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.

friday fun - What do you need?

Here´s a fun game for your friday. Just type your name+ needs into the google searchbar - and find out what you really need. Here´s my first 20 results for Sidsel. D0n´t cheat!
Sidsel needs;
- a partner with wisdom and intuition
- clients and audiences
- children
- education
- Help?
- to recognize the authenticity of both worlds
- to earn money
- some more sunshine
- transformers
- to hear yet another old standard ballad
- to be a perl monger
- to change
- to colour'em
- some power
- You
- to be focussed
- space
- a nap!
- analysis
- support from the world

creative halloween contest

Penelope Dullaghan creator of Illustration Friday and wonderfull illustrations, is hosting a creative halloween contest. Create anything you want with the black and orange palette and submit only one piece before Oct 31st.

trouble - heart - Illustration Friday

Here´s my second entry for Trouble - at Illustration Friday. The writing on both illustrations is the french version of the song Canto (segrete stanze) by one of my favorite Italian singers, Gianmaria Testa.
... e non sapremo mai da che segrete stanze scaturisca il canto e da quali lontananze, paure, rabbia, tenerezzao rimpiantoe da quale nostalgia prenda voce e parta questa lunga scia che ancora adesso e imprevedibilmente ci porta via.

Trouble - secrets - Illustration Friday

Inspired by Michelle´s great collages - I decided to play a little with one of my old collages in photoshop. I added the black silhouette to make it clearer that this women is very secretive and could be Trouble - which is this weeks theme at Illustration Friday . I haven´t participated for a long time and so I thought it would be ok to post two illustrations this week.

wall calendars

Another way to decorate your walls is with a calendar. Mayland has designed a family calendar, where you can coordinate up to 6-person´s schedules while enjoying the postcards by sensen. And if you just need a very special work of art, then Camilla´s new calendar is for sale. Also Dadadum has designed this great interactive calendar where you trace a line every day, and by the end of the month you will have obtained an illustration- it´s for sale here.

wallpaper wildlife

I know a little girl who would love to have her room decorated with a barbapapa or one of these animals by inke - and her mother definitely has her eyes on the yellow giraffe!

listen -spc

I needed a perfect birthday gift for a perfect friend, and decided to give her one of Camilla Engman´s delicate prints named Listen. I also gave myself the same print as a reminder of one of my imperfections! It´s not that I don´t listen - I just sometimes forget to answer out loud - especially to my close ones - in my head I answer them and then I just continue with my own doings. I know I´ve upset quite a few people over the years with this habit of mine - please excuse me - and know that I´m working on it! It feels great to have one of Camilla´s pieces in my home - since her blog and her great collection of links were my introduction to this great universe of crafty and creative bloggers. Make sure to explore her homepage!

blurb - create your own books!

Blurb - lets you make your very own book in only a few steps. I haven´t tried their service yet since they only ship to US and Canadian adresses so far. But I have made my own photobooks at Kodak and love this feature and the final results - great books without glue and sticky fingers on photos! So go ahead and make your very own - blog book, cookbook, travel photo book, poetry book, Best of 2006 book, you name it – and have it shipped directly to you. I have a coupon for complimentary shipping* on your next book so send me an email if you want it before the 15.th of November. P:S If you are a Mac user you have a similar feature through Ifoto.

Here an example of one of my Kodak Photo Books.

Secrets and imperfections

Inspired by this months theme at SPC - Imperfections - which I will post more about later - I give you this link that allows you to anonymously contribute your secrets to the PostSecret blog. Each secret can be a regret, hope, funny experience, unseen kindness, fantasy, belief, fear, betrayal, erotic desire, feeling, confession, or childhood humiliation. Reveal anything - as long as it is true and you have never shared it with anyone before. You can also see some of the secrets published as books here. Ps the secret above is not mine:)

in the mood for autumn?

