Ami Loutky - Prague--- strings attached!

Photo Credit Daynoir

Prague is the largest city in the Chech Republic. Everyone loves visiting this beautiful city with its cobblestone streets, 1100 year old castle, historic centre and varied architecture. It is the 6th most visited city in Europe. Something that is unique to Prague is its marionette shops. These loutky (puppet) shops are part of the Chech culture. The puppets are handcarved out of lime wood or linden by artists called authors. The puppet faces are oddly familiar and the jointed bodies are dressed in sartorial delights. Some puppets are made from plaster. Ami is a small company with a couple loutky shops in Prague. Next time you are in Prague, go to a folk or art puppetry company to experience this centuries-old tradition. Chech puppetry is considered the best in the world.

Lush Designs - London

This cute shop is located at 6a Greenwich Market, London SE10 9HZ. Garnished with lampshades, tea towels, pillow cases and other housewares, in a circus of modern colors and quirky prints...many hand-crafted in house at the Lush Designs Studio at Cockpit Arts in Deptford, which is open to the public a couple times of year. Marie Rodgers & Maria Livings own this wonderfully fun London business. They studied painting and printmaking at Maidstone Art College and evolved their business while working in the theatre and community arts after moving to South East London. Not only are they creative, but they are very nice and provided Cute Shops blog with these luscious, perky pics.

Le Boudoir et sa Philosophie

Photo Credit Dominique Bergeron

Bonjour! Cutes Shops Blog was thrilled to find Carla Vizzi's shop in the Marias area of Paris. She says her shop is a place to rediscover the Art of Living in the 18th-century around the daily activities of the Boudoir. Carla works with craftsmen who recreate 18th century art and she also sells both antiques and newly created classical elements that may have been found in Marie Antoinette's boudoir. Commission portraits of your favorite dog, in an 18th century spirit, are but one of the many possibilities of artwork she can also create for you. So, lovers of baroque, head for the Marias and step into a exploration of intimate Parisian life at Le Boudoir et sa Philosophie.

Emery e Cie - Brussels, Paris, Antwerp

Handcrafted basin and tap

Handblocked textiles

Hand-forged iron furnitiure

Handcrafted ceramics

Handcrafted ceramic mushroom poufs

Lovely vitrine

Shop in Paris

Fabulous paints crafted by a small family business

Handcrafted rugs

Handcrafted Teapots

Handcrafted iron coat rack

Fabulous handcrafted iron chairs

Handcrafted ceramic basin and tap

Handcrafted tiles

Shop in Brussels

It is no secret that I am smitten with Belgium and all its cute shops. Here is a shop with locations in Brussels, Paris and Antwerp. Each one has its own energy and ambiance. Emery e Cie is at the very heart of my spirit. I love bold colors nabbed from nature and forced to get along. I appreciate the elemental feeling of a single piece ...an item individually crafted by someone with skill and passion, especially of a time honored and lost art. And, I respect a shop when it has a reason for existing beyond commerce. Emery e Cie is my dream cute shop because it captures these qualities. Some day, I want to redo some rooms with Emery e Cie paints, tiles, bathroom taps and basins. For my posts, I don't usually show more than 3 or 4 pics, but I just couldn't decide...besides, they have 3 cute shops to showcase. Who is behind these lyrical shops? Agnes Emery, a designer and architect. She is one amazing woman!

Stilleben - Denmark

Photograph by Lars Plougmann

Stilleben in Copenhagen, Denmark, is a quintessential cute shop; housed in a quaint and traditional storefront and busting with creative, contemporary products. This shop/gallery displays work from many young, Danish potters and ceramic designers. It also carries established porcelain manufactures such as Hoganas, Iittala and Royal Copenhagen. The plates, cups, teapots, vessels, etc., are simple, functional and sleek. Ally Capellino, Anna Carin Dahl, Anne Black , Ditte Fischer, Finn Juhl , Jonathan Adler, Lars Rank and Monika Petersen are just a few of the artists represented at Stilleben.

Ditte Reckweg and Jelena Schou Nordentoft, graduates of The Danish Design School's Ceramic and Glass department, are the proud owners of this cute shop.

Bonbonmacherei

Photo Credit Steffiehbln copyright protected

When I was growing up in Michigan, we used to visit this quaint German village, Frankenmuth, with lots of cute shops. One cute shop in particular had these incredible European candies that you couldnt find anywhere else. My mom and dad would buy a big bag for the ride home. These candies must be a German thing because look at this cute shop in Berlin, Bonbonmacherei. They make the same style candies I used to get in Frankenmuth. Look at the awesome antique brass presses used to get the leaf and raspberry designs.

Bonbonmacherei revived the lost art of these handmade sweets. The master candy makers, Katja and Hjalmar use traditional recipes and antique equipment to turn out these adorable confections. Their specialty is the green leaf maiblatter or May leaves made with woodruff. This is a regional specialty.

Red Flower - NYC

I found this shop a few years back when I was introduced to their product at a packaging meeting. We were buying custom tube packaging for Tea Design, our tea tasting division, when I expressed concern about the shape working for my customer. The sales rep immediately sent me a sample of red flower packaging. It was gorgeous...and it worked! Located on 13 Prince Street in NYC, red flower totally fits our cute shops blog. Unique interior, stylistic and innovative. On our travels, I have seen red flower products sitting on the shelves at other cute shops, so they are obviously doing a great job with marketing. I love red flower's global approach to product design and the creative botanical combinations like Thai Honeysuckle, Japanese Peony... we decided to go another direction with packaging. I think it is paramount to respect other's designs. Someday, I will show you a pic of our packaging...

Well, my mother is on her way to visit for her 83rd birthday so I may not be able to post for a day or two. We will be off visiting cute shops together. Happy Birthday, Mom!