Swede

Happy New Year From Swede Collection!!

I hope 2019 is an incredible year for you.

This is an angel on the wall of an antique shop in Sweden where I purchased it. 

Colleen 

Season's Greetings To My Dear Followers

Wishing all of you joy at this Christmas time.  And, thank you for your support since 2010 to follow where Swede Collection and I have gone. May 2019 hold great things for you all. 

Colleen

Swede Collection Furniture in Milieu Magazine Winter Issue

 

I just received my Winter 2019 pre-issue for advertisers of Milieu magazine.  We get our preview copy about three weeks before they hit the newsstands.  

Cover view. 

My ad is on page 35.  This kitten is precious -- provided by my commercial photography studio.  Would love to be her pet mother.

There are four magazines per year and I believe the subscription cost is $29.95 for two years. In my area the single issue in bookstores and grocery stores is $7.99.  The owner, Pamela Pierce, does a fabulous job with interior content.  

On another topic, if you would like to see the Lookbook I produced for the shop La Maison in Memphis, here is the link.  This is the December issue as a gift guide.  The November issue was for holiday decor. 

https://issuu.com/swedecollection/docs/la_maison_lookbook_december_2018_en?e=0

Wishing all of you an early Happy Holidays. 

Colleen Martin

Founder, Swede Collection

 

 

Digital Lookbook for La Maison in Memphis, TN

 

For those of you who wish to see some of my photo graphics work, here is another lookbook I finished for La Maison Antiques shop in Memphis.  This is to show what is available in the shop for the month of October.  I use paintings that are for sale and convert them to backdrops to show other merchandise.  The cover is a painting by Vance Boyd. 

And the link:  

https://issuu.com/swedecollection/docs/lamaison_lookbook_october_2018_fina?e=4041138/65022243 

Now working on the November one.  Enjoy!

Colleen 

 

Marburger Farm Antique Show at Round Top, Texas Best of Show Photos

 

Just got home from attending the BIG antique show at Round Top.  My favorite venue is Marburger Farm.  We also went to Big Red Barn and Market Hill.  

I made a lookbook of the photos I took.  

Here is the link to Issuu to view the lookbook:

https://issuu.com/swedecollection/docs/marburger_farm_lookbook_october_201?e=4041138/64983693

I think Round Top is the nation's largest antique show.  Either first or second to Brimfield.  There are miles of tents and buildings along Highway 237 to stop and shop.  It has it all.  Everything from junk to high end pieces. 

Enjoy!

Colleen 

Our First Ad in Milieu Magazine

 

The Fall issue of Milieu magazine is now on the newsstand.  

It is their 5th anniversary issue.  Hard to believe it has been five years since Pamela Pierce started this beautiful magazine.

The marketing gals came to meet with me at High Point market in April and I agreed to advertise with them.  Here is our first ad. 

Swede is on page 41 in the magazine and on page 84 in the editorial story called The Gift of Wood. 

The commercial photography studio I work with is Studio 323 in High Point, NC.  The four-month old French Bulldog in this photo belongs to the studio owner. Her name is Patsy Potato.  Studio 323 has also finished my ad for the Winter issue of Milieu for December 1 release and I really love this new one. 

Shown in this photo are Swede's long Gustavian bench, our Leaf Tip Gustavian stool and our French shell stool.  See them all on either Dering Hall or our website, www.swedefurniture.com

Very proud of this accomplishment. 

Colleen 

All The Gold in Paris From a Tourist Viewpoint

 

I haven't done a digital flipbook on Paris for you in awhile -- lots of procrastination -- so decided to work on one again.  It takes several days for me to put one together. 

This one is on the use of gold by Parisian architects, interior designers, landscape architects, iron workers, painters and other craftsmen.  This is what I see as a tourist visiting museums, castles and walking around town.  Put simply, gold is everywhere in Paris.  I limited this flipbook to 166 pages which is only an overview of the massive availability of things to capture covered in gold. 

I am a beauty seeker by genetics, drive and passion.  My passion yells at me "capture this beautiful view", "capture that detail" and "preserve this artistic skill" to soak up for my own deep well of visual need and to share with others who love beautiful moments as much as I do. 

If you've been to Paris, I hope this reminds you of your visit and if you have not yet gone to Paris, I hope it inspires you to visit. 

