Raising the very special ‘Chocolate Bar’

Mott Green, one of the most respected chocolate makers in the world, started the co-operative Grenada Chocolate Company in 1999, which to this day makes some of the finest chocolate in the world in ever larger quantities. The extraordinary exertions behind this enterprise reflect Mott’s commitment to ethical and ecological values…. He fell in love with Grenada first, and then chocolate, and considered it iniquitous that the islanders who grew and harvested some of the best cocoa in the world were deprived either of enjoying it fully processed, or sharing the financial and social benefits accruing to the producers.

 Take the Mott Green and his Grenada Chocolate Company’s micro factory, one small organic cocoa farm, Rococo Chocolates’ pioneering founder Chantal Coady, and a wind-powered cargo ship and what do you get? – The most eco-friendly real chocolate bar ever produced, called Gru Grococo.

This is what is happening with one harvest of a small batch of beans from the “Grococo” Farm, where the team of local specialist cocoa farmers are being rewarded with a decent wage for their hard work. The team in Hermitage, Grenada have fermented the beans for 6 days, dried them in a specially constructed solar drier and hand sorted them prior to roasting. This “cru” of 66% pure Trinitario chocolate will then be stone ground in an antique granite melangeur, expertly conched, tempered and made into bars with no added vanilla.

This tiny batch, along with 11 tons of regular Grenada Chocolate bars, will then be loaded onto the unique, Fair Transport,  sail-only cargo brigantine the Tres Hombres, leaving Grenada in March for the journey to Portsmouth via New York. It will be crewed by Mott Green and Charlie Boxer among other trainee sailors. (Charlie is owner of Italo Deli in London, and stockist of Grenada and Rococo chocolate bars). Due to arrive in Portsmouth around May 18^th.

 The bar itself will be priced like a single estate cru wine so that the money can be re-invested in the local organic cocoa farms and infrastructure. The bar in its one-off wrapper by Mr. Smith Letterpress will retail at £11.95 a bar or £10.95 if bought “en primeur” i.e. in advance of the chocolate’s arrival.

 www.rococochocolates.com

http://svtreshombres.homestead.com/ 

‘NEW’ From the Lollipop Shoppe: The Songbird by Kay Bojesen

In Spring 2012, a new creation from Kay Bojesen Denmark takes flight to the delight of fans of all ages: The Songbird. It is a hitherto unknown design created by Kay Bojesen in the 1950s, but never put into production, until now. The Lollipop Shoppe bid Ruth, Pop, Otto, Kay, Peter and Sunshine a warm welcome to Bojesen’s wonderful animal family and predict that the six colourful personalities will quickly find friends among design lovers the world over.

Since Kay Bojesen Denmark relaunched The Dog, The Rabbit and The Hippo last year, interest in Kay Bojesen’s classic wooden designs has been tremendous. The Monkey and all his friends have gone from cool to cult, not least riding the wave of the nature trend as a strong element on the Scandinavian design scene.

However, Kay Bojesen was just as colourful in his work as in his personality! The Lollipop Shoppe came to realise this when the Bojesen Family gave them permission to flip through an old photo album and they found photos of a hitherto undiscovered feathered treasure: The Songbird. Chirpingly charming, and never put into production, until now. On closer investigation they found that only five birds were originally produced. However, based on the design of the originals and a small flock of birds glued to a branch, Kay Bojesen Denmark now introduces six different songbirds, named after the designer and his family.

Birds from the patio of the family home

The Bojesen’s patio at the family home Bella Vista near Bellevue, north of Copenhagen, was full of flowers, wicker furniture – and birds. There can be no doubt that this is the source of Kay Bojesen’s inspiration for the carefree songbird that he designed in the 1950s and hand-painted in cheerful colours. Even with the naked eye, it is clear that Ruth, Pop, Otto, Kay, Peter and Sunshine belong to the Bojesen animal family. All six birds have a clean, modern expression, stripped of superfluous details. And though clearly not an attempt to imitate nature, the birds are still so lifelike that it is easy to imagine them breaking out in song as the sun rises over the Sound.

