Cloth Pins | A Product Forever & Ever.

I've a thing for cloth pins! Love the objects' simplicity. It's probably the highly functional product on earth. Always works and if broken (which doesn't happen often), can be fix it straight away. 

I use it for many different function: in the kitchen bathroom and living/home office.

The wooden ones are my favorite. Like these on the picture by ferm LIVING I love to style them.

What about you, do you have a thing for things?

Tokyo #3 | Japanese Textiles.

This is the type of shops I get lost very easily. Not that I spend a fortune, but I totally forget the world exists outside. I can be here for hours wondering what I could do with these gorgeous fabrics. 

My sense of touch gets in action and here we go...

Didn't resist to get the one on the right. I've already a few options to do with it, but haven't decided yet:  to have it on my bed, to make a few cushions, to have it framed or maybe a padded panel on the wall. 

Gorgeous collage, isn't it? The fabrics in the center (with rainbows) have an amazing texture and beautiful mix of colours.

Fabrics, beautiful fabrics everywhere. 

A tip to make a nice Japanese handbag. 

Maybe I'll pop in again today to get more inspiration.

Dear Mother Christmas By Hermès.

This year I wish to have an Hermès Christmas. I wish to be an Orange Mother Christmas. I wish a stylish Christmas for everyone.

Here's a few ideas from Hermès Paris.

Aren't their illustrations so stylish?

I can relate each of my family members and friends with one object/item. The following ones are my very favourites. Style your house.
Cups for the perfect afternoon tea by the country porch house.

Mugs for the hot hot hot chocolate on a raining Sunday afternoon by the Manhattan window loft.

Ashtrays, whether on the walls as an objet d'art or as an objet dans l'utilisation, we all must have an Hermès ashtray. It's part of culture.

Frames to remember and share proud and lovely moments.

Correspondence Box for those rare letters we love to receive from the post man. If not, maybe to put those ones we once received from beloved ones.

Illustrations from Hermès Website.
More articles by Hermès:
Once Upon A Time
A Story By Hermès

Give It Some Humour (With Pottery).

The moment I put my eyes on this façade I smiled. From a distance it looked like buttons, colourful buttons covering an immaculate linen. I get closer and suddenly it looked like patchwork, ceramic patchwork designing some kind of interesting grid. What it is, is a simple traditional building covered in Portuguese pottery.

What's better than finding design and architecture dressed up in humour?



As you probably realised, this is a traditional pottery shop.

Building in Sagres, Vicentina Coast.

Merci, Nous Vous Aimons.

Merci, the cutest shop in Paris. Don't we all agree on it?
A space with 1500 m2 decorated (and for sell, of course) with precious objects, like furniture, objects plus ordinaires and acessories for kitchens, I'm sure it's every women perfect corner.

I went for a browse, but couldn't leave without having a delicious salad and a gâteau au chocolat. Paradis! I'm sure if one day I live in Paris, it's here that I'm going to do those afternoon pauses, either with friends or on my own.

Grande entrée.

Great combination between the Torch, light by Sylvain Willenz, and the Provençal benches. All those round shapes come together pretty well, don't they?

Beautiful dining table. Now imagine it in a living room with a wall in deep red as a background?

Speaking about red, this metal table is a must. It recalls all the moments I've spent by the beach with friends and family having hors-d'œuvre. Check the hole on the middle of it, where the shade used to be placed. Do you remember?
Oh, almost forgot to mention the plates. Another must have!

Keep Recycling And Carry On - Great idea to reuse old doors.

Detail of the reused door.

If you follow my Twitter or are a friend on Facebook, you probably have realised Fiat 500 is my little favourite car. Just for it, it's impossible not to love Merci.

Merci Merci!

A Ballerina Lamp.

How beautiful is this ballerina lamp from the opulent Opéra de Paris Garnier?




The Opéra de Paris Garnier has this cute little shop with hundreds of souvenirs related to ballet. This lamp really caught my eye. It's just perfect for any kind of space, isn't it?

New Minimalism Is The Balance Between Simplicity & Richness.

The other day I read somewhere the New Minimalism is the balance between simplicity and richness. It is quite true but the more I think about the quote the more clear I am that it is not a new concept. If we look back to early 20th Century we see Art Nouveau and especially Art Deco embracing this concept very gracefully, though Minimalism was born many years after.

