Showing posts with label FNWG. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FNWG. Show all posts

GIVEAWAY | Have you already joined?


Have you joined One Must Dash giveaway that is running on the blog now? Take a chance to win one of the lovely Not Another Bag, just check the post here to know how to enter!
Quirky moments to live and wear. 

This competition is opened until the 1st of September.

Good luck!



All images © One Must Dash

GIVEAWAY | ONE MUST DASH | The Not Another Bag


One Must Dash is a Swedish/English studio run by Anki Josefsson and Anneli Sandström, based in both Sweden (Gothenburg) and UK(Brighton) that celebrates quirky moments in everyday life, in black and white (mostly). I have been a big fan of their prints for a while now: who is not in love with their Small Talk print? It has become almost an icon for all the lovers of monochromatic home details.
 

And it's giveaway time!
Today I teamed up with One Must Dash to offer you one of their "The Not Another Bag", a very large black and grey printed canvas bag with lining. The idea of the bag drives its inspiration from envelopes as you can see in the pictures here. Handles made from finest vegetable-tanned Italian leather and is beautiful to wear.


To have the chance to win their Not Another Bag, just follow these steps:
1.  follow them on Twitter @onemustdashshop or like them on FB ONE MUST DASH
2. Tell me in the comments below what you would put inside your Not Another Bag.
This competition is opened until the 1st of September.

The giveaway is now closed. The winner will be announced here soon!



All images © One Must Dash

Our Home #7 | String Pocket love


My love for String System is well documented across the blog since its beginning. The bookshelves have been on my home wish list since I can remember I had one and I was very happy when the RAW String Pocket arrived at home last year. I saw it for the very first time thanks to the images Lotta Agaton published from her collaboration with the Swedish brand and I knew that new version had to be part of our place.


At the moment, the versatile bookshelf is placed in our home studio, just above my place. I love to style it from time to time with small objects and things I find during our walk around, especially with leaves and greenery. The touch of the shelves is very special, warm and almost sensual. Though String pocket has been introduced only in 2005 to provide a smaller and more flexible shelving solution, it has now become a fundamental part of the brand product range.  The kit consists of two panels and three shelves therefore, thanks to its special system, by adding just another kit will allow you to create many different solution, both horizontally and vertically.


As we need some extra storage space, I am considering of adding a FLOOR String System either in the living area or in the kitchen: a pity the raw version is not available for the big ones! I will keep you posted about the choice and would love to know your ideas about your favourite shelving systems!

All pictures © facing north with gracia




KOTO by Skandinavisk x Design Bloggers United


I am still on holidays but really wanted to share with you the big news about the launch of our scented candle at Formex fair in Stockholm this week! KOTO by Skandinavisk x Design Bloggers United is the result of an exclusive collaboration between our bloggers group and  Skandinavisk, a brand well known for its gorgeous work with fragrances that celebrate the unique Scandinavian lifestyle. You probably remember when I talked abouth them HERE, so you can imagine how exciting it was to work with them to create KOTO


Named after an old Finnish word that means home, the scented candle talks about cosy, intimate spaces where to refresh the soul, refuges from long winters. It embraces the renowned simplicity and elegance of Scandinavian homes with its black and white look and with its soft notes of mandarin, jasmine, vanilla and amber helps our quest for tranquillity and calm atmospheres. To ensure this, KOTO has been created as an extremely long-lasting candle: it is bigger than regular candles as it burns up to 75 hours. Burn the four wicks all together until the melted wax reaches the edges of the glass and let the fragrance embrace you.
The candle will be available in several stores across Europe at the beginning of September but can be pre-ordered already at Skandinavisk.


The KOTO by Skandinavisk x Design Bloggers United collaboration marks also the entrance to our group of talented Susanna Vento, who created the styling you see in this post. 
Welcome Susanna!

Our home #6 | Still life in the studio


We are now in the Alps for the first part of our summer holidays with the Italian side of our family. The weather is not so good this summer but we still hope to do some nice walks up and down the mountains.

