Flannel, Foxglove and One Fancy Fox

You know how it goes: you start off reading something online and end up caught in an interweb that steals hours from your life, hours which you will never get back. Sometimes though, you can turn this to your advantage, especially if you are an artist in search of inspiration - or more prosaically - if you have a blog to feed.

I started off this Brett Ryder journey by logging into my inbox, looking at a newsletter from the Balance Festival, and from there randomly clicked on one of their sponsors - Arctic Power Berries - that took me right to one of their own sponsors - Fenwick - and there this illustration from The Summer Season campaign caught my eye. A blog article was born.

The Summer Season campaign by Brett Ryder for Fenwick

The artwork looks a little frivolous, thank goodness, for frivolity is what is needed right now after the last few months my family and I have been through. So a little sunshine and a smattering of quirky characters and floral embellishments will do us fine. Besides, an ode to Summer will always get our votes, especially after a rather long Winter packed with bitterly cold days and nights spent in a Medieval house with no central heating and a leaking roof terrace!

More surrealism with a softer side is to be had when you browse Brett Ryder's agency portfolio. Here are a few notable pieces:

 'Can you build softer skills?' article for Construction Manager magazine, artwork by Brett Ryder

'I couldn't get anywhere' article for Brummell magazine, ibid.

Health Affairs, MERS in the Middle East, ibid.

Action for Happiness for The Telegraph, ibid.

'Rites: A Childhood in Guatemala', by Victor Perera for Beat #6, published by Heart, ibid.

Nongfu Spring mineral water bottle label - 'Summer', artwork by Brett Ryder

Wahey, if that bottled water taste as magical as its label, we are in for a treat!

Make sure to check out Brett's website portfolio.

Aynhoe Park's Cabinet of Curiosities

Oh, don't I love it when a blog visit sends me onto an unexpected journey with twists at every turn! Curiosity takes you places you hadn't heard or thought about!

Hui's wedding dress by Phillipa Lepley; wedding venue: Aynhoe Park.

It started off with The Londoner Rosie Thomas's customised wedding dress post, followed by her wedding designer Phillipa Lepley's portfolio, and then onto her client Hui's wedding venue: Aynhoe Park, Oxfordshire, England. But what could have easily been mistaken as yet another palladian country house, revealed a full-scale treasure trove of eclectic antique pieces, eccentric objets d'art and modern pieces that have blent together well into a potent cocktail and lent the place a distinct mood halfway between antiques shop, Natural History Museum and a well-travelled, well-heeled collector's cabinet of curiosities! And when I come across those, time crashes to a standstill. Exploration is a must!

The Aynhoe Unicorn: bold, brash and larger than life!

The Aynhoe Unicorn (detail), painting by Rico White, via A Modern Grand Tour

If history, the statuary, and unique quirky heirloom pieces are your thing, then you have it in spades here, and the little kid in you will awaken to those treasures. I must say that I am no fan of taxidermy and animal trophies in all their forms but if I summon the little kid in me convincingly enough, I might be able to work miracles, Night at the Museum style...

Look up, look down, the folly is all around! Photography by Barker Evans.

This is certainly a magical place that has the power to turn into a magical land of its own accord, depending upon how wild your imagination is and/ or with Santa's little tipple helpers! You are nudged on your journey: Aynhoe Park is interlaced with elements of fantasy (unicorns of all creatures!) and Narnia-esque elements raring to come to life and play!

White Witch Awakening, by Miss Aniela, surreal fashion series photoshoot (2014), via ibid.

Thus all that is needed is to believe and to let your imagination loose and soon enough the creatures will come to life and whisk you away into their dreamlike world! Step into the wardrobe, enjoy the party, Christmas is only a twinkle away!

Pair of Brass Waterlilies, via A Modern Grand Tour

The Ostrich Feather Lamp in 'Ivy', via  ibid.

Wooden Cobra Carved Sculpture, via ibid.

1970s Shell Table by Antony Redmile, via ibid.

* Last updated: 06-Jan-2018

Source: Have cash? Purchase a piece of the action and take the magic home. Or just leave it where it belongs, at Aynhoe, providing an enchantment piece to guests and visitors. Yet if you are serious about parting with a little cash and take home an investment piece that is both unique and eccentric, Aynhoe is destination shopping delight!

Aynhoe Park hosts hospitality events and weddings, which is another way of getting up close and personal with its magical wonderland!

