Special Feature Friday: Ella's Bows

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Last week my mother in law was staying with us! We had a great week, but because we where so busy all the time I had no time to write the Special Feature Friday. This week I am back with a wonderful shop called Ella's Bows.

Robin is the owner of Ella's bows, she started her shop on her own in 2009. She has 3 children, one girl and two boy's. What started as a one woman show has grown, and now many talented friends of Robin contribute to the items found in the shop. Because of this they are able to offer high quality baby clothes and accessories.

These headbands for newborns make for a beautiful accessory for your baby, it can be made in different sizes. Whether it is for your babies first pictures, Christening, or maybe a party, they will look beautiful! There is a wonderful collection available in the shop, in many different colors and sizes.

These adorable turtle hat and shield are made of the best and softest yarn. The outfit is crochet and has a unique look. If you are planning to have a series of photo's made of your baby, these items will certainly make for a wonderful, cute and funny image!

Robin offers the readers of this blog a 15% discount: Bows15

Special Feature Friday: Natural Clocks

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This week in the special feature Friday I would like to introduce Natural Clocks. The owner of Natural clocks, Val, is originally from Italy. After finishing her studies she decided to move to London, where she met her husband. 21 years later they decided they wanted a countryside life, and moved to the lake district in north west England.

Here Val started a little gift shop in a rural village. However, soon she realized she wanted to sell more different and unusual items, instead of the ready made goods purchased from suppliers or whole-sellers. The area Val lives is a great place, with access to many different types of material to work with. This way her costumers know they get an items from the area. The items are unique and provided by nature.

Driftwood always has a very natural rustic look. This clock is made of a well weathered piece of driftwood that was collected by val on Morecambe bay. The clock hands are metal and the clock parts are quartz with a silent sleeping movement.

This desk clock has a wooden base and is covered by a beautiful vintage postcard. The print is sealed with an acrylic sealant and an acrylic varnish. The clock measures 12x12 cm. (5x5 inch)

Val has given the readers a coupon code for a 10% discount: COUPON10OFF

A new chapter, part 2

In April I wrote about my plans to introduce jewelry to Vallon des Trésors. Yesterday I had my day off from work and I decided to use this day to make this a reality. I am very proud to have these online, and I would like to show you two of my favorites!

The pink beads on these earrings are made of cherry quartz, they are topped off with a blue glass Czech bead. The two colors really compliment each other! the gold spacer beads and the earhooks are gold plated brass.

With the cultivated sweet water pearls and the golden plated connector these earrings are elaborate, yet not too big. The connector is decorated with flowers and swirls. They are real eye catchers!

These are just two examples of what can be found at Vallon des Trésors at the moment, and I hope you will all take some time to come around and have a look at the other pairs yourself!

Special Feature Friday: Mandarinas De Tela

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From the playful world that lives in each one of us, 

I value innocence and I express it in my dolls, 

each one created with dedication and love ♥

This is the wonderful quote we can find on the about page of Isabel's shop, Mandarinas De Tela.

The items in this shop are very attractive, elegant and colorful dolls, every single one is designed and handmade by Isabel.

The dolls are first designed on paper. Isabel carefully picks a fabric that seems most appropriate to the doll she has in mind. When the sketch gets transferred to the fabric it is given life and personality. The dolls have their own details and characters, and each one is unique. Isabel's inspirations are music, colors, art, books, people and life experience. This is easy to see in the collection of dolls she offers in her shop.  

Parts of the doll are painted by hand, this is why Isabel's dolls have such a distinctive look! 

Besides dolls there are also brooches, necklaces and pendants for sale at Mandarinas De Tela. All in the same colorful style as the dolls.

Isabel has kindly provided a discount code for the readers of this blog, it is a 10% discount, valid until August 2014: MANDI10

A minimum purchase price of 25 USD counts for this discount code.

You can also follow Isabel on Facebook, Twitter  and her own shop blog.

Special Feature Friday: Tienda Nordica

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Alicia always loved Nordic countries, she herself is from a warm place, Mallorca in Spain to be precise. A couple of years ago she moved from Mallorca to Sweden with her boyfriend and two cats.Today they live in the middle of a forest, in a small house. Alicia has always appreciated antiques and folk art. 

In 2013 she started her shop Tienda Nordica. In the shop we can find many vintage Scandinavian items.

From toy's to dinnerware and from sculptures to woodwork. It is a joy to browse trought Alicia's shop and check out all the items for sale! The shop is very colorful and the items have a truly warm and homely feel about them. They are the kind of things that will welcome you home every time you enter your house.

The Dala horse is a Swedish traditional handmade horse, mostly used as a toy. It is carved from wood and hand painted! These horses can differ in style and the way it was painted depending on the region it was made.

