Everyone Loves A Rebel, Sumptuous, Tipping On Velvets, Vases From The Sea Floor, California Dreaming & Going Dutch!

 

Everyone Loves A Rebel, Sumptuous, Tipping On Velvets, Vases From The Sea Floor, California Dreaming & Going Dutch! Good Morning! Have you had a good week? Once again the British weather has kept us guessing - last weekend it was glorious in the sunshine, but on Monday it turned positively Arctic in the breeze and it feels more like November than May! Never mind - perhaps it will be a slow clime this year and then we shall have months and months of radiance! Shop Now - Recipe Book - Rebel Recipes By Niki Webster - £26.00 Our garden party was a huge success - the GD was a calm and organised host (this bodes well for us!), producing two fantastic platters of vegan fare from 'Rebel Recipes',  a favourite tome that was actually recommended by a customer. Both dishes not only tasted divine but looked truly breath-taking. Add to this a choice of two deserts (orange and almond tart/blueberry cheesecake) and our guests were both sated and extremely happy! It felt wonderful and slightly strange to be entertaining again, but I am sure that it is like riding a bike and we will soon slip back into our social skins!  We have booked our first visit to the theatre and will see 'Constellations' (which looks fantastic!) at the Vaudeville Theatre. Next it will be a Gallery as I need to see some art again - desperately - so we are currently perusing the possibilities. It is so important to have something stimulating to look forward to - and to support the arts of course. How we have missed them! At the store I had the most wonderful surprise as our silk-velvet cushions finally arrived! I have these made for us each season and they take months but are SO worth the wait. Our supplier is based in Stockholm and this is the only collection that I have found that uses silk-velvet rather than cotton velvet. Although both fabrics are lovely in their own way, I prefer silk as this textile bounces light around the surface so that the cushion appears to be made of different shades and changes with the light. I find that this adds energy to an interior. They are also much softer - so soft in fact that it is hard not to stroke them when in situ. They are lovely against the face - silk doesn't leech moisture from the skin - and are the epitome of luxury, with concealed zips and at a decent size at 50x50cm!

Shop Now - Silk Velvet Cushion - £56.00 And the colours! I have indulged in 12, simply because they were all so gorgeous that I couldn't make up my mind ! Some have a magical quality, as the warp and weft are in different tones so that the fabric catches the eye in a dramatic fashion - for example there is a Caramel that is dusted with gold and a Beetroot shot through with cerise pink! And then there are the brights: Lime; Mediterranean Blue and Dijon Mustard that can lift a chair or sofa in seconds and the rich, dark tones of Prune (which is so rich and dark that it is almost black), a glorious, dark Bottle Green and a Golden Serge (again with  distinctive movement within the colour palette). I was spoiled for choice until Dusty-May and I photographed them at my home on Thursday. There I had a chance to see them all in situ, which was wonderful but expensive as I have now realised that I can mix them most effectively and so have already purchased 5 pieces! I console myself with the fact that these will never date and be with me for decades so are a great and very wise investment! They will bring me joy, both visually and when stroking or resting my faced against them (I really must stop doing that!). Shop Now - Silk Velvet Cushion - £56.00 My grey sofas are now packed with pillows and positively sing with colour. The 'den' gets a lot of full sunshine as it's south facing, and the pile positively glows in the rays all afternoon. I feel thoroughly spoiled each evening as I sink into them!  We have used duck-feather pads as customer's don't really like vegan-friendly fibre - I am told that these are not quite as plump and supportive. One must always listen to one's audience, so feathers it is! Shop Now - Small Ceramic Ball Vase - £6.00 Speaking of colour - our bud vases are back! I love these are the glazes are jewel-like and the finish makes them look like some ancient artefact that has been hauled from its resting place on the sea-bed. A word of warning, these are addictive, and it is almost always the case that once you have one or two, the collection gradually grows! Different coloured zinnias look spectacular or an assortment of blooms from the garden. They look their best in small groups of odd numbers or lined up along a mantelpiece or windowsill. Shop Now - Hiram Green Collection - £135 Each In scent news, two of my favourite collections are back in stock in their entirety. Both Hiram Green and Bruno Fazzolari are exclusive to RW in the UK and are both hand-crafted by extraordinarily gifted gentlemen. It is the use of rich, opulent and intense natural ingredients that make both collections stand out for me. Hiram is Canadian but resides in the Netherlands and his work just sparkles with personality. I adore the entire range, from the sexy tuberose of 'Moon Bloom', through the summery tobacco/cinnamon of 'Slowdive' to the dark, earthy, leather notes of 'Hyde' and the complex rose that is 'Lustre'. I am currently fixated by 'Vivacious', which is a violet scent that lives up to its promise and is joyful and flirty. Bruno Fazzolari resides in San Francisco and is a fine artist, a painter of some repute in fact, but by night he is an olfactory magician. What I love about Bruno's work is that it is disparate. He has created the best Narcissus scent on the market, the elegant, classic and truly beautiful 'Eau Dela Narcisse' which conjures the golden years of perfumery in the 1930's. If I were a woman, this would be my signature scent as it manages to be both sophisticated and alluring. While an accomplished classicist, Bruno is equally at home in the 21st century with the edgy 'Room 237' with its hint of plastic shower curtain and the glorious 'Vetiverissimo' which is, in my humble opinion, the finest. modern vetiver available anywhere. His latest, the rather tongue in cheek 'Corpse Reviver' is tagged as a 'Frankenstein's Monster Gourmand' with blood orange, whiskey, dark chocolate and dried fruit; it is warm, wonderful and strangely addictive.  These two tiny ateliers treat fragrance as the 7th art form and are both adventurous and brimming with consummate style. If you are looking for future classics, you will find them here! Shop Now - Bruno Fazzolari Collection - From £113.00 It is a Bank Holiday so I hope that you have something nice planned? At this time of year, instead of resting, we all seem to choose to tidy the garden or do some planting or clean the windows etc. It's a shame really but I am just as guilty. We are painting a bookcase - well we are hopefully painting a bookcase if we can only find a true grey! Having acquired over a dozen, different, sample pots that are are either too green, too beige or too pale, I am determined that we shall procure the perfect French Grey with just a dash or blue in the pigment. The GD and I have yet to attempt DIY together so it will be interesting! I am actually quite practical and handy with a paintbrush so don't really mind going it alone if necessary, especially if I am rewarded with another magnificent cake (hint, hint) ! Have an enjoyable Bank Hol and don't forget to put your feet up at some point! Very best wishes, Michaelx