Handsome new German

Had a quick visit to my local Fretex yesterday, and finally all the Christmas stuff was gone. Found this little Scheurich that had to come home with me and join my little collection of reds. Even though it has large red "bombs", it almost looks muted alongside the other two psychedelic ones:-)

Friday treats

Thought I'd bring you a few friday treats:-) I can't seem to shift my focus from kitchens these days. I find it hard to concentrate at work and can't wait until "D- day"! All the decicions are made, the cabinets will be teak, the countertop white stone, the hood, stove and induction top black. I've stumbled upon some great stuff on my search for lamps and all the things we need (or ather want:-) for our new kitchen. Some of them are great mid- century designs, some are very mid- century inspired. I guess most of them will remain on my wishlist for quite a while...

I've decided I want lamps over my new kitchen counter, not downlights. I love these. The Aalto A110 by Artek is sooo expensive, and we need three.... I doubt very much that it will appear in my kitchen any time soon, but hey, a girl's allowed to drool.... 

 

 

The Topan from Verner Panton is a hot candidate. I love the ball shape, and it would go well together with other lamps we have. It might be a bit big, though, there's a window involved. Well, we'll see.

 

 

This is a really cool lamp by nordic design company Muuto. It's designed by a norwegian design group called Norway says. I love it in yellow and grey. I wish it came in black too! 

 

 

What's a kitchen without great teatowels? These are some great ones that I found out there in cyberspace, the last one I own.

 



This one is by finnish design company Kauniste, and it's actually a calender, that is, if you can work out the finnish words. It also comes as a poster. Love that 70s vibe! I concider ordering the poster and frame it just because of the great graphics. Even if I don't understand a word...

 

 

This one is from Roddy & Ginger's great shop over at Etsy. The logs are so beautifully graphic.


 

I loved the colors on this tea towel from Ferm Living so much that I had to get it. It was right after we decided to go for teak cabinets. The pattern is called Moon. 

 

I need some new chopping boards and thought I'd splurge just a TINY bit and throw out my old ones from Ikea. There are some really great swedish ones on the market. The black and white slightly triangular one is from Formverket and is called "Plattan" after a town square in Stockholm that has the same pattern as large scale paving. That same company has also designed the following two very retro inspired trays, that also comes as chopping boards. I'm totally in love with both the pattern and the colors!

 

 

 

 

We're gonna get one of the small wall- mounted String shelves for the kitchen to keep the Tivoli radio and a selection of my Figgjo and Stavangerflint stuff. The sides will be black, the shelves black or walnut. Sadly they don't make the shelves in teak anymore, but I've noticed that walnut changes a lot when exposed to sunlight and becomes very similar to teak. 

 

 

Aren't these little Arabia Teema creamers cute? I spotted them over at 20th Century Goods, and this gorgeous plate is from that same shop. The pattern is called Everfresh Hilltop and was designed in the 70s by Mikasa.

 

 

Finally, I'll show you some great little knobs from danish designer Anne Black. They have nothing to do with my kitchen plans, I got them to add some oomph to a really dull cabinet in my living room. She makes some wonderful handmade porcelain stuff, even som REALLY cute little earrings. Anne Black is a fairtrade company and her stuff is produced in Vietnam in a facility supported by the Danish development programme (DANIDA), that focuses on improving working conditions. 

Her webshop is well worth checking out. A little late for the Christmas wishlist, though...

 

Wish you all an amazing weekend! 

 

 

 

Post Christmas update

I threw out Christmas today. I never manage to wait until the 13th day of Christmas, which is when Christmas officially (traditionally rather!) ends. January, however, always makes me want to get everything back to normal. These beautiful guys will definitely NOT be spending the rest of the year in the Christmas decoration boxes, though, aren't they gorgeous? They are my Christmas gift from my children, and I just love them! They're solid steel and very heavy.

 

 

When my parents arrived for Christmas, my mum brought me this Figgjo wall plaque in the Folklore pattern by Turi Gramstad Oliver. I love her universe of quirky patterns and people. The detailing is so great. This line has text, old norwegian proverbs. On this one it says: "Good conversation saves food". Excuse the poor translation, it rhymes in norwegian. It was my sweet grandmother's, she had it on her kitchen wall. Pretty soon it will be on mine! My mum found it left behind in a shelf, I got the rest of the set some time ago (look here).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking of kitchens, this wekend we'll start clearing out all the stuff from our shelves and drawers, and start tearing the whole thing down. I'm not particularly looking forward to that bit, but I'll better keep my "eyes on the prize", right? My goal is to deliver a whole car load of stuff to Fretex ( the Salvation army thrift store) and only keep what we're actually using. Things have a tendency to accumulate...

 

I'll leave you with an item I just added to my wish list! It says "Stavanger", that's my beloved west coast town where I grew up! The church (top middle) is actually the medieval cathedral where I got married. The plate is by Stavangerflint and is part of a line of souvenir plates. I'm considering ordering it (from Etsy). Unfortuneately, the seller is in the US, and the shipping usually turns out to be four times the price of the item... I might wait and see if it turns up in a local thrift store, but then again, I might be too tempted... To be continued!

 

 

Thoughts at the beginnging of a brand new year

 

The feeling of having a clean slate at the beginning of a brand new year always fills me with thoughts and makes me question my values, my priorities and how I spend my time. 2012 has contained many happy moments, but has also shaken us profoundly and almost made us loose our belief in the good of mankind. I'm especially thinking of the cruelty that's taking place in Syria and the heartbraking killing of innocent schoolchildren in the US. My heart is bleeding.

 

I'm scared of our feelings of resignation towards the world's neverending conflicts, but nothing fills me with more hope than stories of brave individuals and their relentless fight for peace. We must all support these wonderful people and spread the word of their selfless work. Bless them.

