Hidden In France

How to surf without getting wet

By surfing the web of course.... What, you already know that joke?

The fantastic picture above caught my eye but I have no idea what the source is.  One of your blogs I'm sure.  Please claim this image: Here it is: the crochet wig was designed by Regina Rioux Gozales and you can find the pattern on Ravelry. Via Kickcan and Conkers. Merci all for your help.

In another life I will be the kind of serene and well adjusted person who crochets.  I tried and it was one big fat joke on me. Meanwhile leave it to the pros such as Emma Lamb

If this was the set up at my house there would be mud between the wood boards and dog and kitty paw prints.  There would be un-raked leaves and shoes (not pretty ones) all over the floor.  There would be socks everywhere because what happens in my family is that we pursue each other and throw bundled sock at each other for fun.

 baby ramen/bolig

 

The only thing missing from my life at the moment are a pony/llama (what is that animal?) and a sweet little girl. But mostly a sweet little girl.  I just received a picture of my 4 months old niece and it was almost painful how I wanted to hold her.  

source: edmond gallery via kickcan and conkers.

 

Stickers? I don't know what this is or what it is made of because my Japanese is a bit rusty. (kidding, I just wanted to make you feel insecure. I don't speak a word of Japanese either.)  shinji ohmaki 

Retro Villa

Can you sense that I'm manic? That's because I had a large cup of green tea, or because I'm just manic. I don't know, maybe because change is in the air and I rather feel crazy than scared.  Maybe it's because I walk with my husband every morning (trying to do it 21 days in a row to make it a habit, or so I read.) and feel in better shape in my body and in my marriage. Maybe because I had two girls night out this week and both were inspiring to the point of being transformational.  I met fantastic women, got back in touch with old friends and learned from them what I needed to learn. 

I'm working hard, harder than I have ever worked.  I feel focused, inspired, energized, happy. Some people hate the feeling of being manic, they need to smoke something, they need to medicate themselves.  I personally enjoy not moping around while feeling sorry for myself. 

An elephant paints his self portrait.

No! WAY!

This has to be the most extraordinary thing I've ever seen.

Un Eléphant réussi à peindre son autoportrait !
Uploaded by BriKO

And if this is real. If it isn't a trick, then the entire way we look at the world needs re-thinking.

Frederique Morrel, tapestry and needlework creations

Seriously, how could I resist the French creator Frédérique Morrel cool creations. The designer calls her objects re-made in France?

The fabulous blog The Style File discovered yet another source for décor made with vintage tapestry. The post I wrote on the subject of Esther Mokka tapestry creations was met with a bit of incomprehension on the part of a couple of my French friends, but aHa! J'insiste!

This time the artist is French. Frédérique Morrel's creations are, I quote: "carefully "re-made" using vintage needlework saved from oblivion in the interest of the redemption of the painstaking work involved in their original creation."

I LOVE these. I love the entire website. I want tapestry purses, couches, pillows... I want to cover my walls with tapestry.

But why?

Then I remembered: My first job in France was in a hip new advertising agency. I was given the account of a client who designed modern "Tapisseries d'Aubusson". I was in love with my boss at a time, maybe this newfound passion for tapestry has roots in the unconscious.

Betsey Johnson

It’s always a matter of great excitement to me when I discover a blogging soul-sister. Actually, All Things Bright And Beautiful found me. Here is a gal who lives in Hong Kong and likes my blog. Well, I love hers, which should come as no surprises when you consider that we share a certain fascination for chinese paper lanterns, Kaffe Fassett, and Betsey Johnson.

I am suddenly burning to write a post about Betsey Johnson, Betsey Johnson whom the blog love forever calls 'her first design icon'. She was mine too, you bet she was. Still is. I love Betsey Johnson's wild spirit. I love that she is entirely unapologetic about her choice of color, I love her smile and I absolutely adore her refusal to act her age. When I grow up, I want to be more like Betsey.

These two pictures I found via the blog love forever and are taken inside Betsey Johnson's house and were featured in Elle Décor UK.

These photograhs were borrowed from bizbash via all things bright and beautiful. around the launch of Betsey Johnson's new perfume line.

And these pictures are from various stores and were designed by the Otto Design Group, also responsible for Urban Outfitter stores design among others.

Betsey Johnson: Martha Stewart she is not!

Kaffe Fassett ceramic magic

Woahhhh.. was it good for you too?

I found this little gem of unbridled color enthusiasm via Wandering Stars, a creative blog I happily discovered over the weekend when she left a comment on Hidden In France. (I love it when visitors take the time to say hi. Don't be shy!)