I took these shots at home before leaving for our summer holidays and I thought it was nice to post them on the blog, just to keep it updated with something fresh. The pictures were taken in our studio, you can see more pictures of it here. The still life was created with three of the Calabasse vases from Serax and a pile of Kinfolk magazines. Very simple and minimal.


All pictures © facing north with gracia

URBAN JUNGLE BLOGGERS | Watering your plants


We are at the end of July and this means one thing for most of us in Southern Europe: August is almost there and summer holidays will start eventually! I really cannot wait for this year as we have arranged a pretty busy schedule of travelling to see families, dispersed in three different nations.

Though we have arranged a stop in Barcelona on the way down South, this is quite a lot of time away from home and a great challenge for any plant lover, surely for my fellow Urban Jungle Bloggers. In these years, I have tried several tricks to manage to keep my plants alive in the hot Barcelona summers and I have to confess some of them resulted in a massive botanic hecatomb. I learned the hard way to accept I must select drought tolerant plants for the outdoor but I find difficult to compromise with my indoor plants. Moreover, unlike the crazy plant collectors of my friends who actually choose not to go on holidays to avoid any risk, I strongly believe in the "holy days" of relaxation. 

So, I want to share with you two tricks that seem to work quite well for houseplants. A good option is watering your plants by emerging them until all the air bubbles have come out, let the excess water dry out and then placed them above the bath tube filled with a bit of water to grant a consistent humid environment.  This works well in case your trip is just a few days long but, if you are planning a longer one, I strongly suggest you to rely on science.

How? Have you ever heard the word terrarium? You probably have because they are a must-have green trend. The use of keeping plants under a glass dome dates back to 500 BC but it was in 1827 when the modern version we know was accidentally discovered by Sir Ward in London (check the history of terrarium here). The principle is simple: the sealed environment recreates the rain cycle through the process of evaporation and transpiration and allows plants to flourish inside for a long time (even 60 years). 
During summertime, we can take advantage of the water-recycling principle of a terrarium recreating it with a simple DIY: 

1 - get as many clear bags as you can;
2 - divide your plants into groups that can fit inside each bag;
3 - place a moist towel in each bag and then the well-watered plants on top of it;
4 - tear the bag while blowing air inside to make the bag puff out ( you are adding carbon dioxine) and sealed it quickly with a rubber band. You can place it in another clear bag sealed with a second rubber band to make sure air won't go out.

The temporary terrarium will work just fine for a few weeks, only remember you must placed it in a room outside direct sunlight (but with light). The water will be released through the leaves as a result of the natural process and its excess will drip back down onto the leaves and the soil for the roots again.

I love terraria  a lot for their perfect fusion of science and beauty and there are some very nice modern versions now available on the market, like this Small Terrarium by Danish Pop Deluxe. In case you do it, please let me know how it worked out!

Our home #5 | New things in


New shots from home with some of the last things that have just arrived. 

I love the double reflection of the Vase Vase designed by Norm Architects for Menu and I think it is perfect for the white flowers I picked up at the beach last weekend: they are sand daffodils and smell deliciously at night-time. On the background, a long-wished item: the HAY paper designed by All The Way To Paris. It took so much to find out where I could get it and I am happy to share with you that German website Connox has the full range and a very good Scandinavian design selection, too.



  All pictures © facing north with gracia

GIVEAWAY | Last day!


TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO ENTER THE SPECIAL GIVEAWAY!

Enter the giveaway to welcome summer holidays and get a copy of newly published OPENHOUSE Magazine, discover the story of creative people around the globe that open their homes to host anything from a gallery, performance space, or even sometimes a camp site, and makes the best food parties around. The first issue is already part of the selction of some of the best bookshops wrldwide, from the Tate Modern in London to the iconic Do You Read Me in Berlin. 

The giveaway includes the very first issue of OPENHOUSE Magazine from the launch party in Barcelona, a special postcard and poster and a tote bag.

Just follow these two steps:
2. Tell me in the comments here why you would like to win a copy of the magazine.
For an extra chance to win:
1. Share the giveaway on your Facebook 
2. Like and comment on the giveaway picture on my Instagram account, and share it with the tag #FNWGgiveaway.
Each entry is an extra chance!
This competition is open worldwide for two weeks, until today at midnight. The winner will be announced on Facing north with gracia Facebook Page

The giveaway is now closed. The winner will be announced shortly on Facing north with gracia Facebook Page.

