Vintage Ikea Sofa.. A Cool Place to sit... Thank you Lennart!

Flea Market find!
It still being cold around these parts, and fighting off the cold to get out to a few local flea markets, I found this gem. Absolutely pristine condition, the label on the bottom says it is by the Danish designer "Lennart Bender" who designed for IKEA in the 1960s. Lovely Jacaranda wood veneer legs, and soft dralon / wool fabric, I am kicking myself that I didn't pick up both the side tables too.... 

Vintage Furniture in Malmo 
If you are looking for a good site to find Vintage Scandinavian design at good prices, wander over to Nirvana Furniture near the harbour. Lots of interesting things here...

Crazy Cats and getting the bug

I took a detour this week.. and despite my best efforts ended up making a dog sock that looked more like "Smokey" the cat...  a resident of Battersea Dogs Home (Cat Department). 

I am having great fun making these critters using wool of different textures and weight, so when you sew it together it twists and turns in all kinds of unexpected ways. This is really good for ears and tails.  Shrinked  cashmere sock with loose grey walking sock seems to be fun at the moment. I learnt a lot of these techniques from Sue Haven's book. You can also find her on you tube.  

                                                               

Glad to say that Smokey has now found a home, despite being 10 years of age. I can't look at the cats at the Battersea pages without thinking of a stray cat who wondered into a public meeting on a housing estate in Stockwell back in 1997. Amid the hubub of the meeting a gentle and then not so gentle "MEOW" could be heard. I looked over the landing to the lobby below, and saw a beautiful black long haired cat who just eyeballed me ! I put her in my office overnight and bought food in for the next day before taking her to Battersea Dogs home. She turned out to be a previous resident who had been re-homed and her new owners had abandoned her. How sad is that. Her name was Lucinda and I was so pleased when a friend offered a home for her.  

Finally, just to say, the upholstery supplies have not yet arrived so the Pappa armchair is sitting in the hall lobby, looking at me, just waiting for its new clothes.... so to fill the time I have been grazing the web discovered great ways to transfer images onto wood, fabric or anything else that stops long enough. My Re-purposed life has proved to be a great jumping off point to loads of free tutorials about furniture/junk re-purposing. So inspired was I that I managed to collect 5 pallets from a factory for free, hoping to turn them into something a bit useful , and I am off to the BlaaHal in Copenhagen tomorrow, yiphee! Let's hope the old Volvo suspension is up to it.    

Guide to the Best Sock Monster material, Loppis calamity and the Pappa Bear chair

The Best kind of socks for my kind of creatures...... piling up here for this weeks work. I love the texture and feel of them. Now where shall I start... and who shall I start on?

ALAS.. Poor  fragile tea cups!

I took a trip to the local Loppis or flea market this Sunday and came across 4 beautiful Chinese tea cups. A friend told me she was looking for some, so I snapped them up as soon as I saw them. I took them to the desk to buy and looked for Mrs Loppis. Alas, Mrs Loppis  was sick and her husband was standing in for the day so she could rest...  

 It was bitterly cold in the stable block converted into a shop, so cold you could see your breath in front of your face, and our noses were red..  Mr Loppis gazed at the cups for a moment before grabbing some stout, brown paper and a bag to put the paper think cups and saucers into.  It was just a second later when we heard a gentle "tck" sound as one of the cups broke in two.. then silence. Poor Mr Loppis, all he could say was "one of them has broken".... and.. "do you want the rest?" . Big hands touched the surviving china as if it too was going to break, and the rest made it into the paper and bag.  So... now we have three cups and four saucers. oh well.     

And now my labour for the next couple of weeks, a Pappa Armchair, or at least it seems like a Swedish copy of the same classic. So far I have unleashed mountains of dusty foam and lots and lots of ginger coir stuffing as it gets stripped down. Keep you posted on the new chair as it emerges.    

Barcelona - A Celebration Trip

We made a wonderful journey  last week, to celebrate Mr Crazyhound's significant birthday in Barcelona with friends.

wondering what the day will bring.....?

One of the surprise Birthday gifts, hard to believe that the framed work above was originally a rusty cheese grater. It was a bit of a job getting it into the suitcase to come home... 

But we couldn't just sit, we had to explore wonderful Barcelona..... there were all the Gaudi buildings of course.... we walked our feet off and still didn't get to see them all...

Markets....

We visited La Boqueria Market near on Saturday morning. There are so many great markets in the city, but this gets the thumbs up. Fresh fish, veg', fruit, oh yes and mushrooms and an amazing array of fruit smoothies...  

lovely market stall signage..

Dogs... and of course I couldn't resist a snap of a pooch going on a shopping trip with his owner. There were loads of pooches in the city and I had my sketch book out desperately trying to capture their character before they moved on. As you can see, sometimes I wasn't really quick enough with the camera!  

The Harbour, a popular spot promenade as the sun goes down and to sit and eat Tapas.

"Tickets" - the Tapas restaurant owned by the el Bulli owners. You have to wait three months to get a reservation at this Tapas bar, such is their reputation. We made do with the Disney style hoarding outside. 

But we were able to celebrate in style at this atmospheric restaurant in a quiet side street just of the Gran Via at Boca Grande. Fresh fish, Paella (rice only!) and traditional Catalan deserts. We stayed there all afternoon. 

                                                       

Handmade craft shops and craft supplies, there were many.. but this shop, Home on Earth really stuck out. A Danish owner living in Barcelona. She designs all manner of felted jewelry, slippers, rugs and clothes and has them made up in Nepal paying a fair wage. Her website isn't up yet, but she does have a facebook page. Do take a look if you have time, the mix of Scandi design and Nepalese craft in Barcelona is great.  

Home On Earth Shop at Carrer Hospital 76, in the Gothic quarter of Barcelona. This street  is a real gem, leather shops, model making alongside fruit and veg and halal meat stores.  

BARCELONA, A PLACE TO LIFT YOUR HEART

Antique Hunting in Brösarp

I had heard tell about the Brösarp Antique weekend months ago, when the snow was deep and the wind was strong. Brösarp, a small village in the east of Skåne. It plays host to an antique fair once a year just as winter gives way to spring. It is a fair where you see real antiques at good prices, set up in room sets and it attracts a crowd and local crafters..

And  so it was last Friday that we headed out, a blissful drive where rolling hills gave way to bigger ones (and the road looked like it might be fun to take a motorbike ride on in the summer!). After an hour or so we arrived along with many others who had also heard the word too and we all crammed into the one and only Inn to enjoy a hearty lunch that included a “hamburger” made with local wild boar. There was really a holiday atmosphere about the place, every seat taken in the house.

Eventually we had to peel ourselves out of our chairs and go foraging. First we found a cottage transformed into an upholstery and fine art renovation studio for the weekend. Next a house full of weavers, and chocolate cakes and coffee, and finally two large warehouses  transformed into inviting "rooms" of collectables. 

Or if you prefer your rooms RED ...

And you know I'm a sucker for anything animal inspired.....

(photos curtesy of www.brosarpsmassan.se)

Copenhagen's Antique Market

Last Saturday the sun shone brightly and it was a great day to step out and find the well known Copenhagen antique market in Gammel Strand by Hojbroplads. 

The guide book said it was a place for ming vases, delft tiles and not to expect a bargain ! What I found was very relaxed, buzzing with people, and instead of "just" high end antiques there was a smattering of junk as well....

Have to admit, I was sorely tempted by the blue kitchen enamel ware and Scandinavian vases, but resisted....... just. 

                                     The Cassock ( is that what it is ? ) was just hanging from a "give way" sign by a                                     

market stall, lovely gold and brown stitching detail on fine wool fabric.