Layout services!

I've done next to nothing today... except make my great friend Mille a new layout for her blog... it was a struggle, but we got there in the end... I am especially happy with the header, and might do something similar for myself one day :)

Have a great friday! Break open a bottle of wine, at least thats what I will do!!! YEY!!!

ta taaa

No space!

So while I am home anyway, due to my hand surgery, I was planning on painting a few pieces of furniture... seeing as my right hand is fine... But now that my new kitten has taken possesion over the livingroom... there is no way I can paint there... She will be all over the place (in fact I have been told she dived into a white paint bucket when smaller, and was completely submerged in paint...) So my idea was to set up a paint station in the hallway... A good idea for sure, but it is so littered with dad's tools, I cant really find the room... And they're too heavy for me to move... so there has been no painting done...

And I have one tv bench to do (this one needs to be cleared of all tv-stuff first), one mirror-buffet to do (large and will need alot of time), a larger shelf for the bathroom, and a smaller shelf for the bathroom... as well as a plateshelf for the diningroom... Aaaargh!!! I wish I had the space to start.... sigh....

yeah, just alittle rant....

1st round of Interior Giftswap!

Oh I am so excited... the first theme for this year is "kitchen". Well I allready posted a long post about my new kitchen... see kitchen post so I decided to post a kitchen questionare in stead....

What colour does your kitchen have? It is a pale green. Spring green I call it. A very old colour, and not very much used. The cabinets and fixings are white, with brushed or polished steel knobs and pulls. There are also some red and teal accents in between.

Describe your kitchen: I would say my kitchen is fairly vintage. It has that good old feel to it, allthough the cabinets and such are all brand new from Ikea... Everything else I have picked up from fleamarkets or at my granny's house. I love everything enamled and old and GREEN so it's filled with treasures from the past. There is an very old cooking stove there, it's usable, but I only have it there for decor. It brings the old days to life in my kitchen. My glasscabinets are filled with old pressed glass, greengate (becuase it looks so wonderfully fresh and vintage at the same time) and figgjo pitchers. There's oak surfaces, and "oak" flooring that brings a warmth to the room. I have a very small kitchen table with two large, pale teal chairs. Which are fleamarket finds. It's a small kitchen, cozy, and works well for me. There is quite alot of floor space concidering it's size. Cabinets are hung in a typical L-shape, and I have a separate area for coffee making, with an old spice drawer shelf for loose tea!

Describe your dream kitchen: Honestly, I think I have my dream kitchen. It could of course have been alittle bigger... but all in all I am super super happy with it. It is just renovated, and I got exactly the style I was aiming for!

What are your favorite activities in the kitchen: baking! I love to bake!!! Mostly cakes and cupcakes.... I also enjoy cooking for friends and family... I'm not too keen on the day to day cooking... but festive cooking is great fun! I love to entertain!!! (Which is why I cant wait for my diningroom to be finnished!)

Name something you miss and want in your kitchen: a hanging rack over my old cooker. There used to be a very ugly white one there. My dad has promised me a new shiny one. And I cant wait to hang all my kitchen tools. I also wish I had a winerack buildt in, but couldnt fit one. And I need more bake-wear (but I am so picky and want everything vintage ha ha) and more enamled stuff. And a cookbook stand, for when I am baking.... I guess I also wouldnt have minded some open shelves... I think they are so incredibly country cottage like... But there wasnt any room, and I do have two very active cats that loooove to climb... so things are safer behind closed doors. Oh and I would have absolutely loooved an old frenvh vintage faucet.

What is your favorite kitchen "stuff": Jugs and pitchers from figgjo (other makers as,or anything enamled! My favorite might just be the green vintage scale I got from granny. I basically love anything vintage, esp green figgjo. And I love little vintage plates. I never keep sandwitch meats in their packets, but rather put them on decoratve plates and wrap them up... it's so much nice to take out... even if it's just you...
Do you bake or cook alot? oh yes... I love both... allthough as I mentioned before, baking is closer to my heart! I'm a bit of a sweet tooth I'm afraid...

