Two Interviews this Month

Two of my recent interviews are published this month - one in Swedish and one in English.

Happy face :3

For the first one, I was chosen to be Lidingö's Start-up of the Month by Nyföretagarcentrum.

(Lidingö is the island in Stockholm archipelago where I live and work. The Swedish Jobs and Society Foundation is forcefully supporting entrepreneurship in Sweden through professional start-up advice for people who want to start a business; they do this through Nyföretagarcentrum - Enterprise Agencies that cover most parts of Sweden.)

Lidingö's Nyföretagarcentrum have helped me a lot before and after I started my freelance business as printmaker and graphic designer. It's great to have somewhere one can go with all their business-related questions and get professional help, and it feels totally awesome to be recognized as a member of the community.

Here's the interview in Swedish.

If you don't speak Swedish, you could still check out the second interview in the latest issue of Nordic Living magazine. I talk about when I started the business, my work process and exciting stuff happening in the near future.

Maria over at Nordic Design Collective is responsible for this well-curated magazine that introduces independent designers in Sweden.

Here's the magazine!

I'm still preparing my next two-color reduction print that features Stockholm buildings and a little something extra. Start carving tomorrow - we'll see how long this one takes :)

/Tian

Wedding Favors of Your Dreams

Back in April, my boyfriend Raffer and I got a wedding invitation from a friend of his who was planning to have a summer wedding in Norrköping, a city south from Stockholm. The couple requested custom stamps for their wedding stationary and I was inspired to make new stamps for newly weds.

I didn't want to make up with fake names and dates for the sample stamps (they'll just go to waste in that case) so in my newsletter to my frequent customers as well as on my Facebook page, I offered a custom wedding stamp giveaway. Having come up with a few different designs, I wanted to work with couples who would be having handmade/craft-themed weddings and create personalized stamps for them.

Cindy was one of the people that got in touch with me after reading my newsletter. She's the matron of honor for Brittany and Jason's wedding. After going through some details she decided on the design that best fit the theme and I created a stamp for Brittany and Jason.

A hand-carved stamp featuring two love birds on a branch and tiny heart-shaped leaves sprouting.

Yesterday Cindy was kind enough to send over the pictures she took of Brittany and Jason's wedding favors - simplistic brown paper bags with imprints of the personalized stamp. So simple yet stunning!

More pictures after the jump...

Front Page FTW

My little 'Parallel Universe' stamp was featured on Etsy's front page:)

Check out this stunning treasury here.

And I found this site where you can see all the front page treasuries. Sh...

Asylum for the Insane

I was at a Stockholm Etsian gathering a couple of days ago. It was really inspiring and motivating.

Created a new treasury - the first one in almost a year (or more?). It's called Asylum for the Insane. Not sure whether it makes sense to you but it certainly makes sense to me.

Most of the items have been in my 'favorites' for some time and the bright colors and artists' talent really lights up the gloomy Stockholm autumn.

Geek Girls Unite

New treasury: Tech Gifts for Her under $35

Pamper my crave for the color of charcoal...

New Treasuries

I have a PMS and a GPS, which means...

Dedicated to girls who are bold & adventurous, girls who would pack and travel just for love.

Keep Me Warm

A lot of these items have been on my wishlist for quite a while. I love knit, wood and oversized cowls.

Momma Told Me

It's Chinese Mid-Autumn Day today, a day for family reunion and, well, mooncakes!

My friend Kun is so good as making delicacies like these and I had the opportunity to be the first one to taste her creation. Yum!

Since I'm in Stockholm and all my family are back in China, the reunion part of Mid-Autumn Day this year can only happen thanks to Skype:)

Oh, some amazing news: my little shop has been featured on this amazing blog, Momma Told Me. You'll have the chance to win a custom stamp or any stamp of your choice in my shop if you have some luck. Click on the link to the blog to check out how!

Dream Sequence

View Whole Treasury here.

So I was listening to Chet Baker this morning and enjoying my last day before school officially starts. It's like waking up at 6:24 in the morning, seeing the clouds floating out of the window in the bright blue sky, knowing that everything's gonna be alright...