My Creative Space...

Welcome once more to my creative space! I´m still doing quite a lot of crochet work at the moment, unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of my throw, but I´m happy with the way it comes along and post a picture next week! I also started on a new crocheted cushion in fresh hues of pink, red, peach, yellow, orange and green to match my round sofa cushions. Apart from the yellow and green I found all the yarn in charity shops, so we´re really talking about a recycling project here!


Have you noticed our white cat on the sofa? You can probably understand that visitors sat down on him a couple of times because they thought it was just a cushion - or they didn´t even realize he was there ;-) In the next picture you see how the cushion has come along so far:


I have also made this rather glamorous scarf in shades of turquoise, seagreen, reedgreen and silver.


I have again used the technique where you place yarn between layers of dissolveable tissue, quilt the fibres together and then rinse the piece. This is how the yarn looked before it was turned into a scarf:


I have some of it left and have an idea on how to use it for flower brooches using the same technique... let´s see if I can show you something next time!

It´s Valentine soon, so I have listed some nice Valentine gifts in my webshops. Let´s start with my NotMassProduced shop where you find these:

Crimson Daisy Earrings

Candy Girl Button Ring

And in my Fleur de Bohème Etsy shop you find this delicate embroidered brooch:

Marie Antoinette Brooch

Talking about Valentine - please, take time to stop by my friend Ivy´s blog Edera Jewelry , she makes the most intricate vintage inspired jewellery and has a gorgeous Valentine give-away:

Bonbon Necklace Giveaway

If you want to see my latest gorgeous vintage finds pop around my other blog Extravaganzza Vintage Treasures - I have just updated it and I promise lots of vintage eye-candy!!

If you want to see what other bloggers are working on in their creative spaces please visit Kootoyos blog!

My Creative Space.....and snowy furry creatures!

Hello and welcome once again to my crafty universe! We had another snowstorm yesterday, this winter has been incredible so far as Denmark usually is not exactly known as a wintersports resort, lol. But this year we´ve actually had snow - continuously! - since the middle of decembre!

Well, having lived in Norway that certainly doesn´t scare me, on the contrary, I prefer it so much to rain and grey days! Just thought I show you some pictures of our horses first because they looked so cute + funny all covered in snow! In the first picture you see our shetlandpony, his real name is Speedy but we only call him "the boss" (guess why ;-) ) or warthog, haha.

Here you see all four of them munching their yummie hay, they look like a bunch of snowy yetis!
And - I can assure you - they are not freezing, they have a massive fur, a shed to seek shelter in and we make sure they get enough food to keep warm.
The two dun fjordhorses were our first horses and they are actually mother and daughter. They make gorgeous riding horses and you can always rely on them.


In the next picture you see our beautiful draught horse mix Sill, she is a rescued horse and was in a very poor condition when we got her 9 years ago. She is such a gentle soul and much admired by the many tourists in the summer because of her size and beautiful grey colour.


Ok, what have I actually worked on since last time? I finished this machineknitted shrug, it´s a new lace pattern and it looks beautiful I think.


I haven´t finished the pink bag yet as there still is more bead embroidery to do, but I made this wee purse:


It is once more almost a complete recycling project, I´ve used a vintage crochet tablecloth, vintage buttons and the lining is pale green silk from a thrift store. Only thing new are the handles which I bought at a craft fair a couple of years ago.

Last sunday the big annual booksale started and I bought a couple of gorgeous books, among them Cath Kidstons book "Print" and a Danish book about using thrifted textiles in all kinds of crafty projects. I was so inspired by the books that I went to my favourite brocante and charity shops where I found lots of old tablecloths and bedlinen to use in a big patchwork throw for our bedroom.


I don´t have the time to handsew it so it´s going to be a more simple machine sewn version but I still think it´ll look nice! So far I have only cut the different fabrics into squares and sewn the first panel together, but let´s see what I can show you next week ;-)

I´m still working on the crocheted throw every night and have actually finished the zig-zag cushion, so I´m rather pleased with myself!


Last not least a little peek into my Fleur de Bohème Etsy shop where I´ve just listed these items:

"Glacier" Necklace

"Odilia" Buttonring

....and in my NotMassProduced shop shop where you find these:

"Marie Antoinette" Brooch

"Waterlily" Cuff

That was all for now - to see what other bloggers are working on in their creative spaces visit Kootoyos blog!

