This first pic is or our house a few weeks ago when the crab apple was in full bloom. It was too pretty to pass up!

 Here are a few shots of my first actual attempt at rosemaling. A few years ago Johanna S and I took it upon ourselves to teach ourselves this traditional Norwegian art/craft. We bought paint, wooden things, brushes and a book. But even with all of that, our rosemaling quickly became our own sort of folk art. We still cherish those first attempts, but this week I took a real class taught by Sunhild Muldbakken.  My forms are still rather rudimentary, but I think I'm going to enjoy this hobby. Watch out at Christmas everyone! The plate project is a design by my teacher and I received a little help with some of the shading on the strokes. The second picture is of a work-in-progress. It is a Megan Swanson original, done without any teacher help.