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Happy Mother’s Day to all the lovely Mamas! I hope that today is a wonderful day filled with appreciation and love. Here are some lovely Mother’s Day arrangements that I thought you would enjoy. As you can see, I have a thing for flowers in cages at the moment.

xoxo, jeanne

Here is a bouquet I arranged myself (see full story here).

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Wow to these one-of-a-kind wallpaper covered pieces of furniture by Cornwall artist, Bryonie Porter. I especially love the ABC-number chest. She also does furniture for non-kids, either on commission or at her stockists.

The favorite designer of Duchess Kate, Keira Knightly and many others, Jenny Packham, has launched an affordable collection called No.1 Jenny Packham as part of Debenhams’ ever-expanding portfolio of designer collections. No.1 Jenny Packham captures the renowned designer’s softly embellished, ethereal style in a collection of women’s and children’s dresses and accessories. The collection’s four ivory dresses for girls aged one to 12 is the first foray into childrenswear for Jenny and what a beautiful start it is. “I’m hoping some of the Jenny Packham brides will want to buy the girls’ dresses for their bridesmaids.” Jenny says.

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I wish I had known about these super stylish baby bags earlier from chic Australian label, Il Tutto (which means, “everything” in Italian because they hold everything) ! Now, it’s too late for me for the baby bags but they also have lovely handbags and totes without all the diaper changing paraphernalia. Still, I would have loved something chic during those heady, early baby days. Charming designer, Lucie Trinco trained in Australia and Milan and after designing handbags for many luxury labels, she launched Il Tutto and has never looked back, gaining fans worldwide including Cate Blanchett and Naomi Watts. The bags hang on a stroller or can be worn over the shoulder, and feature linings that can be removed for washing, or when you want to use them as a regular handbag as well as all the necessary items for baby care. Check her website for stockists. There is also an inspiring interview with Lucie for all you entrepreneurs out there!

Here is Cate Blanchett holding her Mia Nappy Bag and her precious little bundle!

Hirst’s most famous piece: The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living

Mother and Child Divided  Photo credit: Tate Modern website

Whether you are a fan of his work or it leaves you cold, there is no denying Damien Hirst’s current profile and influence in the contemporary art world; and they make taking a long, hard look at his Tate Modern retrospective almost irresistible.  The exhibition is aptly billed as a “substantial survey” of his work;  key pieces have been carefully selected and beautifully styled.  There are his dead animals / innards; splashes of colour; his grids (of cigarettes, dots, diamonds, instruments, fish); his pharmacy and his butterflies.  There are the weighty glass and metal cases that glamorously contain and juxtapose these objects.  As a survey, it succeeds. Exhibit runs from April 4th to September 9th, 2012.

Some of his Spin Paintings   Photo Credit:Photo By Oli Scarff/Getty Images

Detail from Sympathy in White Major   Photo credit: Prudence Cuming Associates

For the Love of God: platinum and diamond encrusted skull

What an addictive and intriguing toy this Kaleidograph is! Everyone who spies it gets drawn in and they can’t put it down. I wish I had this when I was in design school. The simple, die-cut cards can be arranged in over 350 million designs. Based upon geometry in nature — the symmetries of crystals and flowers — the Kaleidograph draws from the Froebel Kindergarten system that is known to have influenced Frank Lloyd Wright, Buckminster Fuller, Piet Mondrian, and design education at the Bauhaus. Solène is already playing with this, so it seems that anyone who can move cards around is the right age!  It’s available in two versions, Crystal and Flora and earned an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award in 2012. Available here.

What interesting and beautiful paper works by Danish designer Violise Lunn. She creates wearable and unwearable items. Allowing herself to divide her time between these two artforms, the usable and the useless, Violise Lunn lets them feed each other with inspiration. Their origin is the same – to permit dreaminess and the search for perfection.

I am smitten by this Polyhedron Habitable cubby house by architect, Manuel Villa. This little house is located in a backyard in Bogota Columbia and was designed as a place for young parents and their newborn child to have an independent area from day to day house activities, a space for reading, playing, etc. And then later on, as a place for the child to play and dream in. Sublime.

Photographs: Manuel Villa / Sergio Gómez

Here are some gorgeous Easter Centerpieces and Easter Eggs that I found just in case you haven’t decided on an arrangement yet or if you just like looking! A Happy and Joyous Easter to all!

