A new and great design blog about kids stuff

Irene has this wonderfull blog Bloesem and now she has launched a new one Bloesem kids. Oh yes, we need this blog... Congratulations...

In Irenes own words:

"It is all about cool stuff for kids…not a laundry list of products you can buy for your kids…but more like a carefully put together selection…cherry picking…among everything that is available which can be quite overwhelming sometimes…so B:Kids will set out to do just that…help you navigate and give inspiration…."

I feel very honored that my design Flødehesten is among her cherry pickings. Go check it out...

Christmas Preparations...

Can it be called for Christmas Preparation when it is already the 17.th of December ?!? Well I do... You know there is Christmas next year too, and even if I am not keeping the sweets, I Will keep my Christmas manual ( as John - laughing - calls my rather autistic approach to these seasonal holiday things. But honestly, it is just because I want to save time and be relaxed. My way of doing is really to get into it. I write everything down, make lists and so on, so I can later just switch to auto pilot... Am I weird ? Well maybe, but it works...

The sweets are mixed up of all the good things I like... nougat, dried apricots, orange blossom water, cognac, coffee, white chocolate...

The Candle holder vase is one of a small series in light cream colour, cream and aqua green. It was made because I needed a way of displaying flowers and candles together, in a low key way... just a single flower in springtime, some green at winter, and maybe just a matchbox when things are a bit too busy...

The candle holder vase will be awailable on my website next week. Look under the catagory "unique pieces"




Christmas preparations...

The local newspaper came by...

Me taking a picture of the photographer taking a picture of... The local paper wanted to write an article about how things are coming along, since I moved the studio to the countryside. The headline says "Far out on the countryside but close to the Paradise". Phase 1 in the rebuilding of the studio is finished and phase 2 ( the final one ) will have to wait to spring... Now I need to focus on the ceramics and hopefully some more sewing since all the ideas are piling up in my head... Well, that's good, isn't it ?

Re-establishing traditions...

This Christmas is a special one for us. It is Seths´ first Christmas... sort of... since he was born December 27th, he had a little of it last year... It is also the first time we are celebrating Christmas ( Hanukkah, would John maybe say ? ) in our little family... with Christmas dinner and all that... We would like our X-mas to be nice and tasseled with magic, but most important; let´s have it without stress this year...

I made This "Christmas stocking" for Seth a little late... Lucky me, he doesn't know the calendar yet. I wanted to make something he can have trough whole his childhood and it can be used for either 24 gifts or maybe just 4 ( a danish advent tradition, 24 days or 4 Sundays before the X-mas )... I found the little embroidered bell string from a 2nd hand shop, and I liked the colours. Running out of time, between 5am and 7am it was made and ready.

Oh yes, as you can see, I still haven't painted that bed... I will get to that soon... but HOW... Where could he take his nap while... Just can't figure out the logistics of this project... I guess I should have painted it before the smaller bed was moved out... hmmmmm...

Time for being practical....again...

I finished Seths' new winter suit.... Just in time, because it is getting rather cold here. I couldn't find one I liked, so I had to sew one myself. I wanted one soft enough for him to move around, and I didn't find it necessary that it could cope with minus 35 degrees Celsius and wear and tear of the toughest military outfit. If he has to crawl around in mud pools - not really my plan - then he just wears extra pair of pants made of water proof beaver nylon. He is not even one year yet... I used some of the leftover fleece to make the small mittens... really easy and a really good idea... I keep the rest of the fleece... 'cause we will sure lose them over and over again...

Early mornings...

Maybe you remember...??!... John took the last three months of the maternity ( paternity ) leave, but today was the last day... so new beginning: Now Seth has to follow me daily to the studio... Oh yes, I can hear you saying "hmmm, is that possible...?" And yes, it is. We get up at 6am and after 1 hour of eating, getting dressed and drinking coffee ( eh, mostly me ) we're heading to the studio. Seth plays in the "kindergarten" ( a low platform about 5 square meters with a wooden floor, fence and of course a little gate ). I got some ideas for decorating it, but that has to wait until spring, because now starts the Pottery Time... well... I quickly fire up the stove and then I have about 1 hour for doing a little miscellaneous work before it is time for Seth's morning nap at about 9am... Two hours of throwing pots, then eating, playing, taking a walk, working, eating and Seth having an afternoon nap. Again two hours of concentrated work. Seth wakes up and he plays a little before we drive home. 12 hours gone since we stood up.

