January 2010 - Page 2 of 3

Small But Perfectly Formed

January 20, 2010 By Paola Leave a Comment

As you may have noticed I’ve become slightly obsessed by all things tiny and dollshousy recently, so I was thrilled and delighted to see a dolls house, would you believe, get a full editorial spread in last month’s Elle Deco UK.

Of course in order to hold its own against the fabulous full size apartments on show, this was of course no ordinary dolls house. It’s a pretty vintage 1960s house full of lovingly collected vintage furniture and showcasing miniature versions of designer Deborah Bowness’s handprinted trompe l’oeil wallpapers, put together by Bowness and her friend Emily Chalmers of East London vintage store Caravan.

I sort of want to move in immediately.

Adventures in Knitting – I Saw Three Gifts

January 18, 2010 By Paola 4 Comments

Just a quick and very belated knitting update. I thought I ought to knit the Minx and the Husband something for Christmas seeing as they’re always watching me knitting things for myself.

I made the Minx something called a Calorimetry from some novelty handspun I found on here on Etsy.

The Husband got a Windschief cowl to match his eyes in DK Silky Cashmere in the Limited Edition Old Jade colourway (and yes, he is spoilt) from Sundara (this is so he can’t complain about the amount of money I spend in that woman’s direction).

And I, because of course I can only knit unselfishly for so long, treated myself to a pair of fingerless gloves in merino silk Opulence in the completely stunning Chocolat Chambord colourway from the Woolen Rabbit.

I have promised myself I won’t start anything new until I’ve finished all my works in progress from last year. So I’m currently plodding through my Lace Shawl, my Interminable Blanket and a sweater I started knitting at the tail end of lat year.

All details as before on my Ravelry page – come and be my friend.

Today I Am Mostly….

January 18, 2010 By Paola 3 Comments

…painting the living room.

Actually that was yesterday. And yes, we need to discuss paint colours as a matter of urgency, probably tomorrow.

Go Love Your Room? Jean-Christophe Aumas

January 15, 2010 By Paola Leave a Comment

I’m genuinely torn about this apartment which I found in last month’s Elle Deco – UK (yep, I’m only now getting the chance to go through my Christmas magazines, so look out for lots of ideas for Christmas decorating and table settings etc in the coming weeks). The apartment belongs to French art director Jean-Christophe Aumas, who creates window displays and events for big names such as John Galliano, Chloe and Diptyque.

At first I didn’t really like very much – the colour scheme, all baby pink, acid lemon, teal, black and grey and red seemed incoherent and unpleasant and the whole thing felt somewhat bitty, disjointed and just plain messy.

But the more I looked, the more quirky, fascinating details I saw. I love the way he plays with and echoes geometric shapes,

the blocks of colour, the way he hangs his pictures and sets his tables on an angle to reflect the diagonals in the herring bone flooring, the interesting objects such as the domes on the mantelpiece, the light fittings, the three triangles painted where the wall meets the ceiling, the turquoise shower, the brightly coloured accessories.

I wouldn’t necessarily want to live here, but I’d love to visit and look around and pick up the objects and ask where they all come from. It’s interesting and fascinating and quirky, and for that I forgive it much.

What do you think?

poll by twiigs.com

By the way, this has reminded me how much I love the Alexander Girard wooden dolls.

If only they didn’t cost $160 EACH. Or a mere $1,600 for all eleven. Ha ha ha. If you’re feeling disgustingly rich, then go buy them here.

Today I Am Mostly…

January 15, 2010 By Paola 1 Comment

…lighting candles

Actually this is me playing around with the January challenge for Holly Decor8’s Interior Styling group on Flickr. The challenge is as follows:

‘ Put 3, 5, or 7 of your favorite things on a tabletop. Only 3, 5 or 7, no more, no less. Arrange them in a triangle style – highest in the middle and work your way down. Try using a framed picture leaning against the wall for the middle, or a tall vase, lamp, flower arrangement, or anything else that is tall and centered’

The weather has been horribly grey and rainy for the past few days here in Seattle, so I decided to play with candlelight instead. I don’t think this really works for the challenge as the area I was styling (our built in bookshelves ) meant I had to take it from the side. And it has absolutely no ‘wow factor’ .