Floral Sophisticates

You needn't be looking for beauty for it is all around you in the natural world if you care to notice and observe. Flowers have it in spades of enchantment... The art of the artist is to capture the beauty they notice but which might be going unnoticed by others, emphasise it and restitute it for it to be (finally) noticed, acknowledged and appreciated. Kate Scott is bewitched by the beauty of the floral kind and Mirabelle has too been spellbound by floral beauty for as long as I can remember.

Flower power has hit home! The curves, curls and swirls, the shades, hues and ombrés, the seemingly laser-cut petals, the detailing, the precision, the floral geometry, Fibonacci of sorts that ushers floral art into the sacred, the intricacies, fragility, ephemerality, the sophistication of flora at its paramount best that is bound to leave you speechless... All of this skillfully captured by Kate Scott. Welcome to the floral art world, a delicacy for the senses and an instant mood lift!

Gipsy, Dahlia (detail), by Kate Scott Studio

Grace, Dahlia (detail), by ibid.

Fleur, Ranunculus (detail), by ibid.

Blush, Ranunculus (detail), by ibid.

Frill Seeker, Hibiscus (detail), by Kate Scott Studio

Peaches, Roses (detail), by ibid.

Folly, Peony (detail), by ibid.

Amazon, Tulip (detail), by ibid.

"I have always found flowers bewitching. My aim as an artist is to capture the essence and soul of each bloom and present it in a way which cannot otherwise be readily seen. No camera is used in this process. Flowers are scanned at high resolution then digitally painted, pixel by pixel, capturing the tiniest of detail, often invisible to the naked eye. A single specimen which measures only a couple of inches across is transformed into a sensual landscape and in this way, each flower is reinvented and reborn. It is a painstaking process, often taking hundreds of hours to produce one large printed piece." - Kate Scott 

Source: All artwork digitalisation by Kate Scott Studio. Her exquisite limited edition flower prints are available to purchase directly from her online boutique. Printed on museum archival paper.

Fresh, Crisp and Leafy

Mirabelle never imagined for one second that placemat and napkin sets would catch her eye, get her excited and get an article in the process with adjectives like fresh and crisp and leafy... When was the last time such adjectives were used in unison to describe those little accents of table linen?

Maybe placemats used to leave you indifferent too... until now! Because you and I hadn't yet crossed paths with the French luxury linen company D. Porthault, that's why!

Need a little convincing? Surely not as I can see you gaze admiratively at the exquisite artistic sets below... And since you're asking, Tempête Tropicale is my favourite. How about yours?

Tempête Tropicale

Anagramme Lilac

Mariage

Papyrus

Lilas Blue

Feuilles d'Olivier Soft Green

The sets represent only a tiny sample of D. Porthault linen collections: you really need to check those out for yourselves!

Always ahead of the game, The Glam Pad has just announced the imminent release of D. Porthault: The Art of Luxury Linens, a coffee table book showcasing those eponymous colour-rich home collection textiles, sure to brighten up our bedside cabinets as we move towards shorter days and longer nights. With such a book to hand, we'll naturally want to stay tucked up in bed just a little longer, flicking through the pages, enjoying the visual treats and redesigning our abodes! Sweet dreams and happy home projects to you!

Available to purchase from Gibbs Smith

Stones That Rock Your Heart

There is something so satisfiying about old jewellery: it has a story to tell. It is then up to us as to whether we want that story to be part of our lives and at the same time to give it a new lease of life with the history we are set to write. As Roby and I were getting engaged, I was adamant my engagement ring would not be brand new, and that it would serendipitously cross our paths, show up to us without us looking for it. Vintage was my only prerogative and I was trusting the fact that items of a certain age come with underlying design quality and originality.

A ring named desire...

Roby and I were in Paris, and we had already come across a couple of jewellery shops but none had any vintage pieces. Then one day we walked into a posh antiques shop a breath away from Ile de la Cité and the lady there referred us to a friend of hers with an aristocratic name who sells vintage pieces. But then again I just wasn't feeling it, so we didn't pursue it.

... bearing a sapphire with deep mysterious blues that will never dull its shine!

The following day, as we were running some errands down the Boulevard de Magenta, I screeched to a halt outside an unassuming small boutique that looked like it had been stood there for decades but probably had seen better days way back. A quick casual browse through the shop-window and there it was: the ring that was to become mine!

I liked the fact the Marquise ring was white gold, and that its centre stone, a sapphire, was a moody blue: it was cloudy and had a lot of hues going on underneath the surface. Its ultramarine hues reminded me of the sky reflected in a choppy sea: a troubled, intriguing stone you can just lose yourself into! This has to be one of those sought-after, one-of-a-kind, Color-Change Sapphires.

