Kick Your Heels Up!

Now we think these are inspired! File Ann Clark's tin cookie cutters with recipe cards as a terrific example of the enjoyment to be found in small, good things. Now who wouldn't appreciate a few gift-wrapped batches of high-heel, little black dress, and martini glass cookies? $3.99

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Robert Allen intros DwellStudio line

Robert Allen intros DwellStudio line: "New York - The Robert Allen Group has signed an exclusive design partnership ..."

Thom Felicia designs fabric line for Kravat

Thom Felicia designs fabric line for Kravat: "Bethpage, N.Y. - Designer and television personality Thom Felicia has signe..."

Our Sentiments Exactly

"I love to look at modern rooms, but I don't want to live in them: I abhor a room that demands such perfection that the only thing out of place in it is you." - Mark Hampton

Well, actually, that's our sentiment mostly. For while we appreciate a Saarinen table (or Saarinen anything) as much as the next lover of great design, right now we're going through a JUST SAY NO to West Elm, CB2, DWR phase. We're revisiting our roots -- once again pouring over The Antique Trader and trying to remember exactly which period pieces -- Early American? William and Mary? Queen Anne? Georgian? Pennsylvania Dutch, Chippendale (YES PLEASE), Federal? Sheraton? American Empire? Arts and Craft? Scandinavian Contemporary? -- we once coveted.

To that end, we're passing this book around our staff as the stuffy old stuff isn't making us remember the smell of mothballs: it actually feels like a breath of fresh air.

Postscript: Now this Saarinen-meets-country-modern interpretation of Saarinen floats our proverbial boat! Picture by Eric Piasecki of CocoCozy.

We All Start Somewhere . . .

Sure seems like everyone is creating something by hand. We decided we wanted in - though we pledged to keep our aspirations reasonable. [As in, no poring over Kaffe Fassett sweater patterns: well, actually, no poring over sweaters at all. Tanks, maybe.]. So, bookworms that we are, we set out to find a guide from which we could learn the basics (cast-on, knit & pearl) and try our hand at a few easy projects. We ended up with scarves galore - though hey, the kids loved them, and a few seriously lopsided hats.

What are we working on now? Basic felted bags. There are simple patterns to create your own knitted bag (the felting results when you wash your work in a netted laundry bag or pillowcase - it "agitates" or "shrinks" the wool, which gives the bag a smooth appearance and added pizazz and durability). If you're looking for someplace to start, give this book a whirl. If you jump on this now, you just might have a few scarves ready for gift giving by Christmas.

In Praise of Angela Adams

"Angela's rug designs are known for their sense of simplicity and balance, inspired by the rugged natural beauty of Maine.

"Angela and husband Sherwood Hamill, fellow Mainer and furniture designer, established the Angela Adams design house in 1998. Over the past decade, they have cultivated a shared visual language and launched several complementary collections of furniture, rugs and tapestries. Angela and Sherwood’s distinct perspective has quickly established them as international leaders in contemporary design. Angela and Sherwood are constantly exploring new mediums for their designs. Recent product introductions include wool rugs, upholstered furniture, fabric, wallcovering, contract and hospitality carpet, ceramic tile, bedding and bath products, fine art prints, handbags and other home accessories.

. . . I love stories like this where both husband and wife love and create there talents, and lively hood together with something they both enjoy and are passionate about. That's a great connection in more than one way."

*Source: the Nature of Order @ thenatureoforder.blogspot.com

Fashionistas We Can't Claim to Be, BUT

Trina, you've won our hearts with your home collection.

Today's Bit O' Inspiration

Originally uploaded by CraZeeCrafteeZ

We absolutely love this quilt/playmat created using Amy Schimler's On A Whim 2 fabric. Our team has been debating carrying Amy Schimler's line at Honfleur Home, but people like CraZeeCrafteeZ are starting to make the decision easy for us. I'm putting in my vote to add Amy Schimler by Fall 2010.

An Intro to Textiles That Makes for Beautiful Browsing

"A fascination with anything woven, including knitting and crochet, led me to order this book. As a novice hoping for a peek into the mysteries of textiles, I was looking for a comprehensive overview of weaving techniques, with diagrams and explanations of how these various techniques are found in cultures through time. And that's exactly what this book offers. If you love the feel of textiles and embroidery, and have a deep desire to learn about a culture through its textiles, you'll enjoy the sensations stirred up by this book and its photos." Cindi Brown, Reviewer

"This is the clearest, most comprehensive guide to the techniques used to produce textiles." Mary E. Tevington, Reviewer.

