Monday 30 August 2010

Snipetorpmarken



On the last Sunday of August each year, there's a large street market taking place called "Snipetorpmarken" just a few minutes walk from where we live, in the street down towards the town centre.

This year there were as many as 120 market stalls and almost 15. 000 people visiting during the four hours the market was open. Not bad for a town with a population of about 50. 000. Here are some photos I took to show you, I also bought two miniatures that I will show you in a later post. Because of the moving crowd it was hard to get good photos, but if you google Snipetorpmarken I'm sure you will find many other photos and much better ones too :-)



This house with a pottery shop on the ground floor won a prize for restoration this year.



In a basement by the street there is a tiny art exhibition which is open just this one Sunday each year.


But some are more interested in babies than art.



At the market you can buy all kinds of crafts, local food, old books and other second hand items. Here's some nice pottery.



Some of the visitors were slightly taller than the others
..




And some were dressed up in period clothes from Ibsen's time. The house to the right has a plaque commemorating that Henrik Ibsen lived there for three adolescent months. (I think it's a bit too short to make a fuzz about..)





More tall ladies.



A sudden shower, but it seems almost everyone was prepared.

UPDATE: A comment from Sans reminded me I forgot to tell you that the Snipetorp area was the only part of town that survived the great town fire in 1886 and it contains many 17th and 18th century buildings. The profit from the street market goes back to the area and has made it possible to pay for old style street lamps and trashbins and stone pavement.

Saturday 21 August 2010

Past and Present



A very nice colleague at work gave me this lovely little chair for my birthday in April, having found it in a thrift shop. I loved its mid-century design, and since I have never seen this chair anywhere else, I believe it may have been made by hand by a loving father (or mother). But for a long time I had no idea for a scene for it, until I was in Oslo this summer and found a sheet of paper I immediately fell in love with :-) It reminds me of Norwegian mid-century murals and tapestries, and I thought the slightly scaled down version would make a perfect background wall for the chair.



I love the repeating sail and wave pattern and TreeFeathers' book "A history of the Vikings" fits nicely in with this colourful theme.




I'm not the only one who has been inspired by Oese's inventive use of Ikea's Lekman box as a roombox, but this is my first scene in it. I love the light through the back wall.



Perfect for displaying glassware!



Here the sun is set and the room is only lit by the cold street light.

UPDATE: As both The Shopping Sherpa and Rebecca was kind enough to inform me, the chair is made in the former Czechoslovakia. And Rebecca adds that the maker is Tofa, in her blog I found they produced dollhouse furniture in the 60s and 70s. You can see the chair with more furniture from the same maker on their blogs here (TSS) and here (Rebecca)
Many thanks to you both!


Credits: The tall sideboard I believe is by Dol Toi (thanks for veryifying it for me Rebecca!).
Low sideboard by Barton. Floor lamp, potted plant, red glass bowl and yellow plate by Re-ment, the bowl and plate are from Re-ment's Ryukyu set. Yellow striped glass is an ebay find from Germany (Bodo Hennig?) Red vase is bought in Venice. Ceramic vase bought in Paris in one of the doll's house shops in Passage de Jouffrey.

Sunday 15 August 2010

Prize and Printability



One afternoon when Nora came in from the garden she was surprised to find a large load of parcels waiting for her in the entrance hall. She guessed they had arrived with the post and been brought in by Helmer or the children.





Each parcel was beautifully packed and when Nora took a closer look she saw that they were from Marottesud in the South of France.








Did you spot them? Nora's keys.
Click on the images to enlarge them



Nora loved the envelopes!



She brought the parcels up to their livingroom to unwrap them there, but they were so many she spread them out on the floor so she could show them all to you! They were the complete works of Jane Austen, one of Nora's favourite authors and they were all collectors editions with beautiful pictures inside on every double page!



See the huge pile of books on the rocket chair!





Here are some closeups of pages from some of the books, aren't they exquisite?
And again, to get a closer look at all the wonderful details click on the pictures to enlarge them.



And what a better place to read Jane Austen than in the gazebo? :-)

Credits: The books are by Danielle / MAROTTESUD, who was so kind to donate these treasures as the prize for the second MINI TREASURES WIKI's contest in July. One just had to edit a page or more to be part of the contest! I almost never win anything so I hardly couldn't believe my luck that I was picked as the winner of something as beautiful as these books! And so many! Thank you both to Johanna at the wiki and to Danielle! They have just started a NEW CONTEST where there will be a winner on FRIDAY the 20TH! Join in and edit a page or more if you want to be part of the contest!

The tiny keys was a gift long ago from Anne Mari or
Mimmi as she calls herself in blogland, but I didn't get around to make a key chain for them until now.

Sunday 8 August 2010

A garden variety post



Last year I showed you Nora and Helmer's new gazebo.
Now Nora has done more with it, she has tiled the floor and bought furniture in a style she thought fitted the gazebo better than the modern alumnium furniture she first used. She has also been working a lot on the garden and now she's eager to show you all the result of all her efforts!



Being a busy bee, Nora loves to work in the garden



and is very proud of all her blooming flowers.



Welcome inside!



- and mind the steps!



Nora is also very fond of her Virgin Mary statue, made by the famous artist Christel Jensen.



Views from the gazebo.







Details from the garden. A ballerina bronze figurine


and a sweet little angel.



When all the job's done Nora loves to sit in the gazebo with a book.
Now she's reading the "Arabian Nights" tales.






The gazebo in the afternoon sunlight.





An early photo taken before she had finished the decorating.

Credits: The madonna statue is made by Christel Jensen. The steps are made by my son Bendik. Tiling and the bead lamps are done by me. Most of the flowers inside the gazebo are from Sans. The furniture is Sylvanian Families, but spraypainted white. The square side table is an ebay find. Book from TreeFeathers. Flowers outside are part plastic and part real flowers from my garden. Nora's outfit is a scrapbook embellishment. Some vases are beads, some by Elisabeth Causeret. The ballerina figurine is a kinderegg toy from my childhood!

Sunday 1 August 2010

Throwing a party in a glasshouse



In my last post you saw Karl Edo preparing his living room for a party. But the day for the party arrived with sun from a blue sky and Karl Edo decided to turn it into a garden party to show off his outdoor furniture and his pool.



The windows can slide up for a seamless transition between indoors and outdoors.



Two cafe chairs by the small pool. Even though Karl Edos has strategically placed plants to secure some privacy, I still don't think anyone will be using the bathroom during the party...



The terrace outside the bedroom on the first floor, with the staircase up to



the roof terrace. Karl Edo is pleased with his new slimline furniture from Dedon.





A vintage deck chair updated with new fabric.



And then the guests arrive. Nora and Helmer brought their children Tomy and Annika and also Ida, the eldest daughter of Helmer's brother Henrik, joined them since she loves swimming.



Arne, Nora and Helmer enjoying the sun and the view from the roof.






Polly Line is back from her journey with dr Whatson. She's tired from all the excitement, but everyone is eager to hear all about her adventures!



Poolish fun (a foolish pun)

Credits: Cafe chair, table and parasol from Mighty World. White deck chairs are by Lundby from their Stockholm series. The vintage deckchair is a Lundby chair from my childhood with a new fabric. The "slimline furniture from Dedon" are made by me, it's my first try on making sofas. The potted plants are also made by me, I used floor protections for chairs. Vases are by Elisabeth Causeret and beads.