Clumsy, creative bliss.

White.

2012-01-24T21:42:00.000+01:00

The most common phase transition to ice occurs when liquid water is cooled below 0°C (273.15K, 32°F) at standard atmospheric pressure.

2012-01-23T18:40:00.001+01:00

A bright, cold day.

Watching people going about their daily business, everyone squinting their eyes and nobody remembering to bring a pair of sunglasses. Sunglasses belongs to warmer days.
So squinting it is. Walking home from Passagen Cafè I did it too.

And snow, did I mention the snow?

Oh well, I suppose I'm ok with just a little bit of it. I'm going to have to get out and do some sledding !

I have a really warm coat over this when I go out.

Birthdays are celebrated in numerous cultures, often with a gift, party or rite of passage.

2012-01-20T14:41:00.000+01:00

Happy birthday Eirik !

Today my little nephew Eirik celebrates his second year in this world, two full years of laughing and playing, crying and screaming, and everything in between. The other day he even admitted that he loves me ♥ he is the cutes.
I made him a button and paper cut-out crown to wear when we all go out for dinner to celebrate.

I love birthdays. And my little nephew Eirik ♥

Floral print.

They are considered the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates, and indeed a premier example of a complex evolutionary novelty.

2012-01-16T16:53:00.000+01:00

Light as a feather.

I adore feathers as pendants and earrings.
So I was happy to discover that a lot of store have decided they like them too! Hehe.

Nicoline loves her peacock play-feather.
And she's exited for the arrival of the feathers I've ordered from ebay. I promised her a few for playtime and a few for toys instead of just for me as accessories.

I forgot to wash my hair today.

A mouse (plural: mice) is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents.

2012-01-15T18:20:00.001+01:00

My little nephew Eirik and my sister Linda joined me for lunch at my apartment this Saturday.

I don't have a lot of toys, but I do have a little plastic fox and a bob cat.
Eirik played with the little plastic fox. The fox moved into my hallway drawers, and in there it lived as a happy little fox, but Eirik stated firmly in a high pitched voice that there might be mice.

It seems I have a mice invasion on my hands.

Fresh snow absorbs sound, lowering ambient noise over a landscape because the trapped air between snowflakes attenuates vibration.

2012-01-10T17:09:00.000+01:00

Finally back to work, and finally some snow.

I really wish I was well so I could work full time with graphical design, next to photography it's what I really love doing! I'm glad I can work now on a volunteer basis, it's just what works best as long as I'm sick..

This week I've started working on Verket's calender brochure, so far I'm finished with the pictures so there's just the corrections for the time schedule and classes.
Today me and Marianne started placing text and pictures into Folkehelserapporten Vestfold 2011 / Public Health Report Vestfold 2011. This year we have until at least April to finish it, so it won't be like last year were we had just a month, hehe.

And I'm doing it again; wearing my black H&M sweater dress ALL THE TIME. I just love it so much, it's just so comfy ♥

In economics, a good is something that is intended to satisfy some wants or needs of a consumer and thus has economic utility.

2012-01-09T22:11:00.000+01:00

100% VERKET merchandise.

Verket has a cute little store were they sell things that are made by the members.
So much cute stuff !
They open up again the 16. of January, their store too but probably without the Christmas goods. Hehe.

A hat.

2011 (MMXI) was a common year that started on a Saturday in the Gregorian calendar.

2012-01-09T09:15:00.000+01:00

I spent New Years Eve with the amazingly lovely people I get to call friends ♥

I even got to meet some new people, and catch up with some friends I hadn't seen in a while.

We all had a blast!

(And yes, that is me in the cat mask ♥ hehe)

Liquid is one of the three primary states of matter.

2012-01-04T16:37:00.000+01:00

It seems like winter forgot to show up this year.

But even though it's been warmer I haven't gotten out much. There's just no time, Christmas is always busy! And tiering, I had to take a couple of days were I didn't do anything to muster up some energy.

Suddenly it's 2012, and these are the first pictures of the new year ♥
A good start I would think.

I didn't really make any resolutions this year, but treat me good anyway 2012!

Remake.

2012 (MMXII) will be a leap year starting on Sunday in the Gregorian calendar.

