trendey

by Swedish photographer Andreas Lind. Urban plants sprawling through the concrete jungle of the big city. You can’t stop the explosive process of spring, but you can’t preserve it either. Unless you hang it on your wall.

I find crafts and DIY-projects vastly inspiring. The creativity behind all the ideas is like brilliant sunshine to me! Best thing, you can soak up inspiration for your own unique project. Here’s a collection of a few of my favorites/thought nuts in this area:

| Distressed Folk Art Painting and Resolutions Subway Art (click for tutorials) by Lil Blue Boo |

| Cutout Mirror and Pom Pom Flowers (click for tutorials) by Poopscape |

| yarn pasted on balloon-lamp by Pickles |

| the painted globe by Abbey Hendrickson/Aesthetic Outburst |

By John W. Golden.

While Henen is still looking for a house in London and gearing up for her blog-comeback, I continue to deliver design news and fancy tidbits from Sweden. Annika Bäckström, born in 1988 in the country’s northern parts, in cozy Burträsk more specifically, has a fascination for ink, love, and paper airplanes. She makes lovely illustrations. (they can be purchased through her blog.)

This illustration massa folk really hit the spot in our overriding, overwhelming, threat of swine flu. This is how we feel – and will remember to have felt – when we read the newspapers as of late November 2009.

| Fröken Bäckström Blogfolio |

You thought the meaning and prominent role of CIA was limited to national security and intelligence? Well, not in the interior design world. The illustration agency CIA was launched in 1983 in Covent Garden, London. It started in small-scale, but has since then grown into one of the most successful and critically respected agencies in the UK. They represent some of the biggest names in the industry as well as a healthy stable of emerging talent from all over the world – and roots are still raw creativity and originality of thought. Here’s two prints I particulary fancy:

To the left Chris Gilvan-Cartwright’s Chips the Strongman and right: Andrew Foster’s Dodo.

I promise. Jen Renninger promise! I keep a bunch of interior design blogs in my Google Reader and late last night, Design & Inredningsbloggen refered my tired mind to the Please Be Still – Etsy Shop. And wooOOOOt, was I awake! :) I needed less than 10 seconds to realize that this alluring illustration is _made_ for the wall above our new sofa! Click click, and soon it’s in my possession – lovely art work and the best slogan ever in our living room…There’s a lot of beauty in this etsy-shop, and keep in mind,

..everything is going to be ok.

Over at Apartment Therapy I just read that the Keep Calm and Carry On-poster could be the most common artwork in people’s homes right now. And that poster surely brings a great message! Though, there seems to be one other piece of artwork that – across ages, locations and eras – is even more common: “Grace” by Enstrom. This picture, showing the elderly peddler with head bowed in a mealtime prayer of thanksgiving, is known and loved throughout the world. Fact is, I hadn’t seen it before! Well I’m a Swede right, guess that explains it :p

It was back in the year of 1918, that a bearded, saintly, old man, with foot-scrapers to sell, called on Eric Enstrom at his photography studio in the tiny mining town of Bovey, Minnesota. From this chance encounter Enstrom’s world famous photographic study was created. There was something about the old gentleman’s face that immediately impressed Enstrom, he I saw a kind face, without any harsh lines in it. The picture seemed to say “This man doesn’t have much of earthly goods, but he has more than most people because he has a thankful heart”.  And so was Enstrom’s message – in scarce wartime, but as important and universal throughout time – that even though we have to do without many things we still have much to be thankful for. Grace is a reminder. And a keeper =)

Name a Swede that isn’t proud of the fresh and oh soo creative designer Lisa Bengtsson. She left Berghs School of Communication in 2007 with a graduation project (the wallpaper above) making future career come self-evident. The wallpaper is named Familjen (The Family) and has a pattern of frames. It wants to tell a story about how we live and frame our lives. You can decorate it with photos of loved ones, you can put knobs on the wall that you hang things on, you can do anything that expresses your story, or you can just leave the design as it is. A roll (length 10m, width 0,53m) has a pricetag of approx £70 (795 SEK). Also keep your eyes out for the Special Edition Gold version of the wallpaper.

I just love this poster “Drottningen von Savannen”. I do not have one in my possesion yet, but it’s on it’s waaay! It will be hangning in my study room. Soo cool, no explanation needed =) Well, maybe one thing: the ornate, guilded frame is printed on the poster as well! Price approx. £17.

Wait, there are more lovely things. The fabric of this cushion to the left is named “Sir Harald”. Harald is Lisa Bengtsson’s great grandfather. Next to that super-trendey fabric, a piece of Peacock cup & plate designed for Indiska (and yes, there seems to be birdcages painted on it!). A list of Lisa Bengtsson retailers can be found here. And btw, here’s a short interview with Lisa Bengtsson, from the Formex fair.

Isn’t this the best message slogan ever? =)

The story goes that this poster was commissioned by the British Government’s Ministry of Information in the early days of the 2^nd World War as a reassuring message from King George VI to the people.

My own personal copy of this glorious British “stiff-upper-lip-inspired” poster arrived in the post today! I’ll be mounting it in an ornate metallic frame and hanging it on my bathroom wall.

Other design elements for the bathroom may include this yet-to-be-purchased seriously slick towel ring from Graham & Green.