Train in Vain ;-)

I have been very busy the last weeks as I had to get everything ready for my summer shop in our vintage train carriage. I opened last thursday and I´m really happy with the result. I painted the table, bench and steps I use to display my bouquets of flowers from the garden in a nice lavender-blue shade to make it look cosy and inviting to visitors.


The rough style of the carriage creates a very interesting contrast to my handcrafted textiles and jewellery and the venue has a nice shabby chic feel to it.


My worktable with jewellery and accessories in the corner.


Vintage linen and tableclothes and in the mirror a peek of my vintage dresses.


Dainty summer scarves and my embroidered jewellery.


We had a heat wave the last couple of days, so there weren´t particularly many customers yet - everyone was at the beach I suppose, but I hope more people will come around during the next weeks. My summer shop was mentioned in one of the Danish lifestyle and interior mags, they had even put two nice pictures in, so I hope that´ll give me some extra customers.

I´m also exhibiting with three other artists in my friend Tracys gallery, I´ll post some pictures of that exhibition soon - the three other girls make fantastic stuff, too.

That was all for now - enjoy the summer!

Busy Springtime

I can´t believe it´s three weeks ago I published my last post!! But it´s so much to do right now -my parents are coming next weekend, so I had to tidy up the guest room and I even moved some furniture around and re-arranged some of my still lives. Here you see a collection of ceramics made by a friend of mine (and my cat eye glasses from the 60ies - I love them!!).


I also gave my beloved collection of vintage jewellery a good clean up and picked some flowers in the garden - the result turned out nicely I think.


There is still a lot of work in the garden, although I have to say the garden really looks great this year, espacially my vegetable patch. Took this picture in the greenhouse today, lots of flowers waiting to be planted in my flower tubs.


I have been a bit frustrated lately because I can´t exactly say that I sell massively well on etsy... I really make a big effort to network, take good pictures and upload new items regularly, which is quite time consuming, because I both have to supply my Fleur de Boheme shop with my own work and my Extravaganzza shop where I sell vintage clothes and jewellery. I sold my first handcrafted pieces a couple of days ago to Canada, the lace scarf and matching brooch shown below.


Of course that was nice, and the vintage shop is doing slightly better, but still....
I find two things difficult, the first one is to get enough traffic on the sites and the second one is the fact that I live in the most expensive country in Europe (probably one of the most expensive countries in the world) and I feel I just can´t compete with American prices at all!! We pay 49% taxes in Denmark, the prices for food are hideous and supplies are expensive too! I like where I´m living, but I find the fact that everything is so expensive really hard to accept!

Anyway, I reduced the prices on most of my items on etsy a while ago to see if that would make a difference, and I want to ask you a little favour: Would you take a look at my shops and give me feedback concerning my pricing?
I booked a few showcase spots to increase shop awareness, and the storque and accessories showcases were quite successful and gave me new followers, whilst the vintage showcase was a flop I would say. I also tried two snatch a treasury many times now because I think that´s a good way of networking, but it just seems impossible!

My newest item in my shop are these whimsical flowerbrooches - they´re almost like butterflies and I really like the picture ;-)


Well, to finish the etsy talk - if anyone out there has more tips concerning how to become a successful etsy seller, I would be grateful!

Talking about my work - I didn´t get done too much but I finished another brooch and I am now working on a bracelet, both for my summer exhibition - that´s the reason why they´re not in my etsy shop yet ;-)


Last year I started an education in creative embroidery, it´s a mixture of short courses and distance learning and it takes three years. I did the second module a couple of weeks ago, and now I have lots of projects to finish before the next module in september. The topic of the last module was nature, and one of the pieces I did was this embroidery inspired by birchbark. It includes printing, different layers of fabric, machine and handembroidery. I´m not sure if it´s finished yet, I might embellish it with beads in some places.

I even saw a fascinating exhibition while I was away for the embroidery course. It featured the work of the Danish artist Marie-Louise Otte who creates the most scrumptious ballet costumes made of paper, gold leaf, svarowski stones and other vintage materials. I hope to be able to write more about her next time and to show you some pictures of her amazing sculptures - I´m waiting to get her permission to show pictures of her work here on my blog.

I can´t give you any update about the article in "Isabellas" yet. I bought the newest magazine and was sooo disappointed because there wasn´t any article featuring interesting craft and vintage shops in Denmark - until I found out that the article is first due in the next issue which doesn´t come out before july ;-)

So, enjoy this lovely springtime - see you soon!

