Famille Summerbelle

Ophelia's 6th birthday!

Finally some decent weather. And just as well because today we had a little birthday party for Ophelia and a few of her friends. Her birthday isn't actually for a few weeks but it's never a good idea to have your birthday party once the school holidays have started!

Ophelia very much took on the role of creative director (!)...a sign of things to come I think. I really enjoyed this one though. With a bunch of six year old girls it was a little easier getting them organised - we did some fun artwork and made a little jewellery.

Simon and I have a deal. He'll be handling Lucien's birthday parties. I don't do rough and tumble or kicking balls!

Paper building sculptures

By San Francisco-based artist Jill Silvia. She is interested in financial data and transactions, but not in the way that you might think. The artist takes sheets of lined paper found in ledgers and other financial paperwork and meticulously cuts out bits of the page to build these incredible three dimensional paper sculptures. Using a drafting knife, she carefully removes all of the blank boxes, leaving just the lines to form the basic structure of the page, and sculpts them into these exceptionally detailed buildings.

Jefferson Memorial. Hand-cut ledger paper.

Federal Hall. Hand-cut ledger paper.

Max Lamb

I discovered the work of London based designer Max Lamb at the Parisian shop Centre Commercial in the 10th arrondissement.

Last Stool. Stackable stools in copper or enamelled steel.

The Hawkesbury Sandstone Collection consists of a set of steps, a table, four stools and a bench, each piece cut using a CNC diamond wire saw and finished by the stonemasons at Gosford Quarries, Australia. This collection is available at Broached Gallery, Melbourne.

I was also very impressed by his Hexagonal Pewter Stool carved in the sand on a Cornwall beach.

Newmore (new+humor)

On monday I met Yoriko at Pulse (trade show in London) the lovely and cheerful Japanese designer behind Newmor. She was exhibiting the prototypes from her graduation show from Saint Martins College. I instantly fell in love with her playful collection of quirky objects.

Ladle of Nessy.

Arctic Soap Case - with bear.

Pushpins of Living Matter's Bottoms.

Brush of Fried Shrimp.

Our weekend so far

On saturday, we went for a walk across the river Seine from the Bibliothèque Nationale de France to the Parc de Bercy and the Cité de la Mode et Du Design. On the top photo you can see the Joséphine Baker swimming pool on a barge. I'd love to go one day with the children. When the weather is nice the roof opens up so you swim over looking the river Seine.

On Sunday morning, we were all awake at 6am, thanks to Ophelia who was so excited to show us the few coins left under the pillow from the tooth fairy. She is now proudly showing her big top front teeth gap.
Our morning was spent at le Grand Palais to see the Buren exhibition Monumenta.

Head in the clouds

Listening to Move on Up by Curtis Mayfield on Radio Nova. The children are in bed and Simon's in London. I'm spending the evening enjoying myself looking at various inspirational blogs, drinking fresh mint tea and eating dark chocolate (Lindt Caramel, pointe de sel!). I feel good :-)


Photo Andrea Galvani.

Colourful Queen

Colour chart created by Vogue UK.

Limited Edition Pantone Colour Guide by Leo Burnett.
All via Plenty Of Colour.