What do we love about this book above others we've consulted? Well, we think it provides the clearest explanation of what we're talking about when we're talking about textiles coupled with an easy why to categorize types of textiles, e.g.,:

• Non-Loom Woven Textiles - Think crochet, knitting, Macrame, and lace


• Loom Woven Textiles - Think tapestry weave, damask and brocade


• Painted & Printed Textiles - Think pen work, woodblocking, and stenciling in addition to paint

Separate sections address the materials that comprise textiles, dyes, sewing, embroidery, and embellishment.

A Patty Young Shower Curtain - a DIY Worth Doing

We love the Sew4Home site. So if you can get over the intimidation factor you'll have for yourself something you simply cannot find in stores.

"A shower curtain is an easy item to sew; it's just big! You can make one in just a few hours and give your bathroom a whole new look. We made this one from a couple of our favorite prints in Patty Young's Flora & Fauna collection. When you select fabrics, look for something that will blend nicely at the seams, such as the all-over pattern of the Humming Birds fabric we used. Or, if you're a bit more advanced, go for something you can pattern-match, a stripe for instance. You'll notice there are great little sewing techniques here that will apply to all kinds of projects, including several different seam and hem finishing options."

Here's the link to this great project on the Sew4Home site.

NOW, say you're like us, and the Sew4Home instructions have some jargon that's a bit over your head. Well, we all have to start somewhere, and here are instructions to create a curtain in SIX steps.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You'll Need:

* Decorator fabric
* All-purpose thread
* Sewing machine
* Yardstick
* Scissors
* Straight pins
* Iron
* Water-soluble fabric-marking pen
* 12 grommets
* 12 curtain rings

Step 1

Measure the opening where you plan to hang the shower curtain. The length of the curtain rod is the maximum finished width. The finished length is determined by measuring from the rod halfway down the sides of the tub. Buy your material to fit this size with an additional 16 inches of length and an additional 8 inches of width for hemming. Two panels are needed to make the correct width for a standard shower.

Step 2

Cut one panel in half lengthwise. Pin and stitch one half to each side of the solid panel with the right sides facing each other. Line up the prints on each piece if the material has one. Press the seams open with the iron.

Step 3

Use right angles when cutting the sewn panel to the measurement you need. This is the curtain width plus 8 inches and its length plus 16 inches.

Step 4

Sew the hem. Do this by turning up and pressing 8 inches on the upper edge of the shower curtain. Tuck the cut edge under and press again to make a double thickness 4-inch hem. Top-stitch through all of the layers along the inside fold. Do the same for the bottom edge. Repeat this for the sides using 4 inches instead of 8 to make a double-thickness 2-inch hem.

Step 5

Use the fabric pen to mark where you want the grommets to be. All marks should be made on the right side 1 inch from the top. The first and last mark should be 3 inches from the side hems. The rest should be evenly spaced between those two.

Step 6

Read the instructions on the package of grommets. Follow these to apply one grommet to each mark. Attach a ring to each grommet and hang the shower curtain.

If You've Been Itching to Learn How to Sew Something . . .

But you're really not sure where to start we suggest giving this book a whirl. It's very user-friendly, super well-organized, and has "how-to" pictures that really show "how to".

A Pine Cone Hill Clearance!

We're making way for new styles and fresh brands. So, enjoy this very rare opportunity to purchase Pine Cone Hill at 40 - 60% off SMRP.

An Amy Butler Bag Giveaway

Honfleur's having its first giveaway via MintGreenWithEnvy.blogspot.com - Up for grabs is an Amy Butler Pearl Bag. Enjoy in good spirit!

Martha Loves Heather Ross

And so do we. [Love Heather, that is. Martha, eh, not as much.] In a segment aired March 1st, Martha & Chandra Wilson created a couple of spiffy quilts using Heather Ross' fabrics. The pink quilt shown is created with Heather's Frog Prince Fabric

Maija Isola's Voice

On Personal Freedom

"Mental freedom is a chance to do a job that you really want. The most inspiring thing is freedom. That you could do things by yourself on trips. Working alone, at home, not in a factory . . . Style came from Armi Ratia, she was enthusiastic and willing to try everything, and she always stayed that way. Everyone was given a chance, everything was experimented with . . . Free. Mental freedom. The most important freedom is the freedom to fail, to mess up completely."

Love At First Sight: Patty Young's Kyoko Pattern

Have You Seen?

Winter Light, Artist Mandy Budan, 2008
About Artist Mandy Budan

Thick paint, rich colour, strong rhythms and patterns define Mandy Budan's love affair with fine art. An award-winning professional painter, Mandy Budan has paintings in collections around the world. Mandy Budan travels around the beautiful Canadian countryside seeking out those perfect moments where light, colour and the landscape collide. Photos, sketches and memory come together in the studio as she strives to recapture that moment in a contemporary, abstract way.

