So this is my last post in 2006 - tomorrow we are off to Thailand for 3 weeks, heading for Koh Lanta, Koh Bulon-Lae and Koh Hai. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year - See you in 2007!

p.s Thanks to all my Swap partners for a great Ornament Swap!

I adore these acrylic ornaments by Ferm-living, they are so decorative and refreshing. They come in a set of 12 pieces and you can buy them here. Make sure to check out Ferm´s wonderful wallpaper also.

I just finished this website Nyd Toscana for your friends in Lucca, they rent out great Tuscan houses and flats in the Lucca area.

Jeg har netop lavet dette website for vres venner i Lucca, som udlejer skønne ferielejligheder og feriehuse i Lucca og Toscana - så Nyd toscana.

Medusa Copenhagen makes some great figurines - and this crib makes me smile!

If I was to decorate for Christmas some more this year- these birds in mirror by the Danish designduo Bald & Bang would be hanging somewhere - but I´m not. Ínstead I´m trying hard to get ready for my Holidays in Thailand very soon...

Birds seen here

Here´s some great Christmas window graphics by London based Cartlidge Levene - and some great design projects too. Seen at designboom.

It was love at first sight when I saw this viking doll made by Herzenart - and all the angels and new Thorn Birds are so loveable too. I wish I could sew like that!
I saw the viking here.

Here are my favorite Christmas Angels and my favorite Christmas flowers -white amarylis! I posted this picture with both Lisa and LiseLotte in my mind - I have been following their sorrows the last days and eventhough I don´t know them in person, or their loved ones - I´ve been touch by their words and their experiences lately.

I´ve decorated a little for Christmas at home and at Spagat´s website where I´ve uploaded 2 new backgrounds - one is old and one is new and they both are blue.

My 2 1/2 years old daughter was sooo busy sunday morning - and seeing who she had invited for a tea-party I could understand why - very prominent guests for sure! - Just had to share this ´cause it really made me laugh.

The Buddhas are souvenirs from our travels in Asia - we try to find a new one every time we go there and have quite a collection now.

I saw this movie by One Point Oh - click here and not on the window - at Joys wonderful blog some days ago and thought I would share it with you. It´s so clever and simple and I wish it was my mine...

Here are my little paper birds for the Holiday Ornaments Swap. They are made of japanese craft paper which I got in Singapore this summer - thanks to Imelda . I don´t know who made the clever prototype, but they are quite simple to make if you have a glue gun - and I will post the instructions later this week if you wish? My swap partners all got 3 birds - for Peace Joy and Happiness - since that what it´s all about!

If you experience problems with posting photos on Blogger- just hit F5 and you´ll be fine!

So now December is here and we can start the count down for Christmas with a fun and simple Snowglobe project from Martha Stewart. I made my own snowglobes like this some years ago and it´s real simple.

Here´s a great tutorial on how to create the hot Photorealistic Perspective, from Fontshops great website.
This technique works well for text, logos and other vector artwork. It consists of taking a virtual photograph of the work by combining Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop filters. The end result can’t be distinguished from a real photograph. Some might prefer just to take a photograph - but I think it´s always great fun to learn new stuff!

En gruppe borgere har startet en underskriftsindsamling for "amnesti nu" til afviste asyl-ansøgere, som har været i Danmark i mere end tre år. Målet er at mobilisere 100.000 underskrifter. Amnestien gælder omkring 800 mennesker, heraf 200 børn, som har siddet på danske asylcentre i op til 8 år. De kommer fra bl.a. Irak, Kosovo og Iran. Deres mistrivsel er veldokumenteret og deres fremtid udsigtsløs.
Underskriftsindsamlingen er startet af danske borgere, som er skamfulde og indignerede over, at man i vort overskudssamfund tillader, at en gruppe medmennesker bliver behandlet dybt uanstændigt. Skriv under på www.amnesti-nu.dk

Foto fra filmen "Og hjertet er sort"- en dokumentarfilm af Maria Mac Dalland om at være afvist asylansøger i Danmark.

