie (the first six photos above are from here), and we had beer and delicious Flammkuchen at Schwarzwaldstuben with my friend Briony. James had tipped us off that the old airport, Tempelhof, had now been turned into an enormous green open space and was worth checking out - it was amazing to wander through an airport that James had come and gone from when we lived there, and to stand smack bang in the middle of a runway! That such a huge space in the middle of the city could essentially just be left empty and open to the public is incredible in itself. We also revisited the fantastic contemporary art gallery, Hamburger Bahnhof, and spent many hours wandering around the Scheunenviertel area, through Prenzlauerberg, and around Potsdamer Platz, revisiting favourite shops and cafes and seeing what new things had popped up. Yep, it was only two days but we packed it in!

P.S. Since I mentioned givemakewrap I thought I should also mention that I'll be popping up a new post there very soon - it has been AGES!

Two days in Paris

These are are few photos from our two days in Paris. It was, as I think Paris always is, magical. We stayed at the Hotel de la Place des Vosges in the Marais, in a lovely little room with fantastic views of the Parisian streets. We spent our two days walking those beautiful winding streets and popping into little shops, patisseries and creperies. Needless to say, I was in heaven! The amazing concept store Merci was a highlight, as were meals at Cafe de l'Industrie and Le Dome du Marais. Mariage Freres, the beautiful tea shop, was also incredible, as was the huge vintage clothing store, Kiliwatch (thanks to Eko and James for all the tips!).

We're now in Dublin, about to hop on a plane to London, so I'll share some photos from our brief stays in Berlin and Dublin soon!

Garment Garage Sale gems!

Just a reminder that there are some really great bargains still left on Garment Garage Sale. Like this amazing Marc Jacobs jacket and this fun Topshop top are still available.

New Ceramics for Christmas class!

StudiOH's new Ceramic Christmas Decorations workshop will be on Saturday 24th of November from 2pm to 5pm. Hurry as this could fill up just as quickly. Other classes are also almost full! Yikes!

Ceramic Christmas Decorations SOLD OUT!

StudiOH's Ceramic Christmas Decorations workshop has already sold out! Wowza!

But if you missed out, don't despair. We'll be announcing a second one in the next few days, so keep an eye on the StudiOH website and online store!

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

Happy Friday!

I took a walk through this amazing avenue of what I think are Bradford pears (?) the other day and was just blissing out on all the springtime beauty! I'd spotted the rows of white from the car as we were on our way to get some delicious Brodburgers on the weekend and knew I had to get back there as soon as I could and take a wander through them.

Now for a tune for your weekend, and I thought this sweet song by Purity Ring was a perfect match for these pretty blossoms. I hope you enjoy this track, "Fineshrine", from their recent album Shrines.

I hope you have a great weekend in the works. I'm actually on my way back to Perth today, where I'll be for a couple of days before heading overseas for a little over two weeks! Woohoo! Mum and I are going to visit my sister in London, and also spending a couple of days each in Paris, Berlin and Dublin - I can't wait!

I look forward to sharing some photos from my travels with you soon!

Introducing StudiOH!

I'm really excited to finally announce that project I have been hinting at for a while...StudiOH!

After many years spent dreaming of working together, my super-creative best friend Eko Pam and I have joined forces in a new business, which is all about pop-up workshops!

StudiOH! create design workshops in pop-up locations around Perth. Our workshops are a chance to have fun exploring your creative side while learning a new skill, to catch up with friends and make some new ones, and to bring home something new and beautiful. Our first series, “Ho Ho OH!”, brings together workshops in a variety of disciplines, all with a creative Christmas theme.

The workshops will take place in the heart of Perth, at 246 William Street, in November and December.

Eko and I are taking workshops in making advent calendars and gift-wrapping, the extremely talented Annika Stenvall will teach weaving and crocheting with a Christmas theme, the skilled ceramicist Louise Buckingham will take you through making ceramic Christmas decorations, and the incredible florist Hannah Etherington (the genius behind my wedding blooms!) will teach you some fabulous flower arranging skills.

