Bathing butterflies

The right shower curtain lights up the bathroom. Especially these sweet ones with butterflies which you can purchase in blue or pink. It's from the H&M home collection and it always pays off to have a look in their shop. The home accessories are affordable and just as fun as the season's must have clothing items.

Moonlight drawings

It must be pure magic inside the head of British illustrator Karen Davis. Her paintings and cards are so uncanningly beautiful it almost makes me want to write a children’s book, just so it could be filled with her illustrations. Or buy a cabin in the woods and fill it with her work. The shapes she gives to the animals, the elements like clocks, the moonlight and the color of the night makes her work amazing. It definitely works on my senses. At her website you can also purchase items she's made.

Nature's blueprints

"One can never have too many cushions", a friend of mine stated while leaving the store with yet another pair. Maybe she can add these ones by artist Sarah Johnson to her collection also. I love the lush, but simple prints on the linen cushions. Johnson is fascinated by nature and during long walks on the Scottish island where she lives she photographs structures that catch her eye. What she loves, she processes in silk-screen prints on linen, using Scottish linen and water based inks. Have a look at her website here.

The raven and the clothes

For everyone who wondered about the sentence in Alice in Wonderland: Why is a raven like a writing desk? Stop wondering immediately. Just assume Lewis Carroll actually meant to write why a raven is like a coat hook. At least that's what Icelandic company Birkiland made of it. They come in two versions. One hanging from a wire from the ceiling so it looks like the raven is flying through your room and a traditional one with a hook. Recently they also designed ravens for children's rooms in sweet colours like pink, blue and orange.

Dreaming of trees

"There is a thing in me that dreamed of trees. A quiet house, some green and modest acres", mused American poet Mary Oliver. She wishes she could get away from towns and troubles for a while, "just with streams and birds for company". A recognizable thought for city people. However this poet decides against it in the end, because no art ever came from an average day. But I'm sure she would appreciate these heavy bottomed glasses with images of trees. London based accessories designer Snowden Flood came up with the idea. In the past she designed for no less than the likes of Dior and Louis Vuitton. She has a wonderful collection which you can check out here.

Moleskine, but different

Sure. A Moleskine notebook is nice enough. After all it's supposed to be the brand all artists and writers use. But when everyone has it, it's not that special anymore. With the leather covers from Engrave your Book you can differentiate yourself from the mass. The artwork of several artists has been engraved onto the leather covers and will fit a Moleskine. You can also ask for a customized design. Click on the link to visit their website.

Recycled stools

This tiny stool from Italian brand Miho Design is on my wish list. I would use it as a side table next to the sofa though to put on drinks and snacks for guests. The stool arrives as a do-it-yourself kit and is easily put together without having to use glue and diving into that toolbox. And don’t you just love it when you purchase an item while considering the environment? I do. The material used is recycled and firm enough to sit on and you can choose from many different patterns. This brand also produces lovely bird houses and reindeer heads. In the Netherlands you can order online at Fair Kids.

Sealed letters

When summer is coming to an end I always feel a bit nostalgic and start longing for more nostalgic activities like sending people handwritten letters by regular mail. Although there’s some charm to those white envelopes with curly handwriting I prefer to give them something extra. These illustrated address stickers and seals with birds and deer’s from Pimpelmees is just the thing that envelop needs. Pimpelmees is run by the Dutch sisters Marieke and Ingeborg Smit. They make incredible illustrations with a nostalgic touch and a lot of Ingeborg's work appears in magazines under the name of Studio Ping. You can also order birth announcement cards, wedding cards and greeting cards at their online shop. Make sure to check it out.

A re-enchanted world

Masters of embroidery, the couple of French company Frederique Morrel, lived it up while covering these life size dears with vintage needlework. They didn’t like that industrially designed products took over the world and experienced it as a loss. With finding vintage embroidery and applying it onto their furniture, like poofs, sofa’s and lamps they try reconnect the human values and the art of craftsmanship. Or as they state it: “We want to re-enchant the world.”
Images: Philippe Cluzeau

Garden in a box

Great idea to write your thoughtful wishes on, these 'gardens in a box' greetings cards from Postcarden. The miniatures arrive virgin white and after some handicraft and hard labour as a sower, seven days later it's all lush and green in the mini garden. All souls living in the city are sure to get cheerfull after getting one of these greetings cards. You can choose from a botanical garden, the city, an allotment or when it's for a football lover: a soccer field. For stockists (UK only) and ordering click here.

