little fox earrings

From being an avid (semi-addict) earring wearer I rarely use them anymore. That doesn't mean I can't be smitten by them now and then. And these fox ones from Swedish hippstory.com were even as smitteny it seems as I had to buy them. Foxes are so autumnal, don't you agree? 

I got my pair at Liljevalchs museum shop (which has a great range of lovely old and modern souvenirs and gifts) but they also have their own shop here in Stockholm plus webshop of course. I'm sure you can find the brand at others retailers too.

the christmas fair loot

So these are the prettiest things I took home with me from the Christmas fairs last weekend;

~ a pair of fine aran knitted socks (infuriatingly cheap given the time and competence put into knitting them, but at least they end up on someone who truly appreciates the work's feet). I may knit magical socks myself but I've still to venture into the world of aran knitted ones.

(Although I've knitted some aran sweaters when in high school, ie ages and ages ago, but being true to myself when it comes to my knitted sweaters I never enjoyed wearing them. But when knitting the supersized red scarf I've tried aran knit again and I have to say I'd really love to make a proper garment in that style, a vest perhaps?)

~ adorable linen hearts filled with lavender and embellished with needlefelted roses (two to keep, two to give away)

~ a simple fir tree wreath that needs a bit of sprucing up before it'll adorn my front door



~ a very cute fox collar (also infuriatingly cheap, both the aran socks and this one were bought from the same market stall as last year's cat scarf) which is quite inspirational in knitting style



~ a sweet pair of yarn ball earrings, no matter how befitting they are for knitting me they are indeed a gift for my mother. I think she'll love them. Well, she'd better, because otherwise I'll snatch them right back!

Earrings are made by Anitha Havaas, who is a friend of a friend, whom I met at the Vinterviken fair. She has also made the awesome pattern for the beautiful Stockholm mittens which you can buy at Ravelry. Such a great idea, to wear a little warming piece of Stockholm on your hands during winters!

panda and bunny earrings

i swear i just stepped into this gothenburg kawaii-shop to see if there was anything bobbalooastic that could possibly be appropriate to get for small sized woollies.

instead these earrings screamed to be bought. clearly you never get too old for panda balancing on a ball and supersized black rabbits with pink ears earrings.

pretty perky, quirky, silly and fab if you ask me.

dare to be remarkable

Sometimes you read a sentence, a few words only and they immediately speak to your heart, you simply  embrace it completely. A quote that strike a special cord that resonates deep within.

And then when those words, those quotes come on anything wearable resisting is futile.

When I a while back first saw the "be a lamp, lifeboat or ladder" on one of Swoondimples earrings I just completely got it. (And this was the first I had heard of the poet/mystic Rumi.)

Sadly those earrings were already sold. But another pair caught my eye, with another life lesson we all have to remind ourselves of from time to time "dare to be remarkable". Oh, I may not be an earrings addict anymore, but I admit to be a sucker for good, wearable quotes - thus earrings and a "be a lamp,  lifeboat or ladder" pendant sailed over the ocean to come live with me. 

Haven't decided what kind of necklace I'll make for the pendant but I'm leaning towards keeping it really, very simple. Since pendant itself speaks volumes.

Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder. 
Help someone's soul heal. 
Walk out of your house like a shepherd.
~Rumi

Follow the links in this post for more jewellery from Swoondimples

awesome earrings

To be honest, the days when I was a confessed earrings addict are just a distant memory. I mostly browse and find pieces very pretty and covetable, rarely, very very rarely buy them. And I rarely use earrings, not sure why, may have to do with 'can't be bothered chosing' or simply because they're not really visible with hanging hair and big scarves.

These two pairs are the exception to my new "not buying earrings" life. Because a) who can resist something awesome and dangling and b) i adore the gingko shape and when on a trip, earrings are such a good kind of usable keepsake.

The "make today awesome" pair comes from lovely Heather Wynn Millican, swoondimples on Etsy - one of my first favourite earrings came from her 2006, 2010 I got "fortune favours the brave" and 2011 the love clasp (which I have yet, sad to admit, to turn into something extraordinary...) - they do inspire to go out and make great things. Admittedly the fact that upon inaugurating them I had a really crappy day have slightly put me off wearing them, oh dear. Silly silly, I'm sure it was just 2012 doing its last bad act.