Simplicity and richness is indeed what I like to experience in design, any branch of design, especially if color is a strong feature in it. To illustrate my point, the Villa Necchi Campiglio in Milan is a good example of it. The house was designed by Piero Portaluppi and built in 1930’s.

The metal frame is indeed my favorite detail on this spatial design. It is as if the walls are wearing a simple silver necklace.

Geometry within asymmetric space.

Perfect harmony between the materials, like the marble on the floor, and the suitcases decorating the hall, as if they were made specially for decoration's sake.

Gold and geometry – a perfect balance between opulence and rhythm.

I love sliding doors - Spaces breath differently.



The door frame is again what catches my eye.

The formula to achieve simplicity: texture and geometry.

When luxury meets timeless.

With all this, I believe Art Deco is back. Do you?

All photographs by Giorgio Majne via Flickr.

{Little Side Note: Inspiration for this post}.

Levi’s Rocks Since 1873.

My first pair of jeans was Levi’s. Loved them so badly I would wash them over the weekend to make sure I would have them back on Monday morning to go to school. At the time I was in high school and you know how important it is to have the right pair of jeans.

The following favorite pair of jeans was second hand and skinny cut. They were beautiful, super stylish, though 501 was the trend. I had them completely ripped up (and again trendy) … and so on and on. I had so many. And I still have. After all these years, and of course other jeans I’ve bought, there’s nothing like my Levi’s jeans, they are made for me. Oh, and of course, I’ve a bag and a backpack, belts, t-shirts, a gorgeous dress, etc, etc, etc. When I wear Levi’s I feel a rock ‘n roll chick. Love it.


But what I want to share here is not my Levi’s experience but the pop up gallery they have in Regent Street, London. I call it pop up gallery but I’m not sure if it’s a permanent space where they’re going to feature regularly art and design. Better is to keep an eye on it for further developments.

If you didn’t have the opportunity to pop in, click here to have a grasp. It’s entitled “Meet the craftworkers” – an exhibition of London’s craft workers telling their own story in the creative and artistic world. Get inspired. Be brave to follow your dreams.

This Craftworker is my favorite: “Re-inventing herself from an investment banker to a musician, Anne takes her inspiration from the energy and creativity that surrounds her”.



“Craft is individual and instinctive, something that is learned, lived, and mastered.
Levi’s® introduces 18 of London’s Craftworkers, each with their own unique story.”

A Gift To Abbott Laboratories.

For 2 days I’ve been thinking what I should blog about on the first of 2010. I’ve so much to talk about, to design, to photograph, to sketch… So after digging in my design and photography archives I’ve decided to post about a project I’ve enjoyed a lot to work on. Quite challenging as it was the first product I’ve designed.

C&C commissioned me to design a product to Abbott Laboratories. The brief was a gift to be given to 120 doctors as Abbott was presenting a new diagnosis machine.

My concept was to design a versatile object which could be interpreted in different ways to different uses. I've chosen ceramics, as the west coast of Portugal is rich in small industries in this field. I had barely a week to design and produce the gift, meaning no time to make nice moodboards or technical drawings. Basically everything was discussed with hand sketches between the ceramist and I.

The object’s drying before being painted.

The plate outline was painted in Abbott Diagnosis colour.



For the plate centre I’ve chosen turquoise, light green, orange and red. Unfortunately I don’t have photos with the first two.





C&C had asked me as well to style the room where the symposium was meant to happen. I’ve chosen a mix of flowers, representing the laboratory colours (blue and dark red), to be placed on the dining tables and on the curtains to make the room more dressed up.

The event had happened at the Marriott Hotel in Praia d’El Rei, West Coast of Portugal.







Project designed and made in 2004.

Crochet Doilies & Fashion Accessories.

Following the concept of a crochet doily (napperon in French) used on table tops and sometimes sofas, these beautiful crochet ornaments are meant to be worn together with fashion accessories. The idea is to embellish and restyle accessories you already have such as brooches, hats or even hairpins.

They’ve been quite a success since I started to wear them: I’ve had many comments, some quite funny actually. I hope you like the concept as much as I do.







Feather Hairpin.

Crystal Hairpin.



This one was sold. I’m loving the idea to see friends wearing them around London. Thanks Cris.

All of them are unique designs and handcrafted by me. Soon I’ll post my latest little side project: crochet cuffs. They're gorgeous!

PS – I could have them photographed on jackets or hats, but what I want is you to imagine where they better suit your style. Let me know where…

Design Side Note: In design I love to challenge scale and function and I must say I'm very happy with the result of this little side project.