BODIE and FOU Gift guide Part 3: Christmas Gifts for her

Here is BODIE and FOU Gift guide Part 3: Amazing gifts for amazing women...nothing less, nothing more....And if you are dreaming of having something gorgeous on your arm like La Trop but can't quite afford it yourself, why don't you put together your Wish list on BODIE and FOU and get your other half to get it for you....
At the end of the day helping him to find the gift that is going to make you the happiest woman in the World this Christmas, will be a massive relief for him :-)

From top left clockwise:

1. La Tropezienne tote bag: £169.99
2. Leather covered notebook: £20 only

3. Any books from Edition Paumes: £20

4. Handmade Grass vase: from £29.50

5. French Bath & Body care by Cote Bastide: from £8

6.The Old Oak's Last Dream print by Missemai: £145

7. London, Paris, NYC map print by Famille Summerbelle: £45

8. French mercure candlestick: £36 each

The email from Irish Tatler that set me on fire today

So today, between thousands of things to do, I took 5 min to write a press release about La Tropezienne leather tote bag (tote leather bag not sure how it goes...) and within 2 minutes, I got a wonderful email from the Editor of Irish Tatler magazine (yes exactly!) who wrote:

"Can you tell me where I can find this exact bag on the site so that I can order it? It’s the bag I’ve been waiting to find forever!"

It took me a split second to answer and another split second for my energy level to hit the roof! I was on fire and I can't believe how many bags we've sold in a week!
Now, I really really like this leather wrist wrap with studs from Clare Vivier, the designer of La Trop...it costs around £49....What do you think? Shall we go for it??

DIY Bird pegs Advent calendar

Now that our Advent calendar by Noix de Coc' has sold out (I should really have kept one for myself!), I'm thinking of doing my own like the one below but with our Bird Clothes pegs rather than wooden pegs - because of course between Xmas orders and our family move next week, I have plenty of time on my hands to do this (ah yeah at 5am, just before going for a run....ca va pas la tete!!)

More beautiful Advent calendars on Eco-stylista

A Day at BODIE and FOU Via The Beat That My Heart Skipped

The Beat That My Heart Skipped just featured A Day with BODIE and FOU.....
I felt out of breath just reading it! Can't believe I'm squeezing so much in a day...and for the records, I actually don't run every day but this was done the day I went for a run in the morning.
Rohini, the Editor of The Beat That My Heart Skipped was so nice and complimentary, that I think I'm going to print it as a positive reminder of how far we've come and read it when I feel down, tired and I feel like giving up....
I thought it was interesting to show behind-the-scenes for a change and I love all the others 'A Day with' Rohini did with Deborah Bowness and Mibo so here is ours....

A Day With… Bodie and Fou

I am delighted to introduce the inspirational Karine Kong [FOU] of BODIE AND FOU. Karine is going to introduce herself and you will soon discover what an amazing woman she is.

I can’t even begin to describe how talented Karine is to juggle being a successful business woman, a creative thinker, run her own warehouse, do her own PR and be a mother of the most adorable little girl Mila – and all with seemingly effortless efficiency, I really admire her. So without further ado, I will now hand you over to the wonderful one-half of BODIE AND FOU.

Oh – and BODIE AND FOU have kindly agreed to offer our readers a 10% discount on any purchases till the 8th of December. Just enter TBH09 at the checkout. What lovely ladies!

A day at BODIE and FOU…we like it busy, inspiring, exhilarating and it often is…

BODIE and FOU is a chic online boutique based in North London, UK but we ship regularly orders around the world. As we don’t have a brick & mortar shop – we thought it would be fun to show you what’s going on at BODIE and FOU behind-the-scenes…so please come in…

First, a little introduction about us…. We are two French sisters: Elodie and myself, Karine and we launched BODIE and FOU 4 years ago when Elodie was still living in London [she is now based in Barcelona... yeah how lucky is that!].

Our company is named after us: Bodie has been Elodie’s nickname since she was little and Fou is the nickname that Steve, my New-Zealander partner and father of my daughter Mila Sienna gave me when we met because he thought I was mad…Well it should have been ‘FOLLE’ but his French wasn’t great at the time so FOU was it. As Elodie moved to Spain last year, she is now less involved in the day-to-day running of the business but we heavily use Skype and emails to keep in touch. We also go to trade shows in Paris and get together regularly in London, Barcelona or our house in France. I’ve lost a sister but I’ve won a brother as Francois, the youngest of our family joined us last January as Warehouse Manager.

So here is a day at BODIE and FOU… 6.20 am. Stumbled out of bed and go for a run. I don’t especially enjoy running but I’m all over the place if I don’t, and my gym is fab… a bit like a Manhattan loft with fabulous natural light and brick walls. Back home at 7.15 am to find the two loves of my life having breakfast. Steve jumps in the shower while I get Mila dressed for school and answer emails from overseas customers. I get ready in 20 min, have breakfast or pick up something yummy from Brook’s.

8.30am. Heading to the our warehouse in North West London which is 20 minutes away. I drive or cycle with my brand new pink single gear bike depending on weather and meetings ahead.

9.00am. I’m at my desk ready to spend the day the head down on my beloved Mac Book Pro. I work from a very old and distressed wooden door which I love. It’s a lot bigger than your average desk which enables me to display things I like and it has a story to it. Years ago I had read about a beautiful Swedish apartment in Living Etc and the owner was using an old door that she had painted with white gloss paint as a dinner table. I thought it was a brilliant idea so, as soon as I saw this gorgeous distressed door in the street, I knew exactly what to do with it! My ‘desk’ started its new life as a coffee table at home and it was a great to display a few beautiful interiors books and candles and gave my home a little boho feel. Then we launched BODIE and FOU and it got upgraded to the rank of office desk with a pair of oak trestles. It now sits against a wall in our warehouse and makes me feel like I work from home.