Note to myself :...Make tiny mittens for Seth just like my own studio ones.....

Howdie Owlie...

My plan was actually to renovate Seths new bed, but I ended up making this little Owlie in stead of. When we bought the 2nd hand kiddie bed, I was rather satisfied with the colour....but since the paint now peels of, revealing a rather girly pink, I guess I have to paint it. Being rather tired of painting right now, I ended up at the sewing machine... hmmm so much more fun... The Owl was a make-along-thing... not that much of thinking, just playing... I like the results, and so does Seth......

Owls are favorite animals of mine, signaling intelligence, sweetness and a little bit of funny arrogance.... I think that kind of softie is the best companion at nighttime, and I hope Seth will have long weird scientific discussions with the Owlie.

Let there be light..

Finally we took the time to hang up the lamp we bought on an auction. It has been in storage room for several months, but we had to do something since the days where getting shorter. It is designed by the danish architect Vilhelm Lauritzen in the 50´s and is called Radiohuspendel ( Radio House Lamp ) since it was made for the old Danisk National Radio City in Copenhagen. They were also used at a school building designed by Vilhelm Lauritzen ( see the picture below ). I really like the shape and size of it, and with a light regulator it is perfect for both working and really cozy together with candles.... perfect...

My working board by the bench is rather empty at the moment....all my time goes to rebuilding my shop and workshop, no clay, no fabrics...just painting, painting and well.. painting...I miss getting into crafting again...but I also know you have to prepare canvases or you are forever stuck with pencil and paper....

Getting ready for fall...

Today I saw a lot of birds heading south. I spend the day in the studio making sure the clay was stored safely for the winter, moving the fragile plants inside and so on. It has allready been below zero at night, but the weather is clear beautifull, and I am not complaining...

I made the cardigan and hat for Seth using this pattern, with a few changes to make it not so girlish...He is still to small for shoes so I made a pair of knitted boots ( I am afraid these will be to small in two weeks ) .....The pattern is from Erika Knights book: simple knit for cherished babies ( I just made them a little longer )

We are building the studio, so most of the time goes with painting and so on, but soon I will show you....

About knitting...

I use to knit these very complicated patterns, but something has changed...Now knitting is more some kind of meditation for me. I need it to be simple, without the constant looking at the patterns, counting and so on...I love wearing thin cardigans over tops and dresses, so I decided to make a pattern using my own sewing pattern. I knit all the edges by hand ( really easy...no counting...pure relaxation ), and then I finish it on the very old knitting mashine that I have from my grandmother. I crochet the button front ( again no counting ). I made the pattern with the help from the freeware program >Graph paper printer. I made a simple grid that fit to the gauge of my yarn and then I just trace the pattern on the grid...

I have knitted ribbon ready for take 2, and I will make some changes...shorter, rounded edges at upper front, dyed brown...Then take 3 in alpaca wool...take four in cashmere...........

Home again

We are home.....There has been a change in situation....I'm no longer dwelling in a greek café with my laptop, drinking fresh cool orange juice....no... I'm working in my studio, hands all covered in clay, drinking coffee, foggy landscape outside and two hunters walking by my big windows with a dead fox...beautiful animal, but very quiet...sad....

I like working in the studio... And find it strange to think about the fact that some people don't appreciate the work of hands...like our old greek landlord that doesn't have to do physical work to make a living. He shows that by keeping his thumb nails long ( I'm not a peasant, he tells ) ....I always have short nails, and I never wear rings, because It makes me feel like I cant breathe....

Another way of life

We went on a barbecue with some new friends. She is from Thailand and he is from Portugal. They live in an camping van with their two kids. They are both 22 years old and have been travelling around the world for the last 4 years. Pedro already was travelling as a kid, since his father was doing exactly the same as he is doing today...selling handcrafted jewelry on the sidewalk. It was as if we were back in the sixties (well that's what John says...you see I can't really know that since I am rather "young"). It is amazing to hear a very young person - Pedro - saying " you can not get anything good quality anymore, everything has changed to the worse". I don't agree, some good things has disappeared, but there is also somethings that has changed to the better.....an example...I love the fact that the the Internet has given me the opportunity to get connected with people doing things similar to what I do....If I want a good quality silk jersey, and I just can't find it anywhere in my local stores...well it is no problem anymore...see I think that is a good thing for people not living in the big cities...

