M & Co

Gosh I'm stupid!!

Yesterday my computer kind of died :-( Suddenly nothing worked, and on restart I just got that blue screen telling me that something is seriously wrong ....and that by now its too late to back up your files if you are stupid enough not to do that on a regular basis ......  Ofcourse beeing a busy girl, with endless faith in technology this is something I never do......I know I should but it is sooo boring! Even more boring ofcourse is the fact that I've now lost all my favourites that I've spent months to collect (No I'm not using bloglines, or Google links or anyhing smart like that....)my photos (No backup of those either ...just a few in Flickr) all my installed programs (No not keeping them on a separate harddrive) and all my planned blog posts (grhmph) so today I've got nothing for you .....except this really fun and quirky Duck Feet lamp I found when trying to retrace my links. Its from Porta Romana and their collectionis seriously neat!

Grasscloth wallpaper - Love it or hate it?

   

Image from Theinspiredroom /Barclay Butera’s entryway

I'm not sure wether I like grasscloth wallpaper or not. I have those horrid memories of old grasscloth wallpaper in my granparents livingroom, but on the other hand I continue to see these gorgeous images were grasscloth wallpaper is used used in stunning interiors. I'm a big fan of bringing nature into the interior to create texture, warmth and calm, and grasscloth is perfect used in that way.

left: Seagrass wallpaper by Housecouturier.com Right: Biri Tapet

Here in Norway we have this wonderful manufacturer of grasscloth wallpapers Biri Tapet. The tradition of weaving grasscloth wallpaper has been in the family since 1938 and the business is now run and revived by Ingeborg Semb.  Biri Tapet can be found in interiors world wide, most famous is maybe the FN building in New York, the home of the Norwegian Royal Family, and as a standard feature in all David Yurman Jewellery Stores.

   

Images Biri tapet

Image housetohome.co.uk

I also quite like the use of grasscloth just as a detail, as in the armoire above.

So what do you think? Love it or hate it?

One more thing! Uncle Beefy reminded me that  Saturday, March 29th, from 8 pm until 9 pm is Earth Hour 2008. So everyone turn of those lights and electricity for that one hour! Ok?

Byarums Bruk

Swedish Byarums Bruk have since 1947 produced cast aluminum items in Skåne. Since the 1960's their focus have been on garden and park furniture, planters and some decorative pieces. They use only salvaged aluminum which makes their product environmental friendly since the aluminum can be recast again and again using few new natural resources and and with a low usage of energy! I'm really enthusiastic about their clean design, still with strong reference to traditional designs. I'm for-seeing one of their planters filled with spring flowers in my garden in the near future ;-)

Ink Vanilla

Copyright June Parrish Cookson

I just have to tell you about a wonderful, talented artist June Parrish Cookson of InkVanilla! Her blog is a new favourite of mine, her illustrations are amazing and I can not wait for her store Junes Melange to open! Entering Junes world feels like entering into an old enchanted world were everything is sprinkeled with magic dust, even her cat Coco (aka. the Wise One) seems to be touched by it (I'm sure that cat speaks, or transforms herself into a princess or something ;-))

Copyright June Parrish Cookson

I'm not quite sure what label to put on June, actually I'm quite sure its not possible with this woman, as she is a super stylish, mixed media artist/Illustrator/Graphic Designer/Cartoonist/Muralist/ Decorative Painter (And I'm adding Interior Decorator as well, and if you've seen her Crafts room you'll agree!) and the list goes on! Is it anything this woman can not do?!

Copyright June Parrish Cookson

It is something so calm, timeless and ethereal about both Junes work and decorating style. I'm just in love with Junes work, and I'm sure you'll be as well! So get yourself over there ;-)!!

      

 

A bit of Spring feeling from my home

Just before the snow set in I managed to pick some Forsythia branches from my moms garden. I love the yellow flowers on the bare branches so simple and beautiful!

I'm quite worried my bulbous flowers will be ruined due to all this snow. Just before the weekend I had crocuses and daffodils ready to bloom, but now they are covered in 15 cm of snow, and it keeps snowing...

