Friday 28 June 2013

I am a FalPal!

I love Jimmy Fallon!

He is just unbelievably funny. I love almost everything he does! But I especially love the things he does with Justin Timberlake. The two of them have this unique bond and they interact to well together. Unfortunately, there are none of the Danish TV channels that show SNL on a regular basis, so I've never really watched much of it. Of course, that's what Youtube is for! Please check out this link for their first History of Rap session. Amazing! This is one of the latest videos that I really love of the two!



The things he does with his guests on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon blows me away. I mean, who gets to have an egg-roulette with Tom Cruise, where you have to smash an egg on your head and hope that it is one of the hard boiled ones? And then win over Tom Cruise because he picked two raw eggs and now has egg dripping from his hair? And who decides to have a beer-pong, or rather Dom Perignon-pong, with Mariah Carey - need I say more?! Yodel with Brad Pitt?! Water War with Robert Pattinson?!

I am big Robert Pattinson fan! One of the skits that Jimmy Fallon did at one point was called "Bothered - with Robert Pattinson", where Jimmy would dress up as Edward from Twilight and climb his little tree to talk about things that bother him! I love his fake British accent..



Sorry for the christmas edition! It was one of the only ones I could get access to not being in America.

"Stop right there! Things just got weird!"

Also, check out some of Jimmy Fallon's Thank You Notes I have written to the right here ->

Follow Late Night on Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube.

Operation Move: Step Two!

Today we picked up the key for our new apartment! Not really as excited as I thought I'd be.. Probably because we were told that is was completely impossible to get the key before Monday July 1st.. So we arranged for our movers-helpers-friends to come the following weekend. But now! We have an entire weekend ahead of us with no car to move our own stuff, loads of other plans and all we want to do it get started..

Anyway. We went down to check out the apartment again and brought my parents. They loved the place and made me feel a bit more excited about it. I am excited! Really!

Another thing that has helped the excitement along is my new posters! As I wrote about in a previous post, I was in love with these vintage camera posters and that they would look great in a simple, black frame with a white passe-partout around it. And tadaaaaaa! Today I picked up the posters from the graphic design store, and immediately put them in their frames. It looks absolutely amazing! Don't you think?


Vintageness


As I have gotten older, I have finally found out what kind of style I would like in my home. Luckily, my husband and I agree on a lot of those things. Sometimes he tells me I am going overboard with some stuff, but then he finds a plastic motorcycle in 1:24 and wants to put that in the prime spot in our living room. When it has been there for a while I get to put up more of my stuff! I actually think that it is so wrong not to let the man of the family have a say in what their home should look like. If he cares - which, let's face it, most men don't - then let him have a say! I hate those homes where it is so obvious that the woman has decided everything and there is no trace of a man living there. It is all white, beige and generic. If your man has a hobby and he wants to display it, let him!! For God's sake.. It is one of the keys to a healthy relationship. After a couple of years of being without any influence in his own home, the man will eventually struggle to find himself and at some point find himself estranged from his own life. I have seen it happen, and it is ugly! So what if he wants a big screen TV or big-ass speakers? The quality of the TV is great and the sound from the speakers is so much better, the bigger they are. So what, if he wants to put up little cars and motorcycles? As long as the colors match the rest of the stuff, who cares! What isn't the man thinking about the woman's stuff that she insists of putting up? This is my advice to women in the world; Let your man have a say if you want a happy, long and interesting relationship!

Speaking of going overboard with the stuff I like. I was recently given a reproduction of some old, vintage paper dolls called Big Marie and Little Marie. They refer to a Danish biscuit called Marie-biscuits and they are great :) Of course, when the biscuits were called Marie, a personification of them would be the only right thing to have. This reproduction would look great in a frame matching the camera posters and would look absolutely lovely over my new working-sewing-drawing station in the new apartment. So, naturally, the poster got fitted in it's frame and is ready to hang on one of my walls. It is too cute, I think! (Sorry for the dark photo!)


Vintageness


I think that was it for updates on the move. Looking at the pictures, trying to figure out where to put them, is getting me excited again about moving and starting over a new place. Hopefully this move will give us the kick in the face... no, butt... no, just kick, that we need to start changing our lives and make things happen for us instead of waiting for this things to happen to us.

Friday 21 June 2013

All the art and all the cousins!

Somehow this went from being a blog about crafts and hobbies, to the last two posts - and this - being about art!

