I have my Nepalese beanie on....

and im dressed in bright colours to distract myself from the fact that its cold and grey outside ...

On a little excursion to Newtown last week - sadly something that I have not done in about a year - I went into the store Eastern Flair and had a best time. It is an aladdins cave of 'stuff' but I swear sometimes you can find a few hidden treasures.... like my little multi coloured bennie... very happy indeed!

Newtown however was not the place that I had remembered.

I guess its just one of those things that if you go into a hood that you havent been to in a while -with a mental list of all your favourite stores that you want to see again - you may be in for a little shock! The GFC does not help either... but I was thankful that Eastern Flair is such a king street institution that it will never disappear! And if you LOVE colour as I do this is the place for you...Taking a right turn at the bronze Buddhas you will find the most beautiful wall of fabrics that I dare you not to be tempted by!



A few other things that I loved......

• was the coffee I savoured at Oscillate Wildly with a paper and a beautiful window to sit at..



• a browse around the bookstore Better Read the Dead - where I was able to have a look at Pia's new book Paris: Made by Hand that has just been released
  
  

• picking up some beautiful feather print ribbon at Pentimento



• having a loving look at the 1950s bakelite bits and pieces at Newtown Old Wares



• rediscovering the beautiful button store All buttons great and small...



• and finally checking out the emerging artists on the walls of the gallery At the Vanishing Point

After all of this I was exhausted and happy that Id made my way down King Street but one of my favourite discoveries was the photolab Speedilab and the conversation I had with the owner Harry.

He was a lovely guy and after a few minutes I realised that he is an old school guy who believes in the old techniques of photography and printing! What a find! In an age when photolabs are closing down because of the global domination of digital, Harry offers artists the opportunity to print on the most beautiful papers and canvas' - and in particular one of my favourites - hahnemuhle from Germany... very exciting ... well it is for artists who love paper!

But go out + support your local photolab all you artists out there... it will be sad if they all disappear along with the record stores! But that is another story....


Speaking of which if you love electro, hiphop+soulful beats check out Benji B on bbc 1xtra... Another great thing to do to while hibernating....