Sweet relief...

is what we're feeling...

Been waiting all weekend for some news.

That "one way or another" life changing type of news.

We've been given a heads up on the direction said news will almost certainly take (don't wish to jinx us of course!) and we're feeling so much more positive now!

So (and don't try this at home kiddies) we're having a quiet beer & listening to Sean's "band of the moment" Braids.

I predict big things for these guys.

And I'd know right?

Taxi!

I cannot find an actual filmclip for any of their songs yet but, if you have a second, press play & LISTEN.

ia

The news we're celebrating is more about our future personal living arrangements than about the shop but will most definitely have bearing on the future of Blackbird too.

Because, we are Blackbird Corner.

Sean & I.

hee hee

xxx

Alternatives to LOMO...

You could try this...

OR

you could always choose the slightly less time consuming option of a Lomo 360 Spinner.

It uses 35mm film and takes a full 360 degree (panoramic) shot with one pull of the cord.

Like magic only not.

In store right this very second for $220.00.

(The first, slightly more fiddly, option was taken from a cute book I found at Cooks Hill Books yesterday - "101 unuseless Japanese inventions" by Kenji Kawakami.)

A thousand words...

xxx

The news today....

...made me cry.

Our hearts go out to the poor, stricken people in Christchurch.

How they must be feeling is beyond our imagination.

Yes, we were in Newcastle when the earthquake struck in 1989 but only our properties were damaged.

Only houses.

What I Thought of You - Holly Throsby (Official Video)

from Yanni Kronenberg on Vimeo.

Anyway, I just made the mistake of following watching the horror show that was SBS News with watching this clip for the first time.

The Frankie site world premiered the clip on Tuesday & very accurately described it as wistful.

Holly Throsby's new CD called Team has just been released so Sean will be sent on a mission to buy it for me tomorrow.

Be prepared to hear it all weekend in the shop.

xxx

PS Sorry if watching this makes you teary. Sometimes teary is the only appropriate way to be though.

x

Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I'll love you tomorrow!

We are most thrilled to announce the latest arrival of new wares!

These gorgeous Lauren Carney Sticker Packs & Postcard sets come from Brissy...

The packs of 9 "Little Lady Sticker Packs" are just $6.00

per pretty packet...

"This little lady sticker set comes with 9 individual ladies, all dressed in quirky clothing.

They range from 10 - 15cm in height and width.

Each illustration has been hand drawing and digitally coloured..."

Pretty swish huh!

And only $10.00 a pkt of ten!

"These ten high quality professionally printed postcards were all digitally drawn using a wacom tablet, coloured in photoshop and layered with additional handmade textures."

I have literally no idea how I'm going to find room for these in store but doubt they'll be taking up much space for long!

Especially at those prices!

I've heard a whisper that one of Lauren's lovely friends & fellow Artists will be stocking some of her lovely creations in Blackbird Corner in a couple of months too!

No names just yet as she's a very busy lass & I don't want to add to the pressure she's under!

xxx

PS I cannot believe that February is almost over already!!

Where did it go? I also cannot believe how many new items we've squeezed into stock this month! If you haven't been in since January we're certainly worth a visit soon!

PPS I've used Lauren's own photos of her wares so: a) they aren't blurry & b) I can use tomorrow to hopefully change the window & make space to pop the new goodies into stock!

xx

Blissful retreat to "The Country"...

Lynda (my Mum) and I took a drive to Dungog today to hang out with my Sister Jen & her kids + the menagerie.

As we arrived Jen was just arriving home with yet another new pet.

A guinea pig who was promptly named "Peppa" - I've never been close up to a guinea pig before...they do make strange sounds!

The Dungog air does do wonders for blowing away stress.

We just couldn't help ourselves though, after a very relaxing cuppa & brunch at The Dungog Cafe we simply had to pop next door to raid the Dungog Fabric & Craft Store. I was actually trying to avoid anything related to the shop or to the sale of our house. I wound up buying lovely fabric & notions then talking on my mobile to a Finance Broker on the main street of Dungog, feeling like a bit of a tosser (or - I don't know - a grown up!)

