Saturday, March 31, 2012

Knitting again…

Well this time I’m actually trying out crocheting. Again it’s been ages since I did any crocheting. Looking at all the beautiful designs available at www.garnstudio.com I found a few I wanted to try out.

Since my due date is in May, an airy blanket sounded like a good idea.
First out…image

Wish me luck…

A dash of creativity

A few posts back I recommended Svangerskapboken to all pregnant women who wanted to a book to save all pregnancy-related stuff in one place.
(You can read the earlier post here)
After the book started to become filled with “information” I realized that it was hard to find chapters (months) in the book if I didn’t know the exact week of the pregnancy it was in. (the book it sorted into the different weeks thru out the pregnancy) After seeing a few pregnancy journals/albums posted on TwoPeas I wanted to make one. But soon I realized that it’s too big of a project to start for me now. I’m already way backlogged on my general scrapbooking. So I got the idea that I would combine Svangerskapsboken with the pregnancy journal concept.

I cut out pages fitting into the binding of the book, one for each month of the pregnancy. I tried to put in journaling that wasn’t already in the preset journaling pages, combining it with a little scrapping. Just don’t add to much bulk (dimension) to the pages, or you’ll have problems closing the book Nyah-Nyah

SvangerskapsbokMontasje2
The result…

For those of you who feel that a whole scrapbook album about your pregnancy it a little much, I can recommend doing this. Adds a dash of creativity…

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Knitting a baby blanket

When my sister-in-law recommended this knitting recipe by Pickles saying it was super easy. My first thought where “Ehhhhh….”. It’s been ages since I did any knitting, and I would state that it’s not one of my stronger points. But I thought I would give it a try.

First time I tried this recipe I made the blanket for a friend whom had just given birth to a baby boy. It took way longer than I had expected…but I did finish it in time for my first visit.

TobiasTeppeCollage Realizing that I could actually follow this recipe, I thought I would make one for myself.

This time I actually finished in no time…astonishing even myself

Photo 17 25 21 29.03.12
In the picture the blanket looks more blue than in real life..it’s supposed to be lilac

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Backyard surprise

It’s always nice to wake up and the Sun is shining. Spring is finally here…

With the Sun shining thru our windows I got a reminder that it’s time  to do some serious washing. But beyond our windows I got a nice surprise…flowers that the previous owner planted are still thriving

Took a few snaps…

Photo 15 57 38 25.03.12Photo 15 57 51 25.03.12Photo 15 58 03 25.03.12
Ignore the dead leaves laying around…the backyard still needs some work

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Spicy

When I came over this project I was inspired to do some organizing of my own. Over the years spices have accumulated in my house and finding the ones I need is not always as easy.

Photo 17 04 40 20.03.12
Good luck finding anything here…

With the project fresh in my memory I googled some pictures as to how others had done their spice rack labeling as I didn’t have as big a space as Vegan Chickies spice drawers, not to mention that many empty glasses.

I came over this picture over at Barnes and Nobel and thought “this looks about right…”

I jotted down all my labels and dug out my JustRite Monogram Stamps. I used some address label sheets I had laying around and started punching out labels. Took some time, but when I was finally done I had make quite a few labels. To add some “creativity” to the labels I added the first letter as a monogram in the middle in different colors.

Photo 00 21 55 24.03.12

With the help of my husband, the labels where attached on the appropriate bottles in no time.

Photo 12 56 50 24.03.12
Looks much more organized

Friday, March 23, 2012

Vinyl takes center stage

A few weeks back I ordered some vinyl decals to decorate the nursery from a seller on eBay. I finally had some time on my hands to apply it on a wall in the nursery. I’m happy with how the wall looks now compared to how naked the picture of Tigger looked without.

ButterflyDecalsCollage

This decal is ordered from a seller on Ebay that is located in Korea, feel free to check out the Ebay store.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Signs of Spring

The down jacket has been put away and the not-so-fluffy-jackets has come out of hiding.

The snow is melting away and out comes the turds!

Darn it…my neighborhood is like a poop minefield these days. Please all dog owners pick up after your dogs…they can’t do it themselves

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

An apple a day…

(No, this is not a post about iPhones, iTunes or such from Apple….)