It's a lovely, quirky pair of earrings, made of silver, mother of pearl and polymer clay. Extra plus for the rubber posts that come with (I've found that too often when buying earrings on Etsy the ones with no posts provided are pretty much unwearable without since they're in danger of getting lost all the time.)

Love the complimentary sweet bird pendant too. Let. 2013. be. the. year. I. got. back. into. making. jewellery.



The other pair is a gingko leaf pair, delicately made in brass. I pondered over them for a few days at the Christmas fair in Budapest, silver - too bright a finish for my taste - copper - too boring with my hair colour - so brass it was. I got a business card at the market stall, but website unfortunately isn't working. If you are interested in knowing the designer's name, let me know and you can do your own detective work with that.



What's your relationship with earrings?
Do you have a favourite pair and why?

little birds and teacups

I favourite so many sweet things on Etsy - who doesn't? - but I rarely buy things there these days - well, apart from bobbaloos that is, obviously - but whenever one needs something small, pretty, not available in every chainstore to fit in a little parcel, Etsy is the place to go.

When I got these two pairs of ear-posts for the upcoming Easter eggs I also got myself the bird quartet hairclips. You never get too old for hairclips, right? Right. And I really should make an effort to have different hairstyles - what's the point of having long hair and wanting it even longer if you don't have different dos? - and with the no-hat season pretty much already here I'm all out of excuses for not making a regular effort with that.

How about you, do you find it easy to change your hairstyle or do you stick to the same rut?
Is it because your lazy or because you really enjoy it that way?
Do you have any favourite hair-dos, braids, ponytails or something completely different?
And have you found something really nice on Etsy hairwise that you'd like to share?



These cuties in teacup and bird-mood comefrom Layla Amber on Etsy. She has all sorts of cute things in her shop, but admittedly I'm especially smitten by her tiny birdies.

miniature birch bark craft

For some reason miniature things equals cuteness, most always. The combination of impressive craftsmanship and teensy-weensy is just irresistable. Though the absolute must-have is far from always present, just the admiration of what people can achieve with their creativity and talent is enough to make you smile and feel there might be hope for humanity after all... It's not always the grand gestures that matters, it's the small steps and little kind things that makes a lasting difference.

These miniscule birch bark shoe earrings were of course of a must have-kind, you can't but agree?

And there were tiny li'l yarn baskets with needles, of perfect bobbaloo size, seriously  m u s t   h a v e. Knut is very pleased about the choice of yarn colour. He just can't seem to take his eyes of that basket and dreams about the exciting knitting projects come autumn, in fact, he might even tag along to a twitterjunta-session.

Myself I'm just happy to have another pair of perfectly sweet and handmade earrings. (Found at a craft-café last month, a sweet palce that deserves a post of its own. One day.) Miniscule rules. And it isn't just the bobbaloos who say so. It's just a happy matter of fact.

bamboo frond earrings

With a long long winter, wearing caps, hats, woolly shawls and scarves there haven't been much room for wearing fancy earrings. But these past years, when spring arrives, it really arrives fast, like saying high and goodbye within almost a blink of the eye, welcome summer. So I'm thinking I should make a real effort to put on my two lovely tweed hats before summer arrives, the quirky one and the perky one.

But, hats isn't what this post is about, but the fact that my latest earrings-investment are a pair of gorgeous bamboo-silver ones that are truly a work of art. And the fact that I can now actually wear them, without having to take the cap-woolly-shawl-predicament into consideration while choosing earrings du jour. Yes, it really is about those small victories and glimpses of goodness in life...

I've had these frond beauties saved as favourites on Etsy for a long time. And now I own a pair, a fact of which I'm most pleased indeed. I also have to say that the customer care of Anna (proprietor of the Lila Ruby King shop) has been excellent. Because sadly one of the earrings arrived in pieces, I immediately told her about it and she promptly sent me a new pair. No hassle, just pure, caring, much appreciated, customer service.

