Finlayson, Finland

I came upon its shops at Kamppi and again, at Arabiakeskus (the factory outlet). I can't remember if I had heard it before, but it's so obvious that Finlayson is one of Finnish household brands in home textiles. They produce duvet covers, towels, kitchen textiles, fabrics, and more. Even this lady seller made them into girl dresses! :) Click here to find out more about Finlayson. Enjoy!

Spork

It's a spoon, it's a fork, and yes, it's a knife, too! Spork was designed by Joachim Nordwall for Light My Fire, a Swedish outdoor accessories manufacturer. I found Spork when I visited DesignTorget store at Götgatan 31, Stockholm, last June. They placed them at the cashier counters, so you definitely won't miss it. :)

At first, I didn't know that Spork was mainly created for people who likes to camp, or hike. When I saw it, I just thought it is such a brilliant product. And being a mom who likes to bring a cutlery set for toddler feeding, it is so convenient to just have them in one single piece, like Spork. So I bought one for my youngest daughter, Tamara, and one for my nephew. And we've been carrying the pink Spork, whenever we bring Tamara out, ever since.

Singapore Airlines Uniform, A Design Classic.

That's one great news to hear on our National Day; the day when Kay of Wallpaper* emailed me about it. As Kay said, "Each month Wallpaper* features an iconic and well-recognised design piece in our Design Classics section - never before have we featured a uniform".



For the September '07 issue, Wallpaper* is featuring our very own Singapore Airlines uniform, designed by Pierre Balmain in 1968, as an enduring classic. And guess what, the article mentioned that each crew gets 4 new uniforms each year. So hold on to your uniforms, ladies. They're not just merely uniforms now. :) Read the complete story here.

Thanks, Kay!


*btw, I remember seeing some shops selling child-size Singapore Airlines uniforms at some tourists spots years ago (before I had kids), but I rarely see them now. Anybody knows where to find them?"

Kitchen & Bath, anyone?

Melissa of K+BB (Kitchen and Bath Business) emailed me sometime ago, asking me to check out kkbonline.com. So I did.

K+BB is a business to business magazine for designers, architects, custom builders, and remodelers, published by Nielsen Business Media, Inc. K+BB magazine features cutting-edge design installations, new products, business developments, industry personalities, best practices and solid market research.

Here are few links I found via K+BB:

Ceramica Bardelli designer tiles

(left) Primavera by Tord Boontje; (right) tema e variazione by Piero Fornasetti

Hakatai mosaic murals

And don't miss their mosaic glass tiles in yummy colors!

e-kale Reptile Snake tiles

Hmm, I love this kind of snake. :) Brilliantly gorgeous, aren't they?

To read more of K+BB, click here. And oh btw, K+BB has just recently launched K+BB Green blog, go and check it out!


Thanks, Melissa!

Happy National Day!

Today, we celebrate Singapore's 42nd Birthday! Yay!

Sorry for not replying to any emails lately. Natassja was ill since last Saturday, but now with no fever and diarrhea for the last 36 hours, we are ready to celebrate the National Day. :)

Image above is one of the free wallpapers taken from the NDP site. If you'd like to watch the live webcast of the National Day Parade 2007, please click here.

Happy Birthday, Singapore!

TRIBE, Singapore

I was excited when I saw TRIBE products via The Home Rejuvenation Blog last week, and noticed they'd be at the MAADout By The Bay last weekend. So I headed down there last Sunday, with one thing in mind. I gotta have that ivory Pretty Catty hanger! must, must, must have!! *crazy obsessive shopper!* :)

So finally I shot (with a camera!) my very own Pretty Catty hanger this morning (see pic on top left) to show it off here. :) I bought the silver Purr hook as well, but I'm still debating where to put it, so I don't have its photo yet. But TRIBE has a nice gallery photo of it (shown on top right).

I met Wan Chin of TRIBE at the MAADout By The Bay and chatted a bit. She told me there are three graphic designers behind TRIBE, but she's not one of them. She said she's just helping in marketing and promoting the products. And guess what..., she mentioned design*sponge as a source of inspirations for TRIBE. They saw tons of new and exciting things on d*s and determined to create something on their own. Now they have necklaces, coasters, brooches, hooks, and hangers available on their site. *amazing story, isn't it?*

They are currently looking for buyers (retail or wholesale) from all over the world. If you are interested in purchasing any of their items, you could visit their website and email them, OR head down to the next MAAD, happening this Sat and Sun, Aug 4 & 5, 2007, 11am to 7pm at the red dot museum, 28 Maxwell Road, Singapore. Happy Hunting!

Copenhagen pics.

Finally, the last batch of pictures from my recent holiday trip. We took the least pictures in Copenhagen, simply because on the first two days we were there, the weather wasn't really in our favor. It was raining. So we spent those two days pretty much under the roofs of ILLUM and Magasin dept. stores (located on Strøget, the famous Copenhagen's shopping street).

Please enjoy our Copenhagen pictures here.

Thank you, Bloesem!

Irene, thank you for the wonderful write up about my Inhabit pillows on Bloesem! I can't thank enough! xox :)

News

I was thrilled to hear the good news from Jaime of Design Milk about the opening of her new venture, Vitamin D(esign), an online design shop offering home goods by jefdesigns, avalisa, Brave Space, Sandra Fettingis, and Furni. From now till August 5, Vitamin D(esign) is giving 10% off on all orders over USD 100.



