Finnish Design Blog

Now is the time to get very excited if you’re a Toikka bird lover as Iittala has re-released the first Toikka glass bird, the Flycatcher, to commemorate the 215th anniversary of their Nuutajärvi glassworks. Many of us have only seen pictures of the colorful, winged Flycatcher of 1972 and we never thought there would be an opportunity to own one. FinnishGifts.com is very excited to add the Flycatcher to our collection and expect there will be heavy demand for the very limited production.

Artist Oiva Toikka discusses the process for creating his famous glass birds at Iittala’s glassworks in Finland.

As we continue in “sharing the spirit of Finland” (this year’s FinnFest 2008 tagline), all of us at FinnishGifts.com are excited to release this year’s limited edition FinnFest 2008 Oiva Toikka glass bird prior to the July FinnFest date for our collectors!

Every year Oiva Toikka designs a commemorative bird for the Finnish-American gathering. Oiva has a strong bond with the U.S. and he seems to relish this annual design challenge. This year is no exception as his world-renowned talent has brought us the stunning Common Redpoll.

The Common Redpoll is a limited edition piece as only 1,250 of these Iittala glass birds were produced exclusively for FinnFest 2008.

I think you’ll all agree that there is a ton of energy surrounding the Iittala brand these days as they continue to be a major driving force in the art of glass-blowing.

IITTALA, Finland (Agnieszka Flak of Reuters Life!) - Juggling a giant ball of molten glass is all in a day’s work for masters at the finals of the Iittala Cup glass-blowing championships.

Some 32 participants from Finland, Sweden, Norway and Hungary took part in Saturday’s Cup in the northern Finnish town of Iittala, which has been organised by the Finnish design company of the same name every two years since 1984.

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Come visit us at FinnFest 2008 - FinnStyle booth at the tori.

FinnFest 2008 will be held in Duluth, MN on July 23-27, 2008 at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center. The event will be one of the biggest summer events in Duluth with over 7,000 Finns and friends expected to attend. “Sharing the Spirit of Finland” will be the main theme for the FinnFest 2008, which marks the 25th FinnFest USA event celebrating the Finnish culture and heritage.

More information at the official FinnFest 2008 site.