A little sketch

Busy times again. I am doing a book cover which sent me photographing and drawing a bit afterwards. This is a little sketch to be a part of the cover, I hope to post the whole thing soon.

Thank you for your sweet comment on last post :-)
No links today. Gotta go get some sleep now. Sweet dreams.

Yee-peeeeeee!!!!

I can't believe I'm going -- but I am. —in a couple of months. Ohhh I feel so lucky, I just can't wait.
Last time I flew 'cross the pond to The Big , was t-w-e-l-v-e years ago!
Ooo -- I loved it so.

Do any of you have any insider tips on what to do, where to eat, fun shops to visit? — anything at all would be amazing. I hope to hear from you.
Thank you :-)


Two gorgeous pieces from Luce Rosa: transformati ... and metamorfosi

Visited

Remember this little guy? On of his friends paid a visit the other day. I saw him on the balcony and rushed to get my camera, hoping he'd still be there when I got back. He was, I got one picture, and off he went. Only to sit back down on the banister, in the warmth of the afternoon sun.

He did this five or six times. Needless to say, I took a tricillion pictures.
Check this out. Do you think he was watching me too?

I only just discovered Joel the dad. My-my - this guy created some awesome toys for his kids.
Have you ever seen a more delicate doll house?
I am smitten :-)

Playing again — this time with food :)

And a opportunity to tell you that Tina & I are relaunching our site Clemmensen&Brok — a collaboration sprung from our love of food (and such) :-) Tina is a super-talented photographer, and my sweet friend, and from time to time we meet to cook and take pictures of what we make. Clemmensen&Brok is our way of sharing this love with you. I hope you will receive it well :-)
(Btw — you can find the recipe for the cookies at Clemmensen&Brok)


Need inspiration for kids' parties? Sambellina's site is just dreamy!
Feel free to go nuts on this cookie site; Sweetopia (check this out :)

Playing ...

I've been playing with these flowers before.

Ouhp! Just had an idea. Which would take me to the kitchen ...
;-)

I love this, by lineanongrata. This too. I really like her art.

On a slightly different note, please look at this amazing yarn shop KnitWit. Oh My! Hands almost shaking ;-) KnitWits website here.

♫ :)

Dear Diary

Fulvio Bonavia. Go to Work ··> landscape + a matter of taste + scent of a flower. I love every single one of theese pictures.

And a test: Whats-your-creative-style at Psychologies :-))
via How About Orange

Tokens

What a relaxing weekend! Reading, knitting, vegging. Normally we take the vacuum cleaner for a spin on weekends, but no-one has mentioned it yet, (whispering: and I'm not gonna now ... ;o)

I am updating my website, sat up until very (very!) late last night. A lot of the images have been replaced with newer ones, and more stuff has been added. Not done yet, many details to be tended to, I'm takin' it slow; being both the client and the provider on this, and mellow either way ...

I'm reading this book on happiness and one of the author's great many points is, that learning a new skill, or succeeding in doing something you find difficult, will boost your happiness. And y'know? – I believe she's right! This feels gooood! I'm not a web designer, in fact; I'm still puzzled by how I managed to create a site for myself, and here I am, updating using only html (I made the site a year and a half ago with a 30-days trial version of DreamWeaver :-) Anyone said cheapskate??! ;-D So now I lack the programme, (but not the persistence), and html it is. Being a blogger really helps too though. Flora helped me get started redesigning my blog with larger images a while back, and my fingers have gotten sticky with html many times since then :-)

Of course I couldn't keep away this morning either; and The Mister is stooping over a build of miniature airplanes, so eventually we needed a stretch o' the limbs, and went for a Sunday Walk.




We walked to the water, and to this bridge (it's a fairly new bridge) And The Mister said: »Do you know the padlocks?«
»???«, I said.



When someone get married, they apparently hang a padlock on this bridge.





Wedlock :-) Yay!





I can't wait to see the magnitude of these tokens years from now.

With this, I encourage you to
Celebrate Love ♥
See you soon :-)

Missed connections
Sophie Blackall

Sketches

(click sketch to see it bigger)



Lots of cool book covers at Faceout Books
More covers and discussions of such at Nonsuch Book

New new books (and a love story)

I bought 2 new books for inspiration; »Design Col. With Ltd. Colors« and »ImPressIve« on letterpress work. My heart aches for old presses. Not that there has to be an explanation, but I think there is. You see, in The Very Early Years, I worked with dry point and gooey ink that made me dizzy with happiness. I chose the Commercial road in stead of the one of the Artist, but never quite fell out of love with the heavy iron press, the gentle cream-coloured cotton paper, soaked in water and laid in batches of six, and the ink—the tough, black ink, with its smell of pure love ...

