Poppy and Cinnamon have just been joined by little Carol. She's a sweet little thing and has already settled in well with the two older cats. Cinnamon is still quite young, so the two of them are often to be found tearing around the apartment in typical kitten fashion. Poppy (the boss) keeps an eye on everything, from a safe distance of course.
There has been a little bit of sewing going on here. Not much, but a few stitches here and there. Sometimes, like today, something actually gets finished!
I learnt how to make these flowers at a Julie Arkell workshop, and I can't stop making them! I love choosing the fabrics for each flower and I love that it's a quick project that (with a small baby) only takes me a couple of days to finish. Perfect!
Below you can see some beautiful shots of the Malmö apartment belonging to Magnus Lundgren of lovely blog Mäster Henriks. His home is featured in the February issue of Swedish mag Antik & Auktion. Hope I can get my hands on a copy, would love to see/read more...
Images © Carolina Romare.
Absolutely gorgeous fabric from Freespirit, found at Purl Soho. Designed by Dena Fishbein of Dena Designs, my favourite from the Kumari Garden range is Pink Marala, below. You can see the whole range here.
Image from Purl Soho.
I have to admit I am not sorry to say goodbye to 2010. It's been a tough year. In fact, apart from the arrival of gorgeous little Nora, it's been the worst year. Stress, insomnia, a tough pregnancy, difficult people, more colds and flus than I care to count...
Then, in November my dear dad lost his incredibly courageous two year battle with cancer. I managed to get back to Australia in time to spend 12 days with him before he died, and for that I am so very very grateful. And he got to meet little Nora, which I know brought him immense joy.
So I hope you can understand why there have been so many absences here on sam's notebook during 2010. Thank you to everybody who has stayed around, commented and emailed even when there has been no response. It means more than you can ever imagine.
Happy New Year to all of you! Here's to a happy, healthy and joyous 2011! The only way is up.
Image from this isn't happiness.
This time round with little Nora I splurged* and bought a gorgeous Liberty covered nursing pillow from one of my favourite shops in Copenhagen, Crème de la Crème à la Edgar. I cannot tell you how much I love this pillow! It is incredibly comfortable and easy to use, is very well made, and it is oh so lovely to look at - important for the hours and hours spent on the couch nursing a little one!
The inner cushion is made from unbleached cotton and is filled with 100% organic spelt shells (according to the website, spelt shells are known for their ability to calm and not overheat). The cushion is designed and produced in Denmark, and best of all, Crème de la Crème à la Edgar has just opened an online shop and will ship internationally.
Images from CPH kids.
* In the end it wasn't really a splurge since the "cheaper" polyester-filled cartoon character-covered nursing pillow that I had for Charlie was almost the same price as this lovely pillow. And I had to throw that pillow away when I had finished nursing Charlie as it had not held up very well to daily use.
Part underground restaurant, part art installation, The Pale Blue Door is a travelling fairytale restaurant with loads of attitude. Read more about The Pale Blue Door and British set designer Tony Hornecker here, here and here, and see more pics here.
Wish something like this would come to my neck of the woods!
Images by Manuel Vazquez.
These beautiful paints below are the result of a recent collaboration between Fired Earth and the National Trust. I love the way the thirty-six colours are displayed in the pic below.
Our recently renovated bathroom has a free-standing bath from Fired Earth - the bath was delivered white and I painted the exterior using Fired Earth's acryllic eggshell in Pale Cirrus (from the Elements of Colour paint range). The paint was wonderful to work with and we love the final finish. I would definitely use Fired Earth paints again!
Image from Fired Earth.
This necklace by German jewelry designer Nora Rochel is just incredible. Made of whitened silver, the detail is unbelievable.
Images from Nora Rochel.
I love love love this quilt by Janey Forgan. Made entirely from Liberty of London Tana Lawn.
Image from V&A.
Another absolutely beautiful print from Amanda Blake. Click on the image to get a better view!
Image from thisisalliknow (Amanda Blake) on etsy.
Love this blog! If these pics below don't inspire you to get baking, I don't know what will!
Images from What Katie Ate. All Images © Katie Quinn Davies.
