Safran by Figgjo

I've been told that a collection consists of at least three items. In which case, I've gone from having two pieces in the Safran series to actually owning a Safran collection ;-) I had the big lidded dish and the creamer from before until my latest acquaintance, Stine*, sold me the beautiful tea pot last weekend. Thanks again, Stine!

*Check out Stine’s web shop 'Hjemlengsel' on Epla here.

New vintage chairs

It's fleamarket season again and I'm happy to say that despite a growing interest in mid-century items around here, it's still possible to get ones hands on some nice pieces. This first chair is marked Svein Bjørneng, Østre Gausdal (Norway). It has a teak frame and charcoal gray wool upholstery. I tried doing some research on it and I think it might be designed by Thorbjørn Afdal for Svein Bjørneng.

This second one I found a few weeks back at my local thrift store. It's a Falcon Chair, designed by Sigurd Resell for Vatne (Norway). I think this is a later version of the chair - possibly late 70s/early 80s? If you're looking for stylish yet very comfortable lounge/easy chairs, I can recommend these!

And the last chair in this post is something as classical as a wooden rocking chair. I've been dreaming of a Mademoiselle one, but this will have to do until the day may come when I get my hands on the real thing :-)

Cup collection - before and after

You might remember this:

I was craving a display cupboard back then, and at last, more than two years later...:

The collection has grown of course, and I have more than a couple of items that there wasn't room for. (Time to do some major clearing out, I think.)

While cleaning all the cups in preparation for their new 'home', I had a look at a whole group of Stavangerflint and Figgjo ones upside down. With all their different names and stamps and little decorative elements, I thought they were worth capturing in a photo.

Need a good laugh?

I picked up this book quite at random in a bookstore yesterday. I highly recommend it - it's hysterically funny. If you have ever had the fortune of working in a bookstore (I have) or simply just like reading, I can almost guarantee this will be the best laugh you have for £5.99 this weekend: "Weird things customers say in bookshops" by Jen Campell.

Here's a little preview:

A few hours in Copenhagen

I was lucky enough to spend yesterday in lovely Copenhagen. We had red hot dogs on Strøget, browsed for Lego and enjoyed fresh Danish pastry. As you do...

Picturesque, right? I love the street name 'Naboløs'. In Norwegian that would mean without neighbours.

Illum Bolighus, one of my all time favorite shops . The open atrium letting in light and the wood paneling on the walls are the kind of architectural details that I love. I thought the spring display with the trees and the colourful birds was a nice touch.

We couldn't really afford much in Illums, but Ellis bought this little Danish design souvenir - The Hoptimist. I would have liked to have the teak version, but it was DKR 400 (about US$ 70).

The big Lego shop had to be visited as well. Here's Ellis putting together some mini figures, choosing from hundreds of different parts.

And this is the result. I love the scary guy with a cap, holding a magic wand :-)

Glorious Oslo morning

I've just been on a quick trip to lovely Copenhagen, by ferry. Coming back to Oslo in the morning and walking towards Aker Brygge, I took these snaps.







PS! I tried blogging this via iPhone first, but had to re-upload the images via my computer anyway. Any tips on how to get the images bigger via the Blogger app...?

Yo-Yo rug

How beautiful is this rug? I have a small collection of hand-made wool rugs from the 60's, but this one is my new favorite. The colour combination is just perfect, with a lovely teal background. I have a couple of my other hand-made wool rugs on the floors, but this one will get pride of place on a wall, I think. (I also cannot afford any dog accidents on this beauty... :-o)

Amongst the wool threads are also silk or linen ones.

The rug has a label on the back with name of the rug (Yo-Yo), name of design (Isern), name of maker (Elsa Løes. I thank you, Elsa!) and it's even dated (November 1969). I believe Sellgren & Co manufactured the material for rugs to DIY, possibly also the pattern.

I found the rug at my local second-hand store yesterday. I had already bought some other items and had exactly kr 64, 50 left in cash in my wallet (a little over $10) and they accepted it! Gotta love the recycling places :-)

Inger Waage Oslo dish

Here's what I found while second-hand shopping today - a little silkscreened/handcoloured dish from Stavangerflint. I have seen a few of these souvenir dishes from various places before, but it hasn't felt 'right' for me to have one from just any place. Oslo, on the other hand, I can relate to :-) Call me biased, but I think it's one of the better looking souvenir dishes too...

Last weekend I scored a couple of vintage furniture pieces in teak and rosewood that I'm excited to show you later. Stay tuned!

PS. I tried blogging this from my iPhone first. I'm not too happy with the Blogger app, though... What's your experience with the app?

Test post

I've only just downloaded the app for Blogger and this is a test. That's Kurt with his long snout, btw :-)

New vintage items

I was out thrift-shopping again on Tuesday and was about to leave empty-handed when I suddenly spotted these little cuties. The two soft pink glasses look like very small vases and are unmarked. I liked them very much as a pair. The tiny smoked glass dish is marked 'Fuga' by Orrefors and the small hand-painted ceramic cup is from Stavangerflint. It's marked by a number but no initials, but I'm pretty sure it's by Inger Waage. I was very happy to find it :-)

The next two items are 'Turi design' by Figgjoflint. The cup and saucer in this yellow and brown colour combo is called 'Siri', and is quite rare. The more common colour combination for this pattern is a dark red and teal (you can see it on the lidded dish in the next image.) In this color combo the pattern is called 'Astrid'. The cup and saucers were found in an online auction and I forked out a little in order to get it in my collection.