I still have my suit. My ink stained white Kansas Coverall.
Some day ...

Link. Link. Link. Link. (pls notice the pace in 1st link. I♥it)

new old books

I knew I had some ol' thick papered note books lying around in the attick somewhere, but the place needed clearing out before I could even get an idea of where they were hiding. We cleared it during our holiday, re-boxing, throwing stuff out, gathering stuff to sell at the local flea marked, and sure enough—there they were. Three of them, all noted slightly in the beginning of each. These few pages are now the decor of the garbage bin, and the books are ready to play new games. I wanna ink, play, make journal pages, glue, paint. Get my hands dirty and the pages curly.


(first ink)

I know myself well enough not to set up any rules; (one a day, stuff like that), life is unpredictable, and the various projects of my days likewise. And I wanna have fun. Not feel like I haven't done my homework half the time.
Yeah!

I love the design on these poetry hardbacks. I bought three of them—for the cover art, I admit, and for expanding my litterary horizon a little bit too. Here's another link.

I also bought two beautiful design books yesterday. I will share of those tomorrow.
I hope your weekend is lovely :-)

necklace again

I adore making these simple necklaces – they are so quick and easy to make.
I'm very happy with the colours on this one. Last time, I made a grey and rose one.

I love these cards that Tiny Happy made using pages from old books.
Have a delicious Thursday :-)

I saw a guy today, whose T-shirt read:

and my heart leaped with joy (needless to say, I believed the T-shirt!) He was working in the garden I so often walk through on my way, and for a stretchy little second I thought: »is he happy because he works in this garden, in this sunshine, in these latitudes on this day, or does he work in this garden, in the sunshine, on this longtitude, this day, wearing a t-shirt that says I Love Life because he is happy?« ...

RAW!

Hi there. I hope you are enjoying the last of your weekend :)
Gotta share a photo of recent raw food pie. Having eaten inbetween raw for a while (not s'much this weekend which I opened with a delicious, juicy burger from Halifax. Yum!) but some—sometimes more, sometimes less.
I'm not being all-the-way-or-no-way — do not worry about the cocoa having been heated to plus 42 C or that sort, but it's fun, and feels great!
And as so often before, when exploring new ways of fooding, I have tried a lot of the deserts :-D

The recipe was inspired by this book. Author Erica's page here.
Take care, and see you soon.

Work

One of my 'regulars' in my job as a graphic designer is the layout of this book club magazine »Mind & Spirit«. I love creating this magazine, love the cooperation with my wonderful, sweet editor, and love the books.
The right image here is one of the magazine covers from earlier this year. The figurine is my own little green Buddha :-) He has visited this blog once before - right here :-)

Which part(s) of your job do you love?

LinkLove: Miyuki Sakai
via Kadhysign
+
Toril Bækmark

I wish you ... !

Thank you for playing giveaway with me:-) Please email me your adresses (my email is in the right column :), and I'll snail mail the postcards asap :-)

Thought I'd share another card, which was published while I was holidaying. It says
I Wish You ______!
Today, I wish you a wonderful weekend :-) Tomorrow I shall wish you something else. Good stuff. Guaranteed.

Sara Lov has a really pretty website, I love her music. Especially Animals.
And New York (which is such a sweet video too)
via Hello My Little World

Of Being, and Being Here (+plus postcard giveaway :)

If anything, a holiday — taking time off — can reveal true meaning of presence, no? Should call it taking time on, really, rather than off, come to think about it :) Not necessarily in the sense of being availible 24-7 to everyone who tab your shoulder — but availible to oneself. Availible to the present moment. Of Being. Here. Now.

Certainly this is not news. Or invented by me. Not at all. It was a gift
(»will you accept it?«)
(»i believe i will. thank you :) can i do something for you? in return?«)
(»accept«)
(» :·) ...)

