Blog tour Amsterdam - Fatboy

I'm pretty sure you're all familiar with the famous bean bag Fatboy, a worldwide success created by Finnish designer Jukka Setälä and launched by Fatboy in 2002... But this Dutch brand also offers a range of other cool products that we had the chance to discover at our latest blog tour in Amsterdam.

Je suis certaine que vous connaissez tous le fameux pouf Fatboy, un succès mondial créé par le finlandais Jukka Setälä et lancé par Fatboy en 2002... Mais cette marque hollandaise propose aussi toute une gamme d'autres produits sympa qu'on a pu découvrir lors de notre dernier blog tour à Amsterdam.

Inspired by everyday products, Fatboy likes to give them an extra little twist, like the Baboesjka pouffe collection for which a whole new range of patterns and colours will be launched in 2015, including a leather strap...

Inspiré par les produits de tous les jours, Fatboy aime bien les détourner un peu, comme la collection de poufs Baboesjka pour laquelle une toute une nouvelle gamme de motifs et couleurs sera lancée en 2015, y compris une sangle en cuir....

... or the Edison lamp that comes in several sizes (one very big), and the "concrete" stools that were perfect for seating all our guests at the dinner table. Fatboy will also launch in 2015 the oversized and super soft blanket that you can see below.

... ou la lampe Edison qui est disponible en plusieurs tailles (dont une très grande), et les tabourets "béton" parfaits comme assises autour de la table pour notre diner. Fatboy lancera aussi en 2015 le très doux et très grand plaid que vous voyez ci-dessous.

Photo Susanna Vento/Varpunen et Linda Elmin/Hviit

1st of Advent

This poor blog is suffering from too much work elsewhere at the moment (like preparing Christmas in the shop for ex.), hence the bad updating... I haven't even had the time to prepare my home for the 1st of Advent which probably has never happened before! Anyway, this pretty much resumes what I'm longing for right now: simplicity and tranquility.
You'll find more Christmas inspiration on my Pinterest, which btw now has more than 60 000 followers - thanks to all those who are following me there too!

Ce pauvre blog souffre de la surcharge de travail ailleurs en ce moment (comme préparer Noël dans le shop par ex.), ce qui explique le manque d'activité ici... Je n'ai même pas eu le temps de préparer ma maison pour le 1er de l'Avent, ce qui à priori n'est jamais arrivé avant! Bref, ce collage résume assez bien ce qui me fait envie en ce moment: simplicité et calme.
Vous trouverez plus d'inspiration de Noël sur mon Pinterest, qui d'ailleurs vient de dépasser les 60 000 abonnés - merci à tous ceux qui me suivent là-bas aussi!

All sources on my Pinterest

Blog tour Amsterdam - Pillivuyt

Remember this dinner we organised in Amsterdam in October? We were lucky to have Thuesen Jensen providing us with some beautiful tableware from Pillivuyt to play with for the table setting

Vous vous souvenez de ce diner que nous avions organisée à Amsterdam en octobre? Grâce à Thuesen Jensen on avait eu la chance de pouvoir jouer avec de la belle vaisselle Pillivuyt pour dresser la table.

This is typically the kind of tableware I would choose for my own home: white and simple with great texture.
For the actual dinner, Thuesen Jensen provided us with a large selection of plates and bowls, so we could really mix sizes and colours to make it look relaxed and not so formal. The photo above is a press photo, and below are pictures from the dinner, see more here.

Cette vaisselle correspond vraiment à ce que je choisirais pour ma propre maison: blanc et simple avec une jolie texture.
Pour le diner, Thuesen Jensen nous avait fourni une grande sélection d'assiettes et de bols, ce qui nous a permis de mélanger les tailles et les couleurs de façon à obtenir une ambiance décontractée et informelle. Ci-dessus une photo presse, et ci-dessous vous trouverez des photos du diner, voir d'autres ici.

Photo (collage) Anna Gustafsson

time to update your blog reader!

The blog will soon redirect to www.LindsayStephenson.com/blog/

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Ps., There's a big giveaway on the new blog.

1 Kanal House Sale Johar Town Lahore

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1 Kanal House for Sale in Lahore

1 Kanal House for Sale in Lahore

ch-ch-changes....

Sometimes you have to shake things up.  For awhile I've felt that the title of my blog "Little House Blog" isn't reflective of everything that I share here. In addition to the frustration on the name of the blog, I've struggled with the limitations on design that having a Blogger blog has. I'm finicky with the look of a blog. The difference between 1 pixel or 2 I notice. Blogger has been awesome for awhile, but I knew it was time for a change. I adore blogging because it gives me an outlet for creativity - but when your canvas is limiting, well, it's frustrating.  In the blogger world, a blog move is a little panicky. I'll loose readers! Oh no! What if people don't follow. But I've long explained that blogging is for me, a great outlet and so I can't stay here, for fear of no one coming over. Sometimes you just follow your gut. 

You can now follow me at 

www.LindsayStephenson.com 

The benefit to the new site is I can organize things better, give more information - helpful information to those who visit. Better images, better overall. Plus, I can be more creative over there, and not limited by this site design or, the name. 

