Amazing Websites

The internet is full of gaming websites, but I don't think I have ever come across one as cute as Orisinal.

All the games have very simple goals and concepts, but they're quite fun to play and most of all wonderful to look at.

The colors used are absolutely stunning and the animals are really cute. I have yet to spot an owl somewhere, but I have seen racoons, koalas and all sorts of adorable little critters.

Here's a sneak peek of all the games they've got. If you have an iPhone they can supposedly also be played on there.

If you have a little time to kill or just feel the need to see a lot of cute things I suggest you try a game or two, you won't regret it.

Lovely Movies

You know how I often watch a movie because it has one of my favorite actors/actresses in it? Well Love Hurts is another one I discovered that way. I really love Carrie-Anne Moss( yes Trinity from the Matrix). And I saw she was in this. Turned out it also starred Jenna Elfman, from Dharma & Greg, and Camryn Manheim. So I went for it and ordered it.

The trailer doesn't really do the movie enough justice, I liked it a lot lot better than I had expected.

I don't wanna spoil the end for you but I do wanna say that I really liked that it wasn't too cliché.

I went out and bought a few movies today that I think I will love, and some of which I know for sure like Amélie(although Ican't believe I went so long without owning that one), so I won't be running out of reviews any time soon;)

A Project of Mine

Over the past year I made quite a few things I never got round to showing you, including these little books I made for two friends of mine. It was some time ago and you can definitely tell I didn't take pictures with a DSLR yet, but I did like the outcome so here it goes:

This one was for a friend who went to France for a couple of months. I figured that during her stay she'd like to keep some sort of a journal and I was really into making notebook(cover)s then. I decided to go with macarons, because they're French of course and really cute and delicious:)

Inside I embroidered a little message to wish her a nice trip. I didn't see her before she left so I had to send it to her, it took ages to get there(French post isn't exactly organized and on time), but Thankfully it made it there just before she went home again.

And this is a tiny journal/sketchbook for a very dear friend of mine. You can definitely tell what colors of felt I was really into back then. Funny how these two are the exact opposites, right? I never noticed until now.

Seeing these books really makes me want to start making stuff like this again. I quit because it was quite a tough and precise project, but it was fun too. I still have a bunch of moleskine covers in my shop if you're interested, and as you can see, I can make them with other stuff too, not just owls and moustaches.

Next time I make one I'll try to post it a lot, lot sooner though.

Pretty Drawings

Van Gogh is one of my country's absolute most famous painters. And just now I thought he has to have made owls, so I did a little research and guess what? He did!

Ok, they're not paintings, but an owl's an owl and who am I too judge one of the Old Masters.

Turns out these drawings can be found at the Van Gogh Museum. I already had plans to go there soon and I now know I have to keep my eyes open for these little treasures.

Giveaway Winner!

It's time to announce the winner of the CSN giveaway. After entering all the entries in the random number generator I now know who the winner is...The picture frame goes to:

Domestic Diva

Congrats!

Thank you all for joining! I'll hopefully have another giveaway coming soon.

Marvelous Music

Last chance to enter the US and Canada only giveaway!

This singer somehow popped up somewhere on YouTube. Jayanti is seriously gorgeous. Hoping her voice would match her looks I clicked the little video. And I was not disappointed.

To be honest I've mostly been listening to this one track, a cover from an Al Green song. It's just so good I keep coming back to it. Take a listen:

I'm just gonna go ahead and post one of her originals too. It's a really nice and relaxed song. Plus you get to see her awesome afro, which I'm hoping will make a comeback too.

She has yet to release a full cd and I'm looking forward to hearing more. But I'm really thankful that the internet makes it possible for artists to release there music even before they have a cd in store. And let's not forget the awesome covers you come across on YouTube. Like the one posted above.

Lovely Movies

Don't forget to enter the US and Canada only giveaway!

As I mentioned earlier this week, I went to see No Strings Attached. Even though it's one of those predictable movies it was still really good.

It had some hilarious moments. I don't wanna spoil anything, but I really loved both the mixtape and the bouquet, you'll know what I'm talking about if you've seen it;)

What I also liked is that it has such a wide variety of people, some a bit excentric and some very very realistic.

Kevin Kline (who played Ashton Cutcher's dad) just didn't look like himself anymore, I almost didn't recognize him at the beginning of the movie.

Anyway, long story short: it was a good movie, we've seen similar storylines, but it was really nicely made. It will definitely make you laugh and have you leave the theater in a good mood.

~

The special show was really nice. We got free drinks, chocolate and a goodiebag with a guava lip balm, a facial and a can of hairspray. I have yet to try those things, except for the chocolate which I'm going through fast.

Giveaway Time! (US and Canada ONLY)

The lovely folks at CSN are here for another giveaway. From there 200+ stores I picked out an owl picture frame to go to the lucky winner. They definitely have a lot of cute owl stuff for sale, but also anything you could possibly need for your house and your garden, so whether you're searching for a vase or a swing set, CSN will have it online.

As I said, the winner will walk away with one of these adorable picture frames. You can either put it on a table/shelf or hang it on your wall. I love how you can incorporate it in your wall art too (like in the picture below).

All you have to do to join is leave a comment. But please note that this is a US and Canada giveaway only!

As always there are extra entries to earn:

+1 if you're a follower

+3(each) if you grab my banner(s)

+1 if you like me on facebook

To keep things a little clearer please leave all entries in ONE comment in which you state how many extra entries you've earned and how.

Winner will be announced next Tuesday.

Thanks for joining and good luck!

To all owl lovers...

Happy Valentine's Day

Regardless of whether or not your doing something with someone else or all by yourself, I hope you're having a great day. I probably did the most unromantic thing and stayed in to clean the house and organize my packaging material.

However I'll be leaving in an hour to make up for that a little. I won tickets to a special night at the cinema to watch "No Strings Attached", there will be free things including a goodiebag.

And even though casual sex isn't really something that sparks my attention, Natalie Portman is. And I'm sure she will turn even this into a great movie.

What were your plans?

Just a Little Update

This past week I've been really busy creating new items for my shop. Since the owls have proved to be the most popular (and I can't get enough of them either), I thought I'd offer some more colors. These are some of the new options, but I have plans for more and even created another one today that I really really love, but I'll show that one later.

Apart from owls I'm making a bunch of other designs too. Here's one of my new flowers. But I'm hoping to show you more soon.

None of these are listed yet and I might have to wait a little while until I get my macro lens, but I'll keep you updated. And if you would like to order one sooner, just say the word and I'll make a reserved listing for you.

Have a great week!

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!