Charlotte Casadéjus
30 Sep in Links | Comments (0)Tessa and I both have birthday’s in October and so our house is abuzz with birthday celebration excitement. I normally keep sites I really like bookmarked, that way when the question “so what do you want for your birthday?” comes around, I can hand over a neat and tidy list! I have seen Charlotte Casadéjus at various fairs and love the cushions she makes using vintage and monogrammed linens. I am a linen junkie, I can never resist old, white damask linen, so browsing her site is always very tempting. Charlotte’s range has increased and she now makes bridal and evening wear, lavender bags and other accessories – these belts look fantastic and I would love one!
Image courtesy of Charlotte Casadéjus
The Kite Flyer
26 Sep in Links | Comments (0)I love the new sculpture that marks the entrance to Parchment Street in Winchester. It’s called The Kite Flyer and it was commissioned by the businesses in the street and made by Marzia Colonna. Parchment Street is a treasure, little independantly owned shops among which are 2 of my favorites – Boudoir Blush – for the nicest selection of underwear and Forme, which is a treat to browse in as they always have plenty of wantable stuff and their gift wrapping is an art form! I think The Kite Flyer is a wonderful addition to the sculpture in this beautiful city.
Peacock Pearl Earrings
16 Sep in Jewellery | Comments (0)I’ve just finished this pair of Peacock Pearl Earrings. These pearls are not perfect, but they have a really stunning colour, the most beautiful iridescent blue and I’ve topped them with a little brushed silver disc which is angled at the edges.
Harry Patch (In memory of)
11 Sep in Music | Comments (0)Radiohead have produced a song in memory of the World War One veteran, Harry Patch , who has died. Thom Yorke was inspired by an interview he heard in 2005.
You can download the song from the Radiohead website for £1.00 – the proceeds are donated to the Royal British Legion.
What my patient daughter eventually asked……
10 Sep in Brush Cottage | Comments (0)After our 5th hour of walking The Louvre, Tessa turned to me and asked “Mummy, do you and Daddy ever get tired of looking at paintings?” We don’t really, David and I both love museums and galleries and we have always tried to instill in Tessa a love of art and things creative, but I think that after another full day of art the poor child had had enough!
We had started our day at The Orangerie, which is where Monet’s Waterlilly paintings are housed, 8 massive paintings hang in 2 specially built oval rooms, with natural light from skylights – it is the most incredible sight. I love the waterlilly collection, the colours and story behind them are inspirational and when you are in this space, surrounded by the paintings, you feel as though you are almost in them. Absolutely worth going to see!
After The Ogangerie, we walked up the Champs Elysees to see the Arc d Triomphe, and watch the seemingly chaotic traffic which whizzes around it. And then – on to The Louvre. We went to see Michaelangelo’s Slaves, all the Leonardo’s and of course, the Mona Lisa, the Rembrandt’s, it’s a real who’s who of art ! and impossible to see everything…..
I LOVE I.M. Pei’s glass pyramid, the juxtuposition of the modern glass and steel structure and the incredible architecture of the old buildings is inspired! As we were leaving The Louvre at 10pm ( they stay open late on a friday night) the moon was rising over the building – it was magical.
It's meant for me!
10 Sep in Links | Comments (2)I’ve just come across this picture on the Apple site. I’m taking this as a sign that I should get a new Ipod……….
Paris – an art lovers dream city
09 Sep in Brush Cottage | Comments (2)On our second day in Paris we used the Batobus to get around, it’s a great way to travel the city. You can either buy a ticket to wherever you are going or a hop on hop off day pass. Our first stop was the D’ Orsay Museum. What an amazing space – a former railway station provides a home to an incredible collection of impressionist and post impressionist paintings and sculpture.
The massive roof is constructed entirely of glass, so the light coming into the main central space is wonderful. One of my all time , most favorite scultures is this one by Camille Claudel, I first saw it 20 years ago and so it was very special for me to see it again.
I also love the Degas Ballerina paintings and bronze scultures, This one I think is particularly beautiful.
After the D’ Orsay we went to the Rodin Museum. The collection is housed in what was originally Rodin’s Paris home and the light open rooms and gardens are the ideal space for what are some of his best and most important works. Once again, it was very moving for me to be here again after 20 years. The Burghers of Calais still brings tears to my eyes.
And one cannot help standing in awe of his sculpture of Balzac.
Our day ended with a trip to the Eiffel Tower. David doesn’t like heights, so we walked up to the second platform and then the fearless thing that is my daughter co-erced me to take her up to the very top – some 324 meters from the gound…………
Paris – Day One
07 Sep in Brush Cottage | Comments (2)David, Tessa and I went off to Paris last week. We’ve never used the Eurostar before, so it was a bit of an adventure! We loved the new St Pancras station, what a sleek, elegant and modern station – Gare du Nord pales in comparison – Yay! 1 to the U.K.
Our little hotel was in the Latin Quarter, we were a bit nervous as we thought that it might only have play play stars….. and it was an old building and a bit run down, but they would allow Tessa in the room with us and were such very nice people and most importantly- it was wonderfully situated – literally 5 minutes walk from Notre Dame. We left our baggage in our room and wondered down to the Cathedral. What an amazing building, a masterpiece of Gothic architecture, which took over 2 centuries to finish with a sense of lightness and grace that comes from it’s flying buttresses and remarkable filigree work. We climbed the 400 steps of the bell towers for the view over the City – and what a view! Paris is a breathtakingly beautiful city!
Then we went off onto the other island, to Berthillion, for what is renowned as being the best ice-cream in France, and it certainly earns it’s reputation – I had a scoop of coffee and a scoop of chocolate and it was delicious.
We wandered up through the Latin Quarter, to the Jardin du Luxembourg , passed the beautiful Pantheon and then went for dinner at Les Fontaines, where we had a delicious meal – I know David and I both had fish, but my french is non existant, so who knows what fish it actually was! Our waitress was very kind and tried to explain the menu as best she could, but a lot of it was down to sign language and animal sounds……..
During the day, Tessa and I did get up close to one of those gorgeous frenchmen you hear all about……..
Coin pearl Bracelet
02 Sep in Jewellery | Comments (0)Another bracelet which I have made for myself and wear all the time. I’ve used my most favorite ever peacock coin pearls and lovely large sterling silver nuggets. This Bracelet would also work wonderfully with white coin pearls for bridal jewellery.
Labradorite and Silver Bracelet
01 Sep in Jewellery | Comments (1)This is one of my favorite bracelets. I’ve made it using faceted Labradorite ovals and sterling silver pebbles. I can never resisit Labradorite, it’s a stone that has a wonderful steel grey colour and a good quality stone has flashes of colour that bring it to life. This unusual toggle clasp completes this bracelet
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