Wandering Stars had just purchased vibrantly colored fabric from London-based and California born artist Kaffe Fassett.
He was unknown to me, though apparently quite famous in the needlepoint in-crowd. I had to check him out immediately. I had to see what a man who creates needlepoint patterns AND holds a record for double consonant in his name looks like.

I clicked and clicked and came to this incredible bonanza of shapes, colors and textures. This artist in so versatile and fearless, he clearly deserves every one of his double consonants.

It's Sunday night and I'm too lazy fatigued to put the legends where they belong, so fill in the blanks by checking Kaffe Fassett’s website. Happy Sunday!

Ohmygod.. Isn't this amazing?!!!!

Brilliant work by the stylist. The roulotte, the quilt and a couple of purring cats and I'd be set for life.

Unbelievable.

I love that weaved thingy in the center. Is it tapestry or quilting? Not able to tell after a couple of glasses of Merlot.

sarut's colorful toasters

There is a vague association with France with these items. One of the owners and creators of the brand Sarut apparently spent ten years of his life there. I say that's plenty good to feature here. He had to have been inspired by France, or at least somewhat impacted by the experience, wouldn't he?

Definitely not for the color-shy, Sarut's line of home décor, houseware, kitchenware and even furniture, combines often classic shapes with unbridled themes and patterns. But I think what speaks to me is the glossy, airbrush feel of the design. It makes me whan to put my finerprints all over it. I've seen a lot of their smaller objects in boutiques around L.A, but the website sells everything retail so take your pick.
I have a weak spot for the heart toaster. How about you?

On second thought, I'll go for the thermos.

french bull

Probably not French either but now that a rule has been broken, chaos reigns.

French Bull is the a tableware collection by Jackie Shapiro. When her stuff arrived in a few cool stores in L.A, the general reaction was one of visceral angst, followed by haunted dreams, then by mass hysteria. We're all (at least those of us with good sense) lining up for it now. I love it when a designer has the vision to break from what is expected, what is polite, what is the general sense of esthetic of the moment. And I love it even more when all the public can do is hurry to catch up.

The collection is made of 100% melamine, is dishwater safe, high water resistant and (mostly) unbreakable. It is not, however, microwave safe.
This is the grace platter:

Here are the storage containers with lids.

and a few other taken at random:

There is also a cool paper goods line:

You can purchase parts of the melamine and paper collection at PlumParty.

roulottes les verdines

Roulottes I have promised and roulotes I shall deliver.

Those Roulottes are apparently for sale on this zany website I’m not sure they ship. Something tells me they don’t. The company is called Les Verdines and is located in Saint Remy de Provence, one of the most glorious places on this earth.

Now of course, it is all about design, and I'm not sure those would be as lovely without the ultra talented free spirit that is Jeanne Bayol"

Loving pretty things somehow involves going against the grain. These last few years, decoration has shifted away from the Shabby Chic I adore and gone towards the minimalist, the clean lines, the ultra modern, which I also adore. But I can't keep things minimalist, or neutral, or quiet. Sure I fawn over those Zen like interiors in Dwell Magazine, but I'm chronically incapable of keeping things neutral. I drool over patterns, colors and messiness. These Roulottes, designed by Jeanne are the antidote to the zen mania, and I am thankful for that.
And now, by night: hang on to your socks:

jeanne bayol

Jeanne Bayol is a French interior designer who is not afraid of color. Her website is in French, but the photographs are splendid. She lives in Saint Remy de Provence, in the heart of Provence and her style combines Gypsy themes and colors that remind me of an earlier version of Tricia Guild or maybe a wilder Tricia Guild. She decorates homes, stores, events:

This is a photograph of an idian style tent set up in a backyard.

Tomorrow I'll try to post pictures of how Jeanne Bayol decorates those Roulottes.

On the one hand roulottes make me want to downsize, buy a tiny piece of land somewhere and plunk myself there. On the other hand, to make this work you'd want everything to be functional and pared down but the whole appeal of roulotte living is Bayol's poetic clutter without which what you have is basically a.. trailer. And I don't know about you but living in a trailer doesn't sound as sexy as living in a roulotte.

A bird flew in

... literally! and landed in my bedroom! Is this singing or screaming bloody murder I don't know. Maybe he's objecting to my Ikea curtains. I love black and white combined with turquoise. It's just one of those things I can't explain or justify. By the way, I think I have mentioned I now preferred white walls. Well I lied, my bedroom is somekind of blue i can't quite name but that Martha Stewart would approve of.

Hummm... maybe he is screaming bloody murder, and it's not the curtains!