torsdag 30. desember 2010

The best of 2010


If I should choose just one thing from 2010, the most important thing to me. It must be my walks in the woods.
I went through a diet, lost some weight and started exercising regularly.
I did not go to a fitness centre, like I've tried before. It's too boring and too hard to get there.
I just put on my trainers and walked to the woods behind my house. I rediscovered so much beauty, an array of trails and calming freshness. That feeling, to be there, in the greens.
I walked several evenings each week, and I became more fit and well exercised than I've ever been before. (And much more fun to not be angry at my body because my clothes don't fit me.)
Now it's cold and awful outside and I'm not walking. I'll maybe, just maybe, on a good day,  try to find my skis and go skiing.  But when the snow goes away, I will be out there again!

My sales around the world




I have used Travel Buddy to visualize where I've sent my designs.
I want to thank all my customers for your support through the two years I've had my Etsy shop!

søndag 26. desember 2010

Some New Year Favorites


Some Etsy finds again...
Nothing is like browsing handmade beauties on a calm day.
I'm thinking about what sort of products I shall make in the new year.
I'm thinking something simple and natural. Pouches, teatowels or totes.
-Any suggestions?

fredag 24. desember 2010

Merry Christmas!

We had an extra early start this morning. My son (Martin, 19) who is studying in Stavanger, came home with the night train. He had told me he came the 25th, but came home for Christmas as a surprise today.
In Norway we celebrate Christmas Eve the 24th.
What a happy morning it has been in the household!

My daughter (Moa, 5) is putting the presents under the tree. We are unwrapping them tonight, after dinner.
Big brother is taking a quick nap. I'm off to make the caramel flan now.

I wish to thank everyone who has followed my blog this year! And I want to thank all bloggers and crafters out there for the inspiration you give me.
I hope we all will have a fun new year with great ideas, sustainable crafting and lots of love!
But first a calm and lovely Christmas. I think I will do some knitting for a change.

God jul!
Merry Christmas!

mandag 20. desember 2010

Hush... Don't tell!


I have the most wonderful colleagues in the world!
Actually, I love them all to pieces!
I have prepared some small gifts for them this Christmas. Gift bags made of scraps from my reindeer prints with sweets inside. The tags are leftover cardboard with small ginger biscuits on.



And if any of you (you know who you are) should accidently read this, -please pretend to be surprised.

The new Etsy Taste Test

Finding new favourites on Etsy has become so much easier with the new Etsy Taste Test.
It's so spot on the art & designs I find beautiful and interesting.
Here's some new favourites i found (and some old):

Sustainable gift wrapping

These photos are from last year. Since my blog has gotten more followers since then, I thought maybe someone would find some inspiration in this post.When we receive presents, I keep the undamaged paper and save it for next Christmas. So it's always a puzzle to see which presents that match the various pieces of paper.

This year I've also made some reusable fabric gift wrap bags. My hope is that they will circulate and save wrapping paper the coming years.




The camel card is made from a gift box which came with some clothes one year, and the cat card is made by sewing some printed scraps onto cardboard.
What is your most eco friendly gift wrapping tip?

søndag 19. desember 2010

The Treasury Tree

I'm member of a treasury team on Etsy.
The Treasury Tree Team is a fabulous team of crafters who creates treasuries with each other's and lots of other Etsy seller's handmade stuff!

This is some of my latest treasuries for the team:


"It's just sad and grey outside", he said.


Honey, Honey...


...PUNK...

Take a look at the other team treasuries here.

onsdag 15. desember 2010

2010 in greys

I found that I had several  images with the colour grey on my desktop. And I saw that together, they told the story of my year, 2010, more or less.

onsdag 8. desember 2010

My reindeers on Elle Husligheter

It's been a busy period with preparations for the Christmas market. This weekend was spent on the market and I've gotten myself a bad back from all the long working hours and for standing eight hours in a row for two days.
But the market was fun and I enjoyed talking to my cute blog readers and other sellers who stopped by!
I was so glad to see you and talk to you!
The only thing I missed, was the chance to take a proper look (&shopping) around at all the stalls on the market. Maybe I shouldn't have my own stall next year but go shopping instead!
There was one sweet Sweedish girl who told me that she had seen my reindeer tea towel on the Sweedish blog Elle Husligheter! Take a look here, if you want to see it.

onsdag 1. desember 2010

Julemarked & julesmekker

Hei!