Edwardian Antique Aquamarine Rose Diamond Ring, via Romanov Russia

The jeweller did not have much information on the ring, except that he played the old snake oil salesman trick of: "if it's not sold this week, I will have it sent out to a colleague in London for him to sell it for me." He was unable to provide a definite manufacture date, yet acquiesced when I ventured 1930s/ 1940s. I am no expert though and on closer inspection and with a little further research under my belt, I was enclined to believe the ring to be actually older, as in Edwardian (see above). But then I came across a Marquise Ring from c.1940 and it bears a close ressemblance to my own. Judge for yourself:

Marquise-Shaped Emerald Ring, c.1940, via Isadoras Antique Jewelry

If diamonds are a girl's best friends, sapphires have to her best assets! Find out more about sapphires: The Natural Sapphire Company teaches us about natural, unadulterated sapphires and The Knot tells us more about sapphire engagement rings.

Lady Di's Ceylon Sapphire and Diamond Engagement Cluster Ring by House of Garrard (pict source)

Sources: (1-2) Sapphire Marquise-Shaped Ring, c.1930s, mounted on a white gold band (brand new), and purchased from a small jeweller's on the Boulevard de Magenta, Paris, France. Photography by Mirabelle Design Inspiration. (3) Edwardian Antique Aquamarine Rose Diamond Ring, via Romanov Russia. (4) Marquise-Shaped Emerald Ring, c.1940, via Isadoras Antique Jewelry.
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This article was last updated on 07-Aug-2017.

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.

Fast and Fancy Last-Minute Advent Calendars!

How about sprinkling sweetness to the Christmas countdown as December is getting into gear? Bring it on with the Advent calendar! This is one Christian tradition that is bound to fill the little ones with anticipation while putting them through their paces all the way to the height of the festive season.

Advent calendar season conjures up fond memories for later in life. This time of year always brings me back to the memory of those charming colourful little calendars that my mum would get my brother and I. The design was invariably that of a cardboard mountain chalet frontage with 24 shuttered windows. Each morning as I got ready, I would religiously and delicately open the shutters of the window of the day, to a nested piece of moulded chocolate. The shuttered window for Christmas Eve outsized all the others, revealing its double-whammy of a chocolate duo!

It looks like Advent calendars have widened their scope for creative licence these days. Although you can still buy them ready-made and get on with your life, DIY Advent calendars seem to be the thing; you don't need to be a master craftsperson either. With 1st December only a breath away, shall we get cracking like... now?

Sources from top right: Photo montage by Mirabelle, assisted by PicMonkey. Everyday in December is going to be Christmas! (1) The Advent calendar made up of numbered clothespins by Marie Claire Idées, holds up sachets containing little treasures to hold and behold. Use fancy paper clips if no clothespins handy, and small envelopes instead of sachets. (2) Make a statement and deck the halls! Advent calendar by Most Lovely Things, via ibid. (3) A Postcard Advent calendar by ibid. will make good use of unused postcards and celebration cards that are lying around the house. Gift appreciative words to the word lovers and wordsmiths of the family. Write a heartfelt note in each card, an uplifting proverb, a thoughtful quote, an observation, a charade or a light-hearted joke. Maybe compose a verse from a favourite poem, or a hiaku of your own. Never underestimate the power of words! Or drop one hint a day about the Christmas present(s) intended to your recipient, writing in code which they will have to crack. Turn those words into an Advent-ure! (4) The Advent calendar mobile by Avec Ses 10 Ptits Doigts, via Marie Claire Idées will solve any space dilemma within the tiny housing community. Amp up the Christmas vibe by adding necklace pearls, silver/ gold ribbons, twinkling stars and fresh ivy!

P.S: (1-3) Thou shall not worry about the French wording: the tutorials' how-to pictures are self-explanatory.

El Raja Key Archive by Robert J. Kuntz

Rob Kuntz is a living legend and El Raja Key Archive is here to prove it. Now ask any of the people in the know within the Role-Playing Games (RPG) community, and they will agree. I also witnessed it first hand when Rob and I attended Lucca Comics & Games 2015, of which he was a special guest. Rob Kuntz is up there with Dave Arneson, the creator of Dungeons & Dragons® (D&D®), and Gary Gygax, he who made it all happen from the maproom to the boardroom, and from the figurines to the seven-figure profits. Meanwhile Rob's name will forever remain associated with the legendary Castle Greyhawk and his no-less-legendary character, Robilar. So yes, we are about stuff of legend here.