What do you hate about your kitchen: uhm... not that much... it's so new to me, I think I'm still just awed and in love with it...What do you love about your kitchen: oh so much easier to answer. I love my massive oak surfaces, my glass cabinets, my old cooker, my coffee area, my chairs! And I love that the floor has a trapdoor in the floor leading down to the basement. And I love the colours I chose! I wanted it to feel like forever spring, and I think I pulled that off beautifully!

Worst kitchen chore? Doing the dishes!!! I dont have a dishwasher, decided against it. Something I might regret in time, but at the moment I am trying to look at the bright side and think of it as living "like granny"... yeh...
Are you a kitchen-fanatic that never gets enough kitchen details and stuff? Oh yes... I love kitchen accents, dingys and vintage stuff... I always search for kitchen treasures at fleamarkets ect ect...

Do you have anything in your kitchen that's not of any use, but are just SO pretty? not that much actually... I like things that are pretty AND usable.. but I am sure I have something...

Coffee or Tea? coffee mainly, esp hazelnut roasted coffee... YUM... but I do like tea as well... I have loads of different teas...

Chocolate or Vanilla? Choclate... I love my chocolate... with nuts... I love everything nutty...

Cooking or dining? Both... ha ha... but I do love to cook for others!

Dining Room or Kitchen Table? Well my dining room is brilliant, it's painted in a very very light green shade, with pale teals for the kicthen chairs (which are all different) and white furnishings... it's got two glass cabinets for displaying all my figgjo, and a bird theme.... There's a teal chandelier, and plate shelf with more figgjo... So I must say I love my diningroom and will use it as much as possible once it's decorated and finnished!!! Besides my kitchentable barely fits two... so yeh... I will be using my diningtable...

I dont have a camera at the moment, so these pictures are all from the internet... To show what I like... see my kitchen post for pictures of my actual kitchen :)

Ta taaa... I cant wait to go out and shop for a gift!!!

Aaaargh!!!!

Okay, so after a day of crying under the sofa... Huldra has now emerged... Brave as never before... and so far she has chopped my mobile charger into bits (the wire), gnawed at my computer charger (but I managed to save that one) AND vlimed by brand new LACE curtains!!!

Hexa isn't being very brave and is now currently hiding under the sofa... sigh... Aparently they cant be out and about at the same time... Sigh... I hope Hexa can show her some manners!!!

climbing in my curtains!!! the HORROR!!! Someone's calws are gonna get trimmed.. thats for sure... my gosh!

but she is super cute..... her big round yellow eyes...

2 cats & a witch

She has finially arrived... My new cat! She's about 6months old, almost completely black, and super cute... So how did Hexa react? Well when my house was invaded by 2 very energy loaded boys, and their wonderful parents, my cousin Morten and his wife, plus their cool orange weird dog... Hexa fled for the sanctuary that lies beneath the sofa... Where she still is... hours later...

And what did Huldra think of her new surroundings? Well she spent the first hour trailing the dog, and when they left she cried and cried... Now she's nestled under my oven... listening to Hexa's warnings.... hisses and growls... great... So far they havent even met!
Lets hope they can be friends in time...

A Witch's Kitchen

A new day arrives, and there is not a sound outside my window... mysteriously mutet the house seems... so I walk over to the bedroom window, comfortably wrapped in my oversized robe... and what meets my eye out there in the world? Snow... and too much of it... It has basically snowed non stop for a week now... enough is enough allready... But I do have to admit, it is magically beautiful... Breathtakingly so...

So after I thank fate for the blessing of a overbuildt porch with lots of firewood (becuase who wants to tread snow first thing in the morning to get firewood?) I walk downstairs, put on a cup of coffee, light the fire and feed Hexa. Who is meowing at the top of her lungs, hungry and longing for a warm lap... It is sure nice to be inside on a day like this... and I clean the kitchen, do the dishes and listen to some favorite music... Life is good....

