About Me

Guide to Stockholm

A personal guide to Stockholm, written by me,
for you!

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Friday flickr favourites

Today's flickr favourites is a little different than usual. I couldn't choose just 4 or 5 photos, they were all so great, so you will get to see a mosaic of my latest favourites instead, and if you are interested in seeing more, just go to my flickr page! I really like the combination of all these pictures, it gives me such a nice sense of autumn/winter coziness.

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Eye Candy

This weeks bag of eye candy is full of bedrooms, because this gloomy weather really makes me want to snuggle up in bed. The last picture is from Elisabeth Dunker's bedroom, and I believe the second one belongs to a blogger as well, but I have forgotten who?

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Christmas fairs in Stockholm

This weekend is the start date for many of Stockholm's Christmas markets, and I will be going to at least two of them. Here are some of the ones I think will to be worth a visit:

Konstfacks Julmarknad, 900 students of art, craft and design are selling their products here, this one can't be missed! December 1-2, 11-5 at Telefonplan.

Street Market, 100-200 exhibitors selling their own jewellery, clothing, books and food. Open 11 am to 5 pm all Saturdays and Sundays through December.

Beckmans, December 15-16, the students from one of Stockholm's greatest design schools are arranging a market where they sell their own designs, exclusively made for this event. If you fancy a chance to pick up a product by a future Swedish design star, don't miss this one.

Överjärva gård, December 8-9, open from 11 to 4. This is a lovely farm just outside of town, where ceramist Karin Eriksson has her studio, so you will of course be able to buy her beatiful products and also have a look in her new studio. Other than that, there are usually very nice wool products from the farms sheep, miscellanious other crafts, a cute luciatåg and a café with delicious ecological cookies and cakes.

Skansen, traditional Swedish christmas food and crafts in a lovely environment that takes you back in time. This market started in 1903 and has been held every year since then. Open on the first three weekends of December from 11 to 5.

Stortorgets Julmarknad in Gamla Stan has been around since the Middle Ages, and looks about the same since the beginning of the last century. A lot of traditional crafts and Christmas foods, and remember to buy a cup of glögg to sip when you browse the stalls! Open every day until Christmas between 11 and 6.

Schysst Jul, a Fair Trade market with lots of great Christmas presents to be found, ranging from food and spices to childrens clothes and decorating details. If you like shopping with a clear conscience, this one is for you. December 8-9, between 10 and 5.

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Kirsten Hassenfeld

Dans la Lune is the name of this amazing installation by New York artist Kirsten Hassenfeld, now showing at the Rice Gallery in Houston, Texas. Kirsten Hassenfeld's translucent sculptures have been characterized as "extravaganzas of the handmade." Since 1999, Hassenfeld has used paper, the most ordinary of materials, to create ornate, obsessively detailed objects that reference luxury goods, classical architecture, and decorative arts. Described by Hassenfeld as "dreams on the edge of vanishing," her ethereal sculptures explore her own fantasies of abundance and plenty.

Dans la Lune contains the biggest objects Hassenfeld has ever made. The artwork consists of structures four to eight feet in diameter, resembling gigantic droplets or the onion domes of Russian architecture, are embellished with a profusion of swags, chains, honeycomb "beads," gem-like crystals, and a myriad of surprises, including a branch holding a tiny swing, a woman demurely leading a lacey pony within a miniature gazebo, and a pendant featuring Bacchus raising his cup of wine. At the center of some of the suspended structures is an elaborately embellished illuminated element. For example, one light is enclosed by a Fabergé egg-like form, which sprouts crystalline monoliths, and is circled by tiny, dangling chains.

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Absolut glassware by Konstantin Grcic

The Swedish liqour brand Absolut teamed up with designer Konstantin Grcic to create a whole new series of glassware to promote the brand in bars and restaurants around the world.
Grcic was inspired by the shape of the Absolut bottle, and made the glasses in a shape that is reminiscent of that, but he also felt that the famous brands message didn't need to be shouted out loud, so he discreetly incorporated the logo at the bottom of the glass. The result is a sleek, functional range of glasses suitable for all drinks and occasions.

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Photographer Stellan Herner

I would like to introduce you to one of my favourite Swedish photographers, Stellan Herner. His work occurs regularly in Elle Interiör, and he has participated in several books about food, gardens, parties etc. A very versatile photographer, but with an easily recognizable sense of style and light. You can spot a Herner photo immediately by looking at the way he lets the lightest areas of the picture burn out. He is the master of white!

These pictures were all styled by Tina Hellberg, also a regular in Elle Interiör. What an amazing job she did here!

Some of my favourite pictures:

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Interactive ceramics by Scott Rench

I recieved an email from Chicago based ceramist and art director/graphic artist Scott Rench, telling me about his Interactive Ceramics that are being displayed at the Fragiles exhibition in Miami Design 2007. This is what Scott has to say about his project:

"I started this series of work after thinking about people and the art they live with. I wanted to create something that engaged the viewer in its creation and evolution."

