Máxima Interiores :: Novembro 2009

October 25, 2009December 8, 201518 Comments

Muito obrigada por todos os comentários ao video! Tem muita graça ver a minha casa e as minhas coisas em filme. E um obrigada especial à Mafalda pelo seu post! Como prometido, aqui fica a minha curta entrevista à Máxima Interiores. Uma boa semana a todos os que me lêem!

Thanks so much for all the comments on the video! It’s funny to watch my home and my things on film. As promised, here’s my short interview to Máxima Interiores (in Portuguese, sorry!). Have a great week!

Máxima Interiores :: Making Of

October 24, 200928 Comments

A Máxima Interiores de Novembro já saiu! Amanhã digitalizo a página onde apareço; entretanto podem ver um pequeno video com o making of. Estou muito contente! 🙂

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The November issue of Máxima Interiores has already hit news stands! Tomorrow I’ll scan my feature; in the mean time I’ll leave you with a short video where you can watch the making of this particular piece. I’m very happy! 🙂

http://rd3.videos.sapo.pt/play?file=http://rd3.videos.sapo.pt/ydwYZbOYV9NZK1KHyOtU/mov/1

Dress to Impress :: 1930’s actresses

October 23, 2009December 8, 20155 Comments

Joan Cranford in Letty Lynton (1932)

Katherine Hepburn in A Bill of Divorcement (1932)

Katherine Hepburn in Bringing Up Baby (1938)

Joan Bennett in She Couldn’t Take It (1935)

Jean Harlow in Hold Your Man (1933)

Jean Harlow in Reckless (1935)

(images: Dr. Macro’s)

Brevemente :: Coming Soon

October 22, 2009December 8, 201513 Comments

Tenho andado a trabalhar para o Natal… sim, já só faltam dois meses! Espero brevemente ter muitos estojos disponíveis na loja, bem como outras surpresas…

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I’ve been working for Christmas… yes, it’s only in two months time! I’m hoping to have lots of pencil cases available in the shop as well as a couple of other surprises…

(images: Constança Cabral)

Saudade

October 20, 2009December 8, 201526 Comments

Saudade é a palavra portuguesa por excelência. Para além do seu poético significado, penso que nos define enquanto povo. É também o nome de uma casa de chá/galeria que abriu há uns meses em Sintra e de que muito se tem falado na blogosfera. No sábado passado fomos lá; gostei tanto que voltei no domingo, desta vez com o meu pai. O espaço já foi uma fábrica de queijadas, a recuperação está impecável, o bom gosto é indiscutível, há artesanato português à venda e as exposições vão-se sucedendo. Aqui ficam algumas fotografias do espaço. Se passarem por Sintra, não deixem de lá ir!

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Saudade is the Portuguese word. Its poetic meaning is very difficult to translate and I believe it really defines us as a people. It’s also the name of a tea room/gallery that opened in Sintra a few months ago. We went there on Staurday and I loved it so much I returned on Sunday with my father. It used to be a sort of bakery and it’s beautifully renovated; there are Portuguese handicrafts for sale and exhibitions. Here are some pictures for you. If you go to Sintra be sure not to miss it!

(images: Tiago Cabral)

Corners of my home :: bedroom

October 18, 2009December 8, 201520 Comments

(images: Tiago Cabral)

Dress to Impress :: films set in the 1930’s

October 16, 2009April 15, 201615 Comments

Há filmes que, independentemente das suas outras qualidades ou defeitos, merecem ser vistos e revistos pelo cuidado e rigor na recriação de ambientes e guarda-roupa. Passados nos anos 30, lembro-me de Gosford Park, Atonement, A Good Woman, Mrs. Henderson Presents e da mini-série Love in a Cold Climate (isto para não falar nos filmes da própria década de 30, bem entendido). E agora gostaria das vossas sugestões: que filmes vêem e revêem só pelo guarda-roupa?

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Regardless of their other qualities or faults, there are films that deserved to be watched over and over again just for their accuracy when it comes to interiors and costume design. Set in the 1930s, I recall Gosford Park, Atonement, A Good Woman, Mrs. Henderson Presents and the mini-series Love in a Cold Climate (not counting with all the films actually made in the 1930s, of course). And now I’d like to read your suggestions: what films do you watch just for the clothes?