So let me show you the kitchen, I have showed work in progress before, but this is it nearly done. Curtains aren't up, but thats about it... plus a few minor details to come!

Remember this?! (shudders!!!)
And the fantastic old cooker... but look at that horrific colour, and the floor!!! Sigh.... And so, with alot of determination, and alot of patience and muscleforce from my dad... we went to work at my dream kitchen. The colour choice a big discussion theme in my family, thank goodness I knew what I was doing when I didnt buckle... Becuase mostly everyone that thought the colour was horrid, now seems to think it's the prettiest thing in the world... Well, I knew it would be... The green compliments the "old" look that I wanted... and looks perfect next to my favorite cabinets, fresh from Ikea... who would have thought cheap could be a favorite... h aha

well as you can see alot has changed... curtains missing still... comming soon... The countertop is solid oak, a gift from my parents. Cut and polished by my lovely dad. Glass cabinets is something I always wanted. However I did loose alot of stoarge space... But I wanted somewhere to show off my beautiful things... And it houses my amazing wineglasses too...
The kitchen table is very old, from my grandmother, and from her father's farm. So that is very dear to me. I kept some of the paint on the top, as I love anything that's distressed... The little stool was rescued from certain death at my old job... the only good thing that came from that job.. ha ha... The big comfy cahirs were fleamarket finds, that I painted in a very old colour called "lavender"... which is nothing like purple at all... hmmm... The cooker is a present from my granny. It was nearly new when I got it, but years of neglect and weather damage made it look horrible. However my mom, the cleaning magician, took care of that. And now it looks like it's right out of the shop!
Hexa sure enjoys the view... from my old table...
This wonderful old scale was rescued from my uncle's garage... where it was used to weigh all sorts of things!!! poor thing... so I cleaned it up and took it home with me... the little candle holder is actually a sugar bowl, from my grandmother's home. It was first given to my mother, and then she gave it to me. I love it so much...
This is my caferie! Ha ha... yes I have one of those super tiny fridges... another thing I knew I always wanted. My grandmother has one just like it, and if she could manage on that, so can I. It can only house essentials... and I have to be rather crafty whenever I shop, to make everything fit... I might cave in and buy a bigger fridge to put in the basement with my freezer... to store leftovers, and larger foods... The floor, which used to be orange cork, is now lineolium oak. It's so soft to walk on, and feels so real to the touch... I'm pretty pleased... so easy to wash as well :) And it gives the rooom a warm glow...
You might regognize the little drawers, they too were rescued from my uncle's garage. I cleaned it, painted it white and dad fittet a oak shelf from leftover countertop. He also had to cut off one big drawer to make it fit, which ment he had to seperate the row of smaller ones, to re adjust it to center... my dad the magician! The coffee grinder is from my great aunt Anne. A crazy crazy lady... She was the twin sister of my great grandmother, raised alone by their mother who took over the farm from her parents. Refusing to let anyone know who the father of her girls were, she did it all on her own. While my great grandmother married and took care of the family farm, had loads of children, including my fantastic grandmother, Anne took off to the big city. She lived in Oslo as a sewerdress to Queen Maud. She lived in a tiny apartment with something between 15 and 30 pedigree cats. In the end all the other neigbours had enough, so they told her she either had to get rid of teh cats, or move. Auntie Anne took all her cats and left. She arrived on a train back to the farm, cats in all sorts of boxes, suitcases and whatnot. She sure was the talk of the town... Moved back with her sister and family, where she lived untill she died. Never married... I get told I resemble her alot... ha ha... And the scary thing is I can totally see that... a pig headed artist, travled from her small town home to see the world, only to return to the countryside becuase of her love for the cats.... yeah my grand auntie Anne was something else...

