Ich backs mir: mini Gugelhupf with yuzu, basil and lime

Hello everyone,

Today is Gugelhupf day! and it's Claretti day! My friend Clara from the German Lifestyle Blog tastesheriff is collecting Gugelhupf recipes on her blog today. It is my first food post in a long while and it makes me very happy because I really love styling and photographing food.  A Gugelhupf, Guglhupf, Gugelhopf or Kougelhopf  is a southern German, Austrian, Swiss and French (Alsatian) cake specialty. The gugelhupf is a big cake and has a distinctive ring shape. I prefer the mini version of it. You can find a special baking mould here for instance. The Yuzu I used in the recipe is a citrus fruit, commonly used in Japanese cuisine, which I love and discovered during my honeymoon in Japan in 2008. 

You can find the recipe underneath and print it if you want to try it at home.

Have a great day and don't forget to buy some carnation for the #2flowergirls on Friday! Elodie

[yumprint-recipe id='1']

Lovely Flower Book: Decorate with flowers by Holly Becker & Leslie Shewring - Give Away!

Good Morning everyone, I finished last week with a lovely flower book and I start this one with another one! Decorate with Flowers - CREATIVE IDEAS FOR FLOWERS AND CONTAINERS AROUND THE HOME by bloggers Holly Becker & Leslie Shewring. Holly Becker is an American blogger living in Northern Germany, like me,  and blogging on the very successful blog decor8.  She also teaches blogging online on her course called blogging your way. I took part in that lovely course twice already and it was really inspiring and motivating. Leslie was also teaching in the first class I took, and really love her style. I also met some of my fabulous blogger friends through this course, such as my friend Clara from the interior blog Tastesheriff or Corinne from the blog Emerald Green Interiors or Mel from Armoire Pegs and Casserole. I am digressing a little bit here but I wanted to take this opportunity to thank Holly for making bloggers connect and become friends! So! Back to the book now! Holly and Leslie's book presents a different approach to flower styling than the usual flower books written by professional floral designers and is very refreshing. The book is beautifully laid out and photographed, with a lot of step-by-step instructions to make your own floral arrangements at home. The book is split into several chapters: NATURAL, PASTELS & NEONS, MARKET, HAPPY BRIGHTS, COASTAL, NEUTRAL POP, GIRLY GLAM, BLACK & WHITE. So no matter what your interior looks like, you will find the perfect way to add some flowers in your home. If you want to read more about the book, the authors and see some bonus material, check out the website dedicated to decorate with flowers.

Each chapter starts with a lovely mood board which is typical for Holly Becker with some lovely Liberty fabric of course! At the end of the book, Holly and Leslie share their favourite flowers - and I was so happy to find some of my favourite flowers in the book too, such as astrantia,  scabious or delphiniums.

Yesterday I made one of the step-by-step projects from the book at home: a simple coat hanger wreath. What the you  think? Flowers don't need to be in a vase to look good. I think this a simple, yet great idea for party decoration.

I am so happy that both the book's German editor Callwey Verlag and the British editor Jacqui Small gave me the opportunity to GIVE AWAY ONE COPY IN GERMAN AND ONE COPY IN ENGLISH of this great book.

HOW TO ENTER THE GIVE AWAY? You can enter until Thursday 27 - 23:59 GMT. Just leave me a message in the comment field and tell me if you would like to win the German or the British edition of the book. I wish you all very good luck! Talk to you soon, Elodie

PS: this book review was part of a German book tour and some of my blogger friends, have been writing some great reviews. 

Wohnen mit Blumen: Kreative Ideen für Zuhause Holly Becker & Leslie Shewring Callwey Verlag 144 Seiten, 19,95 €

Decorate with flowers Holly Becker & Leslie Shewring Jacqui Small 144 pages, £15.49

Lovely Flower Book: The Cut Flower Patch by Louise Curley

Good morning everyone!

Trained horticulturist Louise Curley writes for the Guardian, The Simple Things and Gardens Illustrated magazines. She also runs a flower and garden blog called Wellywoman - A life in Wellies.  She gardens organically and has kept an allotment for four years on which she grows all her cut flowers.

Her lovely book The Cut Flower Patch has been released this month in the UK and is absolutely beautiful. Another book that makes me crave for a garden. This book gives you a lot of advice regarding how to choose the right plants for your garden, and focuses on flowers I love like zinnia, or snapdragon. I really love the section in the book dedicated to foliage and fillers, that are for me so crucial for nice bouquets.

This book is also very interesting, even if you don't have your own garden, as the 100 last pages of the book are about arranging flowers with a lot of inspiration beautifully photographed by Jason Ingram .

