Romantic Journey

I am particularly proud of my friend and customer Tammi Swanson! I am a strong advocate for creative and entrepreneurial women and she just knocks me out with all of her talents. She started out in the fashion industry of Paris, Tokyo, New York and LA where she was a successful model and fashion photo stylist. That is when she and her husband met. They have worked as a highly sought after and acclaimed photography team for nearly 14 years. For Tammi, her beautiful children are her muses. She is passionate about photographing children in a timeless, romantic fashion that to me has an ethereal quality. Tammi’s latest incarnation is the most charming collection of children’s clothing I have ever seen. This quote from her blog - “Opal Petit Clothier is inspired by the children in renaissance paintings and pale sea/sand colors” is perfect! She named the collection after her Grandmother and it just happens to be her birthstone, as well. Her heart is always in the right place - she wants to allocate a portion of her sales proceeds to go for a charity involving children. We are going to work on this and try and coordinate so that I can start this practice, as well. For a fantastic voyage, check out her many sites and you too, will feel the enchantment that I have. All photography, photo styling and clothing designs by Tammi Swanson.

PS I couldn't resist adding the three bottom shots of Tammi's daughter Mia Bella (one of her top models) playing here in her bedroom. Notice her bed is done entirely in Papillon Linens and the rest of the room is so beautiful!

La Ville de Mille

I love how the blogeshpere works! You get to sit at home and see beautiful photos of others lives, families, homes, inspriations and musings. I just happen to find this great blog since they have Papillon Linens as an inspration!! Imagine how excited I was to find that someone from Norway liked my products enought to put a link to my site! I just spent half an hour going through this blog and I felt like I was there for a moment, in a country I have always admired from my early school days when learning about it. So much of the wonderful Scandinavian design that I love, the natural and simple way they approach design is almost organic. I hope they don't mind my borrowing these pictures that inspired me, thank you La Ville de Mille!

The Paris Apartment

I am so excited! One of my favorite blogs The Paris Apartment has posted our sheer linen tie top curtains on their site! What a compliment to be on there, thank you! These are one of my favorite products and they just look beautiful in any setting. I especially love them when the windows are open and they flutter in the wind. For me it is a mini beach holiday every time I see this! The author of the blog, Claudia Strasser wrote the book The Paris Apartment, Romantic Decor on a Fleamarket Budget and I just ordered it and can't wait to get it. As some of you may know, I traveled to France for years on buying trips when I owned The Chandler Collection in the 1990's. There is still nothing like the thrill of going to Paris and shopping, eating, drinking and just soaking it all up! I have always loved the way the French make everything so stylish. My first trip to Paris was when I was 17 and I went for a summer to be an au pair. As soon as I arrived and went up to my little hotel room, glanced out the window at the roof tops - I had my first and only real experience with déjà vu. I knew instantly I had been there before! It really was such a profound experience and it has never happened to me since. I am definitely a Francophile! Bises...

Vintage crochet for our "Flanders" collection

I know many of you are sorry to see our "Flanders" collection change from what we have been offering for three years. However, now that I have made the commitment to make my collection here in the USA and not import from countries where I can't monitor or trust the entire process from start to finish, I have chosen to use only "vintage" crochets for my Flanders items. Not only is it reusing (recycling) something already made - usually by hand, but it adds to the romance and mystery when thinking of the talented women from the past that have made these lovely crochets to enhance a tablecloth, a pillow case, etc. I have sewn all of my life but never tried knitting or crochet. I don't think I would have the patience to spend hours on such delicate pieces of art! And that is exactly what I think of the hundreds of crochets that I have collected over the years just for the sake of their beauty. Now I will offer "one of a kind" or limited editions of shams, duvets, pillowcases and curtains in a customized fashion. You, my customer, can choose the color and size of crochet and the color of the linen in which to make these beautiful items. I have mostly small yardages in which to make shams, but I was fortunate enough to find unused rolls of hundreds of yards of the crochet from Germany that you will see in the following pictures. Also, a rack of just some of my treasures after I lovingly wash and dry them. There are some imperfections and some stains that would not come out, but I will always send pictures in advance and point out any small flaws. I personally think they add to the authenticity of their vintage nature. I have also been asked what I use on my own bed so often that I am including a picture of my "summer" bed.

Dreamfit in the blogesphere

One of our stocking dealers had a story in the Cool Hunting blog the other day. This will be the first published story about the Dreamfit quilted sheets! We have the exclusive right to sell these to designers, boutiques and other outlets that do not want to invest in stock and can order one set at a time to be dropped shipped directly to you or your customer. We are working on a sample kit for customers, but in the meantime, if you have an interested customer or would like to check them out - please contact me and I will send some samples. Sweet dreams;-)

We were represented in High Point;-)

My good friend Simon Scott, owner and designer at Jardins en Fleur, chose our Tencel quilted sheet set for his display bed. It was a great pairing of a diamond motif on the quilted sheets and the bamboo style fretwork on his exclusive linen blend print. The bed itself was the hit of the show, it is called "Soleil" because of the sunshine-like rays that emanate out of the foot board and in the roof of the canopy. It is shown here in "Blanc de Chine" white. His other exclusive fabrics are the Alicante Ikat, Chinoiserie Silhouette Toile, and the Bamboo Fret. They are all available to us to make into anything in our range. We were quite happy to be a part of this magnificent display, so thank you Simon! Also showing with Jardins en Fleur, my friend Troy from Urban Nature had some new designs - just look at these living wall art pieces! They are the most fun and stylish way to add live plants into your environment when you don't have a green thumb!