Sigh...

So anyways, no photos of our adventures just some quick shots from Jen's kitchen. Can you tell what her favourite colour is of late?

xxx

Fig Tree Trivia Night is next Friday!

The Fig Tree Community Garden

presents their inaugural

TRIVIA NIGHT FRIDAY 25 FEBRUARY 2011

Croatian-Wickham Sports Club Albert St, Wickham

Doors open 6.30pm

Questions start 7pm

$20 / ticket $160 / table 8

*If your group is less than 8, it is advised that you purchase tickets in one go to ensure everyone in your group is allocated the same table. Any individual ticket holders will be grouped to form a table of 8 and a team for the night.

BYO Nibbles

Pre-purchase your vegetarian pizza

fresh from the wood-fired oven

$15/pizza, 8 slices Limited number being made

Trivia Master: Sarah Liebetrau

*Prizes for the top three teams* *Bonus rounds* *Raffle* *Games*

HEAPS of WONDERFUL PRIZES donated by LOCAL BUSINESSES!!

Bring your gold coins

PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS NOW

www.stickytickets.com.au/4941

*Small booking fee applies to online sales.

or met Col at The Fig Tree Garden every Thu 9.30am-2.30pm

Proceeds go towards the development of

The Fig Tree Community Garden

Growing with others www.figtree.org.au

I just can't help myself

Again thanks are due to Bec from our other favourite store -

Little Shop Of...

She always has the most delightful packaging so I hit her up to let me in on her secret! Being the generous spirited woman that she is - she emailed me the link to her American supplier!

And nope, I'm not telling!

Not my information to share you see!

Next time you buy a small (gorgeous) handmade item from our shop you'll be handed it in a (gorgeous) retro

styled paper bag.

ahhhhhh I love (paper) packaging.

I just cannot help myself.

xxx

PS In case you didn't guess our favourite shop is

Blackbird Corner.

Red Wagon

Red Wagon Alphabet cards have arrived!!

Thanks so much to Little Shop of... for suggesting that we stock these!

They're divine!

xxx

And only $30 a bag (yes they come in their own embroidered bags!)

Newcastle Roller Derby League Season starts soon!

Before the season gets under way, the league are having a trivia night fundraiser!

Click on the picture to go to see what it's all about!

Tickets for the Trivia night are only available online.

Tickets are now for sale in our store + the glorious

Catfight Collections on Beaumont Street for the above bouts!

Adults :: $15

Kids 7 - 14 :: $5

Family :: $35

You can also buy tix online or through NUSA.

Click on the bout poster to get all the details!

First bout is 12th March - so?

What are you waiting for?

Get off the 'net & come buy your tickets!

xxx

Letters letters everywhere

So......

My Scrabble letters arrived today & I went a tad crazy with signage!

This one worked immediately - a Grandma stood & read it to her little Grandson & explained what it meant.

Consequently he was an absolute angel.

Who knows if this one will have any impact?

It may tweak some consciences?

I know that thieves are thieves & it won't stop those types.

I very strongly believe in Karma though, which helps me when I discover that items have been shoplifted. We know our handmade stock so well, we made a lot of it, so we do tend to notice pretty quickly when things are amiss.

I take it extremely personally when people steal from us.

Last Sunday the smallest red swallow from a three bird set by Pirdy was swiped from right in front of me. I then realised that a handprinted Introspection Cahier by Anorak was also missing.

Ooooooh I was sooooooo cross!

Do you know what though?

When the lovely Jules, from Pirdy, heard of the theft she insisted on sending me a replacement without charge.

She said it was an "orphan" that needed a home. Bless her.

It is people like Jules that balance out the baddies and restore my faith in goodness.

