Hi everyone I’m new to this … so I have what would probably be a very basic question for you all.
So … as my first project I just want to control a 1 bulb lamp from my phone or some sort of web interface via Spark Core.
What hardware do I need to buy to do this? … Do I just need to buy 1 Spark Core and I’m ready to go? … or is there anything else I’d need.
Thanks for all your patience in advance! 
Spark shipped a great little starter kit to get you going but SparkFun and others have similar packages...
To be honest all you really need... is a bread board, some LEDs some wire and a few resistors... obviously good links to tutorials help...
Awesome thanks! … gonna buy a Spark Core and a starter kit today! … can’t wait to get started
The 
Spark Relay Shield might also be interesting for you, since the Core can’t drive enough current to light the bulb or switch relays directly.
So you could either build your own power and transistor switching circuitry, go for the ready to go shield or have a search for other pre-fab boards that do power switching per 3.3V low current input signal, which can be connected to the Core.
cool! … yea I was also looking at the Relay Shield … I was originally thinking of buying the 1 Spark Core and 1 Relay Shield to do my experiment.
So now I have another question … from looking at the Relay Shield … since it has 4 relays does this mean I can hook up 4 different lamps or whatever to it and control them individually through say Tinker?
Yes, this is exactly what it is fo(u)r 
The docs at Particle Welcome to the Particle docs state
The shield has four relays that are controlled by pins D0, D1, D2 and D3 on the Core
Since the relays have an opening and a closing contact you could actually control eight devices, where always two are switched alternately (one on the other off and vice versa ;-))
ok that’s even better … so this is definitely what I will purchase! … thanks so much!