Rags stitching and things

White Christmas ... or is it white? the snow looks more lavender to me ... ;-)

2011-12-09T12:05:00.000Z

We are enjoying a beautiful Advent time here in Iceland right now. Snow all over and today even some sunshine for the tiny little time of daylight we have :-)

This is in my garden. Snowing and snowing :-)

I took these photos in Hellisgerði Lava Park, right across my little street. You can see part of my town in the background. I love the blue colors on the snow when the sun is so low in the sky and the days are so short.

The sun has gone down but the sky is still pink above the blue ground. Very Christmacy :-)

Even the elves who live in these lava rocks, have put up some Christmas lights! or isn´t that what this is? At least looks nice in the snow :-)

A perfect day to go out and play in the snow with my grand daugther!

Enjoy this beautiful time, play, sing and be happy! :-)

It is time for a new post in here :-)

2011-09-01T15:54:00.000Z

It is autumn again with it´s beautiful rainbow colours

taking over from the greens of summer.

It is raining and windy outside, which makes it a perfect day to sit inside and stitch.

The bright and beautiful colours give inspiration for new ideas and a new choice of colours

for my work.

The little fairies are busy preparing their plants for the winter. They need to gather the green energy and store it in the roots during winter. Next spring they help their plant to raise the energy again and show us all the glorious green again.

But now, we enjoy the rich reds and yellows. The berries almost ready to be picked for jellies or left alone for the birds to eat when it gets colder.

Every season has it´s charm. I do love watching Nature do it´s magical work :-)

Happy New Year!!!

2011-01-17T14:40:00.000Z

Dear friends, happy new year! This morning was so beautiful with a thin layer of fresh snow all over. The park across the street; Hellisgerði, is my everyday connection to Nature. I can see the changes in weather and seasons just by looking out the window. And

this wonderful scenery met my eyes this morning.

Enjoy Life, it really is beautiful. Sometimes it is obviously wonderful

but sometimes we have to look closely.

Friendship Tapestry pieces

2010-11-21T22:49:00.000Z

It has been way too long since I last posted a blog here. And this one is short :-)

I just HAVE to tell you about 17 new pieces for The Friendship Tapestry! These beautiful pieces arrived in Iceland from Tasmania. A group of women in Tasmania took their time and friendship thoughts to make these gorgeous pieces :-)

Great, aren´t they?!

The only problem is now that we are still having some computer and time problems ... but I am hoping we can add them all to the Friendship Tapestry website, in the first week of December.

Love and blessings to you all and keep stitching!

The autumn ...

2010-09-01T12:06:00.000Z

... is here all of a sudden, with it´s beautiful colours, harvest and cozy candle evenings :-)

The Rowanna tree /Mountain Ash shows the season clearly. Blooms in the spring and gives beautiful red berries to the birds in autumn.

My little grandma-girl and I enjoy stitching when it gets a bit colder outside :-)

We have had our share of wonderful kittens this summer. They all got good new homes but this little Mía decided early on that this was her home and she is staying with us ... I can´t say anyone disagrees with that ;-)

The sun rises lower in the sky but sometimes our inner sun rises higher during the mystical time of winter. Shorter days with longer evenings, surprising colours and magical shadows. The birds move into towns to spend their autumn and winter with us humans. Give us songs to take into our hearts to ease the cold outside.

Every season has it´s charm to enjoy.

But the cute little kitties continue cuddling each other, no matter what the season! :-)

I am living in a cat world these days

2010-08-22T15:09:00.000Z

This summer we have had our home filled with love and laughter and beautiful little kitties. They are now leaving for new homes most of them...

so cute these lovely little creatures :-)

They hide in my "Holly-bag"

and help me blog

They are adorable all over my living room :-)

Little Mía watching me closely, she decided to stay with us ;-)

Gullfoss - Live Webcam - Inspired by Iceland

2010-06-09T18:04:00.001Z

Check out this link if you are interested in live webcam of various places in Iceland. Both beautiful and interesting :-)

Gullfoss - Live Webcam - Inspired by Iceland

A whole lot of life in the house :-)

2010-06-05T20:42:00.002Z

Our home is full of life these days. Five new kittens born to our cat lady Edda.