The newly whole set found a new home today with a very lovely woman who collects red glass and decided they'd look divine flying on the wall above her collection.

Oh here's another new scrabble tile sign!

It's to make it clear that the books about Lomo are to flick through to help with choice!

These shoes belong to a lovely lass who spent around an hour chilling in the shop today whilst deciding which book about Banksy she needed to buy. I did ask her before I took the photo!

They just symbolised to me that we attract such lovely, confident & unique people that feel completely comfortable in our shop.

She understood exactly what I was on about.

Of course.

She felt a little guilty 'disturbing' her shoes to put them back on when it was time to go after we'd focussed on them so much.

xxx

PS. A lovely woman from Queensland popped in today & asked if she could snap a few shots of the shop to put on her Blog, I happily obliged. Her name was Nat & her site is called precinkt.com Check it out, it's quite delightful. I think you'll like it!

How does your garden grow?

Introducing Kabwares Garden Markers!

Remember how the Frankie Afternoon Tea Cookbook made me decide to start baking cakes?

Well these garden markers made from recycled cutlery are giving me herb garden urges!

I squeezed them into stock just before we opened for the day & have already sold three Kabwares items!

Such a perfect & original gift idea!

I love our little shop to bits!

xxx

Obscure much?

Today I have been cutting out & sewing some skirts.

And doing a lot of contemplation.

Contemplation lead to procrastination.

Procrastination lead to humming...humming lead to a self indulgent idea. So I embroidered a little lyric on some fabric and made a cushion. Despite loving the band as much as I do Sean was unable to identify the lyric.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Please, tell me you know what I'm referencing?

xxx

PS. Sean tells me that he's having a lovely day in store today...

with friends like these.......

...I am the happiest of campers you ever will meet!

Do you ever step back & look at the loveliness of the people you've managed to have in your life?

Well, I do and I'm pretty darn pleased with the standard.

The girls from Grey Gardens are pretty spiffy indeed...

Accordingly I am so very pleased to let you know the date for the next Young & Baroque Artist Market!

Our very favourite Newcastle Market!

It is all set for Sunday the 20th March beginning at 10am at Arthive. The woodland inspired market day is set to be the best yet! They are still taking expressions of interest for stallholders so please email subjecthive@gmail.com if you think you'd like to sell and create something magical!

Be sure to include images so they can see your goods!

After the extraordinarily high standard of entries to our recent Blog Comp I know that very talented folk read this!

So? What are you waiting for then aye?

Get creating!

xxx

besotted...smitten...infatuated...

...those words best describe how we feel about Frankie.

The new issue is out now & it's to die for!

It's Number 40 would you believe!?!

I've had my first glance through it but am saving it for Thursday to devour every single page one by one by one by one...

you get the idea!

How would you best describe how you feel about Frankie?

xxx

Latest My Fascist Mother Skirt....

Sean keeps telling Customers to "check our Blog for latest stock updates." I keep gently reminding him that I actually post such pics on our Facebook page not here.

Not as regularly here as I do there anyways.

So I'm putting these here just for him. Bless him.

This is the latest offering from My Fascist Mother (the label my Sister Jen & I design/create together.)

It can be worn three ways as you can see above.

So it's like buying three skirts at once! We made a similar one a couple of months back in purple with Riley Blake Fabric for the aprons & they sold out very swiftly.

We actually made these ones as they have been requested by some of the women that purchased the previous ones which is very lovely & satisfying. If you like, pop in this week and try one on for size - before your size is gone! We only make one of each size per design you know! Sizes 4 - 18.

xxx

House proud

Hallway looking in...

Turning left from hall into loungeroom...

And turning right from hallway into loungeroom...

The front of our little house...

Across our courtyard to our studio...

So...very soon we'll be putting our little home on the market...so we took some photos the other day to keep as memories. Funny how, once you decide to sell, you finish the To Do List & fix up everything that needed fixing.

I have fallen back into love with our house so am feeling a tad torn. But, very luckily, I'm also in love with the building we're planning to buy once our house sells.

