Letters at home

Today, we received another 200 sets of the Rob Ryan plates, while the driver was unloading our 39 boxes, he got clamped (£300! ouch!). At the same time, 12 (voluminous!) Ovetto recycling bins arrived and the lift chose that specific moment to breakdown (luckily temporarily....) Then a third driver who was delivering large bags of eco-friendly chips so we could pack all our orders safely while being good to the planet, went upstairs to get Genevieve to sign the paperwork while I was dealing with the *cr..* going on downstairs and left without leaving the chips with us....give me strength!!

So I have decided to have a little break to show you something I really love....using big letters like these beautiful red metal letters from House Doctor DK at home which is something La Maison Pujol in France is doing very well. I know that in terms of home styling, it's not new or groundbreaking and I don't care. I don't think a home should follow trends. A home should reflect your style, your lifestyle, your personality, your travels and everything you love in life and for me, who loves design, typography and food, these big, red and striking letters really stroke a chord when I saw them the first time. I think letters are a fantastic way to express your style with a touch of humour and you can easily use these ones separately to add little industrial touches around the home like Maison Pujol or simply give one of each to friends as a Christmas gift!

(C) Photos: top pics from La Maison Pujol photographed by Manolo Yllera, bottom image: Pia Ulin, Little Arrhus from Konfettiform, Via Little Blue Deer

Apres la journee d'enfer que j'ai eu (je vous epargne la traduction), je voulais vous montrer quelque chose que j'adore...l'utilisation de grosses lettres en deco a la maison, comme ces belles lettres rouges en metal de House Doctor DK, qui est quelque chose que La Maison Pujol fait tres bien (super addresse d'ailleurs pour un WE ou des wacances..).
Je sais que ce n'est pas tres nouveau, ni avant-gardiste en terme de decoration et je m'en fiche. Je ne suis pas de celles qui pensent qu'une maison doit suivre la mode. Une maison devrait refleter notre style, nos gouts, notre personnalite, nos voyages et tout ce que nous aimons dans la vie. Et moi perso, j'adore le design, la typo et trainer dans ma cuisine (pas pour cuisiner, pour manger!), alors forcement j'ai completement craque pour ces super lettres rouge vif des que je les ai vu! Le truc genial avec celles-ci, c'est qu'elles auront l'air super cool* dans la cuisine (accrochees au mur ou suspendues) mais qu'elles peuvent etre egalement utilisees separement comme La Maison Pujol pour ajouter des petites touches industrielles dans la maison ou simplement etre offertes a des amis comme cadeau de Noel!

*cool: (kool): Adjective;
1. Something regarded as cool is an admired aesthetic of attitude, behavior, comportment, appearance and style, influenced by and a product of the Zeitgeist.
2. Adjective overused by Karine who still thinks she is in her twenties

Rob Ryan's good news!

Bon...so the first good news is that the Rob Ryan Four Seasons plates will arrive in our warehouse on Monday (just bear with us because we have a HUGE number of back orders).

The second good news is that we will also receive the Rob Ryan mugs, the Rob Ryan bunting.
The third good news (let's go crazy, it's almost Xmas!), we've also added the gor-geous Rob Ryan ceramic vase and the Rob Ryan canvas shopping bag (and you have no more excuse not go green with one of these!).

The 4th good news (and yes....you can send me gifts to B&F Headquarters to thank me) is that you are now going to learn how to make a paper-cut ornament necklace yourself!! You know little chain-like necklaces like the ones he hangs in his studio around his desk lamps which will look amazing around bottles and foodies gifts

What you need Coloured paper of a good thickness - Piece of string - Pencil - Scalpel - Scalpel blade size 3 with 10A blades (Ryan uses Swan Martin scalpels and blades) - Masking tape - Ornament to put the necklace on

1. Attach the blade to the scalpel very, very carefully. Then wrap masking tape carefully around the blade, exposing just the tip - this will enable you to cut out the fiddly little bits without cutting your fingers.

2. Whether you're making a necklace-label for a bottle or an ornament, you first have to measure how long the necklace needs to be. Take the piece of string and measure the neck of your bottle/ornament to calculate the length. Then loop the measured string on to your paper in the oval shape of a necklace and draw around it to make the template.

3. Draw the pendant on to the necklace - Rob made a bell shape. Then make the necklace thicker by drawing a chain-line effect.

4. Next, begin cutting the necklace out with the scalpel, starting with the small fiddly bits (ie the centre of the paper chain).

5. Write your "label" on the pendant - whatever you write, draw the letters in thick capitals so that they can be cut out to leave a silhouette effect. (Ryan opted for "Life's too long", but feel free to make it more upbeat.) Now carefully cut the letters out.