This is a set of a pepper and a salt shaker, they are made of porcelain and bronze and beautifully decorated.

The simplicity in the design of this elegant deer has a lot going for it. The clean lines make is look like a modern piece, and is truly timeless. The craftsmanship used to make this statue is admirable!

Alicia gives a 10% discount on her shop with this code: NORDICSHOP77

Special Feature Friday: Shakti Ellenwood

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Shakti's story is a special one, first I like to share a bit text from her about page:

At twenty-nine I found myself very sick in India. With a high fever I was unable to look after myself. An Israeli man, Asi, who had a room upstairs from me took me in and nursed me back to health.

He was a jeweller and sat at a tiny bench on the floor hammering, soldering and sawing. Whilst I lay on his bed recuperating I became fascinated by the intricacy and delicacy of the work.

When it was time for me to leave he presented me with a gold ring set with a Tibetan turquoise. It was the start of my love affair with precious metals and colourful gemstones.

I had found my passion.

After Shakti recovered from her illness she traveled to San Francisco and trained to become a goldmith. In 2013 she started selling items via her shop Shakti Ellenwood. Shakti offers an interesting collection of gold jewelry combined with diamonds and other gemstones.  Shakti's inspiration comes from the many years she has lived in the Far East, the natural beauty of Ibiza, ancient civilizations and colors in nature. This is easy to see when you enter the shop. The items are unique and of high quality.

These attractive wedding bands are very simple. They are made of 18 karat recycled gold but can also be ordered in platinum. They can be personalized with diamond or colored stones.

This gorgeous pendant is made of 18 carat gold and set with 9 pink sapphires. The pink sapphires really come out great in the background of gold. The amulet is available for special commission, different colored stones can be used, and a gold chain can be added. 

Shakti is also available for custom orders, so if you have a design in mind it would be worth it to message her and see if she can help you realize your dream piece. 

You can stay up to date with Shakti and follow her on Facebook or Twitter.

Shakti has been so kind to offer the readers of this blog a 10% discount. The discount code is BLOG25 and is valid for 3 month's after this blog entry was published. I think this is a great chance to get a good piece of quality jewelry!

Special Feature Friday: StudioLorier

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Studio Lorier is a shop that sells unique ceramics. These are all made by industrial designer Sander Lorier. The items are made in a independent studio and workplace located in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.Sander offers a wide collection of high standard, modern and innovative products. The products are designed for domestic uses with a high level of functionality in mind. Being independent allows for Studio Lorier to be flexible, and to adapt quickly to customers wishes.

These ceramic cups make a modern addition to your tableware. The most striking feature about this cup is the double wall isolating feature. These cups are white on the outside, but the inside is painted in bright colors. This makes a great contrast. You can choose out of various colors: Deep Red, Emerald Green, Cobalt blue and Bright Orange. The inner wall is not in touch with the exterior of the cup, this means that the heat will stay on the inside and the cup will not be hot on the outside. It makes it ideal for drinking hot tea.

The cup is made out of high quality glazed porcelain, and will last very long at a daily use.

The teagether set is ment for people that enjoy a cup of tea with others. This original set contains a teapot with two spouts, a wooden plate and two white cups. The cups are designed in the same style as the teapot. The integrated handle on the teapot makes pouring the tea very easy. Of course this can be used daily, but I think this will also make a wonderful decoration. The teapot and cups are dishwasher safe. On the wooden plate there is also a place for the teabag. 

You can also find Studio Lorier on facebook and there is a website with more information. 

Special Feature Friday: Simple is Pretty Shop

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Simple is Pretty Shop is a shop that specializes in wool drying balls, lavender sachets and wedding favors. Sandra is a stay at home mom, who always wanted to run her own business. She found it difficult to buy the proper laundry detergents for her son sensitive skin, and as a result Sandra began experimenting laundry solutions. Her goal was to reduce the harsh chemicals in laundry detergent and dryer sheets. Through time and experiments Sandra came up with homemade recipes that work! 

I did not learn about dryer balls until last year, so I will give a quick explanation on them. Dryer balls are made out of 100% wool, they are used in the drying machine to help your laundry dry faster. This reduces the time you need to dry the clothes. It is both good for your electric bill and the environment. Dryer balls can replace laundry sheets and fabric softener, they do not contain chemicals so they are great for people with a sensitive skin. The dryer balls can be used many times. In addition they can also make for great pet toys, if you don't mind to replace them sooner. The dryer balls can be made scented or unscented, the scent lasts a couple of weeks but you can add some essential oil to them to make them smell wonderful again. 