They are almost a month old and Edda thought it was time to introduce them to their "uncle-doggy" Krummi :-)

Little Mia was very excited to meet her "uncle" ...

Little Mia grew amazingly fast when she saw Krummi ;-)

She grew and changed shape even! and made a very strange sound. Krummi thought this was too weird and backed away.

Little Mia turned to her mother and called: "Mom, I made him sit down!"

"No no no! My dear little Mia, you should be friends"

"I am one of the good guys, you know" said Krummi, a bit hurt.

They of course became best friends when the wise old mother Edda, told her daughter that life is much better when everybody are friends.

"Hey!? there is another one!" Said Krummi

"Oh yes, there are five of them" said Edda with a pride in her voice.

"That´s great!" said Krummi, "they are so fine and cute, I look forward to get to know them better." and gave his "sister" a soft hug.

"Krummi, you are the best brother imaginable" said the proud Eddamama and gave her "brother" a kiss :-)

It is summer already!

2010-05-28T20:13:00.000Z

I am back! I got "lost" for awhile, had to go through two computers and am now using a new one, I hope it will continue to work :-)

After a rahter difficult winter in Iceland and a very strange spring with two volcanic eruptions and well let´s call it "other things" (has to do with politics and economic crisis ....) not another word about those things in this blog today ;-)

But spring came as a saving angel spreading green life all over! All the trees are fully leaved and bushes and flowers starting to bloom. It is just amazing, like a rebirth, really :-)

This is my cherry tree smiling with hundreds of flowers this spring-summer :-)

Everything has turned green in only a short time and oh what a change!

Another photo of my cherry tree, just because I love this tree! To me, it is a miracle to see a cherry tree bloom in Iceland, so far north in the Atlantic. And last year we had some cherries too, so I am starting to wait now .... ;-)

Another plant smilin in flowers. Just tiny little flowers but so bright yellow and cute in contrast with the purple leaves :-)

Also, in my home we have five new members. Our cat lady Edda gave birth to these beautiful little kittens early May. Pure joy, so soft and cuddly :-)

Is there anything more beautiful then a newborn individual? Their mama is taking good care of them and so protective. But she asks me to babysit while she takes short walks in the sunshine. I have no problem saying YES to that! hahahah

Winter Wonderland and beautiful embroidery work

2010-02-13T13:03:00.001Z

This photo was taken on a cold but beautiful winter day in Reykjavík, Iceland, a few weeks ago.

For some days now, the weather has been more like early spring and it is fooling the plants already! They are showing some green way too soon!

I was reminded of these cold days when looking at a beautiful textile art piece made by a dear Friendship Tapestry- and blog-friend Judy. You can see her picture in an online exhibition called Winter Wonderland here She really captures the cold of winter :-)

And vote too, there is an open voting on the website :-)

Check out Judy´s blog too ! enjoy!

Life in big ways and small :-)

2010-02-08T15:30:00.000Z

Our cute little three month old Miyazaki :-)

And the huge circle around the sun.

Isn´t Life beautiful? big and small :-)

A Beautiful day in January

2010-01-31T11:18:00.001Z

The first full moon of the year and Nature is beautifully covered in white and the weather completely calm.

It is like Mother Nature is waiting for something.

The air is cold but clear and everything seems brighter than usual.

We see the strong colours of the plants through the ice crystals.

Through which you feel the heartbeat of the Life within.

The loud sound from stepping on frozen moss, makes you want to stand still and not interrupt

the peaceful sleep of the plants.

Soon the sun will melt the frozen ground again which will

wake up and smile back to us in blooming flowers.

A few photos taken Jan. 11th

2010-01-13T14:18:00.000Z

I accompanied my husband to work the other day. He was visiting this lovely place Alviðra,

I took my camera with me .... of course :-)

The sun was coming up just before 10 in the morning.

A beautiful morning :-)

Cold but beautiful days

2010-01-08T09:11:00.000Z

The year 2010 starts with cold but beautiful weather here in Iceland.

The land is frozen, the ocean is "irritated" but the mountains are still there bathed in the wonderful wintersun.

