Just a reminder...

Gift wrapping doesn't have to produce a lot of waste. You can come a long way with some newspaper, leftover paper scraps, ribbons from last years gifts and tissue paper from your last flower bouquet.

Do you practice eco friendly gift wrapping? Please let me know!
And if you have a link to share, please do! I would also love to share your images on my blog!

Making Christmas

This week, it's all about wrapping gifts, decorating and cleaning the house for the Holidays.

My shops and designs are having a break.

Yesterday I put up this decal from Circle Line Studio.

The plexi ornaments are from I wanna be.

Hopefully, in between, I'll get time to sew myself a pair of reindeer curtains.

Design interiør feature

My bib is featured in the last issue of the Norwegian magazine Design interiør.

Thank you to Monica Halvorsen -Uldlageret who pointed it out to me and to Siw Eriksen -the woman behind Re-Vinyl who ripped out the page of her magazine for me!

Noah

We have a new friend in the family. His name is Noah.

Cute, isn't he?

Shop news -organic & fairtrade teatowels

I am finally able to offer organic & fairtrade cotton teatowels in my shops!
I have printed some Christmas reindeers saying "God jul!" wich means Merry Christmas in Norwegian.

There's one print with a single turquoise reindeer. As you probably (!) have noticed, daylight is a sparse luxury these days, so I had to take the teatowels outside for a photo shoot.

It is lots of wind here at the moment, wich made it really difficult to capture a hanging teatowel.

(Flying teatowels were easy, but doesn't show the print so well.)
As you can see, I have a new log photo wall!

I am trying to recover from the very busy Christmas market weeks I've been through. It feels like I have been working all of the time the last three weeks. The markets were so nice and I have met lots of lovely people! And in between, I also managed to buy a couple of great handmade gifts.
(Mostly for myself, I guess...)

Friday Favorites from Epla

Star from Bazaar.

PacMan cufflinks from Ridley.

Christmas card from Frøken Fabel.

 Wooden plate from Rubbel&Bit.

Christmas ornaments from olivia.

This weekend I'll be at DEJM -Designernes eget julemarked. Have a lovely weekend!

Printing

I'm printing in my original, mint green, 50's laundry room today.
The room has a lovely atmosphere.
I have printed lots of new teatowels for dejm this weekend.

Have to run down and print some more!

Designernes eget julemarked

Nå har jeg det supertravelt.

-For jeg skal stå på julemarkedet på DogA i helgen med tingene mine.

(Hvis alt går etter planen, kommer jeg til å ha med meg noen helt nye håndklær.)

Kom og hils på meg da vel!

Eplas Julebasar

Til helgen arrangeres Eplas Julebasar.
Jeg er med og jeg gleder meg til å hilse på mange andre som har butikk på Epla.
Hvis du er innom, blir jeg veldig glad hvis du kommer og sier hei til meg!

Fra Eplabloggen:
"Velkommen til Julebasar på Heggedal hovedgård! Epla og Allers har slått seg sammen om å lage årets flotteste julebasar på den idylliske hovedgården i Heggedal.


Over 70 designere, kunstnere og håndverkere er i full sving med å forberede seg til julebasaren. Gled deg til å se alt det fantastiske de har med seg, og kjøp håndlagde og unike julegaver til store og små! Det blir hyggelige aktiviteter for barna, deilige vafler og pølser i vår lille kafé og ikke minst god stemning. Vi ønsker deg og din familie hjertlig velkommen!"

Julebasaren er på:
Heggedal Hovedgård
Heggedalsbakken 23, Asker

Lørdag 26/11 - 2011 kl 10 - 18

Det vil være betalingsterminal, godt med parkering og det er gåavstand fra Heggedal stasjon!

Vil du ha gratis påminnelse på SMS? Send “EPLA” til 2223.

Etsy Christmas

I have a crush on vintage mercury glass ornaments... and Etsy has loads of them. -But do I dare to order such fragile items from so far away?

These are from Wise Apple.

Here's an Etsy treasury list I've made with vintage Christmas decorations.

If I do take the plunge and order some glass ornaments, I would surely need this wonderful wooden and eco friendly Christmas tree from Wood Wool Stool.

Here's more lovely decorations:

Glass ornaments from Found vintage objects.

Tiny decorative mittens from Gazaboo.

Christmas trees from adatine.

Dear Santa decal from Circle Line Studio.

Christmas tree tags from Katie Blair Desings.

Art photo from Lucy Snowe Photography.

Some very charming reindeer and Santa ornaments, Chelles Treasure.

Gift tags, Atelier 22.

Shop news: Reindeer for men

I have listed some Christmas & reindeer t-shirts for men.

Here's one with a speech bubble with: Merry Christmas. Model: Jurjen Kuil.

Norwegian version of the Christmas t-shirt. God jul!

Model: Tor Hemma.

If you prefer the more neutral version with only the reindeer,

you can find it in my Epla shop and my Etsy shop.