2011-12-31T09:53:00.000+01:00

2012 has been designated Alan Turing Year.
Commemorating the mathematician, computer pioneer, and code-breaker on the centennial of Turing's birth.

Yey for the father of computer science and artificial intelligence ♥ Hehe.

Ella Fitzgerald Sings "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?"

2011-12-31T09:52:00.000+01:00

The hobby of collecting includes seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever items are of interest to the individual collector.

2011-12-29T16:00:00.000+01:00

This kills me to do (haha, I'm so dramatic).

I'm quite strict about my picture series, I seldom take just the one shot,

my photography are separated into series of at least two or more.

But here goes nothing!

One picture for every month of 2011 ♥

January

Wikipedia celebrated they're 10 years anniversary.

I took some pictures of a beautiful sunset at Bøkkerfjellet.

February

My birthday! I celebrated with friends, and Sven hosted the party as usual ♥

March

A picture of the sea not easily forgotten, I simply love bokeh.

April

The little sprout who got all pretty for the royal English wedding with it's little snail-shell hat. Me, Nicoline and my mom watched it on tv at my apartment drinking coffee and eating cake.

May
At Elva with the family for 17. May Norway's national day.

June

Cement graffiti up at Kikkut where my mom lives.

Eating plenty of delicious strawberries.

July

Remembering the good times, but never forgetting the tragedy the 22. of July.

August

Working hard at getting Verket's calender brochure ready, Nicoline helped.

September

Verket opened again the 1. of September with a fresh coat of paint.

For the first time ever I got paid for a photo job, not a lot, but money I didn't expect non the less, so hooray!

October

Finally realizing that if someone isn't treating you right they have no business being a part of your life. Live your life until love is found, or love is going to get you down.

At Cafè Passagen with friends.

November

I did a lot of re-decorating in my apartment, but I still need a bit more light!

I found out just how amazing my friends and family can be when you need them ♥

More pictures of lovely bokeh.

December

I upgraded my tolls of the trade, shooting now with the Nikon D7000!

I finally got to see Madelen's house and meet her new cats Willow and Kisu.

Christmas went by splendidly ♥

I hope you all have had a lovely year ♥

Christmas Eve.

2011-12-24T21:15:00.000+01:00

The traditional colors of Christmas are green and red. But white, silver and gold are also popular.

2011-12-24T14:52:00.000+01:00

Merry Christmas ♥

To me Christmas is about family, good food and the joy of seeing someone open up a perfect present from you to them.

I hope you all have a lovely time today ♥

I need some red heels for this outfit, but I haven't found any yet.

Katzenjammer - Vi tenner våre lykter

2011-12-23T09:40:00.000+01:00

Katzenjammer, accompanied by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon (playing guitar, being handsome as usual), performing the title track from the Christmas album "Vi tenner våre lykter" (We light our lanterns).

Dear Santa;

2011-12-21T09:22:00.000+01:00

Please can I have these shoes for Christmas..?

By extension the term gift can refer to anything that makes the other person happier or less sad.

2011-12-20T14:37:00.000+01:00

Red, white and brown ♥

There is still some Christmas presents to deliver, but I've managed to remember to deliver most of them. Christmas is already this Saturday! I can't believe how fast December went this year.

Still no snow, but it's been colder in Larvik now. Right now it's about -3 degrees. Last year we had at least -15 from late October through March.

I'm really, really glad it's not as cold as last year!

Roses are red.

Keep Calm and Carry On was a poster produced by the British government in 1939 during the beginning of the Second World War, intended to raise the morale of the British public in the event of invasion.

2011-12-16T20:25:00.000+01:00

I've had a lot on my mind in this years autumn and winter months.

I've made some hard, or not so hard?, choices and tidied up my life some and I am so much more happy now. Sometimes it's so hard to have to open your eyes and just accept that some people are just not good for you.

I'm enjoying being single and just having myself to think about.
Next time I'm going to go with my gut feeling from the start, instead of just ignoring it like I have been doing.

Someone just right for me will come along.

But for now it's just me and Nicoline here in out little apartment ♥ hehe.

Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe.

2011-12-15T09:58:00.000+01:00

My cousin Madelen and her boyfriend Per bought a farm in Sweden this Summer.

There they live with two horses, Molina and Vivel, Willow and Kisu,the playful mouse catching cats, and Tiri the dog.

