Owl Things Considered

It's not Tuesday which usually means it's not time for owls either, but I'd like to make an exception because the most amazing owl just got delivered to my house.

It's a pendant made by Kristen Barr, founder of RocketGirlDesign. When I spotted this on Etsy I simply couldn't resist, I had to go meet someone but placed an order right after I came home. And now, about a week later, here it is! And it's beautiful! Of course I knew the image would be cute but I have to mention that the pendant is very well made as well(and more are still available if you just have to have one too;). And it's quite big(but not uncomfortably so), that way you can get a clear view of the illustration.

But be sure to check out the rest of her artwork too. There are some fabulous illustrations on Etsy, but Kristin's work is also featured in children's books as well as magazines.

Her prints are gorgeous enough already, but I love that she takes the time to create some awesome items such as stickers, ornaments and magnets too. Below are a bunch of items that can be found in her shop.

And since Valentine's Day is coming up I thought I'd show you these amazing printable owl cards. They'd make a perfect last-minute addition to your gifts seeing you can print them yourself.

If you'd like to see more visit her Etsy, blog or website.

Song Inspired Treasuries

Something different than your usual music post today. Let me know if you like it, ok? If so I might start doing this more often.

I made two song inspired treasuries today. The idea suddenly came to mind, I was hooked instantly so I made a few.

Her Morning Elegance

First one is Her Morning Elegance, which came from the Oren Lavie Song.

Girl with the Golden Touch

Even though the original is from Razorback, I based this treasury on Corinne Bailey Rae's version of Golden Touch.

Stylish Blogger Award

Today I got awarded the Stylish Blogger Award by Pia from LiquidBrick. It's my first award and I am very excited! So thank you Pia:)

I now have to tell you 7 things about myself and then pass this award on to 15 other bloggers who will hopefully do the same.

So here's some stuff you probably didn't know about me:

• I read magazines from back to front instead of from front to back.
• Even though I don't own a dog, but I am a daily watcher of Cesar Millan the Dog Whisperer.
• My very first word was "poop", even before I was able to say "mom".
• The only thing I ever "stole" was a tiny bit of yarn from school when I was little. Of course everyone was allowed to use it, but I took it when school was out and felt guilty about it for years after.
• I hardly ever order sorbet, ice cream suits me so much better. And if there isn't any chocolate in it I usually don't see the point either. Although I make an occasional exception.
• I collect non-piercing Indian nose rings.
• When I was little I used to have really really long hair.

Now onto the 15 blogs (in random order):

• Dear Your Name Here
• a Tiny Rocket
• The Nearsighted Owl
• Artichoke Designs
• GrrrFeisty
• A Daisy Chain Dream
• Mary Sew
• Goodnight Little Spoon
• Sweet Tidings
• B o r d e r l i n e
• SignePling
• Bisous Mon Amour
• Forestblue Factory
• Secretly Loves Pink
• i heart chicago

These are all awesome blogs! If you don't know them already I recommend you check them out.

Lovely Movies

Last week I went to see Norwegian Wood (the movie based on Murakami's book). Even though I enjoyed the movie at the time, I'm not really sure what to think of it...

The storyline hadn't really changed(because I hate it when they do that), but they did leave a part out.

The overall vibe was pretty much the same as in the book too, but somehow it missed the essence. It's so hard to explain, but I just felt like something was either missing or just a tad bit off.

And, even though I know this isn't really a big deal, it really bugs me when they clearly state everyone's hairstyle in the book and then change it completely in the movie.

Anyway enough with the critisism. I have to say I did enjoy it. It was great to actually see the people and the story.

So it was quite good, just not entirely what I was expecting.

Did you see it? Do you feel the same way?

Treasury Time

Just a little Treasury I made today:

Delicate

And here's one from earlier this week:

Dandelion Dream

(You can click the titles to go to the real ones on Etsy.)

Owl Things Considered

It's been such a long time since I did an owl post and I've really missed it. But I found some awesome owls for you today: owl lamps that are lit from within!

Aren't they gorgeous?

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I really love the texture of the ones shown above, but the china one below is oh so adorable.

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Even though the life-like ones are beautiful, I also really like the origami owl. And I think they have such a cozy glow.