Mandy Budan Artist Statement: I paint abstracts of the landscape, emphasizing and rearranging the elements to show the beauty of the landscape in unexpected ways. Inspired by nature, I use strong colour, discrete shapes and rhythmic patterns to create my abstract landscape paintings which can be enjoyed for both their abstract and realistic qualities.

What We Like: A Great Primer on Textiles

Far, Far Away by Heather Ross

In artist's words: "[While] my fabric lines for Westminster are always based on a place that I have lived and loved, my lines for Kokka are more about the imaginary places where I wish I could live. They are lush meadows and small towns built from toys by children, evening dances held by squirrels. My newest line for Kokka is no different, and is in fact named for those first few words that appear at the beginning of many an imaginary tale: Far Far Away....

I must tell you that I did not intend to go so fantastical, I just couldn't stop myself. At first I was focused on the princesses, especially a certain princess and her pea, but soon found myself sketching unicorns. You heard me. Unicorns. The rest of the prints came quickly enough. My friend Amanda has been begging for a Frog Prince print for years, and I finally had a place for him.

Because my book, Weekend Sewing, has so many clothing patterns that demand more supple woven fabrics, I am having it printed on both a quilting weight cotton and a luxurious, drapey cotton double guaze, which will be perfect for dresses, skirts, and blouses. The collection comes in three colorways.

Far, Far Away fabric, $16.95/yd.

Eames

For anyone who appreciates design and its history, these coasters are a functional reminder of how much design has influenced our lives. Each coaster features one of four chairs designed by Charles and Ray Eames in the mid-twentieth century; the 1948 LaChaise, the 1951 Wire Side Chair, the 1956 Lounge Chair and Ottoman, and the 1946 Molded Plywood Chair with Metal Legs. A little bit of inspiration in the everyday - and maybe even a potential ice breaker at your next dinner party. Clear and durable acrylic coasters with rubber feet. Each coaster measures 4" square.

Take a Peek at These Coasters, $16.90.

Weekend Sewing with Heather Ross

Heather's work draws upon both her own childhood, which she describes as "rural and unsupervised" and her career in fashion and textile design to bring her readers a collection of projects, recipes, resources, artwork, and essays meant to inspire and empower young women (the first generation of American women for whom, as Ross points out, Home Ec was not a requirement) to live creatively.

Weekend Sewing, Heather's first book, is a guide to integrating sewing into one's home and lifestyle in a stylish and practical way. Among its 40 projects readers will find an entire weekend wardrobe, including more than ten dress and skirt styles as well as some basic fashion design lessons about proportion, fit, and fabric. Children's clothing and home accessories projects are also included.

Heather's list of clients and commissions include ranges from large household names to small, personal projects, which she especially enjoys. Her home and studio are in New York City. Read about Heather at her website heatherrossdesigns.com.

From The Mendocino Fabric Collection"

Eclectic Modern by Joel Dewberry

This young designer's recent fabric line illustrates a great working knowledge of past design styles and nuances coupled with a strong color sense for what is visually stimulating and current.

View Joel Dewberry's Collection @ Honfleur

The Jokapoika shirt, designed by Vuokko Nurmesniemi in 1956, is Marimekko’s oldest item in continuous production. At present, there is also a women’s Joikapoika fit and, as shown, the Pikkupojanpaita for children.

Display Your Potluck

Visit the vendor's site
View details at Honfleur Home

A Stripe is not a Stripe is not a Stripe is not a Stripe

Even that Banana Republic/Old Navy/Kohl's brand horizontal stripe-on-stripe that you see on t-shirts everywhere has its origin, it's raison-d'etre.

Annika Rimala designed clothing for Marimekko from 1959 to 1982, and her Tasaraita stripe design debuted in 1968. Rimala believed in "anonymous" design: that people should be motivated to to buy something because it was comfortable and of quality, not because it was a particular season's fashion statement or because the item bore the label of a designer du-jour. Her aim was to create something that was functional, practical, and timeless, something of high quality with a fit for all sizes and ages and suitable for both genders. The Tasaraita stripe by Rimala for Marimekko. To borrow from Levi Struass & Co., it's an original.

Take This Bag & Wash It!

OK, it's not a challenge. And while we don't encourage abuse, Marimekko bags can take a beating. Need to overstuff it on occasion? The zipper won't let you down and won't buckle under the added load. Has chocolate melted or other detritus accumulated on the bottom of your bag? Do this: turn it inside out and wash on gentle cycle with like colors. Air dry. The bag keeps its form and good looks. We hope you'll then see why, in addition to its great styling, a canvas Marimekko is the bag for all time.