6. And voila! Ryan made a bright pink necklace for a kitsch cat figurine. But, of course, it can be anything you want.

★★★★

Bon...la premiere bonne nouvelle c'est que les assiettes 4 saisons de Rob Ryan arrivent a notre entrepot Lundi (mais soyez patient parce que nous avons une tonne de pre-commandes a envoyer). La deuxieme bonne nouvelle est que nous allons aussi recevoir les mugs Rob Ryan et les fanions Rob Ryan. La troisieme bonne nouvelle (soyons fous, c'est binetot Noel!), nous avons aussi ajoute ce su-per-be vase en ceramique de Rob Ryan et ce sac en coton de canvas (et la vous n'avez plus d'excuses pour utiliser des sacs plastiques et ne pas utiliser un des ces petits sacs canons!). La quatrieme bonne nouvelle (....vous pouvez m'envoyer des cadeaux aux bureaux de B&F pour me remercier) est que vous allez maintenant apprendre a tailler et decouper un petit collier comme Rob Ryan les accroche dans son studio autour de ses lampes de travail pour decorer votre sapin ou accrocher autour de vos cadeaux, une bouteille de vins, des bonnes choses a manger

Via The Guardian

Absolute favourites!

Last night, when Elodie and I skyped each other to go through the gifts for women, we realized that most of the items we were listing were things we loved for ourselves so we've decided to share with you our own selection. Frankly, there is not enough space to put everything we have, would love to have, gave to friends (zut! I forgot to put this!), Steve's family in New-Zealand, what our mum takes home each year when she comes to help us out etc...
I have two Paulistano chairs at home (but I'm aware they are not for everyone's budget) and Elodie has a lot more prints at home and the retro robots (not in Lily's room but in Christophe's home office :-). I also love anything from Jacqueline Morabito's La Petite Epicerie range we started shooting yesterday but it's not online yet so these are amongst our absolute favourites!

1. EAT letters by House Doctor DK My kitchen is not looking great at the moment but these would be cool on a wall (next week, I will show you examples of letters at home)
2. Any single pendant light and Cluster lights by Kathleen Hills. Kathleen was one of the first designers we stock and she remains one of my favourite designers. Her designs are flawless, simple and timeless
3. La Tropezienne tote bag: we both have one in tan so does our cousin Marion which makes family reunion in the summer quite interesting...like a 'get together of La Trop' but it's still one of our absolute favourites!
4. Doudou Star cushion...ok we're suckers for anything with stars, call it a mid-life crisis or we are just young at heart, I don't know what it is but it works for us
5. This owl vase by House Doctor DK is one of our latest arrivals but just too cute!
6. Ball chairs...ah the ball chairs....massive coup de coeur the first time I saw them. At the time, we were still in Bristol but I went to a trade show in London with my friend Mandy and Mila in her pushchair and I fell so much in love that I convinced the exhibitor to let me have a white and black one at a discount price. Mandy and I ended up carrying these voluminous chairs on Mila's puschair from Olympia to the railway station and then all the way to Bristol...totally bunkers but it was fun :-)
7. The STAR dress (see compulsive addiction to stars above) but I tried it on at the last trade show and it's fab, light, comfy, works wonder with leggings or on top of jeans and it looks cool. The grey one is stunning too
8. London weekend destinations print: a new print designed by Betsy Benn (we have her Nelly print at home) and I love how striking and modern in a retro way (if you see what it means) it looks. Paris map print for Elodie. In fact, anything from Famille Summerbelle is a safe bet when we make gifts to friends, they are always a winner and the Family Tree print is fab for babyshower.
New-Zealand type map (I live with a kiwi...who complained he had to read my blog to find out we had it. Not true! I told him but he didn't listen). Next week, we're getting the USA type map and the London type map print
9. Rob Ryan plates: A massive hit already! We've been inundated by pre-orders and we get the stock around 15th but it's a no brainer. The set is super pretty, comes gift-boxed and costs only £25 which I think is a great price for a gift and it's the kind of set that will please Rob Ryan fans like my friend Mandy (again) and is great for mums, in-laws, etc...It's a bit the femine response to our best-seller Cognac glasses for men.
10. The pigeon light by Ed Carpenter..I've always loved it and I'm glad it's in our shop now. Great for teens rooms or cool family homes
11. the Laptop clutch bag by Clare Vivier: ON MY LIST!! I know I go on and on about Clare's designs but I absolutely love everything she does and the girl is going places! She just shipped a large order for Theory and I bet in a few years, she will be a big name so let's just get some of her sublime designs while we still can afford them!
12. STAR t-shirt (see compulsive addiction to stars above BIS): this is a woman t-shirt but last time I took pics of Mila wearing the small size (fair enough it was more a dress for her than a t-shirt) but it still looked great!