The BODIE and FOU warehouse…. We are very lucky to have a fabulous space. It has white walls, high ceilings and heaps of natural light. I sit at the far end from the dispatch and customer service teams by our lounge/meeting area so it’s a bit quieter.

In my corner, I put together a mood board with photos from my daughter Mila and my niece Lily, pages torn out from magazines and other bits and pieces and great examples of typography and design that inspire me.

We started the business from home four years ago, then a year later the business was growing so fast that we had to move to a warehouse in Bristol. It was in a great location but our warehouse was incredibly cold and dusty so it’s nice now to have a space that is light, airy and warm and to be back in London!

After making a pot of herbal tea, I checked the orders we received on BODIE and FOU and our sister site WhereDidYouBuyThat.com and then catch up quickly with my Twitter friends. I love Twitter… It can be time-consuming but if you know how to switch off when you need to, it’s actually a fantastic network of nice, friendly and helpful people and we got some great PR and success stories on the back of it. When we launched the Paris map print and the London map print, they sold out on pre-orders alone following a tweet.

Quick meeting with Francois our warehouse manager to go over orders, customer queries and stock levels and with Olive or Katie to go over press samples and high-res pics to send to various magazines and things to sort out.

Then I go down my list of things to do. I usually go through my emails and answer/action things straight away, send thank you emails and post happy things that are happening on our blog like a nice email we received from Marie-Claire Maison out of the blue or some new gorgeous designs we’ve added to the site As we are now getting very busy for Christmas, we’ve added a lot of beautiful gifts and things for the home which we need to tell people about so I spent a good hour writing a press release about exciting new products like the Japanese books by Paumes and send it out to the World!

Throughout the day, I will liaise with Jim, our amazing web designer to finalise new functions like the Wish List we have added on our new website and I will skype Steve, Elodie or my friend Mandy who also have an e-commerce website to pick their brains on website design and marketing ideas. Lunch time. Have a quick break to eat something [trying to be healthy....doesn't always work)] watching Corto sleeping or chewing.

After lunch. Switch off from everything to focus on things that are less creative but need to be done: SEO, action points from meeting with our Google Analytics agency, look into ad hoc marketing requests, cross-promotions with partners and bookkeeping. We outsourced our bookkeeping to file our VAT, Staff wages etc, but I pay the invoices myself to know exactly what’s going on. After checking with Francois that everything is running smoothly and that our orders are ready for our daily collections from Royal Mail and Interlink, I work on our E-news either for BODIE and FOU or WhereDidYouBuyThat.com to announce offer of the month on WDBT, competitions and send VIP code to all our customers so they can get 10% OFF each month on BODIE and FOU. If I have enough time, will pitch a feature to magazines….Photographer Michael Paul came to our house in France to shoot it for a New-Zealander magazine. It will be featured at the end of the year when the kiwi Summer starts and because we are working together to sell the photos to other magazines in Europe for a Spring release, I cant really show them but they are gorgeous!

5.20pm. Leave work to pick up Mila from her baby-sitter’s. Once we get home, I do a few more emails before Steve arrives from work. I spent the first three years working non-stop until 2am during weekdays and weekend when the business was growing but not enough to hire the right people. Now our business is in a good place so I no longer work in the evening or the weekend except around Christmas time where our volume of orders triple. It took me a long time to get the balance right but now I’m fairly on top of things [give or take a stressful day] so it’s time to give some quality time to my little family for the simple reason that if BODIE and FOU is ever going to be massive, I want to be able to share its success with the people I love.

Et voila!

I almost forgot.....If you like our blog, feel free to vote for us here, thanks!

Celia Birtwell collection

Muse of David Hockney and Sixties fashion legend Ossie Clarke, Celia Birtwell is one of the most influential textiles designers of her generation. She has been described as the face that launched a thousand prints and her contribution to the world of interiors has been phenomenal. Celia first started a textiles design course in 1956 at Salford School of Art then she moved to Notting Hill in 1961, lived in some colourful establishment (I like the euphemism from her bio :-), socialising with the swinging sixties bohemian crowd but it's not until she started designing for Ossie Clak in 1965 that she gained international critical acclaim as a textiles designer. While Ossie lived the rock'n roll life, Celia drew her inspiration from a more romantic and classical world such as Vita Sackville-West's Garden, Leon Bakst's costumes for the Ballets Russes, Picasso and Matisse.
Recently, one of her designs: 'Pretty Woman' has been re-edited in a range of beautiful gifts for women and I'm super excited to have these on our sister site because I think they will make wonderful gifts for my mother-in-law who is her keen gardener. She has one wonderful garden in New-Zealand and I'm always very admirative how everything looks so beautiful and green!
I wish I had green fingers....I've just managed to keep alive the beautiful orchid my brother and his girlfriend Julie gave me for my birthday last March and then my mum arrived and thought it was a fake one....it shows how much faith she has in my gardening skills!
I really like the Celia Birtwell range. It's so pretty and feminine and I wouldn't mind getting hold of the metal tin that comes with the Celia Birtwell Kitchen Drawer Kit, look at this! Isn't it gorgeous??? I can feel a collection of metal boxes coming along. I saw someone displaying lots of metal tins to store tea bags in their kitchen in one of the Kitchen books from Paumes and it looked terrific! Anyway I hope you like the range too!