I'd forgotten, during a very busy Spring. I'm reminded. Thanks :)

G I V E A W A Y


I am fortunate to have these two cards being published as Go-Cards, the pink one can be found (and picked up :·) at Danish cafés for a week starting tomorrow. (The blue one went public during holiday time :)

Would you like a postcard set? I will send a set of ten cards (five pink, five blue) to the first five people who leave a comment to this post :-)

Here's to Happy Accidents

Yesterday we had home made pizza with leftovers. This meant one classic with tomato sauce (canned + dried, in oil + garlic + salt/pepper), beef sausage, cheddar and oregano, half a classic (classic being the-one-I-always-make) with olive oil, cheddar, potatoes, rosemary, pine nuts + salt, and one half Happy-Accident-Pizza. With a good chunk of goatcheese (we for some reason failed to savour during the week), sage from the balcony, a liiittle dash of honey, some bashed hazelnuts, oliveoil and stray pinenuts from the potato-side, happy-accident was all over the place. I hadn't made this combo before, but I think it's safe to say that goatcheese, honey, pinenuts and sage will be on a great many pizzas in our household in the future.
And hereby passed on with reccomandation.
(I'm hungry ...)

Lovely Lovely Morning :)
Mila's Loveology

Of Thankfulness ..

The other page :-) The text is a mix of sentences from the lecture I spoke of last post.

I promised you strawberries and raspberries. Rich and tasty. I feel thankful for this life, with its warm summers and red berries. I mean — I could be a fly! Or ... — I dunno. Just feel really thankful for being me.



Yester-evening I met with Elsebeth; she is so sweet and wise, and awesomely creative. She made these amazing purses, and look the present she gave me ...



— I love it :-)

Just discovered iHanna. Huuugely inspiring. Love her inspiration-tiles

My dearest, dearest Diary

Dear Diary,
Are you well? Feeling a bit overlooked, perhaps? I wouldn't blame you ...

It has been a while since my last Diary-post. It puzzles me. I l♥ve making them, and feel so inspired when I see Genines calendar pages. Or Anahatas journal pages. I really don't know why I don't make them more often. I have considered if I should decrease my number of creative activities :-) Perhaps go ALL journal-paging! ... Naahh --- I don't think I could. Oh well -- shouldn't try to figure this out so close to a holiday. Perhaps everything with be clear as morning dew once I am well rested.
I made two pages this time - will share the other soon, along with strawberries and rasberries :-)

Meanwhile, I recommend test: What Type Are You? (I was Cooper Black Italic ;-)
via Periwinklebloom (found via SmallMagazine, which I absolutely love. New issue is out now).

Take care. See you soon :-)

Matchboxes

Had a great evening making the boxes. Of course I wanna make more.
Meanwhile, I listened to Peter Bastian's Rosenkjær lectures (in Danish - sorry). Inspirational and wise - the nine lectures are for download here. Hugs and thank you, Vibeke :-)

I've been a jolly blog surfer the last couple of days, and have a list so long with images and words I want to share and to remember. Isn't this for instance the prettiest pastry you ever seen?? (at I art a day, also via sweet Vibeke).

And this:


I simply love it.

And on a more serious note, Mansuetude put her ever precise words to a point. I shall hold hands on Saturday.

Tonight is Midsummer's Night, which means bondfires and howling witches all over the country. It looks to be a wonderful, mild summer's night. Have a delightful celebration
:)

Long lost art of matchbox decor

There's a place in the flat where a decorative matchbox would be right. I don't have the time to make it right now. I hope I will later today though.

As I wrote earlier, I finished Murakami's What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, and found it packed with wisdom and word-candy. I find his way of expressing himself delicate, and so many of his truths about running to be also what I find to be true of life! I also said I'd share, so here goes (from a paperback with multiple dog-ears and underlinings) :-)

»After that, I didn't have to think anymore. Or, more precisely, there wasn't the need to try to consciously think about not thinking. All I had to do was go with the flow and I'd get there automatically. If I gave myself up to it, some sort of power would naturally push me forward« (p.112)

Did you see Marie-Louises new clogs?? So sweet.
See you soon

More old stuff

Iain Macarthur
Pretty poppies from Rotten Tuna

Old Stuff

Man! it's been good to take it slow. (Thanks, Cecilia - I did just that).
So, between takin' it easy, and work, I thought I'd share some old stuff.

I used to watercolour a lot, and my favourite way was to paint directly – not sketching the image and proportions first. I don't know if I'd go about it this way today.

Plus an ol' ass that snug in ... ;-)

I'll be face-painting a bunch of little people this weekend. (Hey! That's watercolouring too!) I hope it goes well :·)
Please have a sweet weekend.

Silly link, but so adorable
Claudia Pearson's summery tea towel

Re:charge!

