I´m finally back....

Almost two years ago to the day since my last blog post.... I gave up my part time job and took the plunge into being totally self-employed, which has meant lots of work and even less time than before. Of course I´m still creating and I run my shop in the summer, and I´m also working as a freelance translator, so if you´re in need of a skilled German or Danish translator you know whom to get in touch with!

I will continue to write about my craftwork and little shop, my passion for vintage stuff, our life in an old farmhouse in the Danish countryside, my big cottage garden and our efforts to live a sustainable lifestyle.

Today I want to write about my chickens. We´ve made some additions to our flock recently and currently have 9 hens and a rooster. Most of them are bantam breeds, but I also bought two Easter Eggers, and look what beautiful eggs I get from them!

I love my chickens, and everyone who has the possibility should consider getting their own little flock. Chickens are entertaining, lovely to watch when free ranging in the garden, the amount of work they cause is manageable and nothing can beat the fresh eggs from your own hens! My chickens often wait by the front door begging for treats (oatmeal or sunflower seeds are very popular), which is so cute and makes me smile every time.

I believe that chickens should be allowed to free range under controlled conditions - ours have a safe run where we keep them when we´re out, but they roam the garden and horse field when we`re at home. This arrangement seems to work well and we haven´t lost any to predators yet, although we live very rural. Here you see them foraging on the horse field - this is how chickens should live in my opinion.

At the moment we get around 5 eggs per day from our 9 hens, as the bantams are not high perfomance layers and some of them are 4 years already so only lay every couple of days. The Easter Eggers are laying every day, so eggs in pretty shades of turquoise, olive green and cream are piling up in my kitchen.

And sometimes, you can be really lucky and get a double yolker - our Easter Egger Emma is laying them from time to time, not unusual for young hens who have just started to lay.

Do you keep chickens? I would love to hear about your flock then, so feel free to leave a comment!

Frankfurt

As most of you know, I´m born German although I have lived in Scandinavia for the past 16 years, and my family still lives in Germany. So last week I went down to Kassel, my hometown, to celebrate my mum´s 70th birthday. And I even took a little trip further south to Frankfurt to visit an old friend and explore the city a bit more.

 The most distinctive feature of Frankfurt is without any doubt the impressive skyline of the city that is both unique in  Germany and gives you the feeling of actually being in America. The city is the financial Capital of Europe and seat of the European Central Bank, and most of the skyscrapers are inhabited by big German and international banks. What is more, Frankfurt is home to the second largest airport in Europe, so the population of the city is very international and you find lots of museums, exhibitions and cultural events of all kinds.

I wanted to explore the craft and design scene a bit, and found that Frankfurt-Sachsenhausen and the area around the Brückenstrasse houses lots of interesting small shops run by independent designers or art co-operatives. My favourite one is called "Ich war ein Dirndl" and offers a very interesting selection of handmade clothes, art, accessories and stationary.

  When I´m visiting shops like this, I´m always searching for inspiration of how to present my products. Whilst I feel I have developped my own very distinctive style over the years in my work, I still struggle to present it when taken out of the context of my own shop. The right packaging and presentation is so important to make the product appealing to potential buyers and make them pay the price you deserve for your handmade goodies, and it´s even important to tell the story behind the product.
 

I found these small notebooks made from vintage paperware very intriguing, nicely wrapped in compostable cellophane bags and the story printed on the sleeve. Well done, so I bought a couple of them, makers are called "June and August" and you can find them on facebook.

 I even liked these pictures from the same shop very much, a clever combination of vintage fabric and quirky print - just what I like! I´ll buy one of these next time I visit I think.

Another shop with a very interesting concept is Designe, Kleine! in the same area, where designers and makers can hire a box for 20 Euro per month to display and sell their creations. I might actually approach them and give it a try, just to test the German market!

 "Designe, Kleine!" offers everything from quirky stationery over textiles, jewellery, ceramics and glass in the shop and it´s in shops like these where you find the best presents.

After my little shopping round we walked along the river Main to the Liebieghaus, which was built in 1896 as a retirement home for the Bohemian textile manufacturer Baron Heinrich von Liebieg. The city of Frankfurt acquired the building in 1908 and devoted it to the sculpture collection. The museum includes ancient Greek, Roman and Egytian sculpture, as well as Medieval, Baroque, Renaissance and Classicist pieces, and works from the Far East. 

 You even find a very cosy cafe in the backyard, with a lovely selection of cakes that I can only recommend to visit should you guest the city. 

