Happy Easter!

Glad Påsk!

We went skiing this weekend, where we had a great time in the sun and somewhat slushy conditions. Hope you had a nice weekend too!

Nordic Niche has a new home

Big TACK (thanks) to Lone for allowing me to use extra office space at her home for Nordic Niche's new home.  I realized that I didn't have room for my stuff (let alone to breath) in my dining room and I had little idea what I had made, or planned to sell.  So, Lone to the rescue!  Now I had multiple bulletin boards, two dry erase boards, and space to store stuff!  An organized woman's dream come to true, am I right?  Here's Lone, my neighbor at our recent local "Multicultural evening" (she's Danish, I'm Swedish); and some pics from the event as well as a couple from the "new office".  It's so good to unpack my boxes and get to work.

 

Coffee in Sweden

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Tittut! (Peek-a-bo in Swedish) A little owl from Skåne wants to brighten your day.  I was looking at The Local and read about an American cop living in Skåne in Sweden with his beautiful Swedish wife.  They are going to start a cafe in a converted pig barn near Kristianstad.  Love it!  The nature up there is phenomenal and I give them lots of credit for tacking this huge project.  Fika hos Lillan is the name of the cafe to be.  Good luck Ron and Jeanette!

Poppytalk and Easter

Hi, sharing my new favorite blog with you today.  Check out http://poppytalk.blogspot.com/.  Gorg hand crafted items that you can buy on etsy and other crafty online sites plus a great blog full of DIY ideas (that I don't have time to do, but can plan for in the future).  I was searching around for Easter DIY and found it.

Every year we dye eggs but I thought I'd try to do something a little different this year with decoupage perhaps or some patterns.  I typically make a funky looking forsythia tree that hubby likes to laugh at with hanging eggs and fluffy feathers.  It's a lovely Swedish tradition that ushers spring in even when it's minus 10 degrees Celsius outside, which according to my cousin Sanna it is right now in Southern Sweden. ( Ouch!  That's 14 degrees Fahrenheit).  Don't laugh though, Martha Stewart gets it too. See easter egg tree for a simple how-to.

Sewing is so time consuming

Hi everyone, sorry it's been awhile.  This Monday I completed a transfer project that I wanted to share with you using my new Fabricologie paper here.  I made pillows to donate to my son's school using a pattern I found here, easy pillow, and other places around the web and pinterest.  Pretty pleased with how they came out.  I like the transfers so much more than the plasticy ones I tried before, and the fabric I chose to place them on was special too.  I bought this rough woven fabric at the Boott Cotton Mill in Lowell, MA where believe or not they still make fabric using 8 of about 200 looms in this giant, noisy room.  We went there for a school trip and it was fascinating.  If you don't know much about the Industrial Revolution in America, well this is where it all started. The trolley was especially fun.  More information here, Lowell National Historical Park.  I'm going to make a trip back to pick up some more of the American made dishtowel fabric soon!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The "dark side" of St. Patty's Day.  ;-)  Hope you have a fun weekend pretending that you're Irish if you're not.  We will.

Art is a microscope...

So excited I just received my new transfer paper.  I can paint and draw on this paper, and/or send it through the new inkjet printer I just bought (!) and then iron it on to a multitude of surfaces.  I'll mainly use it for fabrics, and the first project will be pillows for the Inn Street Montessori auction to be held on March 23rd.  Come on, come all! So, this weekend is set aside to play, and to sew.  Here's where I got the papers, transfer paper.  I am hoping to use it as a way to layer art.  I love that look, and I played around a little with it when I took a wonderful printing class at Massachusetts College of Art.  I still have some nice monotypes that I hope to be able to transfer images onto such as photos and prints using my new purchase.  We'll see how it goes!  Pictures to follow.

"Art is a microscope which the artist fixes on the secrets of his soul and shows to other people these secrets which are common to all."  - Leo Tolstoy

My latest work using transfers! "Fika Paus" Coffee Break by me.

"Fika Paus - Coffee Break" by Tina Rawson, 2013 oil paint+transfer