A timeless piece of gaming that is set to become a collectible!

Although Rob was one of the youngest in the original crew, back in the early 1970s, his formative years in Lake Geneva (WI) amongst a bunch of creatives and visionaries, shaped his style, honed his craft and nurtured his talent. Bear in mind that Rob has never sold out. He has remained true to his core values, and not lost sight of the power of creativity as a game designer, and imagination as a gamer - and how to unleash them both and keep them up. Rob has never ceased to be a prolific author and designer either. When he's away from the public eye, you can be sure he's holed up at home working on a project.

Throughout his career that spans more than 40 years, Rob has authored an impressive number of adventure modules and has consistently remained a firm RPG favourite amongst his loyal fan-base and those Original D&D® (OD&D®) afficionados.

Gem of many designs! The Sunken City adventure module has an original artwork by Jim Roslof.

Tread carefully for Rob doesn't want to be typecast. To associate him solely with the world of RPG would be to deny him his versatility. He branched into new territory years ago, as a screenplay writer and a novelist, and now as a game design theory author, with a few books in the pipeline!

Rob's brand new company, Three Line Studio partnered with TLB Games earlier this year in order to capitalise upon his impressive intellectual property. As a starting point, they produced El Raja Key Archive, a retrospective of his early work, brought together under the DVD project as The Collected Maps, Manuscripts, and RPG Artifacts of Robert J. Kuntz.

Rob's classic RPG adventures: imagination unleashed!

Fans are rewarded with four editions to choose from: Basic, Standard, Deluxe and Collector's. Psst, if you want to feel spoilt and special, go the extra mile and stretch your dime: treat yourself to the Collector's edition!

The DVD is a must-have, not only for the die-hard OD&D® aficionados and Rob's loyal fanbase but also to a new generation of gamers looking to explore the origins of D&D® and their legendary adventures. 

El Raja Key Archive DVD is a testimony to Rob's 40-year+ legacy, packed-full with fascinating OD&D® material that harks back to the origins of the game. With Christmas only four weeks away, this is one experience that will make you think (and strategise!) outside the box. Happy gaming y'all!

Source: All imagery via TLB Games.

Baby Arts

When I was in secondary school in Saint-Quentin, northern France, one of my arts teachers was Serge Dutfoy. I doubt he would remember me years and thousands of pupils later (!) but I sure do remember him because not only was he my arts teacher for a couple of years, he also established himself as a fixture on the local arts scene as a cartoonist and a jazz musician. He is a local celebrity!

Earlier in the Summer, when I stumbled across his name while browsing through a local arts blog, I traced monsieur Dutfoy back to his personal blog. Although it hasn't been updated in three years, it still managed to catch my eye, or rather this piece of anthology, "Serge et ses Grenouilles" (Serge and his frogs) did, drawn by his artist auntie Germaine, in Paris in 1946-47. The two family cats, Titite and Totote, are studying the figurines in the water from a safe distance, maybe trying to figure out whether or not they are edible...

My arts teacher's happy bath time as a baby, captured in watercolours! And with his grandma a piano teacher and his mum a piano player, we can safely say that art runs in the DNA of the family!

Source: "Serge et ses Grenouilles" watercolour, via Le Blog de Serge Dutfoy. His biography (in French) is available via La Lanterne à BD, L'Aisne Nouvelle and Wikipedia.

Goldfinger! Liquid Gold for Photoshop and Illustrator

Hands up those looking for shimmer and sparkle at their fingertips in order to sublimate creativity out of the flatpack! Liquid gold all your while and there's no returning to the safe harbour of conventional font and design colours! Rose gold shall never be laid to rest for we shall lay it onto screen, print and beyond. Foil effects shall never foil as they unfold from the palette. Watercolour shall deliver its specks and streaks and watery blends like the real McCoy once translated to digital. Textured metallics that glitter and undulate with or without sunlight. Thanks Studio Denmark!

Source: Liquid Gold bundle for Photoshop ($20.00) and Liquid Gold bundle for Illustrator ($18.00) were both created by Alaina Jensen @ Studio Denmark, and are available to purchase from Creative Market.

** P.S: This is an affiliated article, it's got the magic links! If you like what you see and decide to make a purchase on Creative Market, Mirabelle will get some pocket money - thanks to you, my friend! Invested into cups of regal cakes and fancy coffee that will fuel this blog! How rad is that!

