Grattis, Tove! (It's Tove Jansson's 101 year birthday today)

A few days ago I discovered a folder of notes and images I meant to blog about, exactly a year ago. I somehow missed the date last year, but I won't neglect to pay tribute to one of my literary heroes on her birthday - and since it is Tove Jansson (1914-2001), mother and creator of the Moomin Troll, among many other things, perhaps it is not at all odd to celebrate her 101st (instead of her 100th!).

To those of you, who only know vaguely of the Moomins, as quirky, animated characters from children's shows - as I did in my own childhood - she is a wonderful acquaintance to make as an adult, as well. She was an incredible artist, especially graphic artist, but she also painted and drew other things than sweet, melancholy trolls. She was a great writer, for both children and adults, and a kind of philosopher in her own right.

If you want to explore the non-Moomin side of her writing, I warmly recommend 'The Summer Book'.

Not so many years ago, I knew only of her wonderful children's book 'The book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My' (beside, of course, the images of the Moomin trolls, printed everywhere on mugs and t-shirts and the like). That book, from 1952, somehow remained in print in Denmark, while the rest of her work didn't, and I had marvelled at it's strong and unforgettable images, it's fantastic use of color (and cut-outs!) and really powerful graphic detail, many times.

(It is even turned into a wonderful app - and there are other digital activities, read more here!)

Here's an example - an excerpt of one of the pages:

Having enjoyed that book so much, as a work of art and poetry, I decided spontaneously to start reading her work, and get to know her better. I read Swedish, and started collecting her Moomin books in their original language instead (Tove Jansson was a Swedish-speaking Finn and wrote in Swedish), and one summer I practically lived in Moomin Valley.

The novels about the life in Moomin Valley are infinitely readable for adults (and for children from, I would say, around 7 years and up). Here is a list of the titles.

I still haven't finished reading every one of of the Moomin novels (which are now on my book shelf, all of them!) but I sometimes read a chapter or two, or an entire novel. I love their strange and beautiful mixture of really weird (but all so human*) creatures, their sweetness, sadness and complete unpredictability.

I think these guys will follow me for the rest of my days. So grattis (= congratulations in Swedish), Tove Jansson. here she is, drawn by herself, surrounded by some of her creations.

 *And yes, they do feel so human, her fanciful characters. And they are, of course. Have you discovered what kind of Moomin character you are? (here is a great wikipedia list, in Swedish)

I have known for years. I am a Filifjonke, or a Fillyjonk, whether I like it or not.
With a touch of Mymlen (Mymble), perhaps?

From Ouch! to vintage skiing

Exactly a week ago I did something with my back, nothing much, I hardly remember the specific thing, but the result was days of almost crawling around, bent over in pain. I actually got so desperate, that I went and saw a chiropractor for the first time in my life, and he twisted and pushed me around, and massaged my lower spine with a small wooden instrument of torture.

And then he prescribed ibuprofen, weird little back exercises and lying face down on the floor with a bag of frozen peas on my back several times a day.

And I am so thankful it all helped, and very very happy about that, because today we are leaving for our annual skiing trip to Sweden, and that is the highlight of winter, as far as I am concerned, and I just love love LOVE it.

I made a post about it last year, and the whole thing just gives me a wild surge of fresh energy. The snow, the light, the stillness, the beauty of the mountains. The physical strain of cross country skiing, that leaves you utterly exhausted every day - but next day you just get up and do the whole thing over again. And the food, the wine and the good company. The happy kids. 

And the way that you wear practically the same clothes and no makeup for a week. You hardly comb your hair and you look a complete mess, but with rosy cheeks and stars in your eyes. It totally works for me, happinesswise.

Of course it wasn't always like that. So, let's enjoy some stylish skiing of yesteryear!

That guy in the leopard fur, huh? Have you ever seen anything like that? Cannot source the image, alas, but in a note it says 1927, and I found it on this blog, where you'll se many more great ones / the dad with his kid in a rucksack is from the twenties, and from Norways National Archives / the row of girls are American, and from 1925 / the last, pretty girl is in traditional Arlberg attire from Austria, and the photo is from 1935.