So this is a piece of art you can change according to your mood, or for the decorating freaks among us that want their artwork to match the rest of the room. :-)

And this is how he does it:

"My ceramic work, consists of computer generated images that are printed with a ceramic glaze onto a large canvas of clay. Creating and collecting images, I scan them into the computer and manipulate them to fit the concept. The new image is output onto transparent film that acts as a stencil for transferring the image to a silk-screen. Glaze is then used (instead of ink) to print the image on to a slab of clay. Once completely dry the slabs are fired in a kiln, producing an image that will stand the test of time indoor or outdoor."

Some other cool findings from the Fragiles exhibit:

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Saturday sweets

Today is a day for bathrooms. Think long hot baths with a glass of wine in one hand and your favourite magazine in the other, and some nice music playing in the background.

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And the winner is...

...Patricia from the blog A Little Hut! Patricia wins the set of Lighthouse hurricane tea light holders from Menu, sold at Design Online. Congratulations Patricia, and please get in touch with me so I can have your mailing address!

These are the products the contestants chose as their favourites in the Design Online shop:

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Muji Christmas collection 2007

Muji has just released this years Christmas collection, full of nice minimalistic wooden toys, and some cool new stuff for grown-ups as well. I can only find the beautifully styled shots on their Japanese site though, so use this link and scroll down until you reach the red "Muji Xmas web" banner, then click it to see the catalogue. However, the items are also available for purchase on the European site.

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Photographer Sharyn Cairns

I found this at the Desire to Inspire blog, and I just had to show it to you! The pictures by Australian photographer Sharyn Cairns are truly amazing. I have seen some of her pictures before, and was as taken with them then as I am now, perhaps it was in Living Etc or Elle Decoration?
I love interiors where mid century furniture is mixed with modern, and then some organic accessories added to it. This is my favourite style, and also the one I am aiming for in my own home.

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Sale at Vitamin D(esign)

Up until Christmas, Vitamin D(esign) are having a sale, with a discount of 20% off of any purchase of $50 or more. To take advantage of the discount, enter code HOLIDAY2007 at checkout.

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Stilleben shop is now open!

I have been waiting for this one, and now it's here, the Stilleben shop! Straight out of Denmark, this is the best of contemporary Danish crafts and design with products from for example Ditte Fischer, Anne Black, Cecilie Manz and Anna Carin Dahl. Stilleben are also offering some classic pieces from Finn Juhl and Jonathan Adler.

So far the only available language for the shop is Danish, but it will soon be available in English and Japanese as well. Don't let the language barrier stop you from taking a look at this site though, it is very easy to navigate and has some beautiful pictures. Oh, by the way, if you were wondering, "stilleben" means still life in Danish.

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Competition: Win a pair of Menu tea light holders!

Today I'm hosting my first competition in the blog, in collaboration with Design Online! One lucky winner will recieve a set of two Lighthouse hurricane tea light holders from Menu, designed by Christian Bjørn, to a total value of skr 429 ($ 65).

Design Online is a Swedish web shop aiming to provide the world with great Scandinavian design products, carefully chosen from over 100 brands. They offer modern, clean lines in everything from pot holders and teatowels to lounge chairs and garden tables, with international shipping on all items.

All you have to do is surf the Design Online homepage, find your favourite product and write about your choice and why you picked it in the comments to this post. Don't forget to add your homepage or email address so I can contact you. On Friday 23 November I will pick a winner!

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Photographer William Meppem

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IJM

I've been looking at the IJM site ever since I found it on the Style Files blog six hours ago. I just can't stop browsing the beautiful pictures, they are all amazing! This is art. Frank Visser, founder of IJM, is one of the most talented stylists I have seen.

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Friday flickr favourites

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Sneak peeks from Elle Interiör

Some photos from the latest issue of Swedish Elle Interiör.

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Le Souk, a new online shop from Danielle behind The Style Files

My dear blog friend Danielle De Lange, the woman behind the super stylish design blog The Style Files, just opened up a web shop! Now you can not only see the beautiful products Danielle shows on her blog, but buy some of them in the Le Souk shop. The focus is on a cozy but no-frills style with oriental influences, and the product shots look great!

"The collection of Le Souk offers a range of home accessories for modern living, as well as personal accessories. Mixing modern, traditional and handmade, I have selected every single product at Le Souk with a lot of care and love. The goal of Le Souk is to make the life -and homes- of its customers just a bit more beautiful!"

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Bo-Bo Gallery opening in Stockholm

I just recieved an email from Géraldine Le Buhan who is opening up a whole new kind of gallery on Svartmangatan 10 in Gamla Stan here in Stockholm on December 1. The gallery is called Bo-Bo Gallery, from the French "Bourgeois-Bohème" (Bo-Bo) movement, which Géraldine explains like this:

"Bobo, or Bo-Bo, refers to an individual who: lives in an urban area, is considered to be cultivated, enjoys shopping, and is also something of a non-conformist.

The Bo-Bo person is someone who is regarded to be a chic and trend-conscious person, and at the same time maintains a relaxed approach to life. Environmental protection and ecological lifestyle is also closely linked to a Bo-Bo person.