Long have I not been able to eat apples due to my food allergies. And with Norway being a nation with a variety of local grown apples, I sure miss being able to eat apples. (I used to be able to eat anything)

I read somewhere that pregnancy hormones might cause a change is allergies. So I thought ‘why not?’ can’t hurt…. And to my big astonishment…no reaction to the first bite, or the second bite, or the third bite…Before I knew it I had eaten the whole thing!  So these days I’m getting my fair share of apples – while I can….

Luck of the Irish

With Paddies’s day just passed in the weekend I’m in an Irish mood. So when I came over a song I haven’t heard for a looong time, I thought I would share it with you…

It’s by The Corrs, remember them?

“Beannachtai Na Feile Padraig Oraibh” (Hope I got the spelling right…)

The Corrs - Buachail On Eirne

Sunday, March 18, 2012

A walk down memory lane

Finally got my copy of Svangerskapsboken on my last check up at my midwife. Being this is my first time pregnant I got this book recommended from my sister-in-law (though she did recommended just about a library of books – this was just one of them). Svangerskapsboken is in Norwegian (so sorry to my non-Norwegian followers). In addition to giving information about what happens during a pregnancy week by week, it also has pages for filling in information acquired during check-ups/follow-ups and journaling pages.
So far I’ve written “everything” in a plain journal. By using this book I’ve noticed it’s way easier to track my pregnancy thru the weeks, connecting my notes to the information pages.
Today I started writing everything from my plain journal into Svangerskapsboken. And I realized that a lot has happened/changed with my body during these 29 weeks of my pregnancy so far. And according to all my friends who have been pregnant, more is yet to come…
Ole was nice enough to provide me with a little music while I wrote in the book. Using Wimp he shares music playlists with me. So I get to listen to music I haven’t heard in ages.
Remember this one?
RollerGirl–Dear Jessie
For those of you how want to get your own copy of Svangerskapsboken, it can be ordered here: http://www.goboken.no/Butikk/Produkter/Id/GBN80026783/ The publisher is out at the moment, but should get it in stock any day now (according to their customer support) PS: the publisher only ships to addresses in Norway.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

My poor Hydrangea

With Spring just around the corner, I bought a blue Hydrangea to bring in some color into the living room.

With my “brown” gardening fingers I thought reading Plantasjens (in Norwegian) tips on how to care for the flower would give me a good starting point.

With a well-lit placement by the porch door I thought it would thrive…After a few weeks I noticed that something was wrong. The edge of the flowers started to look burned Crying face

HortensiaCollageI quickly googled it and found that it might just be burned by the strong Spring Sun. Hopefully my Hydrangea will like its new placement next to the couch better

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Sneaker time

The snow has finally melted away under the Spring sun and I can finally dig out a pair of my beloved Puma sneakers. And without worry of slipping and falling flat on my face on the icy ground I’m hoping that Spring is finally here…
Photo 19 30 53 14.03.12
Yeah I know…This pair is starting to look somewhat worn out

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

My next project on the house: Painting the staircase?

Ever since we moved in to our house I’ve wanted to paint our staircase. Mostly because the whole pine look just isn’t for me. Besides after we laid the wood flooring in Merbau, it just didn’t look right.
As the renovation of rooms left are coming to an end, the staircase is approaching fast. I knew I wanted to paint the staircase white, but not sure about the whole case in white or just parts of it. Not to mention which shade of white. There’s like over 100 shades of white!!!
I started going online and looking at pictures of others who have painted the staircase and what shade people recommended.
TrappCollage
This is how the staircase looks today…”furuhelvete” as we call it in Norwegian
Some ideas on the style I’m considering:
imageOur staircase is not a closed one…but you get the idea.
(We are also considering closing the staircase while repainting. But are we taking on more than we can handle???)
image
Or completely white???
image
I’m leaning towards this combination…white banister and stained steps
Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Monday, March 12, 2012

My super sweet sister

My sister and the her boyfriend came over for dinner this past weekend. And as sweet as she is, she brought a little gift…

Photo 22 03 41 12.03.12A beautiful orchid…

Thank you sis, hope my brown fingers don’t kill it.

Lucas reappears

Didn’t expect a guest appearance by Chad Michael Murray aka Lucas Scott in the latest season of One Tree Hill.(I don’t read much US TV series “gossip”) After several seasons where he and his on-screen wife Peyton have been “absent”,  he’s back in Tree Hill for a short visit.