Lets round this one up with none other that Rita Hayworth and Ingrid Bergman, both looking their finest in the slopes. Thus inspired, I feel that perhaps I will comb my hair, after all. Make a bit of an effort, you know.

The photos are collected over a long period from tumblr and elsewhere, and I have no credits for them. Please let me know if you have!

Little dip dye flowers for your tree

Flowers and birds are among the classics when it comes to traditional Scandinavian tree ornaments, and the symbolism is very straightforward; we put them on the green tree to remind ourselves that spring is somewhere out there, that we must not despair in all this soggy darkness (and I am referring to the weather in Copenhagen, Denmark right now).

One of my favourite Danish christmas songs is about exactly that, and here is the last verse:

Juletræet på besøg
hilser os fra eg og bøg
med besked derude fra,
at det lysner dag for dag,
og at solen fra sit skjul
ønsker os en glæd'lig jul.

I will not attempt a lyrical translation, but just tell you that it says that the christmas tree is a kind of festive visitor from the summer forest, sending us holiday greetings from the sun.

I made you some very easy pleated paper flowers for the tree - they are made from concertina folded little paper strips, just like the Solino Stars the other day - but these are even simpler, and very easy to make. Use some sharp scissors, and some quick drying glue to fixate them in the 'flat position'.

Get the PDF here!

2021: I have a new location for my downloads: please go here for the front print -
and here for the back side print (it's a print-on-both-sides design)

They are quite pastel like and summery and have a dip dye effect - and I made the PDF with a page 1, front, and a page 2, back, so that you can get the pretty color effect on both sides of the paper. Start by printing page one, turn over your prints (make sure you place them in the right direction in the printer tray / paper feeder) - and print page two on the back.

Make them by cutting the strips out very carefully, and then make the concertina folds. I made an extra 'half' petal on the strip, use that one for glueing the strip into a little round 'lampshade'. Press it flat from both sides a couple of times, open it and add some glue to the middle edges - and press flat again. I used a little, chunky glass to hold it in place, while the glue dried.

I will hang them with thin white thread, to make them twirl and move!

Itty Bitty hearts

No time for blogging today at all - but I did have time to make these. They are a surprise for my son - he is four years old, and has his first little christmas tree in his room. It is just a tiny plastic one, and once in a while - not every day - I surprise him with a handful of small things to put on it, all sorts of mini-ornaments.

He is really into this (like mother, like son), and the other day I sort of promised him some proper paper hearts. And you can have them too! 

Perhaps you have a mini-tree as well? Perhaps you are a hobbit?

Anyway, get them here....

 

2021: I have a new location for my downloads, please go here 

And, yes - they are rather small, as you can see....
I know, this is nothing, some people can make these the size of a peanut.

But this is just about the correct size for a hobbit tree.
Or my son's tree, which I might show you one of these days. It's gonna be fabulous.

Getting there, sort of . . .

The thing with me, is that I haven't really gotten around to realizing it is December, personally -

if you know what I mean. I have been sitting very much at home in my (if you can believe it) not 

yet very christmassy looking home, and have been working on some absolutely un-christmassy projects.

The weather is grey and wet, so not very much help there, either. I look out the window, and it could be October or February.

But yesterday we went to visit my sister and had æbleskiver, and the whole place looked just so much in season. It was lovely. I have to show you the nisse-window:

I promptly went home and hung this baby in the window. And now I think I am slowly getting there....

If there are others out there with a similar problem, I will redirect you to a favourite blog of mine;
Door Sixteen - and to blogger Anna Dorfmans annual repost of the swedish christmas songs from her childhood.

If nothing else will, that usually does it for me.

Papermatrix

No blog that sometimes (or even rather often) is about papercrafting, is complete without

a reference to the fantastic Danish mother-daughter outfit  Papermatrix!