Mt. Esja seen from Reykjavík. It stands like a guardian to shelter our capital city from the northern wind.

Between the mountains we see a glimpse of the fjord Hvalfjörður, like a faraway dream.

The little island Viðey, just off the coast of Reykjavík and Mt. Esja in the background.

"Blue Christmas" in a happy way! :-)

2009-12-29T16:19:00.000Z

We finally had our Christmas snow here in the SW-Iceland. A beautiful blanket of clean sparkling white and soft snow. It makes those dark days of winter so much brighter. And those short days with it´s special light turn everything blue.

I took a walk with my camera through our little park, Hellisgerði, across the street.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and will have a wonderful Happy New Year!!!

Enjoying the wonderful season of Light

2009-12-08T16:56:00.000Z

Due to things out of my control, we had to delay the exhibition of The Friendship Tapestry until 2010.

So, now it is back to preparing for Christmas and enjoy this wonderful season.

All new babies remind of the miracle of The Light and The Life.

The little kitties, so perfect and so beautiful.

And my puppy dog Krummi, here pretending to be as innocent as an angel ... ;-)

Enjoy the wonderful season dear friends.

Merry Christmas!

or Happy ...! what you call your holiday of Light :-)

And a wonderful New Year :-)

Beautiful kitties and wonderful world wide friendship

2009-11-26T10:27:00.001Z

My beautiful little kitties keep me busy petting them and admiring the miracle of new Life.

Mama takes good care of her little babies :-)

Although they have all opened their eyes, one eye tends to roll to the side sometimes haha so cute :-)

There are so many things out there to investigate but to begin with it is best to stay close to mama and the siblings.

So soft, so beautiful and so friendly. They really do remind us of the miracle of Life, don´t they?

But my main thing to do these days is to prepare for our next exhibition of The Friendship Tapestry!

We will open on December 10th and stay open until January 10th 2010

in the exhibition hall of Alliance Francaise, in Tryggvata 8, Reykjavík, Iceland.

The variety of friendship pieces is amazing, as you can see from these little parts of the tapestry. They come from all over the world and still more are coming in.

Check out our website and see all the beautiful pieces on www.ragjo.is

Would you like to join the world of friendship? see how on the website :-)

New Life :-)

2009-11-07T17:52:00.000Z

This is Lady Alexandra or Alex as we call her, very pregnant. But about two nights ago ...

four ...no ...

... five beautiful kitties were born :-)

My granddaughter Embla Sól counted them to be sure: "One, two, hree, ...."

Mommy watches over her babies and looks so proud.

This little brown-gray-striped one is much smaller then the other ones. He is so cute.

Alex is tired but happy with her new babies :-)

Krummi is not allowed close the babies yet but he ...

... he has other playmates :-)

Krummi also helps mommy write blogs :-)

No need to go far ...

2009-10-22T16:17:00.001Z

to see the beauty of Life

The healing of stitching in the cold of winter

2009-10-07T10:05:00.000Z

We had this beautiful autumn filled with all the colours of the rainbow ... but all of a sudden, winter is here :-)

The little birch tree in my garden turned yellow but over a few minutes snow covered the whole scene :-)

"Birkikvistur" (have no idea of the English name, sorry) has the most beautiful autumn colours I have seen but hidden under the cold snow.

My little puppy, Krummi, has to go outside in the middle of the night. It is wonderful to listen to the peaceful night with no one around, even the birds are asleep. And watch the snow on the trees and hear the leaves fall to the ground. Beautiful but oh so cold ;-)

As soon as the first daylight is visible, the birds start singing again and eat the delicious berries that wait for them.

In earlier posts you see that my dear Dúfa got ill and then died my poor little darling. While we waited and nursed her, I stitched this little Christmas box.

I always get help from the family with my projects ... ;-)

Here is Edda "helping", she had to know what I was doing haha

And here is the box in close up.

Thank you Judy for the kit. It is always so comforting and relaxing to stitch. We know that, don´t we:-)

Last year my husband was in the hospital for two weeks and in the meanwhile I sat there and watched over him and ... of course stitched :-)

This is what I stitched then.