Peepingly pleasant personalities

Naturally, any family with respect for itself has a family tree! And the Songbird Family is no exception, with six branches that encompass several generations of Bojesens, from grandfather to grandchild. Please say hi to…

Otto: Kay and Erna Bojesen had only one child, but what a kid! Otto is the namesake of the noble songbird with the distinguished plumage who courts the love of his life, the songbird Ruth. What a handsome suitor in his grey tailcoat!

Ruth: Full of life and with a jovial charm, Kay Bojesen’s Swedish daughter-in-law generously shared anecdotes from her life in the Bojesen family. Feminine and pink to the very tips of her feathers!

Sunshine: Represents one of the five original colour combinations created by Bojesen. Can you imagine a better start to the day than being showered in birdsong from a flock of colourful Sunshines? Green like the hope of spring!

Kay: Named after the master himself and a huge fan of the colour blue. Kay Bojesen was always impeccably dressed in either a blue suit, shirt and tie or his white smock. A gentleman with a sense for underplayed, discreet elegance!

Peter: This songbird, dressed all in black, is named after Kay Bojesen’s eldest grandchild out of a flock of four. An elegant, modern gentleman!

Pop: A sparkling name inspired by Kay Bojesen’s love of soda pop. It was actually the only thing he would drink, and with her orange colour, this songbird sends a fond thought to the soda pop of our childhood sipped through a striped straw. A delightful acquaintance!

All six songbirds are made from solid beech wood and, of course, carefully hand-painted according to tradition.

For more details visit ‘The Lollipop shoppe’ Website: www.thelollipopshoppe.co.uk

A blog in pictures “My adventures at Spurn Point Heritage Coast”

I am very lucky to live so close to ‘Spurn point‘ that has been described as one of the most striking features of Britain’s coastline, stretching for three and a half miles across the Humber Estuary.

This curving spit is only 50 metres wide in places, making it look like an elongated tongue. Spurn is a relatively small place but it’s got lots of variety, and, if you know where to look, there’s some great plants and animals. It’s one of the most fragile and unique environments in the whole of the UK.

Today’s blog post is my adventures at ‘Spurn Point’ a blog in pictures enjoy…..

Erga Design: Wallpaper and décor from textile scraps

One of the highlights from this years ‘Surface Design Show’ was meeting Designer Kristel Erga who creates wallpaper and – décor from textile scraps.

Kristel Erga

Kristel Erga is from Stavanger, Norway, and completed her BA in Fashion and Textile Design at Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti in Milan, Italy in 2009. While assisting fashion designers Leila Hafzi (Oslo) and Osman Yousefzada (London) after graduation, she decided to specialise in sustainable design through an MA in Textile Design at Chelsea College of Art and Design. Among the peaks of her career thus far was participating in the Habitus Baltic 2010 competition for young European fashion designers in Riga with her own collection and exhibiting her magnetic wallpaper in London at the Surface Design Show.

Designer Kristel Erga says good riddance to waste created by the fashion and textile industry. With her magnetic wallpaper, she documents how textile scraps can be recycled into raw material for new production. The magnetic wallpaper, which draws on production surplus from well-known Norwegian fashion designer Leila Hafzi, is an interactive product which enables you to piece together your own wall décor.

For more details on Erga Design

BlogTour NYC Sponsor: Poggenpohl something a little different

With only a month left to go until ‘BlogtourNYC’ it’s time to create some noise for the ‘BlogtourNYC’ sponsors in a series of spotlight blogs….

Today’s blog is all about Event Sponsor PoggenPohl the Iconic Brand, who also took part with ‘Blogtour2011′ as one of the original sponsors who helped to make it happen…. so what makes Poggenpohl different…..

Poggenpohl 

What makes Poggenpohl different is its ability to think afresh time and time again.  And it is also a thread running through the company’s entire history.

Founded over 110 years ago as the first German kitchen brand, Poggenpohl is now the best known kitchen brand in the world – present in more than 70 countries around the globe.

Poggenpohl

The history of fitted kitchens is indelibly linked to the name Poggenpohl.  Worldwide, the name is synonymous with the claim of exclusive, individual kitchens and first-class quality in every detail.

