Paris: Made by Hand

A few days before we left for our trip, I read about a little book called Paris: Made by Hand on SFgirlbybay. (She also just wrote a great post about a trip to Emily Chalmer's shop, Caravan. Emily Chalmers is the author of one of my favorite books, Flea Market Style.) Right after I read the post and peeked at excerpts of the book, I ordered it. It's such a great little book! The author is stylist and photographer Pia Jane Bijerk who visits and photographs Paris shops that embody a handmade aesthetic, most of which also incorporate vintage and found objects in their merchandising. Can you say dream job? I can. I love to take pictures of shops that I like and want to start doing it more, and of course I love Paris and all things French, so I'm a little nutty over this book. I especially like her photography. It's slightly dark and misty, but I think the tone is moody and mysterious in a way that leaves you wanting to see and know more. Our recent weekend trip to Paris was too short to see much, but I did make it into one shop in the book. I hope to visit more of these shops one day.






I love Pia's blog too. Her Paris kitty reminded me of my Paris kitty below. And her version of the boy with the red balloon made me think of a miniature statue of the boy with a red balloon that Lisa used to have in her shop, which is, I imagine, inspired by this little film.