Springtime

I think it´s time for me to write on my blog again - I´ve been so busy in the garden I haven´t had time for much else really. We have a huge cottage garden with many roses, hortensia, mixed borders, fruit trees and a big potager where I grow our vegetables, so there is plenty of work in the spring - but I love being out there digging, sowing and planting! My granny had a big garden and I loved being there as a child, the garden was next to a big field full of pansies that belonged to a nursery nearby, and pansies still are my favourite spring flowers.


Every spring I´m so looking forward to see the fruit trees in full bloom, and I especially love our old japanese cherry tree with the beautiful pink flowers that look gorgeous with the ferns in the border in the background.


My next garden project is getting chicken and building a little hen house, I think it´s so cosy with chicken in the garden but we have to build a solid hen house and chicken yard as we have many foxes around.
I even want to show you a picture of our three horses, they are grazing on the little field by our house right now, but soon they are going to their summer grazing - I´ll miss having them so close and looking at them while I´m gardening.


Although I have been very busy in the garden I managed to do some creative work, I´m still working on the Marie Antoinette theme that is going to be exhibited in the summer. The first piece is a pendant, made of vintage lace, tulle and applique, some of them hand dyed, and embellished with pearls from a vintage pearl necklace, glassbeads, a mother of pearl flower and hand embroidery. I´m not sure about the chain yet, might be either vintage lace or beads and pearls - I have to play around with some ideas!


I also made this neckpiece, a combination of vintage lace and a beautiful hand dyed vintage applique adorned with lots of glassbeads, pearls, sequins, mother of pearl buttons and hand embroidery.


A couple of days ago, something really exciting happened! During the summermonths I have a little shop in our old train carriage where I sell my craft work, vintage dresses, vintage china and tablewear and things from the garden - flowers, jam etc. When I checked my mobile, there was a message from an editor of the Danish interior and lifestyle magazine "Isabellas".


She asked me to call her back because she had found my website and asked if I could supply her with some pictures of the shop as she was writing an article about craft- and vintage shops in the countryside and wanted to include me!! I sent her some pictures of the shop and my work and now I cross fingers she really writes about me - that would be so fantastic as it is a great mag and would give me some extra customers!

Last not least I was awarded the lemonade award by lovely Nicki from "Curious Me" (http://nicki-curiousme.blogspot.com/) - check her blog, it´s full of gorgeous pictures and beautiful crafty things! It´s my first award and I´m really happy about it - thank you, Nicki!


A Lemonade Award is given to bloggers that you feel show a positive attitude and/or gratitude. Here's how it works:

1.Put the logo on your blog or post
2.Nominate at least 10 blogs that show great Gratitude and/or Attitude.
3.Be sure to list and link your nominees within your post.
4.Let them know they have received this award by leaving a comment on their blog.
5.Nominate your favorites and link to your post.

These are the blogs that I want to nominate:

1) oldflowers4me (http://oldflowers4me.blogspot.com/)
2) The Silly BooDilly (http://thesillyboodilly.blogspot.com/)
3) Hens Teeth (http://hensteethart.blogspot.com/)
4) Boboho (http://tracy-boboho.blogspot.com/)
5) Roses Radishes and Rubbish (http://rosesradishesandrubbish.blogspot.com/)
6) Edera Crocheted Jewelry (http://edera-faerie.blogspot.com/)
7) Kaylovesvintage (http://kaylovesvintage.blogspot.com/)
8) Katinka Pinka (http://katinkapinka.blogspot.com/)
9) Babaprincesse (http://babaprincesse.blogspot.com/)
10) Sticky Kitten (http://stickykittenz.blogspot.com/)

Well, I´m off now to do some gardening ;-)

Home Sweet Home...

I recently set up my flickr photostream and my God, it´s addictive!! But I still found time for a little bit of shopping, bumped into this great flower-fairylights in the local shop and had to have them! They look nice draped around my tailors dummy with the vintage slip, don´t you think?

The cupboard is a fleamarket find that I´ve painted in a nice pale yellow shade and the scarf is a gift from my friend Tracy.

I made some more pictures of our home and my favourite vintage goodies for the flickr site.

Here you see a corner of our living room. On the blue cabinet a collection of beautiful ceramics made by my friend Laila Witt. The painting is the work of another friend of mine and the lovely vintage Chinese lantern was given to me by my generous and dear friend Tracy who had found it during a holiday in Brighton.

