Famille Summerbelle

Details

Few shots details of our home after a big Spring clear up last week...

Nous avons fait un grand rangement de Printemps la semaine dernière et avec ce beau soleil la maison est resplendissante de couleurs....

Homemade dollhouse

Ophelia (our daughter who is 5 and a half - very important the half) has been asking me to make her a dollhouse for a while. So when my mum moved house, she gave Ophelia this little wooden cabinet for her bedroom. We decided to transform it into her own dollhouse. It is now inhabited by Playmobil little people. Ophelia made some artworks for the walls and has kindly included her brother's name on one of her drawing but he is so not allowed to get near the house for now said Ophelia - he is 2 and a half and loves to trash anything his sister owns!

A creative week

Oh yes! and it has been a pretty good one last week as well. I am very much enjoying working with a couple of creative people who are doing a project on Famille Summerbelle. Can't say much for now, but I will keep you informed before the Summer.

This is a photo of the mood board in my studio. I am really into bright colours at the moment. It must be thanks to the sun shinning outside.

Jim Hodges

Jim Hodges at the Gladstone Gallery in 2011. I know it's a way back but I had to share this with you. I love his work.

I hope you have a nice and sunny week. This morning I'm off to London for a couple of days to work, see an exhibition or two (I hope) to get some inspiration, go to Berwick Street to buy some fabric and tonight we will be celebrating my cousin birthday in a pub somewhere West. I'm looking forward to my short trip :-)

La brocante de Chatou

Chatou is a place to the west of Paris where the Impressionists used to come and paint on the charming banks of the river Seine. Twice a year (March and September) a huge flea market La Foire à La Brocante et aux Jambons is set on the Ile des Impressionnistes. I recommend to have lunch at the nearby Maison Fournaise (where Renoir painted the famous painting Déjeuner des Canotiers). Sellers comes from all over France with exquisite (and often rather expensive) antique treasures. Mix with all the happy odds and ends you can have a little break at the many stands selling smoked hams and a selection of wine. As Chatou is very near to where we live I always try to go as I love flea markets and this one is quite exceptional. Unfortunately I often leave empty handed as it is so expensive but I feel so happy to have seen so many nice and inspiring things!
Have a nice weekend...

Detail from a large embroidery map of France.

Pantone cakes

This will change the way I look at my Pantone book...yummy! Merci Emilie from Griottes! If you like creative food then check her blog, you are going to be very impressed.

Kirra Jamison

Her paintings caught my eyes when I saw them hanging on the wall of the Design Files Open House. Kirra Jamisson is an Australian artist who grew up in Byron Bay and is now based in Melbourne. Oh! I'm in love with the colours...

Have a nice and sunny weekend les amis.

Hand made heaven

We have just launched our brand new hand screen printed city maps, and we couldn't be happier with the finished product!

Screen printing allows us to produce tremendously vivid colours and a better quality finish with thicker ink on a top class paper (it's called Mohawk Superfine for any paper lovers out there!). It's also really great to know that every single print is made by hand with the same loving attention.

We were incredibly lucky to find our fabulous artisan printers tucked away on the outskirts of the beautiful city of Bath (in the west of England). Our printer - Duncan - besides being a former (and youngest ever) Bard of Bath, is an absolute master craftsman. He has incredible knowledge of colour (and colour mixing), a phenomenal flair using his print screen and an enthusiasm for his craft which is very very infectious!

Screen printing is a very time intensive process. A lot of preparation and testing, endless cleaning to avoid paint bubbles and then hours and hours of waiting while colours dry (particularly in the middle of a very cold winter!). It really is a labour of love - and great screen printers are very hard to find.

Our finished product is far better than we could ever have imagined. We hope you like them too!

Charlie Crowther-Smith

I love the retro furniture cabinet and table by Charlie Crowther-Smith, a Bristol based furniture designer. He will be exhibiting his range of furniture and lighting at Tent London in September.

Two Halves. A cabinet designed in collaboration with illustrator Christian Taylor.

Nightlight table designed with Richard Bannister.

...and another year...

Merci à mes darlings pour ce petit déjeuner de rêve, un beau dessin de mon Ophelia et un superbe appareil photo Fujifilm X10 de la part de mon mari chéri...je suis comblée!

A fork in the lake

Hello les amis, we're back home and fully rested from this horrible flu that has knocked us all down for 10 days during the children's holidays (not the best timing to be ill!). We decided that it was not going to entirely ruin our break so we drove down to the Alps (with Simon and I popping lots of paracetamol). My mum was waiting there to look after us and the children...it was a real treat! The two of us escaped for a couple of days to Lake Geneva (Lac Léman). It was so relaxing to walk along the calm waters of the lake under a beautiful sun and see the snowy mountains in the background. We drove from Chamonix up to the Col de la Forclaz. The scenery is breathtaking as you drive down to Martigny in Switzerland with fields of vineyards hanging on both sides of the mountain.
I took this photo in front of the Musée de l'Alimentation (food museum) in Vevey in Switzerland. Unfortunately the museum was closed when we arrived so instead we went to have a warm hot chocolate in Lutry where our very charming hotel was located. In the evening we ended up in Lausanne in a wine bar... Ah! vive les vacances!