My First Clematis

Ok just look a little bit closer at the picture....See anything different??? What if I told you, that you can eat this clematis? Hmmm native Americans used it as a remedy against migraines so maybe I should look into it? Ahmmm but do not think that the above clematis would help much against migraine as it is made of gumpaste :o) I created it by the way.

 

Took a course today and learned how to make gumpaste clematis - hours of fun and creativity.. a course I signed up for while my arm was hurting the most in order to have something new to look forward to. Below clematis is the one that out teacher, Tanja Hansson, created to show us how to make them.

Remember Me?

Read Judy's haiku poem this morning and started thinking about a book I read last weekend. Then I went to the mirror and looked at myself: If I took a ride with a time machine 20 years ago to present day, would I be able to recognize me? Maybe it is a good thing standing at a mirror and ask: Who are you? A lot of dreams did not happen, other things took their place and helped form who I am now.

 

What if you had an accident, woke up at the hospital and find out, that you have "lost" some years of your life? Would you worry that you might be a female version of Jason Bourne - sort of a "Long Kiss Goodnight" woman? Will you know who to trust, familiar and unfamiliar persons, that you are apparently close too? The reflection in the mirror is a new version of you, but are you really that person?

 

When Lexi wakes up, she suffers from memory loss, and does not recognise her own husband. She is approached by helpfull friends etc. but can she really trust them? She finds out, that she is suddenly director... How did she get to that position?

Sophia Kinsella's writing makes you put down the book once in a while, as your mind starts wander around your own life... and then you want to pick it up again, for what happens to Lexi next?

What My Eye Caught.....

You know the feeling? You are walking a familiar street, and suddenly you stop, as you have just passed something that caught your eye/attention....so you move just a few steps backward and there it is....

 

 

I caught this wonderful street art with the camera in my mobile phone earlier this week, and know that it was not there just 4 days before... some artist has decorated the back of a sign hence not ruining anything but something wonderful for us to see/pass.

Sculpture Biennale 2012

Glad I remembered today, that even though my good camera is not always in my bag, I actually always have a camera on me, since there is one in my mobile phone.

 

Woman on the Move by Don Van Der Meuler

Spejlobjekt (Mirror Object) by Simon Jørgen Simonsen

 

Contemporary Busy by Till Junkel

Cheetah (Gepard) by Georg Kotter

Had forgotten all about the Sculpture Biennale 2012 in a nearby park, until today when I walked though the park while running some errands. The rain did not stop me and I started to hunt some of the sculptures with the camera - and what you see is the sculptures who spoke the most to me. The biennale is organized by the Danish Sculptor Society and shows artwork from 50 international artists.

 

Apparently photography was THE topic of my day, as I was approached by some friends with their camera, where the memory card had stopped working (error). They were panicking as it had all the first baby pictures on it.... Luckily I was able to change their worries into big smiles, when I after an hour managed to restore the photos - and honestely I was split seconds away from giving up.

A Fatal Fleece

Latest Seaside Knitters mystery book is "A Fatal Fleece". One of Seasides's grumpy old men, Finnegan, is fighting for his prperty, when some wants to get a big piece of his land. A New York teenager, Gabby, arrives to Seaside and turns out to be quite a refreshing surprise. She is Birdy's grand daughter and despite being a city girl she quickly adapts to Seaside and easily makes a lot of friends, incl. Finnegan.

 

Finnegan is found dead in his yellow fleece (given to him by one of the Seaside knitters) and they suddenly get involved in a new murder mystery. Yarn must be running in the veins of Gabby, as she has made her own crocheted beanie and is persuaded to learn local teenagers to create their own beanie.

 

Will they unravel the mystery about why Finnegan was dead?

 

Once again, Sally Goldenbaum's description of the scenery places right in the middle of Seaside, as if we have lived there our entire life, spiced up with a new murder mystery to solve. Another good read :o)

To Rome With Love

Singin' in the shower will never be the same again after having watched this movie :0)

 

And the dilemma: Do I like this movie or not? No wonder if this movie got mixed reviews, as I see pros and cons in this movie. Small stories intertwined with each other - some of the characters seem very familiar, as if you know them from your own life, others are just a bit bizarre.

