Happy to see you...

Penelope has been designing beautiful handmade dolls for a while.
She even dresses them up with gorgeous clothes using Liberty fabric and patterns from Citronille which by the way, I highly recommend if you want to sew gorgeous French outfits for your kids.
And now Penelope has opened her first workshop/boutique and like everything she does, it is simply beautiful so if you are in France near Les Sables d'Olonne, make sure you pay her a visit

109 route du Chateau d’Olonne, 85100 Les Sables d’Olonne

Horaires d’été :

du mardi au samedi de 10h à 12h et de 14h à 19h.

Et sur rendez-vous au 06 86 45 93 68.

 Welcome sticker from here | Linen scarves from there

Cela fait quelques années déja que Pénélope crée de jolies poupées.
Elle leur fait meme de tres jolis habits en tissu Liberty et utilisant les patrons de Citronille - une marque que je recommende chaudement si vous souhaitez coudre de beaux habits pour vos enfants. 
Et maintenant Pénélope a ouvert son premier atelier/boutique et comme tout ce qu'elle fait, c'est simplement magnifique. Si vous passez dans la région des Sables d'Olonne, ne manquez pas d'aller lui dire bonjour.

109 route du Chateau d’Olonne, 85100 Les Sables d’Olonne

Horaires d’été :

du mardi au samedi de 10h à 12h et de 14h à 19h.

Et sur rendez-vous au 06 86 45 93 68.

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Gorgeous wall stickers to spread happiness around the home

I've always been a fan of Shanna Murray wallstickers and used one of hers in Mila's bedroom along with the beautiful handmade cotton garland from Pigmée so she can see each time she goes to bed and wake up how much I love her.
Murray's calligraphy is feminine, inviting and each of wall stickers are little pieces of art to spread happiness around the home.
I've been looking for ways and places to add more of these gorgeous stickers around our home either in London or our holidays home in France and today I came across this image of the I love you beyond measure sticker on the nursery door of an adorable little girl named Lucca Valentine and it just opened my mind to a whole world of creative little projects...
* I could put one on each of the four bedrooms in our home in France with a feel good message or an inspiring photo...
* I could paint the back of our kitchen door with blackboard paint, adding B&W photos and let our friends and guest leaving lovely message...
* I could put this one on our entrance door to welcome people...


On Sunday, I'll be styling our new winter bed linen collection to show the new mustard duvet cover and other goodies we've received...I can't wait to share everything with you.
Have a lovely weekend xoxo
PS: The last one is the Dutch garland stickers which is temporarily in our Summer sale until Friday...

J'ai toujours adoré les autocollants muraux de Shanna Murray et j'en utilisé une dans la chambre de Mila avec cette jolie guirlande en coton de Pigmée afin qu'elle voit combien je l'aime à chaque fois qu'elle va au lit et se reveille le matin.

La calligraphie de ces stickers est très féminine et chaleureuse et chaque autocollant est comme une petite oeuvre-d'art qui sème des douces notes de bonheur dans la maison.

Cela faisait un petit moment que je me creusais la tete pour voir ou est ce que je pourrais éparpiller ces jolis autocollants dans notre maison à Londres ou notre maison de vacances en France et aujourd'hui, je suis tombée sur cette belle image montrant l'autocollant I love you beyond measure

sur la porte de la chambre d'une adorable petite fille nommée Lucca Valentine et cette simple image a juste déclenchée une vague d'idées créatives...

* Je pourrais en mettre un sur les portes des quatre chambres avec un petit message bienveillant ou une petite photo ...
* Je pourrais peindre le derrière de la porte de la cuisine avec de la peinture a tableau noir et ajouter des photos de famille ou inviter nos amis à laisser des petits messages...
* Je pourrais mettre celui-ci sur la porte d'entrée pour souhaiter la bienvenue à nos invités..

Dimanche, je vais mettre en scène la nouvelle collection de lin que nous avons recu pour vous montrer la couette en lin lave couleur moutarde ainsi que d'autres trucs géniaux. Il me tarde de vous les montrer.

Passez un très bon weekend bises

PS:

L'autocollant sur la dernière photo est le Dutch garland sticker qui est temporément en solde jusqu'à Vendredi - date à laquelle nos soldes d'été se terminent...

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Inspiring (clearing) Sunday....

For the past few weeks, I have been de-cluttering our home like crazy. 

One cupboard after another, room by room, I am diligently going through everything and I can't tell you how good this feels. 

Sometimes when things get too much (and I mean too busy), something has to give in so I'm streamlining our 'family procedures', the way I would have done it at work :-)

Today, I'm tackling my Macbook and I found these pictures I took of Lily and Mila in our holiday home in France.

The pendant light is the large one by Kathleen Hills, Lily wears our new blue grey linen apron and Mila wears the vintage pink linen apron (more colours for kids and grown-ups here).

Have a great Sunday xoxo

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Soft pinks at home

I'm not a huge fan of the way toys companies or interiors companies produce and market all their products in pink for girls and blue for boys, especially the ones with Barbie, Bob The Builder themed etc...I think given the chance, kids have far more to offer than a life through pink and blue glasses just because of their gender.
Saying that, as a mother I can't deny that a lot of little girls are going through a "pink if not Princess' phase at some point in their lives. Mila did and believe me it was not something I encouraged!!
A couple of years ago I posted two articles "Pink, pink you stink"  and Pink for grown-ups here) that gave advices on how to decorate a little girl bedroom with soft, touches of pink. I think the best way to do this, is to stay clear from the bright Barbie pink and go for vintage pink - a softer colour which goes very well with soft, light grey. So here are three of my favourite pink home accessories that I'll be more than happy to have at home...

