Eat the Smug.

"A tiny tax on bankers that would give billions to tackle poverty and climate change, here and abroad.
This tax on financial institutions – not you or I – has the power to raise hundreds of billions every year. It could give a vital boost to health care, our schools – as well as tackling poverty and climate change around the world.
The goal – to see Australia endorse a Robin Hood Tax at the G20 meeting in June.
Not complicated. Just brilliant."

http://robinhoodtax.org.au/

Sorry. Don't mean to sound preachy but holy mackerel.

Some people just have good ideas.

Thanks to my Twitter friends for alerting me to this.

So....I was going to try & tell you all about the Roller Derby Team in Newcastle. Then I went to their Website & realised that I couldn't put it anywhere near as well as they do themselves:

" Newcastle Roller Derby League is a
not-for-profit organisation, run by the skaters for the skaters. We are dedicated to promoting sport over spectacle as well as developing and promoting the sport of women's Flat Track Roller Derby.

We are focused on facilitating the development of athletic ability, sports-woman ship and goodwill among league members.
We aspire to create a community of skaters that advances the sport of women's Roller Derby and expands opportunities for all women to participate. We promote the empowerment of women in a safe and organised environment that fosters the health, well-being and personal growth of skaters. We honour diversity and encourage self-expression and are committed to building a network of friendship and support among skaters. We seek continuous improvement in our sport and are committed to democratic principles, constructive dialogue and teamwork. All league members will be unique, but will all share common goals: to have fun, to push our physical limits, and to challenge the way people view women.

Newcastle Roller Derby League encourages men to join and become referees and volunteers.

We welcome people of all ability levels from beginners to advanced skater, and offer a friendly coaching environment.Our Executive Committee and general members come from diverse backgrounds and ages; we have fulltime mums, students, academics, artists and businesswomen to mention
a few.The one thing that connects us is roller derby and our passion for the sport and love for our league. We have a strong focus on family and
community. We believe in making our events and fundraising family friendly and accessible to people from all walks of life.

We love roller derby and want to bring that same enjoyment, inspiration and fun to our family, friends and the greater community.Jump on our website for more
information. "

http://nrdl.bigcartel.com/

We think that is all pretty damn impressive. I hope you'll agree! So when Susy from Bird in the Hand asked us if we were interested in sponsoring the Team in some way or donating some Prizes, we leapt at the opportunity!

(Not physically obviously.)

The above photo is of the prize we donated! A LOMO Supersampler worth $110 + lots of little trinkets from our store! The total Prize (packaged in a Blackbird Corner Calico bag) is worth $150.

I know I'd like to win it, and I hope that others feel the same way & buy lots of tickets in the fundraising raffle. They'll be available on the night at the next bout:

on Saturday 24th April, 2010

at Gateshead Indoor Sportsworld

26 Oakdale Rd, Gateshead, NSW

Doors open 6:30pm & Bouts commence 7:00pm sharp.

Tickets: $10 Adults - $5 Kids

available online or

at Blackbird Corner!

Easter time................

ok our Easter Hours are:

CLOSED GOOD FRIDAY

OPEN Saturday 10am - 3 pm as per normal

CLOSED EASTER SUNDAY

&

(just to confuse everyone!)

OPEN Easter Monday 11am - 3pm

Got that?

We'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a

very happy & SAFE Easter break.

And don't eat too many choccy eggs!!

A bit of silliness on a Sunday evening

This is Kirsten Dunst doing a cover of the classic 1980's song "Turning Japanese" by The Vapors. Just found it amusing & pretty so thought I'd share!

Last chance!

Look Hear 2010 from Chris Stonestreet on Vimeo.

WEEK FOUR // WEDNESDAY MARCH 31st

Jane Shadbolt Animator/Filmmaker

Ron Ramsey Art/Architecture

Mike Watt Illustrator

We Buy Your Kids Designers/Illustrators/Print-makers

The Event bags are just $5 people! What a BARGAIN!

Available in our little store NOW!

Inspired & energised.

Here is our girly Easter window!

We hope you like it!