Gosford Park

Mrs. Henderson Presents

Atonement

A Good Woman

Love in a Cold Climate

Como Transformar uma Toalha em 10 Min :: 10 Min Towel Refashion

October 15, 2009December 8, 201510 Comments

Uma das implicações de se estar grávida é receber ofertas/empréstimos de roupa de bebé. Foi precisamente o que aconteceu à minha amiga Tânia (a quem ofereci aquele quilt, lembram-se?). Ora, é normal que uma pessoa não adore uma ou outra coisa que lhe foi oferecida; em vez de a arrumar no fundo de uma gaveta, por que não transformá-la? Por vezes bastam 10 minutos!

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One of the prerogatives of being pregnant is getting a lot of baby clothes offers/hand-me-downs. That happened to my friend Tânia (the one I made a baby quilt for, remember?). Well, it’s perfectly normal that you end up not loving one or two pieces; instead of putting thm inside a drawer, why not transform them? Sometimes it only takes 10 minutes!

Esqueci-me de tirar uma fotografia antes de desmembrar o capuz desta toalha, mas dá para ver que era amarelado e tinha uma grande cabeça de pato. Limitei-me a cortar um triângulo de turco branco e a aplicar um debrum, que cortei de um lençol que comprei este Verão num supermercado dinamarquês. Et voilà!, temos uma toalha nova em menos de nada!

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I forgot to take a picture before unstitching this towel’s hood but I guess you can see that it was yellowish with a big duck head. I just cut a triangle of white terry cloth and bound it with a portion of a sheet I bought last summer at a Danish supermaket. Et voilà!, in just a few minutes you get a new towel!

(images: Constança Cabral)

Bolachas de Chocolate :: Double Chocolate Cookies

October 14, 2009April 15, 201619 Comments

Deixem-me dar-vos um gostinho da edição deste mês da Food & Travel: estas são as bolachas de chocolate que estão na capa e são de comer e chorar por mais! E fazem-se num instante. Querem experimentar?

Let me give you a taste of this month’s Food & Travel: these are the chocolate cookies that appear on the cover and they’re to die for. And you can bake them so quickly! Wanna try?

50g unsalted butter

450g chocolate, roughly chopped

2 eggs

170g soft light Muscovado sugar

85g plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 170ºC/325ºF/Gas 3. Put the butter and half the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Leave until melted and smooth.

Put the eggs and sugar in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment and beat until well mixed. Pour in the chocolate mixture, beating on slow speed until well combined. Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a separate bowl then stir into the chocolate mixture in 3 additions mixing well after each addition. Finally stir in the remaining chocolate until evenly dispersed.

Arrange equal amounts of cookie dough on 2 baking trays. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 10-15 minutes, checking regularly after 10 minutes. They are ready when the tops start to crack and they look glossy. Leace the cookies to cool slightly on the trays before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

(image: Constança Cabral)

Tecidos de Museu :: Museum Fabrics

October 13, 2009December 8, 201510 Comments

Ontem, enquanto arrumava as gavetas da minha secretária, encontrei alguns postais que comprei durante a minha visita a Londres precisamente há um ano. Das lojas dos museus costumo trazer postais de retratos de família (especialmente se há crianças e brinquedos envolvidos), de interiores, de vestuário e de tecidos, claro. Pensei então partilhar convosco alguns postais de tecidos comprados no V&A e no Geffrye Museum.

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Yesterday, whilst tyding up my desk drawers, I found some postcards I bought during my trip to London last year. The type of postcards I tend to bring from museum shops are family portraits (especially if there are children and toys involved), interiors, clothes and of course fabrics. I thought it would be nice to share with you some postcards of fabrics I bought at the V&A and at the Geffrye Museum.

Textile design (detail); James Leman (1688-1745); pencil, pen, ink, watercolour; Spitalfields, England, 1706-7

Palampore: Tree of Life; printed cotton chintz; South East India, about 1750

Spitalfields silk, c. 1750

Furnishing fabric; plate-printed cotton; printed by Robert Jones & Co; Old Ford, Middlesex, 1761

Floral design (detail); William Kilburn (1745-1818); watercolour on paper; from an album of designs; Britain, about 1788-92

Furnishing fabric; roller printed cotton; printed by Samuel Mateley & Son; Hodge, Cheshire, 1818

‘False Principles No.16’ (detail); furnishing fabric; roller printed cotton; Britain, about 1850

Design for a nursery chintz; Charles Francis Annesley Voysey (1857-1941); pencil, ink and coloured washes, 1929 (a version of this design was printed by Morton Sundour)