Looking back on May

May seemed to alternate between winter encores and summer previews. While I was still red from my sunburn the weather had changed to grey, cold, windy and very wet. I did anything from knitting to eating ice cream.

• I got creative and discovered a delicious new salad due to a nearly empty fridge.
• Went to see a few Studio Ghibli movies, including one that was new to me.
• Started actively developing a few new habits.
• Finished my second spinning project after a year-long spinning hiatus.
• Picked up cross-stitching again.
• Finally visited this awesome bookstore that I first heard of 10 years ago.
• Added gold and silver moons, and sloths and koalas to my shop.
• Went to free comic book day.
• And had a pigeon visitor seeking refuge from the heavy rain. We hung out for about an hour.

How was your month? Did you do anything fun?

Sponsor Call: June

I haven't done a sponsor call since last summer. Moving house took it's toll on the amount of blogging I got done this winter, but these past few months I've been posting more and thus getting more views again too. I even waited a bit longer to be on the safe side, so now I'm absolutely certain I actually have something to offer advertisers again.

You can find all the details on my sponsor page, but it basically comes down to these three options:

Exclusive Large Ad - $20 a month

There's only one of these per month. It takes the biggest and highest space in my sidebar and it comes with an interview, shop highlight or guest post. June is SOLD, contact me to reserve for July or any other month.

Medium Ad - $8 a month or $20 for 3 months

These come right beneath the main sponsor and rotate with each page refresh for fair exposure.

Small Ad - $5 a month or $12 for 3 months

The smallest ads, but also the cheapest. Perfect for a trial run or a teeny tiny budget. They also rotate automatically.

Email Me if you'd like to secure a spot. I'm also open to giveaways and/or reviews.

Two final notes:

- If you want to advertise but don't know how to make a banner, I will make one for you for free.-

- Payment will be done through PayPal. I will send you an invoice via email. Easy peasy!-

Lovely Movies: Porco Rosso

There are currently a lot of Studio Ghibli movies in this one theater. I was hoping to see all of them, but I'm sad to say I missed a lot and will probably miss the rest. I did, however, finally manage to see Porco Rosso. It was wonderful!

It's at once the weirdest and most normal Studio Ghibli film. Of course the premise of a pilot being cursed to take the shape of a pig, yes, a flying pig, is already pretty crazy. But when watching you kinda take that for granted.

It's just an entertaining film about male egos, silly bets and one stubborn yet amazing teenage girl that doesn't care what anyone thinks about her and just pursues her goals no matter what. Now how's that for a role model?

Current Nails

Another nail post, already? I know... but they're so cute, I could not resist. Just look how they are matching my socks!

Also, I'm under the weather and am off to bed now. Will be back with a longer post tomorrow!

Mixed Shelf #8

Despite -or perhaps because of- the warm weather, I didn't sit down and read a whole lot. I did spend a lot of time in parks lately, but usually with a friend instead of a book. But I'm sure I'll do my fair share of park-reading this summer too.

Wanting: The Owl Service by Alan Garner

Supposedly this is some sort of retelling of an old Welch folk tale. I should probably read that before diving into this, but since there are owls in this, it should come as now surprise that I'm drawn to this book. It's a children's book, but I hear it is actually pretty eerie. It's full of owl-forming magical puzzles, that lead to strange events...

goodreads // available here

Reading: The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo

I have to admit that I already finished this book. It wasn't as great as I hoped, but maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it. I suspect it's a perfect book to read to kids and still enjoy it as the adult doing the reading. Also, the illustrations were really lovely! Anyway, it was a quick read and a magical story with a sweet little protagonist.

goodreads // available here

Waiting: Mariah Mundi and the Ghost Diamonds by G.P. Taylor

Not to be confused with the band Marina and the Diamonds. No, this is actually the second book of a children's mystery trilogy set in a hotel. This one is a whodunnit with kids acting as the detectives. I picked it up really cheap at a sale last summer. I think I'll just start with this one and see if I like it enough to read the other two as well.

goodreads // available here

Have you been reading much now that spring has really sprung? Anything worth sharing?

Current Nails

Would this have looked better if I had used a proper dotting tool? Probably. And probably a lot. But I still loved this style. Besides, hands tend to be busy creatures that move around a lot. It didn't bother me much till I saw the picture.

I love this semi-holographic topcoat by the way. It shimmers not only in greens and blues, but also has a lot of purple if you hold it up to the light in a certain angle. I love that! And it made the whole theme feel very "galaxy" to me.