All available from here

La Tropezienne & Messenger tote bags now at BODIE and FOU

About two weeks ago, I was pondering whether we should stock the gorgeous La Tropezienne tote bag on BODIE and FOU. Usually Elodie and I just follow our instincts and our hearts and the more excited we get, the more we know that it's going to be a hit like it happened with the beautiful prints by Famille Summerbelle but this time we were branching out into fashion rather than design and decoration....The feedback you kindly posted to answer my question was really wonderful and warm, which I think it's amazing given that we are all glued behind our computers so I just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart.
La Tropezienne bag is now available from B&F and I just would like to say to the 5 customers who ordered one today from Norway, France, Switzerland and England, that I really hope you will love your bag as much as I love mine....
I can't tell you how much my heart was beating the first time I laid my eyes on La Trop and why since then, I became totally infatuated with my handbag. It's a beautiful bag with no frills or bling-bling except that I probably love it for all these reasons....
In all its simplicity, this bag is a wonderful reminder that things do not have to be complicated to be beautiful and to last.
We've also added the gorgeous Messenger bag which may well be on my Christmas list!

BODIE and FOU Gift guide Part 2: Christmas Stocking Fillers

Here is BODIE and FOU Gift guide Part 2: Gorgeous Christmas Stocking fillers....basically lots of little gifts that don't cost the earth and will make the recipients very happy!

From top left clockwise:

1. Charlie & Lola soother: £5.95

2. Charlie & Lola plasters: £3.95
3. Bird Clothes pegs: £9.50 for a box of 25 BEST SELLER!

4. Blogs & Coffee art print: £20

5. Familia cup: £12.50

6. Lilliput robot: £19.50

7. Cote Bastide Massage glove: £7

8. Doudou Poppy: £15 Buy 2 & get 10% off (as mothers we thought you would appreciate this, especially if you lose one which as you would know, could be a real drama for the kids!)

9. Rubber vase: £20

10. Egg cube holder: £16

Gifts for men at BODIE and FOU

Here is our Gifts for men Christmas guide to help you find unusual, stylish and practical for all the men in your life (the grown-up ones!...we will do a special guide for the little ones soon...).

From top left clockwise:
1. Type map print: £38
2. Cognac glasses: £32.50 for a set of 2. Buy 2 sets, save 10%, buy 4 sets save 15%! (see review in Shortlist magazine)
3. Sunbeam car Tin replica: £19.50
4. Bugatti Volo toaster, black: £165
5. Move card holder: £34.50
6. Move key holder: £21.99
7. Mirror wall clock: £35.50
8. Little Robot: £7.50
9. Chef's Knife made of Japonese steel : £70
10. Soft anthracite bath towel: from £22.49

fashion fashion fashion.....Vivienne Westwood's Anglomania love

Given the weather, I really don't feel like going out today but I've just seen these gorgeous frocks from Vivienne Westwood's Anglomania range at Urban Outfitters and I really feel like I have to move my lazy bum and check them out! sigh....

Via Designer's Block

By Graziela: A mother & daughter adventure and a little house tour....

The Award-winning ABC poster is flying off the shelves today and it made me realized that I totally forgot to finish the draft post I had started about By Graziela and the two great ladies behind this label: the legendary Graziela Preiser and her daughter Nina Nagel.

Graziela Preiser's iconic designs were hugely popular in the 1970’s in Germany. Like a few other textiles & print designers and design houses that were fashionable in the 1950s to 1970s (i.e. Marrimekko, Cole and Son and Barbara Hulanicki's Biba to name a few), Graziela and her daughter decided to dig into the archives from 1972 and and revisits the 1,2,3-design - which has a timeless appeal - and features cheeky, big billed ducks, retro owls and numbers in a refreshed colour palette.

It’s a timely rebirth of the brand, as those who cuddled up with these beautiful bed linens in their childhood can now pass on their love of the range to their own children and given the recent success of the ABC poster (designed in 1970!!) and the Farm poster (designed in 1977), it's pretty obvious that not only vibrant colours and unique designs still appeal to parents but more to the point, great designs last a lifetime!
For obvious reasons, I also love the fact that By Graziela is a mother/daughter business. If you can make it work, working with family is great and if I go over all the great jobs I had in advertising, the film and music industry over the past few years then really, the past four years working with Elodie and now my brother plus our mum who comes to help us at Christmas each year (and bakes yummy WW chocolate cakes at weekends!), have probably be the most enjoyable and the ones feeling the least like work.
Now I couldn't finish this post without showing you Nina's beautiful flat so you could see by yourself how stunning these retro designs look in a contemporary home and in a nursery....
Nina, her husband and their one-year old son (+ two cats) live in a flat which was an old forage warehouse for horses from 1870, and then later was used as a spice warehouse in the later 20th century. As you can see from the photos below, it's a beautiful living space. I really like the brick walls, the metal beams, the original floorboards, the high ceiling, the natural light....ok I will stop, it's a great place..enjoy!

The ABC poster by Graziela is available from here, the Farm poster from here and the bed linens featured in the pic above from here and are available in bed cot size and single bed size.
Now I'm going to start working on the BODIE and FOU gift guide....a plus!

