I thought I’d share with you a few of the wonderful new creations of some of the artisans that were featured in Paris: Made by Hand. First up is artist + stylist Hélène Manche‘s very own online boutique which just launched this past month. It’s called le shop and it’s full of gorgeous handmade goodies…

Hélène makes intricate adornments and accessories, I especially love her poupettes and eiffel tower brooches which I think are the perfect Paris mementos to send as gifts. You may recall I wrote a post about Hélène and her beautiful private atelier here (with lots of photos of her atelier, check it out if you missed it).  She also makes amazing window displays, and here below is a recent one she created for  the collection, a special boutique I featured in the book (page 57), along with a video (en français) about her making the window display…

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Next up is Alexia Hollinger who, as those of you who have read Paris: Made by Hand already know, makes stunning handbags from vintage silk scarves. I am loving her Spring collection, full of colour and Frenchness…

Alexia updates both her bricks & mortar boutique/atelier and her online boutique regularly, but if you want to be the first to know about her new pieces, join her facebook page. Last year Alexia started making leather bags from out-dated jackets, take a look…

… aren’t they gorgeous? Completely chic.

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And in one of my favourite areas/wanders of Paris known as Canal St. Martin, I’m happy to announce that two artisans who I adore are now offering workshops…

Glass jewerly maker Michèle Sauvalle (page 119), click here to view her website and find out workshop details.

And ceramicist Emmanuelle Wittmann (page 123) who is holding classes for beginners and those with experience, click here for more info (in english).

Both Michèle and Emmanuelle are lovely, generous and inspiring people, they were two of my favourite people to interview for the book, so if you live in Paris or are planning to visit then be sure to include these artisans on your wanderings or better still, sign up for a class.

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So that’s my update! There is plenty of inspiration to be had in all those links so be sure to click away. I’d love to make this a regular ‘column’ in the (blog)house, but you know what my workload is like these days, so let’s just play it by ear and see how I go.

Yesterday my lovely friend Rani and I went on a food-lovers treasure hunt, looking for the location of the first Dutch underground farmer’s market. It wasn’t too hard to find (thank goodness), all the clues were on the talkin’ food twitter account in the lead up to the event, and when we arrived in the general vicinity of the hidden market we spotted little signs pointing the way. Set up inside a non-descriptive building in downtown Amsterdam was where we struck gold. It was quite a sight really – an Amsterdam artist’s studio filled to the brim with artisanal goodies from all over the country, food enthusiasts, farmers, coffee makers, tea drinkers, and even a few gorgeous hens…

There were dozens of microproducers with some amazingly innovative foods to showcase and share. After a first wander of the space, chatting with some of the producers and spying their delectables, Rani and I embarked on a second round, this time with intention to eat our way around the space. We started at the Moroccan ‘cafe’ where we drank authentic Moroccan mint tea (as opposed to just mint leaves plonked in a cup of hot water) and Moroccan sweets. Then we selected little nibbles from each stall and chatted some more with the producers.

Among them were Jason Hartley (who I call ‘the brunch man’, known to us expats for his fabulous pop up brunches throughout the city, I wrote about it here) who was offering delicious pies and his famous bejewelled New York cheesecake; by m.e. black potato chips and chocolate coated black olives (they were super yum); an ex-butcher who made amazing patés and dipping oils and who also gave us a sip of his incredible homemade lemon infused gin; Stumptown coffee makers; and my favourite, formocha tea…

I was also wrapped to find someone offering nettle leaves! So I bought a bunch and haven’t yet decided what I’ll make with them but I’m excited about it. All in all the event was a great success. Congratulations to all the stall owners and to Marjan Ippel for creating such a great market, I can’t wait for the next one!

artwork by selwyn

At the beginning of the week I went to the plant market to get some potted herbs, strawberries and a chili plant. I’ve decided to make a little garden in the corner of my kitchen because it gets lots of sunlight, it’s kinda like a greenhouse…

Upon purchase of the chili plant the seller kept saying (in Dutch) “outside in the sun! outside in the sun!” I did my usual “ja ja” (yes yes) but inside I was saying to this man “you don’t fool me, there is NO sun outside in this country! If I plant this little guy outside, he will die within days!” And I’m so glad I didn’t listen to him because if I had planted it outside, it would have drowned since we’ve had 4 days of non-stop rain and very, very little sunshine.  Today, the chili plant is standing tall and strong on my window sill. I’m not sure how well it will grow but you know, this gardening thing is all about observing and learning, and even more so when in different climates with different soil.

Anyway, what are growing gangbusters are my orchids! Look at all those beautiful flowers, and there are still plenty more to come. It’s all with thanks to Zoë  & her fab instructions, remember this post?

So what do you think of my kitchen garden so far? I’m rather fond of it, myself.  If you’re interested, I’ll let you know how my garden grows over the coming months.

xx

Oh yes, I’m a very proud friend. I just wrote a post about it in the (blog)house kitchen, go and take a wander in there to learn more about this gorgeous book in the making!

An Hoang has just updated her online artist’s portfolio and I’m in love with her new work. Above is one of them, it’s called Shadow Form (with window). I adore her use of colour in this new collection – the purples, the yellows, just glorious. You may recall I posted about An’s memory of spaces last year? Beautiful, beautiful work. Stay tuned as I’ll be letting you know about An’s upcoming exhibitions.

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Upcoming exhibitions where you can see An’s work are as follows…

The Art Amsterdam Art Fair through Livingstone Gallery.
Location of the fair: Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Exhibition Dates: May 26-30, 2010

Domestic City: Methodology and Intuition.
Location of the exhibition: Kidd Yellin in Red Hook, NYC.
Exhibition Dates: May 21-June 19, 2010