It’s a total travesty that I’ve never featured the Eames House Bird as a “birdy pick of the week” before. I always thought it was a bit obvious, so I steered well clear. But since it’s “A Week of Modern” on Wee Birdy, I really can’t ignore this iconic little fellow any more.
The original black wooden bird was actually an Appalachian artefact (circa 1910) that Charles and Ray Eames picked up on their travels. It stood on the floor of their acclaimed Pacific Palisades house for over fifty years.
I love the way that their beloved collection of objects from different cultures and eras worked seamlessly to create this timeless yet very modern look. They clearly adored this bird because he pops up time and again in the Eames’s photos – and is used as a prop in many shoots of their iconic chairs.
In co-operation with the Eames family, Swiss designer furniture company Vitra has used 3-D scans of the original bird to create the solid alder wood reproduction. It’s made in Germany and you can get it from Nest in the UK (for £103.33) and from Space Furniture in Australia. It’s also available on DWR.
I haven’t done a themed week in a while so I was inspired to run “A week of Modern” on Wee Birdy to celebrate the Sydney launch of Australian Modern magazine.
The timing of the mag, by Chris Osborne Publishing, couldn’t be better. There has never been so much interest in the mid-20th century modernist movement, thanks in part to the popularity of Mad Men which has inevitably influenced fashion and design in recent years.
For instance, Louis Vuitton’s unashamedly feminine Spring Summer 2012 collection featured mid-century silhouettes in a spectrum of ‘50s milkbar hues, Peter Pan collars and exaggerated broderie anglaise. Meanwhile, Christian Dior revisted the glory days of their mid-century New Look with full skirts, cinched-in waists, and a reworking of their iconic bar jacket.
And back to those Mad Men, I know I’m not the only one coveting Don and Megan’s Manhattan apartment featuring an amazing sunken lounge in the latest series (five).
Australian Modern is a welcome addition to the niche magazine market, as it shines a new light on 20th century Australian design and architecture. Apart from its sister publication, Brisbane Modern, the only other magazine catering for mid-century modern enthusiasts was US-based Atomic Ranch.
In the launch issue, Australian Modern delves beyond the obvious and well-known names in Australian design and art history, with features on artist Ludwik Dutkiewicz’s oil paintings, Clement Meadmore’s chairs and Peter Travis’ ceramics.
It also does a fine job in covering mid-century architecture around Australia, from the brutalist Henty house in Launceston to ‘60s suburban modern homes in the Brisbane suburb of Aspley.
Other entertaining stories include a fascinating look at the prevalence of Googie in Australia (oh, how I’d love to go on a Googie-scouting roadtrip) and the impact of mid-century French fashion on the local Australian industry, which rather interestingly reveals just how fashion-forward and innovative David Jones once was, collaborating with the likes of Christian Dior in bringing the New Look to our shores. Perhaps some valid lessons which could be learnt today?
I don’t usually write about competitions, but this one is so awesome that you might actually abandon me if I kept this one all to myself, as tempting as it might be. Samsung is on the hunt for 100 global bloggers to send to London to cover the 2012 Olympic Games. It’s the most awesome of Once in a Lifetime Awesome Competitions. Got your attention now?
And it’s not just about the Games – they want bloggers who can share their unique experience of London and uncover the best the city has to offer. The winners will broadcast their experience to the world on a specially created Samsung blog, www.samsungglobalblogger.com.
I’ll let Jamie Oliver tell you a bit more about it.
If you would like to take part, you’ll need to record a 30 second video stating why you should be picked to come to London and submit it online at www.samsungglobalblogger.com. Hop to it – entries close 29 April.
The seed for Wee Birdy germinated with an actual trip: from Sydney to London. Now, an Australian moving to London is not exactly new/s. Or even remotely interesting. Indeed, moving to London, living in a crowded share house in Camden and pulling pints at the local pub is a veritable rite of passage for many Australian 20-somethings.
But instead of waiting in the poo queue at Glastonbury, I spent my twenties getting a first class honours degree in English literature, editing a swag of glossy magazines and burning myself into a hole of misery by the time I was 30.
In the meantime, London was burning away at the back of my mind.
I had always adored London. I was fascinated by British culture and history. I loved British bands. And although I had visited London a few times, I wanted more. I finally made the move, along with my husband, who was happily up for swapping Bondi for Blighty. We had no plans, no jobs and nowhere to live. Like thousands of other Australians before us, we were just going.
