This is your postcard from Sweden

My husband works for a Swedish company, so I'm along on his trip to the home office in Gothenburg (Göteborg), jah. For those of you unfamiliar with Swedish geography, the country is shaped like a sausage and is located between its Scandanavian neighbors Norway and Finland. Most of the action happens in the lower third of the country along the Baltic Sea. Stockholm is on the eastern coast and Gothenburg, the second largest city, is on the western coast.

After taking the train to Newark Airport, spending a short night on a Lufthansa flight (where everyone gets 2 meals, metal utensils, a blanket, & pillow) and a brief layover in Germany, we landed in the home of Saab, Volvo, and gummy fish.

Walking into our hotel room was like walking into an IKEA showroom: hardwood floors, tuxedo sofa, drum shades, curtains in lieu of closet doors, and parsons tables. Classic Swedish minimalism with a touch of nature (flower photo curtain, fake apple blossoms in the lobby). The bathroom has heated tile floors and towel bars to stave off the winter chill.

This afternoon we took a short nap to recharge a little, and then walked around the main shopping district in Gothenburg. Red tile roofs like in Italy, Dutch-designed canals, brick sidewalks, and outdoor cafés everywhere. As with many modern cities, there is a blending of old and new architecture; our contemporary steel and glass hotel is juxtaposed against the old brick arches of Central Station. The weather is in the 60s and overcast, but I've been jonesing for fall so this is perfect.

Quotes for the day:
"How's your teriyaki? It's not very Swiss for our first meal here; at least they serve quiche like this at Ikea." (Swedish... Swiss... same difference!)
"Cool, they post the weather report in the elevator. Too bad it's for January." (They write the date month/day here so today it's 1/9.)
"I'm not going to Burger King." "It's a Sweden Burger King; that's totally different."

Gothenburg & Copenhagen

Tuesday night we rode the train up to Gothenburg. More meetings, more solo-exploring. Then on Thursday Steve was finished with work so we took the train back to Copenhagen and spent a couple days exploring together (much more fun) before flying home. The weather reminded me of fall, cool and crisp.

Fiddler Ring

Although I have been brought up to sit still and quietly for long periods of time, there are certain times that I am unable to just BE. Sitting at the counter at a diner, I'll spin back and forth on the stool until somebody asks me to stop.

And now I present to you my new fiddler ring, designed for the monkey-people who like to have something shiny with which to fiddle. The ring itself is flared on each end, which traps three floating rings around the outside. The idea came from one of my clients who showed me her fiddler ring from Israel and asked me to try to make one, then I saw more rings like it at a jeweler's in Gothenburg and didn't let myself buy one (but I did get some earrings). My friend Cheryl says his signature is in Hebrew, so I did a little more research and found that these are normally called spinner rings or worry rings and may even be based on ancient Tibetan prayer wheels. I guess Israel just has good silversmiths, which is why they often come from there.

This piece was no small feat for me. Turning on my torch is a hurdle in itself, and this is the second time I've done a soldering project this week. It began with a sheet of sterling and two kinds of wire. I formed the sheet into a ring and then soldered the ends together, hammered it round on the ring mandrel, filed it, realized the seam wasn't completely soldered, torched it again until it sprang open from the forming, soldered some more, filed, polished.... I also soldered the three rings out of wire, then hammered them round and textured the middle one with the corner of my hammer head. Then I used a plumb bob to flare one side of the inside ring. Unfortunately, the tip of the bob reached all the way through and was hitting my bench block, so I ground the tip down with my new handy-dandy bench grinder, admittedly purchased for no particular reason other than Harbor Freight had them on sale. (Then I realized I'll have to get another bob for my original use of flaring small tube rivets with the point - whoops). So after I got one side of the ring flared I stuck on the floater rings and flared the other side to trap them on. Speaking of stuck on, it is wee bit small for me and I may have to go stick my hand in the fridge.

