Bandit dolls.

Loving these whimsical bandit dolls by The Black Apple. Perfect Xmas pressie for a little girl.

Ps: The Black Apple's illustrator, Emily Winfield Martin, is on the cover of next year's Frankie calendar.

{via with two cats}

A tea towel.

This pretty tea towel was waiting for me in the mail box this morning when I woke up. After one lost parcel, I'm glad this one managed to travel safely all the way from Texas to Paris. There's only one problem with this tea towel though. It's so darn pretty I feel like hanging it on my wall rather than wiping my dishes with it!

Here's Leah Duncan's website, blog, and shop. I could literally buy everything single item she's selling...!

ps: don't forget the *giveaway* folks!

wowsers, 200 followers and a giveaway!

Last week my little blog made it to 200 followers! Thank you wonderful peeps for visiting this space, for sharing your stories with me via your comments, and for showing me so much bloggie love! The thought that anyone else other than my family and friends would ever have any interest in what I write is truly flattering.

To celebrate your loveliness, here's a special something just for you. Cassandra Allen, an Australian born artist specialising in children's books and illustrations, is generously offering one Smallesthings reader the chance to win a print from her shop! That's right, you get to pick whatever one print you prefer from her entire shop - lucky you. And if don't have kids, don't forget this would make the perfect gift (for your nieces, nephews, godchildren, best friend's baby shower, etc.!).

✭✭✭For a chance to win this awesome giveaway, please visit Cassandra's shop and leave a comment below before Sunday telling us your favourite print. The winner will be announced next week.✭✭✭

Good luck everyone. And if you'd like to say 'hello' to the talented artist or follow her Swiss adventures (Cassandra is also a cooking/knitting/crochet/DIY queen + a busy mum!), it's this way to her blog.

Anish Kapoor in Paris.

After months of sunshine, the weather has not been great here lately so we’ve been sending a lot more time indoors. On Saturday, L & I were supposed to go watch Mr. Franglais play in a music festival in Sèvres but the minute we walked out the door, it started pouring buckets of rain – huh. So it was indoor fun for us again. We did manage to go out on Sunday and in fact the highlight of our day was yet another indoor activity: Monumenta. Have you heard of it? Each year the French Ministry of Culture, invites an internationally-renowned artist to create an artwork especially for Paris' Nave of the Grand Palais. This year Anish Kapoor was invited to challenge the 13 500 m2 of the Nave, thirty years after his very first first exhibition in Paris. As you can see from the photos, Leviathan is a giant PVC sculpture and seems like an object straight out of a sci-fi movie. The monumental size of the artwork was captivating. So much so, we actually spent a long time walking around it before deciding the go inside.  Whilst we queued to enter the artwork, I found it fascinating to watch every other visitor be so completely immersed in this contemplative experience. We all stood there in absolute awe in front of this gigantic "baball", as L. called it. Once we were inside, a whole new experience began. It was all red, warm and peaceful. It felt like being inside a human body (some say the womb; I felt like it was a pair of lungs). It was truly incredible. Luckily for us, our little fella also had lots of fun: running around with the other kiddies when we were outside the scuplture and surprisingly when we were inside, he became all calm and cuddly, almost falling asleep (did it remind him of the womb then?!). If I had time, I would go back in a heartbeat and relive the experience again. Should you happen to be reading this and are in Paris this week, go to this exhibition - you will not regret it. We saw another Kapoor exhibit in London back in October 2009 which was also enthralling but with Leviathan, the British artist takes us to a whole new level of grandeur.

ps: and I'd like to smack myself for forgetting my camera. What a silly girl. Here's what it really looked like (all photos are © designboom)

And more photos here if you are interested.

Monumenta
Nef du Grand Palais
Avenue Winston Churchill
75008 Paris

From 11 May to 23 June 2011, 10:00 - 00:00
Admission price is EUR 5, with concessions EUR 2.50.

Midnight in Paris.

Did you know? Over here, Woddy Allen's new movie is out in cinemas: a romantic comedy set in Paris! I already have too much on this week to have time to go to the movies but I will be shooting over there first thing Monday evening to check it out.

And speaking of Paris, you may have noticed that I created a new category on my blog a couple of months back called "Paris city guide". It is pretty scarce at the moment but I will, in the near future, start posting more about some my favourite spots in town*. I enjoy so much receiving e-mails from readers asking for recommendations on things to do in Paris but I am mostly crap at replying. I was bad enough as it was before, but motherhood has permanemtly damaged any sense of time I had left. As my friends and family know by now, if I don't reply to e-mails immediately then you'll probably never hear back from me (I might be exagerrating a little when I say "never" but you get my point). That's my reality at the moment: running after time, counting every minute, trying endlessly to find my wonder woman outfit. So to avoid my silence "sounding" rude, I thought you'd be happy to find some Parisian treasure on my blog instead. And of course, it goes without saying that I'd love to hear some of the places you've visited in Paris and which you would like to recommend to me!

*note that my days as a party animal are over, so if you are looking to find out more about the Parisian night life, you will be disappointed. These days, I'm more interested in finding secret cafés and yummy restaurants than the latest trendy bar & club. Times have changed!

Four seasons.