Madelen is one month younger than me, and the two of us pretty much grew up like sisters ♥ I'm sad that she lives so far aways now, but I hope I can go vist her a few times a year at least.

Me, my aunt Anneli (Madelen's mother) and my mom went to visit them last weekend. Anneli brought her two dogs Shira and Sine. The two of them were so exited to see Madelen, Sine stood in the backseat the entire trip (and we're talking hours).

We all had such a nice time ♥
And I hope to see them all again soon.

From right to left; Willow, Madelen and Sine, Madelen and Shira, Anneli, Madelen and my mom.

A gift or a present is the transfer of something without the expectation of receiving something in return.

2011-12-13T16:39:00.001+01:00

All the presents are wrapped ♥

And as usual I had some help packing the Christmas gifts. The slightly insane cat lady ate paper and ran around like a crazy.
When everything was done she fell asleep in the couch surrounded by ribbons and brown paper.

Are you done with your Christmas presents yet?

The usual liturgical colour in Western Christianity for Advent is either purple or blue.

2011-12-11T17:58:00.001+01:00

It's the 3. of Advent already!

I've been a short trip to Sweden this weekend to visit my cousin who moved there this summer. I saw a Swedish flag, a deer and one Swede. Well, technically Madelen is now a Swede, but she doesn't really count as one yet.

I'll share some pictures of my trip there this week ♥

Nicoline is happy I'm home. She's was purring non-stop before she fell asleep on her kitchen chair.

I brought some Swedish trees home with me. I do hope they get along with my other plants. It's a well know fact that Swedes don't really get much of the Norwegian language, hehe.

Morning precedes midday, afternoon, and night in the sequence of a day.

2011-12-09T14:34:00.000+01:00

Morning coffee.

Me and Nicoline driking our morning coffee. Well, cats don't drink coffee, she just wants her morning cuddles ♥

It's such a lovely little morning ritual.

And now there's even the beautiful scent of my hyacinths carefully planted in two tin cans.

I think kitten thinks the shutter sound of my new camera which is a bit softer than the D90, she gave me a really weird stare when I took her picture.

Brown and white.

Once a droplet has frozen, it grows in the supersaturated environment, which is one where air is saturated with respect to ice when the temperature is below the freezing point.

2011-12-07T14:21:00.002+01:00

Snowfall.

It's finally here! Not much, but a little. That sound of your boots on the snow, lovely. Just a small cover of it makes the streets so soft and warm. Strangely enough..

Lunt og mykt ♥

I can't think of a proper word for lunt in english. It's means warm, cozy and sheltered.
Anyone got a proper word for me?

Feathers, white lace and a floral bag.

In recent times the most common observance of Advent outside church circles has been the keeping of an advent calendar or advent candle.

2011-12-04T20:47:00.002+01:00

My Advent candles.
One is lit each Sunday until Christmas.

Anthropologists believe that the use of tools was an important step in the evolution of mankind.

2011-12-02T16:37:00.001+01:00

I shoot with a Nikon D7000

I usually switch between my two favorite lenses, my Sigma 24mm F1.8 and the Nikkor AF-S 50mm F1.8 ♥
Here's the rest: AFS Nikkor 18-105mm and Nikkor 18-55mm (lightweight), Vivitar 70-210mm Series 1 Macro (105-315mm on DX), .

I always have a notebook and pencil at hand for scribbling down ideas.

When it comes to computers I use an Adobe CS5 pack on my A HP ENVY 14, it's really pretty. I use Photoshop for handling raw image files, inDesign for graphical work and Illustrator for logo's.

I also have a keen set of eyes and an imagination to match. I use them the most.

At the winter solstice, the days are shortest and the nights are longest, with days lengthening as the season progresses after the solstice.

2011-12-01T20:29:00.001+01:00

Last year we had the coldest November since 1919.

This Years November is the warmest in 111 years.

I must say I prefer the weather being warm over it being cold.
Snow is pretty. But I sort of got an overdose of it last year. So I don't mind not having snow now.

This year it's actually been so warm I can still wear tights! It's December ! And I can still wear dresses with tights. Love it.

The history of creating glass can be traced back to 3500 BCE in Mesopotamia.

