Playing Favorites

We’re starting a new weekly segment on the blog called “A Few of our Favorite Things”

Each week a different Paris Marketeer will share their favorite things in the store. Everyone is clamoring to go next because they don’t want anyone else taking “their” favorites first! It will be interesting to see what people are loving and coveting on a weekly basis and it’s a fun way to give everyone a nice fat cross section of the store. Enjoy mes amis!

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 A Few of our Favorite Things

Kelsey Garrity-Riley

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Kelsey Garrity-Riley is up first. Paris Marketeer, Painter, Illustrator, Sewer of giant bunnies and small dolls, you name it, this girl is a creative wunderkind. And here are a few of her favorite things:

1. Tartine,( amazing sweets. cakes and pastry cookbook) 2. Marzipan fruit Glass Coasters 3. Colored tape, 4. Mary of the Sacred Heart Statue 5. Long handle tasting spoon, 6. Ceramic measuring cups in 4oz and 16oz, 7. Cast iron vases, 8. Vintage 1 liter bottle, 9 & 10. Glass oval oxen trays, 11. Get Well Soon Card, 12. Beef diagram postcard, 13. Vintage linen flour sack (folded for picture), 14. super-adorable knitted elephant doll, 15. Tocca "Stella" Travel Candle, 16. Tocca "Bianca" eau de parfum 17. Low Country Luxe Belle candle, 18. Organic cotton baby romper, 19. Swiss army dog vest, 20. 14" Scissors

What are a few of your favorite things?

Postcards from Paris: {Ne t'inquiète pas, je suis en vacances.}

I realize it's been quite sometime since I've corresponded, and perhaps you've thought I've gone for good. The thing with vacances, and for sometime after, the feeling of lazy days seem to linger. Though I've returned to Paris for more time than I can admit to, the relaxing days days spent down south wouldn't leave my system.
Activites are so often governed by internet access, I had forgotten that vacation is so much more enjoyed when one forgets their online-obligations.
I spent only a couple of days in the south of France, with a dear friend, who was also a co-worker from The Paris Market. She would show an exuberant amount of patience with my French-language questions, and slow speaking American-accent back in Savannah.
What a joy it was seeing her in her homesetting.
She showed me the scenes of the south, and shared her Provence with me.
I find myself in a constant state of comparing and contrasting, though I'd hardly say it's a positive trait, it is in fact, an entertaining one. I had spent some time in Provence before, and I had yet to know Paris as I do now, so the similarities and differences seemed more apparent during this visit. Immediately upon arriving off the train, it felt like vacation. The sky blue and the sun shining, the atmosphere was still "French" but with a different sense of ease and relaxation. With monochromatic villages that blend in with the landscape overlooking the Mediterranean sea,which was tinted turquoise and completely transparent, the gray-toned palette of Paris seemed distant.
But after one travels, sees new sights, tastes new food, returning home seems to hold it's own sense of ease and relaxtion.
Oh France, what lovely diversity you have.
Bisous,
Reba

New Arrivals: Stacking, Storing, Stashing & Swatting

Liven things up with some of our great new arrivals!

1. Leather Fly Swatter, 2. Stacking Candy Tower, 3. Tiered Wire Basket, 4. Chalkboard Coat Hook, 5. Marble Bowls, 6. Paddle Mirror, 7. Wood Kitchen Bin

Tied up in Twine

One of our favorite new additions at the store is this lovely twine! Its Italian, 100% cotton and comes in red, green and blue.

Just in time for all of those summer occasions (if you are like me, the next few months are packed full of weddings, baby showers and birthdays... ) These add a simple, but sweet flair to gifts of all shapes and sizes. Just incase the event calls for a little something extra, here are a few more parings that these little ribbons go oh so well with.

 1. Handmade flower  2.Chic-o-sticks  3. Round enamel letter 

I'm using these as a little reminder for all those important dates that seem to slip by, I WILL remember those birthdays! and I will send a little something in the mail...

