Hello Baby/Bebe

Here is a little dose of nursery decoration inspiration from the pages of Marie Claire Maison magazine. Just the right amount of sweetness I think!

If you are in Sydney this weekend, make sure you pop into the Hiccups Babies display at the Baby & Toddler Show for many more great nursery decoration ideas!

A precocious peacock

 This morning I headed off to the beautiful artist's colony Montsalvat with a couple of the girls from the Linen House design studio to scout out a photography location. 

Montsalvat was built in the late 1930's in a mixture of architectural styles including French Provincial and Medieval English by the artist Justus Jorgensen, and is located in leafy Eltham in Melbourne's north eastern suburbs.

 In direct competition to all of the beautiful architecture on display at Montsalvat was this rather dandy fellow who was quite happy to put on a performance for anyone with a camera.

 Here he is again, having not yet spotted his two paramours pecking at the grass just a few metres away.

 There they are, and the mating courtship extravaganza begins!

 Shake your tail-feather!

 C'mon ladies!

 The disappearing act...

 The chase continues.....

 A tight squeeze

No luck today......

Spotlight on Little Bubble and Tree!

Kelly Parrish is the creator of the children's wear label Little Bubble and Tree.

I first met Kelly when she came to work in the Linen House design studio as a stylist for the Hiccups and Linen House bed linen range. A few years have passed since then, and now Kelly is the proud mother of two sons and a baby daughter (Marli was born just three months ago). 

Kelly's company Little Bubble and Tree is inspired by her love of printed and embroidered Indian textiles, and consists of a collection of playground wearable and harsh Australian summer sun friendly cotton clothing items and decorative accessories.

Kelly creates her necklace and decorative accessories collection when the kids have gone to bed!

In just a few years, the Little Bubble and Tree label has grown from a small collection of Kelly's signature children's kaftans, to a much larger offer that includes cotton dresses and pants, necklaces, and these gorgeous applique cushions which have been beautifully hand-crafted in India.

 

I love that hot pink peacock cushion!

Little Bubble and Tree products are now stocked widely in both brick and mortar stores around Australia, and in many online retailers around the world. 

Kelly is also a regular exhibitor at the burgeoning market scene in Australia - you can find her beautiful wares at the Magnolia Square markets which are regularly held in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.

 A couple of months ago (with a newborn baby) Kelly manned a stand at the very gorgeous Life In Style exhibition at the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne. Take a look at her blog post here.

The photos in this post are a sneak peek of the new Little Bubble and Tree collection, beautifully photographed by Kelly's friend Pru from Little Bird Photography. I am sure you will agree that Kelly has a great eye for colour - those colourful cushions definitely put a smile on my face!

Little Bubble and Tree website

Little Bubble and Tree blog

Pru's post on the new Little Bubble and Tree photography session

Colour

Today I am doing a little spotlight on a friend of mine Kelly Parrish - the creator of the lovely children's clothing collection Little Bubble and Tree.

Up & Away

Our paper hot air balloons were featured in the Herald Sun Home Magazine 'Spring Fling' decorating section.

Belgium Family Style

The lovely Japanese publisher Editions Paumes have documented the creative homes and lifestyles of 17 Belgian families in their latest book release Belgium Family Style. ( I have just noticed another Family Style book is also scheduled to hit the bookshops in the next few weeks - the next location is London).

Vintage treasures and contemporary design form a happy melange of family friendly interiors.

And as a pleasant surprise, the home of one of my favourite French singers Francoiz Breut (also a talented illustrator and painter) makes an appearance.

Belgium Family Style is available from Amazon Japan, and can also be purchased on the Paumes website.

A favourite illlustrator

Melbourne based illustrator Anna Walker's lovely children's picture books have been capturing my attention in the local bookshops of late.

I love the soft watercolour technique that Anna employs in her published works. And I have just discovered her new blog - take a look here.

Hiccups on display

Pictured here is our stylist and visual merchandiser Danielle creating a display of the Hiccups accessories for boys on location in Bali. A happy coincidence of a coordinating outfit - nice one Danielle!

A project with RMIT Textile Design students

Each year Linen House runs an industry project with the second year Textile Design students at RMIT.

This year we decided to do something a little different and gave the students a children's bed linen design brief, with the final design to be hand-painted. (Nice to see that computers haven't totally taken over the design world just yet!) 

The students had the choice of two themes to work with - 'Tell me a Story' and 'Kinder Haus'. After lots of market research - both on the web and in retail, as well as a visit to the Linen House Design Studio and showroom, the students had to come up with an original children's printed bed linen design complete with co-ordinating cushions and wall stickers.

Yesterday I viewed the finished results, and it was fantastic to see so many great concepts, beautiful drawing and painting skills, and fresh colour palettes.

And now its time to choose a winning design..... a tough decision!

The winners will be announced on Monday.

Monday (on a Tuesday)

Monday by Anne Herbauts is a children's picture book I recently picked up from the NGV bookshop in Melbourne (a hard place to leave empty-handed!)

Monday is a lovely little penguin who loves to hang around with his best friends Today and Tomorrow. This trio practice the piano together, and love to play outside in the gentle spring, summer and autumn seasons.

The cold of winter is a different story. On one breezy winter's day poor Monday's house is blown away in a snowstorm. The landscape is covered in snow, and Monday disappears.

Anne Herbauts is a Belgian writer / illustrator who combines a variety of mediums and embossed paper techniques to create the moody and beautiful illustrations in this book.
Monday is published by Tate Publishing, London 2009.

I'm off to track down more of Anne's lovely books!

Hiccups in Myer

The new Hiccups collection has finally rolled out into stores in Australia and New Zealand. Here are the two new printed bedlinen designs 'Around the World' and 'Sunnyside', as seen in the September Myer My Home catalogue.