A Little Cat Rant

Right after we went to retrieve our cat from it's vacation address we brought her to the vet. She'd been going to the litterbox too often and we also just wanted a little check up in general. Turns out she has urine christals and has to go on antibiotics for a little while and a lifelong diet.

Now what really pisses me off about this is that it is caused by a high salt percentage in cat food! It is quite a common problem with cats simply because their food isn't right for them at all.

I am really quite disgusted that it's apparently still okay in the food industry to say stuff is healthy while it is actually causing harm. I know there are still a lot of issues with food humans eat too, but at least we have a lot of choice. Cat food is cat food and you think you can feed it to your much loved cat, but I guess not...

The Vacation Post

So I'm finally up for a little blogging! And it's time to share a few pictures I took while I was in France.

I didn't take that many really, because we had so much rain and I took mostly portraits(and am not sure if those people would be ok with me posting them).

However I now know photoshop and that will allow me to do a lot more photography-wise and post more in the future. Also, I have yet to post pictures of things I bought over there.

Here we go: This was the window in our little working area, we spent most of our time in an unlit room behind our laptops so it was nice to have this little fairytale-like element to remind us of where we were.

They have a lot of horses there, so when it wasn't raining one day, I took advantage of the opportunity and took some pictures.

Even though I have a macro lens, I'd never really done any macro-photography. This was a good time to try it. I don't know what has happened to the quality of the pictures, but somehow after uploading they got a little more pixelated and just different looking.

We spent most of our time learning to edit. Which is were I went all out and made this macro piece. It reminded me so much of those IKEA flowers! You know, those huge blown up colorful flower paintings they sell.

Anyway, it was a great trip.

I was very tired, really cold and didn't respond well to the food there, but I also had a great time! The photography course was a lot of fun and I'm very happy I learned how to edit pictures. But most importantly I met lots of amazing people!

Why do vacations make one so tired?

Here I am, back home, ready to start all sorts of lovely things and projects and now I feel like this:

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Though I did pick up my cat today! And I'm stoked to have her back! I guess I'll just take some quality time with her and try some real blogging tomorrow. See ya!

Owl Things Considered

On my vacation last year I made this soapstone owl-like figure. I still have yet to sand it and maybe do some finishing touches as well. I have plans of buying soapstone and files so I can do this at home too. I have so many ideas for it!

But I'm also really happy I have this one. Though I wish I'd taken a picture of the rock before I started working on it to get a nice before/after set. Instead here's a front/back shot;)

Before I started I did a quick little sketch. I didn't stick to it completely, but I like both of them.

Soon I'll also be taking part in a soapstone workshop. I have yet to set the date, but I will keep you guys updated.

I'm back!

Since I just came out of the car two hours ago I need to catch my breathe(and do some serious unpacking) before I do some real posting/commenting/emailing/reading/sharing. However I'm just popping in to say hi and give you guys a heads up on what's to come when I'm back in action.

{picture by Lill-Veronica Skoglund}

As of this week you can expect:

• posts about my vacation, of course
• photos I took during the photography course
• pictures of stuff I bought in France
• music I discovered while I was there
• and even a movie I watched when I was sick the first day

Though I'm a bit sad my vacation is over I'm also really really excited about getting back on the blogging horse, getting together with some of my friends and enjoying+finding places to put all of my new acquisitions.

P.S. Wish me luck with my probably humongous blogroll;)

Marvelous Music: Macklemore

This may come a bit unexpected but I actually kinda love rap. Not all kinds of rap, but there are quite a few artists I really like.

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I love it when the artists are clever with words and the melody and beat are really cool. Knowing that you might imagine that I got very excited when I heard this song by Macklemore:

Rap isn't exactly known for their kind and sensitive lyrics but I often put up with a bunch of F-bombs for the music's sake. There are some artists I do agree with, but mostly I just listen for the beat and the overall sound.

That being said, I haven't really listened to Macklemore's lyrics yet and don't have any clue about their friendliness, but I really do like the way their music sounds.

Funny Videos

This may not be a recent video at all, but it just never gets old. Who would've thought that Ellen and autotune would be such a great combination.

Spotted

A very angelic collection this week. Just a reminder of how cool angel wings can be.

I'm pretty sure I need these pants.

They make pens in nearly every style and with any design. Here are two that will probably make any stationary fanatic go "aw...".

These pins are amazing! I love the artwork and I love the setting!

Anything cute always gets made into some sort of bento product it seems.

I like how this ring doesn't wrap around your finger completely. How such a tiny detail makes such a huge difference.

I once gave in and spent a bit more to get a nice Swatch, I imagine this one by Jeremy Scott costs a bit more than the average Swatch and I'm not sure it's practical, but boy, does it look cool!

