Happy New Year from Yesteryear

As the New Year is kicking into gear, and our idea of the obligatory New You is following suit, it is all too tempting to map it out of Brand New Things as opposed to just New Things! Now hold on. How about turning back the clock, especially as far as those vintage French New Year fancy cards (a.k.a. mignonettes) are concerned?

Bonne Année (1908)

The design of those yesteryear cards bears more gusto and compulsion than today's watered-down/ minimalistic representations. Look at those freestyle calligraphic fonts embossed in gold dust and swathed in flowers, a call for Spring in the thick of Winter: how dainty and desirable are they!

Bonne Année (year unknown)

Picture the scene: you get ready for breakfast, check the post as coffee is percolating away, and bring back half a dozen of those adorable mignonettes from the letterbox to your kids and spouse. Open them together and relish on the sweet words sent out to your family by other loved ones, as you sip café au lait and munch on chocolatines. Rejoice in the knowledge that the senders are receivers too as they too are experiencing the tokens of family joy which you sent them. 

Happy New You, Y'All!

Bonne Année (1912)

Bonne Année (1909)

Bonne Année (1906)

Bonne Année (1908)

Source: Move over, eBay, the big boys are in town! Delcampe is the specialised ephemera auction site from Belgium that describes itself as the greatest marketplace for collectors, with a current offering of almost 80 million items from the world over - I kid you not!

Postcards (> 46.4 million items to choose from!), postage stamps (> 22.8 million!), books, magazines and comics (> 2.6 million), old papers (> 2.5 million, anything from autographs to invoices and lottery tickets!), numismatics (> 1.1 million!), and other collectibles (> 3 million, including photography, advertising and music). From the commonplace to the rare collector piece, from the affordable to the extravagant, from the dilettante à la Mirabelle to the serious hobbyist à la J. Paul Getty, Delcampe has it covered.

Bilingual, so why not? A Happy New Year (1908)

You may kickstart your collecting career with less than five dollars to spare, making you the proud owner of a 100-year-old greeting card (see above). Collecting has to start somewhere and it might as well start with those as the risk factor is close to nil. Note the strong use of symbology for love, luck, happiness, peace, eternity and prosperity: heart, four-leaf clover, horseshoe, lily of the valley, dove, forget-me-not and mistletoe. (1) Bonne Année greeting card from 1908. (2) Bonne Année greeting card (year unknown). (3) Bonne Année greeting card from 1912. (4) Bonne Année greeting card from 1909. (5) Bonne Année greeting card from 1906. (6) Bonne Année greeting card from 1908. (7) A Happy New Year greeting card from 1908. Cards (1) to (6) are still available to purchase.

Happy New Year & Happy Sale

Happy New Year you all! Three Line Studio and TLB Games are extending their Christmas Special Sale! Some call it Christmas every day, we call it starting 2018 on a high note, especially if you have gamers in your circles! RPG (Role Playing Games), D&D (Dungeons & Dragons), game theory, we have it all covered for those special occasions in the year ahead! TLS is no random shop: it is the publishing house and agency of one of the original D&D members, American author and game designer Robert J. Kuntz!

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You really want to check out our range of competitively-priced quality original products, you will not find them elsewhere!

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Here is a short item selection:

El Raja Key Archive, NOW FROM ONLY $14.95

Dave Arneson's True Genius treatise, NOW ONLY $14.95

Sunken City adventure module, NOW ONLY $6.99

Palm Beach for Starters

How else to start up 2017 than on a high note? As President-Elect Trump celebrated the holiday over at his Mar-a-Lago estate with his family and friends, Mirabelle is taking over Palm Beach for the New Year! Throughout the coming weeks, Mirabelle's #TrumpPower series will boldly bring you lifestyle examples that make you unashamedly aim high. The mindset is setting the tone for the forthcoming Trump presidency, where everyone will be encouraged and incentivised to aim high for themselves and their families, not to content with little or expect from the State to provide that meal ticket for life.

The new presidency is heralding an era that I define as hope materialised. Hope materialised takes off where the Obama & Co. administration failed as it promised hope and delivered nothing but division and warmongering under a socialist regime, where the idea of a strong, hard-working, ambitious, successful, proud, independent and patriotic America was derided. Hope materialised means the American nation's return to full-scale employment and prosperity. Now I am no fool: not everyone will ever be able to afford the Palm Beach lifestyle, and we do realise that even Palm Beach has its fair share of social problems. Yet I chose the locale specifically for my post because of its overall symbology of success and prestige - and good design. Don't look at Palm Beach as a tall order, look at it as a high aim!