PoggenPohl

Long before globalization began, Poggenpohl was already represented in numerous countries as the leading kitchen brand worldwide. Today, they are represented in more than 70 countries – and the number is growing every year.

In all these countries, Poggenpohl – and their regional marketing companies and Poggenpohl partners – stand for the very highest project competence. In numerous highly exclusive luxury apartments and villas, new construction projects or more and more hotels in New York, Shanghai, Dubai and other metropolitan centres, the kitchen is made by Poggenpohl.

Poggenpohl

Poggenpohl

Poggenpohl

Poggenpohl

Poggenpohl

BlogTour NYC Sponsor: Samuel Heath for a life less ordinary!

Today’s DreamwallStyle blog is about  Samuel Heath one of the  ‘BlogtourNYC’  general sponsors for a life less ordinary!

Samuel Heath also took part with ‘Blogtour2011′ as one of the original general sponsors who helped to make it happen! So let the buzz begin…….

Samuel Heath Design Centre Chelsea Harbour

Samuel Heath is a British bathroom manufacturer, established in Birmingham in 1820 and since has become internationally renowned for design, innovation and quality. Samuel Heath is a forward thinking and creative company that combines time-honoured craftsmanship with the latest technology and design to offer a collection of beautifully crafted bathroom fittings and architectural hardware.

Samuel Heath Factory Exterior

By having Samuel Heath on board as one of the sponsors they really made ‘Blog Tour 2011′ possible. It was such a great pleasure with ‘Blog Tour’ to actually get to visit the Samuel Heath showroom at the Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour which was also open as part of ‘Focus/11′ that ran from September 25th- 27th.

Samuel Heath – Showroom

Visiting Samuel Heath Showroom with ‘Blogtour’ from L-R Ana, me, Vanessa and Gemma

While visiting the showroom, I got chance to learn more about the interesting history of ‘Samuel Heath’ which started out originally as a traditional brass founder, producing a vast array of products from coffin furniture through to bedsteads before becoming a style icon for luxury bathroom fittings and architectural hardware.

Samuel Heath – CNC machining

As a big fan of channel 4′s Grand Designs  TV program, I was delighted to learn while in the Samuel Heath showroom that Kevin McCloud designed his own bathroom jewellery collection made by Samuel Heath.

Kevin McCloud by Samuel Heath

Vanessa Allan Samuel Heaths Marketing Manager explained that from the outset Kevin McCloud wanted to create a feminine design and wanted the range to feel like jewellery for bathrooms – Kevin designed the pieces to be soft and fluid as though teased into shape. With glamourous details many pieces feature small circles of mother of pearl.

Kevin McCloud – Samuel Heath

It was great to see more of the company’s products while in the showroom including the ‘New Brilliance’ with geometric crystal levers, following the success of its Fairfield ‘Organic’ crystal levers collection Samuel Heath presents a new crystal lever option – the Fairfield ‘Geometric’ crystal levers.

Vanessa Allan explained “Our new Geometric crystal levers have been introduced to offer designers and homeowners more choice and flexibility when choosing fairfield for their bathroom”

Black crystal – Samuel Heath

Whatever scheme you’re going for, be it classic luxury, something more contemporary or even if you’re looking to incorporate more nostalgic themes and colours such as polished nickel or brass

Samuel Heath – Crystal levers

Fairfield crystal levers offer beautiful detail and a finishing touch that is very much at home in the bathroom as a luxury space.

Samuel Heath – Crystal Levers

Samuel Heath

Novis Soap Dish – Samuel Heath

Fairfield Exposed Valve – Samuel Heath

I personally would like to thank all at the ‘Samuel Heath’ showroom for all the fun and laughter we had including the ton of Olives I managed to demolish! It was great visiting and learning more about the stunning brilliance of the ‘Samuel Heath’ products, but most importantly thank you for being part of the sponsors of Blogtour and making ‘Blogtour NYC’ The world design happen! THANK YOU!

