A really cool & creative Christmas present for everyone Young at Heart

Looking for a really cool and unique present? Here is one! My blog friend Jenny Brandt over at dosfamily.com has made a really cool coloring book, based on her photographs of her kids, and traced by her graphic designer husband Jens. To make it all happen she is using crowdfunding, and if you like her idea and want to support her project, then pop over to Indiegogo and order your copy of her El Coloring Book Ridiculoso (which will be delivered worldwide in time for Christmas). Prices range from $10 to $150. If you just want to support her book project, you can donate $3. If you want a unique coloring book, based on you own photographs (!) then you pay $1000. Check out all the different items and prices here. If you prefer to read about this project in Swedish, please go here. 

WABI SABI interior design art photography

New online mag SIGN

I'm a big fan of the talented Norwegian blogger Moa. 

She takes the most beautiful photographs. 

Seemingly simple arrangement of everyday items. 

Now she and her blogger friend Holmberg has started their own 

online design magazine Sign. 

Head over there for more images like these.  

WABI SABI Lisbeth Williams @ Williams Design
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Bloglove: Geninne's Art Blog

If you - like me - don't make your own monthly, desktop calendar, 

you can always download them from 

the talented Geninne's Art Blog here:

WABI SABI Lisbeth Williams @ Williams Design
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Wabi Sabi is Simplicity, Tranquility and Naturalness

In these collages I've used images by/from Michael Anastassiades, private0204, ArtMori, Aymara and Sgt Steiner

Bloglove: Cherry Blossom

There are many great Norwegian blogs - Cherry Blossom is one of them. Her style is Scandinavian with a romantic/asian touch. Beautiful! Head over to her blog for more along this line. 

2012 got a beautiful start

Hope you had a joyus new years celebration. 

Last night, several Khom Loy lamps silently floated over my house. What a beautiful way to remember our love ones, and at the same time greet the new year. I must confess I prefer these elegant, silent ricepaper lanterns to noisy fireworks. Especially in urban areas... 

Just beautiful! I'm going to get a few for my next party. What's your preference? Fireworks or lanterns?   

If you live in Sweden, you can order them online. 

I got these pics from here and here.

BlogLove: Les Fifoles

Anne with the blog Les Fifoles, takes the most beautiful pictures. Like these. And write the most beautiful words. She doesn't post often, but if you haven't visited her blog before, head over to Les Fifoles whenever you are in the mood for some visual and linguistic poetry.

BlogLove: Simple & Natural at Loppelilla

If you haven't discovered this lovely Norwegian blog yet, head right over to Loppelilla. She takes the most wonderful photographs of her home and the nature and wild life around her. And she paints. I love her blog. Just look at these simple, DIY Winter/Christmas decorations. More loveliness here. 

New Scandinavian webshop

I cannot resist telling you about this small Scandinavian blogshop. It's Minna over at Time of the Aquarius, who now sells strictly Finnish design, via her blog. Perfect timing, if you are looking for some unique Christmas presents. Enjoy!
Thanks Emma for the heads up.

Wooden textiles by Elisa Strozyk

I am really impressed by the talented and creative designer/artist Elisa Strozyk's  work. She mixes paper, textiles, and wood! I love the way she cuts open wallpapers and turn them into new, semi-transparent wall dividers (bottom pics). But am especially intrigued by the furnitures and pendants she's makes out of a material she calls Wooden Textiles (the three items in the middle below). 

Wooden Textile is half wood, half textile. It's something between hard and soft. It looks and smells familiar but feels strange, as it is able to move and form in unexpected ways.To transform hard wood into a flexible surface Elisa Strozyk deconstruct it into pieces, which she then attach to a textile base. 

The new material can then be used in different ways: as flooring, curtains, drapes, plaids, upholstery or furniture. Depending on the geometry and size of the tiles, each design behaves differently. See much more of her stunning work on her webpage. 

Bloglove: Norwegian Wabi Sabi

Don't you just love this no nonsense guest room? You'll find it in Liv Sandvik Jakobsen's home in Norway, if you are so lucky to be invited! 

I love the combination of whites and greys mixed with multicolored traditional textiles. 

I love the dark colors in the old etchings and little photo on the wall. And the black sheep skin and black stripes in the woven textiles. 

Simple elegance and Wabi Sabi in a very traditional Scandinavian way. 

