• Bewusst Leben,  Sarines Stöde

    Boho bedroom curtains

    I keep hoarding fabric – luckily, I am also still riding that wave where I keep making stuff.

    About a third of last week’s bounty. The other day I decided the only reason for me to be allowed inside a thrift store for the rest of the month is to drop off stuff, not to drag home more. We’ll see how long I can last …

    My most recent project: curtains for the second bedroom window.

    I used these (thrifted, what else) as inspiration.
    My idea was that if the two curtains had the same shape, I would be ok with the fact that they have different patterns/colors (I like having pairs of two, it’s a feng shui hang-up I guess).
    Well, as you can see, the curtain I made myself doesn’t quite have the same shape as the original. The half-circle simply turned out too long, covering too much of the window. So the crocheted strings to tie things up was my lazy-fix.
    Maybe this type of crochet-lacing is becoming my signature or something – I did it on the curtains for the closet, too.

    After initially worrying I might have gone too far with this one (too much going on, pattern-, color-, crochet-trimming-wise), I realized that I really do like the over-the-top-too-much-ness of it. I guess it’s officially time I fess up: I really dig having too much of everything when it comes to mixing colors and patterns, styles/crafting techniques. In fact, it’s barely enough.

    Speaking of too much is never enough: I can never have enough plants, either.

    My excuse for buying these guys was that they were compensation for Peter’s plants, which have been mutilated by Oden and Freya (our cats, not the god/godess their named after).
  • Bewusst Leben,  Sarines Stöde

    The Holmberg Bag

    I am sure I have mentioned my obsession with Karin Holmberg. Well, her art, that is. The other day I embroidered this purse inspired by one of her designs.

    The bag, the thread, the fabric & the buttons are thrifted.
    I love how little (time, material, know-how) it takes for these kind of embroidery projects. I mean that in a good way: all you really need is some fabric, thread and a needle.
    One can obviously create very elaborate pieces. But you don’t have to. I love the fact that even the things you create on the way to get to that level (if that is you goal at all) turn out great.
  • Bewusst Leben,  Sarines Stöde

    Boho bedroom

    A friend asked me to show some pictures of our house. Since the bedroom has been my latest project, and the only one that I am not done yet happy with, I started with that. Voilà:

    The canopy is made of coated silver thread. A life-saver for my electrosensitive boyfriend, but also very cozy and decorative.
    The bedspread was a gift from my mom. Love it, most of all the strong colors. One of the reasons why I will never have one of those all-white houses, as much as I admire them in magazines and on blogs.
    I’m not very skilled at sewing. Basically, I am good at pillowcases. I made these from a fabric I had bought in Gothenburg three years ago. I am a big believer in feng shui and decluttering – but sometimes you gotta hoard stuff until the perfect use for it magically appears.
    Those night stands are two of my deeply cherished thrift-store treasures. On the more expensive side for being thrifted, but definitely worth it.
    Another thrift-store project. Since we’ve stripped the house of as much electricity as we could, we’re using candles instead of electric lights for the most part. After coming home from yet another thrift-store raid with a bunch of candle holders that I had no idea what do with, I suddenly remembered this tray (also thrifted), and a few other candle holders I had collected over the years, and got the idea for this blue-blue-green „still life“. I often light it when I do yoga in the evening.
    Those kind of rag rugs are very typical here in Sweden. I love them: great against the cold floors, and very cheerful. Thrifted, of course. So is the drawer chest (it is an IKEA, though) …
    … and the chandelier.
    This still life makes me want to believe that devouring interior design blogs and magazines finally rubbed off. Candle holders, tray, big jar: thrifted …
    … Decorative vials: gifted (by a friend who remembered me admiring them at IKEA).
    Let there be light.
    The smell of this jacinth is incredible: at first I thought one of my vials was leaking. Love this way of growing them without soil in water, being able to see the roots all long and tangled. From what I understand this is a pretty brutal method of growing them, though. Going to give this bulb some rest next year and bury it in the ground.
    Finished this thrift’n’craft project today: curtains for our hand me down closet that came without doors. Big improvement, somehow it seems to be one of my superpowers to keep the inside of my half look messy no matter how neatly I fold my clothes.
    My sister-in-law gave me this awesome boho crocheting book for Christmas, which inspired my making of the curtain.
    Oden. Usually he prefers to lie under the bed …
    … but sometimes we can make him see the point of lying on top of it.
    The window sill is pretty popular, too.

    Ok, I am starting to post cat pictures. Time to go home.

    In case you’re wondering: yes, some of those pictures are taken with a different camera. After realizing that 1. we spent less money on Christmas than anticipated, and 2. that we regret the things we didn’t buy more often than we regret the things we did buy, we came to the conclusion that it was time for me to get the thing I had been pining for for several years now: an SLR. I bought it second-hand, of course, and I am really happy with it. The body is a Nikon D90, the lens is from an older, analog model. I can’t wait to get an adapter for the M42-lenses I have lying around. If you have any experience with/advice on those kind of adapter rings, I’d be grateful for your comments.

