24 illustrated pockets filled with chocolates and sweet words!
It was super fun to make, I printed my illustrations on A4 sheets of paper that I sewed to make little pouches. I know 3 children who will be very happy to see the calendar up on the wall when they come back from school!
As a thank you for all your support this year, I made this little Christmas wreath. I will add one to your order (but hurry, it's a limited edition!)
The holidays are coming up fast, and I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate than by presenting you with my new Paper Cut Family Tree!
Inspired by Scandinavian folk art, this piece features a delicate cut-out of a tree with leaves, flowers and familiar friendly animals.
It comes with 16 openings for your favorite photos of your children and other relatives or friends that you consider family.
If you are looking for a special gift for your mum, then this it!
The Family Tree is available in this stunning Deep Blue with a back print to insert your favourite photos:
The back print comes with guides for placing your photos. Each window measures 3,5 x 4,5cm
The Family Tree is available in this beautiful Forest Green colour:
A guide is included to help you measure and cut your photos to the right size fit into the appropriate windows on the back print.
Make sure to place your Christmas orders soon to avoid postal delays!
Have you ever tried drawing on windows? I encourage you as I find it very pleasurable!
When I was in Tokyo in 2019, I was lucky to illustrate a large drawing on the windows at the Galerie Doux Dimanche and another one on the wide windows of the Bonton shop in Takashimaya department store in Shinbuya.
In my studio, I am very lucky to have natural light thanks to these large windows. I had fun drawing directly on the glass with a large Posca. It is a water-based paint marker that washes off easily with hot water and a sponge.
If you want to try it on at home, remember to draw the design from inside otherwise it may fade in the rain!
Green is our new added colour to our paper cut City maps! Also available in black, deep blue, pink and gold.
How are you?
I hope you and your loved ones are safe and staying healthy during these challenging times.
I wanted to let you know that our online store remains open and you can continue to place orders.
We can immediately ship to the following countries:
Germany, UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg,Switzerland, Norway, Sweden and Finland.
You can still place orders to be shipped in countries not listed above and they will be shipped once the postal services resume.
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As a thank you for your understanding and for your patience we would like to offer you 15% off your next purchase with the code STAYHOME to use at checkout.
The offer will remain valid until 15th April.
We will also include this new HOME paper cut for FREE with your next purchase!
Look after yourself and thanks so much for your support 💚
This morning Téo (aged 5) made a drawing for his friend Finn and wrote 'I miss you' and 'I love you'. It was a nice way to keep in touch with his friend after being away from school for 3 weeks due to the confinement. This new situation has proven to be challenging for children, like us they really miss the interaction with their friends!
The drawings of robots Téo made inspired us to turn it into a fun mobile to hang in his bedroom! This was a fun activity to do this morning while his brother and his sister where doing their homeschooling.
I hope this will inspire you to make something similar with your child. A drawing made by your child is a good place to start! It's great to make something to hang in the bedroom and even better if it reminds you of a dear friend!
For materials we used what we had available in the house like an empty cereal box as it is not too thick for cutting nor too thin to hold the paints. We had some paints (but Téo ended up using watercolour crayons), scissors, a pencil and newspapers (for protecting the table). Téo painted a layer of Gesso acrylic primer as a base but if you don't have some just use white paint as a base.
I invite you to follow the step by step photos and improve it to make it your own project! Téo and I would love to see what you will make so please send us a photo via Instagram and tag @famillesummerbelle
Have fun and more importantly look after yourselves!
We are so happy to show you our latest paper cut map: BERLIN!
Available in 5 colours: blue, green, pink, blue, black and a limited edition gold.
Our two boys (aged 10 and 5) are at the age where they spend hours on end playing with Legos. They both play very well together which is really sweet.
Today they made this pretty fun art installation on the kitchen bench displaying all the Legos characters (I found out that most have no hands which are most probably lost somewhere in the house!).
As this might sounds familiar, Legos pieces often ends up in every corner of the house. Who hasn't walked in the middle of the night on a sharp piece of Legos cube swearing with an acute pain on the foot!
I found a nice solution with our House Boxes for storing away all these little pieces!
If you are really motivated at tidying up your child's Legos you can also arrange them by colours as the House Boxes comes flat packed in 4 colours: blue, pink, yellow and black!
It's December 2nd and it's starting to look like Christmas at home!
Today I finished customising the advent calendar I had cut the previous year and added some colours and new activities to do on the back of each illustration.
I had no time to make a brand new one this year and to be honest I think this one deserved a second life!
Yesterday we celebrated Lucien's 10th birthday at home, the 5 of us. Lucien had chosen what he wanted to eat on the big day, it was going to be pancakes before school and home-made hamburgers and fries for dinner!
I also cooked a chocolate fondant for dessert and on top I made colourful 3D style paper cuts featuring the big number 10.
After blowing his candles, Lucien said proudly: Maman, I will know have a two digit number for the rest of my life!
As you may have previously seen on my blog, I have been recording Lucien's growth since he was born, with the same setting, him laying on a bed, with his age written with coloured felt letter (I bought them on Etsy, 10 years ago).