This is my idea of heaven. I read here that the Liberty of London fabric studio has a fabric archive that is almost 135 years old. The fabric-lined wall below is just a very small part of the archive - I would so love to see the rest!!!!
Make sure you click on the image to see more detail!
Image from Liberty blog.
Tired of shapeless, poor quality winter coats that barely last a season, G is on the hunt for the perfect winter coat. I think the Wool Revere Coat from F.S.C. could be THE one. But the price. Oh my.
Or do you think the price is acceptable when you consider that the quality of the fabric and the level of workmanship mean that the coat will probably see you through many many winters?
Images from Freemans Sporting Club. Found via lovely blog The New Victorian Ruralist.
The bathroom is the preferred hangout now that the temperature outside has dropped and the underfloor heating has been switched on!
Cinnamon and Poppy
After the Julie Arkell workshop I attended at the beginning of July, I have a small obsession with suffolk puffs. Or "puffer pots" as C insists on calling them. She can't quite get her tongue around "suffolk puff".
Not sure if these will end up as a cushion or bag. Probably a cushion.
Little Nora Pearl arrived August 11 at 20:55, weighing 3.8 kg and 52 cm in length.
She's 19 days old today!
I love the pattern and colour in this 1940s comfy quilt from UK online shop Velvet Ribbon. Many more vintage quilts here, hard to pick a favourite!
Images from Velvet Ribbon.
1. mare 6x6 2. delicious neighbouring trunk 3. love antique 4. 7* 5. somewhere in odessa 6. untitled 7. boxed up 8. untitled 9. yellow :: shoes 10. sixteen 11. oh, sigh 12. untitled 13. untitled 14. on a walk 15. setagaya line* 16. liberty 17. chalky plums 18. shed 19. flowers * 花 20. untitled 21. a whatnot garland... 22. for oatmeal and sugar 23. new pattern wip 24. blueberry lassi 25. film.220 26. books 27. purple cabinets 28. untitled 29. rags. 30. stitching the quilt 31. gold in the air of summer 32. niceness.co.uk 33. kitchen garden 34. vintage mix in the kitchen 35. summer blur 36. untitled
From sketch to final composition, by French illustrator Chloé Rémiat.
Images from Chloé Rémiat's blog, ti'bout.
Postcards from Apolline à Paris and atelier Midi à 14h! How beautiful are these????
Images from la Marelle Editions.
Original watercolour painted paper collages by DearDodo on etsy.
on horseback
small village big dog
Images by DearDodo.
Grab a cup of coffee (or tea!) and take some time to check out the gorgeous website and blog of Japanese illustrator Yoshie.
From yoshie’s travel diary
”yoshie's favorite goods in British House”
Pen, colour pencil on paper 2009
Fabric illustration for cinema
“Je M’appelle Elisabeth” Japan campaign
Scraps of fabric, stitch, acrylic etc on cloth 2008
Yay! A new cookbook from Swedish chef Leila Lindholm! One More Slice looks just as beautiful as her last book (A Piece of Cake), with the delicious recipes and lovely styling I think we have all come to expect from Leila.
I had a nice browse through Becky's copy and even got to sample some absolutely scrumptious brownies Becky had made from it. One More Slice is definitely on my shopping list!
Images from cdon.com.
Yesterday's post about British jewellery designer Jo Pond reminded me of this wonderful piece (first pic) from Viv of Hen's Teeth which I have had in my bookmarks forever. I love the combination of the old tin, the found objects and the beautiful stitching.
Then today while browsing Viv's photostream on flickr I found the gorgeous heart brooch in the lower pic, a more recent piece from Viv. Love it!
Images from Hen's Teeth on flickr.
Some beautiful pieces from UK jewellery designer Jo Pond. Found via lovely blog my black book.
tin with brush and locket
book cover brooch with found metal
book cover brooch with collection plate
Images from Jo Pond.
Gorgeous painting by Canadian artist Janet Hill. Can't seem to get enough of these colours right now!
Image from Janet Hill Studio.
Thinking about these colours for a blanket like this. Just not sure about stitching all the squares together and weaving in all those ends!
Image from LoopKnitLounge.
