Happy 2012

Christmas pop-up blogging has been great fun, but it is time to put this baby to bed, for now.
More than two thousand visits in December was more than I imagined in my wildest...!
I thank every one of you, and hope you enjoyed some of the downloads. 

I am not quite ready (yet) to blog full time, but I have ideas for other little pop-ups, so stick around,
if you like....
From November, the heart heart christmas season will be yet again be blogged over at this space, so
- if not any soooner - I will see you then.

Have a heart shaped 2012.

Different winter colors

First the greasy breakfast, as it is customary in this household on this particular day, and then the walk.
Also very customary. Followed by espresso and homemade chocolates. And semi slumber in front of
'the Wire'.

Our walk turned out to be surprisingly colorful, on an otherwise grey day.
Right next to where we live, we have this little oasis: the campus garden of the university - the section
where they study horticulture, agriculture, landscaping and so on. It is open to the public, and filled
with strange old trees, all imaginable kinds of plants - and they have a vegetable garden, a herb garden
and one of the finest rose collections in Copenhagen. It is quite small, and tucked away - many people
don't know about it.

It is right here (Det Biovidenskabelige Fakultets Have)..... And here are some snapshots.

A peaceful sunday

- to you all. Some of you are having the big day today, and others, like us here in DK are resting
after yesterday (and assembling big enormous boxes of Lego, BRIO etc.).

We had a fine christmas day, and today we somehow managed to eat as much as we did yesterday -
but otherwise peace prevails, here in our little very, very privileged corner of the world.

I will take it easy for a few days, but otherwise this blog will probably follow me, and I it, into 2012.
And then, who knows?

I will just post this angel today - despite not being a very religious person.
But if not these days, then when?
It is an Ethiopian angel, and in Ethiopia they have lots of reasons to hope for actual interference by
angels. Anyway, they have a very firm belief in them, and christian churches in Ethiopia are adorned
with images of angels all over. But angels who have these strong, dark eyed features, and who look
wise and real, somehow. Not like the floaty, ephemeral creatures - mostly with averted eyes - that we
know from European tradition.
I'd go for an Ethiopian angel any day, even though they always seems to have the wings stuck at the
back of their heads, and not on their backs. But what do I know?

This little angel is painted by Gebrekristos Solomon Belachew, you can meet him here.

Heart for my baby

Our son is born in Ethiopia, and was adopted by us, when he was just 11 months old.
That in itself is a fairytale of sorts, that deserves to be told in another time and place -
but he is the sunshine of my life.

And of course he deserves his very own christmas heart.

You can have it too, right here.

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

Merry Christmas, everybody

And a good morning to you all! Everything here is peace and quiet, and it has actually been the first
quiet morning (which has turned into an afternoon...) in weeks and weeks. Every gift was wrapped
last night (and quite a few weren't bought until late yesterday afternoon)  - we sip coffee, and our
son has just opened his last extra fine luxury advent calendar gift: a Lego Duplo garbage truck.
All is bliss.

And on that note, I will start this day with a very appropriate little christmas scenery.
(I will return with the very last heart of the day, in a while.....)

But first:
Vilmas nativity, made by Vilma, 8 years.
Vilma and her sister Alma (9 years) are my special girls, and a few days ago, we visited their home
- and their christmas tree - at the 'Klippeklistre' session)

Just a couple of old fashioned hearts

If you are all as busy as I am today. I suggest we keep the workload to a minimum.
Some people have asked me, if I could post some more hearts with 'unusual' fringes, and here are
two of my favourite varieties: With just a few angles to the fringes, you end up with these fantastic
star-like patterns. And I thougt they went well with just some polka dots and plain color.
Come and get them here!

2021: I have a new location for my downloads, please go here (A) and here (B) 

Do you like the stackable wooden candlesticks? My clever friends from Helgo made those.

Flaky - part three

Just a few blocks from here, some of my friends live.
And every year at christmas, they have this fine tradition: on one of the early weekends in the season
they get together and make paper flakes for this fantastic themed window. Every year it is the same -
and, of course, every year it is different!
So here it is - Stine and Eriks delicate tissue paper snowflake extravaganza!
To me, it is one of the more important local signs of christmas - and I keep an eager eye out for the
flakes from late november / early december - and if I think they are the least bit late, I will send them impatient emails.

It took me a while to do this post, as this window is so hard to show properly in a photograph....
Originally I wanted to take a picture at night, but that proved impossible, as reflections of the street
lights were all you could see. But I hope you get just hint of the fragile prettiness here....

We've got balls!

My friend and client Karina just dropped by for a meeting and a coffee.
She brought me these darling little snowballs, she made them from delicate paper yarn.

She is this cool textile designer, working in industrial materials such as steel, nylon and polyester,
but at this time of year she lets out her inner christmas nut, and makes lovely christmas things.

She also shows us her christmas tree on her blog - check it here....

Gingerbread heart

Maybe you have been thinking about baking cookies, just like me.
And maybe you just haven't gotten around to it yet. Just like me.
Despair not - here is a quick alternative:

The gingerbread christmas cookie heart. It's fresh from the oven right here.

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

The Star

Your project today is a star for your tree, naturally! This one is made from three or four 'hearts' -
which they aren't exactly, as you will see - you glue together, to form a starry paper hat, and it does
look kind of neat, I think.... I like my decorations flimsy and light, and I think some of the metal top ornaments are a bit too heavy sometimes.

Download your make-a-star kit here.

2021: I have a new location for my downloads: please go here for tutorial and here for template

I never made this before, so in my little tutorial on page one, it says make four of the pointy hearts -
but actually, as I found out today, that two or three make a nice star as well, depending on how you
glue them together. Leave all the points free of glue, and fluff them a bit, to bring out the 'paper-ness'
of the finished star.