Perhaps embellished with our colorful tape rolls....

Or accompanied with a sweet note on one of our letterpressed-in-house tags (more news on Lettie Briggs to come!)

     

 4.Box set of thank you cards  5. Birthday book of names + Tiny figurines  6. Lettie Briggs tag 7. Small porcelain hand 8. Color tape rolls 9. wood block letters

Whatever the reason or project may be... the posibilites are endless, and the little embellishments are always worth the effort. How far will 3 yards take you?

Announcing Our Wedding Registry

Yes, Yes, Yes, we do Wedding Registries! 

---from our photographic stash downstairs...

Sure, you could be boring and register at Macy's or Bed, Bath, and Beyond the Beyonds (guilty!) but why do that when you can register at The Paris Market and get some things you've REALLY been coveting. (besides your intended partner that is) Stop by or give us a call when you're ready to take the plunge.

 Something old,  (just click on the pic to see it on our site)

Something new,

Something borrowed,

  

Something blue.

and just to whet your appetite a bit more:

 

These kitchen papers, recipe books and placemats make great shower gifts too.

Happy Nesting!

Thinking Inside the Box: Places for your Treasures

I'm all for creative thinking, but there are those times when you want to stay inside the box. Here is a smattering of our selection for your little treasures...old subway tokens, ticket stubs, writing spurts, books you WILL get to, scribbles of new inventions, favorite rocks and bones, photos of friends and lovers taken on the fly. Maybe this little red and blue box (2) just for your passport? 

Either way, boxes / trunks can be like little time machines, keeping all our fond memories safe and warm for when we want to relive them once more. Maybe its time to start a new box in your life? Or start one for a friend with all you've shared together? Why not push the scrapbook paradigm a little further and give a scrapbox as a gift instead of a scrapbook?

1. Hand-painted Lunchbox, 2. Recycled Paper Boxes, small and large, 3. Leather numbered Box, 4. Wood and metal chest, 5. Vintage perfume box from India, 6. Perforated furniture cube, 7. Metal Stacking Trunks

Happy Treasuring!

Adventure Dolls

You know we’re all a pretty gung ho about these knitted friends of ours. Just when I thought these little critters couldn’t get any cuter, Mirabelle, the ballerina, comes dancing into my life, charming me silly.

If I’m obsessed with these little amigos as an adult, I can only wonder about the amount of fascination I would have held for them as a child.

I was just a little too old for when all those new exciting dolls came out –

like the American Girl Dolls – first it was Kirsten, then Molly, and then they started adding all this special paraphernalia for them and it was just too much. I was probably old enough to date, but I still wanted one. They had their own quilts and reading glasses! camping sets and little chairs! (!!!) ---hopelessly hooking little girls everywhere with their parents begrudgingly supporting their habit – because they too were utterly be-witched by the cuteness.

When I was a young(er), I was right on time for the Cabbage Patch dolls. They were really expensive, but they did come with their own adoption papers, certifying that they REALLY had been pulled fresh from the cabbage patch and they were now your responsibility. They also came with their butts signed. All the little kids I knew thought this was strange and disturbing, but no one said much about it and you tend to just go with the flow as a child. Today, this is THE doll to have:

I never really babied my dolls as a child. I fed them sparingly and changed their clothes only on occasion, but I did take them with me on all my adventures. I dragged them by their arms over the rocks and through the woods. If we (me and my older sister) had to hop a fence, we threw them over first and they calmy waited for us to come over next. They went on the train with us and to the pool; we fed them cheese doodles. They swung from overgrown grapevines and bravely climbed all the big rocks with us, never once complaining. And of course, they were there to offer emotional support when my mom yelled us to “just sit still and be quiet, before I completely lose my mind thank you &#*$%.”

That’s why I love these guys – they’re adventure dolls!

 

                                                                                                                                                              photos courtesy: blablakids

Happy Adventures!