I love my new Selvedge magazine - how can you not love a magazine that has spreads and photos like these. Thanks for the link Lisa!. And best of all - the first issue arrived 3 days after subscribing which is so nice since I cancelled my beloved Print magazine subscription because they always arrived 1-2 months later than expected. It seems like there is a lot of magazine design jobs coming my way now at Spagat, and in my design research I found this cool magazine Carls Cars which is worth a look:)

If you have any cool magazine links I should know or visit - please let me know!

Just a few some more shells, these are from our trip to Thailand this summer, where I took more than 500 photos with my new camera...and they still have to be organized.

In 3 weeks time I´ll be looking for real sea shells at the beaches in Thailand! But that´s only one of the reasons why these creations by Ted Muehling appeals so much to me! Seen at Lena Corwins blog.

It´s getting cold outside and I wish Kalika made these hats for grown-ups too - I want the penguin one!

Everybody is blogging about it - but Mav from port2port has made the perfect giftguide.

Here´s some shots from our sunday walk - and a smile to brighten your day. Thanks Ana for linking to me and a warm welcome to all the Portuguese readers :)

I deliberately try not to visit Etsy too often, because I could easily spend too much time and money there...
But I love Etsy - since it allows you to buy and sell all things handmade. And I wish that sometime in the near future I´ll find time not only to drool over craft projects like these from craftyalien, but also to be crafty again. If you need a cute and crafty christmas project, be sure to check out her fabulous backyard critters patterns above and enjoy these EGGCELLENT - Eggs & Chicks - Magnets.

Here´s some Friday Fun for you. A cool collage machine that allows you to create your own digital collages online.
I planned to make my own Flash collage machine some years ago - but my Flash skills weren´t ready for a project this size. So I´m happy to see that someone else managed to create a great collage machine.

This new piece Jardins Brancos by Ana Ventura, from her new show, is also on my wishlist now! Make sure to visit her wonderful website full of great illustrations and art.

My Christmas-cards are for sale now. Send me an email if you are interested in bying a set of five cards and envelopes.

I´m back from a great weekend in Lucca :)

Just one last puffin which i forgot to post last week. From the cover of the Puffin Annual 1974, from Puffin Books. Very retro, cool and cute.

I love stamps and wouldn´t you just love to recieve a letter or postcard from Lundy Island with these stamps.
So puffin week is over now and a lovely relaxing Italian weekend is ahead - can´t wait to introduce Nanna to Italy. She can already say " ciao ciao-Gelato- bella bimba and mamma mia!" Have a great weekend - I´m back on Tuesday!

My old workspace in our flat sometimes looked like this before picture - and I would end up sitting with my laptop by the dinning table and work instead. So when I found my studio, I was kindly asked by my better half to clean up my mess! and I did!- and now my old messy and creative corner looks like this - which is so much better and calming to look at when you are at home and meant to relax. My stuffed puffin is from the Faroe Islands and is sitting next to Camilla´s print. If you also enjoy to see other creative peoples workspaces have a look here or visit Sabine and Shannon

Let me introduce my wooden puffin and my studio. The puffin from Iceland is hanging over my desk at work - and I love to pull it´s string now and then. From my desk I either look out the window to the left or the door in front of me - overlooking a hanging garden and a lovely birch tree. The studio is placed in an old chocolate factory inhabited by young firms working with design, architecture or technology and I share my workspace with 2 girls working with trends and fashion.

Can anyone guess where I´m going this weekend?

I love coincidences like this! - I just posted about Puffins today and a few hours later I discovered a new website inhabited by these great puffins made by the talented Eleanor Grosch. So I now declare this week for Puffin week - and please join if you have any cool puffin links or stuff. Another thing for my wishlist now is these cool Keds by Eleanor.

I adore this rare little Puffin, made by the famous Kaj Bojesen, who created some great toys.
I have a thing with puffins and would love to add this to my collection, but it costs more or less the same as a plane ticket to Thailand... so I choose Thailand for now - and keep dreaming of finding it in a second hand store at the price of a buss ticket instead.

