A Touch of Bohemia

A Touch of Bohemia scented candles are made exclusively for Blackbird Corner by the very lovely & talented Shana from Shangita. Her candles are all handmade from soy wax.

Soy wax is derived from a completely renewable, all natural source and is not made from petroleum like paraffin candles. They burn cleaner and cooler than paraffin also last up to 50% longer and creates less soot. Buying soy wax candles is not only great for the environment - it also supports the farming industry rather than the oil industry.

The A Touch of Bohemia range are all hand poured into RECYCLED & RETRO cups & saucers/mugs & glasses. This makes then even more environmentally sound!!!

(And even more gorgeous!!)

The Shop smells soooooo delicious, filled with the scents of Strawberry Jam; Absinthe; Lavender & Coffee because the latest range is in stock NOW! Not for long as they're very popular items & great gift ideas!! Hmmmmm Mother's Day is coming up.....

xxx

Three Things...................

My very favourite blogger Bianca of GoodnightLittleSpoon just did this Meme (is that what it is even called??) & I thought I would do it too!

Because she is just so darn inspiring & because I don't Blog often enough!

(This is a Postcard that Bianca designed & sells on her ETSY page.)

I think you should pop over & check out her Blog because it is spectacular. But don't compare mine to hers please!!! LOL!

OK here it is:

Three things.....

Three names I go by:

-- Nici -- Nissy -- Nichi

Three jobs I've had:
-- Checkout Chick at SAVERS in Melbourne -- Team Leader/Coach in a Call Centre (in another life) -- Owner of Spinster Wares

Three jobs I'd like to try for a day:
-- Graphic Designer -- Mystery Shopper -- Organic Farmer (just ONE day, far too lazy.)

Three places I've lived:
-- Melbourne City, Victoria, AU -- Potts Point, New South Wales, AU -- Darwin, Northern Territory, AU

Three favourite drinks:
-- Diet Coke -- Iced Chocolates -- Beer

Three TV shows I watch:
-- The Daily Show with Jon Stewart -- The Colbert Report -- World's Worst Jobs

Three places I've been:
-- Victoria -- Queensland -- Adelaide (LOL I'm less well travelled than Bianca as I've not left the mainland! But Sean has seen the world.)

Three places I'd like to visit:
-- Tokyo -- London -- Prague

Three favourite dishes:
-- Satay Chicken (nom nom nom) -- Cinnamon Toast -- Bruschetta Pizza from Crust

Three things I'm looking forward to:

-- Seeing our niece Annabelle Daysi again soon! -- Popping to the Tender Centre & finding something exquisite noone else noticed! -- Blackbird having had the BEST Financial Year so far this year, then improving on that next year.

Three superpowers I wish I had:

-- The ability to cure Chronic Illnesses with a glance -- Time travel -- The ability to sew/draw/paint the things my brain designs
Three places I love to shop:

-- Bird in the Hand Zine Shop -- Magnation Melbourne -- Outre Gallery Melbourne

Three pets I've had and their names:

-- Sister (Sissy) our Maltese dog -- Alice the Mexican Fighting Fish that committed suicide -- Euphoria - my Lilac Siamese Cat (Childhood pet that died in a housefire when I was a teen.)

Three bands I'd want to see on a festival line-up:

-- Belle & Sebastian -- Laura Marling -- Camera Obscura

Three favourite comfort foods:

-- Chocolate -- Chocolate -- Chocolate

And I'll add to The List...

Three people I could not live without:

-- Sean!! -- Jenni (& her kids) -- Lynda (My Fascist Mother!)

Three Things I cannot live without:

-- Family -- Friends -- Blackbird Corner

This image was taken directly from Bianca's Blog Page. She is good like that.

Hope you don't think/mind that this Blog is getting too personal by the way. The way I figure it - the shop is our baby. Our lives pretty much revolve around it. I figure you don't have to read this if it is boring you but that you soooooooo should check out Bianca's Blog.

Really. Off you go now!

xxxx

A picture is worth a thousand words....

And we're so busy of late I don't have a thousand words. Here are some recent photos instead.

Incidentally - that's busy in a great way!!!

xxx

Whatever Heather!

