Thrifts and treasures

I spent last weekend in Stavanger at my parents house, just relaxing, taking in the salty North sea air, watching the waves, photographing, having delicious prawns and doing no (yes, that's right:-) thrifting! Still, I managed to bring home some treasures. My dad's been at it again, and has made me another gorgeous bag. He makes them out of thick, delicious, natural tan leather that turn into a wonderful golden brown after some use and a few rounds of beezwax. I've had the large bag to the right for around a year. It's my everyday bag that I use for work. It has a long strap and can carry just about anything, my laptop, umbrella, hairbrush etc. The new bag is a much smaller size with a short strap. I'm such a lucky girl, he's made me a camera bag, belt and make- up bag. Apart from the unsurpassed leather and handcrafted quality, they're extra precious because dad made them! See more pics here.

I also brought home some of my grandmothers old pottery. Aren't they lovely? The one to the left is traditional Sandnes pottery. It's not stamped, but it must be either Gann, Graveren or Gann Graveren (after the two companies merged). My collection of this pottery is now quite numerous, and this is the smallest one until now, it's only 13 cm tall (the largest one is almost 40 cm and is the home of a large Monstera). My dad told me he remembers his mother used it for jam. It has a little less glaze than the bigger ones. The two planters in the middle are unmarked, and I have no idea who made them. They have an unusual glaze that's quite lovely. The last and biggest one is Strehla.

  

 

Do you remember I showed you my husband's lovely Stavangerflint plate that he had as a child? The pattern is "Venner" (Friends) and was designed by Gro Pedersen Claussen. My mum let me take my own Stavangerflint set back with me. The pattern is called "O du som metter liten fugl" and was designed by Anne Lofthus. I remember how I knew the pattern by heart and made up stories about the little birds and animals. I showed it on Instagram today, and got the sweetest comment from a lady from my home town, saying she remembers it from her kindergarden in the late 60s. She also told me she was sure one of the birds was named after her sister. I guess this shows how important the visual surroundings are for a child's imagination.

 

 

 

This weekend has been busy, but I managed to squeeze in a short stop at my nearest thrift store yesterday. It's a large shed really, but the owner really makes an effort, she lights candles and plays 30s music, trying to create a vintage atmosphere, she's a really sweet woman. I do pick up the occasional treasure there, this time I found these following pieces.

First out, a lovely little pitcher in Brunette by Stavangerflint. It's bigger than a creamer, smaller than a jug, perfect for custard or some other dessert sauce. Of course, a little bouquet of wild flowers would look just perfect in it too! Brunette was designed by Kåre Berven Fjeldsaa in the 60s.

I was really thrilled to find two Stavangerflint "Mesterkokken" (Chef) dishes. The pattern was designed, silkscreened and handcolored by Inger Waage, and also came in blue. The design is from around the same time as "Bambus", as the same techniques were used. There was a tv-show made by BBC in 1961 that featured Inger Waage and her design "Mesterkokken", which means it was designed in 60 or 61, or maybe even the late 50s.

The pattern is a feast for the eye, so quirky and rich in detail. The colors are a combo I haven't really seen before, reddish brown, yellow and teal. They look great together. The blue version makes me think of the great dutch patterns used on Delft and the likes. I found two old pictures on the web, probably from Stavangerflint ads, of tables set with the two versions of the design. I must say those flower arrangements surpass mine by far!! That wooden backdrop is gorgeous, don't you think?

Not quite so quirky is this simple award- winning Hadeland "Multe" (cloudberry) bowl, designed by Willy Johansson in 1966. I really looks like it could have been designed today, doesn't it? I've found two larger bowls in this lovely smokey grey earlier. The design also comes in a deep emerald green.

 
Finally, a small Stavangerflint souvenir dish, handpainted by Inger Waage. It shows scenes from the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city which is known for it's picturesque city centre, surrounded by mountains.

Planters, the latest thrifts...and a winner!!!

I'm addicted to green plants and vintage planters. I adore succulents and cacti, and wish we had the climate to have them in the garden too. Sometimes my living room turns into a greenhouse, it's kinda like that now.... I thought I'd show you the vintage planters I've picked up during the last couple of years and the plants that reside in them at the moment. If you've been around for a while, you've probably seen several of them before.