Nakhrali Dhani is an ethnic village resort spread over 28 acres of land, that resembles a typical Rajasthani (North-West Indian) village. Located 15 kilometers outside Indore (Madhya Pradesh) in India, the village has plenty of activities for kids: a large water park, traditional puppet shows, camel rides, old-fashioned tonga rides, magic shows, live dance performances, acrobats, a 3D theater and a games arcade. There are weekend fairs that sell Rajasthani trinkets such as puppets, oil lamps, beads, baubles and fabric. The dining hall serves typical Rajasthani and Malwi food, where food is served on the traditional leaf platter.

The resort area has over 30 rooms, where the interior design ranges from Maharaja palaces to village huts. The walls are adorned with shields and decorative Rangoli designs and windows have Bandhani and Ikat drapes. Room rates range from $25-$60 per night. They have special wedding packages as well. It’s a great weekend getaway option, especially in the winter months when the weather is fantastic. There are similar village resorts scattered all over India; Jaipur and Thane have one each.

It was Oona’s 5th birthday on Monday and I just felt so emotional about her turning five, it was irrational. Maybe because 5 is half a decade? Maybe because it seems like yesterday that she made her exit from me,  and entrance into this world? Maybe because I just can’t believe my baby is five. Anyway, it was low key after all. We didn’t do a big party. She just had a mini cake celebration (I made the cake with the big “O” for Oona myself) in the morning at the little Italian school that she goes to. She wore her tacky princess dress that I got for $10 at Goodwill that I can’t extricate her from and her little sister had her enormous cabbage rose on her head that I think looks ridiculous but at the same time, adorable! Then we bookshop hopped and I let her pick out something from both stores as gifts. Then to a playdate for more celebrating and then presents at home. When I put her to bed, she said that it was the best birthday in the whole world. Aww. Made it all worth it.

I just came across these fascinating shots that were taken during the Dior Fashion Show in Russia in 1959.  It was the first time a Paris couturier had shown a collection behind the iron curtain. Being a huge fan of classic Dior, I am completely thrilled at my find. And the expressions on the faces of some of these people are priceless. They were clearly not used to seeing anything like those elegant ladies in such finery!

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Have I ever mentioned just how much I adore interior design and beautiful spaces?

In fact, I would love to be able to completely redesign my own home, but I would be afraid that it would take me a lifetime to actually settle on what to do.

Anyway, I seem to have a thing for rustic right now – these might just make your day.

And I hope that the rest of your weekend is full of joy.

xox, jeanne

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We just had a perfect and timelessly romantic spring day here in New York and these cookies above just seemed to go hand in hand with their bright freshness and promise of new life! Who would have thought that cookies could do so much for me?! They are from the Spring/Summer Collection of very pretty Dainty Delights Cookies. I also love the Marie Antoinette cookies below..and as you know I just love artistic cookies in general (see here, here and here)! And they also do couture cupcakes. Sublime.

This, just for fun and if you want to feel like you’ve had a mini-vacation! You might have already seen this but just in case, you haven’t, so beautiful! I feel like I’ve been on ‘L’Odyssée de Cartier’ with the panther after watching this three and a half minute film celebrating the jewellery house’s 165 years of history, which premiered worldwide on March 5th. In fact, I can’t stop watching it over and over – it’s that amazing! The stunning film follows the brand’s iconic panther on a worldwide journey from St. Petersburg to China, India and Paris. L’Odyssée’s 110-member team was directed by advertising film director Bruno Aveillan. The original score was composed by Pierre Adenot. I’m also really glad they chose L’Hotel de Ville in Paris at night as one of the shots as I always found that a magical place to be when I lived there.

Enjoy!

Some pre-show dressing room action

I was a busy little bee last weekend what with Playtime New York that I blogged about here, and the 2012 Kids Fashion Week NYC, Petite Parade in collaboration with Vogue Bambini!  This post has taken a while but better late than never! I hit the show with Florence Rolando from Pirouette blog and her two beautiful daughters (photo below) and we had those delectable miniature cupcakes from Baked by Melissa. The parade kicked off with the Fall/Holiday collection by Bonnie Young, followed by another showcase featuring Monnalisa, Miss Grant, Silvian Heach, Lulu, Charabia, Aston Martin (no, they don’t only make cars!) Sarabanda and Troizenfants. And what is up for this coming 2012 Autumn/ Winter is a lot of winter white, shagginess, frills, fur and animal prints!