Though I don't often post about sneakers, I absolutely adore them. To stop me from getting too hyped up about it I try not to browse the internet for them at all, but staying on the Jeremy Scott trail I had to post these. And I would have a really really hard time resisting them if I ever saw them in real life.

But because I love finding cheaper varieties of cool stuff I'm posting these too. You can put them on any shoe you like. Though these are kids' sizes I suppose you could wear them as an adult, right?

They'd go great with my gold backpack and jeans. Though there's a silver variety that goes perfectly with my silver jeans too;) Yeah, I have a thing for shiny pants, but I'm sure we'll get to that that topic some other time.

Lovely Movies: Ponyo

These past few weeks my focus has shifted somewhat to Japanese cinema. One movie I couldn't skip was Ponyo.

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Last time I stopped at the dvd store I picked it up because I heared good things about it and it even made the cinema. And yet I was still pleasantly surprised. It was cute and there was even some suspense at times.

Sorry about the trailer being Japanese, but I always prefer the original version and it was just too weird hearing the characters speak english.

Wishlist: Vintage Avon Bottles

I'm head over heels with this little thimble perfume bottle. Living a crafty lifestyle, loving vintage looking items and being very much a collecter, this one has caught my eye and won over my heart.

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I also think this girl with the kitten is amazing, I suppose it's almost kitchy, but it reminds me very much of those plastic Mary statues I adore as well.

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But there are so many amazing vintage Avon bottles, it's crazy! I'm posting a huge collection below, which includes a bunch of owls as well. Enjoy!

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Pretty Paintings: Mijn Schatje

Mijn Schatje means "my sweety" in Dutch. The artist is half Dutch, half Spanish, currently resides in Paris and makes some pretty amazing art. This is a picture of the poster I have in my room. I love the print and honestly couldn't picture my room without it anymore.

Her art is very delicate. The pieces are often inspired by fairytales or the sea. It's been a while since she released a new collection, but I really hope she's working on one. Until then, let's just enjoy her previous work, shall we?

Owl Things Considered

As you probably know I love to paint my nails. I experiment with all sorts of layers, stamps and glitters. However I must admit, I have never tried owl nails. After seeing these, though, I'd really like to give it a go. Have you ever tried it?

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Marvelous Music: Nneka

Though categorized as hip-hop, Nneka's music is a nice mix of lots of genres. Despite it being very original it also has a very familiar sound to it.

The Nigerian-German, having lived in both places, has a great cultural understanding of both Africa and the Western world, you hear that in her music and if you pay attention to her lyrics it becomes clear that her message is a very political one.

It's so rare these days that people make music to touch on important subjects, sure songs often have some sort of message, but it's been a while since I heard someone trying so passionately to make a change.

Enough said, take a listen.

Amazing Websites

You have got to check this out!!! Incredibox is the single most amazing website I have ever come across!

At first you look at it and think "what the hell... how does this work?" but it's very easy and very addicive.

You can drag all sorts of sounds into the little dudes above. They can beatbox, do instruments and sing.

It's just the one song, but you yourself can mold it into a tune with variety by changing the variables around. It even has special effects that you can earn and they really change up the song. Plus you get the above, and awesome, graphics as well.

Apparently there's going to be a new and improved version. I really can't imagine how it can be any better, since it's abslutely perfect as is, but nevertheless I'm exciting to see how it'll turn out.

Q&A

It occured to me that I have never done a Q&A. Being on a holiday seemed like the perfect time to do one as I can answer them when I get back. Any post-requests or suggestions are also welcome.

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So if you have a question about the blog, ever wondered what I eat for breakfast each day, my absolute favorite movies or "what's in my bag", now is the time.

Just leave them below or, if you prefer, Email Me. I'll try to answer them as many as best I can.

Spotted

A collection of delicate little treasures today.

The flowergirl print is so beautiful! I imagine it would look stunning anywere and it'd make for a lovely piece of art in a nursery as well.

Sometimes fun bracelets are just too big and impractical, but this one is perfect.

I often go for ballerina kind of lace skirts, but I would absolutely love to add this dress to my wardrobe. It reminds me a lot of Degas' paintings.

Butterfly earrings are always fun and the ones from beautyspot are just stunning. And because of the lovely colors they are wearable all year round, not just summer.

Another lace piece with such an elegant and romantic feel.

Lipbalms are a definite weakness of mine, especially ones with special scents/flavors(or really cute ones!). I have to finish some old ones first, but I can not wait to try this ginger peach variety. Though there's more in the shop that sounds delicious, like green tea, almond & honey or sweet asian pear.