Corsican Interiors and Exteriors

Mirabelle's Coastalicious island dwelling is taking us down Corsica's scenic roads, then off the beaten track and with a seaview in mind, to those houses of character, their front door unlocked for a little tour. Pictures of stylish private estates, family holiday hideaways, chic hotels and redesigned houses flock together for an instant breath of Summery inspiration...

DECORATIVE CEILINGS THAT MAKE UP A ROOM:

Sources: Painted ceilings make up a room and leave a lasting statement. Volutes, arabesques and phantasmagorical flora in splashes of colour steal the show with their enchanted splendor! (1-2) Photography by Fotograficasa, via (1) Atma Corsica and (2) Abritel HomeAway of ornate plaster ceilings in Casa Magna, a 19th century palazzo located in Rogliano, Cap Corse, to the north of the island of Corsica. Historically, artists - Italian for the most part - used to travel the island during the 19th century in order to sell their architectural crafts to churches, mansions, maisons bourgeoises and the less opulent abodes seeking a touch of sophistication. Decorated ceilings were all the rage for whoever wished to flaunt a little (or more!) wealth. Casa Magna belongs to a photographic husband and wife duo who, as Fotograficasa, run a week-long photographic Masterclass yearly and ad-hoc events, artistic or holistic. Meanwhile you can get a closer look to that ceiling by renting the house!

PRIVATE SPACES THAT CELEBRATE SOBRIETY IN INTERIOR DESIGN:

Sources: (3-4) photography by François Halard for the June 2015 edition of Vogue. Images via Habitually Chic. The 19th century Corsican holiday home of Studio KO architects Karl Fournier and Olivier Marty has been sensibly restored and updated by skilled craftsmen. Neutral tones dominate the interior, and the traditional red tomettes got the heritage pale grey treatment. Besides who needs pictures on the walls when the vistas open up to luscious rambling hills and mature gardens? (5) Part of the prestigious Relais & Châteaux network, five-star Hôtel La Signoria is tucked away in the leafy suburbs of the scenic resort of Calvi, and a stone's throw away from Calvi's jewel-in-the-crown of a sandy beach! The hotel was originally an 18th century Genoese private estate, which became a hotel in 1986 and to which were added apartments, suites, villas, swimming pools and a spa. The restaurant is located within the original house. There is a French Provençal bastide look to the hotel compound, with ochre and terracotta tones to the façades and mature gardens with a strong Mediterranean accent, complete with palm trees, orange trees and pine trees. Dates, oranges and pinenuts and we would be forgiven for craving some Moroccan delicacy! (6) A few miles away from Calvi, the disused Couvent Saint-François d'Oletta had fallen out of sorts and into disrepair. Over ten years ago, love came to the rescue of the Franciscan convent in the name of Candida Romero, an artist who had fallen for the poetry of the place and its potential, not only for her pursuing of her craft but also doubling up as a venue for weddings, artist events and film and photo shoots! Pictured is one of the former nun bedrooms, soberly redecorated, photographed by Henri del Olmo for Côté Sud. You are promised to 'sleep like an angel' by the lady owner.

KITCHENS AND FAMILY GATHERINGS:

Sources: (7-8) The convent's kitchen, photographed by ibid. Granito flooring, repurposed 1950s cabinet and bits and odds never felt so at home than right in here!

LAVISH COUNTRY ESTATES

Sources: (9) Maison Casanova is a 19th century (estimated 1870s) maison d'Américain tucked away in the hilltops of Sisco, a coastal village in the Cap Corse peninsula that stretches like a pointed finger. Photography via Airbnb. In the second half of the 19th century, many established families from the Cap Corse, incentivised by the Spanish Crown under the Royal Decree of Graces of 1815 (Real Cédula de Gracias), tried their luck and emigrated overseas to the former Spanish colonies of Puerto Rico, Mexico and Venezuela to set up plantations. Within the timeframe of one generation, the Corsican settlers' hard labour had paid off and most of them had made a small fortune. They would return to Cap Corse, their land of origin, in order to have lavish neo-classical manor houses and monumental mausolea erected as a way of testifying to their newly-acquired wealth.

GARDEN DETAILS:

Sources: (10) Detail of a fountain cherub spout in Luri, Cap Corse, photography via Destination Cap Corse. (11) Opuntia ficus-indica is a prickly detail of note scattered along the Corsican shoreline, that sits at the intersection between introduced cultivar from Mexico and its later escapist adventure into the Corsican maquis. Photography by Mirabelle, also featured in our Club Tropicana feature.