I thought I would show you a little project my husband worked on from our trip to Scandinavia this summer. He put together a mini flip book of bike photos (done in Iphoto and made by Apple). It's a nice way to show people your photo pictures without whipping out a huge album and obligating them to politely looking at your photos. It's quick and easy to do. We made one from our trip to Japan a few years and it's fun to look back at it.
I've been busy trying to stock my shop and get ready for fall sales. I have recently listed some more recycled paper garlands if you're looking for those.
One last post about our Stockholm trip (I think!) is about Skansen. It's really an amazing place. It's an open air museum in Stockholm where they have moved buildings, homes and businesses from all different eras and all different parts of Sweden. They also have people working there who are dressed up the time of their building either selling things in the shops, baking sweets, knitting, doing pottery etc. I would highly recommend a visit to anyone visiting Sweden!
I loved this kitchen from a 1930's house.
An office from a machine shop.
A "modern" milk shop from the 1930's.
A Gustavian manor.
They even had a little greenhouse full of fancy leaf geraniums, my favorite!
Hope I'm not dragging out our vacation pictures too long. I just found so many aspects inspiring and wanted to share. One of my favorite things in Stockholm was the tiny allotment gardens and cottages. We rented bikes and then set out to cover many different Stockholm neighborhoods. This area of Tantolunden has tiny garden plots and sheds that were originally issued to the industrial workers so they could have some rest and relaxation. I love the scale and how overgrown and natural they are. We followed a bike path all along the shore and stopped at this little cafe in a trailer for a coffee. We also stumbled across a traditional Swedish food festival called Smaklust which had tons of free samples of delicious foods. Ben tried some surströmming (fermented herring) which was a once in a lifetime experience! I knew better than to try that myself. The best part about biking around a city is that you can cover so much more ground than walking and happen upon amazing things!
Plate of food from the delicious food festival.
Hi,
In Stockholm it was easy to love all the colorful patterns all over. Here are some examples, very inspiring but very expensive too!
Amazing pattern from Svenskt Tenn.
A fabric display at the Nordiska museum and the Carl Malmsten store.
After leaving Copenhagen we took the train to Malmo, got a rental car (a Volvo wagon of course!) and drove to Gothenburg for one night. The next day we drove to Fiskebäckskil and stayed at the Gullmarsstrand hotel that Lena recommended. It was an amazing place. The hotel has many buildings set in a the old fishing village. It's a contrast of modern and old buildings that is very unusual. The landscape is also stunning, rocky with wild flowers all over. Ben went jogging one morning and found a little secluded swimming hole. There was a woman swimming there who told him he should take a turn swimming and so we went back later in the day. We tried but the water was freezing! The Swedes really seem to enjoy the natural beauty leaving it simple and pristine.
Cappucino at Bar Centro in Gothenburg, yum!
The town of Fiskebäckskil was filled with these cottages, so cute with all the trim.
The hotel restaurant over the water.
The building on the right is where we stayed. We had an amazing view.
The hidden swimming hole where we tried to go swimming (too cold!)
I'm happy to be back home after a great 2 week trip to Denmark and Sweden. I'll post highlights this week here on the blog. Today I wanted to show you some pictures from the first part of our trip, in Copenhagen. We stayed there for about 5 days before taking the train to Malmo and driving across Sweden to Stockholm for the rest of our time. We loved Copenhagen especially all the bicycles. We have never seen so many people biking, of all ages. We rented bikes for a few days and that was the best way to discover cool neighborhoods and little shops. Luckily too, it's flat, so it makes for very pleasant rides. Here are some highlights...
I loved all the colors of the buildings and the quaint streets. We stayed at this hostel which was very convenient for walking and biking around. This is a typical street near where were staying.
We had lunch at The Royal Cafe and after visiting the Royal Copenhagen store. We had delicious tea and a brownie. The craftsmanship of the hand painted china is amazing. It was fun that we were served our tea in the mismatched pieces.
We stumbled upon this beautiful cemetery while biking around.
We also discovered a few great antique stores on Gammel Jernbanevej in Vesterbro.
I loved this store Quriosa, I wanted to buy one of those great hanging lamps. But alas, how would I get in my suitcase?
My favorite little shop we went to was Liebe, very close to where we stayed.
I have been visiting my hometown of Kansas City to celebrate the fourth of July. Today we went fireworks shopping which is a tradititon here. I love all the graphics on the packaging. Tomorrow we will go to my brother's who hosts a big celebration. Hope everyone is relaxing and enjoying the holiday weekend!
This past weekend we took a quick road trip to New Jersey and Pennsylvania to go antiquing and camping. The camping was fun but it rained most of the evening and during the night we had a big thunderstorm. I, being a totally novice camper, was scared but Ben slept through the whole thing! It was fun to cook dinner over the fire, which held up despite the intermittent rain. We camped at Bull's Island Recreation Area, a NJ state park. Now if we only had a place other than the bathtub to dry off our muddy wet tent!
The definite highlight of antiquing was Fritz's booth at the Tomato Factory. Fritz is collecting editor at Martha Stewart Living so I was dying to see his wares. He works on Sundays too so it was great to see him. I highly recommend visiting. Even just to see the way he organizes and displays everything. A little while back his office was shot for an issue of Living, I love the ordered chaos.
Here is a google map of the antique stores, coops and flea markets I recommend from this trip. Also each of these towns has other little shops that can also be great.
Because of the rain everything was very lush and green.
and Fritz's shop...Aren't the colors inspiring?
A few years ago my husband and I were in Japan and found ourselves in a giant Muji store. Now Muji in Japan is way beyond the Muji stores here. We pretty much love everything Muji, and that went for the bikes too. My husband is REALLY into bikes, all kinds. The problem was that Muji doesn't sell them here and wouldn't ship us one. After much scheming and many tries (our friend's sister's friend, etc.) Ben got one for me. He got the basket from Wald and we spray painted it to match. I love how simple and classic it is.
I was in Hamtramck Michigan for Thanksgiving and went to the Polish Art Center. I bought this beautiful paper chandelier. It is made from tissue paper but the colors seem to have faded over time. I love it.
