Monday, July 30, 2012

Marius

I grabbed the chance to do some surfing, with hands free while Baby S is playing around with her daddy.

Catching up on the blogs I usually follow, I came over the Marius dress… It’s a knitted dress with a specific pattern. At this point I wish I was better at knitting…

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screenie snagged from sulvis.com

LOVE the neckline… Keep thinking ‘how hard can it be???’
Imagine it in offwhite with beige and grey accents…
…one can dream…

Found these knitting patterns @Garnstudio, kinda in the same style….just doesn’t have the same neckline. But after reading the pattern I have to admit it’s above me….for now….

maybe one day in the future I will be able to make something like this…

…how cute would Baby S look in matching dress….*dreaming, dreaming*

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Linking

When I come over blog widgets I like, I try to implement them here.

Two widgets I have added to my blog is inLinkz and LinkWithin. They are easy and simple to connect to Blogger. Check out their Support pages for step-by-step instructions.

inLinkz described on their website:

“…a widget that is inserted in your blog and allows you to receive link submissions from your readers”

SNAGHTML79eee0dscreenie from the inLinkz blog

I added this widget to keep track on products used when crafting. Many of the scrapbooking blogs out there have similar widgets…

LinkWithin as described on their website:

“…a blog widget that appears under each post, linking to related stories from your blog archive”

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snagged from the LinkWithin site

I liked the thought of being able to link to blog posts in the same category when reading a post. Still trying this widget out, but like what I see so far.

If you have a blog,why not try’em out?

Friday, July 27, 2012

Art of war

No I' haven’t been reading The Art of War by Sun Tzu…

Earlier today I read a tweet by Jennifer Mcguire who happen to mention the TV-series Craft Wars. My curiosity was tickled and I did a Google search. After watching a few video clips on TCLs website I wanted to watch this series…

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Description from the shows web site:
TLC is about to turn crafting on its head. Long gone are the days where crafting solely referred to a world of quaint tea cozies and popsicle stick bird houses. Today, there is a strong movement of crafters taking this beloved hobby and transforming it into an extreme art form. Now, for the first time ever, TLC has assembled these craft virtuosos for a knock-down, drag-out fight for supremacy.

Now off to watch the first episode of Craft wars…(Shhhh Baby S is sleeping….)

Also, the show is hosted by Tori Spelling…remember her? (hint: 90210…)


picture borrowed from people.com

I *heart* bamboo


pandas aren’t the only ones that love bamboo
With Baby S arrival my sweet sister-in-law introduced me to clothes made of bamboo (yes, you read it correctly…bamboo). They are the softest…and Baby S loves them. I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying bodies by Lilleba and they are super handy as one body covers more than one size. With Baby S growing at super speed - as babies do, a body that is size 62 is also a size 68. In other words, she won’t grow out of the size after using it once or twice.
I’m definitely putting these on Baby S Christmas wish list:

A close shave

Today I discovered the benefits of lint removers…Not being an old fashion housewife I don’t know how to avoid lint of wool clothes. But now I have a tool to remove lint!
Baby S has gotten A LOT of hand-me-down-clothes and today I finally had time to go thru the rest of the clothes that she has gotten. Some of the pieces I felt needed a little extra care, as they looked ‘well used’.
Lint
before (“bug-infested”) and after (“like new”)
Say ‘hello’ to my little friend…
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he might look cute, but gives you a close shave if you get in his face…
Definitely worth the few USD I paid. I got my little buddy from Dealextreme. Can recommend getting one of these if you have clothes that look like this…
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Thursday, July 26, 2012

Practice makes perfect

We can never have too many baby blankets. As my previous baby blanket project didn’t go as planned (wonder why?), I thought I’d give it a new try. This time I’m trying out my knitting skills…and on a pattern I think will be easier. I picked up yarn for this project ages ago – during a sale at Bentes boutique.

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If Baby S allows that is…its not easy finding time to do knitting with everything else I want/need to do when at home.

Troublesome blanket

A few weeks ago I finally finished the baby blanket I posted about ages ago (post). Haven’t had time to do a post on the result until now (Baby S is taking a long nap next to me – I’ve elected to call them “naps” more than sleeping as they never last longer than a few hours)

Photo 23 22 58 26.07.12
crocheted in white with a pink border

But I think I did a poor job with the assembly as the blanket keeps falling apart in the seams. And with 20 patches crocheted together, there are many seams that can fall apart. From now on I think I’ll stick to projects that consist of fewer parts. At least until I learn how to assemble and finish seams in between crochet parts…

Monday, July 23, 2012

Anniversary days

Just a few days ago me and hubby celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary. Time sure flies...

A year ago today we were in Portugal attending a dear friends wedding. (July 23rd – Happy Anniversary!)

Being nostalgic I took a look at pictures taken from both days..love looking a pictures of details from the big day. Thought I’d share a few of them here. Maybe it will give ideas / inspiration to others planning their big day…

bryllupCollage

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Survivor

- they survived!

A few days ago I posted about the freak hail storm that hit my house. I finally had time to check on my backyard plants. I was relived to find all my strawberry plants and my little rose bush had survived. Now crossing my fingers that the berries will start coming before the summer here in Norway is over…

Photo 19 40 41 22.07.12

Britain for the win

Today was the last stage of Le Tour de France. After three weeks this summers Tour is over. It was fun while it lasted. Looking forward to next years Tour already…

Congratulations to all the Tour winners. Especially to Team Skys Bradley Wiggins, the first brit winning the Tour GC. Second place also went to Team Sky rider Christopher Froome. Thank you for an very entertaining summer.