If you seek Coastalicious and prestige rolled into one, Palm Beach - a stretch of barrier island in southern Florida a hop away from the Bahamas - is sure to cut the mustard. I have gleaned a few pictures and thrown in some decorative elements for good measure. Palm Beach shall be unashamedly recreated closer to home, courtesy of a colour trio scheme of pink, white and dark green, a gold lining for good measure, and a tropical theme of palm décor and wicker... and a pink flamingo or two. Entertain a little flamboyance (Chinoiserie) combined with a little restraint (design balance, geometric patterns, treillis and planters) and voilà! the Palm Beach theme is demure and sparkles like a Cotton Candy Champagne Cocktail at the exact same time. I believe Palm Beach has that Gemini kookiness!

"It is this eclectic mix of old and new, of Spanish and Caribbean, of contemporary design and sun-faded WASP thrift, that makes Palm Beach chic." - The Vendome Press

 

Sources: (1) The Palm Beach architectural style and interior design coffee table bibles include Palm Beach Chic by Jennifer Ash Rudick, photography by Jessica Klewicki Glynn, published by The Vendome Press in October 2015. The book gives us a ravishing insight into 25 exclusive Palm Beach homes. Daydreams to your days and sweet dreams to your nights are guaranteed! Book cover photography via The Glam Pad. (2) The essence of Palm Beach is encapsulated in this very picture: design-led poolside lifestyle of showroom quality, overpowering striped awning, oversized luxuriant flora (here hibiscus), rattan furniture, pink and dark green colour scheme, and an overall sense of design formality having fun. Historic renovation and extension ('Windsong Too' pavilion) of Windsong (cf Pict. #7), a 1939 Georgian Revival Palm Beach property, by Thomas Kirchhoff & Associates, interior decorator Mario Buatta. Photography by Scott Frances for the 'Master of Ceremonies' article by Architectural Digest magazine, July 2013 edition. (3-4) More stunning photography by Jessica Klewicki Glynn for Palm Beach Chic, via The Palm Beacher. (3) Welcome to the garden of Eden: lush and evergreen. Better come prepared: your furry friend and you might get a close poolside encounter with a snake or gator! (4) The magnificent stucco veranda serves as an outdoor living room that is anything but stuck up! Tchin-tchin to the blue chintz and rattan! (5) Dahlia Porcelain Flower by AERIN, via Neiman Marcus. No stranger to Palm Beach or to the coastal lifestyle for that matter, Aerin Lauder has produced a range of stylish homewares that will find themselves at home in coastal environments - and elsewhere. If beauty is on your mind, Aerin has it covered too. More about Aerin's collections from a previous Mirabelle post.  (6) The banyan trees of yesteryear are still to be found today around Palm Beach. This one, 'The Banyan Tree' was immortalised by American artist Emile Albert Gruppe (1896-1978); image via The Athenaeum. (7) Talking of banyan, those in the background at Windsong (cf Pict #2), frame this side of the garden in their curtain-like embrace. The stately exterior of the distinguished 1939 property is there to remind us that Palm Beach has been here a while. Traditional exterior designer, Bunny Williams Inc. Photography by Oberto Gili for the 'Glory Days' article by the now-defunct Home & Garden magazine, March 2006 edition, via Architectural Digest. Check out The Glam Pad for more Windsong sassiness! (8) Escape the Palm Beach locale and stay chic; a few miles down the road, quench the thirst of the day with a snazzy cocktail and soak up the retro-vintage ambience at Marion Miami. Take a 360° virtual tour peek here. Take a sip: Sherry Cobbler cocktail photography by Nicole Franzen. (9-10) Playa Grande Beach Club by Palm Beach-based Kemble Interiors marries Dominican insouciance with Palm Beach exuberance in order to produce "a fantastical medley of historic Dominican Victorian architectural elements mixed with the whimsy of Palm Beach garden follies." (11) Mid-century style dinner served with a Hollywood drama of powder pinks, rhododendron luxuriance and chinoiserie chic... in San Francisco, CA! Leo's Oyster Bar may be on the opposite coast to Palm Beach but not poles apart in terms of Palm Beach flavour. Photography by Stacie Flinner.

Uncork the New Year and Serve on Ice!

Can you believe how fast the year's gone? Or am I just being melodramatic? Years are catching up and yet it is impossible to catch up with them in their relentless travel. Meanwhile we can still catch up with things we would like accomplished and package them up into the sacro-sanct New Year's Resolutions so they don't merely sit on our mind like co-opted ideas - cue the Palm Beach post I had intended for Mirabelle but stalled on halfway through! The flipside about resolutions is their propensity to turn into resolutions of the unresolute variety: they end up diluted or deleted.

