I heart toast!

It has been a while, but I am back, armed and dangerous with new links to new fabulous products available from generous online retailers who ship to Europe. 

Especially Europeans who love toast (and really, who doesn't?).

This necklace is the brainchild of Sam Gannaway-Jones, who designs mad jewelry under the name Hoolala. And did I mention it is a locket? And toast??

From her on-line biography:

Sam's work is heavily influenced by the mad, bad Victorians, her grandmother's vintage family album of photographs and her mother's vintage charm bracelet.

"I am fascinated by the idea of the charm; in some cultures they are used to attract luck to the wearer whilst in others they are worn to ward off evil. My work centers around the idea of compulsion and repulsion, the morbid curiousity of the Victorians and my boxes of unusual treasures I have collected since childhood."

Obviously this necklace is a step away from the morbid or repulsive, unless you have a particularly fierce wheat allergy, so I recommend a visit to the Hoolala online shop for a tour of her other fabulous creations. Don't miss the "I heart Jesus" cufflinks. Perhaps I should send a pair to Sarah Palin? 

Street Art on Tshirts: Koralie

Street art takes on many forms, and one of the perks of living in Amsterdam is seeing art appear, morph, get covered, get uncovered and start again. Certainly street art isn't an European phenomenon, but I do think it looks better here, with the backdrop of old architecture to frame the very new art.

And it is indeed art, or at least a marketable commodity, as you can see by licensees with good taste. I stumbled upon French street artist Koralie through the Upper Playground site. One of her t-shirt designs used my current favorite motif, Russian stacking dolls, and led me to her wacky and beautiful site. Really -- you owe yourself a visit.

Koralie uses paper stencils, sometimes in conjunction with other street artists of the conventional spray paint variety (but freakishly clever). I find her work utterly charming, as I think she must be.

Eco Clean: The Bubble Roome

I do love beautiful smelling soap, so Europe is a good place to be. But some of the most amazing smelling soaps come from The Bubble Roome in Brooklyn. With combinations like Lavender + Geranium, Fennel + Anise, Chamomile + Calendula and Tea Tree + Peppermint (how nice would that be on a hot day!), the scents are unusual, delicious and made better with no synthetic fragrances, preservatives or dyes. So now those of you with sensitive skin have an alternative to nothing soaps.

And let's talk about evil parabens for a moment. Parabens are a group of chemicals widely used as preservatives in shampoos, moisturizers, shower gels and lotions of all types. Some studies link parabens with breast cancer and other studies question the safety of parabens altogether. And many people poopoo those studies. But I figure, why put chemicals directly into your blood stream through your skin when they can't possibly do you any good?


So the hemp-oil lotions from the Bubble Roome are a blessing. I have tried these lotions and the softness lasts for hours and hours without any grease. They smell great and their base is Aloe Juice (not water), Coconut Oil and Hemp Seed Oil. No parabens at all.

Every product is hand packaged and hand made and made with love. There are mineral salts, sugar scrubs and creams on the site as well. You can easily order the products online or you can visit stores to smell and try on your own (like egg mercantile in Amsterdam).

Skirt Alert!: Made With Love by Hannah

I have the most amazing skirt in my closet. It looks like this:
It was a gift from my friend Stacy and I love it so much, especially as the weather gets warmer and I can finally shed the black opaque tights. This skirt (the "Apple Pickin" model), along with many other fabulous designed and hand-silk screened skirts are from Made With Love by Hannah.
The cotton of the skirts is thick, but they hang beautifully. The colors are so vibrant and Hannah combines forest creatures and Euro mushrooms with cute vintage patterns. Really stunning and unique.

She also makes the coolest knick knack art prints that she sells on her Etsy shop.

Rock Show Posters: Dan Stiles

I am going back to my hometown for an overdue visit, so I thought I'd feature some Portland elements in upcoming posts.

The first is Dan Stiles, rock concert poster designer and printer extraordinaire. I have four of his posters in Amsterdam and they continually make me smile. Dan's posters are reminiscent of eras past with beautiful typography and bold colors -- they say SCREEN PRINT and mean it. And the shows he promotes kick ass too.

He features new posters for purchase on his site all the time and is a pleasure to do business with. Check it out and get your visual groove on.

Posters for Feist, Hot Chip and Architecture in Helsinki by Dan Stiles.

Coloring Books for Grownups: Lauranne Quentric

I used to spend hours with my coloring books, happily and mindlessly filling in the blank spaces with whatever color or pattern came to mind. Unfortunately, coloring book content didn't seem to grow with me, so at some point I stopped coloring and started doodling -- mostly illustrated letters that named each of the members of Duran Duran.