Sunset....

Nights in Paleohora

Every evening we take a stroll in the village, and quite often it involves having cake at Elias. Elias has a café in the middle of the town and during the summer he sells the cakes he bakes at home in his kitchen. He spends winter in the nearby city of Chania where he combines seeing friends and family with his freelance work as movie producer. Before Elias restored old Lambretta scooters…. Now he is a true believer of all new age kind of things, and spends November at a meditation workshop up in the mountains. He is a great guy with very good taste in cakes and other things…don’t you just love that vintage scooter…..? …..When you sit in his café you look at the vegetable grocery…that place seems to always be open and there is always great amount of social activities going on at that place……thinking…I hope he will make his orange cake today..

Paleohora life

I am working on my homepage. It is just so much nicer to sit here doing that. Today is going to be a hot day, and I want to finish all this programming before the heat comes. Later maybe the beach....

Here is a few pictures from around the city, and from our room....aesthetics and Greece....I don't know...!!....why is that ??

mmmmm..........

All we do is basically eat and relax......Like the locals, I would say....."no problem"...

The sky is the limit….

I like having basic fabrics ( all white ) in my stash. Cotton jersey, silk jersey, viscose jersey, cotton corduroy, white and neutral linen in different weight, wool jersey and some others with interesting structure or feeling to it. I also have basic yarns and threads in white. I then dye it after or before sewing, that way I can make whatever I want and not get in these situations : ……”Oh what a beautiful color…but oh no…polyester….or what a wonderful texture and ….ooops…I wish that blue was just a little more……” Did anyone say control freak. Well it is more a matter of unlimited opportunities. I think this is one of the reasons that I ended up as a potter. There will always be enough clay and no limits except that of the materials own.
Before leaving we spend a couple of days in my studio. I did some cleaning, but also had the time to dye the body suits I made for Seth . I really like it and hope I can also find the time to make some prints…that would be so much fun. Did I say no limits and did anyone mention time as a factor…..

Some people think that creative minds are alike, but they are not ! …All creative people have some kind of drive, something they just have to do, but different things and different drives. I find illustrators faschinating. What is it that makes them grab that pen, drawing some fabulous little creature….? I have no idée, I just know I love looking over their shoulders while they are doing it. Their creativity is from another world then mine which is more : Hey that square wheel…lets make it round and while we are at it, should it be green or blue…hmmm….maybe a bluish green….oh yes that would look good with my yellow dress…

Illuatrators are like writers, telling stories. Some of my favorites out there in the blogosphere is Elizabeth dunker : fine little day and fine little thing. She tells really good stories with both pen and camera. Sara: Happysilly Her dreawings are so fragile and with edges just look at this little worried sweetie below. I just want to make her coffee, sit with her until that phone call from the doctor. Kate Neckel Just so funky and great patterns and energy. Tiel: tsk tsk. Quiet, sweet and with great colors. Now go check their blogs....

Time…

Very unusual. There I was, just sitting in one spot for one hour. High temperature and high humidity. Drinking water and pushing the camera button once in a while was all I accomplished that hour. Oh yes that’s right… I did leave the chair once for the self portrait. It’s a cliché, but things are slow here. How do they do it ? I get bored so quickly….Are they different ? Is it because of my protestant heritage that I feel guilty not doing anything or is it just a matter of personality. I guess that all the Greek have accomplished in the dawn of our civilization, must have been during wintertime. By the way John is not Greek but he could be. I had no idée that the newspaper ( Weekendavisen ) could last that long…..

Body suits

Before we left I made 4 short body suits for Seth, with crocheted closures. I was rather content with the result, so today I made sketches for different types that I would like to make. No sewing machine, but just pen and block for drawing on balcony. I am using my camera instead of scanner. Well, it works…I have brought my crochet needle and some thin linen thread, so maybe I will make some tests of different types of closures. I really like this idea of making the crochet details, in specific design for a specific piece of clothing. Outside the locals are honking horns; a Greek wedding I suppose…I will be posting, but have to go to an internet café for uploading, so not much time for surfing around all the wonderful blogs out there….but I am still here….