Futaba-en

On my last visit to Tokyo, I visited the Futaba-en workshop. Continuing a tradition, which has lasted since the Edo era this workshhop creates beautiful hand-dyed fabrics. I love the tools above.

A roll of cloth hangs across the room to be worked on. Students should learn for at least ten years to really perfect the art.

Craftsmen can pick from a choice of 2,000 - 3,000 colours. The workshop also has more than 2,000 patterns as well as creating new patterns in house.

The end products are then for sale in their tranquil shop with everything from jewellery cases to stunning Kimonos. You can read more here

Clean linear interiors

Loving the look of these clean white linear interiors. Inspiration for any of you doing weekend de-cluttering sessions!

The above two images were re-pinned from the Giddy Aunt stream on Pinterest (the one from Geelong). She pins the most gorgeous interiors - have a look!

Flower surprises

With yet another day of dreary weather, we decided at Anzu to leave some surprise bouquets for strangers with an Anzu card to brighten their day.

Jam jars of daffodils with an Anzu 'Books and tea' card left on the tube for whoever passed by,

a bunch of tulips with our 'Perfume bottles' card left in a passageway,

cabbage roses and daffodils with an Anzu 'Rainbow jewels' card in a stairwell of a town hall (I passed a man on the staircase just after I'd put them down but don't know if he picked them up!)

simple gerberas tied with a gingham ribbon with our 'English teacups' card left on a pew,

more daffodils and cabbage roses with our 'Jewelled butterfly' card left outside a block of flats. We hope they brightened each stranger's day. We like this link too which has lots of ideas to brighten everyone's day and hope it inspires you too!

Good things come in pairs

Happy Valentines! Have a lovely day,

Anzu x

Old-fashioned romance...

Valentines doesn't have to be naff, and a good dose of old-fashioned romance never goes amiss.

Here are some of our favourite Valentines gift choices: Above our Heart locket limited edition print with Swarovski crystals would make anyone feel truly treasured. A3 in size, £150 - email us at info@anzu.co.uk to order!

Beautiful antique jewellery such as this Annina Vogel diamond cupid's bow pendant or this Victorian diamond heart pendant  

Classic romance in beautiful or vintage editions (we love this Boddington edition of Wuthering Heights)

Hand-written love notes tied with twine and wild flowers. You could try this with our Anzu Valentine tattoo cards, and surprise your Valentine with a bundle of cards with something you love about them written in each.

Wild roses are the most romantic flowers. Choose a bunch that looks like it's just been picked from an English meadow (our favourite florists Thatflowershop and Zeze are masters of this look).

Or make the flowers you give last all year with this Dolce & Gabbana red rose bag

Conservatories

Never tire of seeing beautiful conservatories full of exotic plants. Heaven...

Hee hee..

Couldn't help but post this. Apparently horses in the Edwardian era favoured long, blonde and ever so slightly crimped hairstyles

Swarovski crystals..

Hand-decorating our brand new 'Tattoo' cards  with Swarovski crystals. So sparkly! No other crystals compare to Swarovski in our opinion. Below some fantastic images of Swarovski installations.

Pearls

I recently visited the new V&A Pearls exhibition, which displayed the most exquisite of pearls from Roman times up to present day and Mikimoto.

Pearls have long been a favourite in Anzu illustrations, as on our Congratulations card which features painted Diamond and pearl strands, so the exhibition was very inspiring.

There was a combination of amazing pearl jewels and tiaras, portraits and even Queen Elizabeth II's soft gold evening dress worn for a Paris state event. It was decorated with the most beautiful bee, wild flower and wheat motifs. Absolutely lavish in detail with exquisite gold embroidered leaves and seed pearls scattered across the gown.

The most ethereal Elizabethan portrait. In periods of this portrait pearls were a symbol of fertility and life.

There were also many celebrity pieces: Elizabeth Taylor's ear-rings, Marilyn Monroe's Mikimoto choker and most amazingly King Charles I's Pearl earring, which he was wearing when he was executed(read more of that story here)

There was also an impressive array of tiaras. This crown-shaped hat was from Lucknow and embroidered with tinsel (!) and seed pearls.

Tiaras have often featured on Anzu products. Here is a detail of our Queen's jewels print. This illustration was inspired by the Cambridge Lover's knot tiara, which features diamonds and large Oriental pearl drops.

Images via V&A, Adorngirl.com and Anzu Ltd