Dejavu

So.

Just 27 days after the water main burst out the front of our home - the water main has burst out the front of our home. I am so over it I could scream.

Screaming won't help though.

This time Sean & I got straight out there with a shovel & dug a channel & built a mini dam & diverted the water away from our house. We did this in our pyjamas, which may have been amusing if it wasn't so stressful. We didn't get the chance to do that last time, and our experience of how long the Water Corp's urgent response team can take to arrive (they're ridiculously understaffed like all large Corporations) meant that we knew we had to save our own home from further damage. The shop is closed today as I have to stay here while the excavator rips up the very recently laid turf & digs another massive bloody hole & re-fixes what was allegedly fixed less than a month ago. Worse things happen at sea & I am trying to remain in good humour this time as stressing out is very bad for your health & helps noone really.

We'll return to normal hours after Melbourne Cup Day-so open as usual from Wednesday 3rd of November!

November already!

Mad.

xxxx

Coming at you-like a shark with knees!

Lomo's latest creation is going to pretty much blow your mind!

Called the Sprocket Rocket - it's a compact 35mm with a superwide panoramic lens, forward & backward winding for multiple exposures and (of course) SPROCKETS!

We're only getting a few in before Xmas so you'll need to be on the ball to buy one from us. They'll be in stock (along with some other very exciting new additions to our range) in the third week of November.

Keep an eye on our facebook or twitter for updates yeah.

It's going to be a very LOMOGRAPHIC XMAS at Blackbird.

xxx

Goodnight Little Spoon

I started today feeling a bit blue.

No reason, life is actually pretty darn swell.

Just one of those blue days.

Then Lynda (my Mum) brought me some mail that got delivered on MONDAY that we had somehow missed. The delay was fate, as I realllllly appreciated receiving my parcel today.

It turned my day around.

There is nothing like receiving a parcel in the post.

Especially when it is from www.goodnightlittlespoon.com

It has shooed the blues away!

"Bouting for Boobies!"

Saturday 13th November 5:30pm - 11:30pm

Gateshead Indoor Sportsworld

26 Oakdale Rd Gateshead NSW

The Newcastle Roller Derby League invites you to help them support the fight gainst Breast Cancer!

The NRDL "Bouting for Boobies" Breast Cancer Fundraiser Bout wil see the Rebel Belles take on the Madams of Mayhem...

Go along and support our Local Derby Girls, whilst also supporting Breast Cancer Research!

It's a win win!

Tickets are available in store right now!

They're also available online, through NUSA or at the door!

We suggest you buy them in advance as they may SELL OUT!!

xxx

A new Flock

A package arrived from the UK today unexpectedly. It was from our very lovely friend Grace Hewitt - of Little Pat & Snow.

What a lovely surprise!!

Fittingly she included a lovely Bird themed notecard.

It is just too pretty to be ignored so I thought I'd share it with you!

Here is some of the new Flock of hand felted, one-off Australian birds that she sent us from her base in the UK.

A Musk Lorikeet.

A Princess Parrot.

These will be gently placed into stock on Sunday as a part of our next display window which will, naturally, be bird themed methinks!

Grace left the country to embark on adventures over a year ago and is having so much fun! I don't know how on earth she found the time to create this flock for us but we're very pleased that she did.

Must. Resist. Buying. Them. All. Ourselves.

Want.

xxx

The waiting game

Oh Frankie!

Don't you get tired?

You keep releasing the most spiffy of objects for us to all covet...

Your latest is just ridiculously up our alley!

To quote your own description:

"Frankie magazine's new project SPACES is a collection of eclectic interiors from around the world. This large-format mag explores the homes, studios, shops and cafes of graphic designers, photographers, vintage collectors and shop owners.

With a focus on carefully curated style, SPACES celebrates the unique vision and individuality of creative people living everywhere from Melbourne to Amsterdam.

On sale in frankie friendly shops from November 17.

Price: $22.95"

Is this not The Most Perfect Christmas Gift Idea of 2010?

hmmmmmmm?

xxx

PS We'll let you know the second it hits the shelves! (Or, in our case, The Frankie Shrine.)

This mellow day.

Sean & I went on a relaxing roadtrip to Dungog today.

This ensured that we didn't sew, draw, print, heatset or do paperwork on our first day off together in over a month.

We had a very lovely day at Jen's.

Her new home is just divine.

I took some photos for you so that you didn't feel left out.

Jen's chair.

Silly Timmy.

This old woodstove still actually works.

