Ravenhill

Happy summer days here

Mom is here! It is wonderful to be together. The first evening of her visit mom showed me the gorgeous yarn she bought at the Fiber Frolic to make mittens for Sebastian.

The wool and alpaca yarn by Good Karma Farm of Belfast, Maine is not only pretty for the eye but soft as can be.

Whenever we get together we seem to have skeins of yarn to wind into balls and it is so cozy to do it together. Mom holds while I wind. We chatter away, occasionally pausing to oh and ah over the yarn.

One ball done, and now it is my turn. I had a few balls to wind too. Including the pretty green in the front that I got from Ballee.

Now it is time to get knitting... and visiting.

And gardening... mom helped Sebastian to dig and prepare the soil, spread out the compost we have been making all spring, and planting seeds. It is a bit late in the season but hopefully we will get enough sunshine that some seeds might grow up into plants to harvest before the cold hits.

These are happy days here!

Sew Love Fabrics bundle

I really should be cleaning the house but...

Lookie here!!! Aren't these eye-popping gorgeous?

The wonderful fabrics came in this bundle of goodness, from my dear friend Ruth at Sew Love Fabrics.

 Jennifer Paganelli´s new Poodle line is looking so fresh.

These pretties from Laura Gunn above are from her newest collection, Poppy. I didn't expect to make any of these fabrics into dolls, but somehow I did. The colors and designs on these fabrics are gorgeous and the hint of fall in the air lately has made these rust colors appealing to me.

Laura has a wonderful touch with her work, and these fabrics are such a pleasure to work with.

Each of these little sweethearts listed here from front to back: Fru Anderssen, Fru Gress, Fru Turkis, and Fru Stavanger (so sorry, Fru Stavanger is already sold) are in my shop now.

Oh, dear, I couldn't forget Fru Rosenrødt! Here she is in the front, with the fresh roses of the season to pretty her up. We are trying to tidy and pretty up the house today for our special guest arriving tomorrow! How does one tidy up the house when it is raining out and the children are so busy with one project after another all over the house? Good thing my mother will be too excited to see us to think about how clean it is here.

Red, white and taupe

Why is it that a weathered park bench and fading roses look so pretty? I seem to be on color phase, please forgive me!

My dear friend Anne Katrine called me up the other night to see if she could come over and hang out! You bet! So she walked the few meters over to my place and we had a grand time chatting and working away on our projects. Just look at the dresden plates she is working on!

I just love being able to see her projects are they take shape. I have seen her sew these little peices together while we watch our children play at the playground. These rows of little squares are going to be surrounding the plates she told me.

A while back I was at Anne's house and she asked what color should be around the red and white plates. That was a good time too, trying to help her as she tried fabric after fabric from her stash, finally settling on these pretty French General taupy ones. This block above is finished and the other one is waiting to have the center sewn on.

Even the little tin holding her supplies is adorable, and perhaps a welcome break in my color themed post?

Anne seems to like this red and taupe color combination at the moment because she also showed me these socks which she purchased on her travels this summer. Having talented friends is so inspiring!

Inspiring colors

These gorgeous summer colors are inspiring me these days.

I don't have the faintest idea what these uncommonly pretty flowers are called. I am sure Mom would know. She is going to be visiting us in less than a week! After not seeing her in nearly a year, you can bet we are excited as can be!

A two week visit is going to be fantastic! Little one is counting down the days and making little presents for her very beloved gramma.

My Liberty buntings have been flying out of my shop so this weekend I had a fabulous time making a huge mess! I took out my Liberty of London fabric and found new and fabulous combinations. Oh, that was a ball. This plum pretty one is now in the shop.

Aren't these common little colorful clover exquisite?

Happy colorful day to you! I hope yours is also full of inspiration and beauty!

Wild strawberries

I know we are a bit late compared to the rest of the world, but it is still strawberry season in Norway.

Walking in the woods these days you don't have to bring a snack along.

Everywhere you turn these bright red beauties encourage you to feast.

