Jane Schouten, creator and curator for Dutch online (and offline) boutique All The Luck in The World not only makes gorgeous art but restyles vintage and found furniture in the most inspiring of ways. Above is one of my favourite items – the  medicine cabinet – from her latest collection of  treasures, and below is another…

…the happy cabinet. So bright and cheery!

If only this gorgeous boutique was in Amsterdam, I would have included it in my book! But here it is in the (blog)house instead, be sure to check out Jane’s online boutique and also her flickr photos – I particularly love the images of the pretty, tranquil spaces throughout her home. Below is the full collection of  latest treasures…

A couple of years ago I bought a bag (the one in the top of this set of sold goods in fact) from Jane and it remains to be one of my most favoured everyday items. I have no doubt you will find something in her collection that you will fall in love with too.

It’s been a busy few days for me, thank you for your patience in waiting for me to announce the lucky recipient of the above! You do not have to be patient for a minute longer. The lucky recipient is…

comment #74: Terry! Congratulations!

Thank you everyone who participated, you made this giveaway extra fun and special. And a big thank you to Cassandra from haven workroom for giving away such a gorgeous treasure.  Terry if you could please send me an email with your address details so that I can let Cassandra know, and for the rest of us who missed out, Cassandra has offered a 15% discount off everything in her store, click here to read her post with code details. I have my eye on the peacock cushion, and the tropicals, and the stripes and…

Thank you again mes amis. I’ll be back here again in uno momento…

xx

I’m not the least bit bashful to admit that I’m quite alot in love with haven workroom.  This wonderful atelier based in London is run by New Zealander Cassandra Ellis who creates custom-made contemporary quilts, cushions and lampshades from vintage silks & cottons, as well as restoring and up-cycling vintage furniture. It’s a dreamy space (both online and offline) of inspiration, great ideas and loads of gorgeous fabrics for making all kinds of marvelous…

Cassandra runs quilting workshops at the papered parlour (i’ll write more about this fab place in coming weeks), and has also recently started taking orders for quilts made with your own personal collection of fabrics (read more about it here)…

…a little montage of inspiration I compiled from haven workroom.

A couple of weeks ago while I was in isolation-writing-retreat mode, Cassandra wrote to me with a very special thought: she wanted to offer you guys, my dear readers, one of her beautiful handmade cushions in lieu of my absence. I thought that was the sweetest and most thoughtful idea ever!

So we chatted back and forth (a bit of “no don’t be silly!” from me and a little of “it’s my pleasure, don’t think twice about it!” from her and so on) and I decided that instead of announcing her offer to you then when I was not blogging so much I decided to wait until today, in celebration of me (and hopefully you) being back regularly here in the (blog)house…

Cassandra even let me pick out the cushion to offer you from the haven workroom online boutique and since I know how much we all love shades of aqua, turquoise and ruby red combined, I thought this one would be utterly perfect…

This gorgeous cushion is made from vintage japanese silk backed in hand-loomed cotton and measures a generous 50 x 50cm, for more of a look-see, click here.

Now I must admit, I’m a little envious that you guys get a chance at owning this cushion! But I know you will love it as much as I would and that makes me happy. So what do you have to do to be the lucky recipient? Well I’ve decided that it would be wonderful if you could all visit cassandra’s blog, website, or shop - have a browse, have a wander and then all you have to do is leave a comment below: It’s about sharing the love really.

That’s it!! That’s crazy good.

I will choose and announce a winner randomly via some fancy-random-selector-computer-application-thingo this Friday, May 7th. But you have to make sure you have left a comment on this here post otherwise you will not be in the draw. Cassandra will send the cushion to you the following week.

As you know, giveaways don’t come by here regularly (the last one – and first one - was over a year ago!) so you know then that this is super, super special.

Thank you dear Cassandra! And thank you, my dear readers,  for your company, generosity, enthusiasm and encouragement over the past 2 or so years that I’ve been a blogging lass.

xx

PS tomorrow I will announce the details of the amsterdam: made by hand book launch! Oh, this week in the (blog)house is already so gooooooooooood…

Once upon a time when I was a retail shop owner, I visited design & gift trade fairs throughout each year in Sydney, Melbourne and Hong Kong (which I only went to once, that was enough for one lifetime!). Each fair takes days to explore and after my third or fourth visit to a trade fair (i.e. year 2 of my business), I was over it. There was just too much stuff, too many people, the fluorescent lights hurt your eyes after a few hours (so you can imagine how they feel after a few days), and your feet hate you forever. I don’t know why I went in the first place, I suppose because everyone else was and apparently that was the thing to do and lets face it, I was only 21, fresh out of Uni  – I had no idea. I soon realised that I didn’t want what everyone else had in their shops anyway, so I instead searched out local artisans,  craftspeople, and designers + importers who cared about the environment and their artisans.

So today, when someone mentions the phrase ‘design fair’ to me, I shudder. And being here in Holland where design is ‘the thing’, there is a lot of peer pressure to go to the fairs. Well, forget it. I am just not interested. And these days, I am less likely to do what someone expects of me than when I was a 21 year old impressionable entrepreneur.

Having said all of that, I have thoroughly enjoyed perusing the recent blog posts of stylist Imke Klee and  designer Kristina Klarin, who have both managed to capture the best during the recent Milan design fair with little or no explanation, just pictures: perfect! Granted, the stuff that I like looks as though it’s not even in the main fair but instead at spazio rossana orlandi. Which means if I ever want to go back to Milan (I lived in a little village not far from there when I was a teenager), then I will look this special place up and take a wander.

Above are a selection of Imke’s gorgeous images, take a look at her blog for even more beauty. And below are a few of Kristina’s, check out her inspiring blog for more…

It’s Monday! I have some great posts for you this week. Well I may even post all the great ones today, just because I’m feeling in a posty mood. Today is the day to be visiting the (blog)house, come one, come all!

xx

Last week on my etsy favourites post I mentioned there was something in  sadie olive that I really really wanted. Today reader Judith reminded me in a comment that I had not yet revealed what it was, and that although she wasn’t losing sleep over it still, she was curious. So, Judith, this post is for you! And for anyone else out there who was curious about my ‘must have’ item. It was in fact these sweet little antique s&p shakers – are they not the most darling things you have ever seen?

I just bought them. Because well, I think I will sleep a little better now that I know they will soon be mine.