Luckily Jen's kitchen is also equipped with a spiffy modern oven or they'd be existing on cereal alone.

It was a very grey day in Dungog but we didn't let that little detail dampen our spirits. I think I'm almost too relaxed now.

But Jen & I talked fabrics & frocks (we cannot help ourselves) so hopefully I'll wake tomorrow morning all motivated & rejuvenated!

I also brought back two rather lush, silk frocks that Jen made for her label Songbird to pop into stock later in the week.

Wait 'til you see them!

Spiffy!!

xxx

Save the Laman Street Trees!

Giddy Up!

A very lovely lass named Rose recently contacted me offering to stock our little store with some of her glorious creations....once I had checked out her range how could I say no?

VINTAGE FABRICS REBORN.....

HATS HANDMADE IN AUSTRALIA FROM NEW

AND RECYCLED MATERIAL

We have received a lovely & limited range and I think you are going to covet them.

They will be in stock as of tomorrow I'm hoping.

Just need to make some swing tags for them & display them.

They're excellent quality & exquisitely stylish!

Very swish indeed!

I really, really wish hats suited my head!

xxx

It's beginning....

to look a lot like Christmas......especially in the aisles of the Supermarkets.....

We're trying to show restraint, but we simply must share these gorgeous packs of ten Christmas Cards with you:

Each pack contains 10 Christmas Cards with envelopes, containing two of each of the 2010 designs by the beautiful label Blueberry Paper so they're designed, printed and hand finished in Australia. It gets better too! They're made from 100% recycled post consumer waste paper AND printed with vegetable based inks to boot!

ONLY $19.95 for the pack!

Being put into stock today!

xxxx

Epheriell sweetness!

Ooops! I accidentally shopped!

I've been so good! Really!

But when the lovely Jess had an online sale last Monday to celebrate her store Epheriell's 2nd Birthday I was pushed over the edge into temptation.

This bangle is what did it to me. I am wearing one right now.

Made from recycled sterling silver, this bangle is handformed and finished with a matt glow.

How could I resist?

Jess is one very productive human being!

She is also the lovely lass responsible for the creation of the -soon to arrive on our shelves- *bespokezine* :

"A lovely little zine all about handmade, vintage, photography, art, micro-business, eco-friendly goodness and much more – all in a sweet little A5 sized package that you can take anywhere!"

And that's just a teaser!

Pop over to her website & see what else she has going on maybe!

www.epherielldesigns.com

Good old fashioned School Fete

On Sunday the 24th of October the Hamilton North Primary School are holding a Fete.

Hamilton North is a rather small but growing school.

It's numbers have increased from 110 students in 2008 to a whopping 160 in 2010. With this increase their rather limited resources

are being stretched. They are hoping to raise more than $8,000 from their Fete to purchase much needed resources for the children.

We have donated a Prize valued at RRP $64 which is completely Alice in Wonderland themed.

Why don't you pop along tomorrow & show your support for the school and maybe even win this prize!

They are located on Jackson Street in Broadmeadow.

Pop along! The more the merrier!

It starts at 10am & runs till 2pm.

Tell them we sent you!

xxx

Free Shipping Friday at Bird in the Hand is back!

zine also 'zine (zn) n. 1. An inexpensively produced, self-published, underground publication

Friday Free shipping has returned to Bird in the Hand Zine Shop. Any order, any amount, anywhere in Australia.

So don't forget to log on zineshop.com.au on Friday from 9am for a free shipping frenzy.

New stock will be uploaded between now and Friday too.

A perfect opportunity to order a copy of the limited run

Not True in Newcastle Volume 2

if you cannot make it into our little store!

We are the only two stockists of this glorious Zine so be fasssst!

Be Fast on Free (F)Shipping Friday!

xxx

Boo! Scared? You should be!

Halloween Bout!!

Toxic Zombies vs Vampire Vixens

Gateshead Indoor Sportsworld

Doors open 1pm for a 2pm start

Sunday 31st October

Tickets available in our little store now!

Adults: $15

Kids (7-14 years) $5

or Family of four $35

Tickets can also be bought online or at the door

but only if they last that long!!!!

I want the world to stop

Sean bought me the latest Belle and Sebastian CD on Saturday & we listened to it in the car on the way to Dungog, Sunday.
It was LOVELY! Really lovely.
xxx
PS I'm sure you'll hear it a LOT in our store over the next couple of weeks, along with the latest Sparklehorse & Julia Stone's solo album. They're both really good too.

Smitten kittens!

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!