My family has always been very excited about art. As a child I was dragged around museums and galleries and I HATED it! With every fiber of my being - I hated it! I would cry, stomp my feet, resist going, stay in the car, cry some more - and this was just last summer! Imagine me as a child..
My parents have a very varied taste in art. They don't go by any rule book or specific style, which I really commend them for. Art should be about what appeals to you and catches your eye, not about it being by some specific artist whether or not you actually like the piece. When I was younger, and being dragged to the museums, my parents mostly bought poster art. Some of the poster prints my parents would buy I really did like. But most of them were kind of obscure and some were even erotic and sexual. That was quite hard to agree with as a shy child - I still don't understand it!

But now I am kind of getting all excited about art as well in many shapes, forms and sizes. Maybe it's something to do with age?! I am especially in love with all that is vintage. Old advertisement posters from old Danish or English companies, old fan posters of legendary music artists. Anything old, really, as long as it is in a cool, graphic style. It needs bold colors and cool lines. I could plaster all my walls over with posters I love. There are so many styles and I can't decide which is best, prettiest, coolest or just right. This does lead to some confusion in my "art collection". Just look at the last two posts on the blog. One about vintage black&white camera poster prints, the other about graphic, in-your-face-messages, bold colored posters. Today I add another style to the mix. Granted, all three posts are about posters, so I guess there is some cohesion.

I am lucky to have an artist in my family. My cousin is so talented! She paints abstract paintings and her latest series is filled with colors inspired by her travels to Asia and it's called The World In Colour. Check out her website at bjerker.com.
The other day my cousin posted on Facebook looking for someone to help her with some English editing. Of course I offered my assistance to her, being the ever-helpful English-wiz that I am -.-

She offered me two of her art prints in lovely black frames as a "thank you". Naturally, I jumped at the opportunity and two days ago a lovely package arrived at my door step. I was so happy to get these prints, because I just can't afford those kinds of indulgences right now, and I really wanted to buy some to support Vibeke, but I also just wanted them. So to get these as a gift was just perfect - not much support for Vibeke's business, but still. As I promised my cousin, these two lovely frames will be the first things I hang on the wall in our new flat. I already know where to hang them. Just take a look at these beauties!


Click here to go to Bjerker.com webshop!


The frames are 30x30 cm, so they fit perfectly right between the two living room windows. That is also a great place in order to keep the prints well-preserved as the sun will at some point have an effect on them. So that is my plan! Man, I am so lucky to be surrounded by great family members who aren't afraid to share their "talents" with other people. The "artist" cousin is my dad's brother's middle daughter. She is about the same age as my older brother, so we never really connected when I was younger because of the age difference. But now I am feeling the connection! I am discovering the creative sides of myself and I get so much inspiration from Vibeke's paintings. They are just as lovely as she is! It is great to see how someone else in your family has been so successful with her creative endeavors. Plus, I just learned that she lived 6 months in London, which is my absolute favorite city in the WORLD! Anything connected to London and I instantly love it.

One of my other cousins - my mother's youngest sister's eldest daughter (wow!) - is also providing us with her legal expertise, being a cand.merc.jur.. Just because she wanted to! Just because she loves digging in problems and finding reasons and solutions, I guess. She offered to look at our problematic situation with the municipality - looooong story - and she just wanted to help. I love my family! I truly do!


Thursday 20 June 2013

Shepard Fairey posters generously donated!

One of our very good friends, Rasmus, is a big Shepard Fairey-fan.

The only thing I knew of Mr. Fairey was his cool election posters for Barrack Obama - there were a few different ones.

Rasmus wanted to sell some of his posters, and found that he has duplicates. So he offered them to us for free. He had his other posters valued by an auctioneer house in Denmark and the estimated value was about £150 per poster. And now we have two!

Shepard Fairey

I absolutely love this! I don't really know what else to say about it. The look on her face is so sad, but strong somehow. She is ready to fight for her Black Hills. Put this in a black frame with a passe-partout, and it will be perfect! It is going to provide just the right colour splash on our white walls in our new flat.


I am not quite sure yet how I feel about this one. The first thing I see - obviously - is the machine gun and it makes me think of Russia. Why that is I can't tell you. But the poster has a perfect message. It is so provocative to me, but it is so true. I am glad, though, that I don't get many Americans in my home so they'll challenge me as to why I need to promote this message. I don't know why it gets me, but it just does. Wow, I am really good at analyzing pictures, their meaning and message. My Danish teacher would be so proud of me :)! Also, the poster has classic Fairey symbols as the "obey" text and the white dove - with a target for the machine gun to hit. Go America!