To order The Cut Flower Patch at the discounted price of £16.00 including p&p* (RRP: £16.00), telephone 01903 828503 or email mailorders@lbsltd.co.uk and quote the offer code APG101. Alternatively, send a cheque made payable to: LBS Mail Order Department, Littlehampton Book Services, PO Box 4264, Worthing, West Sussex, BN13 3RB. Please quote the offer code APG101 and include your name and address details. *UK ONLY - Please add £2.50 if ordering from overseas.

If you like this book, you will be happy to know that I will be presenting the new book by Holly Becker and Leslie Shewring called Decorate with Flowers, as part as a little Blog book tour on Monday. I will also be hosting a give away for both the German and the British issue of the book. So stay tuned and have a great day! Elodie

madame love loves: le train fantôme

Hello everyone! Do you know le train fantôme? It is the brand of designer and maker Fanja Ralison Born in France from Malagasy parents. Fanja currently lives in Hertfordshire, England. I love her little creatures, mainly dolls and rabbits. I am especially fan of the Lumi Doll with her beautiful hair cut. I have been a doudou and fabric dolls fan, for a long time before my daughter was born. Those are just so precious, they are part of a limited edition and made to order and each doll is different. Lumi dolls are entirely handmade from cotton, wool, linen and polyester filling. Her faces and drawn with fabric pen. They are not suitable for babies to play with of course but would look wonderful as decoration, or for a bigger child. I would love to buy one to my daughter when she gets older. You can find le train fantôme on Facebook, on Instagram and buy the dolls and the pretty dressses for the dolls online here.

© all pictures by le train fantôme with permission

#2flowergirls in March: The announcement!

Hello everyone!Are you ready for a new round of #2flowergirls with glomerylane and for a new flower? As some of you guessed yesterday on Instagram, the new flower to style with be the carnation. Inga and I are big fans. What about you? If you want to participate for the first time, you can read how it works here. We will posting our flowers on March 28. This time, we managed not to pick the same date as our dear Claretti. So you can post your Gugelhupf on the 26 and be a #2flowergirl on the 28. I wish a great evening. Speak to you tomorrow! Elodie

The vuvuzela roses

Hello! I hope you had a nice week end! Even if the weather was not as brilliant as it had been the last few days, we still had a relaxing time. On Friday, I instantly fell in love with those gorgeous flowers on the market.  I had to laugh when the florist told me their names. They are called vuvuzela roses like the very annoying plastic horns that where used during the football games of the South African Football Worldcup in 2010. Apart from the name, there is nothing annoying or funny about this type of roses. They are just lovely their peach centre surrounded by pale pink petals. I wish you a very good week full of flowers! Elodie

Lovely Fabric: Petit Pan

Good morning everyone! At the end of last year, I told you about one of my favorite French fabric designer called France Duval Stalla. Today I am back with some fabric love and another French brand called Petit Pan. Petit Pan is a very colourful brand, but the kind of colours I like! Deep blues and bright pinks! Petit Pan was created in Paris in 2002 and sells decoration items, fabric (with more than 140 different patterns) and clothes made out of those fabrics. Here is a selection of some of my favourite patterns. That is a perfect fabric for decorating a nursery or make a colourful statement with a cushion in your livingroom. I used a blue Petit Pan fabric for the pennant banner in Ella's bedroom.

Petit Pan has a very distinctive and joyful style inspired by Asian patterns and colours. I really makes me want to travel. Petit Pan is also well known for their paper lanterns. I have had a red dragon fly in my flat for ages, and it is still one of my favourite decoration items.

You can buy Petit Pan fabric in their shops in Paris, Toulouse and now Antwerp in Belgium, but also in their online shop. I wish you a fantastic day! Elodie

© all pictures by petit pan with permission

madame love loves: by lassen

Good morning everyone,

Today I would like to talk about design with you. The Danish brand by Lassen owns the rights to the designs of two of Denmark's greatest architects - Mogens Lassen (1901-1987) and Flemming Lassen (1902-1984). by Lassen is a family business, and is run by Søren and Nadia Lassen, the grandson and great granddaughter of the architects.

The design philosophy of by lassen is:

beautiful and elegant design melds with quality and practicality to create timeless products based on Danish craftsmanship and design. The KUBUS candlestick is most iconic and famous item from the brand. Mogens Lassen actually worked on the KUBUS candlestick for a long time before arriving at the shape we know today in 1962. Each individual Kubus candlestick is made with exactitude and the relationship between the sides calculated with great precision. The piece was first reserved solely for family and close architect colleagues.

The KUBUS has now been joined by other beautiful new designs. When Søren and Nadia Lassen set up the company by Lassen, they found inspiration for furniture, lamps and home accessories in the archives, designed Mogens and Flemming Lassen but which were never put into production.

