tiny happy

lilacs

The lilacs are out on our street, and the whole town seems to smell of them. I couldn't resist playing with some of the beautiful embroidery yarns that were part of the treasures from Camilla I wrote about yesterday. Aren't the old labels so cool? I tried to capture some of the lovely lilacs with this free-form embroidery, because they might be all gone by next week.

Thank you for your support of the Shop Live event last night- it was fun! Even if I'm now a bit too tired to go to work at the kindergarten today. But I have to go anyway. I'm still having 20% off everything in my shop (and free shipping on most things) until the end of today.
Have a happy weekend!

treasure boxes

I have amazing luck when it comes to old things. I like old things. And I think they like me. Because I'm often given treasures from the past. On the weekend I was lucky enough to have a visit from Camilla from Oslo, who reads my blog. She brought with her an old suitcase, and when she opened it up, there were lots of little boxes like these, filled with old sewing supplies that had previously belonged to her grandmother. Wooden spools of thread, embroidery yarn, linen-covered buttons, needles and metal domes. One small tin had tiny paper-wrapped packages of hair needles. I am harbouring a secret fantasy of one day creating a little museum of antique sewing and domestic objects. But for now, I'll treasure these things. Thank you, Camilla.

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I also wanted to mention that tonight, 7pm EST (which, I think is around midnight in Europe) I will be taking part in Etsy's second Shop Live event. The embroidered lockets will be my 'featured piece' and I'm offering 20% off those and everything else in my shop, AND free shipping on the lockets, baby shoes and zip-purses, for both the half hour event and then all of Friday as well. You just write the code 'SHOPLIVEHH' in the 'message to seller' box, and I'll refund the discount after payment.
I'm honoured to be joining so many amazing crafters and artists for this event- you can see the full list of participants here. And thank you to Marichelle, who has curated the whole thing!

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today

Thanks for your nice comments yesterday. Here's a little of what I've been working on this week: some things for today's shop update- dresses, small cases and bags. Lots of green, grey and white, I've noticed.
And now there's some time left this morning to read a little of a new book to Keira: Sylvia Plath's The It-Doesn't-Matter Suit. I'd like to have one of those suits.

remaining objects

 

Visiting the Jewish Memorial in Berlin on the weekend made me think about the trip I took to Poland with a friend recently, and in particular, our visit to the Auschwitz Museum. I think my trip there will be something that I will always remember clearly, and I've not been able to stop thinking about that place since then. It seems to be the small, everyday objects I saw there that stick most in my memory, and, I expect, it's like that for many of the people who walk through the museum and the nearby Birkenau camp because in a way, it's easier to process and focus upon the small things. In the preserved part of Auschwitz, visitors can walk through with a guide and look at some of the remaining possessions from the people who died there. Things like wire-rimmed glasses, suitcases, clothing, small tins of shoe polish and wooden hairbrushes. Also, glass cabinets full of shoes, children's toys and clothes and, most disturbingly, hair. You can't take photos of those things- just of the buildings outside. But I'm fascinated by how it's these things that I, as a tourist there, have taken away with me. The plait of hair I could identify behind the glass cabinet. The tiny red shoes with dainty straps. The certain style of wooden chair.
I transferred some of my journal notes from the trip into an embroidery when I returned home- 'remaining objects'. I added the red flower at the top because someone had placed a tulip on one of the bunk beds at the Birkenau camp that day we were there.

watching the sea lions

 

Berlin turned out to be a great place to be with the little kids- we got around by u-bahn and brötchen-fuelled walking. They loved the zoo, (especially the sea lions and bears) and the underground train stations. Tom and I loved the food, coffee, bookshops, the friendly people, and the beautiful suburb of Dahlem where we stayed.
My favourite thing from our trip to Berlin was walking through the 2004 Holocaust Memorial located near the Brandenburg Gate.  The last picture, above, show a part of it. I thought it was a really moving experience, walking through the concrete slabs that seemed to stretch on forever and felt easy to get lost within. At first glance, I thought we were the only visitors to the memorial, but as we walked through it, the corridors of concrete revealed many people wandering through, sitting, standing, lying on the ground.

It's nice to be home again too.

the distraction of other countries

Other countries are proving to be a very good distraction for us, while we are supposed to be packing up and getting ready to go home (in about four week's time.) Today we're off to Berlin for a long weekend- the children are excited about seeing the zoo, especially.

I was thinking about travelling with children when I made these bags last week- but they're also proving to be quite handy for taking to the market or grocery store. They're made from an amazing old jute/linen fabric that I found a few months ago at a flea market in Oslo. It's roughly woven- almost wirey even- and seems to hold its shape quite well. I cut apart a paper bag from Ikea to make the pattern, and used some vintage cotton for big exterior pockets and the handles.

And now it's time to pack the travelling distractions for the children. Usually that involves plain paper, notebooks, 'grown-up pens', colouring pencils, water, camera, teddies, world atlas, a new magazine and, hiding in the front pocket, sweets and chocolate biscuits. You can't forget them.

See you next week! Happy weekend.

four seasons

Thanks for the well wishes for the trip to Bergen- K and I had a great time celebrating the national day with our friends up there. I was struck again by the landscape of this country and how the fjords and mountains and rivers unfolded in front of us as the train wound its way back to our part of Norway. As we left Bergen, the sun was shining and then it began to rain, and as we neared the top of the mountains the rain turned into snow and I saw people skiing near the tracks.

I finished reading Per Petterson's novel Out Stealing Horses on the way home and imagined that the story could have happened in any of the little valleys and townships that we passed.

I always like to do a bit of stitching on train journeys- and I made some little folky brooches like the one above. Two colours: white on black wool felt.

for the 17th

Keira and I are taking a trip to Bergen tomorrow to stay with friends, and while we are there we will join in with May 17th celebrations. Tom and Arlo will stay here to join their school parades. It was an interesting day last year, and I'm looking forward to spending it with a Norwegian family to really learn more about the traditions.

I thought it would be nice for Keira to have a little outfit especially for the day, (in lieu of a proper bunad or traditional child's dress) so I made her a special Norwegian Dress (very similar to these ones). It's lined in blue and red checked cotton and has some flower embroidery on the front. And of course it required a matching flower-crown. I used silk flowers sewn onto blue cotton tape.

Our trip home will consist of a full day on a train- so in a minute I am going shopping for activity books and a set of new colouring pens for Miss K. She seems more excited about those than the clothes, naturally. See you later on next week- happy weekend!

white on green

Inspired by the maybe-elder/cherry-or-lilac tree in our garden, I made this little embroidery for a friend's wall. I like the feel of white on green. Seems that making embroideries to put in little wooden hoops might be addictive.

rowan

Here are a few things I've been working on this week: some new pairs of baby shoes, a forget-me-not purse and some new 'simple satchels' to include in today's shop update. These are strong and sturdy bags, to be worn across the body with big pockets on the front. I'm enjoying the freedom of using up lots of the fabric I had been saving for a mystery 'something' but I now realise I need to just cut into- I won't be able to fit it into my suitcase next month...

Outside the bedroom window, this amazing tree is in bloom- I think the flowers look a little like lace. Do you know what type of tree it is? I got out my trusty 'Trees of Northern Europe' book (kindly sent by my friend Helen) and think it might be a Rowan tree, but I don't really know. Keira has now adopted the Tree Book: "I'm actually quite interested of this, Mum."