Chez Isabelle

Shiny versus Bohemian...

After 6 months of hard work on the French Riviera used to come 6 months of traveling and exploring. For many years I collected a variety of silverware that I used in many different ways. I would use a teapot for tea, but also as a vase and things like this.  After too many flea markets, antiquaries and brocantes, I added anything that I found along the way. And when I came back home, I would put it in a corner like a pirate kept his treasure.

Then my bohemian life stopped in Savannah. I learned that when silver is placed on the table it has to be shiny! Whatever the celebration is, from the mint  julep cup to the tiny little coffee spoon, silver is the touch of elegance.

So a few times a year, by night, I display all my silverware on my kitchen table, put everybody to bed and polish my memories. 

It's for me a therapy to respect and reflect on the past, appreciate the present and enjoy the future. And if your table looks sophisticated, the food already tastes good!

A bientot, Isabelle.

Photo from Elegant Entertaining, a book of seasonal recipes from the American Ambassador's Residence in Paris, (!!) and on our website!

Have a great weekend mes amis, next week we'll be doing a post on inspired gift giving and wrapping up Valentine's Day for good. See you soon!

 

All is Fair in Love and War...

not really, but they do both feature...

Gifts in highly decorated packages

Strategy

Warpaint

  

Statements of Intent

 Weaponry; Cupid's Arrow is on the right.

Avian Symbology

  

And finally, capture.

A Crafters Guide: Valentines Gift Boxes

How you wrap a gift can be just as special as the gift itself. 

I am a big stickler on presentation, and like to flex my creative muscles whenever gift giving is involved. Valentines Day is possibly one of my favorite holidays for gifts, especially for my love of all things french which translates to all things romantic. I had the opportunity this year to create a collection of Valentines themed gift boxes to sell in our wonderful shop! I had so much fun using various antique french papers, photos, and trim to craft up some truly unique creations to share with our customers.

This Valentines Day, try giving your special someone an extra dose of something sweet by creating a unique gift box that will be treasured for many love filled days to come. 

Supplies Needed:

blank gift box (found at most craft stores)

paint brushes

craft glue

ribbon

glitter

fabric

lace trim

vintage paper (try old newspaper, or magazine ads)

vintage jewelry

antique photos

 Below are some examples of the gift boxes I created. 

When crafting your own gift box let your imagination run wild. Try using photos of famous vintage couples, or include memorabilia of you and your loved ones own personal story. Tickets from a concert you and your honey enjoyed, or an old love note you wrote when you first started dating are great things to add to your creation. 

Make your box a sentimental keepsake to harbor loves new adventures!

These lovely handcrafted gift boxes are available at The Paris Market store and in our online shop. Swing by and pick one up today, or create your own for an extra love boost that will not go unnoticed.

Visit my own corner of the web world and take a peak at more Valentines Day craft ideas.

www.strawberrymoth.com

May your holiday be filled with lots of sweetness and snuggling.

xo, Jessica

Pensées D'amour

Maybe I am going a little nuts on the love theme this year. I think I get until Valentine's Day and then I have to cut it out. I can't really help it though, I come to work and the place is all decked out in pink and red and there's giant heart lollipops placed on romantic tables set for two, there's handcrafted valentine boxes with ribbons around it and little packages of writing paper encouraging you to put all your pensées d'amour down in writing. It's always romantic here and anyways, as Saul Bellow pointed out:

"Here we write well when we expose frauds and hypocrites. We are great at counting warts and blemishes and weighing feet of clay. In expressing love, we belong among the undeveloped countries." 

Alors, I bring you John Keats - (I know yesterday I said I thought of him more for his musings on beauty than on love, but that was before I broke into his love letters to Fanny Brawn:

To Fanny Brawne:

I cannot exist without you - I am forgetful of every thing but seeing you again - my life seems to stop there - I see no further. You have absorb'd me.

I have a sensation at the present moment as though I were dissolving ...I have been astonished that men could die martyrs for religion - I have shudder'd at it - I shudder no more - I could be martyr'd for my religion - love is my religion - I could die for that - I could die for you. My creed is love and you are its only tenet - you have ravish'd me away by a power I cannot resist.

- John Keats 

snippets from another longer letter to Fanny:

"I never felt my Mind repose upon anything with complete and undistracted enjoyment - upon no person but you. When you are in the room my thoughts never fly out of window: you always concentrate my whole senses."

And how could I leave out the French? This one, mes amis, is a little on the racy side. It's a good thing these two were already married. I probably would have stayed away from this guy thinking him a little too amped up.

August 15, 1846

I will cover you with love when next I see you, with caresses, with ecstasy.  I want to gorge you with all the joys of the flesh, so that you faint and die.  I want you to be amazed by me, and to confess to yourself that you had never even dreamed of such transports...When you are old, I want you to recall those few hours, I want your dry bones to quiver with joy when you think of them.

Gustave Flaubert, to his wife Louise Colet.

 Hopefully, this gets the juices flowing and we can all prove Saul Bellow wrong. Let us expound on love! Or as Carl Sandburg said:

"Let joy kill you! keep away from the little deaths."

A few quotes on Love

I never get tired of reading quotes - especially on love; it's a subject that raises a variety of reactions and a million permutations therein. It's a little like talking about God. There's a lot you can say, but no one really knows anything, so its fun to poll the audience and see what's out there. I've posted a few quotes that run the gamut on love -to help usher in Valentine's spirit and get us in the mood for romantic cogitations. I left out Keats, who I remember more for his words on beauty than his words on love, and a bunch of others who weren't resonating with me at the moment, but tell me anyway, whose sublime words have I missed? Who hits the spot for you?

If you like quips and quotes you may also like this fun little book we have in the shop right now - Words on Love.

New Arrivals for Valentine's Day

Here's a few ideas from Cupid to get things going...

Don't forget to stop by after 6 and kick off the weekend with some good shopping. Plus a free frozen hot chocolate!

Shopping after-hours at The Paris Market

Bonsoir Mes Amis!

Tomorrow we will be open until 9pm! And we will be for the first Friday of every month hereafter. This is exciting news for all us working girls who normally have to relegate shopping to the weekend. We also have a special treat for those of you stopping in after 6. It's our famous Frozen Hot Chocolate! I got to drink our prop after the photo and they are really delicious!!! Just a little something to perk you up after a long day and keep your shopping buzz humming.

See you tomorrow evening!

Objets d'Amour

Just a little homage to Objects of Love:

Tokens of Love: 

Gold ring, Lock of hair from Marie Antoinette, Love letter from the novelist Edith Wharton to her younger lover - Morton Fullerton, Vintage locket, and the ever-ephemeral "message in the bottle"

Valentine's Day Windows

So, you saw the windows-in-progress shots of the worker bees / elves Shelby and Kelsey. Now we bring you the windows in finished form!

We've got lots of great stuff in the store right now to get you in the mood. I'll put together some pics soon so you can do a little "blog-shopping" And don't worry if Cupid fell short on his archery skills this year, you can always celebrate with your buddies. Like at Lulu's Chocolate Bar with sipping chocolate, a few chocolate martinis, and a slice of the Jameson Walnut Pie. YUM.

toodles mes amis,

lauren d.

Working Girl Sweethearts

It's our favorite duo - Shelby Massey and Kelsey Garrity-Riley back in action at The Paris Market; captured most superbly by one of my favorite photographers - Lily Lewin. You can check out more of her work here. But for now, enjoy some behind the scenes shots of the making of our Valentine Window. Even sweet things take a little bit of sweat.

Another post soon to follow with some in-the-window closeups...

Toodle-oo mes amis, 

lauren d.