They do the most astonishing designs, not for absolute beginners, I will say (I have tried some of

their woven cones), but worth the struggle.

Their website, which is in English, by the way, is crammed with free templates and advice, and they have also written a couple of books on the topic. They sometimes do workshops here in Copenhagen, but I haven't tried that. Would like to, though!

Their templates are line drawings and can be printed straight on to plain colored printing paper (as I think is done with many of the designs shown on the website), which is actually very decent for weaving, or at least for practising.

They are endlessly creative, and come up with new beatiful things all the time. I am completely awestruck.

Here - and this is just a very, very small taste - are some of their crazy and unusual heart designs.

All images are from papermatrix.wordpress.com

Knit one purl two - it's another folksy heart!

I had such fun playing around with my embroidery and knitting motifs the other day,
that I just had to make another folksy and quite sweatery heart!

You can download it right here.

 

2021: I have a new location for my downloads, go here (A) and here (B) for both of the folksy hearts.

I love these patterns, that you might find in embroideries, as the ones I showed you a few days ago,

and in knitting patterns, and I collect them from all kinds of places. I sometimes even scan them, 

and vectorize them (lots of work!) - and the thing is, I neither knit, nor embroider.

But they are lovely all the same.

A folksy, wooly sweater is a kind of a timeless classic.

In Norway it would be a lusekofte, in other parts of the world it would be called a fair isle sweater.

They never seem to go out of fashion, and somehow embody a wholesome, outdoorsy and 

retro no-nonsense kind of dressing.

It even works with blazing red lipstick, and a little silly helmet-thingy, see? So cool.

A funny story that comes to mind, about such sweaters and their timeless appeal, is the almost world wide rage the Sarah Lund Sweater has caused. As perhaps you know, Sarah Lund is the heroine of the popular Danish television series The Killing.

Actress Sofie Gråbøl, who plays her, picked out the world famous sweater herself, among a lot of possible outfits for the tough and clever detective heroine, in an early costume fitting session. She picked it, she explains, because she felt that the sweater in so many ways, perfectly tells who Sarah Lund is. A woman who doesn't feel the need to neither power dress, nor dress sexy, but has her own definition of power, practical femininity, and of herself.

Her specific sweater is said to be a Faroese classic, but knitting nerds from all over Scandinavia have argued endlessly over this, so you didn't hear that from me - but it has a website dedicated to it!

And Sarah Lund is a modern sweater girl, indeed - or should I say sweater woman?

That's more appropriate, somehow.

Sofie Gråbøl / Sarah Lund - in the sweater of sweaters

Kravlenisser / Shelf Elves # 2

I happen to know this family, who takes fun seriously - and I like that in a family.

They have taken the annual (predictable looking) family christmas card to new heights,
in my opinion, with inspiration from the aforementioned kravlenisser or 'Shelf Elves'.

With a lot of enthusiasm, hazardously stacked furniture, white sheet backdrops and a bit of
basic photoshop, they have established their very own christmas tradition.

The result speaks for itself, I think - no further explanation needed - and they turn it into
a cut-out sheet, and mail it to all their friends and family.

They have a lot of fun setting up the photoshoot, as you can imagine.

I give you: Charlotte, Martin and their kids Augusta and Virgil - end their very special
homemade multifunctional christmas greeting: Baunernisser!

(the top ones are from five years ago, so the kids have grown quite a bit in the bottom ones).

Kravlenisser or perhaps 'Shelf Elves'. . . ?

Have you ever heard about 'kravlenisser' - ?

The word means something like 'climbing gnomes' - but I personally think 'shelf elves' would be more appropriate! They are, in fact, a Danish invention, much as the woven christmas heart is said to be.
They are slightly naughty, mischievous cardboard elves, up to no good, crawling about on your shelves.

They do so, by the most simple design: simply by a couple of bent flaps, you stick under the books or what ever is on the shelf. They are a kind of nostalgic, granny style christmas decoration I like, both because it is what I grew up with, and remember from every christmas of my childhood, but also because they are meant to be a little tacky and misbehaved.