Lovely Movies: Any Day Now

This was actually very heartbreaking. But it was also beautiful, and, yes, lovely. Or so it was for the most part. It's about a wonderful family that comes together through unfortunate events, but breaks apart in an even sadder way.

However, there is so much love in this film. So much unconditional love. And also just a lot of fun scenes that make you laugh or feel all warm and fuzzy. The acting was amazing! And Alan Cumming, so sweet and... just radiant!

Anyway, if you're looking for a feel good film, save this for another day. Do, however, watch it. Enjoy the happy parts, be outraged because of the sad parts, and thankful that there has been change since the 70's! Maybe we are not quite there yet, but we've come a long way. And it's good that there are films like this to remind us and keep us on track.

Spinning: Charcoal Raspberry

It has been almost two years since I shared my first spinning project with you. I mentioned then that I was working on another one. I'm both embarrassed and proud to announce that that second project is now finally finished!

The reason it took so long was mostly that my first venture into plying turned out to be quite frustrating and complicated and I felt I needed help, yet waited ages to ask for it. But I recently had my spinning sensei over...

It was still kinda messy, but he helped me untangle it. Afterwards I wound it, tied it together, soaked it, rinsed it and, when it was dry, I wound it into a little ball. I now have about 100 yards of lace weight handspun yarn!

It's not a whole lot, but I could still turn it into something nice. Maybe a tiny summer scarf or perhaps some sort of hat if I'm lucky. We shall see. For now, I think I'll just keep it like this, look at it and weigh my options.

Or maybe you will think of something awesome that I haven't even considered yet... Any ideas?

Circle Songs #52

"Sometimes you don't understand where I'm coming from, I'm just trying to make you see that I desire the simple things…"

I'd Like To - Corinne Bailey Rae

{picture sources: 1 - 2 - 3}

We are having a few days of summer. It will only last for about two more days so I'm trying to make the most of it. Which means: spending time at parks, eating ice cream and doing absolutely nothing except for chatting or reading.

Koalas and Sloths: Shop Update!

I promised there would be another shop update soon, so here it is! Sloths and koalas, both lazy, yet both adorable. So perfect for a day of reading and relaxing! But apart from bookmarks I'm also offering brooches of course.

Hope you like them! And if you do, you can check out my shop for lots of other designs too.

Lovely Movies: Divergent

When the whole Divergent hype broke loose, I decided to just sit this one out. I was a bit done with YA and the whole repeated romance stuff. However, as time went on I started getting second thoughts and went to see the movie.

And I really, really enjoyed it! The five factions are really clever because anyone will find one, or more, they're really drawn to. But apart from that the story was surprisingly good too, as were the twists... and the costumes!

Also, I love Ashley Judd! And she kicked some serious ass in this movie. The entire cast was actually amazing. Shailene was great yet again -as she was in the Descendants- and I am now a lot less worried about the Fault in our Stars.

So, the real question remains… Will I start reading the books after all? Probably, yes. I'd like to at least. I'm pretty sure I'd enjoy the first and I just hope the sequels will be good too. Either way, I'm sure it'll be a quick read anyway.

Did you read the books? Do you recommend I check them out?

King's Day Loot

I think I mentioned it was King's Day recently -yes, the same as Queen's Day, but we now happen to have a King-, such a great holiday! Of course this meant lots of cheap shopping, so I'm here to show you what loot I came home with!

I got more clothing -most will pop up in outfit posts-… but these two were €3 each! The super long dress is fantastic! I mean you could get married in that thing, it's that amazing! Also, dvds! Half creepy, half Disney. Perfect!

Doing jigsaws is very underrated these days. It is so much fun and it so addictive! I forgot about it for a while, but finding this beautiful Tarepanda puzzle made me get back into it again. I started right away!

Most of the merchandise is second hand on King's Day, however there are some people with either handmade things or brand new stuff. These combine the two. All natural and they smell so good! So a nice unexpected treasure.

Also handmade is this beautiful necklace. I got a few others as well, but they'll probably pop up in outfit posts sooner or later, so I'm just showing you one today. Isn't it adorable, though? The black beads even have confetti glitter!

The last thing, though the very first purchase that day, is a bunch of yarn. It's a linen/cotton-blend, if I'm not mistaken. And I love those colors! Can't wait to think of a summer project and start knitting!

As you can see it was day well spent. I always love this holiday, but every time it's over I find myself very glad that it's only once a year, because it's so exhausting as well. But it's so very worth it too!

Moons: Shop Update!

I haven't made any new designs in ages. In fact the last one were the woodland creatures a year and a half ago. But now that I have time again, I've been sewing too. Here's the first update -there will be more very soon- and it's moons!

