too much work

: : so sorry folks. I've been absent for too long. work has been taking up too much of my time. this week I hope things will be back to normal. and I have an exciting visit from my cousin, aunt and uncle to look forward to.

too busy at work, but still important to take breaks here and there, and my friend's wedding is giving me a reason to distract myself with browsing wedding blogs and photography sites. there's so much emotion captured in wedding photos. I like the first one, a simple backyard party. and the second with bold and colorful decorations. .julie harris. seem to be capturing the right moments.

handmade american furniture

lovely .ali. shared this site she found. these guys do some amazing woodwork with so much attention to details. and if you visit their site, you'll see that they have a lot of fun too. visit them here bddw

IKEA fialena

: : This is a new serie of patterns at IKEA, called .fialena. I adore the name, it's what my parents would always call my sister. she was .fialena., I was .pyret. and my brother .skrotten. Maybe not the most flattering name for my brother, but it was very cute when he was young.

Anywho, these patterns are very much in line with the current scandinavian folklore pattern trend that's happening. making me think my own patterns are very current and aligned with this trend?? IKEA why won't you call?


I found this while I was browsing the .style files. blog.

aygo happy graphics

: : I love graphics like this! [and I think it has inspired me to do a new motif.]
even better, it's been applied to .aygo., the car. my friend .louise. owns an .aygo., they're so cute, and so tiny. maybe she'll let me apply my graphics to her car?

via .print&pattern. graphics work by .studiokanna.

quarter report

more inspiration via print&pattern. textiles from Japanese company .quarter report. I was inspired by the color combinations in this second image. I might try to make a pattern in those same tones. long weekend coming up, lots of new ideas to draw up!!

lagom

: : happy v day : : more kurbits inspiration on my mind. a series of cards called .boda., designed by no one but, .hanna werning. for company lagom. .lagom. is the Swedish word for 'just right', not too much, not too little of anything. I believe it is the only language with a word describing that, and it says a lot about the Swedes themselves. via bowie at .print&pattern.

kurbits krumelurer

: : hello : : for those of you who have been following my posts, I have updated, created some new color combinations and added a tile pattern at the bottom. the top two with more modern color combinations, and the bottom one a bit softer. thank you all for your wonderful feedback! I think I am going to start experimenting with having some of these printed. I would love to work with a local company? anyone know of printing places in Boston?

and I would like to take the opportunity to ask .you. what you would like to see these patterns on? posters, cards, 3.dimensional products? some of you have mentioned fabrics, which got me excited. I love that idea. maybe the repeatable patterns in particular would work well for that.

I would also love to be able to apply them to furniture, which would reference the origin of the inspiration for these patterns. which came from traditional Swedish kurbits patterns, a folk art that originated in the region of Dalarna, Sweden, mostly in the form of hand paintings on furniture. [see previous posts]

flickr find

: : it's wonderful to read all your positive feedback on my design work. it is such an inspiration to me! thank you all!!
on that note. I found some inspiration today, a new flickr find. beautiful, colorful photos. from the .365 project.

what about these?

: : it's been a productive weekend. with everyone absorbed in the superbowl, I decided to take advantage of the time to do some design work and took a trip to IKEA during the actual superbowl. that has got to be the best time of the year to go to IKEA!! we were cruising through living rooms, kitchens and bedrooms with no one in our way!!

I'm eager to get some feedback on yet another set of patterns. the first one, still more traditional, but a little different than previous motifs. the second one, a first draft of a repeatable pattern. not the right color combination yet, I'm working on that. the top one, a personal favorite. more birches, and monochrome colors. what do you all think?

and where will this take me? I don't know yet. I don't know what the opportunities are, and don't know where I want to go. for now, I'll keep on creating.

lilla my lamp

: : I found an adorable lamp in the last issue of .FORM. [a Swedish design magazine] or "fjorm" as they tease me at work. the lamp is by .muuto. a group of scandinavian designers bringing a fresh perspective to the design world. this lamp is inspired by the childbook character .lilla my. from my favorite .mummin trollen. books.

restaurang landet

: : .emma. has her way of finding some of the most amazing spaces. I am loving the interiors of resturang .landet. in Stockholm Sweden. I like the colorful, circus, tivoli feel. But, as we all know, I'm a sucker for anything colorful and happy.

shiny squirrel

: : I got an email from .jessica. who told me about her new online shop the shiny squirrel. I like .auntie's wallpaper. and the wall decals that are about to get eaten by the trout. the shiny squirrel has a good selection of art, home accessories and even some fashion.

weekend update

: : it's been a wonderful weekend here in Boston! I've been doing some baking, spending lots of time with my Swedish friends and doing some work from home. and this morning we woke up to a few inches of fresh snow outside!! I love this city in the winter, and we've had so much more snow this year than last.