Where the wild roses grow

I can't seem to find any thorns on these pretty roses. I simply adore the handmade scarf’s from Gsakowskidesigns, which are perfect for romantics and the height of femininity. Grace from Gsakowskidesigns puts a lot of loving into them while knitting and crocheting the gems which you can tell by the detailing. The roses are pinned on the scarf’s and can also be used as a brooch. She's made them in many different colors. So make sure you check out her collection.

Vivid fairytales

I always fantasized about jumping into the pages of a book so the story would become lifelike. Perhaps British artist and art director Su Blackwell had the same dreams. She really makes the characters of fairytales and folklore stories come alive with her amazingly fine paper sculptures. Blackwell cuts out images out of old books to create a three-dimensional diorama. Mostly choosing young-girl characters placing them in fragile settings because she want to “express the vulnerability of childhood and conveying a sense of childhood anxiety and wonder.” It certainly works for me and I find every piece truly magical.
To see more of her work, click here.

Alice in cakeland

American Rebecca Treherne tried many cupcakes when in she moved to the Netherlands, but was always disappointed: they just didn't taste as well as the cupcakes she was used to. There was only one remedy, starting her own company. Alice in Cakeland makes beautiful cupcakes. She even once made a dress out of the delicacies for Amsterdam Fashion Week and she's now opening a shop in Rotterdam. Everyone living there must be quite happy. For more information, ordering or taking a workshop on cupcakes check her website

Inspiration: meet Pixie

I came across Pixie’s pictures accidently on Facebook and instantly liked them. The photographs are an interesting mix between nostalgic, ethereal and high fashion. This English fifteen year old lives in Devon and knows what’s going on in the industry. She views around two hundred runway collections a season and finds great vintage stuff in car boot sales. On her blog she posts these finds and outfits. The locations, clothing, make-up and poses for her ‘photoshoots’ she thinks of herself. She describes her style as ‘neat china doll wearing classic vintage items’, and has a thing for those great brown retro bags (she owns seven). For now she’s still working in an icecream shop, but I’m sure we’ll be seeing some of her work as a fashion editor in a magazine one day.
Check out more of her style on: morning-masquerade.blogspot.com

Pixie's look of the moment:
"Simple & minimalistic"
- denim shorts
- stripy top
- vintage bag
- vintage pocket watch

Mary Poppins' secret spoon

I think famous nanny Mary Poppins must have been using one of these spoons made by Tina Tsang when she was singing ‘A spoon full of sugar makes the medicine go down’. Every single piece of the 'Wonderland' cutlery is handmade out of polished pewter. Don’t be fooled by the cuteness, because it’s isn’t all sugarcoated. What to think of a knife named ‘killer rabbit’? The uncanny prettiness fits the description of the designer who made them. Tsang is a graduate of Central St. Martins college in London and loves a bit of obscurity. Except in the shapes you can also find that approach back into the little extras this cutlery has to offer; they all contain a magnifying glass inserted in the ‘head’ portrayed on the cutlery. Order at: Hidden Art shop.

Monday office supplies

So it’s back to the office for most of you this Monday. I’m not sure this is going to make it that much better, but the D-clips from Japan, might just be the one thing you need right now. These animal shaped paperclips are bound to put a smile on your face and before you know it you are fighting your colleagues about who’s doing the administration today. There are seventeen different animals to choose from at Tokyo pen shop.

Human traits

French design studio Ibride always comes up with something special. This time they gave the animals aristocratic human traits by dressing them up and making the trays look like paintings in a hallway of a count's mansion. At the 'double painted' editions Ibride chose to show both hunter and prey like the wolf and the sheep. They are so pretty I might just even put them up in the hallway instead of putting coffee and tea on it. To see the full collection, please click here. To order online in the Netherlands, click here.

For vintage lovers

Dutch web shop Hipaholic has a great collection of stylish, playful products with a vintage touch. I couldn’t pick a favorite item so I’m showing a few of the products that site owner and stylist Anuschka Odau offers. A lot of the retro items are 'pimped' by Anuschka so they fit right into 2010 again. One of her trademarks is to transform vintage mugs into candles. After the candle has burned up you can use it as a mug again. The tea towel is brand new and hand woven by Indian artists. For real retro you can also eat your heart out at this shop. Underneath the category ‘rockin retro’ you’ll find some great vintage stuff like these storage tins. Go check it out.

Treehouse

For everyone outside the Netherlands: we have this great chain store called HEMA. It’s well loved and well known. I’ve even once saw a book about a Dutch emigrant in which she wrote about her move to Spain. The book title? "The one thing I miss is the HEMA". Enough said I think. When I was roaming the store the other day I came across this cute bed cover for toddlers named ‘tree house’. Their children’s collection of plastic plates is pretty awesome also.
www.hema.nl