The posts and comments will stay on this blog but, they have copied / migrated over to my new site. 

So add LindsayStephenson.com to your blog reader! See the newest post over there...

surviving an awful cold

1  /  2  /  3  /  4  / 5 / 

Our house has been hit hard with this pretty ridiculous cold virus. Aubrey has been home a few days sick, Oscar has been home a few days - I was put on antibiotics. Now Aubrey is on antibiotics. I've been seriously disinfecting our house the last 24 hours. I can't take it anymore. On that note, I bring you this inspired collection.

fig. 1 / Genius mug. But we're drinking a lot of tea over here
fig. 2 / I hate with a passion the look of kleenex boxes. Why don't they just make WHITE boxes? I just bought two of these Jonathan Adler Lacquer box covers - they are on sale!!! And you can get an extra 10% off when you enter the promo code HOLIDAY. 
fig. 3 / Magazines via Next Issue. I am obsessed with Good Housekeeping ever since Jane Fransciso took over, and brought in some amazing new people. I've cancelled all print magazines and I'm now just reading magazines via my ipad.
fig. 4 / Eucalyptus - helps with the little one. (I've also bought the oil)
fig. 5 / a comfy blanket is a must for surviving a cold.

I'm slightly obsessed with these. 

this is SOAP!

ok. love these too. (left / right) 

1 apartment - 3 styles

I love this kind of projects, which prove that the same space can get a totally different atmosphere depending on how you style it. Swedish real estate firm Fastighetsbyrån gave 3 well known stylists the mission to style the same flat in their own way and this is the result.

So inspiring and such a clever PR move, considering how much these pictures have beens shared by now...

J'adore ce genre de projets, qui prouvent que le même espace peut dégager une ambiance complètement différente en fonction de sa déco. L'agence immobilière suédoise Fastighetsbyrån a donné la mission à trois stylistes reconnus de décorer à leur gré le même appartement, et voilà le résultat.

Très inspirant et une initiative marketing intelligente, vu le nombre de fois que ces images ont été partagées jusqu'à maintenant...

1. Styling Tina Hellberg 

- contemporary, graphic, shades of brown, olive green and dusty pink, light wood, photo art...

- contemporain, graphique, nuances de brun, vert olive et rose grisé, bois clair, photo d'art...

2. Styling Hans Blomquist
- lived-in, grey, mix of different wood, flea market finds, leather, metal, linen, natural elements...
- chaleureux, gris, mélange de bois différents, trouvailles brocante, cuir, métal, lin, éléments naturels...

 3. Mickael Beckman
- classic, bright white, mix of patterns, spots of green and other bold colours, brass, rattan, leather, dark wood...
- classique, blanc immaculé, mélange de motifs, touches de vert et d'autres couleurs vives, laiton, rotin, cuir, bois foncé...

 Source Fastighetsbyrån

I think the first styling by Tina Hellberg is the one that is the closest to my own style... How about you, which style attracts you the most?

Je pense que la première déco réalisée par Tina Hellberg est celle qui s'approche le plus de mon propre style... Et vous, quelle style vous attire le plus?

building a garage....maybe?

There are very, very few projects left in our house and I would say that the following one is maybe one of the biggest ones. We're thinking of adding a garage to the back of our property. Cue excitement and gut wrenching terror.



We have a laneway, and two parking spaces outback where we can park. But because of Canadian winters (S-N-O-W) and, needing some extra storage space, we've been contemplating maximizing our space, and building something out back. But because I'm crazy, and artsy fartsy and don't do anything easily around here - I really want the side of the garage that we see from the house - not to look like a garage but instead - look like a little cottage / studio. Because that means we could kind of chill back there in the Summer. I could maybe open up the doors and do some painting / crafting / photography work.

We've been collection images of inspiration for awhile. Above was a shot I did a screen capture of an actual cottage I liked, while reading HGTV magazine (on my beloved Next Issue app) and thought that from the garden side, this would be a really nice look. On the opposite side would be a garage door. We gave this picture to Nathan from BLDG Workshop Inc. who reached out via Twitter when he saw that we were in the planning stages of a garage, and he drew us up some plans, as you can see below.

The garage would have all glass on the garden side, have a car port attached to the side, and a garage door, that opened up to the laneway behind. He referenced the project below, that he had done, as what it would look like when complete. We'd have a low profile deck as grass doesn't grow back there.

via

via

Isn't it beautiful?! It's also, really expensive to make. So right off the bat, we knew it wasn't a possibility. Not even close. It was fun to contemplate a fully "custom" garage for a brief moment in time but now we're looking at buildings we can do from plans, and have a few ideas. Let me show you some beauties that I'm in LOVE with.

From the laneway side, here are looks I adore. All different, but all lovely!

via Anne Decker Architects (Kenwood Renovation)

via Evergreen Carriage Doors

via 

and the next one. Can I just say OMG.

via 

Fair enough. The last one isn't reeeeeeally a garage. (Aubrey just walked by and rolled his eyes at me) But a girl can dream.