These are my own family heirlooms, they were probably bought by my grandmother.

They are said to date from the 1940ies, and as far as I understand, the inventor of kravlenisser was the guy who also gave them their Danish name: illustrator and cartoonist Frederik Bramming. His designs are classics today, and a true kravlenisse-afficionado can name all the most famous of the designers.

Many were well known cartoonists, and they each added little touches of personality to the both annoying and charming creatures. Here are some typical and old fashioned, classic examples:

A Danish website covers the topic in nerdy detail with lots af fun stories and images - the guy who is behind it, really knows his 'nisser' - here it is: Kravlenissernes Side

Maria Huhmarniemi

I came across a contemporary Finnish artist, Maria Huhmarniemi, who makes enormous himmeli-installations (among many other things) - they are really impressive and beautiful.

Here is what she says about her himmeli - quite interesting:

"I started making the series of Himmeli-sculptures in reaction to a comment in 2011 by the True Finns Party, proposing that only Finnish nationalistic fine arts should be supported by the Finnish state. They admired fine arts from the period of National Romanticism, (the Golden Age of Finnish art), but ignored the fact that Finnish art has always been influenced by other countries and cultures. Himmeli is a traditional Finnish decorative mobile. It is made from short strips of rye straw tied together with string to form a complex and symmetrical three-dimensional structure. It is used as Christmas decoration that hangs over dining tables in many Finnish homes. What is less well known is that the origin of himmeli is thought to be a canopy decoration used in Medieval and Renaissance festivities in Central-Europe. The word himmeli has origins in the Swedish and German language: ‘himmel’ means ‘sky and heaven’. I began making Himmeli-sculptures by extending traditional decorations that my mother made from rye and lake straws. I morphed these symmetric forms into free and wild sculptures using coloured plastic drinking straws."

Here is some of her fantastic work:

Hello again, and rauhallista joulua*, if I may say so

It is the last, or almost last, day of November, and it is a foggy and wet night in Copenhagen.

The last couple of days I have dared to look at the blog 'count-o-meter' and it seems that people are up for a little bit of christmas fun and random rantings at this space again this year! As usual I sort of stumble breathlessly into the seasonal blogging, as this is (as mentioned before) a very busy time of year, and this year, all is as nuts as usual. Home renovation, work deadlines on top of each other (after a very quiet summer with not much to do - maybe I should start a summer blog?) - and as usual, we have a lot of these small crafty christmas fairs in Copenhagen, and as usual I try to produce something in the line of christmas finery (and start working on it in the latest of possible minutes. Of course).

Usually I try to come up with at least one thing I haven't done before, along with the jewellery and paper things, which I always do. This year, I decided to do some simple himmeli-style ornaments. Some of you have read about my rather mad obsessing over these lovely (mostly) Finnish christmas decorations - I wrote about them here, here and also a bit about making them here.

I figured it would be reasonably easy to produce a whole bundle of simple, small ones, as hanging ornaments, but decided against natural straw or drinking plastic straws (too flimsy), and started to look for some more sturdy materials. I managed to get my hands on various types of brass tubes, found some pretty black thin carbon fibre tubes in one hobby shop, and some white plastic ones in another.

When I started to work on my little project, it quickly dawned on me that it would take forever to produce the hundreds and hundreds of small bits of tube, that I needed, with my little hobby saw and my old chopping board. To cut just one bit of brass took me at least a full minute - so multiply that by a gazillion, and understand my despair.

But luckily, I have a sister who is a teacher, and she simply took me and my bundles of tubes to her school woodshop, had a really nice woodshop teacher introduce me to the many nifty powertools and workbenches, and just a song and a dance later all my little bits were cut!

So this blogpost is dedicated to my lovely sister and heaven sent himmeli-factory-assistant - and I managed to get a fairly big batch made for todays market. If you live nearby, you can buy them here....

So this - among other things - has kept me busy. But I will be back, with both words, images, and nice things for you to make.