The Wedding Shawl

I could just imagine, going into a cosy yarn shop in Massachusetts, notice the relaxed cat Purl in a favorite spot, touching the amazing skeins of fibres begging to be turned into a nice sweater, hat, mittens or other comfortable things. Sally Goldenbaum narative description of Izzy Chamber's yarn shop and the life in Sea Harbour makes you feel at home.

A local Sea Harbour book shop has invited an author to tell about mystery books and how a writer may find souces in real life to use when creating fiction. He brings up a 15 year old cold case from the city unaware that this old case will stirr up some memories and actually become related to a new murder in their town.

Izzys friends are making her a wedding shawl while they are trying to put all the mysteriuos pieces together, and the gardener Claire returns after many years of absence to Seaside putting her magic touch on their gardens, only to be part of the mystery, as her past reveals connection to the murder mysteries.

....

Reading knitting murder mysteries has become a part of my vacations - a combo of favourite things that can be enjoyed when relaxing. One teeny tiny annoying thing is, that while you are reading them, you want to be doing somethig with yarn at the same time ;o)

Crafter's Tea Party - Tea Cups - Part 2

Maybe the "base"-design of this card seems familiar, and you might have a point. When I was doing the telephone card, I got the idea to use a stamp punch (Martha Stewart) to punch out tea brand logos from teabag sachets and tags and use it at one of the tea swaps coming up - glad that I pursued this idea, so the base was finished before my accident.

I used a digi stamp from Whimsy and Stars Studio, MRO Coffee Cup, since thought it perfect for the swap's theme: tea cups. Actually my all time favourite tea cup, has been a jumbo size cup in the same color as the girl on the stamp.

Made a tea bag pouch, that holds 4 instead of the required 2 teabags - Cathie had to wait a long time for me to send this, so wanted to add that little extra. Again the digistamp was used, albeit merely part of it.

            "Each Cup of tea represents an imaginary voyage"
                                                                               Catherine Douzel

Sticker Art - Street Art

 

This Berlin intersection caught my eye in an unusual way.

 

Just look a little bit closer and you will discover that something has been sticker bombed.

Must have taken a LOT of time placing all those stickers - and somehow I do not consider it vandalism, as you can still use the garbage bin, and the traffic lights still fulfill their purpose. I could not help notice the other passers-by - when they saw the colorfull street art, they began to smile.

 

"Simple street art, but yet with a great effect.:o)

Fair Trade Cola

Always on the look-out to taste new cola.

 

I like to support fair trade and organic products - but not at any cost. Not an issue about the price for this product, but the taste...... JIKES!! the word "awful" can not fully describe this experience. It does not even taste vaguely of cola - so what is the purpose of calling it Cola??

 

Was happy that I had a small bottle of "the real thing" in my house, so my faith in drinking a decent cola could be restored. When I see the photo of this can, it reminds me of some Coca Cola magazine adds from the mid 1980s.... which makes me consider this organic cola a total cola wannabe.

Cast On, Kill Off

The latest book from Maggie Sefton, which I read during my vacation 2 months ago.

Kelly and her knitting friends at the House of Lambspun once again find themselves in the presence of a murder mystery. A local seamstress, Zoe,s is making a wedding dress for one of Kelly's closests friends, and it soon becomes obvious that Zoe is a victim of domestic abuse. They help her get away from the violent husband, but a few days later, she is murdered. The husband is the primary suspect, but what seems obvious may not be that obvious after all.... time for Kelly and friends to use their "little grey cells".

It ended up being a somewhat scary reading. During the first part of my vacation I paid daily visits to a family member admitted to a nearby hospital for surgery. The patient next to her, had been a victim of domestic abuse and was in a lot of pain. One day her husband showed up at the hospital, demanding her to go home with him. Her mind was apparently determined to get a better life, so she refused - and he left the hospital yelling at everybody.

 

We did not ask her about it, and the staff let her heal and sleep as much as she needed, and a week went by before she was offered theraphy. Think the healing both made her stronger physically and mentally thus prepared for the theraphy and changes that are needed in her daily life - gradually we saw small smiles on her face and think it was comfortable for her, that we did not ask any questions about her situation but instead talking about nice things.

 

Wierd how fiction sometimes "meet" reality - then again, fiction is often inspired by reality. I just hope that the lady at the hospital gets a new start for a brighter future.