Our beloved Frankie Magazine site mentioned little old

Blackbird Corner today!

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!

They showed the above photo of our little shrine to them

(pre-arrival of Calendars & Daily Journals of course.)

I am officially reinspired to make something crafty this afternoon, after a day slogging through bookwork & packaging new Freyja Moon Designs brooches + Anorak cards & badge sets.

Hurrah!!

xxx

PS Special thanks to our friend Miss Kelly from http://theteachildren.blogspot.com/

for letting us know about the mention too.

xxx

We escape the madding crowds

I told you a while ago of our intentions to be closed for Darby Street Festival Day (yesterday.)

We both feel that we made the right decision for our sanity and our little, sometimes fragile, store. From all accounts it was a great day and we hope that those of you that went had a great time.

We took the rare opportunity of sharing a day off together to go the Dungog so Sean could finally see Jen's gorgeous new home.

After we'd been to Jen's (and Sean helped Daniel build a small deck!) we drove around and checked out where things are.
We found the River so I took some photos for the Blog.

When I was standing looking into this clear water at the riverstones I felt so clearheaded. I cannot explain what I mean exactly, it's been a fairly intense time in our household and this moment just felt cleansing I guess. And no, tempted as I was, I didn't take off my boots & pantyhose & paddle. It was a tad chilly for that. Maybe next time though.

We stopped on the way out of town so I could get a shot of the beautiful rolling hills.

While I'm here, I just wanted to say that I am not a 'professional Blogger' who writes seven Blogs on a Sunday and releases them one day at a time throughout the week. I blog sporadically if I have some news to impart. I do like to occasionally visit the Blogs of "serious Bloggers" but confess that I do not fully relate to that interpretation of what Blogs are about. I am not criticising that approach, more letting you know that you'll be disappointed if you are expecting such standards here. To be honest I simply do not have enough time to Blog regularly. Certainly not daily. Whilst I've been blogging this morning I have also been making replacement Anorak greeting cards & badge sets; composing an updated To Do list in order of priority; doing laundry (ah the glamour) and shooing Jake (neighbour's Grandson) off the mud patch out the front where my tree once stood. Believe me - it is ugly enough out there without him adding to the general mess. That reminds me - time to phone the Water Corp about the turf & replacement tree they've offered.

xxxx

Water's fury

Last Monday morning at 5:30am(ish) a water main decided to burst right outside our house. Because it was a Public holiday only one Water Corp Emergency Team was on standby. This is, I can only assume, because waterpipes know about State holidays & less emergencies occur on these "special" days. The quite lovely man who came to our eventual rescue lived 45 minutes or so away from our suburb (which is walking distance to the GPO of Newcastle.) Consequently the escaped water had a LOT more fun than need be.
But I digress into residual crankiness.
Anyways....one of the reasons my Mum bought this house (and we then bought it from her several years later) was because of a lovely, unusually shaped tree out the front of the main bedroom on the other side of the footpath. It was, I'm told, over 20 years old. It had survived the annual savaging by Energy Australia in good grace. Sure it had a rather unique profile due to the apparent dislike/disrespect those "arborists" displayed year after year - but we loved it for it's flaws not despite them. And so did the doves who nested in it. And the fruit bats that came annually to eat it's fruit and chatter all night.
Enough of my raving though.
Here are some photos of the result:

And yes. Thankyou.

I am well aware that in the scheme of things, this is hardly a "disaster" or even "awful".

It is a First World Problem.
But one that I had.

Oh Holly!!

Holly Throsby - "Here Is My Co-Pilot" from PEDESTRIAN.TV on Vimeo.

Oh Holly!! I'm smitten. Re-smitten.

xxx

The incomparable Wooden Toy

The much anticipated 7th Issue of Wooden Toy Quarterly has finally hit our shelves. Let us rejoice!

It is the only Quarterly Magazine to come out once a year.

Each issue has one theme. This is the Music edition. It is a glorious piece of Art. Each page deserves your undivided attention.

I think I saw a tear in the corner of Sean's eye when Shannon hand delivered them yesterday.

We will soon be getting our hands on more back issues of the two previous editions AND some VNAs too.

To quote Timba himself:

"Timba Smits is a Melbourne born, London based graphic designer, artist, illustrator, independent publisher, self confessed magazine whore and wannabe olympic ping-pong playa. He is also the world's tallest ninja."

I think that sums him up quite succinctly.

And who knows you better than your own "self"?

In summary:

Oh. My. God. This. Is. Dandy.
xxx