There is also a fun wreath-making workshop, where you can create three wreaths - one for your front door (with Eko), one for inside (with me) and a living one for the table (with Hannah).

All the workshops promise to be heaps of fun and a great way to get into the creative spirit of Christmas!

Find out more about the workshops and the StudiOH! team over at our website, and book your place in the workshops over at our online store. We offer a 10% discount for bookings of 3 or more places across any of the workshops, so get some friends together or book yourself in for a series of fun days out!

Beechworth

 

On Friday afternoon, James and I took a roadtrip with our friends Denis and Laura down to Beechworth, a little Victorian town near Albury Wodonga. We picked it because it is sort of a halfway point between Canberra and Melbourne, and we were meeting up with our Melbournian friend Nhat. Beechworth is an historic goldrush town, with some beautiful 19th century buildings and lots of fantastic restaurants, cafes and micro breweries. On Friday night we treated ourselves to the degustation menu at Provenance, where the chef had recently won chef of the year (yum!), and on Saturday we had a relaxed lunch and beer-tasting at Bridge Road Brewers (also yum!). We also stocked up on lots of flavours of delicious Beechworth honey.

Beechworth is also set amongst beautiful countryside. There was neon yellow wattle blooming everywhere we looked, plus more of those stunning flowering fruit trees I'm so fond of! We also took a scenic drive and a bit of a wander along the gorge, which was incredibly picturesque.

James and I plan to do as many weekend trips to the country as possible while we're in Canberra, because there are so many lovely little towns around here and so much natural beauty to feed my soul. So hopefully this was just the first of many fun weekends to come!

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

Happy Friday!

I'm back on the road again today, but just a little road trip this time! We're heading to Beechworth for the weekend with friends from Canberra and Melbourne, which should be lots of fun. It looks like a lovely town, and we're having dinner at this place tonight - yum!

Now for a tune for your weekend! I'm back with my music-loving husband, so back listening to some new music, including this track, "Running", by UK singer songwriter Jessie Ware. She has such an amazing voice and I've really been enjoying her debut album, Devotion. I hope you enjoy this song!

Have a great weekend :)

{This photo of a canola field is from my roadtrip from Perth to Canberra}

Mr Sparrow is for sale!

That's right, after a lot of deliberating, I have decided to sell Mr Sparrow. This has been an agonising decision to make - Mr Sparrow is my baby and at first I couldn't bear to think of handing him over to someone else. But after a lot of thought, drawing up of tables, and crunching of numbers I've decided that for lots of reasons this is the best way forward. Despite all the hard work and sacrifices both James and I have had to make over the years, I can honestly say I have loved every single minute in this job, and I am so proud of the little business I have created. I hope there is somebody out there who will love him as I have and make him their own!

If you're interested, or know someone who is, and would like some information, please send me an email to anna[at]mrsparrow.com.au. Thanks!

New(er) opening hours!

Yep, we like to keep you on your toes! After trialling the new Thursday-Sunday hours for a month, we have decided to change to Wednesday to Saturday.

So that means that from this week on Mr Sparrow will be open Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and closed on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays. I'm sorry if this causes any confusion or difficulty!

And yes, that means we're open tomorrow! :)

In blossom

I can't get over the amazing array of flowering fruit trees here in Canberra. The whole city seems to be awash in fragrant pink and white. Every single house seems to have a blossom-drenched tree in the front yard and there are rows and rows of pink and white beauties lining the streets and in the parks. It's just so incredibly beautiful, and I can't stop gazing and pulling out my camera! It seems strange to me that everyone isn't as blown away by this as I am, but I guess if you've lived in a climate like this for a while then it's all just part of the changing seasons. For me, though, it's like being in some kind of blossomy paradise!

The last few days have been mostly filled with unpacking boxes and buying pieces of furniture and household bits and pieces (the Mugga Lane Resource Management Centre was a goldmine!), but our little apartment is now starting to feel like a home of sorts. I've also been doing a few other bits and pieces and I'll share them all with you soon!