I've also had issues with these types of earrings, with the metal wire easily being pushed out of ear hole when wearing, so I prefer having plastic plugs or silver backs to secure them. I asked for that and she kindly sent a pair of those too. The earrings are truly gorgeous, fits perfectly and dangle in a very appealing way.

The bamboo frond earrings are made of renewable wood resource and part recycled silver. The designer  also has a shop with lovely paper goods and printed things, as well as other cute wearables called Anna Ruby King - and a beautiful website as well as a blog. Certainly multi-talented and I really like the statement hers, that working towards becoming a carbon neutral business she's offsetting one tonne of greenhouse gas. Many fabulous things to lust for in her shop/s - do go have a browse ~

post root-filling red treats

Today was finally the day of the long since booked dentist appointment - I would have prefered to go earlier than this, but he broke his leg in a very unfortunate way and have been on sick leave for a couple of months - after a couple of weeks of tooth-ache. What was supposed to have been a simple fixing of a couple of chipped teeth (stress-tension caused too) instead became a root-filling due to inflammation caused by an internal crack due to stress.

I have never ever had any teeth-problems, just the odd simple filling now and then. This past year has really been a rollercoster of worries and stress (which I don't always recognize as that I suppose) and this is such a painful and unfortunate outcome. Just him mentioning root-filling after looking at the x-rays... jeez. And then "you don't need anasthezia, I don't think you'll feel a thing".

Well, I did. I have to say that it was really much less painful than the drilling of a regular tooth-hole, but the lying with my mooth open for an hour with some weird gauntry and the suctions, not being able to swallow or move. Not the nicest of hours spent. The filling is only temporary, I've got anotehr appointment in a couple of weeks, plus another one for those fillings I was supposed to have done today. This will be costly (goodbye tax-refund). Plus I will be needing an acrylic splint. Great. Not.

It would be wrong to say the month of March 2011 ended top-notch.

But after that nuiscance of an ordeal I treated myself to two red things. Most probably not anything I actually need, but at this point I don't really care. They appealed to me, I got them, they are red. And get bobbaloo thumbs up.

A pair of miniature Swedish clogs (for hanging on the wall) and a pair of Dalahorse earrings. Leonard and Jojo were very eager to try those clogs out. Vroom, they might possibly be the bobbaloo equivalent to a sportscar. And looking at their excitment over my red investments (treats) it kind of seemed a tad less of an icky day.

wooden swan earrings

I do believe these earrings fall into the category of rather swoonworthy. Hand carved wooden swan earrings in a style that's apparently called Sankofa. Which in a West-African language means "go back and take". To learn from past experiences and go forward in life.

Such a creative idea and a gorgeous result. The stretched look is very appealing I think, but I wouldn't dream of stretching my ears for real of course, thus these nifty earrings are actually made in two pieces which are separated by a post so you just use them as any other post earrings.

With all the woolly caps and hats this time of the Swedish year wearing big statement earpieces is pretty much out of the question. But come lighter, brighter, warmer, no hat wearing days I will be very happy with these I'm sure.

Found on Etsy. Of course. Tribal Style's shop is brimming with pretty earrings, necklaces and such made from recycled natural materials like wood, coconut and bone.

pythagoras

Pythagoras, not as in the ancient Greek philosopher (the one with the theorem) but Pythagoras as in a nifty little industrial museum - if you're into such things, which I'm not, but never mind, I'll blog a wee post about it anyway. And if you want to read/know more the Pythagoras website is THE thing - situated in small town Norrtälje.

This hot bulb engine factory was founded in 1898 and came to an end in 1979. During the 1980ies a group of enthusiasts worked hard with making Pythagoras into what it is today, a working museum. Situated rather lovely with fine views over town. Apparently the place has been listed as one very important "remaining intact industrial site for the foundation and development of Sweden as an industrial nation". *As if I care*

In an adjacent building there's a nice little café and shop - well, that's certainly more interesting than a yawn inducing industrial museum... - where I found this cool pair of earrings ~

behold, triple steel nut earrings, made in the factory's turret lathe. That's pretty darn cool and unique, I believe. Don't think there're a lot of people sporting these quirky cuties.

