Hidden In France

Liberty of London

Rahhhh... got to post this!  Leslie got her hands on an amazing stash of insanely gorgeous Liberty of London fabric and is selling it here.  For all of us fabric junkies, this is a find.

Swedish Fabric

This found yesterday via the beeeeoatiful blog Keltainen Tallo Rannalla  (I'm such a fan) the online brochure of Swedish textile company Gudrun Sjödèn.

Here are my picks.

There are many more images here, on a post titled 'väriää elämään'  I don't know what that means but I've never seen words sparkle so much ;-)

Fabric, a love story

Textile designers and sellers all do this maddening trick that drives me wild:  they display their fabric collections in neatly folded little piles that are so irresistible I want to grab handful of them and rub them against my thigh. I want to buy it all.  Not to make quilts, I have neither the time nor the patience, but just to lovingly fold them, arrange them, stack and restack them for hours.  Is it just me?  And what is it about neatly arranged piles, anyway? Is that a girl thing?

Heather Bailey does it:

Anna Maria Horner does it:

Purl Soho may well have invented it.

Charlotte Liddle

Lori Marie of Pretty Little Things (and my favorite owl-maker) is gearing up for the photographers to come and take picture of her tiny house. I can’t wait to see the photographs. Meanwhile she posted about the delightful textile creations of a Charlotte Liddle, a British gal young enough for her resume to showcases a stint as waitress in 2001, but who already proudly runs her own design company. Charlotte Liddle's press release defines her style as “fun, frivolous and predominantly about fantasy and fairytales. The vivid colours are reminiscent of her fondest childhood memories of long hot summers, tea parties and ices cream sundaes.”

Oh I love that word: frivolous. And I adore the collection.

Wow! no?

and look at those... aahhs, to be eighteen again and wear a size six shoe...

Handmade gifts--but not with my hands.

Thanks to Etsy, homemade holiday gifts are no longer synonymous with contrived thank yous and poorly concealed cringes. The reason is that now you don’t have to make those handmade holiday yourself! Just hide the glue gun and the sewing machine already and leave it to the pros. Personally, this is terrific news for my friends, because, though technically it is preferable to give what people rather receive, I can’t help but have a color wheel of my own, and it involves the color pink, pink and some more pink. Pink is definitely my favorite crayon. Also, I am a sloppy crafter, two words that don’t mix well.

Here are two irresistible artists who sell their lines of delightful textile creations on Etsy. The Etsy seller Lupin discovered today via the French blog YoupiTouch is from the UK, Gloucestershire to be exact. (How do you spell that? And, being French, how in the world do you pronounce it?) Her colors are thrilling and so is her use of felt. Adorable. I’d want those on my walls, my ceiling, my lapel, my purses, my scarfs... Wouldn’t anyone?

The other is a great discovery. She's a designer who has appeared on the Martha's Stewart show and works for Pottery barn kids but also has her own line of terrific designs on Etsy. She is has a great blog named Pretty Little Things and is the Etsy seller Lorimarie. Her owls have the best personality. They say, "i'm cool" and "don't you mess with me." Go to her Etsy store for a brand new line of goodies.

all over print

Not too many words today, just a link to the delicious blog all*over*print, which features unique textile patterns designed and created by the blogger Ayelet Iontef for her line all*over*print. This is all very fresh and lovely. Here I'm showing the more colorful designs in keeping with Hidden in France’s raison d’être, but there are just as many muted designs, soft grays and surprisingly romantic black and whites. The blog is also brimming with wonderful pictures taken in Israel. Take a peek.

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.

Tricia Guild lust

Mélanie at Enseigne de Saint Jean (Bonjour Mélanie!) wrote an inspiring post today about Designers Guild’s fabric.
Let me tell you my thoughts on Designers Guild and its creator, Tricia Guild: I proudly see myself as a little bit of a Tricia Guild connoisseur. I’m a little Tricia Guild crazed, if you will, I might even be bordering on Tricia Guild stalker.

For one, I own every one of her books Sometime that meant I had to fetch them in Europe myself. Hers are the only books on mine I’m reluctant to let my friends borrow.

Tricia guild is, THE trendsetter. She’s the reason we now all have bright colors on our walls. She’s the originator of plaid and madras on couches, of flowery pillows, of oversized curtains. She might even be the designer that made it okay to have color in our homes, thanks God. I mean, thanks Tricia.

Long before there was Shabby Chic, there was Tricia guild. When (and this happens) I don’t “get” one of her patterns, all I do is close my eyes and trust that I’m simply not ready. In a matter of months I (and often the world) will be copying that pattern, craving that pattern, lusting after that pattern, wondering where in the world that came from.

Tricia Guild set the tone for mixing contemporary objects, shapes and art with old stone and antiques. She’s the one who blurred the lines between outdoor and indoor spaces. She made it acceptable for giant flower print to be juxtaposed with polka dots and stripes, for turquoise and yellow to combine in harmony, for the obsolete concept of wallpaper to be reborn as the trendiest of trends. Tricia guild invented light. She invented flowers. She invented prints, the moon and the stars. Tricia Guild is my design guru.

virginie Peyre

When Virginie Peyre was a little girl she created a world for herself ‘where the marvelous reigned.’ Now that she is a grown up, she continues to enchant in her Provence atelier nestled in the gorgeous and historic town of Malaucène, population 2,581.

She is a gifted multi medium artist, as comfortable with painting, and drawing as she is with textiles, sewing and crafts. All her work has a gypsy, unbridled enthusiasm that is communicative and always has that touch of the magical, le merveilleux as she calls it. In her website (in French only) she describes her artistic journey very poetically and explains how the physical handling of colors makes her thoroughly happy, a sensation I can very much relate to.

Voici une jolie cigale.

If you want to visit her, here are a few places to stay in Malaucène. Personally I'd love to hear the sound of cigales from this bedroom at the Hotel des Tilleuls. You can stay in this room for under 90 Euros.

and here are a few pictures of Malaucène. I die a little when I picture myself at a bistro there, eating some delish Provencal food, maybe a Bouillabaisse, or a Pissaladiere. Sigh..

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!

Fabric display from heaven

Brought to you by Purl. I love this and I'm in the process of displaying my own modest collection of fabric.
Then, of course some extremelyt gifted women can take the idea and fly with it, such as in this wonderful blogposie gets cozy, check this out. And that green? I must get my paws on some of that green paint and do some serious damage!