I can´t think of anything more relaxing and comforting as stitching. It makes it easy to concentrate on praying and add positive thoughts to each stitch.

Well, petting and taking care of the furry fourleggeds in the family is pretty comforting too :-)

Heart theme

2009-10-04T12:16:00.002Z

Heart projects :-)

Summerday

Winternight

Life

2009-10-03T15:23:00.000Z

Our dearest little Dúfa had a heart attack two evenings ago. It was like she knew she was leaving. She "said" her goodbye and then laid down again on her favorite place in the living room. All of a sudden she was gone.

We thank her for the two wonderful years she gave us. I also want to thank all of you who prayed for her. We know that prayers help although we don´t always get what we wanted. The prayers and good thoughts help also with the passing to a new state in Life.

And we know although we deeply miss her, that Life never dies. She lives on in a new world full of light and with a healthy body. :-)

Miss Sunshine and the windy days

2009-09-28T15:36:00.000Z

Life sometimes gives us both rain and sunshine at the same time and even adds some heavy winds. This last week has been like that in our home. Last Wednesday this beautiful little puppy moved in with us. We call him Krummi, which is a nickname for a raven. Krummi is such a wonderful little puppy. :-)

Our Icelandic sheepdog, our lovely dear Dúfa (means dove) took him so well right away. But on Friday Dúfa became seriously ill. During a few hours we really thought she wasn´t going to make it. But with wonderful vets who knew exactly what they were doing and with a lot of prayers from a whole lot of people, she turned back to life. She is now recovering. We don´t really know what happend but it looks like she may have eaten a poisenous mushroom. At least she was in a terrible shape. She is now starting to eat again and is in recovery. It will take some time but we believe she will be all good again :-)

Krummi is a smart lively little thing and we all love him to pieces. He learns fast but has a hard time understanding why Dúfa can´t play all day.

But Krummi also has a great friend in Embla Sól, my granddaughter. They know how to have fun together and teach each other a whole lot. Dúfa likes to take part but only for a short while at a time, until she is better.

Just before Dúfa got so ill, I received a wonderful packet of presents from Judy Grant. :-)

A whole lot of treasures came out of the envelope :-)

And here is Miss Sunshine with silk ribbon stitches, glittering beads and a beautiful smile.

This present couldn´t have come at a better time. I took the cross stitch pattern for the little Christmas box and started stitching while I was waiting for news about my poor little doggy. It soothed me to stitch and helped me concentrate on praying and not worrying.

Thank you so much Judy, I don´t think you realized how much this pressy would mean to me :-)

The sun is shining today on the wonderful autumn colours, the birds are singing and Life is good. Little Miss Sunshine will remind me of sunny days through our coming dark and cold winter :-)

The colours of autumn

2009-09-10T10:00:00.005Z

I just love how summer and autumn are peacefully trying to top each others colours.

Scarlet Hit, is the name of this rather small rose but oh so beautiful.

The bees are still working while the Lisa Rose continues blooming. And she is not nearly done!

This one (Purpura broddur, in Icelandic) has "autumn colour" all summer, which makes a wonderful contrast with the green leaves around.

Skáldarós (Poets rose) shows beautiful variety of reds and pinks and yellows along with the green.

Birkikvistur looks like a beautiful flaming bush in my small garden.

This little Fairy Rose is blooming happily more and more, every day.
All these colours and texture are so inspiring for painting and stitching. So, I take as many photos as I can during this colourful time of year and look through them during winter :-)

Season changes

2009-08-26T14:33:00.005Z

It is early autumn now in Iceland, or should we call it late summer?

The berries are ready on the Mountain Ash (Rowanna tree) as well as other trees and bushes. It is harvesting time. People are making jams and juices from various types of berries.

We have had a wonderful summer and are now heading into darker colder days. But that is not all bad. We can now enjoy candle lights in the evenings and use our warm wool sweaters :-)

The changes of seasons always makes me think of what happened in the season passing, what I´ve learned and then start planning for a new one. What will I do this autumn, and this coming winter? So many things, so many ideas.