2011-11-27T09:29:00.000+01:00

Bright and airy.

At my aunts house. I love how she's decorated, new and used, white and dark brown. And a hint of a light purple.

I hadn't seen all the glass vases and such, so lovely ♥

Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada.

2011-11-24T18:19:00.001+01:00

So Happy Thanksgiving to all you over-seas !

I sure do envy you the turkey feast.

I hope you all have a lovely time ♥

Business cards are cards bearing business information about a company or individual.

2011-11-18T20:02:00.000+01:00

Heidi: seasoned scrapper.

Synne: knitting, sewing, creating.

Verket business cards.

The cards are 54 mm x 54 mm.The front has 9 squares featuring a picture from my archives to represent the client, chosen by me and then approved by the client, and Verket's logo.

The back is pretty simple. I used the font they use in the poem books Verket publishes once a year; Corbel. It is simple and easy to read but also a bit whimsical and playful.

And they all look so happy so I suppose I did a good job. Hehe.

Cecilie and Jannicke: the girls in charge.

Tommy: instruments and computers.

Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items (often with symbolic significance) in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect.

2011-11-08T08:22:00.000+01:00

The art exhibition "People in Larvik" at Bølgen.

All the painting are painted from photographs by the talented Elisabeth.
She's selling out the paintings cheap, as she said "I don't need all these pictures of other people hanging on the wall in my house, better someone buy them!".

And yes, that is me up on the wall!

I bought my portrait for a promise of helping her with photos and moddeling for her next project entitled "Emotions".

I've worn this:

Red and blue.

2011-11-02T09:22:00.004+01:00

She (pronounced /ʃiː/) is a third-person, singular personal pronoun (subjective case) in Modern English.

2011-11-01T22:34:00.001+01:00

My name is Marita, and I'm a twenty-something year old girl in love with photography.

I also love my cats, only currently living with one of them, but I love my darlings who live at my mom's place, laughing, hanging out with friends, drinking coffee out of pretty little cups, watering my pretty plants, bright lights, collecting buttons of all the colors of the rainbow, shiny things and working with graphical design at Verket.

I have a ME diagnosis, I've been sick for 8 years.
But I'm a patient girl, whatever ME turnes out to be I will heal eventually. And if I don't I can always cope.

Life is wonderfully beautiful regardless ♥

Halloween (or Hallowe'en), a contraction of All-Hallows-Even ("evening"), is an annual holiday observed on October 31.

2011-10-31T10:03:00.004+01:00

Happy Halloween !

I hope there's plenty of candy, fun and fright, or whatever it is you do on Halloween.

It's not really a tradition in Norway to celebrate Halloween. But my friends just love getting dressed up in costumes at whatever occasion they get!
So I got dressed up as a devil, watched some old horror movies featuring Vincent Price, ate candy in the dark and watched all my friends get drunk. Hehe.

Next year I want to be a zombie!

Devils are red, genies are blue,
candy is sweet and something-something-murder-and-stuff
- It's Halloween!

The only journey is the journey within.

2011-10-27T21:27:00.000+02:00

Hoar frost refers to the white ice crystals, loosely deposited on the ground or exposed objects, that form on cold clear nights when heat losses into the open skies cause objects to become colder than the surrounding air.

2011-10-21T11:18:00.000+02:00

Early morning.

And it's already frosted with a thins coat of icey crystals.
I personally think it's a bit early for that. Hehe. I wish summer had lasted a bit longer..

The word frost is actually the same in Norwegian and English, but a quick google search couldn't give me any good answers as to where the word originated. Just like in English, the word frost is used to indicate temperature bellow freezing point and those little ice crystals on my photos.

Frost is so beautiful ♥

Wool stockings:

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag (Latin: argentum, from the Indo-European root *arg- for "grey" or "shining") and atomic number 47.

2011-10-17T20:35:00.003+02:00

I love silver ♥

And so does kitty-Nicoline-lady.
She also loves to shed. I don't love that so much..

And I found this darling notebook with silver elements the other day at the post office, lovely.

Cirkus Cirkör is a Swedish circus company, and is today Scandinavia's leading performing circus company within the art form of contemporary circus.