 

Just Another Word?

 

 

The same day, that I had to familiarize myself with a new word, I read this:

                    Sometimes I break down
                    overwhelmed by my losses,
                    those past and to come.

                    I unleash crying,
                    fifteen minutes at the most.
´                  Then I dry my tears.

                   I don my joy cloak.
                   It shields me from sorrow’s aim
                   while I heal inside.

                                                                            Judy

15 minutes was not quite enough for me I am afraid, as it seems that 2012 is testing me beyond my limits. So what is the word?

 

Osteoporosis

 

Having to add another diagnosis was a hard "slap in the face" for me. The "only" reason we found out was that it is mandatory to get the examination when being prescribed cortisol - never did I imagine that it would come out postive.

 

I know that there are treatments to keep the symptoms/progress down, but I have yet to find out, what the doctors' plans are.... It is the uncertainty and "what's-next" feeling that is eating me up from inside. Readng other bloggers' stories abouth additional diagnosis to their MS, I have ofteren wondered: How do they handle it in their mind?

 

Need to reconnect with the crafting mojo again to let my mind deal with more positive things, and hopefulle resume my photowalks soon (the fractured arm made photographing hard to do)... just getting a little normalcy back might make the new path a little lighter to walk.

The Keeper of Lost Causes

 

"The Keeper of Lost Causes" - hmmm funny title in my mind, as the original title is "Kvinden i buret" which translates to "The Woman in the Cage". Having said that, I am happy to see that they have started to translate Jussie Adler-Olsen's department Q books into English so people fond of a good mystery/crime novel can read his books.

 

After reading the first book, I was hooked, and I did not start reading his book until the 3rd book in the department Q series was published - later on a 4th has been published, and can not wait until 2013 where a movie based on the first books opens in Danish cinemas. Most of the fans of this series started speculating who was to portrait Carl Mørch, the police detective in the book, when rumours about the movie started - but I think that he is in good hands, as Nikolai Lie Kaas is to play him (If you have seen the movie based on dan Brown's "Angel and Demons", then you have actually seen the actor).

 

So if you like a good crime story and want to get a little Danish twist, then I can highly recommend these books.

Kapringen - A Hijacking

"Pirates of the Caribbean" - love that movie, as it is fun entertainment...... But people sometimes tend to forget, that piracy is an ongoing problem, especially in the Gulf of Aden (actually a lot larger area than that). We are reminded about the situation in the news though from time to time.

The director, Tobias Lindholm, got inspiration for a movie when watching the tv documentary "Dealing with Pirates" and started doing research which has resulted in the movie "A Hijacking" (original Danish title: Kapringen).

 

The movie is dramatic and shows you the emotional roller coaster of being seamen hijacked by Somalis, the company who owns the ship and therefore also have a strong relation with the seafarers and the relatives, trying to cope with the uncertainty on there loved one's well being.

 

What makes it even more powerful is:

• The ship MV Rozen in the movie was once hijacked by Somalis, and 5 of the crewmembers (including the captain) in the movie are the ship's actual seafarers who was onboard during the real-life hijacking
• Some scenes are shot at the premises of a shipping company, that once experienced getting one of their cargo ships hijacked
• Søren Malling (playing the partner in the shipping company) looks like a Danish shipping CEO
• The director got advises from experts dealing with anti-piracy

I have seen the movie at a preview and is now crossing my fingers that the movie capture the audience at the Venice Film Festival.

 

July 2012 Tea Swap - Part 2

Hmmm.... a mild case of "better late than never" - the delay of posting this swap from Jayne is due to the accident, but she knows that I have received it. Fran called a "Hello, Summer" theme, and here is Jaynes's interpretation.

This vintage card screams summer, and my mind wanders to Victorian era, or perhaps the garden of Jane Austen :o) At the time that I received this card, I was actually re-reading a few of Jane Austens novels... so my mind started playing with names: Jane.... Jayne....

Jayne sent me some goodies along with the tea, and the stamp really created a smile. I always have a hard time creating a card for my dad (male cards are hard to make, as less ideas about themes etc), but since he has always had a passion for his garden, this is perfect. Ever since my parents got married he has always had a little piece of land (even while living in an appartmen in our capital city) so he could grow flowers to bring to my mum - maybe that is actually his secret behind their 51+ years of marriage.

