Shop Profile - Nook

NOOK

19 Browning St
West End, Brisbane

When we were up in Brisbane last year for Finders Keepers we got to visit Nook in West End and it would have to be one of my favourite shops. Firstly there is a kittycat there called Pedro so that just made very happy. Secondly the shop is FULL of all your favourite Australian designers and makers so looking through the shop is really fun. So if you're in Brisbane I'm sure you know all about it, if you're on a trip to Brisbane we say go visit. We asked Michelle a few questions about her shop:

What do you sell in your shop?

Loads of cute things! Paper goods, jewellery, t-shirts and home wares, with an emphasis on eco & independently designed goods.



What is a great place to go to eat in the area?

Sol Breads organic sourdough bakery. Their vegie calzone and banana cake are particularly delicious. The vegan peanut butter cheesecake at The Forest is pretty darn spectacular too.



Best thing about running a shop?

Being able to class reading blogs and scouting for lovely things all day as 'work'. Spending the day with my little cat Pedro and meeting nice people all day long.

Like, Sydney!

We are back from a busy week in Sydney participating in Life Instyle. A pretty swish four days where we get to meet with lots of lovely shop owners and look at loads and loads of really lovely products. Sydney is a bit of a magical place in my eyes because you know so much about it, especially in film and TV (Lantana and Love my Way are two that stand out) that when you go there all this stuff you know from make believe is around you in real life.

I got to stay in a very lovely place in Paddington that had a cat and a herb garden as well as spend time with creative, interesting and inspiring people. I also had a wee celebrity spotting and can offer this advice: when going on the "hunt" for a celebrity don't discuss your spotting plan while they are sitting in front of you. You will sound like a bit of a dick. I wish I played it cool like the guy in our new card above that my sister came up with. He wouldn't have even cared if he saw someone famous.

Bunk With Me

Imagine meeting a guy and then going home with him. He doesn't live with his Mum and Dad which is a bonus. You get to his house and he gives you a glass of Chardonnay. You'll forgive him for his poor choice in wine because it's better than the Fruity Lexia he was buying you at the bar. Then he changes into his pirate PJs and invites you to his room and says "love is on the bottom of my bunk bed baby!"

This card is now on Etsy and our upcoming markets.

Every Saturday
ROSE STREET ARTIST MARKET
Time: 11am - 5pm
Where: 60 Rose Street, Fitzroy

Every Sunday
ROSE STREET ARTIST MARKET
Time: 11am - 5pm
Where: 60 Rose Street, Fitzroy


Thursday 10th February
REVOLVER DESIGN MARKET
When: 6pm-10pm
Where: Revolver Upstairs
229 Chapel Street, Prahran

Boys are lovely too you know

Did you know that Able and Game just turned two. I've heard stories about the terrible twos but I think turning two is pretty exciting. Two years ago I made our You're All Sorts of Lovely card and it has been one of our most popular cards. We really felt after two years she needed a wee friend, a companion boy card, so we got to making one after all these years (can you refer to two years as all these years, it feels a little too short to be an "all these" just yet??).

We often get asked if the boy or girl should buy the card featuring the boy or girl when we have the option. We like to think there is no special rule and people should do what feels right but we find most of the time the girls will buy the cards with the girls on them and the boys will buy the cards with the boys on them. I wonder if lovely boy and lovely girl would love one another? I certainly think our lazy eye girl wouldn't go anywhere near our lazy eye boy, she probably doesn't even have a real lazy eye, just a bunch of mascara stuck in it, so he is far too good for her anyway!

Getting wet

On Saturday we went to Laneway Festival where it was a sea of gumboots despite it not raining once during the day. Those of you in Melbourne on Friday night would understand why, as it rained like the sky was being paid causing the South East to turn into a series of inland islands. Our house almost flooded and we discovered how good we are in a panic situation. Not good at all. At one stage I was kicking the water from our back door yelling "go away! go away!" On the 'how helpful was this' scale with one being not very helpful and ten being very helpful this would rate as a -7. Lucky our back yard unlakeified itself pretty quickly and only our laundry (stored full of stuff) flooded. It made me realise how lucky we were compared to QLD and how quickly water can fill up a pretty small space.

Back to the gumboots, I think I saw about 5000 pairs on Saturday and the only way to get them out of the system was to draw them, so I thought a music festival card was in order. I used to be scared of going to music festivals because the thought of watching a band you love play while another band you love is playing close by really upset me. Then I realised I was just being a bit of a dick and got over it.

I'm a tree, I'm a tree!

You know when you're out dancing and your friend says "let's do some interpretive dance"? That is one thing that always makes me happy. These two dance lovers are pretty special, I love the guy and the way he is saying "you touch my heart baby" with his simple but elegant hand gestures. Classic romance that is.

These two are available on Etsy and we have both a boy and a girl version. Did you notice what the girl is wearing? Buffalo boots! I can't wait for the late '90s to come back in fashion again, the early '90s is so late '80s.

And we're back from our adventures!

We have been a little absent from blogland for the last month as we spent 4 weeks over in Scotland with Gareth's family for Christmas. Although we had plans to blog while we were away, it is one of those things you intend on doing but you just end up eating, sleeping and drinking.

We planned our trip around Rose Street, leaving the Sunday night after our last market in December. We knew it was snowing in the UK, but we didn't think we would have any problems with Heathrow when we left. After sitting around Kuala Lumpur International Airport for 18 hours we realised we may have some problems getting to Scotland. So we took a bit of inspiration from one of our favourite TV shows and treated it like the Amazing Race. We were given the option to change our flight, so instead of spending a few days stuck in an airport, we got 24 hours in Rome.

We got to Italy with no luggage as it had gone missing. Although this sounds like a really bad thing, it saved us having to haul it around Rome and it all turned up in Scotland a few days/weeks later. We also learnt a valuable lesson on this trip: pack a few things in your hand luggage in case your suitcase goes missing.

We made the most of our day in Rome, walking from the Vatican to the Colosseum via a route than combined both site seeing and our ability to not read a map very well. I think I lost my mind when we came across Torre Argentina, a block of old ruins full of stray cats. We didn't know anything about it and we were super excited to find one cat then when we spotted a couple more we thought it was too good to be true. When we realised there was about 200 cats wandering around we figured something was up and discovered the underground part where they look after the sick cats. The crazy cat lady in me was pretty happy with that discovery and it was all at the place where Caesar was murdered. Turns out cat rule the interwebs and Rome.

We finally got to the UK only two days after we were due to arrive. Our little diversion saved us from another day or so in Malaysia plus a day stuck at Heathrow. I'm glad all those hours watching The Amazing Race were not in vain.

We arrived to a Scotland covered in snow and a crisp -8 degrees. While everyone was telling me how lucky I was to have a white Christmas I was wondering how I would cope with such crazy temperatures. But it warmed up pretty fast and by the time we left it was a balmy 8 degrees.

Gareth was looking forward to having his fill of traditional Scottish cuisine. Pictured here is Gareth with one of his favourites, Pizza Supper. Also known as DEEP FRIED PIZZA. The supper part means it comes with chips. Gareth always tells people he misses the food from back home, now you know why.

Now we have been back for a week we have been working hard getting lots of orders out to shops for Valentine's Day. We have also been working on new cards for the big occasion like the one below. I'm hoping the next Masterchef has someone making a gourmet version of deep fried pizza and serving it with Irn Bru. That would be worth watching!