Hidden In France

A day at the beach

Thank you everyone for totally getting into the spirit of our paint-a-couch family project. The response was so enthusiastic it really surprised me. You guys are the kinds of friends a girl needs. 

Today was another glorious day in Southern California.  I spent it at the beach with good friends and our kids.  I collected more heart-shaped rocks, the kids caught a horrific looking sea cucumber and a crab.  We saw dolphins in the distance, yummy surfers and a whole lot of pelicans.  Life is sweet.

Here, I've been whistling this tune, which I do regularly when I'm in a jolly mood. Or, somehow, when I make spaguetti with tomato sauce, which is often one and the same.

Don't forget to turn on the sound on the youtube screen below for that vey sticky jingle, 'Tarako, tarako'  you will be humming the rest of the week-end :-))

There is a new beret in town, and it's Japanese.

Update.  Okay, the earthquake wasn't so bad.  It wasn't the Big One.

Thank you to so sweet and so cold for introducing me to those berets.  They are made out of felt, then died and embroidered.  Aren't they completely original?  they are the creation of Etsy seller Dadaya.

Was there a life before Etsy?

The shape of those berets is wonderful.  It reminds me of acorns, or the shell of sea urchins.  And the texture is so appealing, the embroideries so fresh.  Totally Kawai, no?

Well, this one reminds me of a mushroom.

This one make me think of a polka-dotted clove of garlic.

What to wear with it?  Well, not everyone can pull it off:

And no outfit would be complete without the assorted mitts.

And a last minute update:  Susan, creative soul behind sukey2studio sent me a picture of her own felt beret she makes:

Wow, he?

Melt in the mouth cute

 Found via the beautiful blog Inspireco (who's now an Artful Blogger.  Congratulations Amy!)

I get a total cute attack from these creations from Etsy seller emilyfriday's shop.

How is it possible that those are only $29?  Oh my gawd!

Who's that girl?

Who is Oriettacat? And why should you care?

Because she is a lovely artist that’s why. If don’t know her name, or her nationality it's only because I don’t now how to navigate LiveJournal to find that information (and/or I’m too lazy.)

Aren't you glad you don’t rely on me for the facts.

I am so totally charmed by her work, though. So kawai, so cûûûte I can hardly stand it. But smart too, take a look.

I know she answers to the name of Christina. She also creates dolls (Some Blithe and some made from scratch) that are adorable and for sale on the Japanese online art gallery and store JunieMoon. Orrietacat, if you read this, tell us more about you. The world needs to know.

Decorate with Japanese Jeu de Paume

Here are pictures I grabbed hungrily from Love Forever, which has to be my absolute favorite blog at the moment.

Love Forever just posted about the latest from Jeu de Paume, not the Parisian museum, but the fabulous home and décor Japanese site? I know I did, right here. But here is more, so much more. This is Scandinavian design as filtered through Japanese sensibility. This is the palette that is the most seductive to me these days. White, lots of beautiful white, punctuated with splashes of pastel everywhere. There is something unassuming and fresh about this. Nothing pretentious, nothing luxurious, only prettiness. We need more prettiness in this world.

Here are pages from a Japanese book called Stokholm's love appartments

From Stockholm's kitchen...

From Children's room Stockholm

japanese shopping

The sky is dark, and the hills are sorched. I'm in the mood for pretty French, the Japanese way. From Jeu de Paume and Galerie doux Dimanche work of French creators Nathalie Lété and Aurélie Mathigot(please visit her spendid website here) and more.

I'm feeling lazy, so here is everything, pelle melle. Have a great week-end.