2011-10-14T22:40:00.001+02:00

Me and my sister went to see them at Bølgen Culture House here in Larvik.
It was amazingly beautiful and bizarre ♥

In the break I had to send A a text: "One of them juggled with three frigging chainsaws!" nerves of steel!

The word autumn comes from the Old French word autompne (automne in modern French), and was later normalised to the original Latin word autumnus.

2011-10-11T20:28:00.000+02:00

It's colder now.

I finally got around to taking some proper autumn pictures outside.

I've gotten around to doing some other things as well: I got a new hooded winter coat, I just bought three new white pillow covers for the couch, I've been doing some brushing on Nicoline, she's shedding like crazy this year, I've managed to already start on some Christmas presents, I've been talking to CleverBot and I think I might have got a minor cold, I hope it'll just pass..

I'm not really any better than I've been health wise, but I'm quite good at being sick so it's no biggie, hehe.

Oh and I got this sweater and scarf just yesterday.

Don't you just love this seasons colors ?

The study of friendship is included in the fields of sociology, social psychology, anthropology, philosophy, and zoology.

2011-10-04T17:40:00.000+02:00

Autumn.

The wind is cold, but on a sunny day one must still sit outside to drink ones coffee.
And so we did at Cafè Passagen a sunny day in October.
I think they must bring the roses inside every night, or else they would probably wither from the cold.

The coffee kept us warm though ♥
Oh, and some purple blankets.

An office is generally a room or other area in which people work.

2011-09-26T19:50:00.001+02:00

Step into my office.
I have pretty notebooks, floral fabric tape, a Lemon Emigrant, red heart shaped post-its and my trusted assistant Nicoline is by my side.

Most of todays work was done at Verket though.

This Monday me and Marianne started our new assignment for Verket Design: posters and a profile for the School Nurses at Thor Heyer Dahl High School.

We have an idea, which I actually started sketching on at the first meeting with the nurses, go me, which basically boils down to BAND AIDS. They symbolize care, help and healing in a bit of a humorous and childish way.

I'm exited about this job! We'll do great.

This is the sweater I was talking about the other day:

Light, which is emitted and absorbed in tiny "packets" called photons, exhibits properties of both waves and particles.

2011-09-20T15:17:00.000+02:00

So what have you been up to lately Marita?

Well. I got a haircut that I'm not altogether happy with. I've been wearing my new boots whenever I can, cus it'll soon be too cold for them! I've painted some more things white. GO WHITE! And I've been wearing a lot of white too. But mostly I've worn that oversized wool sweater I got at H&M last week. And I've not even once worn a skirt this past 6 months, booo. I've been taking pictures. I got a splinter in my finger the other day, that really hurt! I broke an umbrella. I've been missing singing. I've been tired. But I've had some energy too.

And it's getting really cold, it's also been raining for weeks !

Enough about me and the weather, how are you doing?

http://verketlarvik.blogspot.com/

2011-09-17T11:14:00.000+02:00

Mellow yellow.

The girls at VERKET decided to make a blog, it's been talked about for a while and they finnaly took the plunge. For about 1 day it stood without header or any kind of direction, the "Simple" layout in blue and one lonely post.

Then I fixed it. ♥

Animals have their own homes as well, either living in the wild or shared with humans in a domesticated environment.

2011-09-12T08:44:00.000+02:00

Autumn is storming outside!

So what better opportunity to paint some furniture and re-do some things around the apartment. I can't help myself, I can't change the colors, I love red, beige, white and silver. And as long as I do I'll keep on using them.

I recently gave a couple of offshoots that have been living in jars with water a proper place to live, tin cans was just the way to go. I hope they like it.

I got new shoes, they are perfect:

The adjective bright derives from an Old English beorht with the same meaning via metathesis giving Middle English briht.

2011-09-09T08:45:00.001+02:00

VERKET offers a wide variety of cultural and physical activity, with the possibility of job training and / or volunteer positions to people who for various reasons are wholly or partly outside the workplace.

Cultural and physical activity can improve health, and the goal is to give people a meaning in life and strengthen the ability to master their own lives.
VERKET has a variety of courses, workshops and individual lessons. All led by professional instructors and supervisors.

I work as a volunteer photographer and graphic designer at VERKET.
I'm also in an advanced graphic design course led by Marianne.