I'll hang the two posters in our new flat once we've moved and I'll see if the machine gun grows on me. The Black Hills I will love to bits, no doubt. And you do need a pair, don't you!


Decorating a new place - the real reason for moving!

We are moving. Up until now we have lived in my aunt's house while she has been working in Norway as a nurse. Now she has announced her "home-coming" and we have to find a new place to stay.

Luckily, we found a lovely little flat not far from both of our parents and some of our friends. The only reason I say "luckily" is because we have sold our car (!). If we live close to either of our parents we have easy access to a car whenever we feel too bound down and bored of things within "walking distance". Of course, it is not the only reason!! It also means that my mum won't have to walk that far to come and do the cleaning and general house keeping while we are out driving in her car... haha, I only write this because I know my mum isn't reading this :) :)

One of the absolute pleasures of moving into a new place is the chance to decorate completely empty rooms! Over the past few months we have changed our interior decorating style. We have always had second-hand furniture, mix-matched tree sorts, all kinds of colours and it has all been a bit messy and old-fashioned. Now we are streamlining the style to being more of the same basic colours which I can then spruce up by adding cool, homemade pillows or hanging colourful posters in my black frames.

I can't wait to get a more classic look in my home. Lots of white furniture, preferably old, quirky drawers or cabinets with cool designer items on top with magnificent colours. This also means that I get to go antiquing so I can look for a new cabinet for my dinnerware and Royal Copenhagen collection. Yes!

One of my ideas is also to get some vintage looking art on the walls. I found these free printables via howaboutorange.blogspot.com - originally from designeditor.typepad.com, and I just love them!

Cool, vintage cameras put in a classic, black frame. It doesn't get much better than that! All you have to do is download the files, take them to your local copy-store and they can make it any size you want. I still need to get my copies printed, but it will be done! I'll be sure to post pictures of the finished results in the new flat.


I have also been on the look-out for pillows, so I have an actual excuse/reason to make new pillows cases. I have so much cool fabric tucked away in my craft boxes and it need to be used! Well, I might forget about the fabric I already have and then pay fabricrehab.co.uk another visit to order some of their cool, vintage fabrics. There are some of the retro fabrics they stock that I find it hard to live without - especially the Geekly Chic line. They got me hooked and I am a true fabric addict. Oh my goodness, I am getting extra excited about the prospect of all this work!

It is going to be so great to live a place, where we are not living there on borrowed time. Don't get me wrong, it has been absolutely lovely living in my aunt's house, but there has always been a deadline over our heads. It will be great to not have that. Even if Lady Luck blesses us with a child at some point we can still stay in the flat if we need to. It is big enough for that. So we are set for the next couple of years!

I'll post pictures of the sewing projects I will embark on when we move. And most likely, I'll also post updates on the interior decoration, because I am getting oddly excited by that prospect right now. Maybe because we have been living in someone else's furniture for a 1½, and it is going to be so great to see our own stuff again outside of a storage box!

July 1st, please come now!

Thursday 13 June 2013

You can do it! Believe in yourself! Action is the key to success!

I am a sucker for motivational posters, photos and snapshots. Not just motivational posters like "Action is the foundation of all success", but photos with all kinds of quotes like "Music is a safe kind of high".

The first thing I did when I changed phones from my iPhone to my current Samsung Galaxy SIII was to find a new android app, where you can download these kinds of backgrounds, screen savers and photos. I have so many that I don't know what to do with them.

Do I take the time to think about how this very clever quote applies to me and my life? Sure! Do I forget about it 10 seconds after I downloaded it? Maaaybeeee... Do I live my life as I am advised by these photos? Definitely not!

So why do they catch my attention like they do? There is just something about the wording of most of the photos that appeal to me. "Oh, I should have said that to my sorry excuse for a "best girl friend" when she told me to fuck off because I was going through a depression". "Oh, this is so cute, it reminds me of me and my dad when I was a child". "Oh, this is for my best friends in the world".

What the freak?! Why not just think of these things for myself, remember it and live by it?
I try! I have set the "Action is the foundation of all success" as my screen saver on my computer because I use that to write applications and find jobs I need to apply for. I use that specific background to remind that I need to do something - anything - before I can even think about being successful. If I sit around all day I'll never get a job, and this particular background actually helps and motivates me a wee bit more.
And I always manage to find loads of pictures that seem to describe a completely random situation just perfect.