Her er jeg igjen. Jeg syr og syr om dagen. Jeg jobber for fullt for å få nok julehåndklær til Designernes Eget Julemarked. (På DogA i Oslo, nå til helgen.)
Jeg har sydd to reinsdyrsmekker også. En koselig smekke som kan følge minsten i juletida i 2-3 år. Deretter kan jo nestemann arve den. Kanskje en familiejulesmekke, rett og slett?
Jeg kommer til å ha med meg de to smekkene på DEJM, men hvis du har lyst til å sy en selv, så får du kjøpt stoffet hos Lin & Papir.

Ha en fin dag!

lørdag 27. november 2010

Crafting with children for Christmas

My daughter has finally come in the age when she wants us to make things for Christmas! Yea!
I think the most important thing when crafting with children, is that it should be so easy that they can manage mostly on their own. If it gets too difficult and you need to help out too much, they will soon lose interest.
We used the good, old potato print technique to make bags for gifts. They can be filled with a bag of candy, coffe, nuts or homebaked cookies and given to gran or auntie. (Auntie Tone, in this case.)  Hopefully it will be passed on next Christmas as an eco friendly gift wrap for someone else.

I had some leftover linen which we printed with textile color. We used cookie cutters and a knife to make the stamps. Be sure that you have a damp cloth to wipe off the excess color from the stamp so the print retains its sharpness and you don't get blurry outlines. (Or at least less of it.)

A piece of an old terry cloth towel is perfect for applying the color to the potato.

When the print is dry, heat set the color after the instructions and sew bags!
(Don't ask me what the boat has to do with Christmas. I had a rare moment when I managed not to interfere when she chose the boat shape.)

fredag 26. november 2010

This weeks Friday favorites from Epla

I'm approaching "reindeer-week", but had to share three favorites from Epla.
Have a lovely weekend!

TEKSTILFORM, by ANHo

Puslespill, by Borge i Norge.

Vintage skjørt, Ridley.

torsdag 25. november 2010

News, bragging and a great tip

I'm very busy preparing for DEJM. (Designers Christmas Market in Oslo, DogA, December 4.-5.)
But I'm trying to stay calm and enjoy my preparations. My Reindeer Teatowels have become quite popular. This makes me so happy, but it's a bit difficult to keep up with the demand and make some for the Christmas market at the same time.


Yesterday, I found my teatowel at Bloesem! Take a look here for the post.



Elisa, with the eco friendly internet shop, Lin & Papir, had this great tip to share yesterday. How to make your own labels. The post is in Norwegian, but you can use Google Translator to read it in English. (At least sort of English.) You can buy the organic cotton twill tape she uses in her shop.
And, by the way, in case you have missed it, she sells some of my hand screen printed fabrics too.


And, there's more news! I'm Featured Seller on Epla this week. Click here if you want to read the interview.

fredag 19. november 2010

Friday Favorites from Epla

Some of my current favorites from Epla.no
I wish you a lovely weekend!

  1. Kjærlighetsbenken from Hedelunds snekkeri.
  2. Miljøvennlig klut from Rundt & Rundt Redesign.
  3. Trekantsjal i børstet alpakka from smaahjerter.
  4. Sommerveske from Fine Ting.
  5. Lekkert sjal from Studio Inger S.
  6. iPhoneetui from Sting & Ting tekstildesign.
  7. LP Hjertebilde from ReVinyl.

torsdag 11. november 2010

DEJM

Jeg skal være med på Designernes Eget Julemarked i Oslo, helgen 4.-5.desember.

I'm attending the Designer's Christmas Market in Oslo, the weekend December 4.-5.
http://www.dejm.no/
Time: 10.00-18.00
Place: DogA, http://www.doga.no/,  Hausmanns gt. 16, Oslo.