House tour in Amsterdam

This is the house of Karin Gaasterland and Alain Parry, the owners of Balthazar's Keuken - a little crowed restaurant in Amsterdam, where I really want to go, next time we are there.
To these days, Amsterdam remains one of my favourite European cities. It's a beautiful place, unpretentious, family-oriented, charming, hugely inspiring and beautiful to shoot.
Having so many people riding their bicycles definitively add something to the city's atmosphere but it is also a place where you will find a lot of shop and restaurant owners showing a great deal of creativity and individuality in their retail space, unlike all the high-street shops on Oxford Street, London.
When the weather is a bit warmer (it's quite windy there), I would love to go back and also check out this shop. The website doesn't do any justice to the beautiful and unusual lights they have but my friend Gabrielle got her gorgeous lamp from there and she said it was a bit like the Cavern of Ali Baba. She also recommended Anouk Beerents' shop which specialized in beautiful antique mirrors....thinking of it, we will probably need to drive there rather than fly :-)
Karin and Alain's house fascinates me. I'm more often than not, attracted to white interiors, but I can not help being drawn into this family house whose walls have been bravely painted in dark grey, and which somehow, looks welcoming, light and airy....
Don't you think that this house looks incredibly calm and relaxing?
I'm in awe with their kitchen which has almost a Yin and Yang feel to it. On one side, a brick wall is painted in dark grey with dark concrete floors. A large wall clock and a few Tolix chairs also add to a strong masculine, industrial feel but on the other side of the kitchen, everything is toned down by handmade ceramics with organic shapes, honey coloured vintage pine table and natural textured cushions. The same concept has been applied to the bedroom and works wonderfully. Instead of making the room dark and small, the black painted floorboards actually enhance the whole room which has been kept clutter free and softened with a pretty crochet bedspread. I have been told by my lovely Twitter friends that similar rug cows like the one below can be found at Wovenground or from here

I also heart how they've painted the name of their son onto his bedroom's wall...talking about building a child's confidence :-).....this room looks great, simple and very personal.

Now their restaurant, located in the heart of the Jordaan district, is in a converted former Blacksmiths workshop and doesn't lack of style either. Unfortunately I couldn't find decent photos to show you but it's worth checking their website for more information.

If you've been to Amsterdam, fell in love and discovered a beautiful little shop or an amazing cafe, a restaurant or even a nice, contemporary B&B like this one, I would really love to hear from you.
(C) these gorgeous photos are from Hotze Eisma

Show us some love.....

We've entered the Dorset Cereals little blog Awards.....Not that we expect to win anything - we never won a single competition, prize draw or even the lottery in our lives but if you enjoy reading our blog, then maybe you can help us to win this one.....
Show us a bit of love and vote for us by casting your vote HERE ! :-)
merci merci merci

The 2nd issue of Papier Mache is out....

The 2nd issue of Papier Mache is out....This is going to be a lovely Sunday, full of inspiration and creativity....I was totally in love with the first issue and looking at the second issue, I think this is going to be a nice and steady love story... This issue is also available as a pdf so you can print it off and read it in bed....

Have a wonderful, relaxing and inspiring Sunday!

Please Vote for Mila

Last October, I mentioned the casting Next was running in the UK and I totally forgot about it until someone left a comment today so I have entered Mila too and I would be hugely grateful if you could click here to vote for her...
Bises

Talking of which, don't forget to enter our monthly competition to win 3 gorgeous NYC prints by Famille Summerbelle.

Petits Bonheurs...rien que du bonheur

The love of my life is in Milan this weekend, watching New-Zealand Vs Italy with friends who flew from New-York and New-Zealand....yeah that's dedication for you! I joke that I'm a rugby widow but actually I don't mind.
Especially since this weekend I started packing our stuff in prevision of our family move in just about 3 weeks and that if my rugby fan had realized how many interior magazines and books I have and more to the point how many boxes of them he may have to carry, he would have gone mental and force me to throw some away (again!).
So with a light heart, I happily packed all my treasures alone....in peace....in my own time and I'm thinking that I may have to rename the contents of the boxes on my packing list with some kind of secret code...like bank statements/admin stuff instead of interior mags ;-)
However I'm tired. I went to bed last night at 1am and got woken up this morning at 6am by the stupid alarm I had set up the day before to go for a run so I wasn't really planning to write anything but tonight something made me feel really good....
Someone left a really kind comment on the blog and true to her words, went to buy our lovely Advent Calendar.
As usual, I had a sneak peek to find out who left such a lovely comment and I simply fell in love with Claude's blog and her gorgeous family photos....Beautiful, poetic, simple yet creative....a world, a style that I really like. I love what her girls wear, I love the new bedroom of her little boy, I love the way she shot her family....She made me dream, she inspired me....(and unfortunately Mila doesn't want a grey bedroom in our new house) and I hope you love her too. I leave you with Petits Bonheurs...which is exactly that....little moments of happiness.
Bonne nuit!

Noix de Coc' Advent calendar & cushions now at BODIE and FOU

Do you remember me mentioning that after we featured this gorgeous Advent calendar by Noix de Coc, the French designer and ourselves received several emails from customers interested in it?? Ok well at first, I didn't really pay attention to the level of interest and just forwarded Noix de Coc's details to our customers. I had just mentioned it on the blog because I liked it and I thought it was a beautiful and unusual Advent calendar. But then we got a long message from Francois, one of Noix de Coc founders, then more emails from customers and then finally Francois and I talked....
We realized that we both had received a lot of enquiries for this gorgeous calendar but Francois explained to me that although their beautiful Advent Calendar was stocked in various boutiques, no one was stocking it online so we agreed to add it on BODIE and FOU (here) to help out all our customers who were trying to track it down...