Sources: from left to right and from top to bottom

1. Candleholder LINE 2. Stool ML42 3. KUBUS - in copper 4. FRAME - Storage solution 5. KUBUS Bowl in cool grey 6. Mirror VIEW 7. Twin table

PS: A Warm thank you to by Lassen for sending me this beautiful black KUBUS. I am very much in love. That's the kind of timeless design piece, that you can never get tired of.

madame love loves: fine little day

Good morning everyone, Do you know Fine Little Day? I guess a lot of you have already heard about the brand or have noticed the gran pattern: this black firs pattern on a white background in one or another stylish interior. Gran is a pattern in clean modern Scandinavian style, designed with Swedish summer nights in mind. I find it really amazing how such a simple design can be so pretty and recognisable. You probably also came across the apple papple or the pirum parum poster. Well, those are just so lovely. Elisabeth Dunker from Gothenburg in Sweden is the talented lady behind the brand and the blog Fine Little Day.  That is how Elisabeth defines her brand: "The main focus is playful creating based on intuition, pleasure and joy."

On the Fine Little Day online shop, you can find the items from the brand and also some decoration items from other lovely brands and designers. I encourage you to follow Fine Little Day and Elisabeth Dunker on Instagram. If you love the brand and Elisabeth's natural style, you can also rent her house in Sweden via airbnb. How lovely is that? Have a fine little day! Elodie

© all pictures by fine little day with permission

Lovely Flower Book: Vom Garten in die Vase

Good Morning everyone! I love books about flowers, I have started a little collection at home, and I have decided to share my favourite ones with you on the blog regularly. They give me inspiration and they are also very useful to learn about the different types of flowers and how to keep them, the way to carve their stems, how much water each variety needs. I also love reading about floristry and new techniques and tools. The first book I would like to show you today is a German book called Vom Garten in die Vase: Blumen Planzen und Arrangieren by gardner Jutta Wagner and photographer Annette Wendland, published by blv Verlag (from the garden to the vase: planting and arranging flowers). I am obviously more interested in the arranging part than in the planting part, but who knows, one day my dream of a little garden might come true. There is a very interesting chapter in the book about the right instrument you need to make beautiful bouquets and the best way to cut your flowers in your garden. There are also some great bouquet ideas using unusual or recycled vessels, which I really love, as well as tips to make your own beautiful flower crowns.

You can order this book here: Vom Garten in die Vase: BLUMEN PFLANZEN & ARRANGIEREN. I wish you a great start in this new week! Elodie

PS: A copy of the book was sent to me by the blv Verlag, but my views and opinions about this great book are my own.

Pink flowers in a yellow watering can: A colourful bouquet

Hello Everyone! Do you want to see my last bouquet? I warn you, it is very pink and the vessel is very bright too, it is my yellow watering can. The weather has been really dull in the last few days in Northern Germany and I felt the urge to create a colourful and happy bouquet. So here the ingredients and the result. I hope it will brighten your day a little bit. Speak to you soon! Elodie

madame love loves: The Black Apple

Good morning everyone! Emily Winfield Martin is the book author and illustrator behind the black apple and my mew decoration crush. I discovered her, first through her beautiful cover for the Australian magazine Frankie. I am very much in love with her portraits. She makes me really want to visit Portland and get to know its amazing artists. I especially love the women portraits with flowers and ordered the Shirley Poppy print for my living room. The paper quality is beautiful! The delivery was a bit challenging and I had to pick it up at the customs and wait an hour for it, as it was shipped from the US, but it was definitely worth it. All the prints from the collage above are availabe on Emily's shop on Etsy. My friend Igor from the Happy Interior blog took part in the last edition of the #2flowergirls and posted a pictures of his anemones in his living room and I spotted the Mysterious Girls print on his wall. How funny is that? Unlike me, Igor brought the print when in was in Portland as a souvenir. 

I wish you a great day! Elodie

© Artworks by Emily Winfield Martin/Pictures by madame love except the last one by Igor Josif

madame love loves: colonel

Hello everyone!

The design studio COLONEL, specialised in furniture and decoration items was launched in Paris in 2012 by designers Isabelle Gilles & Yann Poncelet. The signature of the brand is:

• light wood
• patterns
• fresh colors

All the products designed by COLONEL  are made in France, in collaboration with various craftmen. I love the solid beech wood and the choice of colours and the geometric forms. The products are available at the showroom/shop situated in the 10th arrondissement of Paris and on the e-shop: www.moncolonel.fr. In the e-shop, you can also find some beautiful products from Hay or Muuto.

I wish you a great start in this new week!

Elodie

CONTACT: COLONEL on Facebook COLONEL on Instragram COLONEL on Twitter

#flowersonmyway in February

Hello everyone, I hope your weekend is starting well! I am happy you seem to be liking the #flowersonmyway photo challenge on Instagram. As I promised here, I will show my favourites of each month on my blog.