Florence Rolando (left), and Yours Truly (right) with Florence’s girls!

Music was by eight-year-old DJ, Fulano

Bonnie Young- Fall/Winter 2012 – beautiful lace and frills skirt/blouse ensemble

Bonnie Young – exquisite silver grey jacket

Bonnie Young- fur sleeveless jacket

Bonnie Young – more silver grey in this lacy straight dress

Monnalisa Fall/Winter 2012 – dapper fleecy trimmed jacket and brown trousers

Monnalisa – more fur and mixed animal prints

Monnalisa – oversized plaid jacket

Miss Grant Fall/Winter 2012 – furry skirt and jumbo-sized sequins and  sparkly two-tone tights

Lulu Fall/Winter 2012 -polka dot coat with a nod to Jackie O.

Lulu – more plaid and bright red

Silvian Heach Fall/Winter 2012 – more winter white, and sweet frilled pocket coat

Charabia Fall/Winter 2012 – feather skirt and crochet top

Charabia –  Fringed skirt and faux fur jacket

Aston-Martin Fall/Winter 2012 – serious sportswear!

Sarabanda – Fall/Winter 2012 – Ruby red casual jacket and knit dress

Troizenfants Fall/Winter 2012 – worked animal print and winter shorts

Photos by Jeanne Omlor

What wonderful wooden animals by Uusi – great for a kid’s room! Designed by Peter Dunham and Linnea Git – each animal is unique, constructed with close attention to the wood grain’s relationship to the form, consisting of slotted parts that are pieced together. The bull, bear and horse were inspired by 30,000 year old cave paintings. The animals run 3.5-10″ in height and are on sale at Design Within Reach. Peter’s and Linnea’s exquisite apartment was also featured on Design Sponge and Chicago Tribune Home Magazine!

I just found these unique and adorable bunnies for Easter…which is approaching fast, in the Winsome Hollow shop! And they are needle felted which is a lengthy process requiring wool roving to be shaped while poked thousands of times with barbed needles, until the wool fibers are bound together. Sounds intense but it’s worth it. I just adore the little nest egg. Katy from Winsome also has a great blog, which is how I discovered her shop.

Today we took to the Wapping Project housed in the Wapping Hydraulic Power Station to see This is not a House by Edgar Martins (A series of photographs exploring the collapse of the US housing market and the sub-prime mortgage crisis.) and enjoy lunch in the sunlit industrial space. Wapping is part of London’s Docklands but feels quite the place apart with its maritime atmosphere and sandy river banks, that yet overlooks the highrises of Canary Wharf. If you can’t make it over to see this exhibition, there is also a  great book which documents the complete exhibition called none other than, This is Not a House! Available here.

One of the photographs from the exhibition. Photograph © Edgar Martins

Around the Corner
University of Southern Indiana, New Harmony Gallery, New Harmony, IN. Photograph: Doyle Dean.

I’m so enthralled by the incredible work of Patrick Dougherty. Our second artist in our Angle on Artists series. Here was the first.

Combining his carpentry skills with his love of nature, Patrick Dougherty began to learn about primitive techniques of building and to experiment with tree saplings as construction material. Beginning about 1980 with small works, fashioned in his backyard, he quickly moved from single pieces on conventional pedestals to monumental site-specific installations that require sticks by the truckload. He has built over two hundred such massive sculptures all over the world.

Easy Does It

Hollywood Art & Culture Center, Hollywood, Florida. Photograph: John Lawrence.

Na Hale ‘o waiawi

(Roughly translated from Hawaiian: Wild Dwellings Built from Strawberry Guava).
The Contemporary Art Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii.  Photograph: Paul Kodama.

Trailheads

North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC. Photograph: Courtesy of North Carolina Museum of Art.

Crossing Over

American Craft Museum, New York, New York. Photograph: Dennis Cowley.

Patrick’s book Stickwork (2009, Princeton Architectural Press) contains more than 200 pages of wonderful photos plus text by Patrick himself with anecdotes and insights into his methods and his art. Available here.