I know it´s a bit late since October was Breast Cancer Awareness Month - and most of the great items above are already sold out. BUT breast cancer is always present and it´s an issue close to my heart, since both my mother and grandmother has suffered from it and survived it!. I donated money for Sofia Mannings foundraising campaign for The Danish Cancer Society, and you can still make donations here untill November 6th.
The delicate bracelets are designed by Helen Clara Hemsley.

Threadmill Dancing!

Had to post this video since I´ve just joined the Gym for the first time in many years & the good news is that I could still fit my work-out outfit! And if my time spent on the threadmill will be half as fun and cool as this video - getting fit will be a blast!

Fab Fabula!

So November is here - and it´s not a very good start when you wake up to really wet snow, strong winds and a bikeride. The photo is from my window this morning just to prove the snow - and to show off my new vase from Fabula. I´ve had my eyes on it for a long time and finally got it this friday at a big craftsmarket here in Århus. Come on November - you can do better than this!

1st of November is the last chance to sign up for Cake + Pie and Freshlyblended´s big Holiday Ornament Swap'06. The rules are simple ; Design an ornament that you can create multiples of and mail them to 8-10 other swap participants. You don´t have to be a blogger or designer to join - just a little crafty! More info here.
We will be celebrating Christmas in Thailand again this year - so this swap is a great way for me to be a little "christmas crafty" before we leave...

Please help me choose which one of these two illustrations to submit tonight to Penelopes Creative Halloween Contest.

deyrolle - paris

I couldn´t believe my eyes when I saw this fantastic shop in the new WeAR magazine. Deyrolle is definitely on my To- do-list next time I go to Paris - and already on my Favorite Shop´s list, since they have butterflies, stuffed animals - real ones!, conch shell, books and stationary. They even have an online shop where you can buy posters or maybe a stuffed polarbear! ( I´m not sure if the big animals are for sale or for rent) Have a happy weekend.

Kunstudstilling 27- 29 okt.

This painting is by my friend who is having an group exhibition this weekend in Vejle, Denmark - her new paintings are a wonderful mix of paint, graphics, wallpaper, collage and drawings.

5 forskellige billedkunstnere fortolker begrebet EVA, i en spændende kunstudstilling på Bredallund v. Vejle i denne weekend. Fredag 27.11 fra 14 - 19, lørdag og søndag fra 11- 18. Kørselsvejledning findes her. Vel mødt!

scissorhands´art

The queen of links posted about artist Su Blackwell today, and I just had to post her wonderful book/cut sculptures here. I sure hope that Su´s little girl escapes the woods and enters Peter Callesen´s castle below - what a perfect scissorhand match.

childrens´ art

I saw this painting this weekend and think it´s a really cool idea for painting with children. Find an old second hand landscape painting and have some children add people and life to it.

evelution - photoshop me!

I guess we all have days where we wish someone would give us a little make-over, just like this lucky girl gets in the Dove ad that aims to teach females about "real" beauty. Enjoy and have a lovely weekend.

photojojo

Photojojo has a great newsletter - if you enjoy to take photos and are looking for ideas about what you can do with your photos and with your camera. As they say "We find the most kick-ass photo tips, DIY projects, and gear and bring them to you. Photography isn’t just about capturing a moment, it’s also about seeing the ordinary in a new light. The photos above are from their Think Small for a New Photographic Perspective .

Live Trace Love

I´m SO in love with the new Live Trace feature in Illustrator CS2 - I´ve been playing with it for the last 2 days and still can´t stop smiling :) If you sometimes miss the old Streamline program - it´s because you haven´t discovered the Live Trace buttom yet. Place a picture and hit the magic buttom that converts images into tracing objects.

tiny zoo by Karin Mannerstål

At Formland I fell in love with these animals by Karin Mannerstål. She is a multi-talented Swedish designer who is working with many different materials and media. The graphics of this pattern reminds me of some drawings in one of my childhood´s books - but I can´t recall which one. See more here or here.