This is the easy and free part - dreaming. It's the next stage - reality, that is the hardest. Oh, and obviously finding the pennies in the couch to save up.

Stay tuned!

see more inspiration pictures on Pinterest
garages + sheds
garden studio inspiration
carport designs

discontinuing some prints - blowout sale on etsy

I'm pretty excited because I'm releasing some new prints over the next few weeks! With that being said --- my little studio needs some room.  Sooooo I'm discontinuing some prints  and selling them off  at CRAZY low prices.. Hop over to the Etsy shop where I've loaded a whack o' prints for crazy low prices. Grab them as baby gifts, for your own home, etc.

As a side note - if you're ever having a fundraiser, or, are in need of donations for a charity auction, let me know. Because once the sale is over, and the prints are removed from the sites, they go into a donation file, where I donate the prints for good causes. Just something to keep in mind if you know of a worthwhile event that maybe needs some items, to help raise money. Anyhow - check out the sale!! xo Linds

Photography Series | Part 3, Using Wrapping Paper for backdrops

So far I've written two other posts on some of my photography tricks - Part 1 | Learning from Successful Retailers and Part 2 | Custom backdrops for under $10. Seriously folks, this is what I go bananas for. On to this posts topic - it's a little shorter, but still pretty fun. Wrapping paper. Wheeee!

Wrapping paper is a great backdrop for photos. It's inexpensive and doesn't take up a lot of room or storage.I picked up this roll from Party City for a few dollars but you can find great patterns on Etsy. If you see a colour or, pattern on sale in your travels, grab a roll. It's great to have a bunch on hand. You never know when you may come to need a certain colour. 

In terms of creativity, consider colour pallets that work well together. Getting nerdy for a moment. Remember your intro to art in school and where they talked about the colour wheel and, complimentary colours? Where the opposite colours on the wheel is naturally the complimentary colour? It actually goes further than that - there are Analogous colour patterns, Triad patterns and more? There is some science to why colours work well together. Which is why pink and yellow, as I've shown above - really look pretty spectacular. Not that you need to pull out your colour wheel every time you want to create a photoshoot, but it's just interesting that certain colours just work really well together. This is a great page over on Adobe. 

If you want patterns, I would think that the smaller the pattern the better if you're shooting something straight on, so not to distract from the product you're shooting.  I shoot primarily small things, but if you were shooting kids - wrapping paper does make an inexpensive backdrop!

Take this gorgeous pink striped paper that I picked up - and I put my favourite pink teacup with it. I'm showing this because I don't think it's actually working. The stripes are competing with the cup.

But if I layered more in the photo - a napkin, a cookie, and maybe some tea in the cup then it could work. But overall it's truthfully not my favourite look. I much prefer the solid colour paper. You also have to be a little weary of the sheen of paper, because really you don't want it to look like you're using wrapping paper. The key is to create a nice backdrop for what you want to showcase. Which again is why the solid colours likely are better. 

Hopefully some of these posts will give even the most newbie photographer some confidence in trying out some new things. And grab that roll of wrapping paper when it's on sale, because it may be the ticket to a great shot down the road. 

Past posts

Part 1 | Learning from Successful Retailers
Part 2 | Custom backdrops for under $10

currently obsessed with / yellow

Artwork / Lamp / Phone / Handbag / Boots / Lemon Greeting Card / Candle / Marquee Letter 

If it's yellow. I'm in love. I've been pinning and blogging about my love of yellow for awhile now. I'm not really one to paint a room or, wall yellow but I could easily go for a yellow handbag (not at that price though!) or a yellow phone for my office. It was the Pantone Colour of the year in 2009, but I think it needs to make a comeback officially for 2015. Just sayin. 

the penny paper co. // holiday 2014 mood board

Don't freak out. I know Halloween was just this past Friday, and Costco has had Christmas stuff in their aisles since August. I'm personally pretty cautious at when I start getting into the Holiday mode, for fear that once Christmas comes, I'll be sick of it. And who wants to be feeling that way on the 25th? Not I. But the other side of me is a retailer and I have to start thinking about the Holiday Season in the Summer. You get press kits together, you send them out for hopes that a magazine will feature your wares. And for the first time in 10 years, I didn't do it this Summer. It was so weird! I took a year off, I didn't freak out. Instead, I enjoyed my time at the cottage with Oscar and focused on my retailers and my art line. Even though I didn't get out my yearly press kits, I still have to prep my shop - and so, on the heels of the last two Photography posts, I thought I'd share with you my Holiday 2014 mood board for the shop that I finished photographing and editing.

It's a totally different look and feel from last years mood board (below) which I still love, love, love. But sometimes it's fun to shake things up a little. I'm still ridiculously proud of the shots below.

I have such a ridiculous amount of fun putting together the "mood board" for the season. I just felt inspired to do reds, pinks, blues and greens. Anyhow, as always, just some inspiration for you, for your Holiday season. (That isn't here yet, I totally get, but will be in a few short weeks)

xo Linds

Gift Wrap Ideas via The Penny Paper Co. (See more here)
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