To find out more about Samuel Heath

BlogTour NYC Sponsor: Victoria + Albert on the ‘Edge’

With less than five weeks to go until the big take off to ‘Blog Tour NYC‘ it only feels right that ‘Dreamwallstyle’ should share and showcase with our readers, the generous sponsors of ‘BlogtourNYC‘ in a series of individual blogs.

Today ‘Dreamwallstyle will kick start the series of Blog’s with sponsor ‘Victoria + Albert‘ who are creating an Edgy buzz in modern design! so lets take a look….

Victoria + Albert BlogTourNYC sponsors

About Victoria + Albert

Victoria + Albert is a global brand with a worldwide reputation for creating beautiful baths. The ultimate statement in quality and sophisticated style, their award-winning collections are packed with inspirational designs made from 100% ENGLISHCAST®, a unique blend of volcanic limestone and high performance resins. Naturally white, each tub is individually hand-finished by craftsme and tested by IAPMO to UPC and cUPC standards with a 25-year limited consumer warranty.

Victoria and Albert: Edge Collection

On the Edge of Modern Day Design

Victoria + Albert introduce the latest ‘New Edge Collection’

The Edge Collection features striking linear forms that contrast with softly contoured corners. The result is a clean, sophisticated look very much in keeping with the award-winning style that is the signature of the Victoria + Albert brand.

Victoria + Albert's New Edge Bathtub

The Edge Bath is beautifully complemented by the Edge 45 Vessel Basin, the most compact basin Victoria + Albert has produced to date. Specifically designed for his-and-hers double basin bathrooms as well as smaller cloakroom settings, this contemporary basin adds impeccable style with its rimless design and sleek silhouette. Where space allows, dual basins are a smart choice in terms of both style and practicality.

Edge 45 Vessel Basins

The Edge Bath and Basin are crafted from of 100% ENGLISHCAST®, a naturally white material rich in volcanic limestone that is hand-finished by craftsmen and beautifully warm to the touch. This unique construction creates a glossy finish that won’t creak or flex, is highly durable and easy to clean.

Victoria + Albert Edge collection

Click here for more details about Victoria + Albert  who are general sponsors of ‘BlogtourNYC’ and ‘BlogTour2011′ 

Blog Tour: The world Designed New York City presented by Modenus

Mini Moderns: Glam it up with ‘Camberwell Beauty’

Mini Moderns - Camberwell Beauty

Dreamwallstyle favourites ‘Mini Moderns’ glam it up with their butterfly kaleidoscope ’Camberwell Beauty’  the first wallpaper to be launched from the Mini Moderns 2012 collection ‘The Buddha of Suburbia’.

Mini Moderns Camberwell Beauty

The collection explores a diverse range of aesthetic influences that can be traced back to the 1970s – a period that set the template for the uniquely British culture mash-up we enjoy today.

Mini Moderns - Camberwell Beauty

‘Camberwell Beauty’ will be available in four colourways, including Jet & Gold and Midnight & Lido. The wallpaper comes in 10m x 52cm rolls printed with waterbased inks on paper from sustained forests.

As always those ‘Mini Moderns’ are Glam Rocking it!

www.minimoderns.com

Key Trends from Surface Design: 3D Approach, tactile, liner, asymmetrical combination of textures.

The ‘Surface Design Show‘ is one of DreamwallStyle’s must attend exhibitions of the year!  Having visited for the past 3 years, we even exhibited our own ‘Dreamwall‘ products in 2011 successfully at the show too.

The event is a must for Architects, Interior Designers and Specifiers looking for innovative surface solutions for the build environment. The three day exhibition provides visitors with a unique opportunity to touch, feel and test the products whilst discovering the latest innovations in the industry and network in an exclusive environment.