The postman was very good to me today and this gorgeous fabric finally arrived on my doorstep. It is designed by Jone Hallmark for Free Spirit and is one of my absolute favourites. I first saw this fabric over a year ago when I met the wonderful Jone at a Julie Arkell workshop in France - Jone gave me a little snippet of it which she had dyed with tea (it looks even more beautiful with the tea dye!), and I have been trying to track down more of it ever since.
And in a lovely coincidence, today the postman also delivered a letter from Jone herself! Thanks Jone, will answer soon I promise!
Image from fabric.com.
1. elderberry 2. grey 3. almofadinhas 4. davecoote.com 5. davecoote.com 6. kitchen 7. charlotte liddle 8. untitled 9. days in porto 10. a spiderweb painted in watercolour. 11. tree house quilt 12. cherry blossoms 13. vintage green patchwork 14. san telmo 15. jane 16. claire goes swimming 17. 365:139 18. honey, look at the bright side 19. untitled 20. prick your finger 21. untitled 22. untitled 23. barco (3) 24. julie arkell flowers 25. dolls house 26. ficus carica 27. pants for the babe 28. colori d'estate, uno stranissimo 29. making the bed 30. scraparadise 31. double chocolate & raspberry pavlova 32. changing tents 33. 359/365: macaron 34. green/white 35. new old blueberry shelf 36. pins
Beautiful sewn pictures made from vintage fabrics and threads and found objects, by UK textile artist Penny Leaver Green.
Image from Penny Leaver Green on flickr.
A few days ago I read about Tirups Örtagård (Tirups Herb Garden) on a lovely local blog called Mäster Henriks. So yesterday we hopped in the car and headed out to spend what turned out to be a very enjoyable afternoon wandering around the plant nursery, herb gardens and fantastic children's playground. We finished up with cake and coffee in the beautiful gardens - perfect! Thanks to Magnus of Mäster Henriks for the wonderful recommendation!
It was a cool cloudy day here in Skåne yesterday and the garden was a little past its best after the heat of the last few weeks, so the photos I did take are not so blog-worthy - instead here are a few from the Tirups Örtagården website. Enjoy!
Images from Tirups Örtagård.
Found here.
I would love to be able to paint our apartment building these colours! Although I am fairly sure the heritage protection laws for our building would not allow it... Will have to be content with planting some flowers out the front I think, perhaps some hollyhocks as they seem to do amazingly well here, in not so perfect conditions. Will have to get G (the gardener in the family) onto it!
Image by MIgraciónTOtal on flickr.
I love this antique iron bed from French boutique Atelier Charivari. They have just started shipping all over Europe - could be dangerous!
Images from Atelier Charivari.
1. wallpaper gula 2. scrap quilt 3. toadstools 4. crochet brooch 5. little sewing machine 6. texas antique week 7. yellow shoes charlotte liddle 8. pola paris 9. pile of peonies 10. untitled 11. 'be' mini art quilt 12. granny 4 baby 13. block times 36 14. untitled 15. purple tread 16. beau beatty 17. untitled 18. ruffley 19. 5a 20. pink in pink 21. buzz buzz 22. finished stitching sampler 23. button 24. untitled 25. ticker tape progress 26. quilts 27. two fried eggs, james fraser 28. untitled 29. dorothy bag 30. rose pincushion, front 31. buttercup bag 32. binding 33. untitled 34. moths 35. fave shop 36. goldenrod
Apologies for the unexplained and unintentionally long blogging break! Below you can see the major work in progress which, among other things, has conspired to keep me away from my beloved blogland for so long. This particular WIP is due for completion around August 10!
Thank you so much to everyone who commented and sent such lovely emails during my absence, I hope you will all be back as I try to return to regular-ish posting.
Merry Christmas! Hope you are having a fabulous time where ever you are!
The beautiful blue angel below (in the back row with flowers in her hair) was sent to me by Danielle - thank you so much Danielle, you can't imagine how much joy and excitement she bought with her when she arrived and was unwrapped by trembling little three-year old hands!
Image from Ragtales.
It's grey, miserable and dark outside and we all know that doesn't make for the best pictures, so here's a sneak peak of the new bathroom until better light comes my way! The builders finished up today - two weeks later than expected, but just in time for some friends who are arriving on Thursday to stay for four days. Phew!