1. February 2007: London
We found ourselves living in East London on the Kingsland Road. On our first weekend we went for a stroll along Regent’s Canal, and stumbled upon Broadway Market. Despite it being a market for over 100 years, it was still relatively under-the-radar and mostly frequented by locals. It was just starting to find its hipster cred – not that I had any clue about that.
But my – how I adored my new local market. A Ladybird Book Lady! Kate Sheridan handbags! Violet Cakes! I told a few London mates about my wee finds, and they were intrigued. Where was this place? Who made these luscious violet-flavoured cupcakes? And who on earth was the Ladybird Lady? The idea of a Wee Birdy telling you a secret was hatched.
2. July 2007: The inspiration
So I started blogging about my wee finds. Writing and publishing stuff wasn’t exactly new to me, but writing and publishing stuff that I was actually passionate about was a revelation (confession: I was never really a Cosmo girl). And while it wasn’t a deeply personal blog, it gave purpose to my day – I was still unemployed at this stage – and focussing on stuff I loved about London was the perfect antidote to the stuff that I didn’t particularly love about my newly adopted home (ie. getting mugged, bleak weather and mind-numbingly tedious bureaucracy). I set out to become the little bird who told you where to find all the cool stuff.
3. Making mistakes street-stylee
At some point I thought it would be a brilliant idea to take photos of some of the cute girls around town and find out where they bought their clothes and what shade of lipstick they were wearing. Thankfully, I soon realised The Sartorialist I was not, so I abandoned The Great Street Style Experiment. Lesson learnt.
4. The shops
I discovered Cheshire Street – just off Brick Lane – and a cluster of shops I adored. I spent time getting to know the owners, examining the wares, learning about their providence and points of difference. I dedicated one blog post to each shop, detailing the best buys, the most unique items, and what to take home. And I took lots of photos. It’s a format that I continue to this day.
5. Bird is the word
At this stage, I was reading and linking to other blogs like Liberty London Girl, Meet me at Mike’s and Girl with a Satchel. Suddenly, they started reading me. And leaving comments. Liberty London Girltagged me in a meme, Meet me at Mike’s told me she missed me even though she’d never met me, and Girl with a Satchel wrote about me on her blog. I made new friends. The word about the bird started to spread.
6. Mapping it
One of my major goals was to help my readers find the best that London had to offer, so I started to map each shop that I visited, as well as nearby cafes and other favourite spots. I created maps for different parts of London, as well as “Secret London” maps, specifying the locations of some of my favourite London insiders’ secret haunts.
7. Other good stuff
My magpie’s eye for sparkling treasures turned online, and I started to blog about wee fashion, beauty, design and crafty finds. And birds, of course. Somehow these new posts worked alongside my London shop profiles. People started emailing me about stuff that they thought was “very Wee Birdy”. It was a particular look and style. And then it hit me: Wee Birdy was me! And I guess that’s my point of difference, too.
8. Paris and beyond
I had an idea: if people liked my take on London, then they might like my take on other places, too. So when I went to Paris, I blogged about my edit of the best shops. Ditto Glasgow, Wales and Copenhagen. And I’m still going.
9. Time Out
I was desperate to work for my favourite magazine (and London institution) Time Out. But even though I had loads of mag experience on my CV, I was still the new girl in town. And Time Out staffers were not only passionate about London, they had the most extensive local (and insider) knowledge. So I had something to prove – and a dream to chase. Finally, in 2009 I was appointed deputy shopping & style editor at Time Out London. My (first) dream job.
10. Back to Sydney
Just as I was having the time of my life at Time Out, covering London Fashion Week, interviewing designers, and going shopping for a living, I got sick. I needed my family, I needed to rest, and deep down I knew that we had to move back to Sydney. So with a heavy heart, we packed up our lives again, and resigned ourselves to the next chapter in our lives.
11. My own wee birdy
Surprise! I’m pregnant! Back in Sydney, I fulfilled another dream and got myself well and truly knocked up. But I gave new meaning to the medieval notion of lying-in – and not only did I struggle to walk, I was too sick to blog. So I had to take an extended maternity break, which was difficult but I was heartened to find that the Wee Birdy community was waiting for me on the other side – along with my own wee baby bird.
Blogging and being a new mum is hard. There are 49 other blogs that attest to that. And I’m still trying to work it out. But with the promise of all that Sydney has to offer, it’s an exciting new challenge. And there is still loads more to talk about in London. So Wee Birdy continues to be my work in progress, just like me. Funny, that.
12. New York or…?
Next stop: New York? Well, that’s entirely up to you. I’ve been nominated as one of Kidspot’s Top 50 Bloggers for 2012 with the chance to fly to New York and attend BlogHer – the ultimate blogging conference. The winner also gets to drive a fancy pants new Ford Territory for a year.