It was when I was holiday shopping that I came across a decidedly different coloring book in Amsterdam. Called, "Cahier à Colorier" and featuring offbeat illustrations of people on the cover, I thought it was the most novel and exotic thing in the world. I know that the title means, "A book to be colored," which isn't quite novel or exotic, but the transformative power of written French (which I clearly can't read as well as I used to) and the charming illustrations to French artist Lauranne Quentric made it seem so. I bought it along with a new pack of crayons fully intending to send it off to a friend, but instead tucked into it myself on a rainy afternoon. It brings solace to happily and mindlessly fill in the black spaces of the wacky drawings, using pink and orange to my heart's content and coloring the character's hair acid shades of green just because I can. Some things never change.


La Marelle en Papier carries Lauranne Quentric's coloring book, along with several others by amazing European (mostly French, but not all) illustrators. And if coloring books aren't your thing, but journals, postcards, writing papers or greeting cards are, then peruse the menu to see all the offerings for sale. The site is in French and English for those whose translation skills aren't so great.


From top: goûter, mariage, petit carnet la marelle en papier, cahier d'idées folles et saugrenues. All illustrations by Lauranne Quentric.

Ethical Fashion: Howies

One of the few things I remember from economics class in college is the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility. The reason why I remember is because the professor used navy blue cardigan sweaters as the example -- the first navy blue cardigan sweater you buy brings lots of satisfaction (utility), but each subsequent navy blue cardigan sweater you buy brings less and less satisfaction, especially if they are purchased in quick succession. This made sense to me -- if he had picked a black cardigan, it wouldn't have worked because, let's face it, we all need another black cardi.

But that was way back before the advent of cheap fashion.

Not cheap, ala Paris Hilton cheap, but very current fashion that is inexpensive ala H&M, Zara or Target. Heck, this was even before Costco started carrying name-brand clothes! Even if you have a few navy cardigans at home, when you come upon a great copy of a designer's navy cardigan, and it costs less than 20 euro, it almost seems rude not to buy it. And that is utility of a different sort.

I write about this because I am starting to think cheap fashion is a bad thing. I stumbled upon a documentary on BBC 3 called, "Blood, Sweat and T-Shirts" that takes six youngBritish fashion-addicts and sends them to India to learn about the garment industry from the inside out. They work in factories as sewers and ironers, they harvest cotton and work in the cotton mills to produce the fabric, they live with the workers (or in some cases, share the factory floors where they sleep) and are generally flabbergasted by the conditions and the tiny wages that are paid. "But the costs have to be kept low in order to feed the demand of the West!" explains a factory foreman. Errr. Um. I think that means me.

So I have decided to feature at least one ethical on-line retailer each week. Ethical fashion, according the BBC on-line fashion magazine Thread, is fashion that has been made, worn and passed on in a way that looks after people, animals and the environment.

I start with Howies -- a British-based company that started making t-shirts for BMX bikers and skaters in the mid-90s. Now they have shops all over the UK, a digital catalog (yea!) and a great site for ordering ethically made clothes and accessories for men, women and kids. They ship world-wide and seem like truly fascinating people who I'd love to have over for dinner (locally-grown/raised foods of course). The site is worth exploring and, though it features no navy cardigans per se, there is plenty of utility to share. Rock on with your eco-selves.

African Print Fabulousness: Artilugia

On the last Paris trip, I walked by a booth at the gianormous Puces de Clignancourt market and saw gorgeous African print fabrics used in decidedly western, kick it on a warm summer day, ways. The knee-length, a-line skirts were particularly compelling because they were #1. completely bright and cheery and a great alternative to mega-used gingham and neo-retro prints and #2. knee-length, a-line skirts.

I left the booth without buying anything because #1. Tom's eyes glazed over at the thought of another knee-length, a-line skirt and #2. I am stupid.

So I was delighted to see these pieces by Artilugia on the CUT + PASTE shop. I love the unexpected ribbon and contrasting fabric on the VERY on-trend skirts, dresses, tunics and jackets. Artilugia is Spanish designer Ana Guerrero, who also has an etsy shop. She uses specially sourced Senegalese fabrics and doesn't repeat any design in the same pattern, so each piece is truly one of a kind.

For more information, the African Fabric Shop is a great site for an overview on different patterns and types of fabric. Support fair trade companies like this one!!!

All photos courtesy of CUTXPASTE

Fantastic Wall Decals: Harmonie Interiéure

Wall decals -- not quite artwork and not quite wallpaper, they fill the magic third place of temporary interior decoration. Though there are many styles on the web to choose from, these from French design house Harmonie Interiéure are some of my favorites.

"le Lac." Limited edition mounted photos and branch decal in three sizes.
Very Emily Dickinson...

"123" from the Ornaments category. Chose from 58 colors and four sizes.

