I've always liked the look of white paint on brown paper. The other day I realised I could recreate that effect by embroidering on some beige linen (which is currently my favourite craft supply) with white thread.
And so, these little branches were born...
I don't know if there is really a plant that looks like this in the world, so for now it is perhaps an Imaginary Plant. But I don't mind.
first-season's strawberries, for afternoon tea
having the right weather to pull these shoes out of the cupboard again
stocking up my etsy shop with somewhat smaller shoes
finding this great bag in the letterbox, sent by kind blog-friend kara (thank you!)
and...
k, a, and their friend louis bearing tulips, picked with very short stems (photo by louis' dad john)
hope you've had a good wednesday too! x
Last year I found an old book by the German children's author Janosch called Just One Apple and recently, I found another by this author: 'Josef med tryllefela', published 1967. I adore the illustrations- actually, they remind me a bit of my blog-friend Julia's artwork (you can see more here) with that painterly, quirky style.
Thought you might like to have a look through the book too:
Arlo is fascinated by my print gocco machine, so last week he and I worked on a printing project together- making his own set of postcards to send to his family and friends at home in NZ.
He wanted the design to reflect a bit of his life here in Norway- so he chose to include a flag (which are everywhere at the moment in anticipation of May 17th celebrations), a tree, and a path showing the way to his school from our house. 
The most exciting part of making these was probably applying the 'golden' (metallic) ink on the screen for the sun- he and Keira felt that surely it must be a very valuable ink indeed.
If your child wanted to make a set of personalised postcards without a gocco machine, you could try potato printing, linocuts, or maybe just... a photocopier? There's something slightly thrilling for them about a print run, i think.
And now, we have a bit of writing to do.
Happy Mother's Day, if you're celebrating it! Hope you had some peaceful moments in your day. We spent the day in the spring sunshine, planting a small garden. Can't think of a nicer way to spend my mother's day.
I've always loved baking, but cooking dinner is not one of my favourite jobs. Tom is very understanding of this, and says he 'enjoys' making the evening meal most nights- so I feel very lucky. But I would like to get a bit more organised in the cooking department and perhaps get a new 'cookbook'- a blank one that I can fill with tried and true, quick-to-make recipes.
In NZ, I had a copy of the book 'The Cook's Garden' by Tichborne, Browne and Leach (which is excellent, but I can't find a link) that had a recipe section at the back. Naturally the recipes were ones based on garden produce, but more than that, the focus was on recipes that were so easy and quick, that it would allow the gardener more time outside- less time cooking. I loved that part of the book- and often dream of putting together my own version of a cookbook like that.
I thought a new apron might be a good incentive for getting excited about cooking again. I used the Lotta Jansdotter book's 'Reversible Apron' pattern (i made this for the first time here) using a great leaf-print fabric I found at the second-hand store. I love that fabric. It makes me think, 'early Ikea'? I'm not sure about that though.
The best thing about this pattern is its shapely style- it's lovely and not far away from a top you might wear when you weren't cooking.
Anyway- I will let you know whether it inspires a new enthusiasm for cooking dinner around here. You never know.
A while ago, my friend Jo sent me three linen cushion covers with broken zips that she'd found. She thought I might like to use the fabric for something. So I've had these simple totes in my head for a few weeks now, and now one is on its way to Jo in NZ. I love making basic bags like these- perfect for shopping, keeping the knitting in, tidying toys in a child's room, or taking to the library with the overdue books. Which is usually what I carry in mine.
But it's also pleasing to be able to use up fabric from something that didn't work anymore- and give it a new lease of life. The darker green bag above was made using some old barkcloth that my Mum sent me. Aren't I lucky to get such great mail? I have fabric scouts everywhere!
I added them to the etsy shop update I did today- there are also some baby shoes and a couple of cream linen skirts. And now, I'm going outside with K to enjoy some more of that green...
:: kitchen view :: this excellent retro tea-towel sent by our friend Anna in Wellington. A bit of kiwiana near the fridge. It even has crocheted edges.
:: garden view :: Tom made a simple swing in the walnut tree. It's the best place to view the progress of the spring shoots.
This is a piece of embroidery I've been working on late each night, keeping my hands busy while Tom and I make our way through some excellent dvds lent by our friends John and Linda (thank you!). It's a garden landscape, partly inspired by the emerging colours and plants here in our scandinavian suburbia, but also by the beautiful artwork of Jennifer Judd-McGee- 'Swallowfield.' I so admire her use of colour and layers in her work.
This piece is going to a friend of mine, to remind her of her summer garden when winter seems too long. And now, I'm dreaming of what I might embroider next.
After having what is best described as a 'challenging' day with the children last week (and they would probably say I was being rather challenging too), I decided we needed a calm activity to do in the afternoon. I found our trusty roll of newsprint and a jar of coloured pens and we worked on this poster together: 'We are thankful for...'
The idea for this was heavily inspired by Soulemama's book that arrived a few weeks ago: helping our children acknowledge that which they are thankful for. It's something that I think is especially important in a family like mine, because even though I was brought up in quite a religious/spiritual family myself, the habit of 'praying' in a Christian sense is not something that Tom and I have chosen to do with our children.
Thus, the 'thankful' list was a really nice activity to do together. And it certainly helped put my angsty feelings into perspective that day. While Arlo decided he was most thankful for trains in the world, he also drew portraits of his seven grandparents, aunts and uncles, the alphabet, his friends, kindergarten, soccer and cake. Keira's list included: eggs that hatch, milk, the night sky, lemons and mud.
