erik is alive!

remember last june when we painted on some innocent vinbjerg snails in the garden? i named mine erik, since i had painted a little viking helleristning on it. well, until today, i never saw those snails again, but today, there was little erik, making his way around the garden, about 5 meters from where i had originally found him and painted on him.

i was so excited, i ran into the house to tell husband, but he looked at me bemusedly and waved me off. i don't know why he didn't think it was exciting that erik was not only fine, but had survived the winter and everything!

in light of my continuing inability to actually sit quietly and meditate, i decided to pick violets and make a batch, not of the jelly, but of violet cordial (i invent a new cocktail every year, you know).

it takes nearly an hour to fill this jar with violets. violets are small. which is why it's a meditative activity. it's also an activity you just have to do. there are no shortcuts. you have to find them and pick them all, one by one. it's good for your soul, i tell you.

i had to go all the way down to the lake (there are lots of violets out in our pasture) to gather enough. and when i was done, i felt totally calm and zen. just like they say you do after meditating.

and i also found this 5-leaf clover. which has to be even more lucky than a 4-leaf one, doesn't it?

and now i'm off to play with these beauties (heather moore's fabulous cut out & keep for cloud 9). the colors are so much better in real life than they look in photos. and super soft and wonderful.

one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish

one fish, two fish

eyelashes.

flat fish

flat fish

a whole school of fish

the fish go to school

market update: gone fishin'

everything's as ready as it's going to be, down to the tags. you might have gathered that i'm pretty excited about this market thing. i hope i won't have to report to you on sunday that it rained and no one came and that they hated all of our stuff, but i suppose there's a chance of that. regardless, it's been a great exercise for me. and i'll be listing in my various shops whatever doesn't sell early next week. and for those who want scarves, even if they all sell, i'll make more - i'm hooked and feel like it's the first thing i've made since the helleristning stones that really feels like something special. so watch this space next week, i'll definitely let you know when and where they're available.

the scarves are tagged and folded and ready to go.

since the whole market was started by the local fish monger, here at the last minute, i decided to make a little batch of fish. i bought the pattern in a local fabric store and am making them up of the beautiful cloud 9 organic cottons. i didn't have time to finish my nature walk plus quilt, but at least i'll have a few fish to show what can be made of these gorgeous fabrics (i'm going to have some fat quarter stacks available at the market).

i'm stuffing them with carded wool in keeping with the organic theme. and it makes such a difference to how it feels to work with organic and natural fibers and textiles. there really is a difference, especially when you're working with little fish that you're stuffing and handling quite a lot in the process. organic fabrics just seem warmer in your hands. and i like that very much.

more photos tomorrow of finished products. i've been so busy all day, i hardly stopped to take these photos. plus, the wind has been pretty fierce, so i couldn't go out to my quilt staging area in the garden. maybe tomorrow.  in any case, there will be many photos from the market on sunday.

thanks to everyone for the market well-wishes here, on flickr and on facebook!

bee charmer has arrived!

i am most pleased to announce the arrival of my new little venture - bee charmer!

it's an online shop that i - after shedding only a modicum of blood, sweat and tears -  built using the wonderful someammo platform (still in beta) that i learned about through the equally wonderful heather moore. what's great (for me and for local customers) is that the shop is in danish kroner!

my fabulous friend mik (who you may remember from this post) created this sweet little matryoshka bee logo for me. (thank you heaps!!!)

nature walk

bee charmer is currently carrying organic fabrics by cloud9. i have the nature walk line in stock, available as yardage. and heather moore's gorgeous cut out & keep line is coming in april.  i am also working like crazy at getting some handmade items featuring these fabrics into the shop. and i will, of course, make custom quilts and other handmade items using these 100% certified organic fabrics!

this shop is aimed at my geographical area - denmark for sure, but also sweden, norway, finland and germany.

cut out & keep

with quilts and other handmade goodness made from these fabrics, i am, of course, willing to ship elsewhere, just email me and we can sort out what you want and i can list it on big cartel or etsy, which i'm using for handmade items for an international audience.

i hope you'll check out my little shop! i will, of course, let you all know here when i have some completed items available, using these gorgeous and environmentally-friendly fabrics!

this has been brewing for awhile now and i'm so excited to be able to share it at last!!

it definitely feels like a new season is beginning.