If you happen to be more into industrial museums than earrings (weirdo), then the museum is most probably worth a visit, and if you're more into earrings and cafés (good people), then you can wait in café and make a very reasonable investment in a pair of industrial earrings. Yes, the place obviously cater for all.

Pythagoras Industrimuseum
Verkstadsgatan 6, Norrtälje
+46 (0)176 - 100 50
open Sat-Sun 12 - 15 (noon - 3pm)

tetris, scandinavian chairs and pastries

Browsing Etsy is most always a dangerous thing. Because the cornucopia of must-haves-and-wants that's Etsy is quite overwhelming. And even if many a thing is quite reasonably priced (rather too reasonably at times actually) and you can find pretty much anything you search for, the lust-for-unnecessary-things-gene is quite tempted when browsing Etsy pages. Thus I try not to browse too much, even if it's darn difficult.

And when I do I usually just make the most of the enjoyable favourite-button. Which allows you to save everything you lust for, dream of in a wish-list. Being a terribly nifty thing to have when you'd like to treat yourself or someone else to something special and handmade. Or when possibly someone asks you what you want as a gift for a special occasion or just because (oh I love those just-because-gifts). Etc, etc.

Being the confessed earring semi-addict I have to say that the things I fell the most (affordable) in lust with on Etsy are earrings. They may be inspirational for making something new myself, but mostly I fall for the kind of earrings that don't fall into that category, the quirky, lovably crafted ones that involve sharp tools, acids and open fires (which is very far from where my talents lie).

Thus two of my recent Etsy purchase have been just that, earrings. The only computer game I've ever fully enjoyed is Tetris - I had it on my very first own computer some 20 years ago, it was great fun and totally crazy addictive so I did stop playing it when there came a new computer in da house - so when I saw the Tetris-earrings in the DayDefyProject shop I found them adorable. As did I the 1950ies style chairs in that era's Scandinavian design, from same shop. Made from brass and I've enjoyed the pairs very much. Their delicate yet rustic handmade and charming looks are adorable in real life too.

Myself I'm not a fan of stud earrings, I like a bit of oomf and dangle in my ears, but the mother loves her earrings in stud-style. And what better place to look for cute ones than Etsy. So two pairs of sweet things made their way here for her recently. One pair of miniature chocolate-banana cupcakes studs and one pair of fruit tart studs made of polymer clay, found in DivineSweetness shop. Once again - remember strawberry ice cream cones and chocolate cake, remember cheese and grapefruit - I'm in complete awe of what people can create from minuscule pieces of clay and paint. If one was a mini midget one would quite possibly mistake these for edible mouthwatering delectables...

carrot triplets

To learn the amigurumi crochet technique is definitely on my (forever growing for one with a curious mind) to-do-list. Come to think of it, I do believe I have both yarn and pattern for such a sheep lying around somewhere here... Ah well, the path of good intentions... Anyway, it's such a cute, quirky, quaint way to deal with yarn and hook and one day I do think I will be able to state "this amigurumish thing is made by non other than myself".

Until then I will admire and relish the amigurumi work of others. Like these three whimsical carrots which I fell in lust with the moment I spotted them in an Etsy Treasury - which also featured my own dangling carrot earrings - all about carrots. Ah, carrots, which of course happen to be my favourite veggies in the whole wide world. No self-respecting carrot-lover could resist ordering the perky threesome.

They are indeed adorable, love the colours, which in real life is something between the above and this triplet version. They will be a beloved part of this carrot-munching household (without ever having to be afraid of being munched), all thanks to talented thesilverhook on Etsy.

fortune favors the brave

I spotted these quirky earrings in the swoondimples shop on Etsy recently. As I am a sucker for good quotes and have a serious crush on Heather Wynn's jewellery - one of the first earrings I bought when I finally got my ears pierced where a pair of still-favourite bird ones from her - I knew they were for my ears. Delightfully made with hand stamped polymer clay and hand forged sterling ear wires, they are very sweet indeed.