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This designer lamp is usually perched on a metal branch-like construction, but even without that it's a very cute lamp.

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I'd kill for any of these really. Never have I seen them in store, but if I do I don't think I could resist buying one. They'd match any interior, the neat designer ones, but also more lived-in homes. And wouldn't they be perfect for a bookshelf?

Feel Good Food

This past week I've been making a lot of oatmeal. I've always loved it, even the simpler recipes I started out with. But lately I've been trying a lot of new things in it, like goji berries. I also bought pecan nuts and can't wait to get some maple syrup. I will post a recipe one of these days.

And I've continued to explore the Japanese kitchen. Oden have grown to be one my favorite dishes. It's really easy, but so very delicious. I just had some last night.

I've also been trying to eat my way through our stock of jello. Turned out I had a bunch of bags stacked in the cupboard. This one was coffee flavored, hence the strange color. I really love how well the butterfly mold worked, can't wait to try a different color.

We're getting more and more daylight here, which hopefully means I'll be shooting some decent dinner pictures soon. I'm sure I'll keep cooking and baking so expect a lot of food posts when spring starts.

I've really had it with winter and am very much looking forward to spring. Or summer...

Any winter blues tips?

Great Reads and the Murakami Challenge

I've just finished Norwegian Wood. I was already planning to read it, seeing I'd love to read all of Haruki Murakami's books, but when I noticed the movie was going to be released soon I made this one my priority.

Apparently this book has gotten a lot of criticism, despite it being the most popular and appraised book. Fans of the bizarre say it's too much of a cliché, whereas people who only read mainstream books claim it's too slow.

I do love Murakami's weird books, but I really loved this one too. I'll post the movie once I've seen it, probably next week.

While surfing online I came accross this Reading Challenge. Since there aren't any strict rules, you can just read as much as you'd like, I thought I would join in. I like how that takes the pressure off, but still has a certain level of competition or achievement. You can join here if you'd like.

There are different levels of participation and right now I'm betting on Toru, which means I have to read 5 books.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Treasury Time

While being sick I felt so disconnected from the whole blogosphere as well as Etsy and it took some serious adjusting to get back into it all. But I think I am now officially back!

The orders are coming in again and ideas for blogpost are popping up too.

But I thought I'd start again slowly by posting a little treasury. I always forget how much fun it is to make one.

This one's theme is circles, you can click here for the real and bigger version.

Hoping to see you all again tomorrow.

Lovely Series

I will spare you all the gory details, but I will say that the flu(or whatever it is) that I've been having these past couple of days has not been fun. After days of lying down and drinking tea, apple juice and an occasional cup of soup, I got fed up and really wanted to do a little blogpost.

It seemed appropriate to pick something I did enjoy this week, namely: "The Middle".

The reason I gave it a try was that I saw this cute and quirky little kid in the trailer, he plays the youngest one in the family: Brick.

Of course I was also hoping it'd be a good show, but I would never have guessed it would be this great.

I often give you a spoiler alert about the trailers I post, but I think this one deserves a code red, because I didn't even want to watch the whole thing in fear of ruin the whole season for myself, but you can watch the beginning just to give you an impression:

Ok, I'm off to bed again, hoping to be truly back in action soon!

Marvelous Music

A few years ago this cd cover caught my eye. I knew it just had to be good music. My mom said that Suzanne Vega had one big hit I probably knew, she was right, everyone has come across Tom's Diner at some point. However I had no idea about the rest of her music.

But I quickly grew to love her other songs and have been a fan ever since. Just a couple months ago she gave a concert here, but I am sad to say I missed it. But she's still very active with her music so I'm hoping to see her live some day.

I'd never seen any of her videos until now, but they're pretty cool, right? And because I can't contain myself I am posting two songs today.

Caramel is definitely one of my favorite Suzanne Vega songs. I'ts way more bossa nova than the rest, but it still has her unique sound too. I can't wait to give it a go on the guitar, although I can't believe I never thought of that sooner.

Feel Good Food

As mentioned, I've been experimenting with Japanese food a lot lately. The pictures started piling up, so it's high time I share some with you.

Ok, so the jello isn't really Japanese, but I did give it a bit of a Japanese touch with the cherry blossom right? Either way it tasted really good, like coconut, and it looked pretty cute too. The original jello was white and I used food coloring to make some in pink and then used a cookie cutter for the flower.

