Snow and lichen

Xanthoria parietina on oak windfalls found on a walk in the snow. Goes well with my natural dyed mitts, I think. The lichens inspires me to try make embroidered lichens ...

Demolition Woman

Woman with Crowbar = Action!
Some might suffer from the illusion that I'm the kind of woman that mainly handles needles and crochet hooks and such haberdasheries - but I'm quite good with a crowbar, if I must say so myself. (It's my blog - so I can boast, right?)

First I attacked the ceiling and tore down the celotex boarding, that covered the original old wooden ceiling. It fought violently back and covered me with tons of mouse shit, accumulated over the last 60 or 70 years or so. Dis-gus-ting! - There were also lots of paper targets, for levelling. Kondrad, Dines, Aage and Hilmar apparently enjoyed a good shooting. I'd bet my money on Aage anytime, if he's still around.
Seeing the ceiling like that, I couldn't help but tearing down the wall paper too. Oh, it felt so good! And now we're back to basics: unburned clay, wood and plaster in the walls. Whitewash or linseed oil paint on the walls. That's what I love about this house. It's so honest.

At this point I kind of woke up. I don't know what happend - this wasn't planned at all! Perhaps I had some sort of temporary amnesiac craziness fit. You know what this means, don't you? Lots and lots of hours of work - planning, reconstructing, painting and, best of all, dreaming. I've got plans for this little workroom of mine. Oh yeah.

You know, if it wasn't for these beautiful mornings I probably could go mad. There's healing potential in the colours of a sunrise. Breathe in the colour deeply.

"Mere colour, unspoiled by meaning
and unallied with definite form,
can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways"
Oscar Wilde

Subzero!*

... click the pictures to enlarge...

..................................................................................
* on the Celsius scale, that is.

Peacefully Stitching

This embroidery box was a gift for a friend. It's an old cigar box covered in natural dyed cotton fabric with a bit of embroidery. The embroidery yarn is thrifted, and so is the scissors.

I so like reusing and repurposing. While making this I recollected memories of Inga, who smoked the cigars from the box. She was a friend of my mother and a very dramatic and choleric woman with a cigar hanging from her lip. I remembered, how I as a child collected tiny dutch tiles with blue printing on them, which was scattered amongst the pebbles, in their impressively large courtyard.

Everything in this little box has its own story to tell, and I hope it will whisper to the receiver and make her want to stitch a story of her own.

quietly making

My youngest was sitting quietly by the yarn basket for a while. Finger knitting. Making jewelry for mama.

And mama was sitting quietly by night, drinking a glass of wine. Making a mobile of some of her small finds. And yes, it is a wasp nest. So delicate and perfect.

The Language of January

The quiet language of January

ancient signs and ancient scripts

on wood and soil and ice

furs and feathers

fungus and feathered friends

rejoicing in singing flight

retreating in crystal covered caves

patiently waiting

slowly

inhaling

 

 

 

illuminating

The absence of light seems to make me a bit preoccupied with it. I thought I'd better do something about it - something better than complaining. So I bought a couple of second hand lamps and made some new shades for them. The lamps are from Søholm and made in the 60ies, I think. I found them in a local secondhand shop for practically nothing. I love the blue glaze on both . The shades was yellowed plastic, so I got rid of them, but kept the wire frame for redecorating.

For this lamp I sacrificed a childrens book about animals. It has the lovely muted, soft colours of old fashioned printing which I like very much. We have tons of old childrens books, so I felt ok butchering it. (I did save a few goodies though, like the owl above the lamp. And the rest won't go to waste, the children are cutting it all up and are going to use it for various projects). When the light's on, you can see the backside of the paper, but I really don't mind about that (my little one doesn't agree, he says I ought to make another one). It's a bit tricky to make a perfect fit with the circles - so I didn't (it would probably involve some math skills I'm not blessed with). I've decided noone will notice any minor inaccuracies ...

 

 

Making this was easy peasy, just folding a length of vintage wallpaper, making holes near the top and string it. I folded without measuring, next time I'll bother to locate a ruler. Or then again, perhaps I won't. If you prefer straight lines and everything in order you should use a ruler if you want to make a lampshade. I really liked making these, even though untill recently I'd thought this kind of lamp was totally out. But now it's definitely in! Must try to find more lamps, I would like to try to make one with fabric too. Does anyone have some ideas for lampshades they'd like to share, please do!