I was very pleased to see the colourful throws and cushions by Scholten & Baijings on the Thomas Eyck stand at Maison & Objet. The quality (80% wool, 20% cotton) is impeccable and the colours so vibrant. Thomas Eyke is the publisher and distributer of beautifully selected design products. He commissions carefully chosen designers to work on a series of products each year. Material and techniques are chosen with the utmost care.
Under the cushions is the Aran rug by Christine Meindertsma.
Marie Macon and Anne-Laure Lesquoy are the French associate designers behind Macon & Lesquoy. I first discovered their products in Bonton, so I was pleased to see their entire collection of cute brooches and repair patches at Maison & Objet.
This is my little selection:
Silver cloud with rain (5cm x3cm)
Yesterday Simon and I went to visit the trade show Maison & Objet in the north of Paris. I'll show you a selection of some of my favourite things I saw over the next few days.
Kukkia is a Japanese brand who makes very cute and colourful wooden toys. You can buy them on their website or on Kids on Roof.
Count the stars...
Cars with wind up mechanism.
On the left: 2 chalkboards to draw parkinglots, houses, cars, people and animals
+ the wooden pieces: 6 trees, 3 houses, 2 hills, 1 car, 2 traffic lights. A true mix of 2D and 3D that kids just love!
On the right: Gatcha Gatcha sweets machine.
Geometric neon art blocks by Sketchinc.
Miami airport walkway. Seen on Plenty of Colours
Kaléidoscope by Maud Vantours.
Paper sculpture by Maud Vantours.
2012 planner calendar by Julia Kostreva.
Japanese bird envelops - the yellow beak is the closing flap of the envelop.
Torinosu is a bird’s nest bowl made of paper. Add a little leaf here and a twig over there...This set makes two beautiful bowls that can either be nested together or kept separate.
Available on Upon a Fold.
Embroidery works by Yumiko Arimoto.
The colours are stunning, I cannot images how many hours she has spend on each embroidery. A true labour of love. I'm speechless.
Artist David T Waller used 2500 toy cars to create this stunning round rainbow. My little Lucien would go crazy in front of all these cars!
via Plenty of colour.
Today I went to see the exhibition of French artist Jean-Paul Goude at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs.JP Goude is a multi disciplinary artist: graphic designer, illustrator, photographer, film director. He was the artistic director of Esquire magazine in NYC for a decade. He created several well known campaigns for Citroen (with Grace Jones, she was his muse and had a son together), Chanel (Egoiste, Coco with Vanessa Paradis), Kodak and the Galeries Lafayette. In 1989 He was asked by the French government to stage the bicentenary of the French Revolution on the Champs Elysées. You can see here his sketchbook illustrating some of the costume designs.
You can view a compilation of his work here.
I am a big fan of the work of half Finnish, half English illustrator/print maker Sanna Hannukka. Her bold and intricate designs are very much inspired by her scandinavian roots, her love of nature and folklore. Her clients list includes Marimeko, M&S, British band Keane and many more. She also has her own range of screen prints and very cute oak birds, all available on her online store.
We're doing our first sale. So if yo spend over £60 | €70 | $90 you get 20% off the total of your order. This applies to the entire collection. It will only last for a couple of weeks, so get cracking!
Not me! if we're talking about tattoos. I don't have tattoos as I'm far too scared of needles. Also If I had a tattoo I'm sure I would get bored of it pretty fast. That's why I like the concept of Tattly where you can change your tattoo as often as you like!
Tina Roth Eisenberg started Tattly out of her frustration of badly designed children tattoos. She has an amazing team of designers (Julia Rothman, Jim Datz, Marc Johns...) who have submitted their funky designs. You can even get a gift box sets of tattoos if you can't make up your mind!
Yesterday was officially the end of the holidays. Ophelia has gone back to school, Lucien to his nanny and us to our studio.
It's always a little slow to start working again after such a nice Christmas break (I didn't open my computer once for a whole week, yeah!) but I am very excited to begin the year with lots of new exciting projects. The months leading to Christmas have been so hectic that I desperately needed a good break and to spend quality time with the children.
We were in the French Alps near Chamonix and our days were spent eating amazing food, going down the slopes snowboarding and on the sledge afterwards with the children.
Ophelia loved throwing herself backwards in the snow making angel shapes. Lucien was not so sure..
Happy New Year to all of you.
2011 was a pretty great vintage for us. We enjoyed a great deal of change: moving office early in the year (Finsbury Park in London) and launching many new products including our new wallpaper Un Dimanche a Paris, a new map of San Francisco plus a brand new range of tea towels. We also launched a brand new website in both English and French and perhaps the highlight of our year was Priscilla agreeing to join us full time as studio manager. Famille Summerbelle is a growing family and we have a lot of exciting plans for 2012.