....Oh I forgot! If your boyfriend, husband, mum etc don't have a clue what to get you, just add things on your wishlist and email it to them and then they can just pick and choose and you're sure to receive something you really love!

Rob Ryan's studio

Last week in Time Out, I mentioned that one of my favourite shops in Columbia Road flower market was Rob Ryan's shop (Ryantown) at no 95 so I thought I would give you a little tour of his studio because I think we all agree here that it is fascinating to see the living/working space of creative people...and Mr Rob is a paper-cut genius!

Rob Ryan became known for making intricate and delicate papercuts painstakingly cut by hand but his work is now available on a fabulous range of homewares like these gorgeous mugs and this beautiful set of Four Season plates - which I think is going to be a massive hit this Christmas if the growing waiting list we have for this item is anything to go by.
I love the yellow door in his studio and the big library behind him and look at these cushions below...Aren't they wonderful? They were made by his wife using his prints.

You can get some of his beautiful hand-screened tiles from his Etsy shop and gorgeous things for the home (mugs, plates, bunting, cosmetic bag, notebook, wall stickers) from us here from just £8.95 but if you are after one of his limited edition print (approx. £350) or his incredible paper artworks (from £2000 unframed), then I strongly encourage you to go to Columbia Road early on a Sunday morning and enjoy your day there.
(C) via Design Sponge and Her Little Place

Columbia Road Flower market

Last month, I mentioned a photoshoot in Columbia Road Flower market for a feature Time Out was doing on creative people shopping at London's best street markets. The article came out yesterday so I picked up a copy on my way to a business meeting and ending up smiling like an idiot in the train stopping myself from saying to complete strangers in the tube "Look! c'est moi la... on the page!"...

A big thank you to the lovely Maggie, Shopping & Style Editor at Time Out who is also behind Chic Little Baby. Here is the article and below a few photos I took at Campania.
Yours, Karine, Design Expert (so they say :-)
★★★★
For botanists Columbia Road Flower Market
Our market insider: Karine Candice Kong, design expert (I swear I didn't tell them to put this but I LIKE it!)
When should you visit Columbia Road Flower Market?
"The Market starts at 8am every Sunday and it's best to get there as early as possible. It gets very busy if the weather is quite nice. It winds down about 3pm."
What do you head for?
"One of my favourite shops is Vintage Heaven at no 82 - it's the perfect place to snap up vintage treasures. The Yard on Ezra street is a mini fleamarket that has some great things and is always worth a look. Rob Ryan makes intricate and delicate paper-cut and we have some of his work in our BODIE and FOU online store. His shop is called Ryantown. Campania at no 95 is a little greasy spoon cafe a l'italienne, full of charm and inspiration. Ben Southgate at no 4 The Courtyard on Ezra street is a great shop for industrial furniture and old school maps."
What should you avoid?
"Don't buy plants and flowers from the first stall you see. walk around and check out a few stalls before buying to compare prices and quality. If you buy bulk quantities don't hesitate to bargain. Columbia Road is a great place to go if you are doing a garden up."
Top tips...
"Don't forget to take your camera and don't rush. Columbia Road is a unique place with a very special atmosphere, so take your time. There are a lot of interesting characters and it's a very creative place to hang out."

Rob Ryan" "You can still do a lot with a small brain" b

I haven't been very active on the Blog side this week but the shop has been so busy with the sale of these on top of everything else that I'm totally dead. We sold 5 of these gorgeous lights this month, along with 10 of this beautiful Ball chair, and god knows how many prints and angel babygros...blablabla
So here is one last post before the weekend because I have been waiting for this book to arrive for a long time and I'm SO NOT disappointed by its content!!
I'm sure (creative as you are) you all know who Rob Ryan is but if you don't, you must check out his wonderful blog or even better, pay a visit this Sunday to his fabulous shop on Columbia Road (if you've never been to Columbia Road, gosh you must, you must, you must!!). Rob Ryan's intricate paper cuts often reveals whimsical stories and poetic expressions, creating a universe that is delicate in both form and theme.
I've always been a fan of Mr Rob's talent, patience and skills and this new book called "You can still do a lot with a small brain" is a great celebration of his work, imaginative paper cuts ad screen prints. The book has been published to accompany Rob Ryan's exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park that sadly ended last February but if you've missed the exhibition and loves his work, then you will love this book. I have taken a few pics of the inside to show you what it looks like but it has many wonderful examples of his screen prints and paper cuts.

I'm going to send one to Mila's Godmother who LOVES Rob Ryan so she can find it when she is back from her camping weekend...
I wish you a wonderful weekend. Bises