Featured artist

Kate is a regular holiday maker to Yamba. She loves the place (and the store)! She loves the gorgeous French canvas purses and is currently using one in her home of Melbourne.

Kate is a lovely artist and has been working on a small set of beach sketches mostly done while sitting on the beach.

We have hung them using our beautiful Specklefarm grosgrain ribbons in the Grafton store and are very limited. They would make a sunny addition to anyones home, particularly if you love Main Beach Yamba, but cannot necessarily see it everyday.

Tea Cup and Saucer

We love a cup of tea in our family. Every occasion is generally marked with a cup of tea (and then champagne usually).

These willow tea cups and saucers were unpacked yesterday and would look great sitting in anyones kitchen with fresh herbs, an African violet, or simple pansies. A lovely little gift for someone special.

Anyone in London?

An invitation to a special Mother's Day event at the Smythson New Bond Street Store.

"Exquisite, hand-lined tissue-envelopes are synonymous with Smythson,  so we thought we’d make our Mother’s Day cards extra-special by inviting one of our expert stationery artisans to our New Bond Street store next Tuesday 29th and Wednesday 30th of March,  to demonstrate  the skilled craftsmanship involved in the creation of each hand-lined tissue envelope."


Craig-Poland Smith of Royal Warrant-holdingLondon Scribes, will be on-hand to beautifully hand script a complimentary message of your choice into any of our exquisite die-stamped Mother’s Day cards. 

Grafton Store

The Grafton store has really evolved over the last month or so and we are very proud of how it looks. We are bias but we think it is a really beautiful store.

Feel free to call, email or pop in if anything catches your eye.

We love maps

"Hand-drawn London" is a new exhibition of the capital as seen by Londoners. Rather than a factual display, the maps illustrate personal experiences and imaginations. The 11 maps created by Londonist.com readers will be on display at the Museum of London from 21 April to 11 September 2011.

Sweet Tea

AA has done a lovely job finding new homes for lots of new goodies in the store this week. I particularly love the fresh roses in the teapot. Charming!

Road Tripping

The flavour of the month for March seems to be going away. We have been to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Brisbane, and Sydney again. So we thought we should carry the theme through to this month's playlist. Just what you need for long hours in the car or waiting in airports.

Hear it here. Hope you enjoy!

Chanel in Melbourne

A quick trip to Melbourne to view the beautiful Anna Thomas range resulted in delight when I spotted these little pink gingham numbers in the Chanel window.

Little pieces of perfection

We had such a lovely morning yesterday unpacking box after box of amazing French treasures.

Authentic vintage French pieces hand picked and delivered to the Grafton and Yamba stores.

So many things to admire, so AA has come up with a brief description and lots of pictures for you to look at. If anything catches your eye, please feel free to call the Yamba or Grafton store.

“Voyages surprise” vintage French books - I am particularly in love with these as there are no words just beautiful illustrations so the child's (or the adult's) imagination can run wild. 

·         These circa 1950s childrens’ books were discovered in a French warehouse unopened and unread. Be the first to take a child on a surprise voyage with one of these delightful books.

Vintage French marrons glaces boxes - little wooden boxes to keep your treasures in. 

·         Valued by peasants and treasured by the wealthy, marrons glaces (candied chestnuts) sourced from the Cevennes mountain ranges in south-central France were a traditional European holiday treat.

Vintage French oyster baskets - how romantic, even the most tiresome job is done with style!

·         French oyster farmers would use these wire “manne” (hamper) baskets to gather the oysters from the salty water.

Vintage French cheeseboards - I never entertain without one of these, and it hangs on my kitchen wall, tied with a grosgrain ribbon when it is not in use. A piece of artwork. 

·         Serve a magnificent cheese platter, fresh crisp salad drizzled with glistening olive oil, or sumptuous Sunday roast on one of these gorgeous vintage boards.

French vintage faiselle cheese strainer - great as utensil holders, in the bathroom for your make up brushes, candle holders, cutlery holder or serviette container.... endless.

·         Faisselle is an unsalted, soft and very fresh curd cheese. Cheesemakers would fill a container with holes on the side, storing a group in an outer container where the excess whey flows through the holes and is captured. Sitting in this "whey bath" keeps the faisselles moist and fresh.

Vintage French newspaper for lawyers “journal des notaires” - for any one obsessed with books, these are divine. We even found an old hand written book mark in one yesterday! 

·         A French civil-law notary, or notaire, is a highly specialised lawyer in private practice appointed as a public official by the Minister of Justice. These divine leather-bound journals date back as far as 1833.

Vintage terracotta pots - too much for words, petite and gorgeous.

·         Stack these original terracotta seedling pots and tie with twine or ribbon for an attractive display in the kitchen or garden.

Mila's Daydreams

Well this is a beautifully creative way to spend maternity leave. While the artist's baby is taking her nap, she creates scene around her and take quick snap photos. 

It only takes a few minutes per picture, including creating idea, implementation and editing, "cause I don't want to disturb her sleeping and most of my time is for my family". The camera is small and inexpensive Canon IXUS 750. So certainly nothing flash. 


What a lucky little girl to be able to grow up in such a fun, creative home.

Beautiful Books

AA certainly has a love for fonts so she was excited to tell me that two of the little books that arrived in store yesterday have beautiful covers designed by Jessica Hische - one of AA's favs.

The books are gorgeous and include "The Patisseries of Paris" - a lovely book about the patisserie shops of Paris. Ribbon, which was used on the cover, is used throughout the book as a decorative element.

And "Chic Shopping Paris" - a boutiquey guidebook on shopping in Paris. The cover is a photograph that Jessica took and then photoshopped to oblivion.

Paris anyone?