We have many new product ideas and innovations to share. We'll continue to develop our small business across the world. Of course we'll do a couple of new city maps (still getting lots of wonderful requests!) and we'll look at ways to personalise some of our existing products.
A huge THANK YOU to all of you who have encouraged us, bought from us, spread the word or even just hung out a little with us on this blog. We're having so much fun and it's largely thanks to you.
We wish you well for this coming year. 366 days to learn a little, share a little and grow a little.
La Famille Summerbelle.
We're tucked away in the heart of the French Alps with the precise cover of snow to make the most festive atmosphere. We just returned from the centre of town where we enjoyed a little vin chaud in front of the church. Perfect!
Christmas here in France is already under way as the main celebration is on the 24th December. The children are set to burst with the imminent arrival of 'Papa Nöel'!
We really do wish you the best of times whoever you're with and however you choose to enjoy your holiday.
La Famille Summerbelle
Julie Ansiau is a multi talented French photographer and embroidery artist. She makes these beautiful colourful felt 'popquilts'. Each piece is hand sewn and unique.
"LES OFFRANDES VOTIVES"for Le Bon Marché. Paris
Work in progress for DESIGNTIDE TOKYO 2010 at ISETAN, Shinjuku.
"Magic Pops" show in Liberty, London. Hand made felt one off piece.
Photos for Milk magazine.
Read an interview of Julie Ansiau in the latest online Papier Maché magazine.
Cork seems to become a popular material for many designers. It is a natural material, non toxic and renewable. Cork remains the only tree whose bark can regenerate itself after each harvest - leaving the tree unharmed. This is my little selection...
Companions writing desk and bedside table by Studioisle. Shown in white oiled chestnut wood with a cork bowl for wires and plugs or for private storage. Available from De La Espada.
Vinco chair by Toni Grilo Design Studio. Made of cork and stainless steel.
Puf Fup by Ana Mestre from Corque Design. Made with perfect cork sphere on a string that you can arrange as you wish, to sit on or to hang from the ceiling.
I came back last night from a very short 48h trip to London (we live in Paris). Simon and I were there together for the first time in ages to have the first Famille Summerbelle Christmas lunch. (usually one of us stays home to look after the children, this time we got help from my parents).
In December in the UK, most companies has a Christmas lunch to celebrate the end of the year. It's a big tradition here that I really like.
Since we started Famille Summerbelle nearly 4 years ago, I was pretty much alone running the business so it never felt right to go for lunch on my own! Since September, Simon has joined me to work full time on the business and for nearly a year Priscilla has also been part of the team (Priscilla is our studio manager).
To celebrate our new team and successful year we went to a lovely gastro pub called The Princess of Shoreditch near Old Street, East London. We had delicious English food (yes, the food in London can even be better than in Paris!), a nice bottle of red and a very very nice time.
So between lunch and a day trip to Bath to visit a screenprinter, I took the time to go to one of East London favourite shop: SCP. They had a great selection of quirky Christmas gifts (Donna Wilson products, funky tea towels and a great selection of books).
Then I went to visit the Home department of Liberty and Selfridges. These two stores are a must see at Christmas time. Regent Street and Oxford Street Christmas lighting was very impressive: huge glittery snowflakes, umbrellas and stars. Magical.
Colourful dots from SCP.
Stunning peacock hand painted by Kerry Lemon on a door in the beauty department of Liberty.
Cute Japanese accessories from the Artbox concession in Selfridges. Perfect for Christmas stockings!
Enjoy your weekend!
The other night I got lost the web looking at the amazing window displays from Anthropology (see my previous post). This one really caught my eyes...last Spring, Anthropology design team collaborated with the Cork Forest Conservation Alliance to create stunning one of a kind window displays. In an effort to raise awareness for the preservation of the Mediterranean cork forest, they donated 2.5 million corks to Anthropology, who used them to create these unique recycled displays...
Via Bubby and Bean, Natural Home & Garden.. View the making of here.
At the end of December last year, Simon and I went to NYC for few days. We stayed in the Meatpacking District very close to the Anthropologie store. I remember being very impressed by their window displays. Apart from the beautiful colours and visual layout, it was their attention to details and the hand made feel that I liked most.
The window displays I'm featuring below are not from this season but from Fall last year.
I love the geometrical shapes made from dyed fabric, paper and cardboard. It was nicely inspired from the Clouds from Kvadrat designed by the Bouroullec brothers.
Warning! This is not my usual kind of post...but I had to share these amazing heels with you in case you're still looking for your animal themed New Years Eve outfit...anyone?!
Hand made by Kobi Levy.
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