Done some printing

Hi there!
I've spent time in my laundry room again printing t-shirts and teatowels with reindeers.
Since I've experienced some problems with white colour on linen, I've made a new design for Christmas with only one reindeer and no snow.

The reindeer says "Merry Christmas!" or "God Jul!" or you could even have a more season neutral version without the speech bubble.

This teatowel is in my Epla shop.

If you prefer the English version, it can be found in my Etsy shop. (If you are a Norwegian customer and wants this one, just send me an email and I'll list one for you at Epla.)

I have printed some t-shirts for men too. I'll show you as soon as I have found a male model who will look good with reindeers on.

My woodburning stove

I have thrown out the kerosene stove and replaced it with a woodburning stove.

Today I used it for the first time. And now, it seems like everything have fallen in place. Because earlier this autumn, when I dreaded the thought of colder seasons, I asked myself:

What makes autumn a  nice and cozy season?

My answer was: Wood in the stove and homemade food.

-So that's my cure, and it works.

What's your recipe for a cozy autumn and winter?

Teatowel winners

You had many great suggestions for me for my teatowels.
It was difficult to choose. But one suggestion made me burst into laughter, so I think that must be the winner:
Rune B has won with: Faulty Towels
Congratulations, Rune!

And then, there's the random picked winner: Min Verden, was the winner of the other teatowel.
Congrats to you too!

The winners can contact me through my Epla shop.

Happy weekend to everyone!

Last chance -giveaway

Hi there!
Tomorrow I'll choose and draw the winners of my teatowel giveaway.
The best suggestion wins, and I'll also draw one winner randomly among the comments.
HERE's the giveaway.

November tote

I made this tote today. The fabric is a flea market find a couple of weekends ago. I think it suits November. November is such a beautiful and silent month. At least if you go outside. The fields are plowed and ready for winter. There's always a mist somewhere, far or near, that wipes out the details and makes the landscape melancholy and mysterious.

I was in the garden with the rabbit. A woodpecker was working on a lamp post near by.

I guess I haven't shown you the rabbit? He is a handsome young man. I have to have a rabbit photo shoot soon.

It's getting harder and harder to take decent product photos. The light is so difficult to work with.
I have also done a lot of printing in my laundry room workshop today.

Hopefully there will be some new pouches soon.

Eplas Jul

Moa og jeg er med i boken Eplas Jul.

Vi viser hvordan du og barna kan lage fine julegaver og gaveposer med potettrykk.

Eplas Jul er en stemningsfull og koselig bok med mange fine ideer til juleforberedelsene.

Boken kan kjøpes i dagligvarebutikker og kiosker og her hos Epla.

My daughter, Moa, and I are in the book "Eplas Jul". We show you how you can make gifts for Christmas with potato prints. It is in Norwegian and can be bought here.

Have a lovely week!
I'll be making gifts (your Christmas gifts?) for two markets this year. Eplas Julebasar and DEJM. (The Designers' Christmas market in Oslo.)

Christmas teatowels

Today I've printed the first reindeer teatowels. And Epla har launched their book: Eplas Jul.
Suddenly I feel that I'm  longing for Christmas and looking forward to it for the first time in many years. I am looking out the window almost expecting to see snow falling.
I wish this feeling can stay and stay all the way to the holidays this year.
I wanted to share these photos with you. They are from last year. I had a small photo shoot all by myself in the garden of Drammens Museum.

If you want to buy a reindeer teatowel, you can get it in my Epla shop and my Etsy shop.

And here's a link to Eplas Jul. A Norwegian book with inspiration, DIY's and recipes. It looks super cozy! I can't wait to see it.



Halloween at work

My day job is at Røyken videregående skole, an upper secondary school in Buskerud, Norway.
One of the courses I'm teaching is Interior and visual merchandising.

The students wanted to showcase a Halloween display for a local pumpkin farmer this year. I think it looks so good, that I wanted to share it with you. It is my fabulous coworker Tor Hemma who has been the teacher behind this work.

Well done, Tor! And to my students: Great work, girls! -I'm proud of you all.

Win a teatowel!

I'm having a giveaway.

You can win a teatowel of your own choice from my shop

and at the same time help me with some great new ideas...

I have stocked my shops with my popular teatowels. So if you are looking for a gift for Christmas or maybe one for yourself, you know where you can find them. (Etsy, Epla)

Hopefully, there will be Reindeer teatowels soon too.

But I have been thinking a lot about making teatowels with a text.

-A quote, maybe a recipe, or something else?

I'd love to hear your suggestions! I'm welcoming both english and norwegian suggestions.

Each suggestion must be posted separately in a comment, and maximum 5 entries pr person.

Lucky me will choose my favorite word/text and that is the winner!
I will also randomly draw an additional winner among the comments.

The giveaway will be closed November 10.

(I'm reserving myself the right to use or not use the suggestions posted here.)