Hello friends, just popping by to share with you these graceful illustrations by Japanese artist, Natsko Seti. Four paintings, four seasons. Beautiful.

{via à petit bruit}

Devise de la semaine.

Going with the flow is my motto of the week. I am finding it hard to take the time to sit down in the evening and blog when there are so many things to do.

It snowed really heavily in Paris yesterday which created total chaos in the city and in my daily organisation as I couldn't use on my scooter, but seeing L. discover snow for the first time was really fun. I can't wait to take him skiing when he is older (I can't quite believe it has already been 11 years since I last went skiing. Where does time go?)

See photos of a white Paris here.

Illustration by Shelli Dorfe.

Paris vs. New York - for sale.

Remember the clever Paris versus New York series? In less than a month, Muratyan's illustrations have been all over the cyber world; and as popularity would have it, they are now available on line as posters. A wonderful blogland success story. 

Bonne semaine à tous!   

City prints.

Remember the city prints by Blanca Gómez? At last, they are available in her wonderful shop.
Ready, steady, shop!  (I've just bought London and Paris for our home).

Angus & Julia Stone.

I had already heard their music on the radio but never actually put a name to the melody until I read about Angus and Julia Stone on Kenza Lab, my friend’s great blog. I read the post in the morning, spent the afternoon listening to their MySpace and by the evening I had two tickets in my pocket for their gig in Paris on 29 November. I can't wait.

Finding my treasure.

I love this print, by Osoo called "Finding my treasure". It has a little Kandinsky feel to it, don't you think?

Interview with Blanca Gómez.

I am a huge fan of Blanca Gómez and her minimalist style. Read more about the artist in her interview with Grain Edit.

Love Hotel.

Do you know Hotel Amour in the 9th? It is an adorable little hotel on the rue de Navarrin with an amazing terrace/garden at the back of the restaurant. It has become one of my favourite spots for an afternoon coffee or evening apéritif. The waiters are always very kind (it is never a bother for me to show up with my pram) and I love the vintage furniture in the restaurant area. You may also be lucky enough to come across someone famous like we did this week. I thought it was cute how he was trying to be French with his Ricard in one hand and cigarette in the other. Yes, because if any of you are smokers out there you'll be delighted to know that the terrace is not smoke-free. Better enjoy it while it lasts!

[images ©Hotel Amour]

Django Reinhardt.

What are you up to this weekend? In just an hour, we will be off to Samois-sur-Seine (near Fontainebleau) to fill our ears with gipsy jazz music at the Django Reinhardt Festival. This 31st edition runs from 21-27 June and will be celebrating the musician's 100th birthday. The festival is open-air so I am delighted that hot and sunny weather has been programmed for the weekend.

Bébés / Babies.

One of the rare things I used to love doing alone and which I miss the most since becoming a mum is grabing my weekly movie at the cinema. Parent-and-Baby screenings do not exist in Paris yet but I am hoping it is a trend that the French will shortly be catching on. These special screenings allow parents to take their offsprings with them to the cinema without it being a bother if they scream throughout the film as every person in the the cinema will be aware that it is a baby-friendly screening. But until this concept arrives in France, here is a documentary which is currently at cinemas and which I would like to see: Bébés (or Babies in English). Granted, it does not seem to be an exceptional movie but being totally baby-oriented at the moment, I know I would enjoy watching Thomas Balmès document the lives of these four babies from four different countries during their first 12 months of their lives. Watch the trailer here.

Culinary flags.

Can you identify these flags?

Colourful maps.

Check out these amazing maps of London and Paris by Famille Summerbelle. The detail on each is incredible, especially if you consider these were originally paper-cut! View more of Julie's meticulus work in her online shop. She has also just released a world map which is stunning.

Louise Bourgeois.

1911 - 2010
I love that giant spider in front of the Tate.

Modern Pop.

Back when my bun was still in the oven and nesting was all I could think about, I was looking for a fun number print to hang in Hilarious' room. At the time, we didn't know whether we were having a boy or a girl and it was never very easy to find anything gender neutral. Until I came across Modern Pop, a line of modern art, alphabet and number prints which are easy to mix and match together, and perfect for any nursery, ♂ or ♀. I bought two great number prints which today look amazing in baby L's nursery. If only I had another room to decorate I'd get this new kitty print because I simply think it's gorgeous, don't you?

Be sure to visit blog & shop for more Modern Pop art!

Ana Ventura - Cheia de amor.

Back when I was pregnant and started photo blogging on Flickr, I had this habit of looking through heaps of pregnancy and baby pictures as a way to see what was in store for me nine months down the line. One day, I came across this powerful shot of a newborn baby and discovered the work of Ana Ventura, a Portuguese artist and illustrator. Her work is frequently exhibited in Portugal and abroad, and this is her new masterpiece: cheia de amor, meaning full of love in Portuguese. It is dedicated to all mothers; to those who get pregnant with a belly bump and those who get pregnant with their heart. Simply beautiful.


"Dedico esta ilustração (...) para as mães que engravidam na barriga assim como para as que engravidam no coração."

I will post more about her work soon, once I finally get a chance to hang my three-month old purchase from her delightful shop. In the meantime, stay tuned via her blog.