As for the alminium coffee pot, it's from my grandmother... it's so cool, it has a glass top, and a filter inside, when the water boils, it's brought up into the filter and soak the coffee, which then goes back into the pot... clever clever! And it works for tea as well :)

My greengate cups are hanging from the drawers, which contains tea, I always knew I wanted them on display... too pretty to be left inside a dark cabinet. Besides, it's easy to grab a cup when the urge for coffee attacks you! The teal lidded box is also a treasure from my Uncle's garage. Something from my granny's past... and the coffee tin is from the Antique shoppe in Aamot.
And the old cooking stove back in place. With a new concrete wall behind it, painted white instead of gray. I keep my cauldron on top (no witche's kitchen without a cauldron after all), as well as my black morter, a gift from my sister... Look how much prettier it is now, than what it was. Dad also rearranged the pipe, so that it's not too close to the wooden panels, and is actually usable now... I shall have to try it one day. All the old trays ect ect are still intact... Cookies in an old stove... hmmm... must be tried! Dad will also make me a new hanging device, like in the before photo... so that is one detail missing....
Well that's it for today :) I shall return with more photos soon :)
Have a great weekend!

fairytale

Well I have now officially lived in Dragonfly Cottage since monday... It was wonderful and strange alltogether waking up in my wonderful bedroom... Trying the shower for the first time, which had it kinks let me tell you, but I guess that's just the way old houses are... I slept like a baby, no weird sounds, no unseen lingerers here... My parents house has always been "unwary" and "noisy" and I am pretty sure there are more between those walls than meets the eye. Especially on the upper floor. I used to wake up multiple times a night. Nothing malvoilent, just not at rest... this house however, is so calm... you can actually feel your heartbeat slowing when you're here... And the whole mood is blissful and happy... And I am not the only one to say this...

Hexa is enjoying her new domain, and Huldra will be arriving this weekend. Which should be fun... ol' Hexa better behave!

Mom popped in today bearing gifts, food and a helping hand. We had a wonderful breakfast and loads of coffee before we went out and bought me some more plants for the livingroom... then we took on the majour task of hanging curtains... yeah... it wasnt easy... I was armed with the allmighty "punisher" (which is the nickname of a drill in our house... private joke), high on coffein and to work we went... With a few ops'es and quite alot of sweat we managed to get the first rod up, only to realize it looked like shite... so down it went and another cup of coffee later and alot of determination we finally finnished the first window. The curtains are a gift from my mom, and I love them... they are simply made for me, and my livingroom!

The lantern won't be there forever, as I think it will have to live on a shelf... but I dont want to store it away, I love it too much.... The frog prince is a bookend, but I like him as simply a decorating accent... in my fairytale themed livingroom... The colours are alittle off, but it was dark out and I suck with a camera... I need my sister to get some stunning shots..

The Orchid is mum's moving in gift.... I am not too find of orchids, but this one looks stunning in my windowsill... I am not complaining :)


The next window was a piece of cake after the disaster of the first one, and was dressed in no time at all... I bought some wonderful Calandivas for this window... they are such a lovely shade of old pale pink, and in the company of my treasured dragonfly and the wee verdigris sparrow... they just take my breath away...

As for my rather ugly, red and old sofa... I bought covers online... they were so tricky to get on, but I think we finally pulled it...

The pictures above my sofa is from the book "Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastic World Around You", which is a children's book illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi. My all-time favorite illustrator... his ink is magic, to say the least. I decided years ago that his pictures would adorn my livingroom... and the result is amazing, if you ask me. Whimsical, weird and pure magic... just like the witch that lives here ;)

Of course the livingroom is still not all dressed... There are more pictures to be hung, shelves to go up ect ect... but then again, when are you ever really *done*...

I met my mailman today... Such a nice older man... Just like a mailman should be :) It's such tiny pleasures, just getting the mail from an actual mailbox, even bills have it's tiny charm... well that is untill I open them up >.<>

More plans... always lots of plans...