Since then, I've found out a lot about Noix de Coc'....Do you want to know what I've learnt?
Well, Noix de Coc's is a family business (like Kayatine, another beautiful French label for children and ourselves!).
It was set up by Corinne (the creative brain) and her brother Francois (the entrepreneurial brain). They've designed gorgeous things for children around the language of 3/4 years old children...you know when kids start talking but they don't pronounce the words properly?
Isn't that super cute?
Kids are hilarious are that age.... They've got all these grown-up words that come out in the wrong way and it's just adorable...I remember when Mila was 3 last year, she was saying 'kiken' instead of chicken...or spectacle was 'pestacle' and canapé (sofa in French) was 'cacapé' and she is still staying 'the Haircoiffeur' a franco-kiwi mix of hairdresser and coiffeur.
I wish now I had written all her little words that got me in stitches, they were so cute and funny.
It's also how Elodie ended up being nicknamed Bodie when she was little and couldn't pronounce her name.
So Noix de Coc' designs have super cute names mispronunced by children such as 'Le Rinoferoce' cushion for 'Le Rhinoceros' and 'Le Rounard' cushion for 'Le Renard' (fox). The 'Peur du Loup' floor cushion was inspired by children who were a little bit scared of wolves so Noix de Croc' designed a cushion with a drawing which glows in the dark and now children love watching TV lying on their floor cushion.
And the good news is that they are all now available on B&F because we thought they would make a great addition to a contemporary (Barbie/Ben10 free) child bedroom.

Feeling Christmassy.....

We're feeling very Christmassy today and have revamped our homepage to reflect the mood in the office.
The gorgeous illustration above is part of the Numskull Jack print by Mia-Louise Mailund, the talented designer behind Missemai prints (if you get a chance, read her interview here to see how she works and came up with these gorgeous handmade prints).

Over the next few days, we will put together some fabulous Christmas gift guide...a bit like our best-sellers gift guide, and full of gorgeous ideas and presents for the men in your love (you know...Dad, husband, boyfriend(s) if you're a busy bird....), sublime gifts for your girlfriends and for the little ones.
And for those who have more dash than cash....check out our Christmas deals which work wonder for those who really don't have time to think about what to get but still need to buy lots of presents...

Perfect gift for baby....

This is one of our best-sellers.
I bought it first 6 years ago when Bodie was pregnant with Lily and we have now some really cool shots of Lilypette in this gorgeous babygro. Then we launched B&F so I sourced it for the shop...It's often like this...We fall in love with something then try to source for our online boutique. Last night, I just played around with photoshop and loved how this cute Angel babygro looks in a polaroid format....It comes in 3 sizes (0-3 months, 3-6 and 6-12 months) and is also available in pink here

Oh Joy party

Last week Oh Joy threw a party in Philadelphia to celebrate the launch of her gorgeous stationary range with Chronicle books and I just wanted to share it with you because the photos of her party look truly fabulous and really it's a case of I wish I had been there....
It's always good to have inspiring, cool, creative examples in mind for the future....you never know...You may need one day to organize a launch party for your business. We never did for B&F because we didn't have the money and if I can reassure small businesses and give a piece of advice....don't worry if you have a limited budget, focus on other things to start with.
However one day when we have the time, I would love to organize a party to celebrate our little adventure!

Joy rented out a photobooth from Photoboothlove in the US but you can rent from these companies in the UK: thephotoboothcompany.co.uk, Rentabooth.co.uk or Groovybooth.co.uk
Have you ever been to a party where there was a photobooth? No?
Then you really need to tell whoever is organizing your company Christmas party to get one. They are hugely fun and gives everyone something to take home. I still have the B&W mug shots that my friends and I took together at a Christmas party organized by Universal Music International 8 years ago and I love them.
Can you see the gorgeous wallpaper in the background on the photo below?? It's an Oh Joy pattern (clever girl!)...isn't this gorgeous?
For a good party, you also need a great photographer and all these beautiful shots which capture the life of the party are by Max Wanger (please check his site....I love the shot of the couple with the ballon) and of course food....
I'm afraid I don't any any great cupcakes companies in the UK but if you do, or work for one or would like to suggest anything that would add to a great, fun, party, by all means, feel free to leave the details in the comment box.

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You can all the beautiful shots of the party here and buy Oh Joy stationery from here.

Chocolate cake by Mila Sienna

If you live in the UK and you have bought a copy of Easy Living (the November issue which was actually out in October)... you may have seen me 'doing a Nigella' (Marta for US readers ou 'faire la Nadine' for French readers) where I share my bonfire tips and my SU-BLI-ME chocolate cake recipe.....
And if you have been spending some time on this lovely blog for a while and read 'the bowls that stopped from going to jail' piece, you will know by now that cooking is not my best point....

However in the name of love/for the sake of a happy relationship I had to learn a few recipes and this chocolate cake is one of my signature dishes...Well actually the only desert I make unless you count 'fresh organic strawberries with organic custard from Tesco prepared organically by me' as a second signature desert.
Yesterday, my four-year old and my TBC-year old mum spent the afternoon making little chocolate cakes from a French Weight Watchers recipe and pffuu.... they were amazing!

Now I can't tell you how much calories these little chocolaty treasures had but 3 of those were worth only 3.5 points on the Weight Watchers planet.
I don't know what you think but 3.5 points doesn't seem a lot of calories, DOES IT!?
And 3.5 points is for 3 of these little babies so it's really 1 point something per cookie which really feels like nothing...

