Glasswork in Sweden…Kosta Boda

I believe I was born to work with glass. I’m Swedish after all. The Swedes have been making glass for centuries. Their most famous glass studio is Kosta Boda, in Småland, Sweden. It’s “The Kingdom of Crystal”. It’s also where Pippi Longstocking lives but that’s a whole other story. I’ve been fortunate to have been to Kosta and Boda, which are two different glass factories. At Kosta I met the artist Olle Brozen.

Cool car by Olle Brozen

He does some really cool cast cars that are in the Kosta production line of art glass, as well as alot of other fine glass work. I got a quick tour of the hot shop and was able to watch the amazing workers create the production pieces that are sold all over the world. At the Boda studio I briefly got to meet the artist Kjell Engman. He was in a bit of a hurried mode since he was getting ready to go to the SOFA show in Chicago with his glass art.

I was absolutely in awe of the entire experience. The glass is from the sand of the area. It’s all created there. They color the glass themselves although the majority of the glass is transparent. Fabulous work. And the whole area is full of glass factories and schools. Another factory we saw that is also owned by Kosta Boda was Orrefors. They produce more traditional glassware. If you have the opportunity to travel to Sweden you have to check out “The Kingdom of Crystal”. The land where Swedish glass comes from!

I left myself a note when I added Colorfully Sarah Shop to my list of shops to write about that says “small but adorable.” I was talking about the shop in general — which as of this writing has just 40 patterns — but it’s also true of the designs themselves.

These cute, candy colored designs are sure to make you smile and are probably as fun to stitch as they are to look at. Let’s take a closer look.

You know a shop (or its owner) defies categorization when the largest category (albeit only by one) is “other.” Other is all hoops of little icons, whether frogs with conversation hearts, different shapes of pasta or a set of colorful cupcakes.

I chose this set of Jellycat style kawaii creatures to highlight because it’s super cute and would be fun for a kids room or a kid at heart. The design include 13 little characters, including a bunny, penguin, croissant and marshmallows, the sun and moon and a octopus. My teenager would love this one!

It measures 88 by 87 stitches and uses 25 colors. The designer suggests using 14 count fabric and putting the design in a seven-inch hoop.

This design gives you a pretty good idea of the style and the colors that are used in a lot of her designs. Animals is the next biggest category and they’re the same kind of projects, with multiple little animals. The frogs are back, this time with mushrooms. There are axolotls, bunnies and “spring insects” including butterflies, moths and beetles.

Other categories include fall, Christmas and video games (which has a collection of retro controllers, some Starwdew Valley icons and a set of pastel potions).

All of the patterns are adorable and sure to bring a smile while you stitch and when you display them or give them as gifts.

Check out all the designs at Colorfully Sarah Shop on Etsy.

[Photo: Colorfuly Sarah Shop]

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