Casas da Fonte - design house

Take a look inside this gorgeous design-inspired house just outside of Porto. This kind of drool-worthy design seems to make a bit of a mockery of my afternoon spent trawling IKEA for frames! Found via Chic Tip.

Glasses to match every outfit: Luis Porem

Some people match their shoes to their bag and their eyeshadow to their top. While I've never been quite that pulled together, I can certainly see the appeal of Luis Porem's multicoloured glasses. They were designed as an entry in the Opus Award contest. The structure of the RbG glasses has an internal channel where colourful ink passes through, meaning that the wearer can change their look every time they use them. Original (and useful), no?

Interview: Joana Dyron of Traxa

Joana Dyron, the talent behind handicraft brand Traxa was kind enough to agree to talk to London Lisbonite about her work and how her hands can't keep up with all of her ideas! She was also kind enough to offer FREE SHIPPING to anyone that buys one of her products and mentions that they found her through London Lisbonite so remember to let her know when you pay! Over to you Joana!
1. Tell us a bit about what you do and what first inspired you to do it?
When it comes to jewelry and accessories, I always choose handmade and I often buy from online shops myself. I think a pair of earrings or a pin shows some of your personality and there's nothing worse than seeing girls in the street wearing identical pieces. Although I'm no professional artist, I always enjoyed doing things with my hands (like making clothes for my Barbie doll, for example, all of them my own design ;) and about two years ago I started buying pieces of fabric and beads and trying to make something out of it. Later I started giving my pins out to my friends who encouraged me to try selling them. Until recently I had a really boring office job so I really felt like being creative at home and put a lot of energy into my store. Also, I'm lucky to have a husband who loves taking photos so Etsy is something we're actually doing together having a lot of fun :)

2. What do you do when you're not creating/selling?
I'm a mommy so now I'm happily at home mainly focused on my family life (I love cooking!). I spend most of my time working as a translator and when I have nothing to translate, there are scissors, fabrics, beads and needles flying all around the house :)

3. What's your favourite piece / the hardest thing for you to sell?
Hmm.. the hardest thing to sell I guess would be felt pins, like the Matryosha dolls, which I personally really love but they don't seem to be much of a success... And my favourite? I only make things that I'd wear myself so I really love them all!

4. What is your most valuable possession?
That's a tough one... I don't get that attached to things...

5. What are your plans for the future / new ranges?
I have a head full of ideas, I hope I'll have enough time to put them into reality! I'm planning to start selling my things in art fairs in Lisbon. I'm also thinking of opening another store selling handmade cards with real photos (taken by my husband, of course :) that can be used as wedding invitations, etc. Another thing is a new range for little girls - headbands, pony tail bands, hair pins, etc. Many women ask me for this kind of things for their little daughters and you should listen to the market... And, of course, there'll be more wedding hairpins and brooches coming in spring.

6. Complete this sentence: "Happiness is..."
It's hard to come up with something revealing here but I'd say happiness is made of short moments, never lasts long. It's also the ability to find joy in simple things.

Photo no. 1: English Garden headband (made to order, 17.90 $)
Photo no. 2: Rosette trio necklace (24.90 $)
Photo no. 3: Galo (made to order, 14.90 $)
Photo no. 4: Bobby pin collection (made to order, 14.90 $ per 4 pins)

What to do with old Nespresso pods (if you're not George Clooney)

I drink far more coffee than a should and have fallen prey to the Nespresso craze. No granules to clean up, hurrah! However, the sickening adverts really put me off initially but it has to be said, without caffeine in the morning, I can't even be called human so I'll have to deal with it. I can see the point of environmentalists that complain that the pods aren't exactly green so I wanted to share the really original work of the Aqui ha gato artist who not only has a charming blog but has a very original way of disposing of pods: namely, making them into little works of art! Suck on that Clooney...

