a new egg by jeana sohn
(i loved her eggs when i first saw them last year)

new books that i like:

taking things seriously
by joshua glenn and carol hayes
photographs and stories about small and odd things that have value and significance, like found objects, relics, and scraps. it made me look around my apartment and think about the odd little things that i cherish.

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hand job, a catalog of type
by michael perry
a collection of typography made by hand rather than the computer. also great photos of artists studios and type inspiration.

i stopped in my favorite jewelry store last weekend, erie basin...

more images of fabric by elisabeth dunker
produced by mairo

i'm very lucky to have a dish towel in the "strossel" print, that i L~O~V~E...

favorite new painting by liz schuppe

ohh, this print. thanks elly, for the link to close-up photos.
more here, and here.

(click to enlarge)

the ring from the little jewelry shop, Lo
(the top, silver band)

i didn't mean to drag out posting about our trip for so long... so i'm going to finish up by writing about our last three days, which were in stockholm. i loved stockholm so much, and could really imagine living there. after the hostel on langholmen, we staying at the hotel rival on sodermalm. we had a balcony looking out over mariatorget square, which had great people watching...

some highlights were: finally seeing 10 swedish designers and svenskt tenn in person, lunch at the ostermalm market, and at the saturnus cafe to see the cilla ramnek floor (we also tried to stop by cilla's studio laila, but it was closed)... on friday, emma was so nice to meet us and show us around sofo in sodermalm. she led us around the best shopping area, and i only wish we had more time. that day we also headed out of the city center to visit karin erikkson's studio in overjarva gard. she took time out of her busy day to show us around her studio and the farm, and then we sat down to chat over coffee and pastries. it's such a special place where she works, and i was so glad to see it in person.

we had a great tour guide for much of our time in stockholm, our friend thilo. it's so nice to see a city with a local who knows the best spots. on our last day we went to two little shops near thilo's apartment on the small island reimersholme, a jam shop with the best (and most unusual) jam i've ever tasted, and a jewerly shop called lo. at the jewelry shop lo (i think that was the designer's name as well) gave me a beautiful, delicate ring because it went so well with my other rings, and i couldn't have been happier. it was a great way to end such a fantastic trip.

QUICK QUESTION: i'm thinking about teaching small screen printing/textile printing classes at my home/studio, and was wondering if anyone in the area would be interested in taking a class like that? please let me know so i can have a sense of the interest out there. thanks!

thanks for the responses, everyone! please continue to add your name if you are interested in possibly taking a class.

day four might have been my favorite day of our trip! in the morning we met camilla, elisabeth, and sandra at a cafe for lunch and coffee. it was so wonderful to meet them-- three people whose work i really admire and have been so inspired by. spotting camilla and morran walking down the street was like seeing camilla's artwork and photographs come to life. they toured us around the neighborhood, which reminded me of the west village in new york, and showed us the good shopping spots. thank you c, e, and s! i wish i could meet you for fika more often!

then we got on the road, headed to fiskebackskil, a small beach community a couple hours north of goteborg. a swedish colleague of josh's got married there, at the gullmarsstrand hotel, and recommended it to us. the setting of the modern, minimalist hotel surrounded by incredible natural beauty turned out to be one of the most stunning places i've ever seen.

the next morning, the fifth day of our trip, we explored around fiskebackskil-- walked along the beach, over rocks (covered in beautiful purple flowers which i recognized from camilla's photos) and through a forest... before starting the long drive to stockholm. we made it to the city in the evening and checked into our hostel on langholmen island and went to dinner at bistro sud in sodermalm.

(click to enlarge)

on our third day, we had just the morning in copenhagen, and went to the dansk design center and tivoli. a highlight of the museum was seeing designs by wood wood in a fashion exhibit. their work was new to me, and i loved their colors and mix of patterns. i was reluctant to go to tivoli, since i don't like amusement parks, but then was glad we did. i liked seeing the old murals, which made me sad again that the mary blair murals at disneyland no longer exist...

then we crossed the water to sweden! we took the train to malmo, where we picked up a rental car, and then walked around the main malmo shopping area. i found granit (a nice muji-like store) and a few other good stores... we only had a couple hours in malmo, and then got on the road to goteborg. that drive up the west coast of sweden was so beautiful... the landscape was constantly changing. it reminded me of california one minute, and new england the next.

we stayed at a really nice new hotel in goteborg, call the first g. the location was a little strange, right above the central train station, but we had one of the best dinners of our trip from the hotel restaurant. mmm, it was so good!