Next to laundry balls you can also find a great selection of lavender sachets in Simple is Pretty Shop. These can be put in drawers and closets, to really insure your clothes smell wonderful without chemicals! Sandra also sells little sachets that can be given away as wedding favors. These sachets with organic lavender will last a long time, and will make sure your guests will think about your wedding for a long time to come! It is also possible to have the lavender in a ring bearers pillow, all for your great day! 

Sandra has been very sweet to give a discount code of 15% of the readers of the blog: SPRING2014
The code is valid until the 15th of May 2014.

Sandra also has a facebook page and a blog with great tips!

Îles du Frioul: île Ratonneau

This easter weekend we wanted to go to a new place, I have been curious for a long time about the îles du Frioul, 4 islands close to Marseille. Whenever I leave my front door these are the islands I see first. They look small and insignificant from Marseile, yet there is a lot to discover. One of the islands, île d'if we already visited on our first vistit to Marseille, it is a small island with a big fortress on it. Some of you might know it because it was the inspiration for a book by Alexandre Dumas, named "The Count of Monte Christo". It is a populair place for tourists and fans of mister Dumas. This island is great to visit, but I did not feel the need to go again. so we stayed on the boat to the next stop.

Île de Pomègues and île de Ratonneau are two islands connected by a mole. We chose to start at île de Ratonneau and then head over to île de Pomègues later. The islands are not big, and it should be doable to visit them both in one day. However once we started at Ratonneau we quickly found ourselves in a abandoned fortress. We have often been surprise about how easy it is to enter ruins in France, and this was another example. There was a walking path right trough the fortress, but it was easy to stray off and check out the rest. The fortress was build between 1886 and 1889. In 1944 the Germans started with adding canons to the fortress, but this work was never completed. 

 The fortress is a great place to explore. Because it is on the top of the hill you will get a great view on the bay of Marseille and the surrounding hills, as well as the city itself. We went in via the back, and when we left we went trough a big gate on the front. We had to descent quite a bit to get to sea level again, and when we arrived there we decided to have some of our lunch in a silent spot.

On the island you can find many small beaches to sit and swim. If you go in summertime it is certainly a good idea to bring your swimming clothes and a towel. The water on these shores is beautiful, and there is a lot of fish around, a diving mask might help you discover this world further. Unfortunately the weather for us was not really good enough to swim. After our lunch we decided  to walk on to the Hôpital Caroline. This hospital was build to quarantine people coming to Marseille by boat, when there would be suspicion of diseases like the pest or the yellow flue. It was built between 1823 and 1828. The buildings where destroyed in 1944 when Marseille was under attack by air. It stayed empty until 1971, when the islands where bought by the city of Marseille. Today there is work done to restore the buildings to their old glory. From time to time cultural events are organised. The buildings are not opened for public.

About this time we decided it was slowly time to head back, we had taken a lot of time at the fortress so there was no time to discover île de Pomègues. Instead we rested in the village, there is a little boulevard with restaurants and ice cream shops. It is a nice place to rest. The way back was not easy, it was very busy and there was no place for us on the first boat, so we had to wait for the second boat half an hour later to get back to the mainland. Still, I am happy we went and I hope we can go and visit île de Pomègues soon. 

  

Special Feature Friday: Ding a Ding

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When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding: sweet lovers love the spring.

This is the wonderful phrase we can find right in the shops banner of Ding a Ding UK, and when you take your time to look around you will discover this phrase fits with the shop very well.

At Ding a Ding UK you can find a lovely collection of plants, not just everyday plants but plants in wonderful whimsical planters. The look of the shop is fresh, light and original. Things that will definitely reflect on your home when you decide to order from Ding a Ding. The plants you can choose from are appropriate for all places in your house, but I think they will do especially well in bathrooms. Air plants need a lot of moisture, and  this makes a shower or bathroom a wonderful environment for plants like these.

   

This is an air plant that is growing in a shell, every shell is different so you might not get exactly the same one as pictured, but in their own right every one of them will be charming!

An original egg shaped ceramic container, it comes with hemp cord to hang it on your wall. The plant is not included, but this makes that you can plant in there whatever you find appropriate. 

Ding a Ding is a new shop to Etsy, it opened only 7th of March 2014. Yet they already have a good amount of sales, showing there is a real market for these items. I understand why, these pots will look great in any home, and will make for an interesting addition to your home decor. 

Because this is a new shop there are not many items yet, but I talked to Jie, the shop owner, and she told me she is still working hard on getting all the items on, it is useful to keep an eye on the shop to get to see the newest items!

Jie has kindly offered a 5% discount for the readers of the blog, you can use ISHJESBITS when you check out. There is no minimum spend requirement, but it is over the items only and does not include shipping costs.