I have a thing for traditional, rustic pottery. I've bought a few of the old Sandnes pottery from Gann and Graveren. Those are the household storage jars and baking bowls they produced before they employed artists and started to make more colorful and "designed" pottery. These are obviously not mid- century, they're all probably around a 100 years old. Consequently, they are not water proof anymore. I've put dishes under the plastic pots inside the storage jars, but I wondered a long time what to do with the bowl. I ended up buy simply placing a terracotta pot and saucer into it. The colors match so why not. Sometimes it's a planter, sometimes a fruit bowl. Below is a new little bowl (a local pottery, Pottemaker Simonsen, still makes them) and the traditional Sandnes flute in the shape of a bird. I've written several times about these, so I won't bore you with repeating everything. If you like, you can check out my previous posts about this pottery, here, here and here.

 

 

I have tons of terracotta pots, they look better and better with time. See what I mean by greenhouse? The Monstera (second from the left) is one of my favorites.

  

Then there's the germans.... Scheurich and Bay were obviously big on planters, and there's a lot of it around. I even spotted some new Scheurich in a garden center a while ago, so they're still around. It was nothing like the sixties stuff though, they were plain white... These two first ones are rather big and have THE greatest muted orangy red combined with dark brown. These cacti resided in them until recently, then I found this strange and wonderful orchid...

 

 

 

Below, you can see them "in situ" (hideous light dimmer alert). I don't think I've shown you this corner of my livingroom. I'm trying to gradually phase out my ikea, but this PS sideboard is still around. It's a short wall betwen the chimney and where the living room bends into an L. Hopefully one day I'll find some teak in the right width... I've combined the planters with a Scheurich Bowl and an Ekeby vase, both in the same color combo.

 

 

These next Scheurich fat lava planters I picked up in Stavanger, on the thrifting spree I had with my mum. There was a third one, I can't believe why on earth I didn't get that one too. I've paired them with a large Scheurich vase, which is really a floor vase, that picks up the caramel colored glaze. I have another very similar one too, with green glaze instead of the brown.

 

I love the glaze on these. To me, they look a bit more 70s than 60s, but I can't be sure. They "touch the ground" differently, the small ones with a base, the typical "german planter way", the largest one is straight all the way down. sadly the plant in the latter has died since this picture was taken.

 

More handsome germans, as we like to call them. these are among the first I got. Two of them are residing on my teak credenza. The third, the Bay that my little thrifter found for me, enjoys the companty of my newly thrifted Carstens in the kitchen window.

Finally, my wild child. It's ugly in a nice way. Or the other way around. Is it over the top or not? I can't decide...

This post is gonna be a long one, I can see where this is going... I thought I'd throw in the latest finds too, just to keep the winner of my giveaway in suspense:-) I stumbled upon a flea market yesterday in the driveway of a lovely lady. She told me she loved arranging flea markets, and had one every time her mum and aunt cleared out their cabinets. Her prices were ridiculously low, and I walked away, or drove off, rather, with this piece of danish studio pottery bowl marked "Ernst - handmade - Faxe - Denmark - 8-73" If you conoisseurs out there know more, I'd be interested! Sadly, it's a bit chipped, but hey, it was only a ten'er (that's a dollar and a half)!!

I got this one for about the same amount! Figgjo daisy skillet, by the amazing Turi Gramstad Oliver. 

I also picked up these Egersund cups. They're the same design as Korulen and Unique (by Kaare Block Johansen) but have a different pattern, also very 70s. I've seen this pattern before, but don't know the name of it, anyone?

I found this beautiful teapot in a charity store. You all probably know this pattern, but if you don't, it's Stavangerflint Sera, design by Kåre Berven Fjeldsaa, decor by Inger Waage. Love the colors and the 60s graphics!

Found another souvenir plate, handpainted by Inger Waage. I've decided to buy only the Stavanger ones, but couldn't resist one from Kristiansand. It's a city my kids love, it's on the southern tip of Norway, a great vacation spot for families. There's a zoo and a theme park baked into one great child paradise. Mine have outgrown it years ago, but the sound of this city's name obviously rings some great sounding bells. And my plates are up on the kitchen wall now!! These things don't happen overnight with me...

 

Finally, I'll announce who will be the next owner of a Stavangerflint plate, handpainted by Inger Waage. With the help of some WG pottery, I drew the winner today, who is.....drumwhirl.....

That's Kylie of Lucy Violet Vintage!!! It will arrive in the mail shortly, Kylie!!