Well, that was all for now - see you soon :-)

Fleur de Bohème on the Road

Summer is over, so is the tourist season, and it has become rather quiet in my little shop. So I´ve decided to spread the word and attend a couple of craft shows, the last one in Århus, the second largest city in Denmark. It was called "Craft, Kitsch and Vintage" and I thought I show you a couple of pictures.

What I always find challenging with these shows, is that you have very limited space to present your goodies, and that things should be rather easy to set up and safe to transport. So I came up with a new solution for my button rings:

I used a vintage tin and rolls of lace and fabric and now have storage and a pretty presentation all in one!

Here two pictures of my little stall:

The location of the market was really beautiful, as it took place in a historic building that used to be a riding hall and it is full of rustic charme and has lots of atmosphere. The stalls were built from vintage scaffolding which looked very good.

And the best - I had lovely company the whole weekend as I shared a stall with visual artist Eeli-Ethel Polli who is born Estonian but lives in Denmark now. Eeli is a member of the third generation of  Estonian artists and creates wonderful prints and stunning mixed media paintings. I recommend you to pop around her website and take a look at her fantastic work. Here she is smiling for the camera:

 

And last not least a picture of my humble self - the hall wasn´t heated and it was freezing cold, so no idea how I managed to look so happy!

 

See you soon - and welcome to my new followers!

A Fairytale World....

As I promised last time, I want to feature the wonderful Gitte Lyng Sørensen from Wonderwho in Århus. She is a knitwear designer and truly has created a universe of her own. Stepping into her 300m2 combined studio and shop in a former factory is like opening the door to Alice´s wonderland:

picture courtesy of WonderWho/ Gitte Lyng Sørensen

Gittes own handknitted dresses, cardigans and shawls and a fine selection of vintage accessories, shoes and casual dresses also designed by Gitte.

picture courtesy of WonderWho/ Gitte Lyng Sørensen

The old loft is a fantastic space with incredibly high ceilings, and the place is crammed with Gittes fantastic design so you feel as if you could get lost in all the beauty and glamour that is spread out on racks and shelves.

picture courtesy of WonderWho/ Gitte Lyng Sørensen

Gitte herself is the most welcoming and inspiring person you can imagine, offering visitors a cup of tea and make you feel at home in her fairytale world. Here are a couple of my favourite pieces from her collections:

picture courtesy of WonderWho/ Gitte Lyng Sørensen

picture courtesy of WonderWho/ Gitte Lyng Sørensen

If you like Gittes creations, visit the WonderWho website - I ´m sure she will be happy to post overseas. And if you come to Århus, make sure to visit her at Nørrebrogade 6, 8000 Århus.

Of course I had to get some of this loveliness for myself, and how lucky she had a sale going on, so here is what I treated myself with: A cream vintage style petticoat and matching feathery corsage/hairpiece.....


....and the same petticoat in a dusky pink and a matching sheepskin stole. Glamour!!!


Wishing you all a Happy Easter and don´t forget to pop around my Fleur de Bohème fb page and like it so you can keep updated with what happens in my webshops! I´ve recently dropped my dayjob and need to boost my sales, so if you would spread the word I´ll be thankful ;-))

Merry Christmas

Just a few words from here to wish you all a Merry Christmas and give you a little update on how things are going around here ;-)

I´ve been far too busy lately but finally the right Christmas mood is sneaking up on me - I´ve decorated the shop and made it cosy with lots of my handcrafted cushions, candles and knitted scarves.



I´ve started to use parts of discarded vintage watches and combine them with vintage rhinestones and other jewellery to create necklaces. The first pieces made their way into the shop:


A few days ago I even managed to get done some Christmas decorations in the house, I love these fabulous purple glitter deers combined with the moss, hyacinths and shiny baubles. Glamour!!! Here in Denmark it´s common to use hyacinths in your christmas decorations, and I think it´s a lovely tradition.


Even the pets enjoy the cosy Christmas time, isn´t old Snuff just sooo cute taking his afternoon nap in the conservatory? He turned 15 in october and we´re so happy he´s still around and enjoying himself. He´s such a lovely dog!


Last thing I have to show you is my new tattoo - finally!!!! I´ve wanted it for so long but struggled to find a tattooer who was able to draw exactly what I wanted. But it was definitely worth the time and effort to find him - I love what he´s done! It is very personal and has exactly the feminine and vintage feel I had envisaged:


The picture was taken when it was very fresh, it actually looks more subtle in grey-tones now where it´s healed up.

Enjoy the holidays and have a wonderful Christmas! And if you´re Danish speaking, pop around my other blog La Vie Bohème!