 

I feel terrified when witnessing the emerging of rasist groups within Europe, that seem to have learnt nothing from the horrible holocoust of WW2, and what's even worse- are questioning that it ever took place. We must never, never, never forget.

 

I wish our children could grow up on a healthier planet with cleaner air, living oceans and lush forests. I want to get better at recycling and teaching my kids not to throw away things that are not broken. I wish we could support renewable energy projects unconditionally instead of always complaining when these installations are getting close to our own backyard. Maybe my own profession could contribute in the design of renewable powerplants to minimize the conflict between technology and landscape preservation?  I wish my own oil- producing nation would use the amazing technology skills we've developed from drilling in the great depths of the North sea to make renewable energy more accessible. We certainly have the means. 

 

A lot to wish for, I know, but we must never stop wishing for a better world.

Happy New Year to you and your loved ones!

Happy holidays!

It's late in the evening, the house is peaceful and it's certainly beginning to look a lot like Christmas:-)
I wanna wish all of you wonderful blogging friends out there a wonderful Christmas, I hope all of you get to spend it with your loved ones, and I hope Santa will come visit!
Thank you so much for reading and commenting, I really appreciate hearing from you! I'm looking forward to reading all about your crafting, thrifting and goings on in 2013, you are all so inspirational, I'm so happy I found your blogs!
Warm holiday wishes,
Tove X

'tis the season to be jolly...

This weekend's thrifting certainly made me jolly! Or maybe ecstatic is the right word? I wasn't supposed to get myself anything, I was supposed to focus on my Christmas shopping list, but I just couldn't leave these treasures behind...

After work on Friday, I popped into the Fretex Salvation Army store where I found a set of three serving dishes in the Stavangerflint Brunette design from the 60s by artist Kåre Berven Fjeldsaa that I collect. I now have five of these in a wide range of sizes. I love this design, the pattern is so simple and refined and the color so great. I love how the edges get wider and turn into handles. The variation in color is created by the relief pattern. The smallest one originally made for sauce is my favorite, it has more of the gorgeous pattern than the larger dishes. I use it for Saturday sweets.

 

 

 

As you can see in the photo in the middle, the dishes have some variation in coloring, three of them are brown with a hint of olive, one is a bit greener, one a more golden brown. The Brunette line had a long production period, this can also be seen from the different stamps under them. The word "Ildfast", which can be found on a lot of Stavangerflint and Figgjo pieces means oven proof. I'm not sure what the word "Flamingo" refers to, I haven't seen this on the other pieces I own. The stamp on Figgjo pieces consist of the name of the brand and the spesific line (Folklore, Market etc), but I know Flamingo is not the name of this pattern. Anyone?

 

Next thing I found was this butter box in the August pattern from Figgjo. It's designed by the wonderful Turi Gramstad Oliver, who is the woman behind a great number of Figgjo designs, like Market, Lotte, Folklore etc. Her patterns are easily recognizable by their whimsical figures. All the Figgjo lines, even the newer ones, have these square butter boxes. This one is, unfortuneately, missing it's lid, but I couldn't leave it behind. I love this pattern, it has such a great 70s vibe. Maybe I'll use it as a small planter. It was in quite a sorry state when I found it, but after a good scrubbing, the white came out nice and bright.

 

 

One my way home, I stumbled upon a thrift store, or rather a warehouse, that I didn't know of. It's hidden away in an old industrial building and quite hard to spot if you don't know it's there. There was a large amount of clothing, glass, pottery, jewellry, books, old records and a lot more. There was a lot of really old stuff, but also quite a few mid century pieces in between. I immediately spotted a Stavangerflint brunette teapot that I've been looking for. And that wasn't the only thing....

 

 

I also found some Arabia Kaarna teapots, designed 1959- 60 by Ulla Procopé. This is the woman who also designed the Ruska line. The color is very similar to the Ruska, and the pattern has the same understated qualities. The Kaarna has horisontal lines that are slightly in relief and thereby a bit lighter than the background.

 

 

I found two more Hadeland heart ornaments in their original box from the 70s. I now have four hearts alltogether, a small bird and a larger one from this line. I feel so nerdy showing you the box, but I just couldn't resist! There's something about those images in the second photo that reminds me so much of Norway in the 70s.

 

 

Isn't this bird a cutie? It's a vintage piece from swedish manufacturer Eneryda glasbruk, I'm not sure of the production period. The body has color inside, while the head and tail are clear glass. The Eneryda birds came in different colors, I've seen a lot of blue ones on Etsy and Ebay, but I think it looks great in brown, it goes so well with the teak it's sitting on. 

 

 

And finally- hold your breath - I found a large piece from the Hadeland Grønland line designed in the mid 50s by artist Arne Jon Jutrem. This is a piece I thought I'd never find. I'm so thrilled! My mom has a slightly smaller version and a bowl that was on our coffee table when I grew up. I think the set was a wedding gift, they got married in 1966.

 

The Grønland plate is such a beautiful and substantial piece. It's a full 35 centimeters (13,78 inches) wide and really heavy. It has all the beautiful qualities of a handmade piece, it's not completely circular and the edges are uneven. And don't even get me started on the bubbles.... This is the feature that really makes it stand out. Isn't it beautiful?

 

 

 

 

 

The lady who owns the store told me to collect the pieces I was interested in in a basket, then she would suggest a price. In an attempt on a little modesty, I decided on the Grønland plate, an Arabia Kaarna pot (she had three) and the Brunette pot. After she had told me the total (which was very reasonable), she threw in the smaller Kaarna pot, the two hadeland hearts she noticed I'd been looking at, the glass bird and the smaller Grønland plate for free!! Such a nice lady, I'll definitely come back. Great catch, huh? I'm still on cloud nine!