So yes we used heart-shaped moulds (bought in France but probably available from John Lewis) and yes I recommend using them because they make any cakes looking like you know what you're doing in the kitchen and no it wasn't Mila's birthday but we still had to go through the whole thing.....taking photos for Dad who was still in Hong Kong, lighting the candles, switching off the light and sing Happy Birthday to you Mila!
But since I'm breeding a little Chef which gives me hope not in my genes but in my skills as a mother, I could only oblige to make my little girl happy.

So here is the recipe (all copyrights go to Weight Watchers etc)

For 3 cookies - Preparation: 5 min, Cooking: 4 min
15 g butter less than 40% fat
60 g dark chocolate
1 egg
10g sugar
10 g flour
Pre-heat the oven at 240 degres Celsius. Put the butter in a dish that can go into a micro-wave. Break the chocolate in pieces, add them to the butter and put everything in the micro-onde for 40 sec. Mix. The beat the egg with the sugar. Add the melted chocolate and flour to the egg & sugar and mix everything then pour the mixture in your mould. Leave it in the over for 4 min...and then come back and tell me how much you love me!

(C) photos: me
(C) recipe: Weight Watcher: Le Plaisir de maigrir, Editions Livre de Poche, page 39

Une fille, un style...Yasmine Sewell

I'm developing a serious crush on anything to do with the French Vogue and I think a yearly subscription is going to be on my list from Le Pere Noel this year.....

Yasmin Sewell is Chief Creative Consultant for Liberty of London, yes....nothing less....she is also the owner of Soho cult boutique Yasmin Cho and ex-buying director for Browns. Garance Dore who regularly shot for the French Vogue, stopped in London to take these really cool shots of a really cool girl...

(C) Vogue France, Photography: Garance Dore

See you later...I'm off to the new Anthropologie shop that recently opened in London...
Bises

Feeling very glamourous today......

I'm feeling very glam this morning......Mandy, Founder of Oneboutique, a gorgeous online boutique which sells purple shoes to die for and the sublime 'Cobb' dress by Malene Birger, sent me a link this morning to the little chat we had a while ago and I love how the page looks...it's very VOGUE but then Mandy is a super stylish chick and so is her boutique....

And ma vie...ah well....I love it when it looks so damn glam because when I was wallpapering the bedroom featured below...I wasn't looking glam at all, I tell you...more like Bob the Builder and his mum (cause mine was helping me)!

How would you describe your personal style? Very French (not sure if it's a good or bad thing) ... understated, natural and a bit rock 'n roll, which I try to make a bit more glamorous in the evening with skyscraper heels and a clutch bag.

What do you wear for work? Plain white or grey tops with black trousers/boots or high heels or winter shorts with ugg boots.

Who is your style icon? Charlotte Gainsbourg and Sienna Miller for the inspiration.

What is the one item in your wardrobe you couldn’t live without? My 'La Tropezienne' tan leather bag by US designer Clare Vivier. Clare is married to Thierry, a French film producer who recently filmed Charlotte Gainsbourg when she recorded her last album in LA at Chateau Marmont. After filming, Thierry gave 'La Trop' to Charlotte, so now my style icon and I have the same bag...not that Charlotte really cares!

What’s your top fashion tip? Wear what suits you and be happy. Confidence, humour and happiness are the best fashion tips.

Who is your favourite designer? Zadig & Voltaire

What’s the worst fashion mistake you’ve ever made? Buying clothes that may fit me when I've lost a few kilos. This never worked! Even if the weight shifts, my body shape may not fit the cut of the clothing, so now I buy things that I can wear now not in a distant future.

What beauty products are currently in your bathroom cabinet? Kiehls for my skin, Aveda for my hair and a little blue pot of Nivea cream in my handbag like my mum always had, because it works for everything-lips, hands and little bumps that my daughter needs soothed.

How would you describe the style of your home? Relaxed, welcoming and child-friendly. Steve and I grew up in big country houses with lots of space in France and New Zealand so its important for us to have a place where Mila can be free to run as much as she wants. I run a chic online boutique so I have lots of simple, beautiful contemporary designs, which I mix with vintage finds.

Where's you favourite holiday destination? Our beach house in France and any hot destination with my family.

What's been your favourite film this year? The Hangover. The title does not any justice to the film. It's about 4 guys that wake up the night after a stag night. They don't recall a thing but the film unveils that it was a hell of a night. I hadn't laughed like this in a long time.

Have a great weekend! I'm off to do a bit of shopping

Bises

Do you want this gorgeous bag?... I need feedback please

I need your thoughts on something....

Last week, I blogged about Noix de Coc's Advent Calendar just because I loved the design.
We were not planning to stock it on BODIE and FOU because we normally don't stock themed items (Xmas, Valentine's....unless it's something beautiful like this Love poster which works all year round) but I just thought it was a great and unusual advent calendar to share with you.
Now the designer and ourselves have actually received several emails from customers interested in buying it and since Noix de coc' has not yet an online stockist, we've agreed to take stock which will be limited but more of this later.
Now this made me realized that although not everyone leaves comment on the blog, a lot of you actually take interest in some of the designs featured on the blog regardless of them being on our online shop or not so it got me thinking...