If you´re in the the mood for autumn you can now decorate your desktop with this picture from my website.
And if you would like to receive a set of my cards - then send me an email with your adress and I´ll be happy to send you a set :)

rice - autumn/winter 2006

I´m happy that Holly, owner of the great designblog Decor8 has just discovered Rice while in Germany - and if you don´t know the company yet, then let me introduce you to one of my old favorite companies, Rice. Fun is one of our key-words - combined with function and a touch of colour. Our aim is to make everyday lives more fun to be in... from their homepage.
They do have a great sense of fun, colours and patterns! And on top of that all Rice products designed and developed in Denmark, are produced in the third world with respect for people, for example does their crochet items alone assure the survival of 300 families in Madagascar. Be inspired! Here´s a German webshop and a Danish webshop with Rice products - they both ship to Europe.

october

Went for a walk yesterday in our local deer park - wearing t-shirt and shades - the trees were still green and autumn seemed nowwhere around - but today has been grey and rainy - so maybe yesterday actually was the last day of Indian Summer and autumn as we know it has begun. Quote from quotationspage.
If winter is slumber and spring is birth, and summer is life, then autumn rounds out to be reflection. It's a time of year when the leaves are down and the harvest is in and the perennials are gone. Mother Earth just closed up the drapes on another year and it's time to reflect on what's come before.
Mitchell Burgess, Northern Exposure, Thanksgiving, 1992

rinko kawauchi

What wonderfull photos by the 34-year-old artist Rinko Kawauchi. She has become one of the most celebrated japanese photographers of her generation and if you are near the milanese gallery Carla Sozzani you can enjoy a selection of photographs from her latest series. And after a perfect risotto and vino I suggest you also visit studiolacitta to explore Jacob Hashimoto´s amazing works and installations. Both seen at designboom. Enjoy!

my cousins wedding

My cousin got married this saturday, and they actually managed to organize their wedding in only a months time while being in DK on vacation - and everything turned out just the way they had hoped for! I´m so impressed by this fact also since she is the mother of 3, the youngest only 4 months old. She found her wedding outfit in 2 days - and looked stunning! I did all the flower arrangements late friday night and enjoyed it so much, eventhough last week was so stressfull in many ways.

selfportrait challenge - me+sister+cousin

I came across this picture this friday, while preparing a diasshow for my cousin´s wedding and I love it! but I just can´t believe how old it makes me look - it looks like it was taken centuries ago - and not "only" 35 years ago! But here we are - a great trio; me in the pram 1-year old, my sister 3-years old and my cousin on the bike 5 -years old. We grew up almost like sisters and have shared so many wonderfull moments together. Thought it was perfect for this months theme at SPC - with someone.

Angie Lewin

Just revisited Angie Lewins website today and thought that these prints fit this september brilliantly. The weather has been so lovely all month with 20 degrees, clear blue sky and autum colours just slowly starting to show. Her printed work in linocut, wood engraving and collage, somehow reminds me of the patterns I saw in my grandmothers house on dresses and teatowels etc. and I feel very inspired to create some new patterns myself soon again and to buy some of her prints or some fabric .

chrocheted hunting trophies

The past few days have been crazy, since Nanna´s day nursery is shut down due to a physical blockade formed by us parents because of huge spending cuts. On top of that I´ve been a grass widow for 10 days untill today where Klaus luckily returned back home from Bangkok !! So now he has actually experienced the country both during a Tsunami and a military coup - guess he deserves a trophy too. Just fell in love with these trophies today and had to share them with you, they are made by Hanne Grønlund and Anette Johns and are for sale here.

selfportrait challenge - nanna & me as stock models

I was freelancing yesterday and they desperately searched for a stock photo of a person with a stroller. So this is how the search stopped - by taking a picture of Nanna and me in the afternoon at the parking lot + a little photoshop and then suddenly we are walking in a 3D visualization in front of a house and garden that doesn´t really exist! We will see if the client accepts us as stock models - but isn´t it amazing what we can create in this digital age?

Susanne Scherning´s new website is up - so now I can finally share her great pillows with you. I love her mix of colours, fabrics and prints. And here´s one of my crafty projects inspired by her style - pillows for Nanna´s room, with fabrics from IKEA and a piece of Tea tovel and some prints from my friends great laminating film printer.

And this pillow actually ended up as an illustration also, after I played with it in Photoshop.

minnie and me - selfportrait challenge

Here´s my entry for Selfportrait Challenge´s September theme ‘with someone‘. So here I am with Minnie Mouse. Just got this balloon for my daugther - because I always wanted a balloon like this as a child - but never got one because they were too expensive! My 2 -year old daugther doesn´t have a clue who Minnie is yet - but we´ve had a lot of fun playing around with her today and I just love the way Minnie´s colours match mine...