These beautiful pictures are from: (from left to right and from top to borttom) @mel_chesneau, @sabinewittig, @sandraklee, @midnightdessert. You should keep an eye on those talented ladies.

Dear ladies, if you send me your postal address to elodie@madame-love.com, you will receive some snail mail from me. I hope you will continue spreading the flower joy on Instagram in March.

I wish you a great day! xoxo Elodie

Some more anemones!

Hello everyone, I am so happy the #2flowergirls is back on track. We have received some very pretty entries so far and there are some more still coming. You can see some of those beauties on our Pinterest board. After I had photographed mine at the beginning of the week, I found some more anemones, this time in deep red and bright pink, that I combined with some crazy good looking red and pink scabiosa. Here are some pictures for you, along with some pictures of my favourite flower shop in Hamburg where I found those beautiful anemones called Küchenblume. I already presented the shop here, but it was so pretty the other day, that I had to show you more pictures. I wish you a great day full of flowers! Elodie

madame love loves: kauniste

Hello everyone!

Yesterday was a very special day for Inga and me with a new edition of the #2flowergirls after quite a long break. Today I would like to talk about Kauniste with you. I bought a blue cushion last week at LYS Vintage and I am so in love. The Finnish brand Kauniste is known for it’s work with young Scandinavian designers such as Matti Pikkujämsä, Leena Kisonen. That is how they define their work:

"Our aim is to combine the best of both worlds: fresh design and traditional screen printing skills. We work to bring you items that can be used and cherished in the daily life for decades to come. We want to make patterns and products that last and keep bringing joy to your home past seasonal trends."

They produce trays, towels or decoration items such as cushions. You can find their products in design shops, online on their online shop or in their shop in the centre of Helsinki.

I hope you will like Kauniste as much as I do! Such a good mood and fresh brand.

Have a great day! Elodie

2 flower girls #9: The anemone edition

Hello everyone, The time has come for our new #2flowergirls edition with Inga from glomerylane. If you want to know more about the 2flowergirls action, you can click here. Click here if you want an overview of the past editions. I am so happy we chose the anemones this time. Those are truly among my favourite flowers and they come in such lovely shades. I found some classic ones in blue, white and red, plus a couple of more unusual orange ones. I hope you will like them - I am so curious to see yours!

The vase is a find from my holiday in Antwerp last year and the fabric is from the lovely French textile designer Aime comme Marie. If you want to participate this time again, you can post a link to your blogpost in the comment field under this post or add you link directly in the post by clicking on the "add your link" button and show us how you styled and photographed your anemones. We will be pinning your anemones here. I wish you a great day full of flowers! xoxo Elodie

An InLinkz Link-up

mini bouquets from February

Hello everyone, Here are the four miniature bouquets I made in February. I wish you a great day and I am very much looking forward to seeing your anemones tomorrow. You can click here to have an overview of my bouquets. I wish you a great day! xoxo Elodie

madame love loves: Landmade

from left to right and from top to bottom: broom//lamp//coat hook//cane basket//linen duvet cover padded fifties chair//crêpe frying pan//school chair

Hey everyone, I hope you had a nice week end! Today I want to speak about a beautiful French brand called Landmade - Objets utiles et familiers {handy and familiar objects}. The company was founded in 2012 by  Eric Ledi who previously worked more than 20 years for the French cane furniture company kork. Most of the products are "made in France" and represent quality and simplicity. Here are the key principles of the landmade products:

• L'UTILE PAS LE FUTILE {UTILITY NOT FUTILITY} 
• C'EST DU SOLIDE {IT'S ROBUST} 
• C'EST BIEN NATUREL {IT'S ALL NATURAL} 
• RESTONS PROCHE {STAY CLOSE} 

A lot of the products are reeditions or inspired by the design of the fifties, like this very pretty chair or this lovely table. You can also find the duralex glasses, we used to have at the canteen when I was a little girl. I am also a big fan of the linen duvet cover, made in the traditional fabrics from the North of France. The metallic lamp from the collage is made in Germany, but very much in the spirit of the other objects sold by Landmade. The showroom of Landmade is situated not far away from my home region, in the North of France. The online shop is only available in French, but the customer service is happy to answer any question in English or German. I wish you a great day! Elodie

CONTACT: online shop       Facebook Fanpage

© all pictures by landmade with permission

A February Bouquet

Good morning everyone,

I was talking about flower arrangements last week and stressing that I much prefer working with one or two flowers and try to keep it simple. I guess I made an exception this week, as I went to buy flowers on the market and was very inspired by a deep red hellebore that I wanted to combine with other flowers in the same colour palette. I left the stems pretty long and arranged them in a neutral black zinc vase.

So there you go, here is my little bouquet with:

Roses Hellebores Tulips and Astrantias

I wish you a great day and speak to you on Monday. Don't forget the #2flowergirls next Wednesday! xoxo Elodie