The Cups & Saucers & pretty cake plates belonged to my Paternal Great Grandmother. Until I was sixteen I had a rather impressive collection of fine china, left to me by my Nan. Unfortunately though, at sixteen most of it was lost to a horrid housefire at my Father's house. It was a pretty devastating loss but worse things happen at sea - as I keep telling you. Despite their sentimental value, they were just pretty things. And I did manage to salvage some pieces....oh and the doilies were made by my Mum's Mother.

Thanks to Patricia & Lillian.

There are lots of Easter Gift ideas in this window including lots of lovely items by OopsiDaisi - Lavender Filled Drawer Sachets + Hair Elastics; Elly Naan Bread One off felt brooches; Babushka M-Cups & the NEW Silicone Cupcake Tea Cups and, of course the cute windup bunnies on the cake tray!

(Good substitute for choccie eggs for allergic or dieting folk.)

You can see the new Peppermint Magazine peeking out of the bottom of the shot too!

It's another great issue! I read it last night.

Thanks to inspiration from Sophie Hill from That Vintage I have made lovely new displays for the Elly Naan Bread Button Bouquets; Wooden brooches by Grey Gardens & Freyja Moon jewellery.

They are made from old Children's Annuals that I scored from my Mum's shop - Cooks Hill Books.

Sean & I made the time to print some more Calico Bags today. We used a different one of our logos than usual just for a change.

Did you know that you get one of these for free with any purchase totalling over $80?

No?

Well now you do know! See you soon!

xxx

Zoology.........and Origami

It occured to me very recently that I spend way too much time online chatting to "friends I've never met." Also, that I spend a LOT of time admiring the lovely wares these folk sell via ETSY and other online marketplaces without actually supporting these lovely folk by pressing the BUY NOW button. I'm officially going to try to cut down on my online time (hmmmmmm) AND to maybe actually support fellow Crafters by purchasing the items I covet.

We should all support one another in our crafty endeavours I think.

A couple of years ago I met an incredibly lovely lass from Brisbane, her name is Holly.

When I say "met" I mean we became MySpace friends.

We just seemed to click & have been complimenting each others' crafty creations very frequently since then.

Holly has a very similar aesthetic to mine and (as she says on her ETSY page) "is influenced by some ....favourite things, such as animals, vintage childrens books, colourful fabrics, buttons and handwritten mail."

Uh! Me too!

Her ETSY page (before I forget!) is:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/pannikin

I bought two of her brooches on the weekend:one from her zoology range & one Origami Crane. It was too hard to just choose one!

Currently there are five different animals to choose from in the Zoology range: wolf; bear; owl; deer and sloth.

The above photo is of everything that came in the Post from Holly!

She even took the time to make me a Blackbird Corner Badge!
She has two Blogs:

www.pannikin-accessories.blogspot.com/

www.mylittlefawn.blogspot.com

Hmmmm maybe we BOTH spend too much time online?

Toot!!!

While I'm tooting other people's horns I simply must introduce you to the i n c r e d i b l y talented Nicholas Moran's work. This is the ridiculously beautiful brooch I recently purchased from his ETSY Store : http://www.etsy.com/shop/hispeacoatpocket

(even the name of his store is to die for isn't it!)

Check out his Flicker Page too I humbly suggest!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicholasmoran

If you, like me, cannot resist buying one of his scrumptious brooches do tell him I sent you!

I was sent there by another of my Twitter friends Sophie Hill. She has an ETSY store that also sells beautiful, handcrafted jewellery pieces.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/sophiehillartist
http://thatvintage.blogspot.com/
A little bird tells me you'll be hearing more from me about Sophie & her creations in the next couple of weeks.....

Curiouser & curiouser.....

So....when I first got into myspace a few years ago I "met" a really really lovely young lass from Victoria. She had just had her heart broken by a silly young lad & we used to have heart to hearts online despite never actually meeting. A few years later we're still in touch but now also via Facebook; Twitter; MySpace & our Blogs! Ahhhhhh technology!

Her name is Kelly. She is now 20 years old & a very talented artist & crafter from Bendigo. She "has big dimples, is a bit of a sweet tooth, adores Alice in Wonderland & likes hot cups of tea in Winter." (Her words!)