So I guess I'll keep hording random pictures, posters, photos, images and whatnot :)

Some of my "favourites"


Monday 10 June 2013

The Hunger Games-hunger

So, I finally finished the third volume of the Hunger Games series.

At first I was not convinced that it was any good. I couldn't be bothered with yet another series swallowing my life whole and not letting me get on with anything else before I have completed the entire series. This is what happened with Harry Potter, the Thursday Next series, Twilight. I get so caught up and I stay up all night just pushing through. On top of that I am a really slow reader, so it takes me forever sometimes to get anywhere with a book. Even so, it is the worst when you have to wait for the next book in a series to be published. J.K. Rowling sure took her time finishing off the whole Potter-deal. Luckily, when I succumbed to the Twilight Saga all the books had been released and I bought the box-set. Good thing, too, because I finished all four books in 4 days.

Anyway, I started the Hunger Games, not knowing what to expect. But I was hooked! It was so exciting and riveting, compelling and un-put-downable. I love the complex character of Katniss Everdeen. She is a very different antagonist who has more bad and undesirable attributes than good ones, which is really refreshing. There is such a feeling of girl-power that I can't help getting carried away. (I was a teenager of the late 90's - girl-power is real to me ;)).

It's been ages since I started reading the first. I think I didn't start until the movie was announced. Usually I prefer to read the book upon which a given movie is based. It gives a much more detailed understanding of the plot and the characters. So many things are cut out from the story when it is remade for the screen. I know they have to, and some things must be altered to be more camera-friendly, but often it compromises the story. Anyway, it was a great book! The movie was alright, but nowhere near as good at the book. So I was kind of disappointed about the movie. They could have done more..

Then I had to read the second one, of course. I hadn't bought the 2nd and 3rd book, because I was sure I would hate the first. So off to the store, and get on with it! The second book was brilliant. Even better than the first. You get to know the characters even better, the story gets much more complicated. the plot thickens.. However, there were so many new, weird names to keep track of. Never mind, though!
Right now I am so excited about the 2nd book - my favorite of the series! And! It is a real plus that it premieres on my birthday :) :) The first teaser trailer is out, and I am so excited about it. Have you seen it?




I just finished reading the third book. It was so dull to begin with. I put it away for months - I could not be bothered with it! Then I forced myself to finish it, so I could put it away. It didn't take me 10 pages to get fully consumed by the turn of events and I had to spend all night last night finishing it. It was actually a great book. I am one of those people who can cry over books. So naturally, with all the deaths and heartbreak I was bawling my eyes out.I love being to engrossed in a story that even written words can affect you so much you tear up. That also meant I could not put the book down or even think about going to sleep.

Now I have finished the trilogy. Just have to wait for the movies - which will be ages before they are done.. I will have to re-read the Catching Fire before I see the movie, just so the story is fresh in my memory.

Do you have a hunger for the Hunger Games?

Sunday 9 June 2013

First piece of clothing: Done!

I have done it! I have actually made myself a piece of clothing. I am so proud!

The maxi dress trend tends to come back every summer, and I have always wanted to be able to wear one. Being a plus-plus size girl, it can be very difficult finding something - anything, really - that doesn't make you look like a whale caught in a circus tent.

So I thought... Hey, I've got loads of fabric and I know how to work that sewing machine. I'll just make one!   Just as I had the thought it occurred to me that my imagination is making me promises my sewing skills can't keep. But what the freak, I'll give it a go!

All I had to do was to copy the "pattern" of one of my favorite tank tops - of course factoring in seam allowance and various body parts that bulk out a bit -  and then decide how wide the dress should be at the bottom. I love swirly dresses, so of course I wanted to be as wide as the fabric I had would allow. It didn't turn out quite as swirly as the little girl version of me wanted, but it turned out just perfect for the adult version. Who needs to twirl and swirl anyway... Who am I kidding - I'll add extra fabric later to make it more swirly!!

This being my first piece of clothing and all, I am very happy with it! Sure, there are little errors and things I want to change, but no one notices those things except me. So why bother, right?!

What do you think??



I can wear it with or without the belt. With the belt makes it a bit more dressy. Having no belt makes it much more comfortable, for one, but also makes it more casual-slip-on-wear-to-the-beach-ish.

Hopefully I will get loads of opportunities to wear this dress over the summer. Until now the weather has been lovely, so here's to hoping it will continue.

Do you want to make one too?? I can give you a few tips :)

Thanks! Have a great sunday evening :)