One of the main things I am thinking of is the exhibition of the Friendship Tapestry December 10th. That will be exciting :-)

August and this wonderful summer is almost over

2009-08-10T11:51:00.005Z

The unforgettable summer of growth in 2009

This wonderful warm summer has given us some amazing things here in the north. We have a cherry tree in our garden. I was not sure if it would bloom but it did so this spring, beautiful white flowers all over. This last week, we were able to pick one red cherrie to taste. We even split it in three, so we (my husband and I and our little granddaugther) could all have a little taste, mmmmmm.... it was so good. It was the very first fresh cherry I ever tasted.
And now we have a lot of berries almost ready for picking :-)
For me, having a tiny little front yard and growing cherries, on this island in the North Atlantic, is nothing but close to a miracle. :-)

One of my cats had some adventure the other day (see another blog post). And is now slowly recovering from breaking his leg. Cats are an amazing creatures, he jumps around, runs and plays on three legs with no problem. The other animals (including us humans) in the household give him good cuddles and hugs and he is healing well :-)

Two of my latest stitching works. To the left is "The Guardian Angel" and to the right is an elf man we call "The Educator in Hvalfjörður". Both are images from my new elf cards. I printed my painted pictures on to fabric, silk in one and cotton in the other one. I use varigated threads including hand dyed silks ( I just love those!) and metalics for the angel. The elves staff is from one of my rose bushes in the garden.

Warm days in the north

2009-07-26T10:32:00.006Z

This summer has been unusually warm and wonderful in Iceland.

Dúfa, my doggy, had to find the fragrance for herself, imitating both me and the bees :-)

I can never get enough of these wonderful rose bushes. It amazes me everyday how beautiful the colour is and the fragrance mmmmm ....

And for a thread and fabric addict like myself, I always start thinking of what kind of thread would fit best to stitch them ;-)

This little elf man, I painted and then printed on silk fabric. I used hand dyed silk and fine wool to stitch him and a branch of a rose(of course ;-) for his walking staff. This is one of the pictures on my exhibition last weekend.
The family enjoys ice cream in the little garden. Do you see the kitty trying to steal a lick from the bowl?

One of our cats, "Magni the little Viking kitty" broke his leg the other day, during some adventure outside. He is now home from the animal hospital, getting better and learning to use this strange stiff leg.

Poor little Magni, but the other animals and our dear little granddaugther make sure he gets a lot of hugs and comfort :-)

The family (some with two and some with four legs ;-) spends as much time as possible in this tiny little garden. I always carry with me a bag or a basket full of: a stitch project, my Elf cards, the phones and of course my coffee mug.

Today is cloudy but it feels nice though. My husband and I are working on the website www.ragjo.is it still needs some fixing. But have a look, check out the Friendship Tapestry pieces, there are some gorgeous art, curious kind of works, warm and cheerful, old style and new methods. The Friendship Tapestry is really a collection of ways to do needlework as well as showing friendship between all people around our planet.

My exhibition and a new website!

2009-07-19T10:53:00.007Z

This beautiful weekend I am displaying my "stitched-paintings" in Eyrarkot cottage in Hvalfjörður, Iceland.

Saturday was wonderful with the perfect weather to enjoy the view over the fjord and mountains, along with the art work and chat over coffee outside.

We took short walks to visit with the elf beings in the neighborhood. The connection between Icelanders and elves is old and rich. As far back as stories go in this country, there is the stories of these beings living in lava rocks and mountains, streams and knolls.

We had the pleasure of meeting a lot of people Saturday and are expecting people today as well. The paintings on the wall are made by the artist Inacio Pacas.

The weather is beautiful today, wonderful to drive a short distance out of the city and enjoy a peaceful afternoon with nature, art and elves and of course us humans too ;-)
I am also introducing my new Elf Cards: "The Elves Little Oracle Cards". They include pictures of Icelandic nature beings, birds and animals.

I have opend a new website www.ragjo.is it includes the Friendship Tapestry along with pictures of my "stitched-paintings" and the cards.

Love and friendship to you all
Ragga /Rags

I love these lovely days in the garden :-)

2009-07-04T00:59:00.004Z

A beautiful day out in the sunshine today!

