The view from my office...

My office is cooly air-conditioned, and it overlooks a private pool, looking out to a secluded lagoon. There are trees, exotic birds, and pretty lanterns that light up at night....

It's true! Well, it has been true for the last few days anyway, as we have been enjoying a family holiday in Thailand at the most beautiful resort. I have only been working just a teensy, tiny bit I promise, but well...

I am off to sip a cocktail and splash about with the kids before we head back to Australia. x

A new look!

This week we gave the Lark webshop a little makeover. Just to keep it looking lovely. What do you think? Inside there are lots of nice new features, and we are now offering a flat rate shipping in Australia of $9.95, so you can shop to your heart's content without worrying about postage!

Valentine's

If you are inclined to be romantic, you can now find our Valentine's Day shop open online.

We have some gorgeous cards this year from Lisa Jones and Kate Halliday for you to send to your beau. And if you fancy a little gift too, there are lots of sweet little things. My favourites are the Cups of Love, Pots of Love, and even Ladle of Love, for kitchen lovers of course! Find the Lark Valentine's Day Shop here.

Happy Australia Day!

I hope you're enjoying a nice break and doing all the tradition Aussie things. These are some vintage Australian travel posters, all by James Northfield, whose work I love greatly.

Bonjour!

I am writing this post from Paris! This is the view from my hotel room - you can see the Sacre Coeur at Montmarte in the distance. It's beautiful, I love Paris, especially in winter.

I had to make a flying visit here for some business meetings and to attend the Maison et Objet trade fair to catch up with a lot of the designers we represent. It's an excellent fair, I have met quite a few new lovely creative people, I will tell you all about it when I get back!

Australian County Style

I was asked to write an article for Australian Country Style about the challenges of running a rural small business, and it has just appeared in the February issue. Yay! I was a bit nervous about it, as this is the first time I have written for a national magazine, but I think it has come out ok. I'd love to know what you think!

Big thanks to Victoria and Virginia from Australian Country Style, who are great supporters of country-based businesses. Two other Daylesford business girls will be appearing in its pages soon: Sam from Lily Loves Pearl and Jodie from She Tea - can't wait!

Two days

So yesterday I couldn't get into the centre of Daylesford from where our new house is because the road was completely blocked by a flood.

But today the sun is shining, the roads are dry and there is even a hot air balloon coasting along ... this is some crazy weather we've been having!

The Lark shop is open Saturday and Sunday from 10-4. Pop in and say Hi - it's beautiful here!

Thinking of Queensland

Thinking of everyone affected by the Queensland floods this week. The news images have been completely unbelievable. I am used to the threat of bush fires since moving to Australia but a flood is something I've never even thought about before. I spoke to a friend in Ipswich - she managed to get out with her kids just before they closed off the road, and get to her parents in Brisbane yesterday, she doesn't know what has happened to her house but at least they are all safe. Here's hoping that the devastation will not be too bad once it has all passed through. x

How does your garden grow?

Lyndsay White, Sydney designer extraordinaire (and lovely lady), has designed these ace garden stakes, made from perspex and finished with chalkboard. We were thrilled to receive a big box of them in the Lark shop today - no more forgetting what we've planted, yay!


They come in four designs- apples, pears, love hearts and flowers.


Have you visited Lyndsay's store, Candy Stripe Cloud? It is FILLED with super-cuteness, from tiny kewpies, to colourful mini bambi deers and sweet stationery, alongside Lyndsay's own designs. Hurrah!

And talking of gardening, we have recently been working with Mat and Fabian of the little Veggie Patch in Melbourne to bring you their amazing heirloom tomato seeds. Check out the gorgeous vintage packaging!! Now there's no excuse not to get out and plant some goodies for Spring and Summer crops!

You can find both of these ranges in our New At Lark shop. Happy gardening!

White Stuff

Don't you find clever packaging so inspiring? I am very taken with the swing tags on some clothes I bought from White Stuff in the UK. Their clothes are seriously nice and a great cut, and these tags are an added bonus...

This tag was on a jacket I bought called the Cheerful Jacket (see - they even have great names!). It has a friendship bracelet attached.

This came with the 'Going Dotty' jacket. The buttons have nothing to do with the jacket, they are just a little extra gift.

This was on a cute plaid flannel dressing gown, the tag promises 'dreams as sweet as honey'

And this was attached to another skirt ('Ring the Bell' skirt). When you open it up...

Lovely!

I have been stocking up for Aussie winter from the White Stuff sale. They ship to Australia for just £12. If you are in the UK they have shops in lots of towns - the decor in the shops is seriously great. I took these photos in the dressing room of the Stamford store...



Check out the 70s painting on the lift door!

At the time I was there, the shop window was full of knitted tea cosies that had been made locally and were being sold for charity. The girls working in the store were lovely and friendly and knew their stuff. Now this is FAB retailing, where you come out feeling good about the whole experience, so inspiring!!

Larking About on Facebook

With the help of friends, I have finally made a Facebook page for Lark! Not before time. I'm using it to post different things to my blog - new products as soon as they come in, shop news, gossip, special offers etc. so please join in HERE. I'll still be writing longer posts here on my blog.

Christmas Past!

Ok so I am a bit late posting my Christmas holiday snaps, and you are probably over Christmas anyway, but here's the thing. I promised various family and friends that I would do a post about our Christmas and New Year (and by the way I am loving reading about everyone's Xmas on their blogs) and then I went and l left my pesky camera in Melbourne on Christmas Day. So I have been waiting for Australia Post to return it, and in the meantime I had to use my iPhone to take photos. So now I eventually got my camera back this week but then my flippin iPhone wouldn't upload the other photos to my Mac and I had to call in the IT Guy (Paul). So anyway, without further ado, here is a little snapshot of our Christmas - from Christmas Eve through to New Year's Day., with a bit of a description to follow at the bottom...

Christmas Eve was all about food shopping, baking and last-minute wrapping while we looked after two little girls and made a gingerbread house. Our best friends came round in the afternoon with their new baby, who was born early but was able to finally come home from hospital on Christmas Eve (yay - best pressie ever!). We swapped pressies. In the evening we read Christmas stories and put out food for Santa and his crew. Christmas Day meant lots and lots of cool pressies and a long, lovely lunch with our very old pals and extended family in Melbourne then talking to my mum back in the UK by phone. Boxing Day was spent at the 'sales', shopping for everything we need to fit out our new house, then we got back to the fun and games for the next few days, with lots of picnics, drinks with friends and wotnot. And lots of mozzie bites, grrr. We also got away on our own for some bush walks and a few drives around the country. Watched Peanuts Christmas movies. Played board games. We did a spot of dog-sitting. Went on a date night. By New Year's Eve we were pretty tired out. My friend and I stayed in gazing at her new baby while the guys and various kids and rellies went off to the Daylesford New Year's Eve parade. When they got back we made a chocolate fountain to welcome the New Year (at 9pm!). Best thing ever. Then off to bed and lots of sleep to prepare for a week of moving house and slowly getting back to work. It has been F-U-N. We still have a little holiday coming up soon, but for now we are all busy, busy. So that's us. Sorry again for the lateness. xxx