Get on board for a delicious treat!

Yes, it's finally Friday! I'm sure many of you will be lucky enough to enjoy a long weekend. It seems like it's going to rain non-stop however so we might end up floating like these cute little boats..

Carnets Parisiens and complete recipe (in French)

I think it makes a lovely dessert and it seems incredibly easy to prepare. You just have to make small boats with filo pastry and bake until golden brown. Then prepare a sea of  melted chocolate with cream ​​icebergs and that's it!

Isn't it a great idea for a rainy day activity?


Enjoy!

Olga

Clare Nicolson

It's been a while since we brought you the latest on Scottish talent. To follow on from our interview a while ago with AkaTombo, let me introduce you to Clare Nicolson textiles if you don't already know about the wonders she produces.

I've been following Clare's work (in a non-creepy way) for a while now and think it's about time to share.

"Clare Nicolson was founded in 2004 and has been creating textiles, home accessories and stationery ever since. Designs are heavily influenced by vintage textiles and beautiful patterned paper and ephemera. Clare is a collector of all things vintage. Her home is filled with ceramics, tea sets, linen, and bric-a-brac which all inspire her work.

The textiles combine digital printing with vintage fabrics to create extra special products which are all printed and manufactured in the UK"

Clare Nicolson

All of the items in her shop are such a delight to look at. I think they make an excellent, cheerful and bright addition to any home. Don't you agree?

Carla

Same, same but different: balloons

After recently decorating the house for a birthday party, I started to look into balloons a bit more. I wanted to find interesting ones but was unsuccesful in my attempts so I bought normal-looking balloons like these:

via

These are still very nice to look at but I realised there seems to be a gap in the market until I stumbled upon Geronimo. 

Geronimo

If you live in the US you're lucky enough to be within reach of these beauties as they don't seem to ship outside of the US at the moment. Fingers crossed they will soon! These would certainly make an impact at your party.

I also thought these Japanese paper balloons would make another nice alternative:

Olivelse

These ones are available from UGUiSU. Arranged altogether like this by Olivelse they look great (her blog is well worth a visit - lots of pretty photos).

Have you found any other interesting and different balloons? Please share if you have!

Have a festive weekend!

Carla

The art of arranging

Those who know me will laugh at the title of this post because if I'm good at one thing it's leaving things untidy. I've always been fascinated by people who have a gift for automatically putting everything back in its place, almost without realising they do it. I try over and over again - I promise I really make an effort - but after a couple of days my surroundings rebel and the chaos returns. That's how my major victim describes it, who despite trying his best hasn't managed to transmit his clothes-go-to-the-wardrobe-and-not-to-compete-with-Everest superpowers to me. So when I saw these images from the book The art of clean up by Swiss Ursus Wehrli, I felt a mixture of admiration, jealousy and yearning. The author dedicated his time to collecting different everyday situations and objects and arranging them as if they were mini armies. 

Making of of these two images

Source

The images are spectacular but let's be honest, a world as organised as this wouldn't be as exciting, don't you think? ;)


Olga

Double exposure: orange

It's time for our second Double Exposure installment and this month we're all about orange!

Olga on the left, Carla on the right

Have you got any orange photos to share with us? Let us know in the comments if you do and we can add them to next month's post, which is going to be very yellow.

Happy Saturday!

Carla and Olga

Instagram and friends

We're back, fully recharged and with lots to tell you! How was your Easter? We hope you had lots of fun. I managed to escape to the seaside and made the most of it to rest, take hundreds of photos with my camera (the latest Double Exposure is nearly here!) and with my mobile, as those of you following me on Instagram will have seen.

This great app was released for Android just last week. Finally! I am delighted because it will bring new additions to the Instagramer family. In case any of you haven't heard of the app, it's a social network where you can share photos you previously apply a filter to that gives them a certain vintage feel. It has been a complete success amongst millions of iPhone users and now it's waiting to steal the hearts of the Androideans ;)


And of course a whole host of other websites have have been created by the minds of geniuses to make the most of Instagram's appeal. Here are our favorites:


1. Postagram
Are you on holiday wanting to send a postcard feauting your favourite photograph from the trip? This app is extremely easy to use, all you have to do is choose a photo and personalise it with your message. Postagram takes care of the rest. Delivery to Europe costs $1.99 and in a few days the addressee will receive a little surprise in their mailbox. Pretty good, non? I’ll show you mine as soon as I borrow it from the owner.

2. Stickygram
By now you should know how much we like magnets around here and that's why Stickygram is one of my favourites. In just a couple of clicks, you can turn your photos into magnets. Delivery is free worldwide and the set of 9 magnets costs $14.99 - a very reasonable price. You can do themed sets like I did with this heart one and send them gift wrapped to someone else including a personalised message.
Plus, until the end of April, they're offering a 15% discount if you enter the code HELLOANDROID

3. Casetagram
Die-hard fans can even display their Instagram photos on their iPhone cover. The cover costs $34.95 (delivery costs included) and you can create your own collage to make a real work of art, as you can see in these examples:

4. Canvas pop
This website turns your Instagram photos into framed canvasses to beautify your home. Prices start at $39.99 for 30 x 30 cm and you can choose a black or white frame. At the moment, they don't deliver to Europe but they've told us they are in the process of arranging that so you'll have to keep an eye out. I am very keen to try this one out!

What do you make of these ideas? Will you be signing up to any of them? And what about Instagram - do you like the immediacy of sharing your life in images or do you prefer photos that are taken with more care and post-processed?
Olga

Happy Easter!

It's almost Easter and that usually means a nice break and a lot of chocolate so we'll be away for a while taking care of that. We hope you all have a lovely time and to keep you entertained until we come back, here is a DIY for making the eggs above. Enjoy!

Carla and Olga