I'd like to set the record straight for a moment. A lot of people think because I am a jewelry designer, I make jewelry all day every day. I am happy to let them think that, but in reality I make jewelry whenever I feel like it or whenever I have a deadline. Does anyone else find that they get so much more done when they have limited time? For the last few weeks I've been busy filling orders and I still manage to work in side projects like this. So much that my beading studio in the basement is intact because I don't want to stop everything and move my stuff upstairs. I did move my torches to the garage yesterday, so I have a good place for dirty work. And now I can't stop thinking about making little stacking rings like the floaters here. Gotta make hay while I feel like it, and after that I'll move my studio. Interesting how my procrastination tactics become chores, and vice versa.

Sweden: Day 1

Steve works for a Swedish company and they're having a mid-year meeting in Gothenburg this week. As a tremendous procrastination tactic, I decided to come along. Don't ask me how my house & jewelry projects are coming along, because I have been very busy lately getting in touch with my inner redneck and traveling the world!

Our flight was at night, so I figured I'd take a couple sleeping pills before boarding at Dulles. Except I took them too early and it was all I could do to stay awake by the time we got settled in the LAST ROW of seats. Note: on an Airbus 300-whatever the galley is directly behind the last row of seats, which translates to endless clanking and chatter for those in Row 46. So after being woken an hour into the flight, I ate dinner and spent the remainder of the nght trying to doze off again, switching from side to side, and actually wishing I had a treadmill to get my wiggles out. After a while I gave up and watched an Oscar-nominated Danish film and Miss Potter on the personal video screen. (As a side note, my high school friend Jason couldn't make our reunion this spring because his boss "Renee" was in town. I didn't know what he did for work but figured she was just a demanding boss in NYC, expecting him to work on the weekends and all. Come to find out Jason is one of Renee Zellweger's personal assistants, so he's working whenever she's in New York).

We got to Copenhagen this morning and received stamps in our passports (Steve is winning by 3). The thing that stuck out the most of our stop in Denmark is they allow smoking in public. And a lot of people smoke. While Virginia may have an uphill battle with a smoking ban (read: tobacco is the number one cash crop and Philip Morris employs more than 6,000 people), it's not like everyone is smoking wherever you go. Like in Copenhagen.

Our flight to Gothenberg (Göteborg) was short and sweet, our taxi was a new Volvo, and the hotel is much the same as the one we stayed in last time: Pergo floors, minimalist design, neutral with a punch of color, rooms the size & efficiency of those on cruise ships. We crashed for a couple hours as soon as we got in, then walked around downtown and ate ice cream. The 2007 graduating class was parading around (woo-HOO!) in various vehicles and it was a warm day as people were walking home from work, so people-watching was plenty of entertainment. Dinner was at the hotel and I am always impressed with the attentiveness of the waitstaff here. Waiters earn a formidable salary even before tips here, so I'm sure that contributes to their pride and work ethic. Yes, that's Steve's first taste of caviar with his shrimp.

Since this blog is my way of scrapbooking, I apologize if I bore you with little details but it's my way of documenting the memorable and funny things in my life as well as letting people know what's new with me so I don't actually have to send personal emails (kidding!). I try to leave out the stuff my mother doesn't think should be shared publicly, like the chick lit addiction I am currently indulging instead of reading Faulkner or Joyce.

Back to the hotel room... A notable difference with Swedish hotels is their bedding. Each side of the bed gets a personal-sized comforter which is folded in place under the blanket when the room is made up. There is no stealing of the covers in Sweden. (Actually I asked some of Steve's coworkers if they have the same setup at home; some do and some don't). The Scandic hotel chain uses very little plastic; wood veneer room keys (swipe cards), wooden pen barrels, and they don't give out little shampoo bottles, rather they have a shampoo/body wash dispenser in the shower so there is no waste. The room trash is divided into organic, paper, and other waste. You have to insert a key into a slot by the door to turn on any lights, which is a great energy saver when the guests are not in the rooms because the lights turn off when the key is removed.

Changes

AnneMade Jewelry is about to celebrate its 10th anniversary!  I've been making jewelry since I was a kid, but I took a break during college and picked it back up after I started collecting sea glass when we moved to Delaware in 2003.  We were new in town, I was looking for work, and my mentor from home (Virginia) saw a necklace I had made and encouraged me to make a business out of it.  And so I did.  And then we moved to Virginia and AnneMade Jewelry continued to evolve and flourish.  When our kids came along it was great because I could work from home while they were sleeping.  And last year I even worked from a studio downtown while they were in preschool.  Bliss!  But then...