We've been spending the weekend at home as the eager husband changed to summer tires two weeks ago, making it way too dangerous to drive in this weather.  This probably means I'll be walking to work tomorrow ...  Love walking with the dogs, hate walking to work at 07.00 in the morning, in snow !!

Renissance of the Cabinet de curiosités - Part 2

1.Candle, Modern Alchemy 2.Crow, Nymphenburg 3.Bronze Heart by Jeff Price, Blackman Cruz  4. Phrenology head, Gracejr 5. Lucky Cricket, Ballard Design 6. Tree, Nymphenburg.

Currently on top of my wish list are these wonderful thing that will fit perfectly in to a cabinet of curiosities! 

Renissance of the Cabinet de curiosités - Part 1

 

House Beautiful

Tired of everything new and soulless the Cabinet of Curiousities is getting its reinessance.  Popular in the 16th and 17th century Cabinets of Curiosities were rooms or furnitures hosting private collections of natural science, geology, religious relics etc for the rich and/or eccentric. They were regarded as a theatre of the world, and were also seen as symbol of the collector’s power and knowledge of the items in this micro world. One collector, Samuel Quiccheberg said: "The ideal collection should be nothing less than a theatre of the universe...keys to the whole of knowledge...."

   

Domino Magazine 

IDI are predicting the cabinet of curiositis as one of the major themes for 2008. They have called the trend Alchemy, and it’s all about escaping from reality, and replacing it with something wonderful based on old world beliefs, and new fantasies.

Bonnier de la Mosson's Second Cabinet of Natural History

Good news for me with my attic of oddities ;-) After photographing my crocodile the other day I actually left it for display, and I think it actually looks quite good ;-) Gotta come up with a name for him ;-)! Several of the items in our attic actually stems from a Cabinet of Curiosities, a large glass monter, in our living room were my grandfather arranged his finds from various travels.

     

Domino Magazine

A Cabinet of Curiousities does not have to be traditional, or contain valuables, its the feeling of wonder, science, mystery and discovery that will make it work! Think back to those childhood trips to the Natural History museum ;-) or make curiosities out of things you already have ...after all not even the Reinessance people had access to Unicorn horns. Make it yours, and blend it with your own style, after all these collections were private and curated by the collectors themselfes!

                                    

Fredrik Ruyschnyam

So much cutness! Swap Images :-)

Oh gosh, you are all soo talented and creative! I'm amazed by all the beautiful items made for the swap, and still several of you have not sent me photos of your creations! I'm soo eager to see what ALL of you came up with for this swap, so please send me photos of your creations (Email adress in left column)!

Take a closer look at the creations here !! I'll add more when I receive the rest of the photos!

My swap partner Kecia sent me this beautiful easter egg! Love the colors, the florals and all the cutness she has put into this! Thank you Kecia !!

I hope you all during this swap has met wonderful, creative new friends, discovered new blogs and had lots of fun crafting!

Happy Easter!

Photo: Me

Just want to take the opportunity to wish you all a Happy Easter! (Sorry the repeat use of the picture, but I just like it a lot, and its perfect for an easter greeting ;-))

Since its easter!

I'm continuing on eggs!!  These gorgeous decorated eggs are from the Polish Art Center. Eastern Europe have a long tradition in decorating eggs, and their craftsters are the most skilled you can imagine!

                               

They would look perfect in this gilded nest bracelet from Vivre.

I'd love a beautiful egg collection, but I'd definity go for a replica one. Most countries luckily have laws that makes it illegal to collect eggs from most wild birds, and vintage collections are usually hard to come by and really expensive. Companies like Eggsactreplicas (Great name ;-)) make  stunning,  handpainted replicas of eggs from the most popular species!

         

On to something else .... since yesterday we've had 15 cm of snow here ..... I was planning a beautiful spring post with bulbous flowers from the garden....but you'll have to wait until the snow goes away now ;-) I'm not much of a winter sport lover, actually I passed on the annual Easter break in the mountains just to be home, working in the garden .... no the prospect of cross-country skiing seems much closer *ugh* Have to work on some good excuse, so at least I can stay home blogging ;-)