Moon phase items were really big a while back, but I think they'll never really be out of style. What outfit wouldn't look even cuter with a little moon shining at you? I know there are silver-people and gold-people, so I made both!

And bookmarks too, of course! Aren't these perfect for any magical story?! Also, they're pretty unisex, so they make a cute gift for anyone really. Anyway, I'm definitely keeping one for myself, because I love them!

You can get the brooch here, the bookmark here or just browse my shop to see the rest of my collection. 

Would you pick a gold or a silver moon?

Circle Songs #51

"After all that we've been through, there ain't nothing new, in the calm after the storm…"

Calm After the Storm - The Common Linnets

{picture sources: 1 - 2 - 3}

I can not believe I'm blogging about Eurovision. Most years I don't even watch any of it. However, Holland had a very decent song this year -in fact, the first time I heard it I thought it was Gillian Welch-. They almost won even. However, I can't say I'm sad that the bearded drag queen won. If that isn't progress, I don't know what is. She totally had my vote as well.

Birthday Gifts

More than three weeks after the fact, but here I am, finally ready to post about my birthday gifts. Believe it or not, but there are still some late gifts to be received, so I might even have to do a smaller second post. But first...

This pretty pastel pile was sent to me by a wonderful friend from overseas. She's the sweetest person with the best taste! Every gift is, without exception, wrapped like a dream and always holds something absolutely amazing!

All the wrapping paper was designed by Natalie L'Ete. I think every single gift had a different design. There was a lot of gorgeous stationary inside, including one planner by the same artist and some notebooks from Rifle Paper Co.

I also got some things that I'm sure will make -or already have made- an appearance on the blog. Book post will follow! But I just had to show you these adorable mints as well. They are so incredibly delicious, I could hardly believe it!

During the weekend my friend came over with a cute Easter floral arrangement, which happened to match her outfit perfectly! Anyway, it brightened up my living room for quite some time and I'll see if I can revive the bulbs next spring.

A little while ago I had a tiny nail polish party with another friend, so on my birthday she surprised me with some lovely OPIs. These colors hold so many possibilities as far as combinations and designs go...

Onto my mom… She gave me something totally unexpected, but completely amazing! I think I literally screamed when I saw this little suitcase. My dad sat there utterly confused by my reaction. It was pretty funny seeing his face like that.

In it were a couple of lovely little gifts. Including dvd, some kitchen utensils -that sounds horrible, I know, but they were pink and I'm really happy with them!- and some fun post-its. Also, she helped me out with a microphone! Which deserves a post of its own...

So yeah, that's my big birthday post! I'm really happy with all the lovely things and sweet notes I received. And if you're reading this and recognize something you gave me. Thank you very much, yet again!

Lovely Movie: Tinker Bell and the Pirate Fairy

Could it really be? Another great movie to add to the already long list of the adorably amazing Tinker Bell films?

Yes! And this time it has pirates, even of the fairy variety. I happen to own all of the previous films on dvd and have seen not all (yet!), but definitely a bunch of them, and I have to say that they keep surprising and entertaining me.

This one was really different from the rest, partly because it didn't take place in Pixie Hollow all that much and partly because, well… pirates! I love how they keep getting ideas to subtly tie the new movies in with the old Peter Pan film.

Anyway, this was a great movie. Was I the only childless person in the cinema? Highly likely. Am I embarrassed? Hell no! The Tinker Bell movies are always original, kinda cute and just a lot of fun to watch, no matter what age.

Mixed Shelf #7

I'm suddenly reading a lot of books at once. Perhaps too many, but new things keep catching my eye. My latest one is a really fast read though though. Perhaps it will help me finish the rest too, so I can start something new yet again...

Wanting: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

This is pretty much a book about books. But not quite so simple as there's this mysterious air about the bookshop in this story. People come in to check out this special selection of strange books. So much so, that it catches the attention of the new employee and he decides to go and investigate what is really going on in this 24-hour bookstore.

goodreads // available here

Reading: Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

This is something different. And I mean really different. I've not read anything like it. It did take some getting used to, but now I am thoroughly enjoying this story. It's made up of all these emails tied together by the main character's daughter's narrative. It is strange, it is exciting and it includes human and flawed people. Can't wait for the ending!

goodreads // available here

Waiting: Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

Having not yet read The Time Traveller's Wife, I wasn't really planning on buying this book. But for about 30 cents on King's Day, I just had to pick it up. It seems like more my cup of tea than the former book anyway. I love me some gothic stories about twins. Strange maybe, but it's just something so intriguing.

goodreads // available here

          Did you give any of these mildly hyped books a shot? Also, as always, new recommendations are welcome!