Friday Favorites 11/30/2012

Kaitlin Madden, Managing and Online Editor
The holidays always remind me to stock up on that oh-so-important follow-up to a gift exchange: The thank-you note. Perhaps it’s a reaction to the amount of time I spend texting and tweeting, but I put a lot of thought into the physical notes I send in the mail. I rarely buy occasion-specific cards, just in case my recipient likes the note so much, they want to save it.  “Too pretty to throw away” is my standard for stationery, and here are a few notes that meet the criteria.

I walked by Gus & Ruby Letterpress while visiting Portsmouth, N.H. over the summer, and have been checking in on their blog, Paper Hounds, ever since. That’s where I saw this lovely card.

Je t’aime card by Rifle. Photo courtesy of Gus & Ruby Letterpress

French designer Christian Lacroix applies a haute couturier’s eye to a line of beautiful stationery, available at Kate’s Paperie in New York City.

Photo courtesy of Kate’s Paperie

After hand-making cards for friends and family for ten years, Boston resident Claire Townsend opened an online shop this fall. Her custom designs have a coastal New England feel, perfect for more casual correspondence.

Photo courtesy of Claire’s Card Designs

Stacy Kunstel, Homes Editor
The other night I had the pleasure of meeting Hannah Kerrison Close, the U.S. representative for Linley, the British furniture company. While the name David Linley is practically ubiquitous in his home country, his classical furniture designs aren’t quite as well known here. Some time ago while I was working at another magazine, I had an editor who was obsessed with the line, its quality and character, and perhaps Mr. Linley’s heritage (he is the Queen’s nephew).

In browsing their new pieces, which include more urban and deco styles than in the beginning, you can’t help but see how exquisitely the pieces are crafted. Much of the company’s work is bespoke, but from their produced line I particularly love the Manhattan Dining Table. The five-legged table with nickel hardware and detailing has such simple lines that it’s almost an afterthought, the work that went into crafting the walnut table, until you read further that it is inlaid with ebony and Zebrano. It’s a perfect heirloom piece of history made by a royal.

Photo courtesy of Linley Furniture

Maria LaPiana, Contributing Writer
In 1964, the Scottish photojournalist Harry Benson got an assignment that would change his life–and the way the world would see an up-and-coming band from Liverpool called the Beatles. Benson was hired by a London newspaper, The Daily Express, to meet up with the Beatles in Paris and document the frenzy that was just starting to accompany them everywhere they went. It was in a Paris hotel that he shot the famous series of the Fab Four having a pillow fight. And it was there he gained their confidence. Benson traveled back to the U.S. with the band, and over the next few years captured some of the most intimate and insightful photographs ever taken of the Beatles. There’s one more chance to see a coveted collection of those photos in our area (including the pillow fight), this weekend at the Cavalier Gallery in Greenwich, Conn. “Harry Benson: The Iconic Images†runs through Monday, Dec. 3. Located at 405 Greenwich Ave., the gallery is open Monday through Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. or by appointment (203-869-3664).

Benson’s iconic pillow fight photo. All photos by Harry Benson

The Beatles with Cassius Clay at a Miami gym.