Alacati Turkey

The summer has started to turn into fall in Sweden, and I keep going back to my photos from Alacati, Turkey, remembering the warm summer breeze (even cool at times!), the fresh lemonade and the wonderful salad offered on many of the Cafe terraces. AHHH, what a place!! Alacati has definately some Greek inspiration, as well, as you see:But clearly, clearly it is Turkey at its very best. Here you still see Turkish people enjoying their vacation in rather than masses of foreigners. Almost all of the hotels are boutique type small instances rather...

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IKAT silk

When rushing through Istanbul Grand Bazaar last week, I stopped to admire Ikat silks, these ones hand-woven in Uzbekistan. Now, I'm no expert in such, but grew very interested in these pieces, as some of the sellers seemed to be so proud having them in their selection. Of course partly they were pure polyester, accidently slipped to the pile probably ;), but some of them were genuine, like these ones shown in the photos. The more complicated the pattern (like below), the more valuable the piece is. I rather like the bit simpler ones, so does...

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TULU Istanbul

Does it ever happen to you that while driving you all of a sudden step on the breaks ignoring the location AND situation, all because you have seen something absolutely delicious driving by? Well, something like it happened to me on thursday in Eminonu. I scream ‘STOP!!’, get out of the car and run across the street to a haven called TULU, a home decoration store just.... STANDING there. Ahhhhh….Barching in almost wild (well, wild J), I’m welcomed by the friendliest host – I’m calling her this as it best describes her role during...

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Iznik ceramics

While visiting some handicraft stores in Eminonu, Istanbul, I dropped by an old friend’s store selling Iznik ceramics.  What wonderful pieces he had again available! Unfortunately they require some serious packing to bring back home, so I had to settle for one bowl which had gotten broken during our move from Turkey to Sweden.But the tiles and plates and bowls he has…Instead of the 2 artists he was working with before, he now has 3, each working in their very specific style. They are using both the antique Iznik patterns in their work, as...

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Marine antique

Without realizing, my blog has been on a very undeserved vacation for almost a month! Sorry for that - the summer was busy, and hot, and - well, PERFECT! Now full of energy and tons of things to write about, this will change!Do I write a lot about my husband? Perhaps, but you tend to think of the things you love in this world, right :)? Well, he is a big fan of marine antiques, and when we lived in Turkey, we found a really nice shop which sold the rusty, worn-out-kind-of marine antiques. So quite frequently we would visit the shop, but guess we...

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Black and white inspiration

We had a chance to admire the old steam ships in Puumala a couple of weeks back - the Saimaa steam ship regatta took place in the beginning of July, and these beauties were seen on the go by our summer house. Source  I see these, and think, hmmm - why do we need other colors than black and white :)? Let's just combine some white furniture, and some black details, and we have a fresh summer house decor! We have a traditional Finnish blacksmith nearby, his shop is called Goosemeadow, and below some of his fantastic work he has done for...

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Paper yarn

 When spending the summer in Finland, it is impossible to miss the home accessories made, at least partly, of paper, whatever material the paper is made of. The true pioneers, and very successfull at it, are of course Woodnotes and Hanna Korvela (carpet above and below), but there are tons of options you can make yourself, as well!Hanna Korvela's ENCORE2  The above Hanna Korvela's woven cotton and paper yarn carpets called ENCORE2 are beautiful. And you can get them in 8 different colors!Especially paperyarn...

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About blueberries and chip baskets

 Blueberry time Blueberries seem to be so early this year! Time to dig out the traditional Finnish chip baskets stained on the bottom despite the greaseproof paper to save it. The chip baskets come in all shapes and sizes, of course, and designed for different use; small baskets for children picking blueberries: a little bigger ones for picnic, then mommy's version of blueberry and mushroom basket: Pinetta's basketsFor buying milk and going to the market place we have a different kind:Chip basket for milkPinetta's market basketAnd for...

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