The Early Days of Louis Vuitton

Sometimes it really is all about the packaging

 

Louis Vuitton Trunks now in our possession (probably very temporarily) downstairs.

According to my research, Louis Vuitton made the first (commercially, at least) flat topped trunk that could be stacked, thus easing transportability of items and saving space. This was in 1858. Prior to that, traveling trunks were rounded to promote water runoff, and just a tad awkward to travel with (read: pain in the butt)

Born in Jura, France, Louis Vuitton moves to Paris when he’s just 14. At first a mere apprentice layetier (trunk maker) to prominent households, Napoleon III soon catches wind of his talents and appoints Vuitton as Layetier to his wife, Empress Eugénie de Montijo.

After that, everything pretty much falls into place for Louis Vuitton.

Needless to say he is wildly successful, and other avaricious luggage makers begin producing imitation knock-offs. (see, people were crappy back then too, all you nostalgiacs) It’s Louis Vuitton’s reaction to this unfortunate but predictable situation that leads to the now famous logo and burgeoning of brand recognition.

To protect against the duplication of his look, he changes the Trianon design to a beige and brown stripes design in 1876.  But that’s not enough. In 1888, he introduces the Damier Canvas pattern bearing a logo that reads "marque L. Vuitton déposée", which translates into "L. Vuitton registered trademark".

In 1885, the company opens its first store in London on Oxford Street, seen brandished here on their cart.

In the courtyard of the Vuitton workshops in Asnières, Paris, c. 1888

In 1892, Louis Vuitton dies, and the company's management passes to his son, Georges.

In 1896, the company launches the signature (and now famous) Monogram Canvas and made the worldwide patents on it. A combination of quatrefoils and flowers and the LV monogram were based on the trend of using Japanese and Oriental designs in the late Victorian era. The patents prove to be successful in stopping counterfeiting and the signature look of branding was born.

In 1901 The Louis Vuitton company pushes the stackability idea a step further and introduces The Steamer Bag - a smaller piece of luggage designed to be kept inside Louis Vuitton luggage trunks- a concept employed by travelers all over.

(Not missing a beat, felines everywhere ran with this “nesting” idea and adapted the trunks as convenient and stylish sleeping locations.)

Read more about Louis Vuitton and his legendary trunks in this great book we have both in the store and on our website: Louis Vuitton: 100 Legendary Trunks

 Happy Traveling!

Eco-nography: the medium is the message

Do you know that stationary company Snow & Graham? (they make some really nice cards and we have some of those products here at The Paris Market), well, the woman who founded that company, Amy Graham Stigler, is now the designer at Smock Paper! And they are responsible for this beautifully designed paper right here:

Smock Paper is this great printing company located in Syracuse, New York. And they're actually the first and only print shop in the USA to offer printing on luxury bamboo paper --- which they developed with the help of a historic European paper mill.

Yeah!

They describe bamboo paper like this:

"It’s extremely soft, luxuriously thick, and elegantly textured. It’s also perfect for letterpress. Essentially, imagine the highest quality cotton paper. Now imagine something even prettier and without the pesticides used in cotton production."

This is a paper company that is doing everything right. Evidenced in their use of bamboo paper which has a much lighter footprint on the planet and their use of vegetable based inks and low VOC inks. Go here to learn more about Bamboo and why it's so great for the environment.

After that, stop by The Paris Market and get some really nice paper that's really nice to our planet.
You can send it through your letterpress, or your typewriter, or your (ugh) modern printer. You can line some shelves or boxes, wrap some gifts...OH! we also have this great book in the store too, Wallpaper Projects, that you can glean some inspiration from as well.

We can all feel good when beautiful things aren't produced through damaging means. Hopefully these stories of people making beautiful things in a beautiful way will keep popping up. And this will be the first of many I can blog about.

a small sampling of what we got in today...

see you in the store!

God Bless America

 a little love in type.

 

Have fun rooting around in the letterpress type we have downstairs sometime.