Hasta La Ideas

Three Spanish brothers dressing up decor with artist-designed prints

Tres Tintas, a Barcelona-based company, was founded by three brothers, Jaime, Mitos and Daniel Bermejo. In part inspired by their father, Jaime Bermejo Sr. whose company Papeles Pintados Aribau has manufactured beautifully printed papers for the past forty years, with Tres Tintas the three brothers have taken the concept a step further by collaborating with Spanish and Latin-American artists to produce printed fabrics and wallpapers.

The trio makes it a point to collaborate with and encourage new talent. With that in mind, they’ve worked with over two dozen contemporary artists and clothing designers to produce each of the four collections that the brand has put out since 2004. Some of these artists include Ines and Ivan, the designers behind the immensely popular clothing line La Casita de Wendy, Chilean-born artist Judy Kaufmann and, of course, their own father. Each unique design retains a sense of rich texture, whimsy and intricate detail, whether displayed on a wall or printed on bedspreads or couch covers.

And as befits a young, modern company, Tres Tintas also pays due homage to environmentally sustainability. All of their clean-woods-certified papers use water-based inks and recyclable glues.

A roll of Tres Tintas wallpaper retails for around $160. Stateside the paper sells from Kirk Gallery in Austin, TX, Urban Source in Chicago, IL, Walnut Wallpaper in L.A., CA, or Studio Four in NYC.

Jazz up cupcakes with the latest in peel-and-press frosting decor

Give store-bought or homemade cupcakes a DIY makeover with Ticings‘ edible icing appliques, a peel-and-press garnish now featuring holiday-inspired and artist-designed sets for the fall season’s perpetual festivities.

Created by award-winning artist Anne Keenan Higgins, the deluxe Halloween kit includes an adorably spooky set of over 80 appliques. Known for her sophisticated yet cartoon-like stationary, Higgins brings her fun-for-all-ages charm to the world of baked goods with standard size and mini Ticings for bite-sized cupcakes, brownies, macaroons and more. The set also comes with an assortment of all-natural dark and white chocolate sprinkles, vanilla sugar, recipes and instructions for the ultimate decorating experience.

A line of limited edition sets, Ticings’ artist-designed series features creations by London-based graphic designer Björn Altmann (shown below), Flavio Mor of Barcelona and L.A.’s Daniel Lu.

Easy to use, Ticings adhere to any soft frosting for a seamless finish. Completely edible, tasteless, kosher, gluten-free and FDA certified, the kits sell online for $15-60, depending on the size of the set. To save a little dough, pick up the party packs from Haute Look between 3-4 October 2010 for sales on a number of different sets.

Halloween images by Sweettoof Studios Inc. and Anne Keenan Higgins