* This blog post forms my entry in the Kidspot Top 50 Bloggers competition (with apologies to J.R.R. Tolkien)
All photography by Wee Birdy (except for the photo of Bird Textile by Lucas Boyd).
For this week’s birdy pick I’ve returned to one of my favourite Sydney-based online shops, Upon a Fold, which showcases an immaculate collection of paper creations from around the world. Stationery nerds will get their geek on over the exquisite range of cards, envelopes and notebooks sourced from Japan and Korea, while design aficionados will appreciate the line-up of architectural paper objects and creations.
I made a bee-line for the beautiful bird-themed cards and envelopes, which are miniature works of art in themselves and can be enjoyed for a long time after they’re opened. This colourful little fellow, top (AU$6.95), has die-cut feet so that he stand up alone, or he could be hung as a colourful mobile. And the beautifully-illustrated birds by Japanese designer Ayame Kikuchi, above, would make charming (and relatively inexpensive) decorations perched on a shelf or windowsill.
Here are a couple of quick and relatively easy ways to decorate hand-blown eggs for Easter. I really wanted to avoid dyeing the eggs because I didn’t want to fuss around with all the colour, and I also wanted to experiment with confetti.
Have you noticed that confetti is everywhere at the moment? I’ve actually got a “wee trends” draft post about confetti that’s been sitting in my folder for over 12 months. So it’s a trend that’s not going away any time soon. In the meantime, head over to gorgeous Sydney shop Little Paper Lane‘s new blog and read their post about confetti – and while you’re there, have a look at the delightful collection of stationery and paper-y goodness in the new online shop.
But back to the eggs. Blowing the innards out of an egg is actually pretty disgusting (but mildly satisfying in manner similar to popping a pimple), and I had to rethink my good intentions of using the yolk for scrambled eggs (spittle-infused eggs isn’t particularly desirable). But once you’ve got your eggs blown (check out this good how-to over on Kidspot), decorating them with confetti and washi-tape is a cinch.
How to make confetti Easter eggs
(1) There are a few confetti eggs doing the rounds over on Pinterest. Have a look here and here. But they’re all eggs with confetti inside the eggs, ready for smashing on Easter Sunday. I wanted to see if I could decorate the outside of the egg with confetti. And the results weren’t too bad. It was ridiculously easy, too, as far as Easter egg crafts are concerned.
(2) You will need:
* Blown, rinsed and dried eggs
* Mod Podge (a water-based glue and sealant that’s available from art/craft stores)
* Confetti. Good GOD it’s near impossible to find a box of the traditional stuff in Sydney. Nobody stocks it. Only fancy-pants foil confetti in various shapes and colours. But I finally managed to find boxes of the stuff at the little newsagent in Haberfield, which doubles as an excellent party supplies shop. Check it out if you’re ever in need of pinatas, themed party-ware or party hats. Of course, you can always make your own confetti with a hole-punch and coloured tissue paper.
* Medium-fine paint brush
(3) Here’s how:
* Dip your paint brush in the mod podge and apply a thin layer to the outside of the egg. You might like to steady your egg on a skewer that’s shoved into something secure – I used the holes in the toothpick jar.
* Stick one piece of confetti at a time to your egg. Press down lightly to get rid of air bubbles and creases. Overlap some of the circles for a genuine confetti look – otherwise space them out for a polka-dots look. You can also paint over the confetti with the mod-podge to seal it, but some colours like red might run a little.
* Leave to dry and then arrange in a bowl, or stuff them with glitter or confetti and smash them on Easter Day. If you want to hang them on an Easter tree, thread ribbon through the holes and tie a knot on the bottom of the egg. Here’s a good tutorial on how to hang an Easter egg over on Kidspot.
How to make washi tape eggs
You will find a good tutorial on making washi tape eggs over on Family Circle. But here’s my quick how-to:
(1) You will need:
* Blown, rinsed and dried eggs
* Selection of washi tape (Japanese decorative masking tape)
* Scissors
(2) Here’s how:
* Cut small lengths of washi tape (no more than 2cm) and stick them on to the egg. Some patterns lend themselves to being placed at angles for a patchwork/herringbone effect. You could do a single layer of washi tape (3), but I went nuts and did several layers (4).
I don’t know if I recommend this or not. I was half-happy with the results. They’re a tad rustic for my taste. But it’s an easy way to decorate eggs and kids might enjoy it too.
Are you decorating Easter eggs this year? What are you doing? And do you also find blowing out the contents of a raw egg disgustingly satisfying?
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