The unbelievable fragrance of the roses and the variety of green and pink colours. The variety of shapes and texture .... mmmmm... just makes me want to stitch and paint :-)

I spent most of the day in the tiny little garden of mine. In the great company of good friends of human kind, cats, bumblebees, plants and .... well, these are my new "Elves Little Oracle Cards" ;-) My kitty Edda wanted to have a reading. It looks good, I think she is going to be playing outside some more this summer ;-)

My new website is: www.ragjo.is

The Elves Little Oracle Cards

2009-06-26T21:34:00.004Z

During the week of midsummer when the nights in Iceland are bright as day, I published my new oracle cards. I call them "The Elves Little Oracle Cards".
The elves and other hidden beings in Nature have been a part of us Icelanders from the beginning. Almost every cliff, waterfall, mountain and knoll has beings living inside. Water sprites, dwarfes, the friendly elves and the "next door neighbors" the hidden people. They are all part of our history.

My husband Lárus is helping me making a new website www.ragjo.is for all my projects. In there you will find more about the cards and the Friendship Tapestry. The Stitching Elf embroidery patterns is in working progress. We will be adding new things to all the pages on the website in the next few days and weeks.

Enjoy the bright days and night in the north and the cool winter days in the south. :-)
Love and friendship
Ragga / Rags

The summertime and The Friendship Tapestry

2009-06-21T10:39:00.004Z

It is summer time here in the north and everything looks green and beautiful. The fragrance from the Mountain Ash (Rowan Tree) and the birch trees fills the air after a midnight rain. My dog Dúfa and my cats play happily outside, while the birds sit high in the trees and sing for us. It is a good time to enjoy.

My husband and I are working on a new Friendship Tapestry website. I can´t get into the old one to add the new pieces I have received.
We are preparing for another exhibition of the Friendship Tapestry but it won´t be in Australia as we had planned before. Time changes, doesn´t it. I will keep you posted here on this blog when plans are clear, it will be soon.

Enjoy the summer, it is a wonderful time to sit outside and stitch :-)
In friendship
Rags / Ragga

Summer green

2009-05-25T16:14:00.007Z

Spring is my favorite time of year! and of course summer is great with it´s long bright days and very short nights here in the north :-) Everything turns green, the beautiful healing feeling comes with that green colour.

Everywhere is a sign of new life. Rose bushes promising flowers in many colours right on top of that green.

The plants with it´s endless variety of texture and colour give inspiration to new stitching and knitting ideas every day. So, I´m going outside to stitch in my little garden and listen to the birds sing and my cats and doggy play around me.
Enjoy Life, it IS good :-)

Happy Easter!

2009-04-05T11:17:00.004Z

Dear Friendship Tapestry friends. I have received two new pieces of friendship for the tapestry. I am hoping I will soon be able to work the website properly, so I can add the pictures of these wonderful pieces. One has actually been waiting to be published for quite awhile. But I hope I am forgiven.
Lovely Easter Holiday is here with hopes of Nature coming alive again after a long sleep of winter. Everything comes to life again at this time of year, here in the north at least ;-) It is of course vice verse in the southern hemisphere ;)

Last weekend we had the snow in the picture below, today it is raining and actually almost warm. A very nice day. Some of the rose bushes are showing life and my sherry tree is bursting! Such promises of brighter and warmer days ahead :)

I added a photo of my new bird pattern on the "Stitching Elf" blog, you find a link here to the right.

Happy Easter!

April in Iceland

2009-04-01T22:52:00.003Z

It has been quite awhile since last time I blogged. Time just passes too quickly ;-)

For my Friendship Tapestry friends, I have some rather sad news. We will not be able to attend the "Beating Around The Bush" convention in Adelaide, Australia, next October, as was planned. Instead we are preparing an exhibition of the Friendship Tapestry in Reykjavík Iceland during the same time. I will keep you informed.

The photo above was taken last weekend, march 29th but now there is no snow on the ground here in the SW Iceland and a hint of spring fragrance in the air. I think.... hopefully, we will have spring time soon :-)
All the best to you dear friends out there
Ragga /Rags

A nice visit from Australia :-)

2009-01-27T20:53:00.005Z

I had a wonderful visit last week from Australia. A new friend, Robyn Young spent an afternoon with me and of course I showed her the Friendship Tapestry.