Now that my kitchen, livingroom, diningroom and bedroom... as well as my bathroom is nearly done... and I am about to finally move in to my new house... of course I have started to plan everything else... like the hallway upstairs and downstairs... I have allready bought paint for this, and it will be in subtle warm grays... the floor will become checkered.... I have allready bought an old windows frame that will become a great pictureframe... and I have decided that I think teal colours should accent this.... I love teal, and I am so pleased with the bedroom so yeh... I think teal should do it...

then there's the ever important library... origianlly ment to be teal as well, but I have moved away from this... It will be plum... Plum and with dark floors, and dark wooden shelves... stained to that antique feeling... I chose a completely different colour scheme from the rest of the house, which is very light and bright, becuase I wanted a "classic" library feel... something oxford/indiana jones like. Somewhere all my odd bits and pieces would look at home. Like my amazing dragon statues my granny made for me... and my fossils that I have collected all over.. basically a room where I could read, work and draw my fantasy stuff.... alittle more "witchy" than the rest of teh house...
Both the hallway and the library will be started in the early spring... I'll paint the library first, and then dad will make shelves when it gets warmer outside...

Then there is the outside of my house. Which is now red. There will be many years before I need to paint it again... but once I do it will be old white/gray and I think I will purchase some decor so it looks more like a small farmhouse... And I want... a teal door!!! And teal accents on my porch... teal and mossy stuff :) Yepp... but this of course is far into the future... One thing is abit nearer though... dad has said he will build me a porch swing. I always wanted one... and it will be... teal of course :)


I bought this online. Will pick it up next week. It will be painted white (of course) and then it shall be in my diningroom :) It is perfect, and it was cheap.. allthough rather far away (2 hour drive each way) my sweet sweet friend Ole said he would drive me... And thats good, as my hand had surgery on tuesday and is of no use at the moment... and also, this sweet friend of mine, crashed my car into someone's rear on our way from the hospital.. so now I have no car... great! haha...poor ole... I cant help feeling alittle sorry for him...
Either way... just some ramblings from me... I didnt want to forget any ideas, so I rambled them down here.... and yes... my layout/name keeps changing.,... I am sure I will settle on something soon... errrh

In my mail!!!!

A little box of joy came to me in the mail today!!! Hurray... my little verdigris sparrows.... I love them, they are even more brilliant in reality than on pictures... I couldnt wait so I used ma's dining room for photographing them... They look great there too, but I just know they will look even more fantastic in *my* dining room... *snigger*

Hmmm... the light was a bit crap, but oh well.... I am no magician with the camera....

At work today I finally got my hands on this book. It's originally from New Zeland, but the author was Swedish... it's been out in Norwegian for a long time but I wanted, as usual, to read it in it's original language... But it was sold out by the publishers... finally though, it arrived... and I cant wait to sit myself down with a large cup of tea and just enjoy this book!

And in my email I received this fun little questionare... I guess I was supposed to send it out, but I'm just gonna let anyone who wants to grab it and fill it in :)

4 Jobs You Have Had in Your Life
1) Currently working as a bookseller

2) a Cook's assistant

3) worked in a grocery shop

4) Shift manager at a movie theatre

4 Movies You Would Watch Over and Over
1) Pride & Prejustice

2) the Boondock Saints

3) Practical Magic

4) Chocolat

4 Places You Have Lived
1) Norway (born there :)

2) Raymond, Nebraska, USA

3) Glasgow, Scotland, UK

4) Hamburg, Germany

4 TV Shows You Love to Watch
1) Desperate Housewife (every week!!!)

2) CSI:Miami

3) House

4) CSI:Las Vegas

4 Places You Have Been on Vacation
1) Gran Canyon

2) Germany (all over really)

3) San Fransico

4) Florida

Websites You Visit Daily
1) http://www.finn.no

2) http://www.ebay.co.uk

3) http://google.com

4) several blogs!

4 Favorite Foods
1) ice cream

2) Fishballs & white gravy with veggies

3) Pasta with spinach

4) mushrooms

4 Places You Would Rather Be Right Now
1) my new house & home

2) in England with my dear sister

3) traveling across the US with my sister

4) visiting Darcy in WI, US.