And as I really badly need some good and special fortune in my life now - oh it sure is way overdue -, maybe these will nudge me in the right direction. Now, the question is, where do I find me some bravery?

Have a lovely weekend all well-deserving beings, may fortune be with you ~

a first attempt on wirework with a whisk giveaway

My first attempt on classic Swedish "luffarslöjd" (vagabond craft) at the unpretentious workshop the other day was great fun. About 20 keen and more or less talented crafters got to try this old style traditional wirework craft first introduced by vagabonds in early 20th century Sweden when job was scarce and they walked the countryside selling their useful craft.

I've been wanting to take a course in this for many years so I thought this workshop for a very (ridiculously) modest fee would be a perfect opportunity to see if it really was something for me. The answer reached during those hours of great fun was that

A) yes, the work made with thinner wires certainly made me want to learn and practice more.

B) The thicker wire stuff, not really my thing since I apparantely am a weak little person (oh the irony when a little fragile elf of a girl managed to easy peasy cut the wire I had been working on for five minutes), it was just too hard to bend and twist into something useful. Hence, another prooof of my knack for craft pottering definitely not leaning towards the more heavy metal part of the scale.

Behold my generously sharing the perfect example of my non-talent for a simple Wednesday evening amusement; this is what was suppose to be a stainless steel latte/cocoa whisk, turned olive spoon, but does look like an incomplete candle extinguisher. It took ages to finish, and a whole lot of muscle strength. Which obviously is not my cup of wirework tea.

A cute wirework bike that I'm not at all anti in trying to recreate one day when I've hopefully learnt to master the tools and the wires properly.

The simple ornament flower, that might not look like it was intended to look, but at least it's all my doing, not to difficult and a rare piece of... wire.

But what I most of all loved working with was the miniature whisks and the thin wire, there's just something completely irresistably charming and enchanting with miniscule stuff and even if they still need a bit of tweaking (as well as my smaller jewellery pliers) I think these delicate little things turned out rather sweet looking. I'm thinking earrings, but they can certainly be used in a doll's house or as a simple miniature installment.

As I'm in a generous mood I'm having a little blog give away, the purple, the red and the orange whisks will be sent to three lucky (I hope so) recipients that leave a comment on this post. The recievers will be announced on Monday 21st (after an exciting draw with the help of some furry inspectors and the non wirecrafty loafer of this house). Leave a comment no later than Sunday the 20th and a pair of miniature whisks may be heading your way.

tin dress earrings

These adorable upcycled earrings can only be described as ingenuity in recycling personified. And you really don't have to be formerly known (thank goodness and touch wood) as the tin can woman in order to be completely smitten by their perky sweetness. Two tiny dresses, made from once was a tin, dangling on a coat hanger. These well-made earrings definitely fall into the preferable category 'even cuter irl than in picture'.

A colourful plethora of recycled tin mini dresses

you'll find at shixie on Etsy

cheese and grapefruit

Not much of a cheese person myself, but couldn't resist these wonderful very Wallace-and-Gromity post cheese earrings for my much more cheese loving mother. And yes, she did adore them. I did too, in a totally-cute-but-not-wanting-cheese-ears-myself-way.

My sunny yellow treat for self were a pair of dangling grapefruit earrings instead. As opposed to the cheese posts, these are totally cute in a I-love-grapefruit-and-I-have-to-have-them-way. Very summery and fresh looking. If I was a miniature person, with peas for brain, I might be very tempted to eat them. However I'm neither, I happily settle for them brass dangling in ears.

From PetitPlait on Etsy - same talent that made the strawberry icecream earrings and chocolate mousse cake hairpins - a shop chockablock of minuscule delights. ~

owl earrings

The sweet woodland songbirds whispered in my ears that they wanted company from home. Nothing less than owls would do and who was I to refuse to get them friends shaped in a sibling mold? Promptly a couple of matching sweet, carefully sculpted owls moved in. The songbirds are very pleased and so am I.

Days when I feel extra daring I might even wear one owl and one bird in ears. And no, that won't make me feel like a scarecrow at all.

more work from the sparrow's nest