I've always been a big fan of La Tropezienne - a gorgeous tote bag designed by LA designer Clare Vivier but since we specialize in design & chic homeware rather than fashion, I'm not sure if we should add this beautiful bag and other clutches that Clare has designed, to BODIE and FOU.
Clare is one cool lady who is definitively going places. She is great, good fun and very stylish. We've actually never met but like a lot of friendship that blossom via twitter or blogs with people on the other side of the world, Clare and I have a lot of things in common (she is married to a French guy...), loves Charlotte Gainsbourg and we share the same sense of humour (not sure if it's a good thing...;-). In fact, Charlotte Gainsbourg has also a 'La Trop' tote bag like mine...

Clare's gorgeous bags, clutches, shopping totes are now available at Steven Alan, Holt Renfrew in Canada which is basically the equivalent of Barneys New York and Saks Fifth Avenue in the US or Selfridges in London so big fashion shops who know what they are doing!

So my question to you is how much do you love all these California-made bags? (just writing California-made makes me want another one!)
Do you prefer La Tropezienne tote bag or this beautiful Navy Messenger bag which got featured in Real Simple in the States or Clare's stylish and feminine gold clutches (they come in various colours....) which sell like hot cakes in Japan?
Would you be happy to buy them if we were stocking them on B&F?
I need to speak to Clare to work out custom duties, shipping etc but I think La Tropezienne bag would work out about £160 which I think is a very good price for a leather bag made in raw-edged tan natural and the clutch bag would be about £90-£110

So please don't be shy, let me know what you think, leave a comment on the blog, on twitter or simply email me at thegirls@bodieandfou.com and if you like it, we will stock it because I think it's one good looking bag to have on one's arm!

UPDATE:
I'm just adding this great photo of Irene from NYC with her La Trop bag for Clare to see...If you've already bag yourself a La Trop bag, feel free to send me photos. xoxo

UPDATE 2:

Thank you thank you so much to everyone for your great feedback! La Tropezienne leather tote bag is now available on BODIE and FOU here

Really loving the Doudou cushion Superstar....

Last September, I introduced Kayatine which is a new brand of gorgeous gifts for babies and toddlers launched by Julie Lepage-Chartier and her mum.
Julie and I have been in touch a lot recently because we are getting a lot of interest for all her Doudous. She was very happy when I told her we got Doudou Lila featured in a German magazine and she said that she recently got an order for 100 Doudous for a shop in Ireland - isn't fantastic after such a short time!! I'm thrilled for her but I know that Julie is working really hard so it's well deserved!
But today I want to show you the Doudou cushions she made...I'm absolutely loving these two Doudou Superstar red and Doudou Superstar yellow. Look at them!! Aren't they adorable??!
The Doudou cushions are made to order in France so delivery times will be about 2 weeks so if you want one...give yourself plenty of time to ensure your receive in time for Christmas!

More gorgeous Japanese books by PAUMES

Two news made me happy this evening....the first one was that the Royal Mail strikes are over and there will be no further disruption until now and Christmas (yippee!). The second one was getting some gorgeous photos from Rie at Editions Paumes for all the new books we will be adding to the site next week and I can't wait to look at the edition on Copenhagen apartments and the San Francisco kitchens for instance when we receive them in about 2 weeks.

All the books I have from Paumes never fail to give me a huge amount of pleasure and satisfaction each time I go through them and inevitably, I have this massive urge to do something creative and making our home looking as gorgeous and inspiring than all these family homes from London, Paris, Copenhagen and since we are moving in our new family home at the beginning of December, 2010 is going to be MY YEAR so I'm warning you...Next year, you may see a lot more DIY postings on this blog!

But don't you think that it's actually a bit tricky to work out the final look of your home?
I have always been a big fan of Jacqueline Morabito's style and each time I see a magazine featuring her work or her homes, I either keep it preciously or take photos of the pages to keep in my mood board folder. However I have also noticed that the explosion of blogs and having access to different interior styles from San Francisco, Copenhagen, Tokyo, Amsterdam from anyone be they professional designer or simply creative people have widely opened up my tastes (more than interior magazines) and now I feel like this hyperactive, excited child who wants white to feel calm and relax but at the same would like to style her home with stimulating, inspirational mood moard, hand-drawing illustrations, vintage treasures and colours.
It's tricky isn't it?!

I look at my friends' house in Bristol or Linda Loenen's family house in Amsterdam or Paul Massey's house and here and I dream of white, light and airy spaces but then Helena Christensen's boho home in NYC leaves me speechless and I still very much love this very cool family house. I started testing the water with Steve regarding painting all the floorboards of our new house in white but he is yet to be convinced.... He is not against it but he thinks that once we've painted them in white, there is no going back....Well technically there is...you just get a sanding machine and start all over again but I see his point so we may try to whitewash the floorboards to start with. Anyway, its not like we are going to move in and start doing any work straight away....After exchanging, we will probably be broke and will be living on kumara (sweet potatoes from New-Zealand) for the next few months :-)

Back to Paumes....The new books we will be receiving are San Francisco Kitchens, Paris Miam-Miam, Ateliers de Paris, Appartements d'amoureux a Paris (lover nests in Paris), Apartements de filles a Paris, Souvenirs de Paris, Petits appartements a Paris, London Kitchens (featured the lovely Kathleen Hills on the front cover) and Copenhagen apartments and I will try - time permitting (things get really busy on this side and that side) - to take you through a few of them to give you a real feel of these wonderful Japanese books...

October competition winners/November now open

We had a phenomenal response to our October competition and the 3 lucky winners this month are 3 ladies (sorry guys!).