I've also been interested in bento boxes lately. For my mom's last work day before her holiday break I had made her one. The sheep was based on this tutorial. The bottom was filled with jello and fruit, including apple bunnies:)

Sent along with my Christmas gifts came a few Japanese gifts as well.

This cute owl package contained this amazing bento book. I read loads of awesome recipes and helpful tips and can't wait to put it all to use.

There also were egg molds in different shapes. I tried the bunny first.

And last but not least, these gorgeous sweets. I'm about halfway through and they are delicious! Some are similar to each other, some are completely unique, so it's always a surprise what I'll get.

Unfortunately it has been to dark here to take any dinner pictures, but as winter passes I'm sure that will change sooner or later and I'm hoping to show you some home cooked meals then.

Have you tried any new foods or recipes lately?

Lovely Movies

After seeing the trailer of "The Kids Are All Right" I somehow expected it to be more of a comedy, however I was pleasantly suprised when it turned out to be extremely realistic. It's very serious at times, but still hilarious.

I have to say it is one of the best movies I've ever seen. The acting was unbelievable and I love how everyone looked so natural.

Plus I watch almost every Mark Ruffalo movie I come across. He, again, is so very real and I love his sense of humor. Almost makes me wish I had a spermdonor-dad somewhere.

In the movie he has this girlfriend(aka Yaya DaCosta) and I just felt the need to post her picture because she's so super gorgeous.

Anyway I am very very excited about this movie, you should definitely go and see it. As always here's the trailer, but with the warning that it does show a lot of what happens in the actual film.

Have you seen it yet? Are you as in awe as I am?

2011

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a great night celebrating. Mine wasn't too interesting, but I enjoyed myself watching comedy through the fireworks while drinking kid's champagne and eating a tiny little amount of sushi after midnight.

Apart from all the celebrating there of course has to be a moment of remembering and making plans.

2010 was very eventful, some good things, some bad things, but I think the one thing that made the most impact must've been opening my Etsy shop. I've had a great time starting the business and look forward to finding out what this year will bring.

For 2011 I have made a few goals.

I'd like to take the shop to a new level, which will hopefully include:

• Listing new designs more regularly
• Making owls in a bunch of different colors
• Adding some completely different items to the shop
• And promoting it, not only internationally, but also in my own country

I'm also hoping to do some things around the house and totally reorganizing all my crafting stuff.

And I'd love to pick up my paintbrushes again.

Plus I'd like to keep exercising and eating healthy and hopefully cook a lot more than I have this year.

And last but not least I am hoping to make this a great blogging-year!

~

I hope 2011 will be amazing for all of you and I look forward to reading your blogs and comments again this year!

Just a Little Christmas Update

You've already seen my owl gifts from this Christmas, but now it's time for the rest.

My mom gave me a few different kinds of gifts, not just the owls, but also a few books (Asleep by Banana Yoshimoto, and the Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides) and some nailpolish(silver and blue) and Hello Kitty lipbalms, whose scent is very similar to my very first lipbalm.

However I also got gifts through the mail. Here's a little taste of how pretty everything was wrapped.

These pretty and delicious white chocolate truffles where sent along too.

And look at this adorable gingerbread man ornament!

Due to the snow I've been in a wintery mood and did my nails accordingly. Quite a few layers made this look: blue, peachy glitter, blueish glitter and then clear matt.

Since I haven't been blogging as much lately, you can expect another update soon, with more pictures, though this is probably it for Christmas stuff.

I wish I could show you our Christmas meals but it was too dark for decent pictures. It was delicious though, turkey with roasted potatos and ice cream macarons for dessert. What did you have?

Art Books

In the post about Oleg Dou I said I had found him through a book. I also promised I would get into that a bit more later on. So here it is:

The cover of Dark Inspiration immediately drew me in (yes, it really does have those "burnt" layers, it's not just a print) , I loved the artwork and also noticed Audrey Kawasaki's work made an appearance too, as well as a few other artists I love. I've now had the chance to flip through it a few times in the bookstore and really like it.

As most artbooks, this one is a bit expensive so I'm not buying it, or at least not yet. But I can trace some of the artwork online and am sure I'll be able to show you a whole bunch of new artists soon.