*And what's with the 'rauhallista joulua' - ????

Simply my excuse to post this darling old Finnish christmas card. It means 'merry christmas' - duh!
Do you see the himmeli?

My himmeli

Here it is - and it was such fun making it!
I have made a long boring explanation somewhere else, should any of you like to give it a try.
It's right here. Now I'll just go to bed, and consider my days work done.

Crazy project? Well, we'll see.

I have decided to make myself a himmeli...!

Not being able to get hold of proper straw in the middle of winter (and, frankly not quite sure which
kind to use, is it supposed to be wheat or rye..? It is not that obvious, when you read about them, but
I'll find out later!) - so I found myself a couple of bags of narrow plastic straws. Now, even these were
not that easy to find, since all supermarkets seem only to carry the rather large, wide ones.
But in a specialty party shop I found some okay white ones, with mixed pastel stripes. These will do
for now, and I will make this a practise workshop, and get back to the proper material next year.

If you are not as determined to drive yourself nuts as I sometimes am, there are modern versions of
himmeli to be purchased, for instance in the Etsy shop AM RADIO. And they are beautiful!

Right now I have little bits of plastic straw all over the place. I made a kind of a loose sketch, and am
now cutting all the dozens and dozens of fairly accurately measured little tubes, and found some thin,
strong and red cotton thread, I think will be suitable.

I am very exited about the project, and hope to post a grrreat plastic himmeli tomorrow. Perhaps?

So you must imagine something like this... Well, sort of like this.

Straw mobiles

Back in december 2005 I took this picture of a beautifully laid christmas table at Skansen in
Stockholm, in the museum village. It was the first time I noticed this kind of straw decoration -
a sort of cubic straw construction forming a lovely, fragile mobile, moving and twirling by the slightest
draft from the door, or in the heat from the candles. As you can see, it was trimmed with small, red
woolen tassles - and I found it just lovely.

Later on I did some research, and found that these decorations are found in variations in most of

Scandinavia, though I personally have never seen them in Denmark. Straw was always

a symbol of a lot of different magical and religious aspects - many to do with harvest, fertility, and 

wealth of course, but straw is also said to represent the struggle against dark forces. 

In various parts of Scandinavia, some bundles of the very first or the very last (both seem to be 

particularly auspicious) corn to be harvested, were kept in the house, and sometimes twisted to form 

a kind of doll, that would keep the household safe from the devil.

We also know of straw animals, wreaths, and such - and they seem to have become especially connected

to christmas, even though they were originally to do with winter, darkness and the winter solstice.

These fantastic mobiles are made of long straw stems, soaked in water for strenght and carefully

dried - and strung on thin thread in all these wonderful prismatic diamond shapes. They are sometimes 

done up with paper roses, metal tinsel, dried berries, strips of fabric or, as above, wool tassels.

In Finland, they are called Himmeli - derived from the word 'himmel' that means 'heaven' in both 

German and the Scandinavian languages. My research leads me to the conclusion that they tend to

be more undadorned in Finland, more basic - and that I find especially charming, I think. 

In Finland, they also seem to be a christmas thing only (nowadays), whereas I find that they are made

for many occations in Sweden (and please tell me if I am wrong, as I am only an amateur

historian, and I would always love to know more about such things!).

Let me show you some stunning Himmeli:

Top: By Flickr user 'sjwhidden'

Middle: modern Himmeli from www.mums.fi

Last: source unknown, but I believe this one is from Norway.

In Sweden I have seen many variations of these Halmkronor or Oro, as the Swedes call them.

They are made for weddings, baptisms, easter, and - of course - christmas.

Some look a lot like the Himmeli, but others are very romatic and baroque - and also fantastic!

This particular man, Per-Åke Backman, from Leksand in northern Sweden, is a bit of a straw 

crafting legend. His website is here - and below a series of mobiles, all made by him. 

All five above: mobiles by Per-Åke Backmann (photo: Lennart Edvardsson)