This shall be different in 2017. I'll see you on the other side of the New Year with my Palm Beach regalia! Until then, Cheers to NYE, My Lovelies!

Sources: (1) Twinkle, twinkle little star! Photography by Mirabelle. (2) Glam up the Champers with a dash of ice: Pomegranate Champagne Sorbet by The Cookie Rookie. (3) Lash out the cream: Chocolate Mini Cakes with Hazelnut Buttercream by The Vanilla Bean Blog. (4) Feel fruity for the New Year: A Fresh & Fancy Girlfriends Brunch by Coco Kelley.

A Wonderful Winter Wedding...

If you follow Mirabelle's sister blog La Baguette Magique, you will have found out my big news: I just got married to the loveliest man there is, Roby! Our Big Day was an intimate affair - only close family members - and no lavish ceremony. It was all about pared-down simplicity.

Though needs to be said that we forfeited neither style nor elegance. However we dispensed of the following: wedding planner, professional photographer, personal florist, bridesmaids, wedding attire, hire limo, band/ DJ, private chef... and five-course banquet for that matter. Sorry if this may not be the idea of a fairytale wedding for some of you, yet for both Roby and I, it was exactly the way we both wished our Big Day to be: low-key and fuss-free. A by-product of low-key and fuss-free meant that our wedding came out to be inexpensive, yet not in the sense of tight-fisted or cheap, i.e. lacking the essentials or attention to detail. Ours was inexpensive *and* luxurious!

Here let me share with you a few hints and tips on how to achieve an inexpensive fuss-free wedding reception that does look the part:-


Wedding Venue:

The wedding lunch took place at my parents' house.

Table Decor:

Living on an island miles from the closest town, we had to make do in terms of floristry for instance. From the local general store, my mum picked a small cream rose bush whose pot she wrapped up in foil and then wrapped in a heirloom crocheted doily held together by an elastic band. She also picked a bouquet of mixed flowers (pink carnation, chrysanthemum, red rose, gerbera, pistacia lentiscus, papyrus, etc.) that she placed in a tall crystal vase.

Flowers instantly add grace and elegance!

Table Linen:

Family heirloom embroidered white linen that belonged to my grandma, dating back to the 1930s, and still in pristine condition. Our ultra-special family occasion linen!

Making a statement with heirloom pieces...

Tableware:

Making a statement with heirloom pieces, and going tone on tone, as white on white is so chic! White porcelaine de Limoges plates. Silverware & crystalware, family heirloom pieces from early 20th century to the 1960s.

... and white on white is so chic!

Menu Fayre:

Mostly buffet style finger food for the apéritif and first course, laid out on trays placed on the dining table: canapés (of thin gingerbread slices spread with fig and walnut jam and finished off with a layer of soft blue cheese); cherry tomatoes sliced halfways and held together on cocktail sticks with a dice of artisan smoked/ cured meat in the middle; courgette (zucchini) fritters; freshly-made mushroom pizzas from the local bakery, sliced in bite-size squares, shop-bought savoury palmiers, fresh grapes, cheese bites.

The Buffet Table

Main Course:

Scallops in a white wine sauce prepared by my mum, served straight off the oven in their individual fancy ramekins. 

Dessert:

Galette des Rois, ordered fresh from the bakery. The galette is an Epiphany pastry speciality from France, made up of puff pastry filled with Frangipane (almond paste). We personalised it by serving it with homemade candied kumquat slices and caramelised persimmon slices. [P.S: If you are feeling adventurous, why not make your own Galette des Rois, from scratch! Try David Lebovitz's recipe.]

Roby's favourite French sweet is a Christmas chocolate speciality called Papillote!

Beverages:

Champagne (Charles Lafitte and Alfred Rothschild et Cie) from apéritif through to dessert. Some dry white wine served with the scallops. Mineral water and upmarket apricot juice as soft drinks.

 Afters:

Black coffee served in English china cups, and chocolate fancies, including Papillotes.

Our wedding dog Tickle never got himself in a pickle with his wedding collar on!

Source: (1) Mirabelle montage of Magical Thinking Henna Letters 'N' (Nathalie) and 'R' (Roby) by Urban Outfitters. (2-9) Photography by Mirabelle.

20 Sweet 16

And now is a short and sweet communiqué from Mirabelle & Tickle:

P.S: Isn't this beach buddy of mine cute and gorgeous?! Head over to Tickle's page for more cracking photos!

Be Your Own Sunshine in 2015 and Beyond!

