Pimp my moleskine

You all probably know about the legendary Moleskine notebooks. Those lovely italian notebooks are having a revival now, but they in the late 19th to early 20th centuries, and were used by artists such as Van Gogh, Hemingway or Pablo Picasso.Now you can find them in almost every bookshop the paper quality is amazing, but I tend to find them a bit boring. So, here is my first attempt to a DIY Tutorial. So there you go:

You need:

1. A Moleskine notebook - They are available in many different sizes. 2. some organza ribbon 3. A star shaped perforator 4. A Leather Hole Punch Tool 5. A pair of scissors 6. Some washi-tape

Sneak peek - purple beauties

Hello,Today is such a lovely sunny morning in Hamburg! I wanted to post my new flower arrangement, in the new beautiful vases I bought last week at "Lieblingszimmer" and at Palais XIII- but I am running out of time and I still need time to prepare the pictures. So here you can get a glimpse of these purple beauties, and maybe guess which flowers I used... Speak to you soon.

Tea Party by Miss O.

I followed the instruction from the invitation, and went to Miss O's place at five o'clock on Sunday for tea.To go with the tea - I prepared some cucumber stars in the afternoon. The dress code had been perfectly respected: red, blue and white with some floral print. and obviously, we had some pimm's, to pimp up the tea! It was a very fine tea party indeed.

My favourite room

Lieblingszimmer (favourite room) is a fantastic furniture shop in Hamburg Eppendorf. It is a bit hidden from the main road on the Ludolfstrasse 60. The shop sells antic furnitures and accessoires in pastel colours. From gustavian grey to pale green in the provencal style. You almost have the impression to be in the middle of a french vintage patisserie surrounded by beautiful macarons.The antic furnitures either have kept their original patina or have been renovated in the workshop. The total surface of the shop is 170 m2 and you can find almost every kind of furnitures - from bedside tables to cupboards or vintage vases. I especially like the vintage kitchen table. It is the perfect place to go if you want some furnitures with a soul but still at an affordable price.

Tea Party Invitation

Yesterday I received a very mysterious letter - I have been invited to a Tea Party - The old English way - red, blue, white - it's always right.The invitation comes from Miss O. and is very beautiful. It says that I can bring something to eat - something sweet like biscuits, cupcakes or macarons -  or something savory like small sandwiches or finger food. I also have to respect the dress code - I can only wear red, blue and white - and no trousers. In order to seek for inspiration I made myself a little present: The lovely Vintage Tea Party book I have been wanting to buy for ages by Angel Adoree. Thank you Miss O. and see you tomorrow.

My first award!

I got my first awards today! youhou! I got nominated by the charming Annastella from the greek blog Decofairy. Thank you!I got the "very inspiring blogger award".

 The rules are the following when you receive an award from a fellow blogger:

The rules: 1- Link back to the blogger who nominated you.  2- Paste the award image on your blog.  3- Tell 7 facts about yourself. 4- Nominate 15 other blogs that you would like to give the award to. (I’m going to reduce this number.) 5- Contact the bloggers that you have chosen and let them know about the award. I have done 1 and 2. and here comes 3:

Here are 7 random facts about myself:

1. I love collections. In my flat, I have a globe collection and a collection of vases. That is probably why I love pinterest - for me it is really a virtual treasure hunting tool. If I could I would also collect animals, and adopt another cat and a dog - but as I live in a flat at the moment, I will better not and stay with one lovely cat.

2. I love danish movies, danish design, the danish language and Copenhagen.

3. My favorite fabrics are from Liberty of London and Marimekko.

4. I am completely crazy about Japan. I love the design, the patterns and the sewing books. In fact I think Danish and Japanese design have a lot in common.

5. I am part of the organising committee of Hamburg International Women - a group of International Women that started a year and a half ago and already counts more than 1.000 members  and is very inspiring.

6. I love gazpacho and cold soups in general.

7. I love storms.

Here are the blogs I would like to give the awards to - I am going to nominate 5:

 1. Caroline Biel  -because I find her photos are very poetic.

2. Cachemire & Soie - because of the French touch.

3. Griottes - because it so creative and because I love the books of Emilie as well.

4. Melocoton et boule d'or - because I love it some much that I ordered one print from the blog.

5. Little Fabrics - because the DIY projects are really beautiful and using my favorite fabrics.

Sick at home

today, I had to stay home with a nasty sinusitis. Exactly when the weather starts being summery...At least I am not completely alone. My little Cheddar is keeping me company, even if the weather seems to make him pretty tired...

Ploughman's Dinner

A ploughman's lunch is a cold snack or meal originating in the United Kingdom, served in pubs, composed of cheese, bread .Other common additions are grapes. It is usually served with beer. I decided to call my version ploughman's dinner (I'm sure you can guess why).

To make it a bit more international, I chose French cheeses and wine, and some German fruit mustard. The cheese biscuits (instead of bread come directly from the UK). It is perfect for a meal in front of the TV. Here are some pictures and the music to go with: Land of Hope and Glory.

red roses and balkan music

I transformed my kitchen in a studio again this week end.I seam to be going through a rose phase at the moment. I found some very pretty dark red roses on my way home on Friday and I think they just look gorgeous. What do you think? I also pretty excited, because I am going to see two of my favorite bands tonight: Boban i Marko Markovic and Fanfare Ciacorlia - during the Balkan Brass Battle at the Museum der Arbeit open air. Maybe, this will bring you in the balkan mood too:

Nordlys - scandinavian design in Hamburg

You know I like Hamburg because it is so design orientated. I also like it because it has a lot of Scandinavian influences. In some small shops like Nordlys, I have got the impression to be in the city centre of Copenhagen! This very pretty shop is situated in the Görnerstrasse 4, in Hamburg, Eppdendorf.They sell some  pretty brands such as Bloomingville, Green Gate , Liv or Rice. You can also find a large selection of ribbans - that are really gorgeous as well aa a selection of pretty clothes. You can also drink a a nice Milchkaffee in the shop. The good thing is that the shop is also open on the Sunday. You can't miss the danish flag at the entrance

When you go - you have to have a look at the back of the shop to see the two beautiful cats of the shop owner having a nap in their wooden basket through the window

Görnerstrasse 4