Liv Sandvik Jakobsen is the person behind the blog Livs Lyst, where she generously share pictures and ideas from beautiful Norwegian homes. Head over ASAP for more inspiration.

Blogspotting: Moa og Kaffekoppen

There are bad things and good things with having a lingering cold. The bad thing is all that coughing and sneezing. The good thing is all that resting, mostly spent propped up on the sofa, with lots of extra time to surf the net. 

Today I came across the Norvegian blog Moa og kaffekoppen, where I found these beautiful photographs. Very Wabi Sabi. 

What stands out in her pictures, (especially the first three ones), is Moa's outstanding eye for composition! 

It's not often that you see this kind of artistic quality in blogger's photographs:

Love what she does with simple, every day items, like in the wonderful pic above, which remind me of artwork by Picasso or Morandi. And the rest of her pictures aren't half bad either: 

All images from Moa's blogg. 

Head over ASAP! 

New BlogLove: Basic Label Sweden

I just discovered this new blog, 

written in Dutch and Swedish 

by Marion. 

Love it! 

Head over, right away, folks. 

Paper design by Ikea

Sorry for the blog silence lately. You know it's fall, when the work load keep you from sharing all the goodies you've collected for the blog recently. So, while waiting for things to ease up, here are some images I got from Ikea today.  

Love these paper lamps,  designed by Jon Karlsson. The effect is very airy, very crisp, very Japanese. OK, back to work, now. 

Ni som läser mina bloggar, vet att jag är svag för papper. Pappers konst. Pappers design. Inte så konstigt att jag föll pladask för dessa eleganta Ikea lampor av Jon Karlsson.

Foto: Nina Broberg/IKEA Livet Hemma

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Check out my other blog Creative Living here.

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DIY: Pimp your Pendant

Tired of your less that exiting pendant over the kitchen table? Try painting it. If you like the aged look of these two top lamps, you need to give the surface several coats of paint, and wipe or brush some of the top layer(s) off, in order to let the lower layers shine through, and get the right aged look. The two bottom pics are from Ikea - livet hemma. You can read all about how they spray painted their aluminum pendants here (in Swedish). 

Images: House and Leisure, Ikea Livet Hemma

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Check out my other blog Creative Living here.

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DIY taklampa - Think outside the ... box?

Inte för mig, eftersom jag hatar bländande belysning, men kul lösning på ställen du bara passerar: vira in två elsladdar i rep, och vips har du en lekfull taklampa. Lite pyssel blir det. Kanske framför TVn, när din bättre hälft har lagt beslag på fjärrkontrollen? 

Source unknown. Let me know if you  have it. 

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Check out my other blog Creative Living here.

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Calabash as Material, Art and Design

The calabash may be the most used vegetable there is? The perfect container, or so they must have thought some 8000 years ago in Africa, America and Asia. 

Here some beautiful examples from the web of calabash art and design, from all over the world. And then, the beautiful calabash shaped pendant by the Danish design pair  Komplot Design for Lightyears. Just love it! Don't you? Just perfect for adding color and modernity to your wabi sabi home. 

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Check out my other blog Creative Living here.

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Blogspotting: Kjerstis Lykke

Always inspiring. Always close to nature. If you haven't visited this norwegian blog yet, head over ASAP. This is what Kjersti found on her latest walk along the beach:

Great photos, of the soft anemic kind, which are so popular among bloggers right now. Beautiful!
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Check out my other blog Creative Living here.

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DIY - Simple quick fixes for your home

In this pic from Lincoln Barbour, with lots of items from Ikea, 

is a nice example of mixing nature and lamps. 

Like Cez pointed out in her comment to the previous post, 

this may be a safer way, unless you mix LED lights with your branches, of course.

Below - no lamps are involved.

Decorating doesn't get much simpler than this.

Source: Ace Hotel

Fine line decoration

I am back at my desk, after a weekend of teaching. I really love these intense weekends, when we talk interior design and homestaging around the clock (it seems).

Inspired by our discussions, I will focus this weeks posts on the use of branches and twigs to make an eye catching arrangement. This picture is from the Abingdon 12 Gallery in West Village, New York. Note the owner Paul Caddell’s use of all linear shapes: the painting, the sculptures, the pendel and floor lamp etc. Well thought ought and executed. Beautiful. Go to the gallery for more inspiration.

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Check out my other blog Creative Living here.

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