 

Thanks for the swap, Jayne, and the creative inspiration it brought me :o)

Crafter's Tea Party - Tea Cups - Part 1

The 4 round of the Crafter's Tea Party was tea pots, and Cathie send me this card which turned out to be her first attempt to iris folding as well as her own design.

 

Along with this card Cathie sent me two rose tea bags. Emphasizing how diverse a rose really is, as it looks, smells and tastes good. Thanks Cathie.

Unexpected August 2012 TeaSwap

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I received a lot of "smiles" from friends hoping for a speedy recovery - Imagine my surprise, when the envelope from Fran contained more than the get well card.

 

Originally I had signed up for her August Tea Swap "Where I Live"- but cancelled the participation when I had the accident during my travels - a bit bummed about that, since I had the idea for the swap in my head, but participating would not be fair to any swap partner, knowing that I would take me several weeks to start crafting again.

 

Fran decided to make an extra swap for me showing her place: Hawaii.

Her card and tea bag pouch pays tribute to Hawaii in a wonderful way - making my travel fever flourish again, only to be reminded that I am automatically grounded by the travel insurance for 2-3 months after an accident like mine. It still amazes me, that you feel like travelling the world when getting handmade items +  tea like this, and you get to taste new tea labels.

Fran, you know that I am grateful for you organizing the monthly swaps - and this gesture surely added extra "fuel" to my pursuit in getting the arm/shoulder back to crafting again. Thank you :o)

Card Galore

During my absence from the blogging and the crafty universe, my PO BOX has been smiling big - you know big as in ear-to-ear smiles. Now, maybe you think that I have gone ga-ga due to all the meds, that I had to take to du endure the pain caused by the accident. But no, I call all the cards I received during this period as smiles.

 

The cards made me smile as they were created by friends, that I have gotten to know through blogging, PaperCraftPlanet and tea swaps - sentiments, small notes and the creativity lifted the mood immensly, for which I am grateful.Thank you ladies :o)

 

Smiles are more powerful than any other meds, as you momentarily forget your painful situation - and as if somebody replaced your batteries, so you regained the strenght to continue getting back to normal. This is also the reason why, you might have noticed that some of my older posts had the subject "Because I can", where I have created a card for somebody who became ill as per request from someones wanting to cheer up friends or family members.

 

Here are the cards, that made me smile:

 

EssexGirl send me this - she is my secret pal for 2012 over at Anything Goes on PaperCraft Planet



This one is from Claire "Ace" Easson, our reporter at the weekly news for ladies with secret pals over at Anything Goes on PaperCraftPlanet

Claire "Frenchi" Boudreau made me this card - famous for her glitter bombs at Anything Goes on PaperCraftPlanet, but she was gentle with me, so the fancy glitter is beautifully mounted on the card

Mary Gregor from at Anything Goes on PaperCraftPlanet made this, seriously think that she should send her CV to "Ace" and make weekly weather forecasts in the weekly newsletter, as like her forecasts ;o)

Did you know that hugs can come in a box? Our Fearsome Leader aka Cole Meyer at Anything Goes on PaperCraftPlanet sent me this.



Almond Rocha (a lady with a secret identity from the Secret Pal group over at Anything Goes on PaperCraftPlanet) send a bunch of blue flowers

Cathy Rickard (Anything Goes on PaperCraftPlanet) used teabag folding techniques to create this card

Josie Hancock (Anything Goes on PaperCraftPlanet) created this card, which turned out to be challenging: How to open a pop-up card with one hand ;o)



Cole Meyer was on a mission, so this is the second card from her

Wonder if Cindy  (Anything Goes on PaperCraftPlanet) knows that I love rubber ducks? :0)

Karen sent me this, she has recently bought a Sizzex and already masters the use/combo of dies and embossing folders. Karen, when seing Cindy's card, you know why I laughed out loud when I spotted the goodies you sent along with your card ;o)

All the way from Hawaii, this greeting arrived from Fran - enclosed was something that gets a seperate post in one of the coming days.



Cole Meyer gets the final entry with her 3rd card for me - seing that girl I am reminded to be patience about getting the arm back to normal.

Must not forget to say THANKS for emails and blog comments as well, since all you ladies took the time to send me nice words.