I just come out on the other side of a bit of over-working. I crave creativity, space, peace, un-stress. I crave blogging, knitting, sharing. But really, I'm tired!
I hope you are well. I will see you soon :)

oldie

Flipping through my latest book buy Envelopes, reminded me of the scrapped envelopes we did for Scraps. This is one of them. 'Think perhaps I should open the drawer to the rubber stamps again soon ...

Found yet another way to have FUN

A small someone is having a birthday Summer party, and the party planner (that'd be me) thought a garden-thing with a small Tivoli-ish kind of games and colour could be fun to do. A ball toss, A magnet fishing pool (for paper with clips), a decorate-your-own-cup-cake, and face painting!
(I'm very early in the planning process - do you have any ideas for stuff to do that you'll kindly share? I would be very grateful)

The painting-thing got me completely giddy. I rushed to the nearest theater-supply-store and bought a few colours and a tube of glitter. And started practicing. Having made a face and an arm, I thought, "this is so NOT gonna work". But after having washed, re-painted, washed and painted s'more, I figured out a way to make the flower petals change colour and stuff. I still need practice, but I have time. And I'm having tons of fun!

A different kind of link today -- Being no particular Lady Ga-Ga-fan, I was prejudicely under the impression this girl couldn't sing. Shame on me. Link.

New books

Once upon a time, in the land of Employment, a young (well ... youngish ;) girl awaited spring's national holidays of bliss with light, rose-scented anticipation. These tiny drops of extra holidays — they were many and they were soothing — showered her with spare time, time to read or sit in the sun, time for leisure! Little would she know, that years later, in the land of Self-Employment, them very same days would be days of labour, hard work and bossy attititude. Ohh, how fortunate, that the young (-ish) girl held appreciation high then ...

:-D Danish springtime is packed with national holidays - Easter, Whitsuntide, Ascension Day, + "Store Bededag"; fourth Friday after Easter, Constitution Day. They were GREAT back in the days, 'cause one could plan extra holidays around'em, and have so much time off.

Not s'much anymore. Around Ascension Day, I talked to my Printer, and had completely forgotten about holidays! "Whut??!! - You won't be able to do the job 'till Monday?? What holiday?? ... ouhhh ...! Yeah, no, sorry. Yeah-- 'course it can wait."

Yes, much is different. Work hours have sifted out into free-time, free-time to work; the two are now pretty much just time. I do think of this also, the days (it's been a while, though) when I sit on my balcony at 11 am, thinking: "perhaps I'm done working for the day now!"

This weekend was Whitsuntide. I was working. And for this, I am grateful.
One of the jobs I did even presented a great link : Donna Wilson

The collage is of the books I bought recently. Rina suggested A Mano - I love it. The other book is Envelopes, by Harriet Russell (+blog). Awesome. + Indian Gods card deck :-)

Feet cosies

Crocheted from design purchased at Sylver Designs.
Thanks for kind words on ink and sun flower :)

Rebecca Thuss

Soon ...

Soon the sun will warm our skin, and blind us in that soothing way, eyes will close in mellowness. I'm a plant!

Today we plants are being watered here. 'tis nice. I love the rain. Especially from inside my house :-)

Pia Jane Bijkerk
Papéis por todo o lado

Take care

Friday Ink Doodle, and some shoppin'

Hi :-)
Thank you for poll'in with me in the "do-you-finish-or-not-before ..." :-) I enjoy seeing your votes so much – right now we have an overweight of "Rarely, but it happens", with 60 % :-)))

Thanks also for the great many sweet comments and sharings :-) I love hearing from you guys! Love the communicating. Don't you?


So! Ok. Weekend up ahead. Hmm, mostly work for my part. Which is good. I'm fortunate I have work. Gotta when it's there, no? The Way of the Freelancer.

As a little treat, though, I bought'sm stuff (Yeah — all right — it's out--I shop to be happy!! ) :-D No-no (okay a little), ANYway, I ordered one of Cecilias gorgeous cutting boards. And it arrived yesterday! Thanks, Cecilia. I love it - it's beautiful! And thank you for the note and the little extras inside the package :-))

I also puchased books. Elsewhere. With pictures in'em! Ouuhh -- can't wait. (Thanks, Rina, for the great tip! ;-)

What shall you do with your weekend?
Have a good one
;-)
btw — have you even the tiniest knitty fiber in you — please check out The Shetland Trader. Yummy!