Tuesday, 31 December 2013 by Irene Hoofs
Just like that it's a wrap on 2013! But before I (Zara) open the next chapter of the Bloesem book in the new year, let's do a recap of 5 of my favorite posts of 2013. ~Zara S.
1) The World according to Frieda
Photography that is best described as dream-like by the ever so talented Frieda Mellema.
Read the entire post here.
2) Face to Face: A New Designers Profile with Burojet
The husband and wife duo that formed Burojet has popped up a fair bit on Bloesem this year, purely based on the fact that we admire their aesthetic sense and overall design talent!
Jorine Oosterhoff, one half of the Burojet duo is also responsible for the paper flowers and bubble vases you see here.
Read the entire post here.
For more Face-to-face with other creatives click here or here for more designer visits.
3) A Tribute to JNielsen
The lovely lady behind our downloadable Christmas wrapping paper designs this year is Jessica Nielsen, a.k.a print and pattern extraordinaire.
Read the entire post here.
4) Shop Stop: SLA in Amsterdam
The slow and healthy living movement at it's best in the SLA shop in Amsterdam.
We love shop stops and we hope you do too. Hoping we can do more snooping around in some of our neighbours' shops in our new home at Tiong Bahru, Singapore.
Read the entire post here.
5) 101 Characters at Piet Hein Eek
It is all thanks to this genius competiton that we discovered Maaike of mydeer.nl. Not only was her entry to the competiton beautiful, so is her home, especially after she put up her Christmas decorations, which she shared with us recently.
Maaike was also one of our instagram mommies!
Read the entire post here.
Going through the entire year of posts to pick these 5 out really reminds me how fast time flies. I hope everyone is having a great time with your loved ones. Even if you have to spend it alone or far away from your family this year, make sure to give them a call and tell them how much you love them. Let the people closest to our hearts know how much we appreciate them!
Happy Holidays!
Saturday, 21 December 2013 by Irene Hoofs
There is really no excuse to not have beautiful looking presents under the tree after seeing this. Wrapping is serious business. And we will be using these gorgeous B&W gift tags from almost makes perfect the lines will bring happy conversations.
As precious as the real stuff...
Shadow art, genius.
I love having a look at other people's studios, it's almost becoming an obsession. Here's a beautiful one belonging to Emma of Emmadime. It even comes with a really cute video! (Sucker for cute videos too!)
If you also caught the bug and love having a peek at the spaces of other creatives, i suggest this. (Don't worry, does not cause drowsiness.)
For the Birds!
Congrats with your new website ladies!
Don't miss the 12 Days of Gifts by Itunes. The presents don't have to end on the 25th of Dec.
Have any of you donated your hair for cancer? I was thinking about it and found this.
It's just 5 sleeps till Christmas, have you gotten all your shopping done and your presents wrapped? I haven't! and I am panicked to say the least. Bloesem will be taking a much needed holiday break as well, but Monday we will be here with a final post for 2013! xo Zara
Friday, 20 December 2013 by Irene Hoofs
Perhaps you wonder why I am sharing an instagram collage like this today ... well I wanted to give you a sneak peek of the new BloesemLAB ... my new to open studio space in Singapore ... or to be more precise in Tiong Bahru.
It is the best Christmas gift a girl like me could wish for. After having worked from home for almost 10 years it was about time to move out!
And Singapore being as wonderful as it is I started searching for the perfect location ... one thing was for sure it had to be in the funky neighborhood Tiong Bahru. Luckily we found something pretty fast. Construction and renovation were done during the last couple of weeks and now it's time to start the fun part ... Decorating!
Zara and I will keep you posted via our instagram feeds just like we did before!
#BinstaGood
.. Zaara S. on instagram
.. Bloesem on instagram
Thursday, 19 December 2013 by Irene Hoofs
A few weeks back, we received a (very generous) package from SCAAPI, full of their christmas ornaments. They come in a range of colored wool that you thread through a wooden base. Simple, no too over the top and gives a really natural feel! It also comes in a few different designs, some of the wooden bases are circular and there are others which look like a leaf, or a star.
Like kids in a candy store, we laid out all the colors and started to pick out the few that we each loved the most. This was our first shoot in the studio with Sheng, a photographer, and also a friend of mine (= Zara), and he had a very strong bias for the blue wool which explains its appearance in 2 of the 3 photos.
With so many colors to choose from it's really up to your own style and preference as to how you would decorate with them. My favorite though, are the soft pink, brown and white ones. A soft and delicate palette that somehow reminds me of snow and the coldness we lack here in Singapore. Thank you SCAAPI for the gorgeous ornaments, not only were they a breeze to photograph, taking the photos also really got us in the mood for Christmas! (I mean if we could arrange for more Christmas-y weather here, that would be the ideal)
Images by Sheng Yang and Bloesem
.. SCAAPI
Monday, 16 December 2013 by Irene Hoofs
Another home for us to drool over and gain some ideas for Christmas decorating from is the home of My Deer!
One major thing we spotted is how unlike most homes with just one big tree in the living room, Maaike from My Deer has a few mini ones, placed throughout the house. And they are all perfectly placed in different types of clear jars. Love the variation between those that have the tops of the trees out of the jar and those that have the entire tiny christmas tree in them. A great alternative for families or people who can't or prefer not to have a huge tree in their homes, that they have to lug home from wherever they have bought it.
Instead of a lot of ornaments, she has gone for using mostly natural elements to spread the christmas cheer. Like the clipboard with the note and dried flower, so simple and yet so beautiful.
We hope you got some ideas from My Deer, we sure did! (more inspiration and ideas after the break)
Still looking for some pretty presents for this holiday season? How about these lovely ceramics from Finland! Functional tableware designed for a modern home.
VAJA is based in an idyllic Finish town called Loviisa and the collection is designed by Henna Lamberg and Fred Owrenin. Traditional prints, clean lines and pretty colors.
I know what will be on my Christmas shortlist this year.. their cute light blue milk jug, don't you just love these!
xo Christine – House of C
... Shop VAJA here
... Stockists