When Is a Product Not Just a Product?

(Or How One Woman's Perspective Informed A Culture)

Marimekko founder Armi Ratia never limited the meaning of fashion. "Clothes are but a part of the totality of fashion, which includes interiors, food, art, literature, lifestyle. " She also said that "Marimekko’s deepest being is not the products but the force of the creativity from which ideas are generated which, in turn, are expressed in the form of products." Past president Kirsti Paakkanen imparts that “The most important thing is respect for the customer. A human being always takes centre stage. Our starting point is still the one from which Armi Ratia began: we want to produce joy and light, good, high-quality products that will illuminate people’s everyday lives." To us, an ocean and many miles away, it is this company's values and foresight, and -- more importantly -- its ability to satisfy its values and "way of seeing" that informs cultures and shapes a way of life.

We Were Hipaused

As Seen In Domino Magazine, April 2008, p. 111.

Organize Your Purse
"For the one who cheerfully mixes clashing prints with solids - and isn't too cool for a cheeky status symbol, slip a do-everything palette into this bright, glossy pouch."

High on Dry

GRAY CLOUDS AND SOGGY SKIES don't have to rain on your fashion parade. With all the hip-yet-monsoon-ready trench coats, groovy umbrellas and stompingly cool boots around, bad weather might just make you look good.

Even higher-end designers (Chloe, Nanette Lepore) have gone out in the rain with way-beyond-Gorton's fisherman trenches in eye-popping hues.

Such revved-up storm styles give "folks not otherwise comfortable with unusual prints or bold, bright colors a chance to go to town," says Marni Frankel, owner of Honfleur Home.

Add a pair of wild wellies and a 'brella with attitude, which Frankel thinks "gives bounce to your step on a rainy day." That should help you jump over all those pesky puddles.

Jennifer wears a Marimekko Ruusupuu poncho ($75, HonfleurHome.com).

The Ruusupuu Poncho & Ruusupu Umbrella$39, Art by Maija Isola, 1957

The Design Museum Ghent

Exhibition
Marimekko: Textiles, Fashion, Architecture
16 December 2006 > 9 April 2007

Armi and Viljo Ratia established the company Marimekko in 1951 to brighten up post-war Finland with trendy interior textiles and groovy clothes. The company earned itself a world-wide reputation by 1960. Jackie Kennedy bought seven dresses with a label that had remained almost unknown until then. The textiles, with their big graphic patterns in bright colours, became an icon of the sixties.

In the early 1980s the company disappeared from the spotlights. Kirsti Paakkanen was asked to give Marimekko a new Èlan in 1991. And she managed to do just that. Like Armi Ratia did before her, Paakkanen attracted the best Finnish designers. The range of strong and highly recognizable prints from the sixties was extended with contemporary creations.

Honfleur Reading List: On Design & Beauty

"Timeless Beauty: In The Arts & Everyday Life", John Lane







"Timeless Simplicity: Creative Living in a Consumer Society", John Lane


"A Whole New Mind, Why Right-Brainers will Rule the Future", Daniel Pink



"Textiles: A Handbook for Designers", Marypaul Gates


Design: A Very Short Introduction
by John Heskett

Publisher Comments:
Design touches virtually every aspect of our lives, imbuing the most humdrum of objects with meaning. In Toothpicks and Logos, John Heskett illuminates a subject as vast and complex as human life itself, ranging from the earliest found implements in our history--the stick, the shell, the cupped hand--to modern advertising logos, software interfaces, and even the lowly toothpick.

Here is a truly groundbreaking book, one that will transform the way we think about design, revealing how integral it is to our daily lives, from the spoon we use to eat our breakfast cereal, to the car we drive to work in, to the medical equipment used to save lives. Design, Heskett writes, is one of the most basic expressions of what it is to be human--the reshaping of the environment to meet our needs and answer our desires, capturing both utility and aesthetics. Going beyond issues of style and taste, he describes how different cultures and individuals personalize objects--even simple objects, such as a toothpick, can have their design modified to suit the specific cultural behavior in different countries. Heskett examines architecture, multimedia, computers, software, and even the role of government in influencing design trends and he offers fascinating insights into how major companies such as Nokia, Ford, and Sony approach design. Finally, we are shown an exciting vision of what design can offer us in the future and especially its role in humanizing new technology.

Review:
"In a notably lucid narrative rich in provocative examples, Heskett succinctly traces design's development from the earliest of technological breakthroughs to today's frenzied array of gadgets, graphics, and objects great and small, essential and frivolous. He goes beyond the classic duo of form and function to discuss utility and significance and to differentiate between the ephemeral and the enduring."--Booklist