Recently I entered a little comp on her Blog http://theteachildren.blogspot.com/

and I won a lovely prize! It arrived in the post Monday!

She sent me more than just the Golden Book though as you can see in the above photo! Among other things she sent me a Catalogue of an AMAZING shop based in Bendigo. It is called bob boutique & I want to go there immediately! Check out their page & you'll see why!

http://www.bob.net.au/

This is a photo of her market stall from Saturday! Isn't she a clever clogs!!

I suggest you check out her Blog if you get a moment.

I am so glad we "met." xxxx

Got a nasty streak?

So.............I've had a couple of Tee design ideas lately that Sean Prawn didn't really think suitable for his label Anorak.

Fair enough, he knows his Customer base & these particular ideas aren't really his cup of tea/style.

When I opened Blackbird Corner it was all about self expression.
I think we've done a pretty good job of not over-censoring ourselves & just doing things the way we want to do them. I'm not going to start censoring myself at this stage.

In the nearly four years of trading we've had two disgruntled Customers that we just couldn't make happy no matter what we tried. Two. (Touch wood!)

Some people can't be satisfied though. Don't you agree?

Anyways, back to the point - such as it is.

We've started yet another Label & it is named "Worse things happen at sea" in honour of my dear, dearly departed friend Stephen Noble. It was his mantra & has become mine & Jen's now.

The little "x" over the letter "i" was on everything he ever wrote - he was a very talented & prolific writer of poetry & prose.

Anyways again, it is basically going to be short runs of Hand Printed TShirts designed & printed by myself (with a lot of Sean's help!)

They are for people who like to wear their mean streaks.

I think everyone has a mean streak, they just vary in size.

We've started off with two prints:

"EAT THE SMUG" & "bint."

No explanations will be supplied.

Either it means something to you & you buy one or

it doesn't & you don't.

That's as simple as it gets. Yes?
We'll be printing new designs when an idea pops up.

Which may be next week - or it may be never.

Oh most will be for Women only. But we did do a run of "EAT THE SMUG" for men.

LOMO loving loons!

Words are not really required for this blog.

Just look at all of these beauties!!!

They've been selling like the proverbial hotcakes since we opened the FIVE boxes of them that were delivered on Thursday.

So the range may diminish slightly before you get in to buy yours!

When I'd finally figured out how to squeeze them into the

allotted space a Fisheye purchasing Customer said

"do you play a lot of Tetris?!"

Is it that obvious?

Through the Lens

The very talented Shana who creates the A Touch of Bohemia by Shangita Candles is taking part in a photography exhibition!

I just don't know how she finds the time to get everything done!

We are very honoured to be listed as one of the exhibition Sponsors & have contributed a Door Prize for the opening night!

Anyways....it's on Tuesday the 30th March.

If you are into photography & live in Newcastle - why not pop in & check it out?

I think you will be very very impressed.

Don't miss out!

Only a limited amount of these LOOK HEAR event bags are available.
Only $5 each too, thanks to the generosity of their lovely Sponsors!
In store now...while they last!!!

Do you HEAR what I HEAR?

"Look Hear is a weekly event for the month of March where creative professionals take to the stage to present a series of talks and presentations. Each Wednesday evening starting 10th of March, a selection of designers and artists will discuss their creative process, methods and techniques, and the inspirations behind their careers in creativity.
It begins at 5:30pm at the Newcastle Region Art Gallery and it’s free! Check out the schedule page to find out who is presenting and when."

www.lookhear.com.au

Sponsored by:
&

The lovely Lara & Carl from LOOK HEAR have kindly allowed us to help out by being the collection point for the LOOK HEAR event packs with for the Look Hear audience. They should be available for purchase/collection after 12 noon on Tuesdays in March for the miniscule amount of $5.

We're open till 4pm on the Tuesday & 5pm on the Wednesday. The events start at 5:30 so this will give you time to get to the NRG & get settled in before it starts! (I know, I know...it is most UN-Novocastrian like to be punctual hee hee hee!)

Event Organisers: