Mom Story: Filippa Asved

My name is Filippa, I live in Denmark with my husband Claus and our three girls Natascha(11), Olivia (8) and Cleo(3) – we have three cats, 5 fish and five chicken that provide us eggs every day. 

I am a freelance interior stylist with a love for DIY, and ideas for kids, therefore 70 % of my work is all about kids.

My blog is called Cirkus, it started as the place where I could show all the amazing things I find, in hope that someone would be interested and get inspired as I do. I also pin here when I see things I love or need to remember.

And once I blogged for the kids magazine Vi forældre, where I had the luck to find a lot of great stuff for kids and Bloesem jewelry was one of them.

At the moment I use most of my time at my new project – my webshop – Fabel A (decorations and ideas for birthdays and parties). I have wanted to open a webshop, for the last 12 years, but never found the right angle - as I have now. :)

What kind of house do you live in - are you and the kids happy here or is there anything you find lacking or would like to change?

We live in a rather ordinary house north of Copenhagen. It is a two storey house, a pretty big garden, with apple trees, small spaces for reflection and playing. The kids love the trampoline, the chickens, and just being in the garden and playing.

I love the garden and I am working on getting as many flowers as possible in the garden, so it will bloom from spring to fall – I still have a long way to go.

What is it you like best about living there?

That we are close to nature and the city at the same time. Two minutes walk to the Forrest, 10 min by bike to the sea and 15 min by car to Copenhagen.

Do you like to spend time decorating your home and the children’s room?

I love to decorate my home and my kid’s rooms, but ever since I started working as an Interior stylist, I do not have the same need to live in a certain way. But now and again I move things around and decorate my home. I decorate with flowers, almost as an obsession some would say, but for me, a small bouquet can change the look so easily. One of my favorite flowers is Lilac.

Do you keep your children’s play areas separate, or do you believe they should have a space in every part of the house?

Natascha and Olivia each have their own room, the rooms are small and connected but their own, and Cleo still sleeps in our room, and has some of her toys in the bedroom. We have toys in the living room and in our office where they each have their own little “office”.

Where do you look for interior inspiration, favorite magazines, websites, or blogs?

I find inspiration in traveling, magazines, books, Pinterest, blogs, or just observing. The best ideas come when I get home from abroad, a trip to Copenhagen or a walk back from the kindergarten.  

My mom is a textile designer and a crafter and has always been a huge inspiration, even though we do not have the same taste. She taught me to believe in individuality in many aspects of life.

What are your children’s favorite items in your house?

The Trampoline, their bikes, computers, Sullvanien, lego, Play mobile, the swing, water sprinkler in the garden, television, clay, painting and crafting.

Some tidying tips? Do your children tidy up after themselves?

I wish I had – we have been renovating our basement, and I hope that when we move all our things back, it will be in storage systems that would make tidying easier for all of us. 

As for my kids I periodically try to make them tidy up after themselves and it is getting better, but I must admit that they are a bit spoiled.

If you are living in a foreign country, how do you feel about it? How do you meet new people, make new friends? What is it that you miss most about 'home'?

We have lived abroad several times, but we only had kids when we lived in New York - I gave birth to my oldest daughter in New York, at The Elizabeth Seton Childbearing Center, where I also met a lot of sweet people when I attended the childbirth class. We love living abroad and exploring. 

What is your idea of a perfect day with your children?

A morning with smile and laughter, and an afternoon where we are together with no expectations, just being together.

What is a normal day with your children? What do you do on the weekends?

I bring them to school and kinder garden at 8 and pick them up around 16, three times a week they go to sports or music and often they have friends over. On weekends, we try to be together all 5 of us. See friends, family, play in the garden; work in the garden and house. Some times we go to the summerhouse to do absolutely nothing.

Can you mention some of your ‘how-to-raise-your-kid’ advice?

Not much – but the things I appreciated was: Breastfeed if you can, let your children sleep next to you as long as you can manage – we had each of them the first year. Show them love, smile, laughter and that you believe in them.

What kind of DIY projects do you like to do with your children?

We love to make Christmas decorations, and painting Easter eggs. Beside that we have made a lot of HABA plates, necklaces, paintings and clay dough figures. 

Are you a crafter or DIY person? 

Can you be both? Yes – love it. But I must admit that for the most time I am a DIY person – I try hard to be better at crafting. When I was younger I did a lot of crafting, but somehow I lost it when I started working behind the computer as a digital designer. 

I attend a local Graphic printing workshop, where I make small art prints for my self and for the friends that like them.

Books, websites, local shops you would recommend for tips and ideas about kids crafting?

Jørgen Clevin was definitely a big inspiration when I was a kid, and Lis Paludan. Today a lot of kids gets their inspiration from Shane Brox - he makes amazing things. Martha Stewart and her creative team have definitely inspired me years ago with MS Kids magazine.

How do you like to celebrate birthday's and other special days in your house?

With friends and family, loots of good food, a layered cake for the birthday girl, happy decorations, laughter smiles and a treasure hunt in the garden. 

Are you a ‘cook’ or ‘food lover’ or both?

I cook because I love it and yes I love food that is made with love. My girls would really like to help – but at the moment our workspace in the kitchen is so small that it does not happen to often. But in the near future we hope to change the kitchen and then I hope they can help some more – if they still have the passion for it.

Where would you like to go to on vacation - with or without your children? 

We love to travel – with and without our children. We go on ski holyday almost once a year and in the summer we go camping somewhere in Europe – this summer we went around France. 

Claus and I sometimes go to Paris, London, or Stockholm to meet up whit our friends, or just relax for a day or two.

Last year we went with the kids to New York to see where we lived and where Natascha was born – great trip, the jetlag was a bit hard on the kids, but they loved being in the city and exploring.

What a sweet Mom Story, thank you Filippa for sharing it with us!!

..Fabel A

Meet Mom Anne Duramois from Copenhagen...

Hi, my name is Anne Duramois Czinczenheim, I’m the co-founder of an international travel site and lifestyle blog for parents called, luvaville. With Luvaville we make city breaks for families both fun and easy with a new search function for child and family-friendly addresses and facilities. Luvaville.com is so far present in 5 different cities: Paris, London, Berlin, Copenhagen and Barcelona with more to come. I’m of course very passionate about traveling and city life and love design, fashion and beautiful things in general.

I live in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, together with my French husband, Laurent and our 2 year old daughter Liv and 3 months old baby Stella.



What kind of house do you live in - are you and the kids happy here or is there anything you find lacking or would like to change?
After living a few years in Paris, we moved to Copenhagen and bought a very centrally located apartment. It’s a typical and classic apartment from the beginning of the 20th century with high ceilings, large and bright rooms with a lot of light coming in from the big windows. Since we have become a family, we now miss having a garden for the kids to play in. We do though have a fantastic courtyard / garden shared with a lot of other families and therefore finding play mates is never a problem. But we are thinking about finding a house with a garden in Copenhagen.



What is it you like best about living here?
We love living in the city, having everything close to us within a 15 minutes bike ride. Work, city center, parks, the airport and the beach. I enjoy stepping out of the door and feeling the buzz of the city. Compared to other capitals, Copenhagen is fairly small, green and quiet. When we moved from Paris the thing I loved the most and still do is the infrastructure for bikes in Copenhagen. Being able to just jump on your bike with the kids gives you such a freedom. This is something I would find very hard to give up again!

Do you like to spend time on decorating your home and the children’s room?
If I had more time ( and money for that matter ;) I would spend a lot of time on decorating our home.  When that being said, I have to say that our apartment is very important to me and I always do small and nice things like having fresh flowers to decorate. I also often change the decoration depending on the season and Christmas is very important to me.  Today, I spend most time on decorating Liv’s room, making sure that her toys are displayed and accessible for her so that she can enjoy being in her room. And she actually spends a lot of time in there, reading a book on her home-made couch or playing with her dolls and kitchen.

Do you keep your children’s play areas very separate or do you believe they should have a space in every part of the house?
I believe that young kids want to be where the parents are, so we have tried to create a kid zone in the living room without having toys all over it. We keep the toys and games we all play together in the living space such as puzzles, Duplo and the wooden train. My husband is very creative with Duplo and our 2 year old loves when they create something unique together. Afterwards, she wishes to put it on display for a while. So having a giant Duplo man in the living room becomes a very usual thing in our home.

Where do you look for interior inspiration, favorite magazines, websites?
Due to my job and our lifestyle blog, I’m always looking for new products, addresses, happenings and ideas. I therefore enjoy reading other blogs including Bloesem, online magazines and international  magazines. I find plenty of inspiration when traveling, walking in the streets, looking at people and talking to them. I find that many of the Australian online magazines are very inspiring since many of the brands are unknown to us Europeans.

What are your children’s favorite items in your house?
Our daughter just got a little beautiful and funky knitted house from Danish LuckyBoySunday for her 2 year birthday and it’s a big hit. She loves playing with her dolls in there and inviting us for a cup of tea. She is also fond of her little bookshelf in her room with a mix of her favourite French and Danish books.

Some tidying tips? Do your children tidy up after themselves?
Liv is actually quite good at keeping her things organized when she wants to. We keep her toys in small suitcases and boxes so that it’s easy for her to understand where to put things. But at the moment, the little monster is challenging us by making a lot of mess just to see how far she can go! But we believe that it’s important to teach her to tidy up after herself even at a young age.

What's it like to raise a child in your town?
Copenhagen is a great city for raising kids again because it is both a small and safe city but also  a capital with many activities and facilities. Parents in Denmark have a one year’s leave all together which means that you have many things to do as well as restaurants suitable for children in the city. The Copenhagen zoo is one of the best I have ever seen.

Who do you consider is a good example for your children?
Well, we try as parents to be a good example for our girls but otherwise I believe that our daughter’s god mother is a great example. An active, independent and hard working woman with high family values. She is very open minded, curious and tolerant - values that I believe are very important to teach the kids of today.

What is a normal day with your children? What do you do on weekends?
At the moment, I’m on maternity leave and spend the day walking around town with baby Stella, meeting friends and discovering new places. Our 2 year old loves her day care and all her friends there. She’s always keen on leaving the house in the morning. Later on, my husband will take his part of the leave and look after Stella. Most parents leave their children in day care and pick them up at around 15.30 to go the playground and spend some time with them before the evening.
During weekends, we often go out for brunch in a child-friendly café with a play area or visit friends and family. We also have a sail boat with a couple of friends but with small kids its difficult. Often my husband will go alone or with our 2 year old on a small tour.

 
Any books you can recommend for parents and how to raise your children?
To be honest, I don’t really read that many books on raising kids. I sometimes read articles in magazines but don’t follow any particular regime. Once in a while, we read a bit in the “Fabulous Weeks” by Dutch Hetty Van de Rijt and Frans Plooij.

Can you mention some of your ‘how-to-raise-your-kid’ values?
Well, to call it a kid would be exaggerating but we try to teach our children to be curious about the world. Since they are growing up with two cultures and two languages, it’s important that they get to be open minded and learn to enjoy different cultures and traditions. I also think it is important to give your children confidence in themselves, not being afraid of new things and opportunities. We let kids be kids but very early teach them to be independent and responsible f. ex. kids learn to eat real food at the table together with the rest of the family from the age of 6 month as well as drinking of a glass. I believe that with a good mix of love, curiosity and confidence, our children will have a good foundation and luggage for life.



What kind of DIY projects do you like to do with your children?
I guess we are not the most talented and creative crafters but we love to spend time with our daughter making drawings, coloring and modelling compound. When I have the time, I like to sew and decorate old boxes with wall paper. The latest project was to sew and make cushions in Liberty fabrics for my daughter’s couch. I can’t wait to my girls get older and we can create clothes and furniture for their Doll house and Barbie dolls like I used too with my mother. As DIY projects, it’s so far happening in the kitchen baking and making cup cakes for instance. Liv loves decorating the cakes. I have also just bought some amazing Japanese “washi” tape for us to decorate and play with, I ‘m sure it will be a lot of fun and look great on the wall.



What are some favorite games in your home?
My husband and I love to play many board games, but our children are still too young to play with us. We dance and sing a lot with our 2 year old and build houses and ships out of Duplo with her.

How do you get your books? Bookstores? Online?
Both, I like shopping for books in real stores since you can better look inside the books but I also buy French books or some with beautiful drawing online on fx. Little Fashion Gallery or Smallable. Books that you are not able to find in regular shops in Denmark.

Are you a ‘cook’ or ‘food lover’ or both?
I would say both but again with two small children, time and logistics make it difficult to spend hours on trying new recipes and experimenting like I used to in the kitchen. Hopefully, in a few years, it will be easier playing around in the kitchen again.

Do you cook together with your children? Does Dad cook?
Our daughter is just learning to help in the kitchen and she is keen on cooking with us. My husband is unfortunately not that interested in cooking, he loves great food and sometimes enjoy cooking when he has the time but on a daily basis I’m the chef of the house!