Count your blessings daily. Do not wait for the proverbial sun to bless your off days, create your own sunshine! Step into the New Year with a new friend on board: yourself! That's right, be your own best friend, because the world is tough enough! Being your own best friend will be like wearing a crown or tiara. Your higher opinion of yourself will make you feel bright and breezy to yourself and others, not crushed by the weight of the world.

Secondo, do a little Feng-Shui in your life: clear off the bad vibes, the dead-end thoughts, the uninspiring home settings, the draining friendships, the broken halos and other disillusions. Stay kind to yourself and others, just let go of what is no longer necessary. Keep decluttering until you feel lighter. It is all about a little tweak here and there, a little physical or mental reorganising, nothing drastic, nothing daunting. Be your own sunshine in 2015 and beyond!

Sources: (1) "Couronne en Paillettes Façon Diadème" (Sequin Tiara), created by Marion Taslé for Marie Claire Idées. In the Christian calendar, The Epiphany marks the end of the Christmas season and is celebrated on the 12th day of Christmas, i.e. 6th January. In France, the celebration is commonly referred to as La Fête des Rois (The Kings Party) and involves the sharing with relatives, friends or even co-workers of the popular Galette des Rois (Kings Pie), a melt-in-the-mouth round puff pastry pie filled with Frangipane (a rich paste made up of butter, sugar, eggs, ground almonds and almond extract). Hidden in the paste is a Fève (literally a fava bean, nowadays replaced - or complimented - by a small ceramic figurine). Whoever gets the fava in their slice of Galette will be crowned King or Queen and wear a golden fleur-de-lys cardboard crown provided by the bakery/ pâtisserie shop at the time of purchase of the Galette. Pictured here is a much more elaborate and luxurious take on the crown, as creatives and crafters have a field day reworking the coveted headpiece, and putting their personal stamp on it! (2) Get motivated and kick-start the year with Lara Casey's Handwriting Desk Cards Gold Foil and keep the year in check with Lara's amazing Making Things Happen PowerSheets™. (3) 'Small Ostrich Feathers in Blush Pink' by PLUMULEfeathers, via Etsy. Add a touch of glitter to your home environment, surround yourself with objects and books that are meaningful to you. Stay close or get closer to nature by collecting river pebbles, seaglass, feathers, seed pods. Keep it organic. (4) Uncredited source, via Pinterest.

January Blues

January never claimed to be a joyful month, but it doesn't deserve all the bad press either! In our experience, January is full of promise and subdued joy just waiting to be discovered by those who take the time to be observers! The stress from the end-of-year festivities has cooled off and a brand new year has brought excitement, personal motivations and resolutions.

In our northern hemisphere we gain an extra hour of daylight between Christmas Day and 25th January. Meanwhile in our warmer regions the earlier floral messengers of Spring, namely narcissi and daffodils, start coming into their own.

January is still a time to enjoy those richer dishes, indulgent desserts and comfort food at large (bend those resolutions once in a while!), from homemade waffles served with rich hot chocolate, to family-sized pots. It's a time to be homely, snuggled up in a mohair wool blanket on the sofa by the fireplace, with a good book and good sounds. It might be a time for reflection and instrospection but as for the proverbial "January blues", the only type of blues we know about is purely colour-related, and being the optimistic kind we like to keep it that way!

Source : (1) Pastel Swirl Cake, by Sweetapolita, via Flickr.

New Year Pep Talk

Symbolically a New Year heralds a new beginning, a new lifecycle, an upsurge in energy and positive vibes, boosted by a plethora of desires, hopes, wishes, ambitions and resolutions. Come the second or third week of the year however, the outlook might appear a touch less rosier for whatever reason, as those hopes might start paling down into the day-to-day reality of life, wishes might start wobbling a notch, and resolutions slowly going up in smoke...

Instead of beating yourself up on those "failing" goals, just celebrate last year's achievements, and break down those ambitions for the New Year into more manageable, achieveable units. How about keeping it simple and down-to-earth, and celebrating the beauty of life, those little things and mundane moments that we tend to take for granted? Slow down the pace of your life to better enjoy the company of your loved ones, take the time to (re)discover your immediate surroundings, take a short journey to the local museum, the next town or the closest place of interest and immerse yourself into it. Make someone's day, bake a cake, perform random acts of kindness, give the local charity a hand, invest your spare time into a hobby or a cause. And in the process, see what you are about, find out who you truly are.

So make it happen in 2013! Find yourself, surprise yourself, and make this your year, your lucky year!

Sources: (1) 'Just Be Cool' gilded poster by thevaguely, via Etsy. (2) Via One Little Bird. (3) Via Crush Cul de Sac.