To be Bo-Bo also means to find and acknowledge young emerging artists and creators before everybody else does it, and before they become too famous and too commercial for the Bo-Bo people. Also, to be Bo-Bo is to create your own personal style by not having the same thing or the same taste as everyone else."

The Bo-Bo Gallery will present clothes, accessories and art from French and Swedish artists and creators such as Corinne Dalle-Ore, Marianne Peltzer, Sofia Antonovich, Smallstep, Gili et Cie, Anne Hubert, Martin Tallvid, Veja and Kavel Rafferty.

Géraldine Le Buhan used to live in Montmartre, Paris, working as an event organizer in the world of art and communication, arranging parties for most of the French tv and film production companies, and at the Cannes Film Festival. But then she met a Swedish man, fell in love and moved to Stockholm, and is now a gallery manager. Good luck with the Bo-Bo Gallery Géraldine!

Mixed media collage by Kavel Rafferty


Cushions by Anne Hubert



Fabric prints on silk paper by Marianne Peltzer

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Power bracelet from I love blocks

Irina Blok behind I love blocks makes great modern and graphic jewellery. Her day job is as a graphic designer, but at night she goes crazy with Shrinky Dinks, creating unpretentious wearable art.
I fell for her Power bracelet, shown below.

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Another kind of flickr favourites

I didn't post any flickr favourites this friday because I had found something else, that I wasn't sure if I could share with you all. I found photographs that grabbed my guts, pulled them out and twisted them around, just to finally leave them on the floor in a bloody mess.
The photographers name is Francesca Tallone, you will find her flickr account here, and more pictures on her homepage Patternclash. The series that grabbed me is called Giving up the Ghost, and here are some samples from it:

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Eye Candy

Yes, it is that time of the week again, time for a bag of candy! I don't know if you can see it, so I guess I'll just tell you, but today's theme is windows and light.

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TAF

TAF is Gabriella Gustafson and Mattias Ståhlbom, two Swedish architects working together from their office in Stockholm. Their style is minimalistic and simple, quite typically Swedish or Scandinavian with lots of natural materials and basic colours. Their next mission is to design the Greenhouse area of the 2008 Stockholm Furniture Fair, which is the exhibition area for young up and coming designers and design schools. From what I've heard, TAF is going to make it look like a small town made of cardboard, with all of the exhibition booths getting their own house facade. Cool!

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Loose teeth

I know, this has nothing to do with design, but since many of my readers are mums and also very good cooks, I thought I'd ask anyway. My youngest son tripped today and hurt his teeth (he slipped while playing and landed on his face), which means he is not allowed to chew for two weeks, and now I can't think of any food that would suit him! Sure, I could serve him mashed potatoes and porridge for two weeks (he doesn't like soup), but I'm afraid that would result in him never wanting to eat any of those foods ever again. Does anyone have any ideas on good, healthy food that doesn't have to be chewed? How can I get him some proteins? Sure, just using a mixer and making all of our regular foods into purées is one option, but he would most likely consider that "baby food" and not eat it, since he is almost five years old and considers himself pretty much grown up...

(Yes, this was the most boring pic of mashed potatoes I could find)

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New issue of Sköna hem

I want to show you some of the goodies from this months Sköna hem, and also to make sure that you don't miss the reader home of the month which used to belong to my blog friend Annika over at Hoom.Sthlm!

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Doilie bowls by Paul Lowe

Paul Lowe from the Sweet Paul blog has started making these incredibly cute doilie bowls, and says he is thinking of setting up an Etsy shop to sell them. I think they would sell out in a couple of hours! Especially with his skills in styling, he really knows how to present things to make them look their best. Paul is originally from Oslo, Norway, but now lives in New York, working as a food and interiors stylist. Here is the link to his agent, where you can see some more of his work.

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Susy Jack*

I think I might need some of these notebooks from Susy Jack* to cheer me up today. November has got to be the worst month of the year, at least in Sweden. The weather is grey, rainy and just above 0° C, and it turns dark here around 4 pm. All the leaves have fallen from the trees. Everyone around me has a cold. How are you supposed to be energetic and creative when living in this weather that most of all reminds you of cold oatmeal?

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Friday Flickr Favourites, a little late

It was my oldest son's seventh birthday yesterday, so I was busy preparing for the party and celebrating all day long, hence no posts yesterday. But here are my flickr favourites of the week:

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Stick To Me hanger by ADDI

This coathanger by Swedish Design firm ADDI just recieved the Red Dot Award. The hanger was inspired by the shoes that workers for the Swedish telephone companies use to climb telephone poles. The hooks are coated in recycled rubber from car tires, and can be rearranged to sit anywhere on the hanger, turnable in 360 degrees. The pole itself is made from a single pipe and then split in to three at the bottom to make the legs, reminding you of the peeled dandelion stems from your childhood, or an exploded shotgun pipe from a cartoon.
The styling feels lonely but also calm and steady. Like the last tree standing in a long gone forrest. Stick To Me is expressing both intelligence and elegance in the same time as it can be used in a playful and personal manner, due to many different color variations.

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