Though his image has changed a bit since season 6…

Back to watching the rest of the episode…thank heavens for PVRs

Online picture editing

Light bulbIn the lack of simple photo editing software on the laptop I’m using, I went googling.
Gotta Red heart Google
Just thought I would share the online photo editor I came across.
No need for installation Winking smile
The online service is called Splashup. Recommend trying it.

Related posts

Light bulb In an attempt to make my blog more enticing I looked into a few tips and tricks for bloggers.

One of the cool tips I came over…
http://www.bloggerplugins.org/2009/08/related-posts-thumbnails-blogger-widget.html

Sunday, March 11, 2012

First Aid kit

For one of my good friends 30th b’day I got her a gift certificate at the super sweet (read: super pink) store Cacas in Oslo.

But strange as I am just giving the card was not enough…

I remember seeing some cool, creative ways to add “that little extra” on some scrapping forums a while back.

I raided out pantry for everything that resembled pills and started splitting up into small zip lock bags and labeling them with the following (sorry, these are in Norwegian)
- Angre-piller: Brukes til å ta tilbake alt du angrer på av ting du har sagt og gjort og ting du ikke har sagt og gjort
- Anti-masete-piller: Hurtigvirkende piller som virker mot masete kjærester og barn
- Kinky-piller: Brukes til å piffe opp sexlivet
- Super-piller: Brukes for anledninger som ikke er dekket av de andre pillene. Kan også brukes om det er tomt for de pillene du skulle hatt der og da
- Allergi-piller mot hybelkaniner og hyttepudler: Motvirker allergisjokk ved overpopulasjon av hybelkaniner og hyttepudler
- Piller mot grått hår: Motvirker grått hår, tas gjerne sammen med en bit oppmuntrende sjokolade
- Oppmuntrende sjokolade: Når du trenger en liten oppmuntring
- Jente-piller: Brukes når du trenger omsorg og forståelse for  “jenteproblemer”
- Vitaminpiller for storrengjøring: Gir ekstra energi for å kunne sette i gang med storrengjøring
- Arbeidspiller: Brukes når arbeidslysten er laber
- Kose-sjokolade: Når du bare føler for å kose deg (kan også deles)
- Piller mot kroppslig forfall: Bør inntas hver dag etter fylte 30
- Romantikk-piller: Brukes når hverdagen trenger litt romantikk
- Jeg har (alltid) rett piller: Brukes i diskusjoner, og ellers når en trenger  å ha rett

Didn’t forget to snap some pictures
Photo 12 57 24 11.03.12 Photo 12 57 12 11.03.12

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Birthday card

It’s been a while since I’ve had time to sit down and craft. So when a friend turns the big 3-0, it’s time to create.

Xiao Dan if you are reading this before Sunday, stop reading now!

As always I dropped by Two Peas in a Bucket for some inspiration. And here’s what I wound up with…

Front Inside

It is after all a birthday card, so a birthday cake was in place.

Supplies used:
- Birthday stamps by Megilo
- Papers are an unknown brand carried by Creativ Company
- Inks: “Lightning Black” Dewdrop by Tsukineko, Whispers ink in the colors “Black” and “Port wine”
- Coloring was done using pens by Staedtler and Sakura
- Dies: “Ovals” and “Scalloped ovals” by Spellbinder, “Haunted” by QuicKutz
- Glossy Accents by Ranger

Finally back!

Being sick the last few days have given me some time infront of the TV to do some catching up…

Today I saw the trailer for season 2 of Game of Thrones. Gonna miss Sean Bean as the head of the nobel Stark family.

So mark your calenders! April 1st 2012 the new season airs.

Here’s the trailer, linked from Youtube

For those of you who live in the US or can proxy thru the US, watch the full episodes on HBO Go

For the rest of us I guess we’ll have to wait until a local TV channel airs or the episodes are downloadable (shhhhh)

English it is …

After a night thinking about it…English it is.

This way both family and friends get to read my posts without “help” from Google translate.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Snowflakes keep falling on my head

And here I thought that the winter was coming to an end…

True to the in-laws going away to a warmer place, snow is back in the scenary of my home in Oslo.

See forecast here

Hmmmm...


Now that my blog is created I don't know what my first post should be...
First decision, what language to write in? English or Norwegian?

Living in Oslo, Norway my first thought was to write in Norwegian. On the other hand, with my family being from Singapore, English? (Chinese is definitely out of question....being my vocabulary is limited to about 100 signs)
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