This little creamer is my first item in the 'Arden' series. I just love the tree illustration and I think it's one of the best items I've seen in this sought-after pattern.

Very basic colour theory

I saw this one over at SwissMiss today and just had to share it. I love these guys, OK Go - they make some funny videos. If you want to learn more about their collaboration with Sesame Street, click here.

I ❤ Etsy

These new vintage items have just been listed in my Etsy shop, inspired by that day of ❤s which is coming up only too soon...

I will be listing some more items hopefully next week, so do check in again. Hint: Iittala glassware and beautiful teak... Not to be missed!

Coffee now and then

I'm very happy with my Nespresso coffee set-up, but I wonder if coffee culture weren't a bit more charming before. Like in 1950s-60s London:

A postmodernist, me?

Trolley, Consumer’s rest chair by Frank Schreiner

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to be in London. When there, I made a point of catching some inspiration at the V&A through an exhibition called 'Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970–1990'. I was worried there would be a lot of Memphis style stuff (which I don't like), but I trusted the V&A to put on a varied show as usual. They did not disappoint.

Kunstkredit, poster by Wolfgang Weingart, Basel

As I started my graphic design studies in London just at the end of the postmodern era, this exhibition was a huge trip down memory lane for me. Especially the graphics of early issues of Emigré magazine, The Face and Wolfgang Weingart’s posters struck a chord. I was also pleased to see that my favourite artist Jenny Holzer was represented:


The biggest discovery I made at this exhibition though, was that of Bricolage. I had seen the term before but never really paid it much attention. Now I realised that based on the products I have been making over the years, I have actually been practicing some bricolage myself! I'm not sure I can label myself a bricoleur, although it amuses me to think I could then be in company with MacGyver... (!)

I'll end this postmodernist post with a quote I saw at the exhibition and which I found very interesting, being a blogger of superficial stuff:

Superficiality has depth, if understood and accepted
as the profound difficulty of human life.
Alessandro Mendini

PS. Actually, I'll end this post the way the exhibition ended. With this video by New Order, Bizarre Love Triangle :-)

Figgjo fireworks/flowers

Inspired by the New Year’s Eve fireworks that is starting to pop, here's a little work in progress by me. And with this I'd like to wish you all a happy 2012.

I'm not sure where Whatsbloggingmyview will be in the new year, but if you stick around you'll find out :-) Take care!

Colourful bon-bon dishes

This is the other product line I have been working on lately which I will be selling at the Designers' Christmas Fair this weekend. Each dish is unique, designed using vintage china.

The little yellow one above is one of my favorites. The saucer I've used is Figgjo Flint's 'Lilli' (Rolf design).

Designers’ Christmas Fair, Oslo

It's that time of year again, and time for me to prepare for the annual Designers’ Christmas Fair in Oslo next weekend. I will be there selling my latest designs, a continuation of the Pølse & Lompe project from last year - calendars. This year we have two different calendar designs, plus some greeting cards. If you happen to be in Oslo next weekend, I hope you make your way to DogA. It's going to be good :-)

I'm also currently designing some other products that I hope to get finished for the fair. More about these later...

Eames movie

Great news brought to my attention a couple of days ago :-)

Here's the synopsis of the film:

"The husband-and-wife team of Charles and Ray Eames are widely regarded as America's most important designers. Perhaps best remembered for their mid-century plywood and fiberglass furniture, the Eames Office also created a mind-bending variety of other products, from splints for wounded military during World War II, to photography, interiors, multi-media exhibits, graphics, games, films and toys. But their personal lives and influence on significant events in American life - from the development of modernism, to the rise of the computer age - has been less widely understood. Narrated by James Franco, Eames: The Architect and the Painter is the first film dedicated to these creative geniuses and their work."

In cinemas from 18th November (I guess that's the US so probably a little later for Europe).

You can watch the trailer here.

Stavangerflint by Stanley Salvesen

About two years ago I found the blue-ish grey bowl above at some fleamarket. I didn't know anything about it, I just really liked the design. Then, a couple of months ago my good friend Cecilie gave me some items as she was clearing out her cupboards (good girl!). I was thrilled to get my hands on the beautiful yellow vase also in the pic. It went SO well with the bowl :-) A short time after, I was researching some Stavangerflint info for a blog post, and I found this:

My two items were related! (Items # 109 and #107). The designer is Stanley Salvesen – I love his name, btw. Not to mention all the other fab items he designed for Stavangerflint. Click here to see more.

The beauty of glass

I enjoy photographing glass. The light, the reflections, the transparency and the shadows are all interesting to me. The vintage stained black glass bowl above is my latest find. I think it might be from Hadeland, but that's a wild guess.