It has been a while since I went to market. I am really looking forward to it. Come and say hello this Sunday if you are in the area. I also have an update on Von Treight furniture (thanks Sarah). I have posted it in a comment under Retro Heaven.
Retro Heaven.
Oh, don’t you love it! I have been light headed ever since a friend said a friend was giving this away to a good home – was I interested? Yes indeed. I had just the good home for it. I am not really an officiando on furniture makers of this era, so if anyone can help me out with information on Van Treight, that would be great. I could only find 80’s style furniture from them on Ebay. Mr Viking was super impressed with the bar ( he likes a congac from time to time). Everything fitted in really nicely. Thank you friends, she will be happy here.
PS – the little blue ceramic vase was inherited from Mr Viking’s great aunt Else, it is my favourite, favourite thing. It has OJ 53 stamped into the bottom and I will research this one day! The candelabra is Swedish (design House Stockholm), a wedding present from a dear friend. The glass bowl is Kosta Boda and the Alvar Aalto vase was also a family wedding present. It is practically the only vase you need.
Friday Finds – Tea and Ceremony.
Tea and Ceremony
I love, love love Sandra Igbodo’s Etsy shop Tea and Ceremony. Great name. Why do I love it? It is bright. It is colourful. And it has a very distinct Scandinavian feel to it that I just can’t resist. There are lovely prints, cute tags and a very sweet tote among other delights to be found here. My pick is the I heart Tea card. Because I do heart tea. Lots.
Designed and crafted by Sandra in Manchester, UK and ships worldwide. Most reasonably too.
Magical Star Garland
Magical Star Garland
I have just popped one of these into the Etsy Shop. I was recently asked by the lovely Naomi from Hello Naomi to help out with some garlands for a party photo shoot for Shop Kids magazine. This one is for a Magician’s Party. Really bright and really fun.
Friday Finds – Ormolu.
Hello! Just popping in to say hi. I have quite a few orders on at the moment (and a busy family life) and I am not the most disciplined person when it comes to regular posting. The thing is, I believe that is what people like. Regular posts. Do you agree – put you hand up if you do. I would love to know what you think.
So, this is what I plan to do. And why. On Fridays I am going to showcase a fellow Etsy seller that I have some connection with. Mostly because I love their things, probably because I have stepped over the line and made a purchase from them and have been super satisfied. You are welcome to make suggestions. The Etsy platform is amazing. It’s customers and sellers have been truly grand to me and I just think it’s nice for them to be recognised for all that creative inspiration they give us. I am also hoping this feature will keep me on a good blogging path and that you might be interested in sharing my finds.
Firstly, I would like to share Ormolu. A very sweet stationery shop run by Kaitlin in California. I first contacted Kaitlin before our wedding last year to ask if it was possible to do some custom signage for our tables. I was looking for a vintage scroll frame with our table names in the centre. Our tables were named after the places that the Viking and I have lived together (from Bondi to Jolimont, Frederiksberg to Coogee). They were perfect. Kaitlin also did a little sign for our table centres. The idea was to have a small posy for each lady at each table arranged to look like one centre piece. The sign was to let the ladies know to ‘take a posie before you go’. We were very happy. So I often check back to see what Ormolu has in store. I always find pretty gift and journalling tags, paper buttons, and even DIY paper chains. And great shipping prices. I am a repeat offender here!
Felt bead Necklace.
Last week I showed off the beads I bought from Smika. Then I found a few quiet (rare) minutes to sit down and put a necklace together. Here is how it went for me.
Firstly I laid out my beads in a pattern that I thought worked well. I hunted around in my thread box for something natural looking and found some linen thread. I measured out about a metre of thread and using a sharp needle, I threaded through one bead at a time, about one third of the way down each bead. I tied a double knot between each bead to stop them moving too much along the thread. I measured it around my neck and trimmed to size.
Kim, if you are reading – do you remember when we bought this in Stockholm? It was crisp, I wore a silver puffer jacket, yours was green or orange. We were even crafty girls way back then!
Klippan don’t seem to produce this linen thread anymore (they do produce lovely textiles still) but I have found sraige on Etsy produce a linen thread if you wanted to stick with linen. Then I came upon a dilemma. No fastener – this being my first foray into necklace making. We all raced next door to my lovely neighbours house (who as well as being lovely is a nurse educator and dabbles in jewelry making). She came to the rescue with a magical thing – a magnetic fastener. What an invention. So easy.
Here is the final result. I liked it so much that it deserved a trip to the Art Gallery last Friday with kidlets and a Greek dinenr out in the city with the Viking and kidlets.
This is not a paper project, but I am posting it in here for want of a better home! Go make one – it was so easy.
Being Creative.
Felted beads from Smika
I was having a little peep around in Etsy the other day and I happened upon Smika. They do beautiful felted beads. Smika is in Lithuania. My ones (up there) were from a mystery grab bag for $2us. I think I got lucky. The colours were so lovely. Each bead is like a soft little coloured pebble. Two came beaded. One was marbled. I want to make them into a necklace but I am not sure if they should be strung horizontally or vertically yet. I will let you know what I do.
Gesso transfer technique
I have also started Claudine’s class. It is super fun. Claudine Hellmuth is a very well known collage artist based in the US. She is bright and bubbly and has cats and dogs. The class is an online collage techniques based course via Big Picture Scrapbooking. There are lots of classes here to try, not just in scrapbooking. Some are free. I think it is a great idea to study this way as you can a) access teachers/classes that you possibly could never attend physically b) go at your own pace c) in your pj’s if you want d) at midnight if you want. That is how I like to study sometimes. The tree is my first technique. The image is transfered using gesso (a white primer) and a photocopy. I love the faded effect of this transfer and it was so quick and easy to do. I think there is still time to sign up!
Hearts.
Heart Garland
I heart hearts. Here are some new ones up in the Etsy shop. Perfect colours to brighten your winter’s (or summer’s – depending on the hemisphere) day.
Books.
Little Birds
Hello friends. Tonight (because it is 10.55pm as I write this) I will talk about books. Because I love them. It might be a paper thing. Or it could be the possibilities that lie inside one – an escape to an exotic place, a ramble through an old house or a new project to ponder making. I read before I go to sleep most nights.
When I actually buy a book it is usually the cover that gets me and I would buy this lovely little craft book of birdy sweetness JUST because of the cover. What great product photography, makes one want to open up and flick through. This little book is not yet released - but it will be on Thursday! It is brimming with 26 bird making projects from Etsy and Handmade sellers. It is exactly what I wish for for my birthday a) because I like birds b) I really need another small, sweet and inspiring craft book to ponder over and possibly make nothing from but still engage hours of enjoyment in the possibility c) my Mum asked me what I wished for my birthday and I think she would like to ponder over this book with me.
What is on your book wishlist at the moment? I would love to know.