1. Vintage pink bed linen in French washed linen (soft and gorgeous!) 2. Soft pink ball chair (looks wonderful next to the white one, the lilac or grey ones) 3. This beautiful tutu in vintage pink (which we have in grey at home)

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Easter, chocolate, family....

Our family has arrived from the other side of the world (New-Zealand)...

Au programme for the next few days until we take them to our holidays home in France...

Borough market, Petershame Nurseries, Columbia Road & the flower market, the London eye, kiwi BBQ, gorgeous food and chocolate eggs for Mila who is on the starting block...

Have a great Sunday

Images from the ever so talented Claude...

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ELLE DECORATION Best Shopping Buys

Our gorgeous handmade garland by Pigmée was featured in ELLE DECORATION as {Best Shopping Buys}.

Am I a happy bunny!? ouuuiiiii

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In the shop this week: LES DOUDOUS

In France, the first soft toy a baby will take a fancy is called un doudou and is likely to be the toy children will keep forever, or at least the first years of their lives so choosing the perfect Doudou is no mean feat! 

The gorgeous and soft doudou Kiou (featured in white below), which is perfect for a newborn baby, is one of several brother and sisters from the über cute Doudou family. 

With its little ears, easy to grab for tiny hands, its cute little heart embroidered on its bottom and its lovely design, the Doudou family will charm lots of babies and will be an adorable companion for the years to come.

Designed with creative and imaginative little kids in mind, the little Doudou soft toys and Doudou cushions by Kayatine add a cool, modern and colourful touch to a child's bedroom. 

 

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Pink, pink you stink

I was working on a post for the Ball chairs but I felt really inspired by the new soft pink ball chair which is really pretty. 
I'm usually not a fan of pink (she says, sporting bright pink fluo nail varnish)...I think what bothers me the most about pink is the label attached to it (i.e. pink is for girls and blue is for boys) so I regularly revolt against this but as I'm starting to long for baby no 2, it's cold outside, my back is hurting and I have been in a right mood for the past week, today I'm craving for some softness, cuddles from my child and soft hues of pink and grey for a nursery.

Doudou ABC poster | Tutu | Miss Lilac soft toy | Pigmée garland | Pigmee handmade doll | Family tree print (on the wallpaper) | Penguin wallpaper | Soft pink ball chair | Rabbit lamp | Birds on a wire blind

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Rabbit lamp ♥♥♥

Yesterday, my friend Mandy, Acland came around so we could finally meet Isla who is just the most gorgeous little thing!

Mandy reminded me that during the first year of the business when we were packing orders from my flat in Bristol while looking after Mila, we used to stuff our faces with chocolate muffins to cope with the volume of orders and the stress of running a small business and we used to tell Mila that 'chocolate' was called something else so she wouldn't tell her dad that we were eating chocolate during the day...Mwouahahahah

Back to the boutique... the large mushroom lamp and the Rabbit lamp are now back in stock but the Rabbit lamp is flying off. We received 15 of them on Friday and minus the pre-orders, we have now only 6 left. Once gone they'll be back in 2012.

Did you know? The Rabbit lamp is handmade in Germany and the company that manufactures them has been using the same mould since the 1960s. Sweet, isn't it?!

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De gauche a droite...{By Sophie}

From this striking photo taken by Vee Speers to this very cute Wings racer back t-shirts

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De gauche a droite...{by Sophie}

SO cute! :-)

Nelly The Elephant art print

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Mila's bedroom: little update

These past two weekends, I have been working on Mila's bedroom, finishing off what I never got around to finish first time around before the photoshoot with Editions PAUMES. 

The photos aren't great but by the time I was done painting, it was too dark to take any nice photos so I've just taken these very quickly this morning...

I'm done with the room yet but it's getting there...Changes included:

- Moving the Nelly print from the wall to the shelves to clear the space so I can add this beautiful "You are loved" sticker by Shanna Murray

- Displaying her new Miss Doudou red, a gift from Julie the designer behind Kayatine

- Replacing the old brass handle doors by newwhite ceramic handles

- Re-painting the white walls with washable paint

- Painting the inside of her cupboard in bubblegum pink (more pics later)

- Replacing Friends of Violet poster by Mima Le Chat art print

- Playing with Pigmée garland until I find the right spot

and finally putting her 4 years old clothes away....It's actually a bit tricky to let go of things that reminds me of her first years as a toddler so we took some to the charity shop and kept my favourite ones in a box...

 

 

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Pigmée - handmade & loved ♥ ♥ ♥

It took me longer than usual to write the copy about the Pigmée collection because I really wanted you to get a feel of what I had seen in this wonderful, handmade collection for children.

So I tried to remember how I felt the first time I came across Pigmée in Paris (besides butterflies, which is usually a sign for me that I need to follow my guts feelings and go for it)....
"The first time I saw Pigmée, I knew I was in front of something very special. There it was... standing in front me, beautifully made in textured cotton. With no back or front, with nothing imposed on him, in all its simplicity, it laid down its soul and its story to tell and I knew it was the kind of thing we all want for our children. Something very special to let them be children...just a little bit longer while they can."
Handmade in a beautiful textured cotton, Pigmée is a desire to rediscover the authentic pleasure of simplicity and beauty found in handmade things like old toys were. Neither a character nor an animal, with no front or back, Pigmée is what a child sees in it, always something different and truly unique. Far from standardized codes, Pigmée stimulates a child's imagination and inspires very personal and original stories.

Sadly, we did not have the time to include them in our catalogue but I really hope you will love this wonderful collection (the gardland is beautiful!) and I'm hoping I'll be able to bring you more little treasures like this in the future.

  

 

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