The perfect sunny Sydney weekend (Part l)

After weeks of unseasonal downpour the clouds parted as another of my dearest friends, the always fabulous Melissa Reid, stepped off the plane from New Zealand. As a Sydney virgin it was my job to show her a good time... what a pleasure!

First stop, some food tourism! For those of you that don't know, food in Australia is something else. It could be the combination of great fresh produce, the melting pot of cultures or not being stifled by old fashioned cooking traditions. I'm not sure but the Aussies have something they can be even prouder of than their sporting accomplishments! To top it off, it is really cheap to eat out. So we headed to Newtown's Barmuda cafe for some serious fuel to start the day with. We shared ricotta pancakes with berries and potato stacks with aubergine, roast tomato and perfect scrabbled egg...

 So delicious we had to restrain ourselves from licking the plates!

Newtown is a bit like London's Camden if i could compare it to anywhere. Its full of street art, cafes, vintage shops and some seriously good second hand home shops (they are so good in fact, that whenever i think of them i feel regret in the pit of my stomach that i could not give all the treasures a home)

For our final stop of the day it was onwards to a Sydney icon, Bondi Beach. In my childhood this famous beach used to be a bit run down and dirty but over the years it has evolved into the perfect city beach. The sand is golden, the water crystal clear and the waves perfect for playing in. It has a very laid back atmosphere and with the relaxing of licensing laws some great little local boozers are starting to pop up (finally). And don't even get me started on the eye candy, because it is a visual feast!

The Sydney State Theatre

These are all the photos i took at the theatre until i was told in no uncertain terms to put my camera away.

 A bit of well deserved old school glamour.

Keeping it in the family part lll: Christmas in World Square and a trip down memory lane.

By this stage of Christmas prep i was getting a bit tetchy after spending 2 days cutting out and sewing star garlands but i needed lots to fill the newly opened Bracewell as its a large space. It was worth it though and its homemade raw edge really suited the store.

While going through the archives i came upon some photos of of the last pop up shop which we did in this space (when it was, eek, double the size) 2 years ago.

Sculptures by the sea

Once a year, along the famous Bondi to Bronte coastal walk, Sculpture by the Sea comes to visit. The coastline is dotted with different artists work in a spectacular natural gallery. The perfect place to go on a date with my dear friend Imogen while she visited from New Zealand!

 The quality of sculptures really varied. The poorest ones almost being cliches of sculptures, looking for a bank lobby to be housed in.

 This cheeky little fellow decided to own most of the works by lifting his leg and adding his own personal touch, if you know what i mean...

 I LOVE the woven coral.

 I liked the work that had a bit of humor but the most successful pieces where the ones which worked with their environment and when you have a stage like this why fight it?

Keeping it in the family part ll: Bracewell, Paddington

Christmas came early to the Paddington branch of Bracewell. I had a little shuffle around with the placings in the shop, filled an some empty shelves with back to front books, hung some homemade star garlands and got to work in the windows.

I try not to spend any money on props because my Dads factory has so many goodies hidden away in it, its a shame for them to go to waste. So for the stars i took old cardboard used for cutting garment patterns and then sewed them together on the sewing machine... Martha Stewart would be proud.

I used these  hung though out the shops and hung diagonally in the windows. In the Paddington windows i hung a curtain of black sequins to give some  Christmas twinkle once set off by the naked light bulbs.

Happy Christmas!

Keeping it in the family: Bracewell pop up shop

When my Dad phoned me a few days after i returned from Vietnam and said he wanted me to come out to Australia to help him set up his new shop i pretty much jumped on the plane there and then. He was setting up one of his Bracewell stores at World Square in central Sydney and we could do what we wanted to a totally blank canvas... Perfect!

 Before

 Window with mix and match self assemblage scarecrow mannequins

Wood paneled changing rooms complete with (the family favourite) Trechikoff prints

For the stockroom we clad a tin shed in plywood and painted it in thinned paint with a "tree" behind it

 

I mixed and matched tubular metal rails and a screen frame and set them out in a zig zag against the window

Hand painted wall

This was such a fun job as i was able to be really creative and get my hands dirty with painting, drilling and building the most complicated 25 page flat pack shed (ok that bit wasn't so much fun). I was really lucky because Dad is a total hoarder and has some fabulous mid century pieces including lighting and furniture not to mention counters and rails. I am proud to say we were able to get it open within eight days of me getting off the plane and on a tiny budget.

A big thanks to Sarah at We Like This Too for being her usual inspirational self before i left and pointing me in some interesting directions which really helped shape this project. Cheers love x