Sunday, February 28, 2010


Feel Good Food

It's been a while since I've done a food topic. And I haven't even tried the dried fruit in the first picture, but it looks awesome. It's probably more sugar than fruit and I hope it tastes ok, since it was a gift.


I went to a birthday today and came back totally exhausted, but it was fun while it lasted. It was actually my Etsy model's party. The "real gift" was a pair of earrings, drop-shaped and made of opalite, onyx and silver, I figured it would look great on her. As you probably know she has pale skin and very dark hair. The earrings were also light, with a rainbow-y glow, and dark because of the onyx.


I love giftwrapping and I usually make sure all the packages match, but today I only had one. It was also really small so it wasn't easy to go wild on it. But it looks pretty cute, I used my new gift wrapping paper, made a bow of yellow paper and put an adorable aluminum rose on it.

This morning I had the cutest and tiniest and maybe even best cupcake/muffin I had ever had in my life. It had so much flavor and such a soft filling. I know it's not the best picture I put on here, it looks best at this size, but I wanted to show you how tiny it was as well as a glimpse of my nailpolish experiment. It looks way better in real life, but you can get the idea. It's two layers of yellow, two layers of translucent blue and a topcoat. That combined makes this mint green, gold, blueish shimmer look. I came up with the idea a while ago but only tried it yesterday.

Do you "mix" nailpolish too? Any other combos I should try? What's also really pretty is black with translucent blue over it, it looks like shimmery dark teal, I'll show you some time.

Saturday, February 27, 2010


I'd love to...

>watch more old movies
>read my manual, duh
>start Zumba. I always loved salsa dancing, but this seems like much fun too.



Friday, February 26, 2010


Lovely Movies

During my art classes in high school I used to have great conversations with a few girls. One of them has a similar taste in movies and said I could borrow "Les Triplettes de Belleville" from her. And as she promised, it was an amazing movie. Once again an animation that's probably more suitable for adults than children, it's rated PG-13, but it's not the typical feel-good animation .


Even though the characters are pretty absurd, they all look like caricatures of real people, like you could walk into them as a human being. With their looks and their music they've managed to capture the atmosphere of their personality. Every character, or group of characters, has it's one song or musical instrument, which gives them even more depth.


All in all. It's a great movie, if you can handle weird plots and animations. It's a little slow-paced, but definitely worth watching. The music is amazing and so are the sepia colors. I don't want to spoil it by telling you the story, but it does involve three old singers, weird looking criminals and some serious frog eating.

Thursday, February 25, 2010


Camera Mania

This is supposed to be my wishlist spot, but I'm finding it harder and harder to think of things I want. I seem to have everything already. So this time I'll tell you some more about my Nikon and we'll see if I can think of something next week.


It was a rainy day today, so I couldn't go outside to take pictures. I also have to read the manual first and get my mom to find her lens cleaning brush. Nevertheless I took a few test pictures yesterday evening. It's not easy looking through the viewfinder in the dark, but I quite like the way the Buddha picture turned out.


This is my complete camera gear for now. I took this picture with my small Canon, which feels really weird after using my new ginormous loveable monster. It's just the camera and a bag, which I find beautiful. They had black, red and this brownish one. I immediately fell for the brown, it is feminine yet professional, exactly what I hope to become. I think I got the feminine thing covered, so I'll just go read my manual and practise, practise, practise.

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One more thing, I gained three new lovely followers today (and lost one too apparently) this is definitely a record for me and totally made my day even better!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010


Pretty Paintings

Since I've really gotten into photography, I thought I could blend it in with the painted art I usually write about. Richard Estes is a photorealist/hyperrealist and he's so good it's creepy. I wouldn't have guessed it was a painting when I first saw his double self portrait:


He loves to play with reflection so most of his paintings have some sort of shop window. Even though he does this so often, it doesn't really get old. Probably because it looks so incredibly life-like.


He usually has really American looking work, the streets, the diners, and all of it has that lovely vintage vibe.


They'd be good if they would have been pictures, but knowing they're paintings is just mindblowing, I still can't wrap my head around it.

Just a Little Update

Speaking of pictures. I did get my Nikon today. I was afraid they might be sold out, but they still had a pretty big pile when I showed up on the third day of the sale. For now I'll make do with the basics; the camera, the lens that came with the kit, a weatherproof bag, a UV filter and of course a memory card. I'm sure I'll be needing some more stuff later on, but I didn't want to exceed my budget by that much. A lens that's great for portraits is the first thing on my wishlist, but I'm sure I'll be able to take a decent portrait with this one, since I took a few with the same lens in art class already.

I can't wait to start taking pictures tomorrow! I'll try to install the software then too, so I can show you a few of my first pics on an SLR.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010


Marvelous Music


The cd my father brought me was by Meaghan Smith. I had been listening to her music a lot on YouTube and wanted the cd really bad. When I found out he was going to the US I had to ask him to bring it, since it isn't available here. I had asked him for a few cd's before and he was never able to find them, luckily he managed this time. I have been listening to it over and over.

This is one of her amazing songs:

It has that lovely old fashioned feeling, but it's still innovative, I love it.
"Here Comes Your Man", a song she covered from the Pixies, was featured in (500) Days of summer (which has a great soundtrack by the way). This was such a great chance for her to spread her music. I have a feeling she has it in her to really make it out there.


Just a Little Update

One of my wishes is very likely to be granted tomorrow. I am going to the store to get a SLR camera! Can you believe it? I know I can't. So soon! I am so excited. I thought it was gonna be one of those things that would take me years, but I guess not.

The Nikon D3000 is on sale and I figured this is my chance. I know there's this whole Canon vs. Nikon battle between photographers and it got me really confused.
This is the exact same camera they use in art school, but the guy who gave us the class had a Canon 1000D. I did love using the Nikon, read some good reviews and it's the more affordable option, so it seems like a good decision.


I spend quite some time browsing the internet in search of answers. Is the lens that's included any good (18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6G VX)? Is Nikon really my best option? There are so many forum threads on these topics, but it's hard to know who to trust. I also sent some emails to the few photographers I know, but have only gotten one reply (which was positive).

My gut feeling says this is a good SLR for me and having used it once, I feel it should work fine.

I can't wait till tomorrow, this is even more exciting than a birthday! I'll let you know how it went and I'm hoping I can show you some pictures soon.

Sunday, February 21, 2010


Much Love Project

Anna from Much Love has started another project for heart pictures, this time they all have to be red. And we also have to write about something we love again. Here's my entry:



So, as you might guess from the picture I do love buttons, but what I love even more is art school. I still can't believe how much fun it is.

A few lessons ago I suddenly didn't feel that way anymore and found myself not looking forward to the next class. I was afraid the whole plan I had for my future was falling apart. That Wednesday I also didn't feel too good, but I still went. And I loved it! I'm so glad I did go, because I am at least as enthousiastic as I was before.


During yesterday's class I finished another video, or a video painting as they call it. I will try to put it online soon. (Above is a little preview.)
It was also the first time I ever used an SLR camera. We took pictures in a studio, with lights and a white screen and everything. I was hooked instantly, now I really want an SLR. I'm pleased with my pictures and I'd love to put them up here, but I want to ask permission from the people on it first. If they are ok with it, you will see some of them within ten to fourteen days. We have a break of a week now and I'm not that excited about it. In high school a break or holiday was the best thing that could happen, but this class is just more fun than my own free time.

I've also signed up for Swap-Bot and am now participating in two owl swaps, I made something for one swap today and it turned out so great I want to make it for my Etsy too. And myself. Even though I can't keep one of every item I make.

That's pretty much all. I hope you are having fun too.

Friday, February 19, 2010


101st post

Last night in bed I realised I missed my 100th post, thankfully 101 sounds pretty good too. As if this anniversary wasn't reason enough to celebrate I just had my first sale! The owl bookmark is officially gone, although I'll probably make another one since it was the most "hearted" out of all my items. Maybe even in different colors.


This is how I wrapped it. I said I'd throw in a small blossom pin and I attached it to the front of the giftwrapping. I try to recycle as much as I can while still doing my best to make it look nice. It might even turn out better because you automatically get more creative. I did it all tonight so I could post it tomorrow.


I didn't expect to sell something the way that I did, I was in the chatroom and they have this routine there. Someone starts out as the featured seller, that person gets 5 minutes to talk about their items, if someone buys something s/he becomes the next FS. When nobody buys they usually play trivia to decide who's next, that's the way I got FS first, which led to the selling of my first item! This whole game also led to me buying something on sale from stephcraig's store. Even though I didn't make that much profit this way, what I did get was a cute necklace of course and a featured seller spot on another blog. I'll post about that when it's online.


My dad brought my gifts yesterday evening when I wasn't home. It included a cd, an issue of the low-brow art magazine "Hi Fructose" and stamps! I really wanted some stamps for my packaging and it came just in time to use for my first sale. I asked for border stamps, a "thank you" stamp and owl stamps. He did a great job, just look at those cute owls.


!Announcement!

Now onto the exciting stuff for you. I always love to have some sort of announcement on special posts such as these. And I am happy to tell you I will be throwing a giveaway soon, the 111th post to be exact. It will be something I made, but I won't reveal any more today.

Thursday, February 18, 2010


Owl Things Considered

A few days ago I mentioned I had bought some owl things on Valentine's Day. Well, I took some pictures so you can see them too.

The first thing that cought my eye was this little make up-bag, they had one in orange and red too, but I liked this one a little better.


Turned out I didn't miss the owl-jewelry hype completely, because they had new earrings and rings. I got these and a ring that looks just like it. It was a little too big, but I can wrap something around it to make it fit, or exchange it for another size if one happens to pop up in that store again.


I also got these tiny earrings, they're so cute! I know everything looks about the same, but I had to have it all, besides they were all pretty cheap and I hadn't been shopping in ages.


Speaking of owl jewelry, I've been making a few owl pendants that I'll probably put on Etsy soon. I'm hoping to make some other colors as well.


While I was shopping I also found this adorable little bag. It's perfect for summer when you just want to carry what you really need: ID, sunglasses, phone and a little money. I bet I could even fit a little notebook in it.


I love the little heart detail, it gives it just a little extra something. And I shouldn't forget to mention it has polka dot lining. It's almost too much cuteness on one item!


I'm very pleased with what I got, I also bought a few items of clothing I'd been wanting to have for ages and all on sale. I love to find cute stuff on sale because it makes me so much happier than regular shopping, it feels a little like treasure hunting.

The fun is not over yet! My dad returned from his trip to the US, which means I'll be receiving some cute stuff soon. I asked him to bring a few things from there and he managed to buy some things of that list. He will bring them over soon and I'm very excited to see him and to find out what gifts he brought home.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Pretty Paintings

Some very exciting news reached me today. Mark Ryden (I wrote about him here) will have a new show, called "the Gay 90's", in just a few months. Too bad it's in New York, but I'm happy about it nevertheless. I'd love to see his paintings for real, in their true size, but I'm still looking forward to seeing them even if that means through a computer screen or a book. I'm not sure what the theme is exactly, but what I do know is that this painting will be in it.

It's gorgeous, as all of his work is, and I'm so excited to see some new stuff! It reminds me of some of his previous paintings though.

This one because of the hair, dress, pose and something in the face.

This one because of the head and some of the colors.

The painting also could've been part of the meat show, which includes this one:
The right of these images belong to Mark Ryden of course.

I hope that one day I'll go to one of his shows. You know what? Forget "hope", I'll make it a goal, I WILL see one of his shows some day! But for now, for this show, I'll just drool in front of my mac in my PJ's...

Monday, February 15, 2010


Marvelous Music


Jessica Lea Mayfield seems to love owls nearly as much as I do. She has the cutest owl guitar strap, I would kill for that! Maybe I'll ask one for my birthday this year.
The picture above was taken by a guy I run into quite a lot at concerts. He's really nice, has about the same taste in music as I do and takes some great pictures, you can see more of his work over here.


Jessica Lea Mayfield's music isn't really uplifting and her voice is very distinct. I realise it's probably not everyone's cup of tea, but she does have an awesome cd cover.

Here's her best known song so you can hear for yourself:


Just a Little Update

I listed the rest of my Etsy-stuff today. It's all felt! From bookmarks and Moleskine covers to hair accesories and brooches. You can find a lot of blossoms and owls in my store now, including these:


I hope you like them! What do you think about the new banner? I asked if people had some critique over at the Etsy forum and someone said a white banner is always nice. I tried it with my online banner maker, but it turned out quite cheap looking. I think I kinda like the blue one anyway. What do you think?


And one more thing, if you're a follower(or regular commenter) and you were to buy something from my Etsy shop, let me know it's you. Just put your blogger-name or whatever I know you by in the "message to seller" and I'll put in a little extra surprise. I probably won't be able to do that till eternity, but for now you can definitely count on a little gift!

Sunday, February 14, 2010


Happy Valentine's Day

Since it Valentine's Day (or maybe the day after when you read this) I thought I'd post some owls in love.


These two owls are a couple in Central Park, they both have their own little nook in the same tree. How cute is that?


I love how barn owl's faces are heart-shaped, I think they're the most elegant owls around.


These two made me laugh, they remind me of an elderly couple watching television, the guy yawning and the woman being annoyed.


Don't you just love this owl print? I have no idea who made it, I sadly forgot, but I'm glad I still have the picture. EDIT: Thanks to Shivani from My Owl Barn we now know it's by Kirbee Lawler.


I went shopping and found a load of owl-stuff today, lucky me! I'll show you Tuesday.

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