Our home #4


Some new shots from our home from last week-end. I like it minimal, you know that, don't you? The little fern leaf I collected last week is still doing great: I like it on display inside of the glass cylinder, like a contemporary version of the Victorian botanical collections. Talking about this, a urge of going back for another stroll in the Kew Botanical Gardens in London is getting stronger and stronger everyday. And also a bit of good shopping down-town, of course.

Remember to join the GIVEAWAY here!

I wish you all a lovely day.


All pictures © facing north with gracia.


GIVEAWAY | Get your copy of Openhouse Magazine!


Let's celebrate the upcoming summer holidays with a great give-away!

You will probably remember the post about Openhouse Magazine, the new project by Andrew Trotter and Mari Luz Vidal from Open House Project. Andrew and Mari Luz, respectively designer/art director and photographer, created this beautiful twice yearly publication that collect stories about creative people around the world that open up their homes to the public for special events related to art, design and gastronomy. In their first issue, published thanks to a successful Kickstarter project, you can discover the story of the Italian duo Gnam Box from Milan or Jo Nagasaka, who turns his Tokyo studio into anything from a gallery, performance space, or even sometimes a camp site, and makes the best food parties around. 
I met Andrew and Mari Luz last year as they are also the organizers of the Kinfolk events in Barcelona and, of course, I did not loose the opportunity to back up their new project last April. Openhouse Magazine went on print later this May and we all gather at H2O Gallery here in Barcelona to celebrate the new launch with a special sushi party and music session.

And today, one of you will be lucky enough to get his own copy of Openhouse Magazine, along with a special postcard, the magazine poster and the tote bag! 
To enter the competition, just follow these two steps:
2. Tell me in the comments below why you would like to win a copy of the magazine.
For an extra chance to win:
1. Share the giveaway on your Facebook 
2. Like and comment on the giveaway picture on my Instagram account, and share it with the tag #FNWGgiveaway.
Each entry is an extra chance!
This competition is open worldwide for two weeks, until the midnight of July the 28nd. The winner will be announced on Facing north with gracia Facebook Page!

The giveaway is now closed. The winner will be announced shortly on Facing north with gracia Facebook Page.

Our Home #3


Today I want to share with you some inspiration from our home. As you probably already know, the bedroom is my most favourite place. I love its all white interior because it gives me lots of tranquillity. Also, it is the perfect background to play around a bit with new ideas and little props, like I did last weekend: inspired by the moodboard workshop took with Gudy Herder last month, I decided to add some twist to our bedroom. A simple metallic paper, some black clips and my last crushes matched perfectly with the Diamond chair by Harry Bertoia

Greenery is another important part of my everyday life: I really enjoy to go around Barcelona picking (gently) small leaves and branches to bring home, like the little fern from our Sunday stroll in Collserola, the mountain at the back of Barcelona.


Josefin Hååg's home as pictured in a earlier issue of Residence magazine is always an incredible source of inspiration. And I love this outdoor patio design: a white wall, dark grey gravel and lots of greenery. Check here for more green interior and outdoor ideas.
 


To see more shots from our home, check the link here or go to my Instagram account. 

All picture ©facing north with gracia.

Confessions of a cocooner


Cocoon, a word with a long history that through ancient French travels back to Rome and, eventually, to Greece. In itself, it holds the possibility of life (the Greek origin of its etymology is seed), its delicacies (in Latin, it moved to mean berry) and also the secrecy of its process (the coque in French). It is our interior comfort place that allows us to stay inactive, before recollecting the threads of our ideas and opening up to share them.

I have realized I have been a cocooner for quite a long time, silently held to a nourishing inner world. But, recently, an urge has started to grow strong, equally moved by restored energies and the desire to bring together and share the many passions that move my personal and professional life.

The exchange that took place through the blog was fundamental, in particular my inclusion into the Urban Jungle group (so thanks Judith and Igor) and the relation I built with some dear fellow bloggers.