Welcome!
I hope I see you there!


mandag 8. november 2010

Giveaway winner!

The most popular colour suggestion from you was, as the sharpest of you out there might have understood, RED. I have printed a couple of teatowels in this colour. You can find them in my shops as soon as they are finished.

I have used random.org, as usual and drawn the winner. The winner is Elisa!

Thank you everyone for participating and for your helpful suggestions and thoughts about my new designs!
Have a lovely week!

lørdag 6. november 2010

Wednesday morning

On my way to work, I stopped to look for driftwood for my students' annual Christmas decoration/exhibition in the library at school. Every year, we try to make it better than last year. I feel strongly that driftwood should play a major part in this one.


Maybe a walk like this before work, once a week, when I start late, could save me this winter?

torsdag 4. november 2010

tirsdag 26. oktober 2010

Crapaud Poilu!

Yesterday I sent a bunch of childrens t-shirts, bibs and hen dresses to the
Boutique Ephémère Nordique in Caen.
During the Les Boréales festival from November 11.-27, the childrens shop Crapaud Poilu! will sell only products from scandinavian/nordic designers. I'm lucky to be one of them!

Don't forget to join my giveaway!


mandag 25. oktober 2010

Reindeer Celebration + Giveaway!

I'm so excited!
I've been working on these Christmas Teatowels for some weeks now, and today I was finally able to do the test prints. I'll be printing them on natural coloured linen. Because of my limited access to used linen, I will be printing on new linen this time. According to my research, it should be slightly more eco friendly than organic cotton.
I'd love to hear what you think of them? Which one of the two designs is your favourite?


To celebrate my new design, (and to get a market research at the same time) I will run a GIVEAWAY!
It is possible to get three entries. See below for rules. 
1. Tell me what colour you would like to see the reindeers printed in.
2. Who do you think these teatowels would be a suitable present for?
3. You can achieve an extra entry if you blog about this giveaway with a link or if you post a link on your facebook profile.

Please comment separately with each entry.
(So if you answer question 1 and 2, you will write two comments to this post.)
I will draw the winner on Monday, November 8.
And the price. -A true Norwegian Reindeer Teatowel, of course!

THE GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. THE WINNER IS ELISA! Thank you everyone for your comments!

onsdag 20. oktober 2010

Eplatips 5 -KUNDEBEHANDLING


10 TIPS TIL GOD KUNDEBEHANDLING
Kundene mine betyr svært mye for meg. Hvis det ikke hadde vært for dem, hadde det jeg driver med vært meningsløst. Det at noen liker det jeg lager så godt at de vil kjøpe det er en drivkraft og en stor motivasjon for meg.
Derfor ønsker jeg å behandle dem godt og med stor respekt. Jeg ønsker at opplevelsen ved å handle hos meg skal være bedre enn forventet.

Opplever man god kundebehandling er det også større sjanse for at man kommer tilbake til butikken. Og kunder som kommer tilbake har sannsynligvis fått tillit til produktene og butikken. Noe som gjør at de ofte handler mer neste gang.
Jeg setter ekstra stor pris på tilbakevendende kunder. –Rett og slett fordi det må bety at de har vært fornøyd med det de har kjøpt. (Jeg får fort litt lav selvtillit, så jeg tør ikke helt tro på at andre virkelig liker det jeg lager. Men kommer de tilbake må det jo være greit.)



Jeg har samlet noen tips som kanskje kan komme til nytte for deg. Noe er egen erfaring og annet har jeg plukket opp på nettet.

1. Besvar alle henvendelser så raskt som mulig og helst innen ett døgn. Ved bestillinger bør du skrive en melding hvor du takker for bestillingen og informerer om når varen blir sendt.

2. Send pakkene så raskt som mulig. Samboeren min skjønner ikke hvorfor jeg stresser sånn med å få sendt produktene dagen etter bestilling. Han mener det ikke er nødvendig. Men for meg er det kjempeviktig, for det viser at jeg prioriterer kunden og folk blir jo så glade når de får pakken raskt!

