so you know

the week is already nearing its end and i should let you know that the shop will be closed from next week for a two weeks holiday (yes!)

please note that the shop will be closed from february 4th to february 19th (included).

so in case you need anything from here: ready, steady, go! you have til saturday 16h.

inspiring

love these handpainted wallpapers! 

by italian artist elena carozzi, i snapped this picture out of house & garden magazine

with a little patience

we're slowly approaching february... in my mind february is the last of the winter month and we have to hang in there! however, february gets more exciting with the prospect of first spring collections trickling in, i expect two of them for february.   

remember last year's "friday pieces"? well, the new collection is being completed in hawaï this very moment... (the colour of the stones are mainly in fresh green and blue tones, very springy)and 4 month ago in paris i also ordered this new collection by a french jewellery maker that i have admired for many seasons but so far hadn't made the jump. (see above marie's photo of the passed autumn/winter collection).

an update on paris

 wow, i'm glad to be back to business even if energy levels are still a bit lacking. to spend entire days at home sounds like a good plan but i'd rather work than feel like crap.

also, i've got loads to do before.... LEAVING ON A HOLIDAY soon!

so, let us catch up on paris...  paris under a rare blanket of snow. i reordered with a good many of the usual suspects but for me it's always a highlight to find a new supplier. my standout discoveries this time where 2 danish companies, one for shawls (to be confirmed), one for paper mobiles, and a french jewellery maker. i've also set my peepers on a very colourful brazilian style bracelet (bought one myself for my birthday). you see i'm being my old faithful self :-)

watch this space for more infos/photos.  

working today

ok, i'm fit enough to work today, the shop will be open from 12-16h as usual for saturday.

have a good weekend.

yes, i'm calling in sick for the 3rd consecutive day. and guess what, bf has caught the flu too and is staying home with me, it's almost romantic :-)

please be informed that the shop remains closed today january 25th and tomorrow probably too. but next week i'm back!

a natural inclination

can i be forgiven for posting pictures of me as a toddler?

my father has digitalised old pictures and well, looking at those two pics from the seventies i gather i felt a strong attraction for accessories from a rather tender age, stealing them from my mother on any occasion, be it chilling on a (erm, not so white) beach or attending a wedding. 

i vividly remember this golden metal mesh bag!

my kind of carnival

here a colourful novelty that is in the pipeline for february. polka dots to stick on a wall, on windows and furniture (any smooth surface). an easy way to embelish a child's room, staircases etc etx. easily unsticked too.

i'm sorry, today january 23rd, the shop remains closed because of illness. thanks for your understanding!

i don't know yet about tomorrow, in case you plan a visit, please check here tomorrow morning.

escape to paris

well folks, i have to say my timing is nearing perfect... the road works that have been going on since last autumn on universitätstrasse have now moved to the section directly in front of my doorstep. today the noise is ear-splitting, fit to awaken the dead! i can feel the vibrations when i sit at my desk. so, you agree, the time is right to leave this uproar behind for the trade shows in paris...

please note that the shop will be closed from january 16 (4pm) to january 22 (included).

see you back next wednesday! 

hello - good bye

or rather the other way round: good bye and hello...

much as i liked it, with the christmas season well and truly behind us, it was time to say good bye to the snowflake wreath and so i've recycled the washi snowflakes (throwing in a few more pieces) into a vertical strip. it would actually look rather nice if it wasn't for... the road works in front of my nose. 

blue but not in a sad way

two days ago i was contacted by a company for african textiles... with a norwegian creative director... that makes  for a good north-south shake-up!

have a nice weekend everybody, sunnier days are waiting for us for sure :-)

picture via maison française.