So don't be surprised if you'll see some more odd or creepy art popping up here again.

Collaboration art books are such a good way to find a whole bunch of new artists at once. I am always super excited to find one that is filled with exactly the kind of paintings I like. What are your favorite artbooks, know any I should check out?

Owl Things Considered

I hope you all had a great time during the holidays. I sure did enjoy myself with all the food and gift giving. Due to the weather I couldn't really take any proper pictures to show you what I got, but what I can do is show you all the owl stuff my mom gave me.

Of course my wishlist included some Ga'Hoole goodies and I am happy to report those wishes have been granted.

Sadly the boxed set of books turned out to be unavailable, but I am really thrilled with this movie tie-in too, it is very cute and doesn't take up as much room. I can't wait to start reading.

She also got me the DS game and I have to say it is amazing! I really love the graphics and the music too(some games have really annoying and distracting tunes, but this one is great). Ok, I haven't played it that much yet, but it's already save to say I love it. I was a hooked from the start and even saved some owlettes last night in bed.

Only downside is I seem to have some sort of bug in the menu, I click the link I want yet it often leads me somewhere else entirely. Anyone else has that problem?

But that is not all! I've always wanted some owl jewelry from danitashop, but they always seemed to sell out before I got the chance. However not too long ago I spotted these awesome earrings, my mom noticed and said I could order them for Christmas. I'm very excited and can't wait for them to arrive.

Hopefully I'll be able to take some pictures of the rest soon. But this was it for the owls.

I'd love to hear what you got. And how you spent and enjoyed your Christmas. What did you get?

...the most wonderful time of the year...

Merry Christmas everybody!

I hope you are all having a fabulous time.

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I just had a delicious meal and dessert and can't wait to eat more tomorrow (Christmas lasts 2 days here).

And guess what, we have a white Christmas! Although it's turning brown quickly but still...

See you soon and have a great day!

The DS Post

When I mentioned my Nintendo DS a few days ago I got some comments asking me about what games I had bought. I thought this would be a good time to do a post on DS games and share what I've been playing lately, as well as my all time favorite games.

As always I'm pretty much all over the place and my collection ranges from Tinkerbell to Grand Theft Auto.

I just get what seems fun, or sometimes what's on sale.

It's been a good season for games, as I found a bunch of affordable ones. Amongst them is Docomodake.

It's a fun and easy to play game, although I think it might be very short too, but I'm not sure yet.

Another one I recently got is the Michael Jackson Experience.

To be honest I didn't expect much, but was very pleasantly surprised. It is fun and very well made. You basically just tap the rhythm to the songs to make an animated Michael Jackson dance. It has 12 songs, but is still a bit of a challenge, especially if you want to get perfect high scores.

I definitely recommend it if you are a fan of Michael(, and like me love to play games such as Guitar Hero,) and I think he himself would've loved to have seen this.

I also like to hunt down really really cheap gameboy advance games. They can be played on DS and some are amazing. One of my most recent favorites, which I got for 3 bucks, is Charlotte's Web. The graphics are pretty cool, the game is awesome and the mini-games are super addicting.

Now onto the older favorites, first off Ecolis. This is a very cute and entertaining game in which you build an army of squirrels and beavers to save the forest.

I love Tinkerbell and also love the game. The first that is. It is fun and can be played into infinity, you can just keep playing the mini games and quests and keep collecting and designing outfits. The second game wasn't as good because it does have an end(and very early on). Still I'm putting the latest one on my Christmas Wishlist.

Also on my wishlist, of course, is the DS game made after Legend of the Guardians: the Owls of Ga'Hoole. I'm a bit afraid it won't be that good, or that I won't understand it (I have this strange habit of not having a clue how to get through games that are rated 3 and older, I've been known to get stuck in the first level), but how could I not get that game?! I mean it's the only merch I've seen of the movie.

Also I'd love to have the Sims 3 for DS. I haven't been able to play the Sims for years, because it doesn't work of either of my computers. So when I heard it was being released for DS I became very excited.

So that's about it: my latest acquisitions, favorites and Christmas Wishlist. So how about you? Any games you think I should try? What are your faves? And what are the ones you are dying to get? I'd love to hear about it and get a few tips.