In the past, I felt my work at night (blogging) was almost separated from my daylight job (landscape and green). At the beginning, this was good because, in a way, the blog was also a sort of escape from the compromises of my profession (clients, companies, budgets). But, after some time, I felt there was some sort of lack though still quite undefined. I felt almost drained by this addictive google search-pin-post process that, from time to time,  started to seem sterile and almost insincere, two things I want my life and my relation with you all to be completely free of.

Therefore, I started a journey within myself, keeping silent from time to time, letting things flow on their own even if it was quite painful. (Am I the only one with control-addiction problems out there?)
I went back to the roots of my aspirations, looked them into their (figurative) eyes and listened silently.

Silence is luxurious, it really is.

New energies started to come out in the form of ideas. I collected them and tried to find a thread that made me happy, something that could bring all of them together. Unexpectedly, other things started to move and grow around me. The process is still going on and, hopefully, will never stop.

Where does this lead us? Firstly, you will see some evolution in the content of the blog that will include also inspirations and reflections about my relation with the green world. The format of these reflections could change from time to time, especially when related to trends. Also, new exciting projects will be announced in the next weeks (cannot wait!).

I am sure the new subject will enrich the content you have come to like on FNWG as the conceptual source will not change. I hope you will enjoy the journey and you will be willing to participate with all the amazing inputs you have given until now.



MOODBOARD
GREEN #1 | & Other Stories | We left our heart in Barcelona | Via
EDEN | Wyatt McCollum | Self-portrait | Via
GREEN #2 | Helgi Páll Einarsson | Untitled | Via

BARCELONA | Palo Alto for the Design Market


Last weekend took place the first Barcelona Mercado Condal del Diseño, an event where to young designers can present their work to the wide public. The location is one of the greenest in Barcelona, the Palo Alto foundation in Poblenou, a cultural landmark in the city for being, on one side, a real jewel of industrial archaeology (the long factory chimney gives actually name to the complex) and, on the other, an attraction spot for creatives, such as Mariscal the designer of the 1992 Olympic games logo (Cobi).


The industrial warehouses and factories (naves) are perfectly conserved and nowadays covered in a dense green canopy of Parthenocissus. For sure, the extremely favourable climate of Barcelona helped a lot in the creation of this urban jungle and its gardens, where people working in the companies located in Palo Alto can have their lunch. I believe this is one of the greenest spots in the city and the special character of the area just makes you want to pack your stuff and move in.

This unique mix of rough industrial and jungle was the perfect location for the first Mercado Condal del Diseño and a great background for these young talents to showcase their works. I was very impressed by the quality of some of the products, so much some came home with me! 

But I will tell you more in the next few days about my most favourite ones, so stay tuned because there were some amazing surprises!


All images © facing north with gracia

HAPPY WEEKEND | Collection


A selection of pictures from my Instagram feed from last month: whites, greens and a touch of black details for me.

There are many things going on this weekend: it's the Barcelona Design Week here and today the Architecture Biennale in Venice opens its doors to the the public with a new curator, Rem Koolhass: we go back to the Fundamentals to define the future of the art. Happy weekend!

SKANDINAVISK | Scent of Scandinavia


Far from being weak and unimportant, the sense of smelling is considered the most powerful one to re-evoke memories, so much that when we associate a certain emotion to a particular smell, just smelling it in the future will make those emotions come alive again. I experience this very often, last time when I received my new candle from Skandinavisk.

Skov (forest in Danish) is part of the Scent of Scandinavia collection and a real treat. I still remember the feeling  of opening the box  in my living room and, suddenly, finding myself lost in the calm of ancient forests in the Polar circle. It is like a free ticket to the deep, comforting embrace of nature.
Skov was one of the three founding scented candles of the collection, which has been recently enriched with the floral scent of a Swedish summer (Sommar), the breezy scent of the archipelagos (Ö), the scent of Scandinavian tranquillity (Ro), the urban bliss of  (København) and the drama of the Norwegian fjords. 

So, are you willing to create some magic and take a trip with me?




Images © facing north with gracia