With great collections like Flora S. Bowley's paintings and giclee prints, Brave Space's Tetrad Mega Shelving, Envirosax's Reusable Shopping Bags, and Henry Road's Tea Towels, you surely don't want to miss your Vitamin D(esign). Check it out here.

Congratulations, Jaime!

Events

Fragile Beauty, New Works on Paper by Chris Chun

I received Chris Chun's newsletter before my Jakarta trip, and asked him if it's okay to post his news here. :) Chris' upcoming Fragile Beauty exhibition will feature his new paintings collection. It will be held at the Washhouse Gallery in Rozelle, Sydney, Australia, from September 11 to 30, 2007. The opening night will be on Thursday, September 13. Seeing his previous work here would make you want to see what he's up to next on the Fragile Beauty showcase. Must be another beauuuuutiful paintings!! Don't miss it!

Thanks, Chris!

(above images are copyrighted properties of Chris Chun, please do not use without permission)


Diamond, Stripe & Revolver, Spring/Summer 2008 Collection by IvanaHelsinki.

Fashionistas, boutique owners bookmark these dates to view the upcoming IvanaHelsinki's Spring/Summer 2008 Collection! August 9 to 12 at the Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark, and October 4 to 7, 2007 at Vendome, Paris Fashion Week. Pirjo sent me some images from the Diamond, Stripe & Revolver collection, but I don't think I could show them here. :) All I can say, save the dates and be there, you won't regret it!

Thanks, Pirjo!

Sweden pics.

We visited two cities in Sweden, Stockholm and Gothenburg, and one small town, Floda. You can view the pictures over at my flickr. I've included some short stories of the pictures, and I'll try to add in more over the weekend. Enjoy!

IvanaHelsinki, Finland - visit

When I visited IvanaHelsinki last June, I was amazed to see how they'd done up the whole visual merchandising display. It's really a treat just to be in the store, looking through the wonderful collection and the wall installations. Paula the retail staff (not Paola the designer!) was so nice to let me took some pictures while I was there.


I didn't tell Pirjo that I was coming to Helsinki, but I left a note for her with Paula. Soon after my visit, Pirjo emailed me with pictures of IvanaHelsinki's latest collection. These two catwalk shots are my top picks, but you can view more of their latest collection on their website here. For more pictures of the shop interiors, click here.

Helsinki pics.

I've just uploaded some pics from my recent trip on my flickr. I'll write more about the trip later, or some other day. :) For now, please enjoy some pictures of Helsinki, Finland. The rest of the holiday pictures will be uploaded on my flickr soon (but not today!). ;-)

Away

It's been a busy summer for us this year, with a string of relatives visiting Singapore right after our holiday trip. Our last batch of visitors (my brother and his family) left last Thursday, but we'll be leaving this afternoon for Jakarta, Indonesia, for a cousin's wedding next week. Meanwhile, please enjoy these few links.

Jan's sample posts at Apartment Therapy!!

Congratulations to Jan for being selected as one of the finalists in AT's Blogger search. Woohoo!!! I'm so thrilled to see her posts on a big site like AT. Well deserved, Jan! :) Check out her posts on Kalon Studios, Lunar Lounge, and House Tour: John and Arounna's Toronto Loft, and comment away folks!


Builtby Lamps by Inhabit

You may call me bias, but as a consumer, I know when I see a smart product like Builtby Lamp. It allows you to create your very own lamp base using the available shapes, colors and finishes. Simply drag and drop the body pieces onto the lamp pole, then the swatches onto the pieces, and voila! you've just taken part in designing your lamp! ;-) If you're not the creative type, you can always opt for the Inhabit's Builtby Lamp designs here. Have fun!

Thanks, Mike!

ThreeLayerCake's this week interview with Kiki van Eijk

Next week, Kristina will be doing an interview with Kiki's partner, Joost van Bleiswijk. Don't miss it, stay tune to ThreeLayerCake!

Thanks, Kristina!

Take care.

I'm happy. extremely happy.

Yes, I'm on a break. Yes, it's past midnight here. And yes, we do have visitors in our home now (my parents inlaw!). But this is something I'd like to share with all of you.

I was just in the blogland for short reads after we returned from dinner (with my husband's big family, incl. my sister inlaws and their families). And I found a pleasant surprise while reading Julie's blog. My Inhabit pillows are now available for purchase at Inhabit!!! Thank you so much for the shoutout, Julie!

Here's the story. Around end of January, Mike of Inhabit asked me about having my Inhabit pillows for sale, due to a fair amount of requests for them. I agreed. But since I didn't see them available online for a while, I thought they might've changed their mind somehow. And I didn't dare to check with Mike if they really did. Fear of disappointment, I guess.



Boy oh boy. I am so glad they didn't change their mind. And they couldn't pick a better time to launch my Inhabit pillows. June. My birthday month. And no, I don't have an Art/Design background other than the short courses I took after I got married. I came from a technical background, and I previously worked in equities and e-commerce before I ventured into self-employment. So yes, it is really an overwhelming feeling to see the pillows (Flown, Dew, and Blush) being displayed next to my name. It is too generous, and I can't thank enough.

And yes, I'm a girlie girl, my eyes have been welled with tears from the time I wrote a thank you email to Julie, to Mike, and up to this moment. And yes, I will earn a tiny percentage from my Inhabit pillow sales. And yes, tomorrow I will call my family back home (Jakarta, Indonesia) and I will write emails to all my friends, spreading my joy. And yes, people may call me shameless. I'm just, happy... extremely happy.

Now, if I could just stop my tears and get myself to sleep. Thank you for reading. :)

(the top image was taken from my recent bday cake)