Autumn....

Autumn has come. Grey days, rain, frost and fog in the morning - time to prepare for the Christmas season, snuggle up in the sofa with a good cup of tea and light lots of candles! And craft nice things for the Christmas shows and web-shop, of course!


I have decided to make Christmas decorations for the markets I´m going to attend, I love working with flowers, making wreaths - and the garden is full of wonderful things I can use. In the picture above you see an arrangement featuring one of my small wreaths made of hops, ivy and hydrangea.

I´ve made them in different sizes, to arrange with candles, baubles etc, or to hang in a window or on the front door. Here are some more:


They make nice autumnal decorations now and can easily be upcycled for the Christmas season. Another arrangement on our dining table:


I have also made a bunch of Christmas cards which I forgot to take pictures of, so I´ll show you next time, lots of wristwarmers in nice dusky colours adorned with hand dyed vintage appliqué and lace and small purses made of vintage florals.



I love sitting in the conservatory when I´m working, especially this time of the year, as it´s so light and you almost feel you´re sitting in the garden - just with much more comfortable temperatures! Frida the Forest Cat loves keeping me company, either she snuggles up in the cushions on the daybed:


... or in one of the chairs. Look at this pretty furry ball:


Last not least I´m proud to announce that my new Fleur de Bohème website is finally finished and online, and I even created a new website for my shop La Vie Bohème. Take a look and tell me what you think - I did it all by myself, independancy rocks!!!

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!

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 ;-)

Neglected Treasures

The birds are singing, the days are getting longer - spring is on its way!! Made me want to redecorate a bit, so I changed the outfit on my dummy:

I love the hat, it´s so springy I think, with the vibrant pink and the flowers! It´s a fleamarket find from Germany and it´s very small, so I only use it for decoration purpose.


Even in the garden there are signs of spring, I´ll have to give the garden a good clear up over Easter.




I still fetch fresh vegetables from last years growing season, mainly green cabbage and leek. They are great winter vegetables - I didn´t even cover them over winter.



But let´s come to the neglected treasures.I had a little raid around my favourite vintage shops on Saturday, and of course lots of things made it home with me!

Some nice tins (again ;-) - but can you ever have enough??), an old sewing box like the one my granny had, a charming old mirror, lace, fabric and some small bits´n bobs.

In the second shop I found a whole box of sewing equipment - thread, embroidery yarn, crochet yarn, needles, fabric and these adorable needlecases!

I even found some unused stockings from the 60ies with the most delicate pattern! So naughty ;-)

Isn´t that beaded lace gorgeous? And the buttons will make beautiful centrepieces for a brooch or a pendant.

The woman who owns the shop where I found all the sewing equipment, some nice fabric, buttons and the stockings told me it all came from the same old lady. She had stored everything carefully, neatly wrapped and put away, there had even been old fashion magazines from the 30ies and 40ies and vintage slips but they were sold already (AARRGH - how annoying!!!). And although I was ever so happy having found such beautiful and useful things, it made me sad to think about the fact that this old ladies life now was for sale in a vintage warehouse, that none of her relatives appreciated the treasures she had collected and stored so carefully for many years enough to want to keep them. Well, at least some of it found a new loving home!

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!