When I started photographing him I never thought I would do it for the next 10 years, I was just having fun recording his first few months and somehow it became a tradition on his birth date. I only forgot to do age 6. I think we were probably moving country as we do often!
I wish I had done it as religiously for his big sister and his little brother. But you know how busy life gets, especially with 3 kids! For Ophelia, the first child I wrote down in a beautiful little book at every stage of the pregnancy with photos, I made photo albums for every year...well until number two was born. Poor little Téo I haven't even started a single photo album (I'm 4 years behind!)
I find it fascinating to see how his face has changed but still it's Lucien all along, with his blond hair and cheeky smile!
I'd like to keep this tradition going, of course if he is willing to cooperate and if we keep it fun. But I'm not sure when he turns 15 that he'd like to have his photo taken with the cute little felt letters on top of his head :-)
Julie x
This is Lucien's first 12 months. How the project started and as I mentioned above I never thought to do this for the following 10 years!
New colour alert!
Our paper cut maps are now available in this beautiful soft pink!
Cities available are Paris, London, Amsterdam, San Francisco, New York City and Copenhagen.
For the first time, I offer for sale my original paintings I made over the Summer.
These 8 unique watercolor paintings were inspired by a more than 100 year old fig tree in our family home in the South West of France.
It is a beautiful tree with quirky old branches and large leaves that change colors according to the warm light of the South.
Available for sale on Famille Summerbelle e-shop.
I have just returned from an amazing week in Tokyo where we celebrated the 11th anniversary of Famille Summerbelle with a colorful exhibition of new paper cut works, original watercolors and our city maps.
It was an honor to celebrate our 11 years in Tokyo at Galerie Doux Dimanche since it is also 11 years that we have been collaborating with the creative couple Hisashi Tokuyoshi and Fumie Shimoji, founders of the Edition Paumes.
Together we made the book "Be Creative with Famille Summerbelle”. I was warmly welcomed by the team for my second exhibition in this charming gallery, located in the beautiful district of Jingumae in Shibuya.
For the occasion I made a large drawing on the window of the shop adjacent to the gallery to entertain visitors and passers-by!
It was such a pleasure to spend time again with the charming team of the Galerie Doux Dimanche who have also welcomed my mother and I for an exhibition 7 years ago. My mum who's a ceramic artist exhibited with me which was really amazing. You can read and see images on the blog, it was back in 2012!
Famille Summerbelle tea-towels:
Be Creative with Famille Summerbelle by Edition Paumes. The books is a peak inside our home and family life back in 2012. It includes tips and inspiration for handmade ideas and inspiring home decor. It, of course, includes plenty of paper cutting and fun activities to do with your children.
Thank you all at the Galerie Doux Dimanche for your warm welcome!
Julie Marabelle (yes that's me!) and Hisashi Tokuyoshi, DA, photographer, co-founder of Doux Dimanche and Edition Paumes!
The exhibition of Famille Summerbelle runs until Sunday 23rd June 2019:
Galerie Doux Dimanche
3-5-6 Jingu-mae
Shibuya-ku
Tokyo - Japan
During this trip to Tokyo I was also lucky enough to be invited by the Kids Concept Store Bonton for the opening of their new shop in Takashimaya department store in Shinbuya.
I made an installation of about sixty paper cut illustrations on the theme of their collection Little Italy that were displayed in 3 areas of the shop. I also had a lot of fun drawing across their ever so long shop window. I love drawing on a large format, is it very satisfying and rewarding!
The Saturday before my departure I organised a paper cut garland workshop that the children happily coloured and cut to leave with a pretty decoration to hang in their room!
Thank you Bonton for your warm welcome and for this fun collaboration!
11 years already! I never thought 11 years ago that I will go to Japan to make an exhibition to celebrate Famille Summerbelle 11 years in business!
Tokyo was our first destination while Family Summerbelle was only 6 months old. We met there with Hisashi and Fumie, the founders of Editions Paumes and Galerie Doux Dimanche, with whom we have collaborated many times since our first meeting.
I am very happy to return to Tokyo in a few weeks to celebrate these years of creative work with them.
I can not wait to share this trip with you!
If you live in Tokyo, come and visit me at ">Galerie Doux Dimanche on Wednesday, June 12th.
From 14h-16h I organise a workshop where we will cut a wreath of flowers, it will be followed by a small party to celebrate the 11 years of Family Summerbelle
The Famille Summerbelle exhibition at Galerie Doux Dimanche starts on Tuesday 11th June, ends on 23rd June!
Due to popular demand our best selling Family Tree prints are now back in store and available framed. It's a great present for parents to be, for a baby shower and to decorate your child's bedroom.
The print comes in two parts: The front print comes with 12 openings for photo frames.
Each frame opening measures 3.5cm x 4.5cm.
The back paper has guides for placing the photos.
This is Ludo my favorite bunny.
Wishing you all a very Happy Easter!
Hand screen printed bunny, perfect for kids rooms.
Our best selling birch wood tray and our beloved cushion featuring Ludo the bunny on one side and his friend the Maximilien the magician on the reverse.
Do the dishes on Easter Sunday with the colourful bunny tea-towel & be rewarded with a cup of tea in our fine bone China mug.
