2012 wall calendar

2012 calendar is here! When you've got time, go check it out :)

Mont Blanc

It's SO bad to crave a Mont Blanc tart after gym, but I just can't help it! The soft chewy glazed chestnut on the top of the creamy chestnut mousse.... Hmmm so yummy. Once again my hunger has defeated my will power (as if it ever existed :P)

Now I've finish my delicious cake, I'm thinking what for dinner tonight.

Reminiscing

Brings back lots of wonderful childhood memories seeing Barbie. As I took a bite of the chocolate, Memories seep in.... discovering a surprise gift on my bed coming home from school in the form of a Barbie wedding set (still have it at home!). Or playing Barbie fashion show with my sister (or I should say it's the other way round).

Barbie, you are forever so elegant.

Print & Pattern book Vol 2



Picture courtesy of Print & Pattern

Print & Pattern 2 is out! I will get my copy when I order next batch of books from Amazon. The first one is so beautiful and has lots of great prints. I can't wait to have the two put together on my bookshelf.
For more preview of the new book, see it on Print & Pattern. 

Here's my Vol 1 copy at use :)

 

Herm Festival des Métiers

I have always held strong admiration for Hermès for their perseverance in keeping artistry and craftsmanship alive. Up to this day, Hermès still insists in creating their products by skilful artisans with as little help of machinery as possible. Knowing their Festival des Métiers is coming to Hong Kong, it was too great an opportunity for me to miss out. 
As many of you may already know that the first step to screen printing is to make negative films by each separate colour. It's unbelievably amazing that Hermès' films are all drawn by hand! Colours in a design would first be counted (there are 30 colours in the design in the pic above), and then handdrawn onto separate films. The time frame for making a Hermès scarf, from design to finish, is two years.

The next booth that we checked out is the serigraphy process. Hermès uses one specific type of silkworms to make all of their silk products, and all silk fabrics are woven right in Lyon, France. It takes at least 300 cocoons to make just one silk scarf, so you can imagine how tightly weaved are the scarves. They print from darkest colour to lightest, using different squegees to produce different levels of viscocity. Hermès has a secret recipe book of 7500 colours, mixing their own colours, and uses an average of 30 colours per scarf, max up to 45 colours.



The silk tie booth and leather booth are also very interesting and well worth a visit. Every artisans at the fair are so skilled, it was definitely a great afternoon well spent.

Mother's Day SALE

Mother's Day is near and now that spring is finally here (HOORAY!), we are having a 10% sale as a little thank you to our customers. Please enter coupon code: MOTHERDAY10 at checkout.

We also have two new giclee prints in our store: 'Home Sweet Home', inspired by my homesick while I was away this winter, and 'Eveylne', a whimsical dreamlike woodland. Currently we are working hard in making some of my new prints into new products, so stay tuned. ♥

Airstream home office



Airstream Sport

 I have being away from this blog for such a long time due to family health issues. Some of my family members were very sick and I had been going to the hospitals very often recently, which I pray and hope won't happen again. Luckily all of them are recovering and are well now. Back to a more cheerful topic, our tea towels are featured in a few Etsy treasury, and one of them especially intrigued me. It is of Airstream theme, and upon seeing the treasury, it has awakened my forgotten dream of owning a trailer of my own (Yes!). Ever since I saw a picture of a revamped Airstream I have been imagining of owning one in my (small) backyard. It would be like having a secret hideaway place, plus the convenience of driving it to anywhere and have the comfort of a home. So here is the idea of how I'd transform an Airstream into my home office/den:

1. Ultrasone Edition 10 headphones, Utrasone ; 2. Carafe & cup, Velocity  ; 3. Stackable shelf units, Velocity ; 4. Loveseat, Ikea ; 5. Cushion, deMOCCA ; 6. Rug, Crate & Barrel ; 7. Computer desk, Ikea ; 8. Coffee table, Crate & Barrel ; 9. Parker Chair, Urban Outfitters ; 10. Mini Moss Terrarium, madebymavis Etsy

This decor inspiration board comes from a Japanese fusion restaurant called Gyotaku that I've recently visited. Its interior is accented with wood and stone elements, very modern and tranquil with the use of greys, white and beige. I'd love to share this home office/den with Fermin, and therefore simple, streamlined furnitures are chosen to keep the space neutral. Headphones are for Fermin as audio is Fermin's favourite hobby and terrariums are something I'd love to put in my home office when I have the space. The carafe and cup from Velocity is so adorable; I could use it for tea or for the rare occasions some Japanese sake (LOL). Well I can keep on dreaming about this home office ....