I opened BLANCHE seven years ago. My dream was to bring together under one roof the colours and trades of craftsmen from all over the world. The magic of glass flowers, the feel of cashmere and fine cotton. Wooden toys made to last forever to be handed down and down.
My name is Judy Geeson. As an actress I’ve been privileged to travel around the world to such far flung places as Nepal in Katmandu. I’ve seen from my bedroom window the Himalayas and gasped in wonder as all who go there do. The Nepalese are great craftsman; their temples are elaborate and exquisitely carved. They love colour, pinks and turquoise blue. I bought wonderful scarves there in the 1970’s made from Alpaca from the Himalayan Mountain regions.
I also visited Italy and spent time in Rome and Florence. There I fell in love with leather, soft leather gloves, lovingly stitched together by hand with contrasting colours – a black glove with brown or orange stitching.
In France the use of colour dazzles. They love colour and whimsy. We will soon have wonderful bronze animals that look as though they belong to my childhood.

It’s hard for me to stop when it comes to books. But here is what I feel is essential to any child’s library:
WINNIE THE POOH, THE HOUSE AT POOH CORNER, NOW WE ARE SIX, THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER, THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN, THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS, THE WIZARD OF OZ, ALICE IN WONDERAND, THE SECRET GARDEN, THE RAILWAY CHILDREN and WUTHERING HEIGHTS. And on and on…

And for toys I have the same problem.
Rocking horses from Poland, made to last a lifetime, Dolls from Peticollin, the oldest doll manufacturer in France.
From Sigikid – soft toys from Germany, wonderful extraordinary looking creatures with faces that look as though they belong in fairy tales. Lagner painted pull-along toys by Vilac: some French, some designed by Nara Yoshitomo and some by Keith Haring, objects often bought by adults as art, which of course they are.
I fell in love with glass at a very young age and have been collecting it ever since. Murano glass from Italy – looking into a hand-blown vase with its layers of colour is like entering a different world and that is what I feel BLANCHE is about. It’s our World of Wonder.

I would like to introduce you to my team. Keeping BLANCHE on a steady course, making sure our engines are clean and everything arrives on time is the indispensable Billy Ingram, our manager. And assisting him is Wonder Bright whom we call Wonderful Wonder and if you have the opportunity to work with her you will understand why. My image consultant is the one and only Tom Ferris who you will find at BLANCHE a couple of days a week. Women speak of Tom as their personal friend.
“I go when Tom’s there”.
“Tom will tell you what’s new”.
Oh, I love Tom”.
As of course all of us do.
Then there’s Alice Murrell who lives across the street, knows everyone, is loved by her neighbors and by us. We consider ourselves very lucky to have Alice with us as a new member. Amelia White is an actress and therefore not always available, but when she is, she comes in and stares at everything in a state of wonder like a twelve year old child, buys nearly everything, fixes a few things and utterly enchants us. Michael Medico is our ex-sometimes Sunday Guy. He makes unexpected lightning visits, and I think it’s simplest to say everyone is in love with him.
So we would like to take you by the hand and introduce you to our World of Wonder…