My husband was asked to spend 2-3 years working at his company's office in Gothenburg, Sweden beginning in February. (!) Amidst the shock of learning about the move and thinking of the dozens of things we needed to do before then, I had this thought whispering in the recesses of my mind...  What if I took a break from work and just enjoyed being there?  Making jewelry has become less like recreation and more like a job, so I'm looking forward to a break from special orders, inventory, deadlines, paperwork, shipping, and ordering supplies.  After ten years of that I welcome a sabbatical.  I look forward to having time to read, meet friends for fika (coffee date), take pictures, and go for walks.  I'll still bring my jewelry tools because creating is still something I enjoy doing.  I'm even looking forward to meeting Swedish jewelry people.

I'm planning to document our Swedish adventures on my family blog, maybe a little here too when it relates, and I will definitely be pinning away.  My jewelry will still be available at Simply Charming Boutique in Winchester, Virginia, and my jewelry tutorials will still be available on the AnneMade Jewelry website and Etsy. I'm excited to go to Sweden, and I'm pretty sure I'll be excited to come home to my studio, too.

Malmo

Steve and I just got back from another trip to Sweden. This time we flew into Copenhagen and took a taxi across the Oresund Bridge to Malmo, Sweden. Steve had meetings Monday and Tuesday, so I explored the town a little. Malmo is a lot like Gothenburg with interesting old buildings, canals, outdoor seating at restaurants, and cobblestone sidewalks.

Spring is here

Hi, gang!  It's been a busy spring here in my studio, on account of the miserable weather we've had.  A new collection of pieces is looking happy at the shop downtown...

I've also been able to work on some other projects like...

...the PMC Round Box Pendant tutorial!  It is a pretty simple and straightforward design, but I take you through step-by-step with little tips on things to look out for along the way.  I also show you how to modify the design to make your own resin blanks. 

This is a snippet from a map of Gothenburg, Sweden, in case you're wondering.

More tutorials are in the works!  See that pair of flower bud earrings up there?  Hint, hint.

Sweden: Day 2

Trying to fight The Lag, we stayed up as late as we could last night but still managed to wake up completely rested at 3am. Another sleeping pill (I'm not addicted - I'm not!) let me sleep until the breakfast buffet was almost closed this morning - glorious. Just so you know what you're missing in Sweden, at any given meal there will be some sort of pickled herring. Fortunately there are also items on the breakfast smörgåsbord like soft-boiled eggs, muesli, a selection of cheeses, crispbread, and marmalades.

Steve went to the office after breakfast and I sat in the park and read the rest of Marian Keyes' Watermelon. I mean Moby Dick. Gothenburg has a series of green spaces which makes it feel friendly and beautiful. It was designed by Dutch architects, so it also has a series of canals that liken it to Copenhagen and Amsterdam. While watching people walk by I noticed the wonderful absence of Crocs, or even sneakers. Women tend to wear ballerina flats and the guys wear leather shoes (often the gorgeous, handstitched variety I thought was only characteristic of Italian shoes).

Another thing I have noticed is the borad use of high-contrast graphics of stylized vines (!), birds (!), and butterflies in advertising and fabrics. Here's a sample from the Copenhagen airport. Another was the cobalt & white bird/flower print that Lagerhaus is applying to everything from bedsheets to paper napkins. I've seen this in the US (esp. Marshalls) and on Etsy so I imagine that a year from now I'm going to hate it.

Sweden: Day 3

Today I walked around Gothenburg, shopping and people-watching - it entertains me to no end. I even went to the bead store. Steve's company invited the wives to join them for dinner after work (finding the restaurant named "?" is a story for another time), so I finally got to meet The Swedes. They are a jovial, funny bunch and I had a great time. Of course my camera batteries were charging during dinner, so I didn't get pictures of them to share with you. Dinner was not the traditional Thursday night pea soup & pancakes, rather a three-course mix of nationalities and all very delicious. In general I think they eat quite well here.

Community

I live in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, which is beautiful and a slower pace than our former location in Delaware.  When we moved here four years ago I taught classes at the local bead stores and found a fabulous place to sell my jewelry in town, but we also started a family and I've had to cut back on how much traveling I can do. 