Happy New Year everyone!!!

I have to apologize for having neglected my blog for a while, but my goal was to update it before New Year, so here I am!

Let me start with a picture I wanted to show you for a long time, it´s a birthday card my friend Amy made for me - a little portrait of myself and my two doggies Gustav and Snuff. I love it and decided to frame it, so now it´s part of a little stilleben showing off my collection of vintage jewellery and other treasures collected over the years.


Christmas was nice until our beloved old dog Snuff (to the right in the picture) suffered a stroke on Christmas day. It was awful, but luckily he is recovering and back on his feet again, a bit of a miracle if you know he is over 14 years old! I guess he has too good a doggy life to give it up!
Here he has a cuddle with his pal Gustav, our other dog, who was really concerned about his friend!


Here are some pictures of my Christmas decorations and the Christmas tree:

I´ve gone a bit gothic in this one with the black vase and aubergine candles ;-)

A little stilleben in the conservatory

Christmas tree in the conservatory

We had a very cold and snowy winter so far, and although it means lots of extra work with our four horses, like carrying all water because the tap and pipes outside are frozen, it´s beautiful too!

Huge icicles outside the conservatory

One of my favourite walks in the hills

Craftwise I´m already thinking spring - I´m working on this doily scarf in merry colours which is very refreshing in the dark of the winter!


I´m also working on a couple of new brooch designs for next season, for example these "Sweetheart" brooches:


Okay, that´s all for now! I´m very happy I managed to update my blog in time to wish you all a happy, creative and exciting New Year and to say thank you for following my blog through the last year! See you in 2011!

My creative space

My creative space today is mostly about my summershop that I recently opened for the season.


The carriage needed to be reorganized and a lot of cleaning was involved before the funny part - setting up the furniture and decorating with my wares - could begin! I love the sofa, my sweet neighbour Helen gave it to me as she had no use for it any longer, and the shape and duck egg blue colour add a good hint of boudoir to the atmosphere which I really like. Here are some more pictures:




The peeling turquoise dresser looks gorgeous together with my selection of vintage china for sale! I even decorated the space outside the carriage with lots of flowers:


Although setting up the shop for the season took a lot of my time, I managed to get some work done. I made these summery bohemian textile bracelets:


And I needed to make more button rings as they´re almost sold out, so here is a selection of button tops ready to be glued on to the ring base:


While I was sitting in the conservatory busy with crafting my wares, our sweet Norwegian forest cat Frida kept me company, taking a nap between my tins with threads and buttons ;-)


Don´t forget to pop around Kootoyos blog if you want to explore other Bloggers creative spaces!

My Creative Space.... Spring colours!

I didn´t make it to join the creative space the last two weeks, but now I´m back with some colourful, springy pictures! I can feel that spring is on its way, although we still have snow – with night temperatures down to -7 degree it takes time for the snow to melt, but we´re getting there....

Luckily we have our conservatory, and I spend as much time as possible there working on my projects. I have bought primula in bright colours, daffodils and muscari to get the right spring-atmosphere:

Even my creative projects are inspired by the colours of the forthcoming spring and summer. I made a prototype of a new necklace design in vibrant colours, combining crochet, vintage buttons and vintage bakelite flowers:

And I finally finished the commissioned wristlets for Rainey from the Josie Baggley Company:

A couple of days ago I received this yummie yarn in the mail, it´s pure cashmere from recycled sweaters and the colours are simply gorgeous, not to mention the supersoft luxury quality of the yarn.

I´m looking forward to turn the yarn into lightweight lacy summershawls on my knitting machine, right now I´m working on a lace shawl in a pale limegreen shade:

On a more sad note, my old cat Frasse hasn´t been well lately.... I had him checked a couple of weeks ago and he seemed alright, but now he has lost his usual appetite and quite a bit of weight, so I have him checked with blood tests and everything again on friday. He is almost 15 years old and I know he won´t live forever, but he was always very agile and fit for his age and I can´t bear the thought that his time might have come.... He was the first pet we got together and has moved with us through the half of Northern Europe, from Germany to Denmark to Norway and back to Denmark - a trustful and dear companion. So I have been a bit tearful the last couple of days, especially because our dog Snuff is very old, too, 13 1/2 years, luckily still very frisky and cheeky, but it just reminds you that their lives are so much shorter than ours.... it´s sad!

So please, cross fingers that Frasse soon is his old self again as in this picture:

See you, thanks for stopping by, and to see what´s going on in other bloggers creative spaces please take a look at Kootoyos blog!!