Some vintage goodies from my studio. The mirror is a fleamarket find as is the beautiful tin, the doilies and the vintage pearl necklace. The metal lace in the foreground is just stunning and comes from France and the other lace is a mix of ebay and fleamarket finds.

I have to show you this, too. It is a vintage angel from the 20ies and it comes from my home country, Germany. She looks like a beautiful fairy as she looks down from the top of my vintage Dutch mirror. I found her on ebay, the picture was quite bad so I didn´t really know what I had purchased befor the parcel arrived and oh so happy I was when I saw her! Look at the teeny tiny candle!! The seller had a blond version too and I´m so cross with myself I didn´t buy this one too!!! I guess I just have to enjoy the one I have.

The last two things I want to show you is recent work - I don´t want you to believe I´ve been lazy! The picture above shows my latest cuff. It´s built around a piece of vintage jewellery and made of layered silk and lace and embellished with a vintage appliqué, pearls of an old necklace, glassbeads and hand embroidery. The cuff was inspired by Sophia Coppolas film "Marie Antoinette" which I recently saw again.

This brooch is inspired by "Marie Antoinette", too. It´s made of a lacy vintage serviet ring combined with hand dyed tulle and embellished with lace, sequins, trim and beads.

If you want to see more, check my flickr photostream. See you soon!

Creatures of Comfort

We had such a lot of snow in the weekend, it was amazing! Went for a walk with the doggies on saturday and it was all so beautiful and calm with the forest covered in snow. And then... saturday night.... it suddenly became 3 or 4 degrees above zero and today everything has gone!

If I can´t have snow I want it to be spring! We have a lovely conservatory that we do not use in the winter because it is quite expensive to heat it up during the dark wintermonth, but from March onwards we can sit out there on sunny days and oh what I´m looking forward to it! It´s like being out in the garden, everything is flooded with light and I love sitting there with my embroidery or crochet work!


Talking about spring and happy days, I want to show you one of my favourite artpieces, this lovely creature made by the British artist Julie Arkell which truly makes me happy every time I look at it! I purchased it some three years ago when Julie was exhibiting at my friend Tracys gallery, and it is safely placed high up in the shelves between my merry vintage English china as Gustav, our Border Collie Mix, has a sometimes unfortunate love for everything made of paper.... I even had the pleasure to meet Julie and her lovely husband as she was staying here in Denmark to be present at the opening of the exhibition, and what a great and inspiring person she is! She works with paper maché, knitting, embroidery, vintage fabric, ephemera, buttons and beads and her intriguing work employs naivity, sentiment and nostalgia. She really creates a universe of her own with her part human, part animal creatures and I find her work both very eccentric and very English - in the best imaginable way.


A book about Julie Arkell and her work has been published in 2004 by The Gallery, Ruthin Craft Centre and it is not only a fantastic visual experience but very interesting reading, too. The book is called "Julie Arkell: Home" and it is packed with pictures of her amazing work and her cosy studio. I regularly flick through it because it is a never ending source of inspiration. Julie does not have her own website, but a lot of sites have featured her work so you should be able to google her if you want to see more!
The picture also shows a collection of my vintage buckles and the dusky purple belt I made a couple of weeks ago - the colour goes perfectly along with the book cover I think ;-)


I even want to show you some of my own work, I did these embroideries before christmas and it is the first time I have incorporated mixed media techniques in my work. I was inspired by Beryl Taylors book "Mixed Media Explorations" that I had found while surfing on amazon and considered interesting enough to order. And what a good decision! Beryl is an English artist who moved to the United States a couple of years ago and her work is very detailed and combines lots of different techniques that inspired me to do the pieces shown in the pictures.


The embroideries are based on paper that I have either painted or ironed metal foil on and consist of many layers of organza and tulle fabric combined with cut out details from vintage doilies, waxed paper, vintage buttons, beadwork, some gold glimmer, metallic rub-on and hand- and machine embroidery. In the piece shown in the picture above I even used puff up paint and medallions made of friendly plastic imprinted with a stamp. I enjoyed so much working with these different techniques and I plan to make a whole series of small embroideries based on those techniques using details from vintage doilies, buttons and maybe jewellery findings. The problem is as always - time!!! So many projects and ideas buzzing around in my head it´s hard to get everything structured not to talk about getting it realized!! Some of you might be familiar with the problem.....