Young, Hip and Creative Designers - id 810 design group

I am thrilled to start a new addition to my regular news and other posts. This will beome a frequent place for me to publish about you - my customers, your store or for designers - your special projects featuring Papillon Linens, of course;-) I invite all of you to submit your stories and photos for this blog. It is with great pleasure that I introduce id 810 design group.

"At id 810 design group, our goal is to make our clients' homes a blend between luxury and comfort, innovation and practicality. Our designs adapt classical principles to modern day spaces. We know the importance of deadlines and budgets and sticking to them.
We pride ourselves on listening carefully to each individual's needs, working within each client's budget and specifying furnishings from "trade-only" to affordable retail products and making the two fit seamlessly. Whether you are a design savvy client who struggles pulling your different ideas together, or you are someone who doesn't even know where to begin, id 810 design group will help you focus your wants and likes into a cohesive style. Our main objective is to turn your house into your home and we want your home to reflect you. It should look like you designed it with a little help from us, not the other way around."

"This is a house that we designed in Westhampton Beach, NY - the clients are a young couple with a baby and they love entertaining, but since it's a summer home, we of course wanted to keep it a bit casual and carefree as well. It was also important that even though The Hamptons is typically a summer vacation spot, the house would be equally warm and cozy in the winter as it is comfortable and "beachy" in the summer. The husband has very modern taste, while his wife prefers more traditional furnishings, so we gave them a little bit of both with the Louis style chairs and the Parsons table (as a side note, we couldn't find a table in our price range that could seat 12, so we had our carpenter combine two Pottery Barn tables to give us the length we needed). This combination of styles, as well as the pops of coral color, continue throughout the home, which was especially important because the floorplan is very open and one room flows to the next. We are all thrilled with how the home is turning out - our next part of the project is the huge outdoor space which will have several seating areas including a firepit for chilly nights, an outdoor bed for lounging and several intimate seating areas."

More Product Pictures Coming Soon...

I had the best opportunity recently! I got to go back to Los Angeles to have a photo shoot of some of my new colors in variations of my standard line, as well as some new Dreamfit® products that I am so happy to be selling now. The best part was having my two grown children Eric & Anna with me, visiting and working along side me for three days! I was so proud of how hard they worked for me - just because. My daughter also did some modeling for us and that was really fun. I was able to pick such a fabulous photographer, David Roberts from Silver Lion Designs. You will see more of his work when I can put all of the pictures on my website. Another amazing thing was to be able to have the location in my old office building - Spring Arts Tower. It was great seeing all my old friends there. There was an Art Crawl one of the evenings and it was wonderful to see how transformed downtown LA has become in the 2.5 years that I have been gone. A huge thank you to some of my favorite companies that helped by allowing me to use some of their incredible products as props! The fantastic company Cisco Brothers and Cisco Pinedo for all of the beds, Jardins en Fleur and Simon P. Scott for such beautiful and stylish lamps, screens and an eye popping étagère. They have had many items popping up in Elle Decor and many other blogs and places. Last but not least - Urban Nature the brain child of Troy Silva for his modern planters with contemporary greenery. It was such a privilege to work with these masters of design!

Las Vegas Market

Designers, designers and more designers! Thank goodness for them. I think they and my regular brick & mortar stores that haven't seemed to be hit by the economy will be my biggest customers this year. I am so glad I started over a year ago setting up for a more customized business with not a lot of overhead and inventory. I am still selling off the remnants of my Indian stock, but we are getting down to the end of that. I am far happier with custom orders and my customers are, too.

I am thrilled to be bringing in some new products to offer that complete and compliment my existing line. Welcome the famous Dreamfit® sheets! They are the best product innovation with the special patented features that will keep them firmly on ANY size mattress. Not to mention they are made in the USA and they are simply dreamy to sleep on. I will be offering the 400tc up to 1020tc in the finest cotton of all Supima® cotton. Their latest innovation presented at market are - their quilted top sheets and pillow cases that are sold of course with their fitted sheets that are guaranteed to never bunch up or come off. Stay tuned for more information on these divine products and take a look at the fabulous way they add texture to my beds from the show.

I was so happy to share a booth with my long time friend and colleague from 1993 - Denise Copp. She has been an inspiration to me and to so many personally, and as an artist. She has reinvented herself many times to keep ahead of the trends (and because everyone knocks her ideas off;-), all of the beautiful hand painted items in my booth are made by her and you can visit her e-store at http://www.hungonwords.com/.

New York International Gift Fair

I just returned after a week of exhibiting at the Gift Fair. WOW! It exceeded my expectations for sales given the economy and the last few dead shows. I had the chance to show my new colors and many new designs. Unfortunately, I take horrible pictures! The worst part of the show was hearing of all of the closings of so many magazines! My favorite "Domino" made me weep. All of the fabulous editors being replaced at Country Living, what are they thinking!? Cottage Living - gone, and the list goes on. I can only hope that when the economy comes back - they will too! My heart goes out to all my editor friends, I will keep you in my thoughts and meditations.