And the winners are…

Bradley Wiggins Le Tour de France 2012 Stage RuLqggX9vHDl

Peter Sagan Le Tour de France 2012 Stage Three pLSZoJHQPczl

thomas-voeckler-a-assure-avec-une-science-de-la-course-aigue-son-maillot-a-pois-photo-afp

bettiniphoto_0117002_1_full_600

…of the yellow jersey - Team Skys Bradley Wiggins

…of the green jersey – Team Liquigas Cannondales Peter Sagan

…of the polka dot jersey – Team Europcars Thomas Voeckler

…of the white jersey – Tejay van Garderen

…again, congratulations!

Friday, July 20, 2012

And the skies opened up…

Photo 12 13 59 20.07.12

We’ve passed the middle of July and the skies opened up and what comes down?

Photo 12 18 16 20.07.12HAIL…only in Norway…

My poor strawberry plants and roses…hopefully they survived the pummeling. I’ll have to check on them when it stops hailing and raining.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Cupcakes galore

Hubby turned 31 years yesterday and I thought I would try and do some baking. It’s been ages since I made cupcakes, so I thought why not…

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Hubby loves cakes with nutty flavor, as well as spicy. As always, Google is my trusted friend. After doing some searching, I wound up trying to make these two.

Spicy cupcakes:
150 gr margarine
2 eggs
125 dl milk
4 dl flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1 teaspoon cardamom powder
0.5 teaspoon ground cloves
2 dl sugar

Stir sugar and margarine together, until white.
While stirring, add one egg at a time.
Mix together flour / baking powder / spices.
While stirring, add alternately milk and flour

The batter is enough for about 20 small / 12 medium cupcakes.
Bake at 175°C for about 20 minutes. I made medium size cupcakes, so I baked them almost 10 minutes longer than the recipe recommended.

Icing:
125 gr “natural” cream cheese
60 gr margarine
4 dl powdered icing sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder

Use margarine that is room temperature, mix everything together until a thick cream. I used this icing for both the cupcakes, I just left out the cinnamon in the icing for the nutty cupcakes.

Source: http://gryskjokkenskriverier.blogspot.no/2009/12/krydderkake-muffins-med.html

Cupcakes with nuts:
100 gr margarine - melted and cooled slightly
3 eggs
2 dl sugar whipped until fluffy, stir in melted butter
2 1/4 dl flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 dl chopped nut kernels

Mix sugar and eggs together, until sugar is dissolved.
Add the melted margarine.
Mix together the dry ingredients and mix with batter.

Fill the cupcake forms about halfway and bake at 200°C for about 15-20 minutes. The batter was enough for 12 medium size cupcakes.

Source http://www.kursagenten.no/artikkel/656/Oppskrift-Nottemuffins-1083.aspx

Now to enjoy the “cakes of my labor”.Photo 16 46 06 12.07.12The nutty cupcakes to the left and spicy cupcake to the right

Sunday, July 8, 2012

A little art in the nursery

Other than the vinyl decals I posted about in this post on the nursery walls, they have been left pretty naked.

When I made a handprint and a footprint of baby S, I was creatively inspired.

When asking my mother about vital data round my birth I’ve always gotten an approximate reply. This way baby S will always know exactly when she was born and her “size”.

Photo 19 36 15 08.07.12

I used my Cuttlebug and cut out pink letters using the Quickutz Harvest alphabet. I used Spellbinders Labels Three squares for the hand- and footprint (I used Versamark ink and some white – unbranded - embossing powder for the prints). The flourish is from the Jazzy swirls stamp set by Autumn leaves. All done with pink and brown colored cardstock from Creative Company. Final step, put in a nice frame, I used IKEAs Virserum frame in white.

Yes, the rocking chair is from IKEA – ideal for relaxing with baby S.

Today I signed up for beta testing of inlinkz, exited to try it out. See the result at the bottom of my post.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Stair case - Stage 1: complete

With an in-house baby time sure flies.

We finished with the first stage of the stair case renovation before Sophie arrived, but I haven’t had time to post about the finished result. Well here’s a little post and some pictures.

As I posted when I started thinking about the renovation of the stair case (read previous post here), the banister was gonna be painted white and the steps stained in a dark wood finish. After we started sanding and painting  I realized it was more work than we had time for. So we spilt up the renovation in two stages…Stage 1: the banister, and Stage 2: the steps.

I did a little post during the renovation (read it here) showing the progress.

Well here are a few pictures with Stage 1 completed…

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Photo 13 47 36 04.07.12

Don’t know when we will start on Stage 2. But for now we will enjoy the fact that Stage 1 is completed and baby Sophie enriching our lives.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

This months color is yellow…

Today is the 1st stage of the Tour (full name Le tour de France). Also this year casa TweedyBird will follow the stages on TV – if baby Sophie allows us.

Yesterday was the prologue in Liège, a tempo stage which Fabian Cancellara won. Congrats Spartacus! Due to family visiting we didn’t get to see the stage on TV, but Twitter kept us updated.

Hopefully this years Tour will be less dangerous compared to earlier years… We all remember Hoogerlands close encouter with barbed wire fence last year! I was totally shocked when I saw it happen live…

As there are only one Norwegian cyclist in this years Tour, there will probably not be many moments like these…so here are a few clips posted to keep the Norwegian spirits up…from last years Tour.

Edvald Boasson Hagen wins stage 6
Thor Hushovd wins stage 13
Thor Hushovd wins stage 16
Edvald Boasson Hagen wins stage 17

Good luck to the Eddy the Boss!

- which team are you supporting?
- who do you think wins the TdF2012 yellow jersey?

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