Wednesday 27 February 2008

Mariskooli


Our small collection of Mariskooli bowls make me very happy. They're such beautiful objects. They're made by iittala for Marimekko.

I am especially fond of them tonight, as one is doing a magnificent job of looking after some Belgian chocolate covered peanuts and raisins... delicious!

Monday 25 February 2008

Petra Boase

Back on December 18 I broke my ankle, in two places. It was a complete accident... I was at a Pogues concert, with P and two friends, and somehow I was knocked over by a group of large men dancing to the last song of the evening. Needless to say, I am still not fully recovered, but the point to the post is... Petra Boase.

Yesterday, P and I went to the Kids.Modern show at Dulwich College, with my brother, his wife and my utterly gorgeous one year old nephew. As a treat for being such a brave girl, P treated me to a new Petra Boase print.

Say hello to this cheerful little fella... isn't he cute!

I love Petra Boase's work, it makes me so happy. We already have one of her owl prints hanging in our bedroom. I'd be happy with a print in every room of the house!

Friday 22 February 2008

Happy Birthday Mum

Today is my lovely mum's birthday... Happy Birthday Mum. X

Thursday 21 February 2008

Crochet

On Saturday morning I went to a crochet class, with my sweet friend Deerylou, which was being held in Liberty, our favourite department store in London. The class was being taught by a lovely woman from Rowan.
I much prefer crochet to knitting, which seems to make me rather angry, and without having much skill at all I have managed to crochet myself a chunky and very cozy scarf. I used a 15mm hook and three balls of Rowan's Big Wool in a beautiful dark grey colour. Here are some snaps of my small triumph...



Unfortunately, my skill only stretches to crocheting the rows... tension, joining a new ball of wool and finishing off all need some attention. Nonetheless, I have two orders in from colleagues, who appear to be impressed with my efforts, so I need to get to Liberty fast for some more yarn...

Your Lovely Places

I was so touched to have been asked to include my favorite place on Your Lovely Places blog... take a look at the site!

It was so difficult to decide as there are so many places to choose from, but in the end I settled for Japan and Helsinki

P and I have had fantastic holidays in both plases together, and agree that they're amazing to visit... In fact, we are taking our delayed honeymoon, hopefully, in late May to Hong Kong and Japan! Very exciting stuff...

Monday 18 February 2008

Dogeared with Sea-salted Almond Rocher...

It is true to say that, this year, Valentines day was a big event in our house. My lovely husband presented me with this beautiful necklace by Dogeared... little silver wings with a tiny gold dipped heart. I love it and haven't taken it off!

This beauty will last significantly longer than the rather special Sea-salted Almond Rocher from Paul A Young which P also gave me... they didn't even last 24 hours!

Every Beat Of My Heart


Here is the Rob Ryan gift which I gave to P for Valentines day, along with the vintage globe and some handmade cranberry and pistachio heart shaped chocolates.




Rob Ryan's work is enchanting, and I am one of 500 lucky people to own the "This Is For You" large format hardback book, which was accompanied by a limited edition signed print. A very special and treasured Christmas present from P...


Thursday 14 February 2008

Happy Valentine's Day

As usual, we went to Columbia Road Flower Market on Sunday. P bought me these beautiful tuberose and ranunculus, as well as a bunch of 50 blue hyacinths. The scent of the tuberose and hyacinths are incredible and means that I haven't wanted to burn my black Diptyque Baise candle all week...

As a token of my love I gave P this globe, which I picked up in Caravan. It's Danish and dated 1976, so it's not terribly old, but the colours are amazingy bright... he loves it! I also gave P some chocolates which I made from a Donna Hay recipe and a screen printed Rob Ryan tile, which I will show you later... along with the treats I received!

Today is very special for us, it's one year since P asked me to marry him. His proposal was a wonderful suprise, we had taken the day off work and had booked to have lunch a one of our favourirte local places, The Garrison.

Tonight we're feasting at another all time favourite place of ours, The Quality Chop House. Yum!

Enjoy your day!

Tuesday 12 February 2008

Penguin Donkey 1, 2 or 3?

I often wonder if it's possible to squeeze one of these Isokon Plus delights in to my home. Sadly, I think it will have to wait until we have more space. I'm certain that one day I will find the perfect spot... but then I'll have to decide which one of the three to pick. That'll be tough.

The original Penguin Donkey, designed in 1939 by Egon Riss:

The Penguin Donkey 2, designed in 1963 by Ernest Race:

OR The Donkey 3, designed in 2003 by Azumi:

How do you decide?! Once I have the space, I'll let you know...

Monday 11 February 2008

Pot Chair

Another gem, which I picked up last year at the spring Our Showhome Midcentury.Modern fair, is an original Arne Jacobsen Pot chair. It's incredibly comfortable and had been a dream chair of mine for a long time.

I got it from The Modern Warehouse. They had a pair, and both had been reupholstered crudely in rather unplesant orange fabric so I knew I'd have to get it recovered. I contacted Fritz Hansen who are the official manufacturer of Arne Jacobsen's furniture, who put me in contact with their UK upholsterer and I arranged to have my chair covered in lovely dark grey Kvadrat wool felt.

Apologies for my poor photography, but... I love it, and am totally delighted with the end result. I feel very lucky to have it and make sure that I sit in it at least once a day... !

Midcentury Modern

Today I received in the post a small Cathrineholm enamel bowl which I bid for and won on ebay. It has made it's way to me from Elgin, Illinois, and I must say that I'm absolutely thrilled with it. Cathrineholm enamelware is not that easy to come by in the UK... or it may be that I'm not familiar with where to look.

My new bowl will sit on the shelf in my kitchen next to a bigger one, which I picked up at the Our Showhome Midcentury.Modern fair last spring. Fingers crossed for more Cathrineholm this year.

Also, new this year, Our Showhome are hosting Kids.Modern later this month, which I'm really looking forward to -- despite not having kids of my own!

Thursday 7 February 2008

Japanese Children's Illustrations

I have a modest collection of, what I consider to be, beautifully illustrated children's books, which I adore and get no end of pleasure from flicking through.

How wonderful would it be to own even one journal which contains these illustrations below by Honda Shotaro and Okamoto Kiichi, which were part of the Kodomo no kuni illustrated journals written for children between 1922 and 1949.

The website is definitely worth some of your time... oh, and make sure you listen to the songs!

Wednesday 6 February 2008

Cath Kidston

I'm very excited at the idea of grey dotty bedlinen at Cath Kidston, new this season, and I can't wait to get to a store to check it out. I'm hoping to suggle up in these sheets very soon...

For me, it's the perfect balance between contemporary and homey. Well done Cath!

Tuesday 5 February 2008

Caramel Baby & Child


Yesterday I received something wonderful in the post. It is the Spring and Summer 2008 Caramel Baby & Child look book... pure little fashion heaven! Their website doesn't yet have the new collection, but the Autumn and Winter 2007 collection is also top eye candy...


It must be said, I do find this amount of quality cuteness a little overwhelming. Just as well I don't have any kids!

Friday 1 February 2008

More favorite things...

P gave me a beautiful necklace for Christmas. It's a brushed sterling silver picture locket on 14K rose gold chain by Diana Kane. We picked it up at Auto. Now to find a tiny picture to put in it...





In the backround of the photo above you can just see another of P's paintings. It's called Bedroom and hangs in our bedroom. Love it!!

Favorite things...

Possibly my most favorite possession is a painting by my husband, P. Translunar hangs in our living room. It's quite an early painting, and at the time P made it it was different from the other, much larger works.

Who wouldn't want to have something this beautiful to look at every day? Take a closer peek here...