What kind of place do you like to go to on vacation with and without the children?
Traveling is an important part of our life. Maybe not to exotic places as much now that we have small kids, but we love to discover new places, cultures and food. We always travel with the kids and hope to be able to go on big round trips to different continents when they get older. Personally, I love big city travel....I’m fascinated about urban life, architecture, design, fashion, art and culture...everything that moves. This is why and how I got the idea for Luvaville. Being a parent on holiday can actually be a very stressful thing. Together with my friend Naomi we decided to help families with a practical and stylish travel guide. With Luvaville.com we wish to give parents all the good insider tips for city breaks, where to find child-friendly restaurants, diaper changing facilities, a great playground etc.

Tips for traveling in a plane or a long road trip with children?
When traveling with plane, I always pack some of the favourite toys and add some new books and a few small “presents” as a pass time activity. Some of those “Finding Charlie” books are really great. We also bring snacks and food for the children and maybe a little movie for distraction. This summer will be our first long car drive from Copenhagen to Paris and we will see how it goes. I guess, we will do a lot of counting of red, blue and grey cars during our drive!


..Luvaville..

Meet Danish Mom Lisbeth living in a small town in Denmark

My name is Lisbeth and I am 30 years old. I live in Denmark with my 
family of five. We live in a tiny colorful house located 
30 km from Copenhagen, Denmark. 
My daughter Alma is six years old and my son Storm is four years 
old and our baby Martha was born on the 15. Of January 2010. All of my kids were born in our own home.

Alma and Storm are attending a Waldorf school and I am enrolled in the Waldorf early childhood teacher program and I also make clothes and waldorf dolls for small children and work on my blog.

Currently I am staying home with little Martha. As a family, we strive to live our lives according to the Waldorf philosophy and our own non-conventional ideas.


 


What kind of house do you live in? Are you and your family happy 
where you live or is there anything you terrible 
miss?



Our house is small, but cozy. I love colors and being creative, so 
everywhere there are flowered wallpaper, soft cushions and 
handcrafted furniture in bright colors. I always keep my children in 
mind, when it comes to our home, a child loving environment. I 
believe, that they should be able to freely unfold themselves in our 
home. We do not lack anything in our home....I love my home.

Do you like to spend time on decorating your home and the children’s room?

I love to decorate our home and this is what I spend a lot of time 
on. I want to create a lovely home for us all. A place for relaxation 
and creativity.


Our home can be quite messy at times, due to all our craft projects 
such as knitting, sewing, painting etc. -and not to mention yarn,fabrics and beeswax colors all over. But it is a nice and creative kind of mess!

What places in your new neighborhood do you like to go to for shopping?

We are very privileged to have an organic farm near our house,  where we shop for milk and veggies. We usually ride our bikes or walk  to the farm and the children love spending many hours bouncing around  in the hay or to feed the cows. It is one of my favorite places.

 

It is such a beautiful place and I feel so blessed every time we are there. Imagine, one could live so close to  such a wonderful place.

What's it like to raise a child in your town?

Our town is very small and quiet. It is a nice place to raise children because we live in such close proximity to nature and the sea.

Can you mention some of your ‘how-to-raise-your-kid’ values?

The most important for me in raising my children is, that we as parents are role models, that we strive to do our best so our children will follow through example. I always try to keep in mind, that my children imitate everything that I do. Instead of showering them with lectures of wrong and right, I show them through example.

What kind of DIY projects do you like to do with your children?

We love to paint, sew and knit. My daughter Alma is like me very creative and we love to make things together.

What do you do with all the projects your children made at home or in school?

I love the things the kids make. We have walls with all their paintings. I think it is a great way to show the kids that the things they make are appreciated.

Any nice decoration ideas how to hang them, keep them or use them as presents?

We frame the drawings and paintings in colorful frames.

What are all time favorite books for the children?

I love to read books and some of our favorites are by the Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. We love Pippi Longstocking .

Are you a ‘cook’ or ‘food’ lover or both?

Both, even though my husband is the one doing most of the cooking in our house. He is a much better cook than I am. The kids love to join him and help him with the cooking. I  believe that they eat many more vegetables because they  prepare them.

What are absolutely forbidden candy or drinks in your house?

They can have candy once in a while, but not so often. We'd rather bake a cake or make our own ice cream. I try  however not to be too strict. It is bad in the long run I think. Soda/ soft drinks however, they have not tasted yet.

Are their pets in your household?

When I was growing up I had many pets and I think it's important for children to have a pet to care for.  We have cat, but some day we’d like a dog as well.

.Smilerynker..

..Smilerynker..