Ooooooooooooooooooh loveliness!

The new items from Whatever Heather have arrived!!

In fact I'm wearing my cream coloured Bird & Pom Pom Hairclips (RRP $16.99) right this very second!

I love them quite a lot. As much as you should "love" inanimate objects anyway!

Check out their website if you like the vibe & want to see more/buy some of the range:

http://www.whateverheather.com.au/

Next week we're also going to be stocking gorgeous Owl Necklaces too! (Soon to appear in Frankie Magazine Giveaway section!!)

time.............

Thanks to the lovely Cate from http://rabbitwithpolkadots.blogspot.com for this.

Miss Kate

Our lovely Sydney friend Miss Kate has started letting her creative side shine through!

In rather spectacular fashion!
She has been making a delicious range of hair clips & bows and selling them by the handful at markets in Newtown!!

She also sells them via a very busy Roller Derby supplies store - called Sydney Derby Skates!

And soon? Soon you'll be able to get your mitts on her clips in our little store!!!

Keep her busy & peruse her lovely wares!

xxx

here kitty kitty kitty!

I most humbly suggest that you make your way over to the above KittyRobot blogspot & take a casual look around.

Then maybe head on over to their made it store: http://www.madeit.com.au/storecatalog.asp?userid=483

Hey.....what have you got to lose?

I think you'll be impressed. And tempted....I am.

That Vintage by Sophie Hill

The delightful Sophie Hill is another of the wonderful folk I've "met" as I whiled away my time on Twitter instead of doing things on my never ending To Do List.

Sophie is a Launceston based bird-obsessed artist and lover of all things handmade. That Vintage pieces are created using the beautiful Tasmanian Myrtle timber that she is lucky enough to have on offer in her own backyard.

"It began with a Tasmanian Blue Wren and a Common Sparrow, dancing together in the warm sunlight of an early Summer morning – from this friendship, the illustrations were hatched and then turned into wearable pieces of artwork – a tribute to the diversity of friendship.In Sophie’s nest of inspiration you will find cups of tea, synth folk music on repeat, a menagerie made of porcelain and her fair share of fabric swatches. The view from Sophie’s nest is a Native Australian garden, growing with the hopes that the Bottle Brush and Kangaroo Paw will evoke new feathery friendships.

That Vintage designs are made with love and really, that is all that’s needed."

We are very pleased to be able to be now stocking some of her exquisite brooches, necklaces & pendants. You'll see them featured in our current window if you pass our way this week.

Her gorgeous pieces inspired us to create the new Wayward Girl Skirts called "Treasury Gardens" - red ALines printed with black feathers. The feather was found in Treasury Gardens, Melbourne when we lived in Flinders Lane. Sean scanned it in & traced it for me to use for printing. He is so very clever!

Now you may have noticed that Sophie is not from Newcastle, but hey they're my rules & I'll (very very occasionally) bend them for my friends!

http://thatvintage.blogspot.com/

Can't get into our little shop but would love a piece by That Vintage? Check out Sophie's ETSY Store!

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

&

Ampersand's second Issue is called Janus Faces.

This Issue has 22 contributors – "journalists, fiction writers, poets, painters, photographers, designers, craftspeople, academics, theatre makers, scientists, editors, mothers, fathers" – all collaborating to create a truly inspiring journal.

Our Artist in Residence 2009 & Great friend/Red Chair Dweller 2010 Jazz Andrews tells the story of the time he walked into a supermarket and took his clothes off. A priceless tale.

Heartfelt congrats to the very lovely Alice Gage for this beautiful publication. We're proud to be stocking it!

Oh, and it is only $10 - definitely a labour of love.

Babushka!

We've reprinted the Anorak Babushka Teatowels.

It took us three days. One colour at a time. But they're worth it. They're very pretty & ours looks lovely hanging on our oven door in the kitchen. No photos of that because our kitchen is like a "before" not an "after". If you see what I mean. They're the most popular sellers out of the teatowels despite having to be slightly more expensive. But at just $15 I consider them quite a bargain. We've sold several to people who intended to frame them to decorate their kitchen walls.