This interior styling malarkey is really difficult. What would you do to make this photo better?

While We’re On The Subject of Granny Squares

January 14, 2010 By Paola 3 Comments

I came across these fabulous pictures in Holly Decor8’s Interior Styling pool and had to share them with you.

I am now having to sit on my hands I’m so desperate to start crocheting a granny square garland. What a great idea. And absolutely gorgeous styling too.

{Idea and pictures from Dottie Angel. This is why I’m learning to crochet. I also want those knitting needles – does anyone know what make they are?}

Gigantic Granny Square Afghan

January 12, 2010 By Paola 5 Comments

Today is the Minx’s fifth birthday. And so of course she comes bounding into our bedroom this morning full of energy and excitement and shouts about presents.

For some reason it seemed particularly dark and I felt even crapper than I usually do when it’s time to get up, but it had been raining all night, which would explain the darkness, and when I asked the Husband what time it was (he keeps the alarm clock on his side of the bed) he said ‘oh, it’s twenty past seven’. I felt so dreadfully unrested that I asked him to double check but he reassured me about the time and we hauled ourselves out of bed and downstairs to begin the unveiling of half a ton of Disney Princess/Calico Critters/My Little Pony crap tempered with the occasional improving book.

This process had been going on for about ten minutes and I was just about to start making birthday waffles when I happened to glance at the clock on the VCR. Which said 3:52. Yes, my Cambridge-educated Husband had got his long and short hands mixed up and we’d all got up at 3.35 am. And of course after that the Minx was so excited it took her ages to go back to sleep, and she woke up again for the final time at 6.30 am.

So if you thought that today there would be a moving eulogy to my five-year old daughter or even any substantive blogging at all, then, dear readers, you are very much mistaken.

Instead here are a few pictures of the Gigantic Granny Square Blanket I crocheted for the Minx’s new dolls house.

She had expressed some disappointment that the blanket provided (a thin scrap of dark blue jersey) was too small for the sofa bed, so I decided to make the dolls their very own gigantic granny square afghan. I was very pleased with how well the yarn went with the decor and it seems that the (rather creepy) dolls are too.

This is another step in my ‘teach yourself to crochet’ campaign. After a few false starts I can now granny square along fabulously thanks to the Purl Bee’s excellent instructions. I’m almost tempted to start on a full-size gigantic granny square blanket just for us.

The yarn is the scraps from my first ever pair of socks. It’s fascinating to see how differently the yarn works up in different patterns.

Carolina Leon Firrell – Hand Painted Porcelain

January 12, 2010 By Paola 2 Comments

It’s about this time of year that I start getting inundated with invitations to attend Maison & Objet in Paris. I’m not able to go this year, but as the business is growing it’s still very much on my to do list for next year.

Here’s who invited me today. Just loving the colour story on these. I’ll have to get a catalogue I think.

Jessica Eskelsen – Photography

January 11, 2010 By Paola 15 Comments

I love getting comments on the blog because then I get to read your blogs and you really a gorgeous and talented bunch aren’t you?

Last week ‘Jess’ commented about running, so I went to her blog and discovered that she’s a pretty amazing photographer. I love the moody otherworldly atmosphere she achieves. It’s ‘atmosphere’ that transforms a technically competent photo (like the ones I take) into something special and I’d love to know how to achieve it more often in my own work. Check out more of her beautiful photography here. {All photos below copyright the very talented Jessica Eskelsen}

Speaking of comments, I’d love to get more commenting/conversations going on this blog. That way I can have one of those blogs like Decorno’s where she writes nice short posts and then gets lots of lovely and interesting discussion from her commenters while she puts her feet up and watches telly.

What makes you comment on blogs? Are there any things that stop you from commenting? If you’ve been lurking on this blog but have never commented, why not? (<- she says, hoping to trick you into commenting 🙂 Is there anything I can do to encourage more comments on this blog? Won’t it be embarrassing if this post gets no comments?