  • Bewusst Leben,  Sarines Stöde

    Christmas presents | Wall hangings

    I have been in a crafting frenzy for the past weeks. I got this idea that I wanted to create wall hangings for my nieces and nephews this Christmas. I have been interested in sewing but never patient enough to learn all the proper techniques. I basically could do pillow cases and bags – no zippers, of course, and don’t even think of checking the seams on the inside …

    My grandma showed me when I was little, but as far as I remember, when it got tricky I just let her do the work for me. But, as it turns out, you you can still do some pretty amazing stuff with a sewing machine, even if you don’t know very much. Which is great for someone like me who doesn’t have a lot of patience when it comes to learning new things. I want to be able to create something I like right away, I don’t want to have to practice and do a lot of projects that are doomed to turn out sucky just because I don’t have the techniques down.

    My sister-in-law gave me a sewing book by Poppy Treffry a few years ago which I loved and found very inspirational. Basically, this artist uses her sewing machine to draw beautiful, quirky, and – what I probably love most about them – very colorful pictures.

    A recent trip to the library reminded me of another crafty person whose work I love: Karin Holmberg, a Swedish artist. She does mostly embroidery, inspired by traditional Swedish techniques and patterns, also very beautiful, fun, and colorful.

    Embroidery is even better than sewing in a way from the perspective that you need even less equipment, knowledge, and/or patience (at least when it comes to the mastering-a-skill-part).

    So for my wall hangings I combined the two, sewing and embroidery, and it was very rewarding for several reasons:

    • My compulsive fabric purchases at thrift-stores finally were justified.
    • Sewing and embroidering turned out to have a highly meditative effect on me. Maybe due to my inexperience I found myself very focused on what I was doing, being very present in the moment, and for once: not thinking.
    • Also: like most people, I enjoy physically creating something, especially when it’s something beautiful. Is there anything greater than the feeling you get when something you pictured comes into physical existence through your hands, and turns out (nearly) exactly as you saw it before your mind’s eye?

    Unfortunately, my camera (actually, the batteries) and I weren’t really seeing eye to eye today, so I don’t have very many pix, and even less good ones. But here’s what I’ve got, will try to take more soon.

    https://flic.kr/p/q6Kqq4

    https://flic.kr/p/qobGgn

    https://flic.kr/p/prcxgW

  • Bewusst Leben,  Sarines Stöde

    Let it grow

    It has been quiet around here, I know. I think our slow internet connection at home is the main reason, but also I went through a rough patch where I didn’t feel like I had anything to share here. Things have turned around faster than I could have imagined, and I am feeling inspired and determined to breathe some life back into this blog.

    We finally finished building our greenhouse last week (no pix yet), and sowed a bunch of vegetables on the patch of land Peter has been preparing – with more help from his family than from me, ehem. I blame the long office days due to the commute … so, thanks Birgitta, Stefan and Felix! The patch shrank somewhat from our original megalomaniac outline when we had to face the reality of the hard physical labor involved when preparing the soil … Pix soon to come.

    Also, I seem to have found the holy grail (yup, once again) when it comes to health/nutrition. It comes in the form of two books (by the same genius authors, Dr. Mary Enig and Sally Fallon), namely Nourishing Traditions and Eat Fat, Lose Fat. I know, the latter sounds like it’s just another dieting book but it is really more about health in general than (just) weight loss. Hopefully I can keep the momentum, and write an entry just about those (which is the least they deserve).

    What would a post be without some pix? Exactly.

    In May …

    … I was at a wedding in Germany,
    *
    I bought mint at a Thai food store. The branches will grow new roots if you put them into water. After a while you can plant the mint – like so.
    A friend gave me the tip to pre-grow tomatoes in milk cartons. One can just cut those open when it’s time to plant them in the greenhouse. Since we get our milk from the local farm, I had my colleagues collect the milk cartons in the kitchen at work. Thanks guys!
    … we had our first breakfast outside. Usually the spot by the barn is best for dinner, since that’s where the sun is going towards the evening.
    There’s fish in the little creek going through our land!

     

    In June …

    … Peter’s nephew turned five.
    He’s into chocolate cake and ninja turtles.
    We got him this.
    *
    These belong to Peter’s niece, and they reminded me of a project I had waiting in a drawer at home …
    Finished those yesterday.
    Very happy with the result. Don’t even care that I am being mocked with comments about circuses coming to town …
    *
    Lupines everywhere! Love them.
    *

     

  • Bewusst Leben,  Sarines Stöde

    Castration, crafts, and germination

    Totally not motivated to sit at office any longer on a Saturday afternoon, even less motivated after discovery that cute cat pictures still on camera, not computer. No other recent pictures, so words only. Bear with me (hate blog posts without pix, worse than posts with only cute animal pix).

    Writing about cute animals instead. Cats, ours. Minus one penis, luckily not holding a grudge – phew! Enough about cute cats.

    Officially a member of Stöde Form now (only took 6 months, not due to elaborate application process but to simple procrastination process). Working at the store/café once a week and getting lots of tips and inspiration on gardening and mushroom picking. Great stuff!