Shop in the spotlight: Matilde Beldroega

I have just discovered Matilde Beldroega, possibly one of the most original toy designers I've seen so far and the fact that her blog is well written and really beautiful is just a bonus. She makes handmade and utterly charming toys on sale from her Etsy shop. The sheep in particular is fantastic and if I were a little girl I would have loved to get one as a gift. Who am I kidding? I'm 26 and I still want one... Buy now before she becomes too famous!

*Sigh*. I'm in love.

Melting furniture

I love the smell of London in the summer. This could, of course, simply be the result of years of ingesting so much pollution that I’ve become addicted but the smell of hot tarmac and freshly cut grass are an intoxicating combination. Cold and wet London, by contrast, is just damp and smells of dirt. Yuk. I want heat. Mmm. Heat. Just imagine it. Sitting outside, the weight of a book in your hand and the coolness of the frozen margarita you've just tipped down your throat burning inside you. Heat so intense that inhaling is like breathing soup. Until that happens (and in the UK, don't blink, you might miss it!), I'm utterly charmed by these weird and wonderful pieces of "Melting furniture". I first saw the melting armchair in the story on Tracey Neuls on Home Shopping Spy and went looking for more melting pieces.




Photos via Simon Reeves, Selectism, Superpunch and Bitter Wallet.

Rui Grazina: Architecture and Design

Portuguese architect Rui Grazina has a sideline in product design and I recently got a release with photos of his newest jewellery boxes, based on Japanese secret boxes (which were originally designed so that they could only be opened by the correct series of movements). How pretty? Very pretty. As are his other pieces - I like the concept of foiling would-be snoopers with multiple hiding places!

Vintage Portuguese travel posters

One of my Christmas presents from my fathers wonderful girlfriend was a print of an old Portuguese political poster from the 20's. I was overjoyed because unlike every other destination in Europe, it's really hard to find vintage Portuguese prints and posters. They just don't seem that popular. So it was with joy that I found this print advertising my tiny hometown Cascais on Zazzle (and a couple of others on scrubbles.net and posterteam). Guess what just went on my shopping list?

Marco Sousa Santos - Portuguese tableware design

I recently stumbled across the website of one of the biggest names in Portuguese modern product design, Marco Sousa Santos. From working as art director for large government bodies to designing his own ranges, both alone and in collaboration with others, he's got an amazing CV and his work is really worth a look. I particularly love his tabletop designs - the candlestick is particularly unusual!

Nom nom nom: Portuguese oil and vinegar

One of the things that I miss most about home is the food. Simple, uncomplicated, unprocessed food. And with an eye for design, I've simply fallen in love with the Passanha range of oils and vinegars made in the traditional way on their gorgeous "Quinta" (estate) in the Alentejo agricultural region of Portugal. Their bottles really stand out and have just made my (ever longer) "must buy" list the next time I'm home! Just take a look at the gorgeous farm where they grow their plump olives:

And the bottles themselves are just so pretty:

The coolest garden chair in the world?

My deckchair is covered in moss. It's depressing to see something I spend so much time with in the summer ruined so completely. I was looking around for something different when I came across this deckchair with a pretty pattern based on traditional Portuguese tiles designed by Flavio Pagotti Silva (found via 2modern design talk).

Glasscor: Portuguese coloured glass

The Marinha Grande region of Portugal has long been known for glass production and in the last decade Portuguese designers have started to enter the world stage of Design. Glasscor have an interesting selection of hand-blown coloured glass collections. I absolutely love the way the Bubble lamps look like they're sinking into the surface they're sitting on. The Vulkanik range is also gorgeous and looks just like it's been sculpted from lava - I'm looking hard for somewhere to buy the range.

Colourful living rooms

I found a fantastic gallery of colourful living rooms on the Caras website and yet again I found myself thinking wistfully of home. Sadly, I don't think that a lot of these colours would work in the UK but they're certainly acting as inspiration for the holiday home I intend to build in Portugal one day!