shopshoot - the design twins

shopshoot - the design twins

20 Mar 2017

Sydney traffic is pretty awful so I avoid using the car and use public transport as much as I can. It does mean most weekends I don’t stray too far from my home.

Last Sunday I decided the time had come to do some furniture shopping. I’ve been looking for an armchair for 2 years now and I’m yet to find ‘the one’. Into the car I went and drove over to Precinct 75 in St Peters where the Design Twins shop is located. 

They’ve moved premises since my last visit so I needed to hunt around the precinct a bit before finding the showroom. 



They're waiting on a shipment, so they didn’t have the chair I was looking for but that didn’t stop me from roaming around the store. I asked if I could take a few photos to share with you and once I had the okay, I snapped away.

This is what I found inside - an eclectic assortment of furniture and homewares.

The Design Twins also fabricate concrete pots.

I loved this light fitting.

There is plenty of artwork on display as well.



Another view of the store.

and finally, the beautiful bouquet you may have seen on my instagram account.

I hope you enjoyed my visit to the Design Twins. If you'd like to visit you can find them at 1.04 75 Mary Street St Peters NSW.

See you all again next week with some baking.

Bye for now,

Jillian 

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shopshoot - the press shop

shopshoot - the press shop

16 Jan 2017

I escaped Sydney for a few days last week, running away to the Blue Mountains. I didn't take the direct route though and travelled first to Bowral for lunch before driving across Sydney to the foot of the Blue Mountains. 



The reason for the detour to Bowral? To visit the brand new Press Shop Cafe and Bespoke Letterpress shop in the newly redeveloped Dirty Jane's Emporium. The shop and cafe are the brain child of my friend Alischa Herrman.



I visited the shop on a bright sunny summer's day and the cafe was filled to the brim, so much so I had to get my lunch at another cafe!



The cafe is decked out in shades of pale blue, white and marble with timber trims and touches of brass.



I really loved the marble topped outdoor tables and those cute salt and pepper shakers.

At the rear of the cafe is the Bespoke Letterpress shop. This collage gives you an overview of the shop.



You can see the presses through the glass windows.



Some of the stationery goods for sale.



and lastly this beautiful ribbon display.



It was time to explore Dirty Jane's where I discovered the just opened Orangery, part of the Potting Shed in Bowral.


Here's a taste of what I found inside.



An eclectic collection of items on display, all highly covetable.



A few more pretty items I found outside in the Potting Shed.



Lots of  rusty, wire plants and terracotta pots.



I just loved this scene so much, I photographed it twice!



Well maybe three times.



And a final image before I left to find some lunch before driving to Wentworth Falls.




I've lived in Sydney for a long time now but I tend to travel between the east where I live and the north and inner west because that's where my friends live. As I drove from Bowral and headed further and further west, I passed suburbs I'd only heard about but had never visited. I now know where Badgery's Creek is located, home to Sydney's long awaited second airport and I can tell you, it's a long long way away from the centre of Sydney. I also discovered the suburb of Luddenham.



Apparently Luddenham is known for it's strawberries, Christmas trees and a race track but it was this sweet little church, St James, that made me stop and turn around.



It was a really hot day so I didn't linger long but I loved everything about it.



The stone work, the stained glass windows and the simple cross and bell.



And of course the quintessentially Australian galvanized iron roof.



As I walked back to the car I spied this rickety fence. What lurked behind?


I found this old house in an advanced state of decrepitude. 



This was as close as I could get due to all the fencing. Someone clearly didn't want any-one inside this house.



The view from the other side. See what I mean?



My favourite shot of the day - that blistered green paint, the orange vine, the old tin roof and thistles in the overgrown garden. What's not to love?



It's still too hot here to cook, so next time I'll share some photos from my time in the Blue Mountains or the Blue Hills, as my Swiss friend refers to them.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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shopshoot - the lost and found department

shopshoot - the lost and found department

5 Oct 2016

Here's something you've not seen on the blog for a while, a Sydney shopshoot. There have been some health issues with my family the past year, so every 6 weeks I fly to Brisbane for a few days. It means I have less free time on my hands to do anything let alone shoot shops.




Roaming through instagram a few months back I noticed quite a few references to Silvia from The Lost and Found Department. The Lost and Found Department looked like a shop filled with the kind of goodies I'd like to buy so I checked where it was; decided to clear one Saturday morning, took along my as yet unspent birthday money and headed over to Artarmon. 



I have a bit of a thing for succulents and green demijohn bottles so look at what greeted me on my arrival. Come inside with me.




The shop is a bit of a treasure trove, filled with everything.



I found antique wares, linen, garden supplies, gifts, copper goods, ceramics and even a chandelier.



I'm not sure why that beautiful antique platter didn't come home with me. I liked it so much I photographed it twice!



As you can see, you can buy just about everything at The Lost and Found Department. I think I've spied a potential Christmas gift or two.

I came home with a little tarnished jelly mould and a beautiful sharp Pallarès kitchen knife, which has already become my go-to knife.



Many thanks to Silvia for letting me roam around her lovely shop. If you'd like to visit, you can find The Lost + Found Dept at 81 Dickson Avenue in the Sydney suburb of Artarmon.

See you all again next week,

Bye for now,

Jillian

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my concept store - mini shopshoot

my concept store - mini shopshoot

25 Aug 2016

When I was in Iceland I was hoping I'd find an interesting shop to shoot. As Iceland is so small I figured that shop would probably be found in Reykjavik. Reykjavik is a small city and the shopping is catered towards the tourist end of the market. I didn't want to photograph Icelandic sweaters, puffin themed goods or adventure gear so my options were limited. 



Thankfully I stumbled upon Myconceptstore and as I had my camera with me, I did a mini shopshoot. Myconceptstore has a bit of everything - clothes, record players, jewellery, glasses, paper goods, globes of the world. The list goes on. The only drawback? The interior is painted entirely in black which made it a bit hard to shoot. I don't have a flash for my Fuji XE-2 and really to do the store justice some artificial light is needed.



Not surprisingly, as it's unique in Reykjavik, the store was really busy most times I visited except during a torrential downpour when I was the only one in the shop.



I'd ordered a piece of jewellery and walked through the rain to collect it before my flight back home to Sydney. I looked like a drowned rat by the time I made it back to my apartment and had to drape my jeans over the heating pipes so they would dry in time for the flight to Dusseldorf. The things we do.



Back to the shop. The interiors painted in black made the coloured paper goods really pop.



I just loved this cushion and globe.



Unfortunately I wasn't able to photograph any of the clothes in the shop. The clothes were in the back room where there was no natural light. It was just too dim for photography.



A parting image. You can find Myconceptstore at Laugavegur 45 in Reykjavik and when I was there, it was a puffin free zone!

See you all again next week.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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