    Purchased seed starting set. Want tomatoes and peppers, need greenhouse, though. Planning on planting tomato and pepper seeds tomorrow as motivation to build greenhouse.

    There. Update in 150 words or less.

  • Bewusst Leben,  Sarines Stöde

    Just one thing

    I have been thinking a lot about how long I haven’t written anything, and how I could catch you up on everything that has happened. It’s been so much, though, that it’s only made me put off writing. So I decided I’d just write to say I’m still here. I still need to go to the library for internet (and that won’t change anytime soon), so for now my goal is just to post when I can, not about EVERYTHING that has happened since the last post but about one thing.

    I haven’t been knitting or crocheting for a while now but I borrowed some books that might just inspire me enough to change that:

    Garn garn garn by Susanna Zacke and Sania Hedengren

    and Garnnystan och tygtravar by the same authors

    They are full of colorful projects that seem fairly easy, so I might even stand a chance of following through …

    Oh yeah: on my search for the titles I found Susanna Zacke’s and Sania Hedengren’s blog, and it turns out that they just published one of their books in English – Fun with Yarn and Fabric:

    I think I need to go home now and crochet something … Hope you all have a good day!

     

  • Bewusst Leben,  Sarines Göteborg

    Knitted poofs | How To

    Couldn’t stop myself from searching for a How To on these puppies.

    Picture via.

    I found this one on Knittastic. No idea when or if I’ll get around to this …

    PS: I know I am behind on this trend but I am slow that way. I always have to go through the process of 1. rejecting the hype, 2. getting used to it, 3. liking it just in time for everyone else to have moved on to something else (at which point the process starts all over).

  • Bewusst Leben,  Sarines Göteborg

    What I do when I am not packing | Procrastination

    We mean business. No, not the banana trade business. We mean the business that is packing so we get outta here.

    We got boxes alright …

    Now we just have to pack our stuff. We still don’t know when we’re going to be able to move but when you think about it, packing a little each day would make it so much easier in the long run. „Would“ being the operative word here, since you know how these things go: you start out with a totally sensible game plan, and then you end up putting it off until the last minute, 30 seconds of which will be spent wondering why you didn’t stick with your plan, and what did you do with all that time anyway that you didn’t spent packing.

    Well, let this be my account for at least part of that time not spent packing: obviously, I spend that time on the internet. Looking for inspiration for the part of the renovating process that I am looking forward to the most but which I already realized is going to end up pretty much on the bottom of the priority list of things that need fixing – decorating. Even I realized that waterproofing exterior unfortunately trumps beautifying interior.

    So this is me preparing to get sucked into an alternate universe where things are upside down:

    I am definitely into the style of Jess‘ room …
    … and not just because it basically feels like my own after watching two seasons of New Girl in three days
    Digging the technical drawing of the dandelion.
    I also dig Catalina Estrada’s folklore wall paper art, although I don’t really care for how it looks like it was drawn on a computer. I guess I would like for it to be a little more scrawly.
    Still – pretty cool.
    ***
    ***
    I could go on – but I won’t check out Catalina Estrada’s site for more
    More folklore
    … and more. I wouldn’t want any of our rooms to look like this but I am liking the whole bright-colors-lots-of-ornaments-and-small-decorative-items thing that these folklore style rooms have going on
    Love the wall AND the tiles.
    I could also get down with an idea on the other end of the scale: an all white room with one element that pops out. Not necessarily with china dolls or a cheetah carpet …
    (Another) Future DIY project?
    Very much into yellow lately. I wonder if it’s just a phase or if I could actually live with wallpapers like these for a while … I’m thinking downstairs hallway. To be honest, I have seen these PiP wallpapers in a look book at a store (passing time waiting for the library to open, not that you asked), and I didn’t think they looked that great from up close. Anything that is processed by computer kind of loses it’s soul in my eyes … Maybe I need to draw my own wallpapers …
    Also digging turquoise in general and this baby in particular. Nice job!

    Well, so much for now. How do you spend your time procrastinating stuff? Got any inspiration for me (not in the procrastination department, doing pretty ok there by myself, but in the decorating department)? Feel free to send it my way!

     

  • Bewusst Leben,  Sarines Göteborg

    Indian-Per

    Last night we visited a former colleague of Peter’s. They don’t call him „Indian-Per“ for nothing: he’s single-handedly turned the farm he bought into a ranch. This guy really has an eye (and two hands) for details. I took some pix, check it out:

    Where there’s an Indian-Per, there’s a tipi … or three … aiming for twelve (!)
    The stables. Indian-Per has two horses and a dog, all three of which are so well trained that they walk around on the property without any fence. Impressive. And adorable.

    Bathtubs upcycled – how cool is that?

    This is actually the view from the terrace, so imagine sitting in one of those bathtubs and looking at this (the sauna, btw).
    And of course, the sauna itself has a great view of the pond, too (which I managed not to capture here).

    So inspiring to meet someone with a vision and so much drive. Inspiration is important, Per agreed – inspiration not to copy others but to become your own original. Well, I’d say he’s got that one down.