It was really a good afternoon and I want to thank you Robyn for taken the time to stop by :-)
It is so wonderful to meet new people from different parts of the world.

A New Year with New Ideas :-)

2009-01-15T20:49:00.004Z

It´s a new year with new ideas and new adventures. These days I am starting my own little business I call Stitching Elf. I paint pictures from Icelandic nature and turn them into cross stitch patterns and kits. I will write more about this later and add a link to a new blog page which will be dedicated to Stitching Elf.
I am sorry to say that I am still having difficulty with my website on the Friendship Tapestry. I just can´t get into it and will probably have to make a new one but that will take time and money, so..... The website is still open though to see all the beautiful stitched pieces made in various corners of the world. :-) You find the link here: Friendship Tapestry.
All the best to you all, see yah!

2009-01-03T23:53:00.007Z

Happy New Year!

This strange new year started with a heavy fog which is very symbolic for a very uncertain future. Where are we heading? What is waiting behind the next corner? I guess we will soon see.

But we find our light and follow it into the future, whatever it brings. We hope for the best and believe in doing the best we can and then everything will be alright. :-)

Happy new year and may God bless your future :-)

I look forward to be in more contact here on this blog in the new year :-)

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-17T09:39:00.003Z

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Thank you all who visited my blog page, I promise to write more next year ;-)

I am planning to add more stitching things on the blog next year :-)
See you then!

Advent with kitties and cross stitch :-)

2008-12-08T10:35:00.005Z

Our "Christmas kittens" are born. Beautiful little kitties which purr so softly and meow so LOUD haha
It´s been busy times lately. I decided to start my own little business and have been working on that day and night. I am designing cross stitch patterns and have to admit it takes a bit longer then I thought to make a pattern ready for sale ;-) I am hoping the first ones will be ready in January. I will post the pictures here when ready. I call my business "Stitching Elf" All the pictures will be based on Icelandic Nature and all it inhabits.

More later and remember to enjoy the Advent :-)

"The summer within the winter"

2008-10-06T14:34:00.006Z

The weather changes fast here in Iceland, ... like the economy these days. But it is good to remember the beauty is still there, we just need to look a bit harder. There is always the heart of summer within the winter. The plants are just sleeping and will wake up again to give us beauty and joy.

During windy, cold days it is wonderful to sit under a blanket with our stitching in hand and a doggy to warm the toes and a purring cat helping with the stitching. A candle on the table and good family to share time with. Nothing is better then that no matter what else goes on in life.

Life changes like the seasons

2008-09-16T12:19:00.007Z

The Light of Life shines through and brightens up each day. Even when it is cloudy and rainy like today, we know the sun is right there behind those clouds and is shining as always, wether we see it or not.

Well, I think it is about time to write another blog. Many things have happend since last time. A month ago my husband Lárus, became ill with encephalitis and was in a hospital for two weeks but is back home and recovering well, actually recovering amazingly well :-) Lárus is now in physical therapy and it will take weeks or perhaps months to recover fully. But there seems to be no permanent damage which is a miracle :-)

The Heavens smiled at us this time and gave us a new life :-)

We are convinced that both the medicine, the good doctors and all the people around the world which prayed for him, made the whole difference. People of many Christian churches and many religions and faiths have prayed, we felt the energy and peace that came with it. Thank you all dear friends and people we have never met, thank you for all the praying.

Here is one picture for a dear friend Judy, she asked me about this tree on the Friendship Tapestry website.