Surface Design Show 2012

Find below Dreamwallstyle’s key trends in pictures from The Surface Design Show: From the 3D Approach to surfaces, tactile, liner, asymmetrical combination of textures. More pictures from ‘The Surface Design Show’ can be found on our Pinterest

Getting Tactile at Surface Design show Anne Kyyro Quinn stand - a massive trend of 3D tactile surfaces

3D Tactile wall coverings big trend at Surface design show - Anne Kyyro Quinn

3D wall panels Anne Kyyro Quinn big trend at surface design for tactile 3D walls

More 3D tactile surfaces from surface Design show Anne Kyyro Quinn - Acoustic walls

more 3D love with the trends at Surface Design by Interlam 3D and tactile modern

3D tactile trends at this years surface design show London more from Interlam

3D tactile trends at this years surface design show London more from Interlam

Lots of liner trends and wood all 3D and tactile huge surface trends at surface design show this is Interlam

3D approach tactile from surface design show London more from Interlam

The Strata range combines contrasting materials - by Denise Clarke Somerset college

modern approach to use 3D - Tactile from surface student Denise Clarke using contrasts of materials from Surface Design show part of Somerset college

3D approach and colours at somerset college surface design show London by designer Hilary O’Dwyer

3D trends shown by John E Goadby fine ART - Surface Design show London

3D approach innovative materials used by John E Goadby Fine ART - Surface design show

beautiful butterflys a key trend and using the 3D approach by Kristel Erga Erga designs Surface design show

Key trends from Erga Designs 3D approach to surfaces at surface Design Show London

love this by Lite-House from Surface Design London

innovative materials - concrete 3D approach my Graphic Relief

3D approach innovation trends at surface design as shown on the SCIN Gallery stand by Carola Wochner

EDGY - 3D TILES BY edgy TILES - surface design show

University of Huddersfield by graduate Rebecca Fairley.

University of Huddersfield - surface design students - 3D tactile approach at Surface Design by graduate Rebecca Fairley.

Future thinking turns pre - existing beliefs on their heads - curated by Annabelle Filer SCIN GALLERY - Surface design

Somerset College Display at Surface design show

Denise Clarke - Juxapose concrete with aluminium Somerset college

Denise Clarke somerset college - Riveted jesmonite with copper rivets

Sally Sawyer - surface design somerset college 3D innovation designs

Erga Design - Kristel Erga Textile designer

Pretty 3D florals Erga Design - Kristel Erga Textile designer

Graphic Relief concrete

Graphic Relief

Designer Priyal Garg

New bright ideas from Louise Campbell

Louis Poulsen has again teamed up with Danish/English designer Louise Campbell to produce a lamp, LC Shutters, the fourth she has designed for LP – and again it reflects innovative thinking.

 Louise Campbell’s creative side develops in step with the challenges, and this time she challenged both herself and Louis Poulsen. It is said that simplicity is difficult, and that has certainly been the case here. Her idea with the new lamp was to create a pendant with a minimum of processes, based on a single shade. The process has literally been cut down to three basic elements: turning the shade, stamping the pattern, and painting.

LC Shutters is very harmonious light. It is available in two versions – a completely white edition, and one with a pattern of various colours which helps create a completely different expression, when the light is on or off.

 LC Shutters not only protects against glare, it is 100% glare-free, and the light source is protected by a diffuser which shields direct viewing and also prevents it from being touched. The diffuser can be easily removed and cleaned – yet another factor which makes the pendant very maintenance friendly, both in the home and the workplace.

 LC Shutters is a lamp which can be used in a wide range of settings. Many want to put it above their dining table at home. A logical choice, but the light has an amazing ability to blend into its surroundings in a natural way. Louis Poulsen often tests lamps in various settings and LC Shutters demonstrated a remarkable ability to add a decorative and tasteful softness to its surroundings, helping to make rooms more human and communicative. LC Shutters produces honest lighting. A soft and diffuse light , which provides ideal illumination for faces, without distracting shadows so it ideal for meeting rooms, where communication should have the best possible conditions. 

 All Louise Campbell’s lamps have multiple layers, and this one is no exception. However, the extra layer is created in the same shade, and this was the crux of the challenge. A completely new tool was necessary – a tool which can stamp with millimetre precision, on a curved surface.

Louise Campbell said about her new light: “I aimed to draw attention to the balance between glare reduction and spreading the light in the room. The shade and diffuser are integrated: a single unit with a clear function – protecting against glare, creating atmosphere, but also diligently spreading the light. Despite the dense, hard material, the design expression is soft and friendly.”

The Pendants retail at £345 for the white and £425 for the coloured

 www.louispoulsen.com