4 Books That Hit Your Soul

1) Chocolat

2) the Harry Potter books

3) the Twilight Saga

4) The Amazing Adventures of Flash Jackson

There you are... do what you like with it :) And have a great evening everyone!

Moss Fantasy!

Another obsession of mine is mushrooms and moss!!! I think decorations with moss look like something out of a fairytale, and I wanted ideas for me to do.,....eventually (when I finally move in)... so I searched the internet near and wide for ideas... if you know of any brilliant pictures, please notify me :)

Look, love and be spellbound!

Check this out!! I think it would look brilliant on my porch, or near my birch tree... those shrooms are fake, made of concrete... I want!!!


Isnt this just the coolest table decoration? I am so doing this someday... Martha Stewart of course... who else really? Anyways, I think it looks so whimsical and fun!!!
Terrariums are a fun and super decorative way of taking alittle woodland into your livingroom!!! I love the absolute greeness! And the smell of soil... I found a tutorial online, which I am gonna use... as soon as I can... I've even bought a perfect glass container for it!!! But untill I have my own... take a look at these:
And doesnt everything simply look better with moss growing on it?!???
Well I think it looks brilliant!!!! :)

Birds in my head... keeps singing to me...

Yes, I know... I have once again decided to change the layout, and this time even the name... .Not to mention the language... I really must do this in english from now on... due to a billion and one requests from friends around the globe, that simply dont get norwegian! Ha ha... I am not entirely sure about the header yet... Loving the mushrooms, but it's a bit dull....

Anyhow, my old name just wasnt fitting anymore, now that I have two cats and not one... My 2nd one has yet to come home, but I cant wait! She is the most adorable little furry black thing you've ever seen! I just hope Hexa will behave! She's been known to have a fierce claw!!!

Lately I havent been able to sleep because of all the ideas fluttering about in my heads... like little birds they are, refusing to leave me alone... and birds are my new love! I just love little things with birds on them! And so I have hunted the net far and wide for lovely bird-things... not to mention cages! I dream of an old beatuifully rusted cage for me to decorate with living flowers and plants... But so far I havent found any that wont completely empty out my poor bank account. But I shall not give up... one day it might show up :)

So eventually I caved in and bought myself some lovely prints from Chad Barrette... these are now hanging up in my ever so green and fresh dining room... Which is still a little messy from continued furniture painting, so no pictures just yet....

I've also been drooling over America Retold's 'nest' collection... and seeing as I have an amazing friend in the US (thanks Darcy) I have been able to get a hold of one... Now I just have to wait for this beauty to show up in my mail!

It will look stunning in my wall with the prints!!! Don't you think... and I just love that green tinted verdigris patina.... Just lovely! Of course I wouldnt mind something else from that series... but hey... gotta try and save some cash these days... I've all of the sudden have a morgage to handle, AND bills o.O And how about these lovely verdigris sparrows? Oh yes... they are simply darling if you ask me.... I can't help it.... I've got the bird flu! Ha ha...


And here we go... this is my dream!!! I think it's just amazing... picture taken from Good Housekeeping... I love green and rust... Gives you that forgotten garden look.... Just like a fairytale.... siiigh...

And of course I would just love some fake birds eggs... greenish og blueish... I would place them anywhere, in flowerpots, as table decorations... you name it... So far I have been unable to find any in Norway (sigh!!!)


Thats it tor today folks... feast for you eyes... Next time I shall try to get around to showing off some more of the Witchy Cottage ;) It is getting nearer and nearer to move in day... Now I just need my bathroom to be finnished, and a few more layers of paint on a few more furniture pieces... and of course... my curtains will need to go up... No fun without... I cant wait to unpack all my stuff... and I have alot... the curse of a decorator maniac like me I guess.... My sister says I have more junk than a 80 year old woman... allready... great... ha ha!

Have a brilliant mid-week everyone!