I know that this Blog is meant to be about my shop but I'm always breaking that "rule" and, hey, this is where our shop's ideas & creations have come from for the last four & a half years...

"Torn between two lovers" is now singing itself in my head.

xxx

PS I hope you don't think I'm "oversharing" but let me know if you do! I so rarely get comments on this Blog that I assume very few people actually read it anyway!

x

A Girl called Mike is here!

Swoon.....how divine.... A Girl called Mike is the latest handmade range to arrive in our extremely full store. The first pair of gorgeous earrings sold as I was literally unpacking them when they were finally delivered this morning! (Thanks for getting them to us a full week after they were posted AustPost geez!)

Then a lovely man bought a necklace from the range an hour later (as a Valentine's Day Gift I do believe - awwwwwww!)

I really think that our Customers will adore these pieces as much as we do somehow! I've displayed them on some of my Grandmother Pat's plates on the counter for safekeeping and because I like looking at them so much!

xxx

PS Today was a truly lovely day full of interesting conversations.

I LOVE my little shop.

Welcomes PIRDY to our store!

Ooooooh what a frantically busy morning I had finding ways to display our lovely new wares!

First I squeezed in Flamboyant Joe:

Just when I had displayed that range to my satisfaction the courier delivered a huge box from PIRDY....

Hee hee cute little handmade owl ornaments by PIRDY -

just $16.00 each!

WANT!

Families of 5 handmade owls by PIRDY $50 per family!

Which colour to choose!?!

Huge handmade Resin & Fabric owl brooches by PIRDY just $18.00 each.

PIRDY

"Refreshing modern & vintage inspired pieces for home and body ~ lovingly hand created with quality and originality in mind."

Scrumptious PIRDY wall owl - handmade!

Just $25.00

If you go past the shop tonight you'll see a romantic window with love hearts hanging around the gorgeous one-off frock made by Jen for HexSix on our mannequin.

I tried to take a photo of the window but it was just too reflective!

Here's a shot of the frock we took this morning prior to opening for the day. It comes with it's own petticoat by golly!

Jen is such a clever clogs!

xxx

Measuring up...

photo taken by Sean on our counter yesterday

This month we've been going nuts with orders & organising new consigners of handmade wares for our little corner store.

Yesterday Flamboyant Joe arrived...hopefully this week other parcels will be arriving from all over Australia. Our Lomo range is back up to speed as of yesterday too and a new order of lo-brow items is enroute from San Fran. The Anorak Tee range should have full size ranges again within a couple of weeks and a new My Fascist Mother range of skirts will be hitting the racks in a couple of days (I've got Jen doing buttonholes for me - I hate buttonholes!)

New Songbird & Hex(6) one off items (including bags and heatpacks) are being put in this morning.

We just need the shop to expand to fit everything in now and all will be well...

xxx

PS So? Do we measure up?

Have you met Flamboyant Joe?

Magnets...

Brooches...

Pocket Mirrors...

" Flamboyant Joe create handmade cushions, brooches, earrings, necklaces and other jewellery with imagery sourced from old children’s books rescued from dusty op-shops and other interestingly vintage stuff. There are no two pieces the same as each item is created by hand, lovingly. Their jewellery is whimsical + cheeky + precious + sometimes innocently sinister."

We are very excited to now be stocking a small range of Flamboyant Joe brooches, magnets & pocket mirrors!

They'll be in stock as of tomorrow - after I've have a perusal of course!

I already have one of their lovely brooches - remember Sean bought me one for my Birthday at the first Young & Baroque Markets?

If you'd like to see the whole range you should pop along to Milk Thieves in Wollongong - it's owned by Flamboyant Joe's creators!

Swoon.

xxx

PS The Lomo order finally arrived today & I went in to tag them all this afternoon so they will be on the shelves ready for you when we open at 11am tomorrow!

We love Lomo!