I stitched this birch tree a few years ago and have used the image as background on the website. www.internet.is/friendshiptapestry I used Icelandic wool for the tree but DMC cotton for the branches and leaves, both solid and varigated threads. The fabric is ;-) an old shirt from my husband hehe

I hope you are all enjoying the autumn coming in with beautiful colours. The changing of seasons always gives me a sense of life changes. The old is blown away to give space for new ideas, new outlook on Life, new hope and a new opportunity to live better today then yesterday. Well, maybe I feel extra much this way, this very autumn :-)

Keep stitching! :-)

Rags

Close friends

2008-08-08T14:50:00.006Z

I hope you are all enjoying the summer. It has been really nice here in the SW part of Iceland up until now when it rains all day. But I guess the plants really needed that too. But we who can help it, stay inside and stitch or write or... ... just play together like these two in the above picture. They are almost the same age, will both be one year old this autumn. Dúfa (meaning Dove) is the Icelandic sheepdog puppy and Magni the little Viking, is the siamese/housecat mix kitten.
They are the best of friends.
I send my best to you all, now I am going back to stitching.

My blog and The Friendship Tapestry website

2008-07-20T16:28:00.002Z

Today I connected this blog to The Friendship Tapestry website. Here to the left is a link to The Friendship Tapestry.

A glorious day!

2008-07-20T15:13:00.006Z

My exhibition at Eyrarkot, Kjós, yesterday. The weather was wonderful !! and the fjord and mountains gave their best to greet all the visitors that came to their special day: "Kátt íKjós" "Joy in Kjós".
Here are some photos from the exhibition :-)

Guests looking at my work and reading the tiny stories with each picture.

Me and my pictures

Me and Jóhanna outside Eyrarkot. Jóhanna is a Heathen priestess and held a speach about the Old Nordic Faith, Ásatrú and the people who first settled in Iceland and the area around Kjós. They were both Heathen and Christian and all lived together in harmony. The world can learn from that today...

This is Bergþóra and me. Bergþóra owns and runs the guesthouse and eshibition room at Eyrarkot. She has made an old house into a wonderful warm and welcoming guesthouse for 10 people in this peaceful countryside, just 40 minutes north of Reykjavík. She offers breakfast and rents out the salon where we had the exhibition. If you ever want to come to Iceland and stay in the countryside, I´ll get you in touch with Bergþóra, she is the nicest person you can imagine.

Almost there...

2008-07-15T12:32:00.004Z

Saturday is getting closer and I still have a lot of things to do. But I´ve got 8 pictures ready now, so almost there.

Here is one of a dwarf I met one fine day by a lake called Kleifarvatn.
It is still raining and the wind blowing out here in the N-Atlantic. But my roses keep blooming, they are not giving up. And with those Nature´s smiles in my garden, it is ok if it rains...

All my best to you dear friends out there.
Love
Rags

My studio

2008-07-12T13:57:00.004Z

My window and door to the balcony of my Ravens Nest.

We have been blessed with sunny and warm days for about 6 weeks in a row! It is not usual in Iceland to have the same weather day after day for so long and we have all really enjoyed it. Except it means we have to water the gardens and some farmers have lost some of their grass. But today makes up for it, it rains like God wants to clean the ground right through, all in one day!
But it is dry and warm in here, in my studio, my "Ravens Nest" and I have a lot to do before the exhibition. Even though it is only for one day, it takes time to prepare the pictures. But it is fun and I really look forward to next Saturday.
But better keep going
Love
Rags /Ragga

First exhibition of my needlework pictures

2008-07-07T15:55:00.003Z

On July 19th I will display my stitched pictures. It is the first time I display my work since I started "stitching my paintings" so I am very excited. (and nervous ;-)

The exhibition is only open for one day but it is enough for me to start that way. I will tell more about it as time comes near. I am working on making the pictures ready for walls and ready to be viewed.

My best to you
love
Rags

Sunshine on my shoulders

2008-06-21T11:38:00.005Z

The Light shining in all it´s glory, giving light and warmth with the old birch tree giving shelter from the hottest rays.
My best wishes to you all dear friends.
Love
Ragga

A test post

2008-06-18T17:59:00.003Z

This is a test for a blog page for Rags.
Anyway, just testing. See you girls ;-)
Rags

Rags and things

2007-10-19T18:15:00.000Z

Here is a small introduction. I am an Icelandic woman with all kinds of interests, mainly in needlework, nature and other arts. I love communicating with interesting and positive fun people. I will post some of my stitching/painting project here on my new blog.

My first blog on blogger.com

2007-10-19T18:08:00.000Z

This is to see how it looks like on my new blog.