- Clare Roberson from Cardiff
- Johanna Booth from Liverpool
- Helen Pope from Barcombe
So ladies, thanks for entering our competition and watch out for a lovely print coming from us in the next few days...

The November competition is now open and again we will reward 3 winners with a gorgeous NYC Map by Famille Summerbelle.

Things to do, people to see....one place to be

and this is at the Midcentury Modern show in Dulwich next weekend...

If you've never heard of this show, this is an amazing place to see the best in design from the last century or the latest in future collectables from this one.
Midcentury Modern shows were launched by Lucy Ryder Richardson and her friend Petra Curtis. In fact, they started with Showhome which is what the name suggests: a suburban semi in Dulwich, south London, in which Lucy lives with her husband (an architect) and where everything is for sale, from retro Scandi designer furniture by Arne Jacobsen, Bruce Mathsson and Hans Wegner, to lights by Brit design star Michael Young and cushions in 60s fabrics but you can only buy by appointment.

I've always fancied something like this....It's a bit like Nicole Farhi's 202 on Westbourne Grove...You walk into Farhi's homeware shop then at the back there is the brasserie (great food btw) and in the basement, her fashion range...It's a very NYC concept and I love it but given that we lived for a year with boxes up to our ceiling until we moved the business to a warehouse, the chances of me convincing Steve that our new 4-bedroom family house should be a cool concept store, are in fact super, mega, ultra slim!!!

Anyway...Showhome open-house concept worked so well than eventually Ryder Richardson and Curtis needed more space and set up a fair specialising in midcentury modern furniture and contemporary design and the next one is on Sunday 15th November in Dulwich...and as Grand Designs mag says: ‘This show could cause design lovers a cardiac arrest’ and that's where I will have mine next weekend.

MidCentury Modern Show: Sunday 15th November 2009
Dulwich College, SE21 7LD
10am–4pm
Entrance £6
Children under 14 free. Click here for location

Free upgrade to courier service...& lots of goodies to get

During the Royal Mail strikes, BODIE and FOU is offering all UK customers a FREE upgrade to courier service on all orders above £50, which means that you can be sure of getting your order within 1-3 days.

And I can hear you saying...."ummm what shall I get for £50 from this gorgeous online boutique.....". Well....since you ask, let me share with you some of my favourites...

A gorgeous Paris, London, NYC map prints + these super cute sugar ducks

A beautiful charm bracelet + 4 boxes of these Bird Clothes pegs
(they work wonder as Xmas stocking fillers!)

At least two of these incredible and inspiring interiors books by Paumes
+ a Familia mug to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate when reading them


The cutest Angel babygro for your baby or friend's baby + this stylish Gingko print

1 set of these best-selling Cognac glasses + 1 Typemap print



I could go on forever but if you are not sure and need advices on what to get,
just drop me a little comment...

Halloween in London & Barcelona

It's kind of funny how your opinion on things change when you have children. I was never against Halloween but never felt the need to celebrate it either. In fact, being French, my view on it was just total indifference but Mila and her friends were getting so excited that we joined the fun. My friend Mel organized a Pumpkin-carving party on Saturday afternoon. When she told me she had got hold of a big plastic cover to protect the table and the floor, me - the ignorant frog - thought 'pourquoi?' since Steve had carved a pumpkin the week before and it wasn't a messy job...and then I saw the result and I was blown away. I mean look at these...aren't they fantastic!! ??

Guillaume downloaded a few free pumpkin stencils, then got the girls to draw on the pumpkins and with a bit of help..... here are the fabulous pumpkins by 4-years old Clara, Matilda and Mila !!!
Then at 4pm, we all headed to our friend Tanja's who had organized a fabulous party where another 10 children + parents went - which was a really sweet way to meet everyone in the neighborhood (who said that nobody talked to each other in London?) - and then we all went around the block to ring people's bells.
So now if you ask me what I think of Halloween....I will say it's great! It's really good fun and even better when you can do it with a lots of kids and parents and for the scrooges who think Halloween is just commercial, I would just say a couple of pumpkins, plastic mices & spiders and spooky sweets are hardly going to break the bank and like it says on the Mastercard TV ad...seeing your kids having so much fun: priceless

Bodie (the other half of B&F), Christophe and Lily also celebrated Halloween in Barcelona....Isn't my niece gorgeous in her skeleton outfit? :-)

And I'm just adding these gorgeous Halloween invitations from Marta Stewart I've just spotted on The Beat that My Heart Skipped as a reminder for next year. These ‘Skeleton Invitations’ are created using simply thick card, a skeleton template and silver or white ink pens and pins so their arms jangle about! And you can get the Owls template from here (Rohini: love your Owl mail joke btw :-)

My little girl is growing.....

I have meant to go through all my photos to design our own family calendars using the application on Mac so we could give meaningful presents with family photos to my parents and Steve's parents but once again I got sidetracked!
At least I started flagging the pics I like the best and hopefully this year I will make them because I have been talking about making calendars since August 2008!
Suddenly I realised that my little baby was growing fast....
From top left: Mila tequila at the beach in France (I can not remember why we started calling her 'Mila Tequila' when she has a beautiful name like Mila Sienna). Mila at tennis in France (not posing but sulking). Mila in our living/dining room in France when photographer Michael Paul was shooting our house. Mila posing and Mila who will probably hate me when she is older for posting a photo of her on the toilet. I don't make an habit of following her with my camera wherever she goes but she was too cute with her two shoes too small for her.

(C) Photos: Karine Kong. Please do not reproduce without permission etc...