Swanstroms on the wall at Parlehuset

In Delaware I could hop on the train and shop for supplies all day in Manhattan.  I used to teach four bead classes in a week.  And when I wasn't teaching I could hobnob with other jewelry aficionados who were in the bead shop.  I was in a local chapter of a bead society.  Bead Fest and Wire Fest and several traveling bead shows would come within an hour's drive, and I had several jewelry friends in town whom I could meet for dinner and talk shop.  I used to go with Steve on his business trips and check out the local jewelry scene while he was in meetings.  (My favorite is Parlehuset in Gothenburg, Sweden.) 

We moved to Virginia to be close to my parents while we started a family, and I am so glad we did.  It has been a huge help to be in a support system of friends and family while we have small children, and I'm so thankful it has worked out for Steve to work from here.  However, I don't really know any local jewelry people here, so that community is online and sometimes I feel isolated "out here."  I have met local professional jewelers and people who dabble in beads as a hobby, but none of my friends can really relate to what it's like to be a jewelry designer and a mom at the same time. 

I do know a few jewelry people through the web who can relate on that level, so when we're in the same neck of the woods I make a point to get together.  While we were at the beach I had coffee with Lori Anderson, who is so knowledgable about the biz and so giving with her time and talents (and stays home with her 8-year-old son).  Love her. This weekend she had a show near Dulles, so I got a sitter so I could sit and chat with her at the booth yesterday afternoon.  It is practically therapeutic for me just to be able to talk about Stringing Magazine or lampwork or blogs or volcanic gemstones -- and with someone who knows what I'm talking about.  At the show I also got to meet Jeanette Blix of Fundametals and ArtBliss Workshops.  (Still hoping to meet Cindy Wimmer some day!  Maybe at the ArtBliss meet & greet.) 

So if you're heading down interstate 81 and you want to grab a cup of coffee and talk about jewelry making, I'd love to hear from you!

See? They are evil.

As if I need to make my case (again) against Crocs, here is another reason to avoid them. Apparently they are likely to get caught in escalators and other machinery. "During the past two years, so-called 'shoe entrapments' in the Washington subway have gone from being relatively rare to happening four or five times a week in the summer."

Oh, and to top off my indignance I saw a Crocs vendor on my last visit to Gothenburg, a scar on the face of the otherwise-quintessential farmer's market. I couldn't bear to post a picture; I think we've seen enough Crocs.

Thanks for the article, Liz in Delaware.

Photos

Steve said he wants to frame some of the photos from Gothenburg for his office, and suggested I let you know that I did post the rest of my Swedish adventure down below. I love photographing architectural elements, in fact one of my favorite photos from our wedding reception was of the top of a stone column and not of flowers or periwinkle dresses. (Thanks, Nooty). If you're interested in having 8x10s for yourself, a couple are available in my Etsy shop, but I have others (you can email me or "convo" through Etsy and if you are someone like my highschool English teacher I may not even charge you $7). I have been known to autograph mats before, so these may even have collectible value one day after I'm dead.

The rest...

Yesterday morning was rainy when we went down to breakfast, but many things in Gothenburg are closed on Sundays so we decided to stick to our original plan: We rode the tram (light rail) to the coast, then got on a ferry and rode through the southern archipelago. The ferry dropped us off on one of the inhabited islands for about an hour, so we romped around the cottages and had coffee at a cafe by the marina before heading back to the city. It was incredibly windy, but the only rain we had was during our ride home. I think this was my favorite thing yet. Dinner was with Steve and his colleagues. We were the only people in the restaurant, and in general there weren't many people walking around town. People seem to stay home on Sundays.

Monday Steve was at the office, meeting with the Swedes, so I'm on my own. I walked to Haga, an artists' community, but I think they take Monday off so I didn't find much. So then I walked back through the park and past the the Fiskekorken ("fish church" - pictured), which was built for the fish market with Gothic arches for interior openness, hence the nickname. Then I went shopping along the avenyn until I got tired of ducking into stores and cafes to avoid the rain. Did some website work (check out the new jewelry!) and then caught up with Steve & Co. for dinner at an Indian restaurant - so good and remarkably inexpensive.