 

Here is the link. Best viewed on a desktop. Click the full screen button to see all the details.  

https://issuu.com/swedecollection/docs/flipbook_paris_gilt_retry.compresse?e=4041138/63763887

Last, one other tidbit of news, Swede Collection will have a full-page ad in Milieu magazine starting September 1 with their anniversary issue to reach more people about what Swede makes.  

Enjoy!

Colleen 

 

It Is Blue Hydrangea Time

I love this time of year -- end of May -- first of June when the blue Hydrangeas bloom.  Picked these on the north side of the house this afternoon.  Wish they would bloom forever. 

This vase from Wisteria catalog is the closest one in color that I have. 

These plants are ones I got at the grocery store many years ago as potted plants to decorate with. When they finished, I planted them outside in the flowerbed.  I always try to save them and not just throw them away. I put many of them with the shrubs in the greenbelt.

Placed the vase on my swedefurniture.com buffet.  I've been redecorating and moving things around lately. The date stamp on the back of the gray English transferware platters is March 13, 1849.  There are four in the set.  One is huge [not shown].  Love them with the gray finish of the Swede trumeau and buffet.

I saw some dark red ones in a magazine this week.  They were 2Die4.  I also have pink but the bluish purple ones are my favorite.

Have a fabulous week!

Colleen

Swede Collection Makes Hand-Carved Shell Stools

I want to show you another new product Swede Collection showed at April High Point Market.  We made an 18" square stool that is 19" high [dining table height] that has a hand-carved shell on all sides.  I love making little stools.  You can tuck them anywhere in a room.  I particularly make these so men can sit on them.  Extremely sturdy and built to last 200 years.  Have you ever watched a man enter a room and his eye searches for a place to sit down?  Men won't sit on anything they think will collapse under them and are frustrated when furniture is so delicate it shouts out "don't sit on me".   Won't happen with these stools. 

I made three different color combinations so you could see how versatile they can be.  

This one has an Acacia [blue/green] finish with Italian gold leaf and Italian cut velvet upholstery.

The fabric has a teal background with chocolate velvet damask.

This one has a textured Silvermist finish with Italian cut velvet upholstery in blue/gray on a metallic background.  Notice that the shells are on all sides.

This Silvermist finish is the same as my shell-carved barn door with Italian silver leaf.  Nailheads match the Italian leaf color.

This third one is Software Gray with Italian gold leaf and a solid gray velvet for the upholstery. 

The finishes and upholstery choices are unlimited.  The other thing I like about them is they are so easy to ship FedEx Ground. 

They would look great in pairs tucked under console tables. I also made them 19" high so you could pull them up to a dining table for extra seating.  

Swede also makes hand-carved leaf tip 20" square stools which were introduced at October 2017 High Point Market.  Several colors in these as well. These are Swedish in style. 

Now I am thinking about what design to make the next stools.

Colleen 

Swede Collection is Making Elegant Barn Doors

You have heard the saying "necessity is the mother of invention".   Have you ever wanted a beautiful sliding barn door and the only thing on the market is ho hum or your builder had to make one for $300 out of some pine boards on the jobsite?  Still not very pretty?  If you are like me, you searched the entire Internet and could not find any sliding barn door that had hand carving or was elegant.  

Search no more.  Swede Collection introduced at April High Point market its first three elegant barn doors.  Nobody but Swede is making these.  There are more designs in the works for October High Point market including a very interesting one you could call Bohemian with lots of details. 

Want an elegant sliding door between the master bedroom and bath?  How about one of these? Also incredible in a dining room.

This one is Silvermist blue with hand carving and Italian silver leaf.  

And it is finished on the back side as well.  Italian silver leaf on the trim.  Lovely from both sides.

Have a white room and need an elegant white sliding door?  Here she is.  Hand carved a couple feet from the top down. 

 

 

 

The back side is painted white also.  Due to the depth of the door the carving can only be on one side. 

How about the elegance of this one in Serious Gray with Italian gold leaf on both sides. 

Back is the same as the front on this one. 

Sizes???  These three are 8 foot 4 inches tall and 39 inches wide. They fit an 8 foot interior door that is either 32 or 36 inches wide. 

Can't wait to show you the new ones being developed now.  They also come in 88 inches high for either 7 foot interior doors or 6'-8" openings. 

Pass the word.  Pretty barn doors now exist.  Webmaster is putting them up on swedefurniture.com this week. 

 

Colleen