"Knife" from the Urban category. Chose from 58 colors and four sizes.

The Harmonie Interiéure site is in French and English and is very easy to navigate and buy from. Styles and designs are divided into categories called "Somewhere Else," "Time Passing," "Urban," "Ornaments" and "Organic." There is also a large "Kids" category that includes decals that are absolutely charming in an oh-so-French way.

Completly Awesome Tea Cosies: MessyFish

Oh my goodness. I have nothing but love for these handmade tea cosies from the UK-based art, design and toy loving folks at MessyFish.

Why do I love them so? Because this is what a tea cosy should look like. This is what every practical yet boring object should look like. This is what the entire category of practical yet boring gifts that neighbors, students, coworkers and the occasional niece depend on during the holidays should look like.

All of the MessyFish characters are handmade from knitted wool so each one is unique. And practical too, as these characters, "William" and "Pyrrhus" fit standard size teapots. But there is nothing standard about them.

Wipe Those Shoes: Outdoor Rugs

These outdoor rugs are pretty enough to keep inside, but why would you? Made of recycled plastic, they can be left outside through all sorts of weather and can be hosed off whenever they get dirty.

Available in two sizes and colors here.

Illustrated Melamine Plates: Oksana Badrak

Just in time for urban picnics, these melamine plates feature the beautifully distinctive illustrations of Oksana Badrak. Birds and flowers go crazy in these fantasy nature scenes.

A rising star in the pop surrealist movement, Oksana, a Moscow native, developed her distinctive style at Art Center College of Design in California. This is a great opportunity to bring home work by a new artist and brighten up your summer table at the same time. And really, I doubt there will ever be a cooler backdrop for your potato salad.

These plates can be purchased at Poketo! (they deliver everywhere.)

The Doll Farm: Heather Louise

The first time I saw a Heather Louise doll, I stopped in my tracks so fast that I nearly fell over. Seriously. My arms flailed around as I tried to keep my balance while the Dutch pedestrians passing me stared in wonder at the freak before them. It is hard to generate that much momentum while walking, but these aren't just any dolls. More like works of art with a wicked sense of humor and big shoes that are completely worth falling for.

From left: Bunny Girl Crow, Butterfly Dove, Red Bat Yellow Shoes.
All dolls handmade by Heather Louise.

Dolls with giant Marie Antoinette wigs and flirting lashes. Bat girl dolls with menacing pointy ears. Bunny girls and mushroom girls and queen girls all in full length dresses decorated with a quirky motif of some sort. Simply amazing and like nothing I had ever seen before.


The brilliance behind these dolls is Heather Louise, an artist now based in Brooklyn after a few years living in Amsterdam. She makes each doll entirely by hand from fabrics, buttons and beads found in her travels through markets and estate sales in Europe and America, and each piece is also accompanied by a hand-illustrated portrait card of the doll you buy -- art within art within art. Fantastic. You can find Heather's creations online at egg mercantile, or in their Amsterdam shop, the Michele Varian boutique in New York City and on Heather's etsy shop.

After getting my balance back and repeated visits to the shop window, I finally went in to buy my own -- the red bat doll with yellow shoes pictured above. She is very sweet, but just disturbing enough to freak people out. Perfect.

Above: Octopus In Marie doll with portrait tag.

Cold Nights + Sunny Brights - Marimekko

Spring is struggling to spring in Amsterdam, what with the tulips just starting to bloom and the down coat still in heavy rotation, so I forgave myself for rolling around in a pile of brightly colored Marimekko-inspired clothes at H&M last week.

Pink! Orange! Forgiving silhouettes that hide the-still-winter belly (if the weather won't change, why should I?)! A bathing suit I don't hate! It is all good, and if you don't have an H&M near you, or simply don't want to brave the horror of the store, you can browse and purchase a selected number of the Marimekko-inspired line from the comfort of your couch.

The prints in the collection are decidedly nods to classic designs from the 50s - 60s, but the Spring 2008 fabrics on the Marimekko site go well beyond retro. If you have the lingering winter blues, spend a few minutes perusing the designs and see if your mood hasn't lifted. Some of my favorites:

Clockwise from upper left: Maija Isola, pattern: Oona (1969/2006), Erja Hirvi, pattern: Sarastaa (2007), Maija Louekari, pattern: Dadel (2007), Jenni Tuominen, pattern: Unessa (2006), Maija Isola / Kristina Isola, pattern: Ananas (1962), Teresa Moorhouse, pattern: Sininen Gepardi (2008)

You can purchase selections of Marimekko fabrics at Finnish Design Shop and ReproDepot. Both sites offer hours worth of browsing amongst the pretty while we all wait for the sunny days ahead.