The "Galette des Rois" day

The "Galette des Rois" is a golden pastry cake filled with an almond cream called "frangipane". Here in France, it celebrates the Epiphany and it is traditionally sold by all boulangeries during this period and it is eaten around the 6th January, just in order to keep ourselves trained to eat a lot after the heavy xmas session ;). The tradition wants that the cake was the occasion to draw the kings during the Epiphany day: a lucky charm in porcelain (called "fève") is hidden inside the galette and the lucky one who finds it out, more than to risk to break her or his teeth, becomes the queen or the king for the day, assuming the right to wear the crown in golden paper!

And, as it is really delicious, I've taken the decision to post the recipe of this cake in order to give to whom not live in France the opportunity to taste this sweetness! And maybe to become also Her or His Royal Majesty for one day!

Crafters of sweets

When the most famous Parisian pastry shop, Ladurée, meets up and collaborates with the great Japanese stationary brand, Mark's, some little dreams come to life under the shapes of cute rubber stamp sets. And one specimen of this amazing stamp set series went at home with me to enrich my personal collection, as you can see below!

It was impossible for me to resist to these cute animals, strangely named and decorated in a baroque way... there are also two other versions as much cute as mine, which are going to be the next gift I will offer to myself...

Ladurée is an authentic gastronomic temple, whose luxury style and precious ornaments make this place a unique address here in Paris; it's almost a symbol of the French lifestyle and a compulsory stop for all gourmands that visit the so-called "Ville Lumière". The macaron is the emblematic product of this maison. This small, round cake, crisp on the outside, smooth and soft in the middle, is the perfect mix of tastiness and beauty, an authentic joy for eyes and palate...

I wanted to dedicate this my new hand carved rubber stamp set to these colourful and delicious pastries. My set is purpose made for reproducing the wide range of colours and flavours that belongs to world of macaroons, thanks to three different modular stamps. You can find my macarons rubber stamp set on etsy shop... I hope you like them!

Award-Book-Mark

I love very much illustrated books and, for that, one of my favorite activities is to spend my spare time flipping books in children compartment of bookstores... I'm very happy when I found illustrations able to express, through their immediacy and simplicity, even those concepts that should require many words. It is a language, whose apparently simplicity conceals actually a strong work of research that aims to the essence. And today, during my bookstore blitz, I stumbled upon a wonderful illustrated book, which has literally ravished me! It's Le Petit Gibert illustré by Bruno Gibert...

Bruno Gibert, Le Petit Gibert Illustré, Albin Michel Jeunesse, Paris, 2010, price 17,90 €, site of the publisher

It is an "alternative" dictionary; it offers indeed non conventional definitions to describe ordinary things, changing the point of view of the reader. Some amazing illustrations are related to funny definitions, and it really make me smiling thanks to the style of his draws and to his original and playful writings... amongst a lot of drawings and definitions, I've chosen only three of them in order to better present his work:

My love for this book inspired me to elaborate an "useful" prize with which reward my favourite books: an award cockade in felt to be used as bookmark!

These rosettes can be used as a bookmarks for your favourite books and for showing your love for them! Each cockade is hand stamped, using a hand carved rubber stamp. The all is completed with a French tricolored ribbon, you can find them on my etsy. I hope you like them!

A Romantic Life

Paris with its magical and dreaming atmospheres belong without any doubt to the most romantic town in the world, maybe it's the most romantic town over all! It's sufficient to walk around to find lovely instant to be "stolen" with a camera... for instance, here I found two very charming and poetic subjects while I was traversing the Seine at Pont Des Arts....

I risk to compete seriously with Doisneau's baiser de l'Hotel de Ville ;) !

As being very inspired by this shiny and charming afternoon (it was weeks that the sun was striking...), I took decision to follow this thread of romanticism, and create some romantic stamps...

And I used this stamps for producing cute brooches and necklaces that fit very well with all ladies who want to show their romantic side wearing them going outside:

I hope you like these products, as usual you can find them on my Etsy

Biscuit Time

Breakfast is the moment of the day that I prefer, it's great to start every morning with delicious things and to relax while eating croissants beurre or pains au chocolats... French viennoiserie, I'm crazy for you! The breakfast of this morning was more wonderful for me than normal, and maybe more heavy than usual; indeed I've made some little biscuits using two very special pastry cutters for cup-adorning cookies, which I've found at the Bon Marché here in Paris...

Here's the recipe:

ingredients: 150 g butter, 100 g sugar, 300 g flour, 1 egg, 1 pinch of salt

preparation: cream butter, egg, sugar and flour. Add then then salt. Wrap this dough in cling foil and place in the fridge for at least one hour. Now roll out the pastry in approx. 3 mm thick sheets between two layers of baking foil (it's better to use wooden slats as well - these make it easier to attain an even thickness). Cut out the biscuits and remove the remaining pastry away from the cut-out shapes. Leave the cookies on the baking foil and place on a baking tray. Bake in pre-set hoven (top and bottom heat) at 180 °C for 7-10 minutes. Et voilà, bon appétit!

This French touch to my breakfast gives me the idea to produce a couple of stamp sets in parisian style, while the ever-present mustache - a cult item of last season: one "classic" with the writing "voilà" and another "curly" marked with "bonjour"... you can find them on my etsy!

Le Temps des Cerises

As summer is coming to end, I have tried to produce some hand-made stuff able to bring some of warmth and happiness of summer with me during autumn and winter, while I will be waiting for the next summer... and what is more evocative of summer feelings than cherries? Recently, I've also discovered an old French popular song, called "Le temps des cerises", which refers to the time of cherries as an happy time of populair cheerfulness, as the summer is....

J'aimerai toujours le temps des cerises

Et le souvenir que je garde au cœur

[I will always love the time of cherries

and the memory that I hold in my hearth]

Moreover, during last days I've also hand carved some rubber stamps figuring fresh fruit, inspired by the characters of Decolello:

Apple, pineapple, orange, strawberry, cherries, mushroom, pear, and lemon... they were all used to produce some cotton covered buttons that you can find, together with the Cherries Brooch, on my Etsy shop:

La maison de Memi

Today I'd like to open the door of my house and to show where my inspirations take form...

so this is my little attic under the roofs of Paris, at the 6th floor without elevator of old building from the XIX century... all my stuff is very well ranged: buttons, fabrics and colored felts, books and tutorials, rubber stamps and ink pads, brooches and more and more...

... and upstairs, in a little headroom, I have my sewing machine (more than my bedroom)... for me to live here is really as a dream and I'm going to be sad because I will leave it for a while...

...during this summer, indeed, I will come back in Italy. I hope that the beach and the sea could be able to not make me feel missing of home!

and, I was forgetting my cool neighbour who lives in front of me, at the window as usual, I guess he's a kind of solitary poet or writer... or maybe he's simply my power animal!