oh, and I've been meaning to share pics of the ornaments I made before christmas. a hot tip from .lauren and derek. on d*sponge's DIY section. super easy to make and they do so much for the room. we have a set of green and gold ones in another room. and I wanted to share this cute story. after I posted the link to the ornaments, my lovely friend .tina. in Sweden happened to send a link for red.house to her sister, who is a first grade teacher. her sister was looking for a project for her first year class, and ended up making these ornaments! to think that they made it all the way into a first year class room in Gothenburg Sweden. I love that!

kurbits krumelurer

: : more allmoge/kurbits inspiration for me by Swedish rockstar pattern designer .hanna werning. via emma's blog

there's more coming soon. i'm crafting every night.

more wedding inspiration

: : here is some more inspiration from photographer .gertrude & mabel. beautiful photos!! the image with the couple in front of the red.house, has got to have been taken in Sweden?!
I like the simple flowers in old tin cans.

oh and for some good wedding blogs to browse, if you want more....

.frolic the bride.
.brooklyn bride.

wedding bells

: : hurray! one of my best friends in Sweden is getting married!! so, of course, I can't help myself but scan the whole web for cool wedding ideas. so far my favorite is .lena corwin's. wedding. the simplicity of it, down to the details of mixing colorful patterns throughout....makes it look like the perfect


wedding invites
good on paper

decoration ideas
decorations

inspirational photos
vermont wedding

....more....

: : thank you. thank you. thank you!! I can't tell you how exciting, inspiring and rewarding it's been to be reading your comments on my last post. this is what I eventually wanted to use the blog for, as a sounding board, to test my own ideas, and get feedback along with sharing my inspiration. you guys all rock for sharing your excitement, your feedback, ideas for changes/new ideas etc. !!! I've been so inspired, I spent the whole weekend in front of my computer.

and this is what I came up with. a little more advanced and detailed this time. following my sisters suggestion of using a darker background which was very common in kurbits/allmoge patterns. this one is coming in a different color combination too.

please feel free to share your thoughts again!

: : click on the image to see a larger picture: :

finally ready to share

: : so here it is : : my first try at a modern take on traditional Swedish kurbits patterns. I have been wanting to share this with all of you for a long time. these only existed in my head until a few weeks ago, when they actually started to take shape on my computer screen. will you let me know what you think? this is just a start, I hope to grow a lot from here, but these were some of my very first ideas. I have lots more.... but first, I'm curious about your thoughts.

wis design

: : I am the proud new owner of this beautiful silicone table cloth by Swedish design company wis design I have been wanting this ever since I posted it on my blog in Feb of last year, and now finally it's available via direct order from .anna. at wis. e.mail her directly at anna@wisdesign.se

A new addition to their product line is the .decades. chest of drawers., made from used drawers found at flea markets and second hand furniture places around Sweden.

Christmas and New Years in San Francisco was wonderful. I'm back in Boston and have been fairly productive working on my own design work at home, and started a large painting. I will share soon, I promise.

addition : : I was buying the table cloth for myself. turns out my lovely sister and brother had already bought it for me for Christmas and just hadn't put it in the mail yet. how sweet of them. tack söta syster och bror!

: : happy holidays.merry christmas and .god jul.

: : .happy holidays.merry christmas and .god jul.

thank you all for your inspiration, support and appreciation! warmest wishes for a wonderful holiday for each and every one of you. I look forward to seeing you again in the new year!


photo

: : happy discoveries in SF : :

: : .iz. and I are in San Francisco for Christmas, and we were strolling around .the mission. the other day when I spotted these ornament in a shop window. of course I recognized them from .d*sponge's. DIY section. I made these for my own house last week. so, we stroll in and discover that we are in the .curiosity shoppe. and talking to .derek. 'inventor' of the ornaments!! it was such a wonderful little shop! I bought myself some Christmas presents.

modern kurbits

: : it's impossible not to be a fan of .hanna werning's. work. particularly hard for me maybe since I'm addicted to colors and absolutely love her fun bright patterns. looks like .hanna. is also thinking modern kurbits [via emma's]. I posted a few months ago about my inspiration from traditional Swedish kurbits. I have started a few patterns at home. not fully ready to share yet, but maybe soon.......

p.s I would love the kurbist wall decal for christmas.

wonderland

: : I found the .ijm. site a long time ago, via .emma's. and just stumbled upon it again. such wonderful photography and storytelling. and there's so much here to see, go explore...

in the hood

: : my friend .leonard. found this article in the .nytimes. about .sam davol. , a cellist for the Magnetic Fields. He and his family just moved into a loft apartment in Chinatown, Boston. The loft is not far from where I work, I never would have thought there would be spaces like this in the buildings around downtown Boston. And what a beautiful space!

paint more

: : found these inspiring photos on .emma's blog. there something about this home.....and I am really drawn to the painting in the second picture. my dad says I should paint more. I should paint more. I really should paint more. I want to paint more. my Grandpa was a painter.

my books in my own room are stacked the same way, but I can't wait until I have a big white wall to stack up against.