Corban & Blair Lifestyle Blog

Christmas shopping? Pop into Stem for some great gift ideas!

After setting up shop in the bustling Darling Street in 2001, Stem has continued to bring designer objects, both local and international to those who seek something special, unique, stylish and full of experience. In keeping with this, owner and buyer, Kate, carefully selects products that she feels have “integrity, longevity and inspire people to touch and connect with them.” With a diverse selection of objects, products range from gifts for children, jewellery and accessories, living and dining and stationery, among others. In preparation for Christmas Kate has extended the stores open hours, so you can make the most of all your pre Christmas gift buying! Make sure to pop on in if you're in the area and have a little bit of a look-see! Better yet, head in this evening from 5pm-8pm (Wed, 7 Dec) for their VIP night and receieve 10% off all your purchases!

Corban & Blair November Sale – Engage your imagination and make gift giving easy.

This year, we invite you to our November Sale, with a difference. As all of you who have ever popped into our Lewisham store would know, we are always there to help you achieve what you are after and our sale is no different. With a few minor changes (for the better of course) we hope our sale this year will be even more rewarding.

Traditionally running from Thursday to Sunday, this November, our sale has picked up a few extra days, meaning, more open hours! In addition, we will also be dedicating a work space especially for all of you who would like to work with us one on one. Our work space will be focusing on photo frames and albums, so be sure to bring in your photos, artwork, images or objects and let us help you create something wonderful and full of meaning!

So come in, have a chat, a sticky beak, ask a few questions and let us make gift giving easy.

Sale Details

Tuesday 15 Nov – 8am – 5pm
Wednesday 16 Nov – 8am – 5pm
Thursday 17 Nov – 8am – 7pm (Drinks and nibbles from 5pm onwards – All welcome!)
Friday 18 Nov – 8am – 7pm
Saturday 19 Nov – 9am – 5pm
Sunday 20 Nov – 10am – 4pm

Be sure to check out our Facebook page for updates and photos from the event!

Kids Recipe Journals

In today’s environment of cooking shows on television, a fabulous array of recipe books and lots of focus on diet, Australians have access to many ways to cook and enjoy a meal.

 Australians are very fortunate as we have access to great fresh produce.  Vegetables and fruit are grown locally in eco-conscious conditions, meat is plentiful with a wide range of types of fresh cuts, dairy products abound both made locally or imported to suit the well honed pallet, and fresh seafood is an ever present item on all Australian diets!

 It is no wonder everyone wants to have a recipe folder or to feel a recipe journal is a great gift idea.   Last year I was speaking to a 21 year old woman who told me she was buying a Corban and Blair Recipe Journal for her mother.  Her mum kept her recipes in a disorganised fashion in draws and cupboards and she could never find the one she wanted when it was needed!  As mum was going on holidays for two weeks, the daughter had set herself the task of finding, organising then pasting in, or recording all the loose recipes.  The finished journal was to be a gift to her mother!

 What a wonderful way to present a gift.

In early February 2010 a client rang Corban & Blair and wanted a copy of the recipe for making Gingerbread Men.  She had bought her son a Kids Recipe Journal three years ago with Gingerbread men on the cover and a copy of the recipe inside.  Unfortunately they had lost the recipe and her son wanted Gingerbread Men for his birthday party!

 

So for all of you who have a Kids Recipe Journal at home, but are missing the Gingerbread Recipe – here it is!

  

Recipe Journals hold more than food information!

Here is the history of my treasured recipe journal.....

I gave it to my mother as a gift when we first designed them about 10 years ago. I asked my 2 sisters & my father to give me their favourite recipes & I complied them inside.

My mother was a real foodie so she loved it.

There was still plenty of room for Mum to add in more recipes.

When she passed away 6 years ago it then became my treasured journal which I have continued to add to. It's a work in progress full of delicious recipes & wonderful memories!

 

 

-       Amanda Blair

September 2009

 

 

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Corban & Blair Recipe Journals come in A4 and A5 size.   They contain plain paper so you can paste in, write on or take out and photocopy onto.  The split ring lets you open the journal to add more pages as well as providing a way to hang it in the pantry. Dividers and plastic sleeves help us collect and sort our favourite recipes. Wipe clean pollyproplene covers make them ideal for kitchen use!

 

We have 10 Recipe Journals to give away. If you’d like to WIN a FREE Recipe Journal click on Comments below and tell us in 25 words or less why you should receive a FREE Corban & Blair A4 Recipe Journal?   

 

Comic Books - re-incarnated

“He took five diamonds.  I’ve retrieved one but Anarky’s gone to ground with the others!”
“This is serious!”

 

What a thrill – here I was right in the middle of a Bat Man adventure and I hadn’t even opened the little book in my hand nor written anything in it, yet, I am in the midst of a story!  For a split second I pondered my own writing - will it be just as riveting, hit high adventure, even spill into the dramatic?

This compact plain paper journal with it’s red spine and brightly coloured pages taken from an old comic appears to encourage us to leap into action, to write, record, jot ideas wherever we are.  But when I pick up the black and white covered journal I am tempted by recollections of my childhood antics and the urge to take a blue biro and draw a moustache on the face of Kaiba, or a pair of glasses forcing him to relinquish his hero image so that I can laugh at him, is very strong.  But I can’t, as fortunately, or unfortunately, I’m prevented by the shrink-wrapping and smart labelling, that forces me to stop, inspect and just read the cover.  My inspirational words, doodles or ordinary notes need to grace the inside of the journal –not the cover!  

When creative’s get really creative and our sense of planet wellness enters our daily lives it is astounding what inspires us to make a journal different, interesting, intriguing and even exciting.  Purchasing old comic books and recycling them by binding the covers by hand onto little pocket sized journals took time and patience, but very worth the exercise.  We have re-incarnated a comic, recycled mystery, mayhem and magic that might otherwise have been trashed and given it a new life – what an accomplishment!

If you haven’t yet spotted our Comic Journals, visit the National Gallery of Victoria, Berkelouws Books, Kinokuniya or log onto our web site at www.corbanblair.com.au  and check them out.