THE vase

today i'm finally honouring a promise i've made last april... i'm quite sure no one remembers anyway, but you see, i'm a woman of principles (do i hear someone sniggering?).

in the post "before&then"

http://lavieestbelleauboudoir.blogspot.ch/2012_04_01_archive.html
(click on the link and scroll down to the post of 10.4.2012) i said i would explain why this purple vase has a special meaning for me. it's because of this particular vase that i first dreamt about opening a shop for home accessories. blame it on the vase!

i can't trace it back exactly, somewhere around 1999 (sounds like ages ago!) i was living with my former boyfriend in paris when i saw this vase in the conran shop (and freak coincidence, the name of this vase is PARIS!). at that time i would never have thought that i would spend that kind of money on a vase. so it took me a few trips to the conran shop before deciding i would actually buy it. nay, not putting my money in a piece of clothing or jewellery as usual, but in a glass vase. i swear that for me that was almost madness but from then on my interest in home accessories was kindled.

as you can see from the pictures i'm still a proud owner of the paris vase and it was one of the very first articles i researched and bought for the shop. when i was informed that it was being discontinued i bought the remaining pieces and so to this day i still have a few pieces on offer. if you're looking for a classic piece you will enjoy a lifetime (don't let it fall though) you know where to go!

ps: in the second picture...that's quite a colour combination, isn't it?! i'd bought the dark purple tulips and the yellow flowers i had picked in the fild and the forest (the big yellow flowers).

the finer details

end of last year i didn't get to do the special jewellery newsletter as there was general delay for the collections to arrive and then it was nearly mid december, the red hot period!

so here a few pics of jewellery with petrol serpentine (please note that the earrings and the bracelet in the middle picture are sold).

there you have it...

yes, we're in the dead of winter, it's dark long before we leave our workplaces in the evening and apart from the occasional mandarine we don't see much colour. we wear mousy colours and so does nature. And it doesn't help that we're in christmas cookies withdrawal...

so frankly, it's uplifting to see the zingy colour of next spring/summer: tangerine ahoy!

i usually don't care much about colour trends in fashion i just happen to really like tangerine, so when i came across this leather bag collection and saw the tangering: bang, i ordered.

while i'm still waiting to get all the ordered bags, now in january i got a second batch with the big tote bag in red and black and the little tote bag in fluorescent yellow and... tangerine! needless to say that i have snatched one for myself :-) thereby heroically resisting the indigo blue one. below one of annabel's lovely pro pics.

 

opening a new book

yesterday the first delivery of Secto Design came from finland with those handmade birch wood pendant lamps. new year, new light!

the conic shape (Secto 4201 and 4200)which i have ordered for the shop, comes in two sizes and various finishes: birch nature (my favorite, but i was told these were for fans of the scandi look while in switzerland the colour finishes are prefered), white, black or walnut veneer. whatever the finish and most importantly: whatever lightbulb (yes, even with low energy bulbs!) the light will give a very warm and pleasant feel.

all secto lamps are designed by the finnish architect Seppo Koho: "my lighting fixtures are spaces in themselves (...) they create atmoshere".
for more info and to see the entire collection visit:
http://www.sectodesign.fi/

it will take some fiddling with the wiring (and you know how much i like that...i think i will have to challenge poor bf with that unnerving job) before you will see them hanging in the shop, so i dare not make any promises. 

as Peter Ustinov remarked: to make plans means to substitute coincidence by error (!)

after the party

first of all, sisters and brothers, a happy new year to all of you!

here i sit at my desk again after 9 days off work... yes 9 full days, but blimey, where have they gone? too much dozing on the sofa as it seems and not enough of "pause and think". oh well. since i didn't heed one single of last year's good resolves what's the point? so no lofty plans for the year ahead, sorry. 

december is the single most important month of the year for the shop but by christmas all is left in a big mess and paperwork has just piled up unopened. so it feels like the morning after a big party: wow, there is all sorts of clearing-up operations to do! so i really need to hitch up that donkey (= me) and get the cart going again. but that is what january is for, isn't it? and with some swinging music it's frankly quite pleasant... 

but more interestingly for you: today i got two deliveries, one from finland and one from N.Y.! more on that tomorrow.