3. Koselig innpakning som understreker butikkprofilen din er alltid hyggelig. Men pass på så det ikke blir for mye søppel! Jeg har flere ganger fått fantastiske innpakninger av resirkulerte materialer. Søte konvolutter sydd av ukeblader osv.

4. Ett visittkort hører med! Det gjør det lettere for kunden å huske deg senere eller å anbefale deg til andre.



5. En håndskrevet hilsen med takk for handelen er koselig. Det tar bittelitt tid, men det er tross alt et håndlaget produkt du sender og det viser at du setter pris på kunden din.

6. Noen tilbyr å pakke inn produktene som gave og sende det direkte til mottakeren. Praktisk og lettvint for kunden i julestria!

7. Du kan legge ved en liten vareprøve eller lignende når du sender bestillinger. Det kan også være en måte å gjøre andre produkter kjent for kunden. For enkelte typer produkter er dette lett. –Da kan det kanskje være en liten vareprøve. For andre typer produsenter med dyrere produkter som tar lang tid å lage, kan dette være vanskelig og er ikke noe kunden kan forvente.
Selv legger jeg gjerne med en lavendelpose til kunder som har handlet over en viss sum. Men bare hvis jeg har hatt tid til å sy noen ekstra. I perioder hvor jeg har mye å gjøre, får jeg det ikke til.

8. Løs eventuelle problemer!
Hvis en kunde skulle ha noe å klage på eller produktet har blitt borte i posten er mitt råd til deg å løse problemet! Send et nytt produkt hvis det har blitt borte eller tilby deg å bytte det som ikke har falt i smak med noe annet. For meg er det viktigste at kunden blir fornøyd. Uansett hva det koster meg. Jeg tror at hvis du lar en “ordne opp” holdning gjennomsyre kundebehandlingen din, vil du få mye igjen for det. Det er ingen som er så fornøyd som en kunde som først var misfornøyd men som fikk ordnet problemet.

9. Ikke bruk e-mailen til kunden til å sende tilbud og informasjon om butikken din senere. For mange er dette irriterende. Hvis man skal sette noen på en slik postliste, bør de ha godkjent det først.

10. Unngå misforståelser.
Legg vekt på klar og tydelig kommunikasjon med kunden. Mye er gjort med en god produktbeskrivelse og grundig informasjon under “Om denne butikken”, men hvis kunden har spørsmål eller du lager et spesielt produkt på bestilling, bør du lese gjennom det du har skrevet og sikre at det ikke kan misforstås.


Har du noen gode tips til kundebehandling?

mandag 18. oktober 2010

Monday inspiration Green Water & Thistle

Here's some inspiration from Etsy.


2. Photo, Magnolia through the wievfinder by Scarlet Beautiful 2.
3. Photo, Yellow wildflower through the wievfinder, by Scarlet Beautiful 2.

And this is my latest treasury collection featuring some lovely Etsy greens.

fredag 15. oktober 2010

Lin & Papir

Nå har nettbutikken Lin & Papir åpnet!
Jeg har ventet på denne nettbutikken.
Endelig en norsk forhandler av miljøvennlige tekstiler og resirkulerte papirvarer!
Butikken drives av Elisa Kolle som vi kjenner fra eplabutikken Blåbær med de fantastisk søte kosedyrene i resirkulert ullfilt.

Se på denne supersøte Majakjolen som Ida Victoria med nettbutikken Sting & Ting tekstildesign har sydd av scooterstoffet fra Monaco-kolleksjonen fra Monaluna. På Lin & Papirbloggen er det Monaco-utlodning hvor du kan vinne økologisk bomullstoff fra denne kolleksjonen.

Hos Lin & Papir vil du også finne materialpakker av resirkulerte stoffer med
trykte tall og sjirafftrykk som jeg har trykket.




Gratulerer så mye med åpningen, Elisa, og lykke til med den flotte og viktige, miljøvennlige butikken!