They surround themselves with pretty friends too. Isn't it enchanting how the bright red juicy berries are interspersed with the fine Queen Anne's Lace?

I had to buy the pale seafoam green frothy lace that now adorns Fru Sommerlig when I saw it at the Quilting Annual Meeting a few months ago. Rarely do I use my new materials immediately, usually they sit around in a dark cupboard or in this case my picnic basket filled with ribbons and laces.

Today I listed several new things in my shop, besides little strawberry girl.

This little purse is for my shop, and I think I want to make one for me.

I was completely flattered when I read this feature today on CraftyCrafty. So happy to know that people appreciate the tutorial I made. I plan on doing more, but we are pretty much in summer mode here now which means not a lot of crafting is getting done. I will have to show you my summer knitting and my summer flea market finds soon though!

I also keep making new friends. PeasandPotatoes a really sweet new Etsy seller of lovely and vintage baby clothes asked me if she could list my shop on her shop announcement because she thought her friends would like my things. Wasn't that nice?

I hope you are enjoying wonderful days whatever the season in your part of the world. We are doing our best to soak up the warm sunshine while we can!

 

  
 

My happy little summer world

Everything is summery and bright and pretty in my little world these days.

The children are home with me all day long, free as birds from school and nursery school. Their joy and playfulness seems to rub off on me and my creations.  

We actually do a bit of summer school at home though. The fun part is their eagerness to sit down to our home "school". Well, my little one is actually the most eager, perhaps because she hasn't really gone to school yet?

It is so sweet though because my son will now sit down on occasion and read a book for little one. Today they played monopoly together and didn't quarrel once.

I hope you like the mushroom decorations? I had to make more when I got this delicious package from a wonderful Etsy seller: Paper and String.

As usual I had some help with opening...Rrrrrriiiiip...

Then we had to look at each and every lovely one of them! They are just so color saturated and pretty! I like the weight of them, the wool in them must make them more substantial.

Now I have the colors I need to make more blossoms for the mushrooms.  I have added a few of them, some dolls, and garlands to my shop. I hope you had a happy weekend and are ready for a wonderful week ahead! I am crossing my fingers for another beautiful week and some great times at the beach.

 

An Outing! Sunday Markets in Oslo

 

Today I was at the uber hip Blå in Oslo. The cafe by Akerselva was a nice spot to sip a cold drink and have a bite to eat on this gorgeous summery day. The cafe wasn't the reason why I came though...

On Sundays Blå, which is normally a nightclub, opens its doors to crafters and vintage peddlers to sell their goods, both indoors and out. I had the wonderful opportunity to meet 3 incredibly talented fellow-sewers and bloggers from the area. The first one I happened upon was Kathrin and we had such a great chat. I really love the colors she uses, especially the heart above.

Not only are the colors she uses deligthful, but her attention to the fine details make her work so special.

Even in the beginning of summer, we are always thinking about the approach of winter here in these northern parts. These hats would really be pretty and cozy come winter. If you want to see more of her wares you might like to have a look at her Epla shop.

The next wonderful stand was retro heaven. Gunn (I just recently discovered her blog and she was what inspired my outing to Blå) has the most fabulous retro fabric stash and she comes up with incredible things with them. I am kicking myself for spending all my time chatting and no time taking photos of her stand. When I finally got around to taking a shot, the table was completely surrounded and it was impossible to take a decent photo. You will just have to drop by her blog and shop to see what she makes.

She didn't have a stand at Blå, but I also met Ida Victoria who also has an enviable supply of vintage retro fabrics. She keeps very busy keeping her Epla shop stocked as things seem to fly off the shelves!

I also took a little trip to Birkelund Sunday market.

Isn't this a beauty? I don't fancy cranking though.

I saw a lot of junk, but this sofa was my cup of tea.

Speaking of tea...

As far as textiles went this used market was a bitter disappointment. My shelves are groaning under the weight of all my current fabrics though so maybe it was best I just browsed?

Hopefully there will be other thrifty or inspiring outings again soon. Thank you so much for coming along!