Bejewelled Snowflakes

Christmas is fast approaching and as usual we are totally inspired by jewels and all things luxurious.

Snowflakes are beautiful and unique it is obvious why jewellery designers have been inspired by them.  We’ve always liked the idea of a sparkling, dazzling Christmas, so we combined jewelled snowflakes and encrusted icicle stars in to our Diamonds Are Forever Christmas range.  Above is one of the cards from the range.

This is one of the first photographs ever taken of a snowflake, by Wilson A Bentley.  The detail is magnificent and intricate.
These earrings worn by Doris Duke made by Van Cleef  Arpels were a source of inspiration to us when painting and also this more modern looking unusual Chanel snowflake brooch.

Cartier have always been a huge source of inspiration for us and their Winter Tale advertisement is so magical and enchanting.  We love everything about it especially the gigantic glowing Christmas tree, beautiful cats and the gem encrusted panthers against the midnight blue sky.  To watch it click here

images: Anzu, Telegraph, Van Cleef Arpels, Chanel, Cartier 

Nautical style part 2

Ahoy there! Sorry, couldn't resist. Following on from last week here is another nautical inspired post dedicated to the Anzu graphic designer/sailor Ben. He could rock himself to sleep in this boat bed,

navigate by the stars in this boat style bath,

rather less comfortably sit on this stylish bench from Anthropologie,

whilst taking a drink from this boat bar (currently on sale at Lassco, the London reclamation site) served in this nautical teacup (from East end boutique Luna curious) whilst watching Wes Anderson favourite, Life Aquatic and learning how to talk like an old seadog here.

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Feeling nautical

Ben, our graphic designer, had a special birthday recently, so in honour of him we thought we'd do a couple of nautical inspired posts. Above is one of Ben's favourite paintings.

As our first post, we've found pictures of some nautical living options that Ben might like to consider for his future home. This house in the Antarctic could be a little chilly..

Above, an amazing boat house in what looks to be the middle of the Obersee, Germany.

Could be a little bijou

Ben could pretend he was a pirate in this one

or pretend he's sailing the waves in this fantastic boat treehouse

A converted boat in America. Maybe we could have the Anzu studio there too (if Ben didn't mind).

Ben could take this one out to sea if it was real - imagine... Wonder which will be Ben's favourite, and which one is yours? Look out for our next nautical inspired post next week.

Anzu on Facebook

If you haven't already, do step over to facebook to have a look at all the latest Anzu news, http://www.facebook.com/anzulondon With features on the latest Anzu products, above is our new giftwrap range out in Jan,

works in progress,

exciting packages received in the Anzu studio,

general office silliness,

 and just things we love. 

Nureyev's house

Really into all things patterned at the moment, especially when there is layer after layer of different patterns all mixed. So I'm feeling really inspired by these photos of Nureyev's house, and particularly the combination of dark blue and red.

The man himself. Apparently he also had a large collection of oriental theatre props and costumes - would love to see that too!

Modern kimono

I blogged some time ago about how great it is to see kimono being worn in a modern way. Hair ornaments, often reflecting the seasons are a big part of Japanese traditional dress. These modern Tokyo girls take it to a new level.

Yukata, the more informal kimono and it's lovely indigo hues.

Cute!

Dior from a few years ago, with an amazing Hokusai inspired dress

Even dogs are following the trend

And if you'd like to read more, the V&A kimono book.

images: tokyo fasion tumblr, tokyofasion.com, the sartorialist, tokyofasion.com, vogue, unknown, stylecourt.blogspot.co.uk

Coral and aqua

Perhaps because it is rather grey in London at the moment, I am finding myself drawn to coral and aqua. I'm obviously dreaming of sunnier climes! This is a dragonfly painting I've just completed, and some images that inspired me.

I also love it combined with a touch of yellow.

images: anzu, hereiamloulou.com, homestyling.blogspot.com, unknown, shihom.tumblr.com, unknown

Cocktail hour

Party season is here, so you might be needing some Anzu cocktail cards, particularly the hangover cure card! Perfect as invitations, birthday cards, or thank yous.

Here's our top picks of cocktail bars. Which one would you have? My vote is for the gold one.

The Houses of Parliament

Last week Saffiah sneaked out of the Anzu studio to visit the Houses of Parliament in London for a tour.  These are some of her highlights of the tour.

It was so exciting to see the various chambers and rooms in the Houses of Parliament and to see what goes on.  St. Stephen’s hall was the original House of Commons, before it was destroyed in a fire.  It has now been renovated and decorated with statues of famous people from parliament and mosaic pieces but you can still see the brass plates on the floor marking where the speaker’s chair would have been.

One of the highlights was of course seeing the House of Commons and House of Lords.

Whilst in the House of Commons I was quite surprised how small it looks compared to how it looks on TV, and it can only sit approximately 430 MPs out of the 650 current MPs. If you look close enough during the tour you can even see slight damage caused on the table where Winston Churchill would sit and thump his hand on the wood.

The House of Lords was elaborate and luxurious in contrast to the House of Commons with deep red leather, fresco paintings, stained glass windows and a gold throne where the Queen sits to give her speech.

My favourite part of the Tour was the Princes Chamber, a room where Lords meet to have discussions.   I loved the paintings of famous figures from the Tudor Dynasty lining the gilded walls (although they are actually replicas of Holbein’s paintings).  Seeing all the paintings lined up really made me realise sheer enormity of British history.

Overall it was fascinating to see hundreds of years of history, where Kings and Queens have walked, given speeches and even been sentenced to death.  To find out more about the tour of the Houses of Parliament click here You can also take online virtual tours here

Fairytale bed

How amazing is this bed? Looks like you could go on a voyage on it. By Francois-Xavier Lalanne