In a gorgeous little back street of Newtown, appropriately named ‘australia street’, sits an incredibly quaint boutique called newspaper taxi. I’d been dying to visit ever since I met owner Stefanie Bassett at my impromptu book signing last year at Berkelouw bookstore in Newtown. Finally last week, I got my chance…

(the always inspiring children’s magazine, papier mache.)

Stef’s store is filled with vintage collectibles, handmade home wares and beautiful publications like you see above, and below…

(ebony’s divine gift wrapping zine. Ebony is also selling her zines online, of which all proceeds from the sales will go directly to Red Cross to help survivors in Japan.)

(above left: beautiful ceramic brooches made by sarah o’sullivan above right: a little in store vignette of vintage goodness.)

Newspaper Taxi is also an exclusive stockist of one of our favourite parisian artisans, Nathalie Lété. At the moment, Stef has some stunning prints by Nathalie. If you’re in newtown, be sure to check out stef’s store.  If you’re nowhere near newtown and don’t think you’ll be there in the near future, you can also view part of stef’s extensive collection of goodies on her online shop here. And! she writes a blog here with updates on her newest finds.

Oh, I can’t wait to visit again and again. It’s good to be back in my ol’ hometown.

xx

today’s sun set in Amsterdam, photo taken by my friend alan jensen

two minutes later: sun up in Sydney, photo taken by me, 5 minutes ago

Amsterdammers have been loving the 2 days of sunshine they’ve just had. Meanwhile in Sydney, we’ve been having torrential rain for 2 days straight. This morning, my friends Cath and Al took this photo of the setting sun over Amsterdam and minutes later I walked out the door to find the sun had risen here, bright and beautiful.

Synchronicity at its finest.

xx

click here to see the larger version.

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UPDATE: there have been many requests to buy the print – thank you! We’ll be looking into it this week – so hopefully by the end of the week (that being Friday March 25), we should have something available. Thanks again for all your support and positive attitude, it’s so wonderful to see so many of you enthusiastic about giving credit where credit is due. x

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Have you noticed that image crediting on blogs has become a rather hot topic over the last few weeks? There have been some great posts about it from Chelsea at {frolic!} and Grace at Design*Sponge (who wrote three posts as part of her online etiquette + ethic series for biz ladies: here, here and here).

A couple of weeks ago Erin, Chelsea, Lisa, Nichole, Amanda and I started an email conversation about it, wondering if there was a way we could get the message across about the importance of image crediting in a fun and informative way. Because let’s face it, it’s a confusing topic that needs some serious clarification. In my industry, we are often talking about the lack of image crediting on blogs – there is very much a love/hate feeling for blogs with most photographers, stylists, art directors, editors and publishers. I, for example,  love the concept of tumblr but get so frustrated with the lack of crediting – countless times I’ve found a gorgeous image that I’d love to blog about but after hours of research still cannot find the original source. Not to mention finding my own images on there without credit.

We’ve already had some great feedback this morning on Grace’s post about the poster (thanks so much Grace!) and I’ve made some minor changes with those in mind, so what you see above is the finished poster. Also, some people have asked if the poster is for sale. We will keep you posted about that. Erin from design for mankind wrote a fab post about it today too,  and I love & agree with all she wrote. Erin has been a big inspiration in the making of this poster – from the colouring of her new blog design (which I adore!), to her funky style and funny, heartfelt words.  My dear friend Yvette van Boven let me use her incredible handwritten fonts, thank you sweet Yvette.

Thanks to everyone who has kept this topic hot over the last few weeks. I hope this poster helps to shed some much needed light on the subject and helps all to understand why it’s necessary to credit images. Please feel free to blog, tweet, tumble, or pin this poster  – we made it to share, so please do, merci beaucoup!

xx

what: kangaroo where: countryside why: i think you know the answer to that.

“I have designed the restaurant in reverse. I’ve started at the end and worked back. My dream has always been to build a restaurant that creates no waste and now I believe I can achieve it!” – Joost Bakker

Last Friday, Romain & I had the pleasure of enjoying breakfast + a catch up with my dear friend Jenni at Joost Bakker’s GREENHOUSE. I’ve been a fan of Joost’s work since learning about him a few years back, and was so excited to hear via gourmet traveller that his latest venture was right here in Sydney. Over the years, Joost has been commissioned to design furniture, spaces, and vertical gardens in his signature style that brings together nature and industry. His focus on sustainability in all his projects is what drew me to his work, and it was such a treat to finally experience one of his creations in the flesh…

For me, stepping inside GREENHOUSE was like stepping into the heart of Amsterdam – from the use of space, colour, decor, and inventiveness  – there is a wonderful air of the unconstrained, which is the very characteristic that I love most about Amsterdam.

While enjoying a doughnut and cuppa, I was fortunate to meet Georgina, one of the talented designers on the team. She spoke about the design and  creation of the restaurant, and how they’d love to find a permanent place for it in Sydney (yes, please!). Thanks to the lovely Georgina, I also got a chance to meet Joost on the rooftop garden + bar…

The GREENHOUSE philosophy is about “lifestyle and the many choices that can be made; from material choices to fashion, food and ultimately waste.” This is evident through the space – everything has been made from recycled materials, including the bathroom doors and jar covered lights…

GREENHOUSE is only open for another couple of weeks, so if you live in Sydney, I highly recommend you go and check it out while you can. Sitting on Campbells Cove, just opposite the Opera House on the other side of the quay, it’s well worth it just to drink in the view on the rooftop terrace, surrounded by strawberries and herbs of all varieties…

Congrats to Joost and his incredible team, here’s hoping for a permanent GREENHOUSE in Sydney!

xx

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photos by Pia Jane Bijkerk & Jenni Booth.