glitzkrieg

korento / iittala

Korento is Iittala's newest dishware collection by Klaus Haapaniemi. You may remember the hugely successful Taika pattern he designed for them in 2007. This new pattern is a summer one, incorporating dragonflies and flowers; it's meant to portray the short, intense summers that are native to Finland.  The colours here are absolutely summery and luscious. Korento also works beautifully with Teema dishware, an Iittala classic since the 50s- now coincidentally available in perfectly contrasting hues of terracotta and turquoise.

anna olivia / head or tail

These make me happy. How delightful are these mugs? Utterly! Called Head or Tail, they're designed by talented young Danish designer Anna Olivia and are sold in sets of two: a head and a tail. Choose from Pigs, Horses, Cows & Sheep. I can't imagine stacking them without seizing the opportunity to create fun Griffin-like barnyard creatures. Hope to cross paths with a retailer for these soon!

adonde / wood & stoneware candleholder

It'd be fun to change up Adonde's new Wood and Stoneware Candleholders for every occasion. Each set comes with a stoneware component, meant to house the candlestick, and a wooden, reversible and stackable base, to elevate. Made from alder wood, it's available in white, silver, fluoro pink & yellow.

elinno design / evergreen blues

Elinno Design is a young Finnish tableware company that mixes Scandinavian design with Chinese craftsmanship. One of their newest collections is called Evergreen Blues. Not only is it in beautiful, always classic blue & white, but its designer Liang Liang purposefully showcases everyday blooms that often don't get the attention they deserve:

"In this design I want to show how beautiful even the smallest, unknown roadside flowers can be. We so easily ignore this kind of everyday beauty. I hope this design will lead people to have a closer look of even the small elements of nature."

Lovely concept and a pretty delivery. Give the images a click for a better view. ;)

Happily, Evergreen Blues matches exceedingly well with other Elinno Design patterns, such as Runaway Ribbons, as in the image above.

celebrating 10 years of blue mega

To celebrate 10 years, Royal Copenhagen has added pieces to its super-successful and super-beautiful Blue Mega line. I love this pattern; I love the story behind it too. In case you've never heard how Blue Mega came about: Karen Kjældgaard-Larsen, a design student working on her final project at the time, went about modernizing Royal Copenhagen's iconic Blue Fluted pattern, the company's first porcelain dinner service (it debuted in 1775!) and the very same service the young Danish designer had grown up with. She made it modern by blowing up the details that she loved. After graduation, she approached Royal Copenhagen with her design. Two years later, Blue Mega was in production and was an instant hit. The new pieces that celebrate its 10th birthday include a footed bowl, cake stand, lidded tureen, and baby set.

These pieces are available via the International version of the Royal Copenhagen site now, but haven't yet made their North American debut.

royal copenhagen; royal zodiacs

The female Royal Zodiac figurines were designed by Danish artist Christel Marott and went into production at Royal Copenhagen in 2003. Now they've been joined by their male counterparts, this time designed by Pia Langelund. Exquisitely crafted from porcelain, they measure between 18-28cm in height and are priced at US$175.

atelier nl for royal tichelaar makkum

Stunning, yes? Royal Tichelaar Makkum, the Netherlands' oldest company (400+ years) and one of its most esteemed will release the dinnerware service Drawn From Clay by Atelier NL in September. The series of plates and bowls -and a gorgeous cup- are interesting in several regards. For one, each piece is stamped on the front side. Sure, there are the rich glazes and lovely shapes to consider, but the most interesting element of all concern its materials. Atelier NL duo Lonny van Ryswyck and Nadine Sterk started their design process by digging up clay from different parts of the Netherlands. What they discovered were 6 beautiful & unique clays. So beautiful that a full set was made for each of the 6 chosen clays. Oh! Wondering about the stamp? It notes the clay's origins.

paola navone's zig zag

If you've ever fallen in love with the clean lines of a fluted ceramic pastry dish brace yourself for Paola Navone's Zig Zag Collection for Eno. Made of porcelain, the collection features dinnerware & servingware; all beautifully fluted.

heath ceramics; the dwell patterns

Should you, by chance, be planning a renovation and want to include tiles your timing is amazing! Heath Ceramics in California are releasing a new set of tiles today; tiles designed with Dwell Magazine. And yes, they're gorgeous!

From top to bottom:

Little Diamond Mix in Tropics Blue

Half Hex Mix in three colours: Tapenade, Petrified Wood & Steam

Wide Hex Stack in Bright Yellow

Half Hex Mix in Shade, Shade Light & New Chamois

Custom Installation in Paprika, Campari Red & New Chamois

The Dwell Patterns are essentially three new shapes of tile than form five different layouts. Choose your layout and then comes the hard part; choosing a colour from Heath's many glazes.

More Heath Ceramics love here. And yup, the top pic in the other Heath post features the very same tiles you may have admired in Carrie & Big's kitchen in Sex and the City 2.

ceramics; matthias kaiser

I'm in love with Matthias Kaiser's beautiful ceramics. Schooled at both Parsons and Vienna's University of Applied Arts, with apprenticeships in Japan and more than a decade working with an Iranian dervish, his pieces are as interesting as his cumulative experiences. For definitive proof, have a look at a selection of his gorgeous teapots:

From top to bottom:

Kyusu with celadon glaze

Bauhaus kyusu with wooden handle

Bauhaus teapot with iron handle

Bauhaus-style kyusu with onggi glaze, stoneware

Chinese-style kyusu