I'm so glad I have the opportunity to do something meaningful when I'm to sick to work or go to school.

According to meteorologists, summer extends for the whole months of June, July, and August in the northern hemisphere.

2011-09-06T14:04:00.002+02:00

And just like that it's over for this year.
There's been a lot of rain, but it's also been nice and warm.

I haven't been well at all this summer. One week I feel fine and I can function almost like a normal person. Then the next I can hardly stand up because of the pain in my legs and joints, and I'm so dizzy that I can't really do anything but lie on the couch with my eyes closed. I recently bought myself a pair of crutches to try to relive some of the leg pain. Sometimes resting helps, sometimes it doesn't. On an average I have, if I'm lucky, one good week every month.

I've got a ME diagnosis, but recently I've come to believe I have a Borrelia infection, also called Lyme Disease. An infection I've had for probably 8-9 years now. Testing for infection by the b.Burgdorferi bacteria is almost impossible when you had it this long, it hides within the body to the point were it stops making antibodies. The bacteria thrives in the joint, the central nervous system and if it's allowed to wreak havoc for enough time it can also cross the blood/brain barrier. Hooray, I have bacteria in my brain.

I don't really let it put me down though. I'm sick right now, but I'll get better. And if I don't, then I don't.

I'm glad I have my camera, my cat, my family and friends to keep me company on the days when I'm too sick to go outside.
And I'm glad I have this blog. Even though I don't update as much as I used to, bear with me on that one, I try to do what I can ♥

"Tuna, my favorite ♥" ~ Nicoline

2011-09-02T13:31:00.000+02:00

Lucy Swann - Fashionably Late

2011-09-01T11:24:00.000+02:00

Paint is any liquid, liquefiable, or mastic composition which after application to a substrate in a thin layer is converted to an opaque solid film.

2011-08-31T09:53:00.000+02:00

Autumn is here.
You can feel it in the air now.

I don't think there will be any more opportunities to wear shorts and sandals, and my straw hats don't go well with autumn either! Darn.

Oh well, I guess I'll just have to layer it up then. All new. Or more of the old just in a new way?

Sort of like Verket's cafè, a brand new paint job, but the same furniture and charm. The idea came from the lovely Jeanette over at Fryd + Design.

I've worn this when it was a bit warmer:

Filipendula ulmaria, commonly known as Meadowsweet, is a perennial herb in the family Rosaceae that grows in damp meadows.

2011-08-28T10:21:00.000+02:00

Mjødurt in Norwegian.

Meadowsweet has also been referred to as Queen of the Meadow, Pride of the Meadow, Meadow-Wort, Meadow Queen, Lady of the Meadow, Dollof, Meadsweet, and Bridewort.

The Vikings sometimes flavored their honey based mead, a type of ale which in Norwegian we call mjød, with Meadowsweet.

The flowers has such a sweet and lovely scent, and there has been so much of it this year!

A proper mjødurt-år/meadowsweet-year.

White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings.

2011-08-23T13:15:00.000+02:00

The coastline in Vestfold is amazing.

Me and A went for a walk with out cameras by the coast at the beginning of the summer.

We parked the car right next to a wheat field and cut through a forest. From there we arrived at a dirt road with trees covered in magical, white flowers at both sides of the road.

It was so beautiful ♥

I've worn some white:

Multiplication (often denoted by the cross symbol "×") is the mathematical operation of scaling one number by another

2011-08-21T09:02:00.000+02:00

Tea, tourist,art and color mixed furniture.

Me and Jannicke trying to remember our High-School math at Det Gule Galleriet/The Yellow Gallery. We had no luck, we didn't even remember how to set up simple multiplications.
I'm just no good at math!

Off to find my destiny.

2011-08-17T09:15:00.004+02:00

Seen and captured in 2010.

The English language commonly uses "blue" to refer to any colour from navy blue to cyan.

2011-08-12T14:12:00.001+02:00

Sensommer.

July is long gone and August is here, the late-summer month or sensommer as we call it. There's been some cold days now, I had to wear a jacket this morning.

There's been both rain and sunshine, wind like a autumn-storm, thunder and lightning, from 27°C down to 15°C and then up again. Sometimes all in one day. That's the Norwegian summer in a nutshell.

Still warm enough to wear shorts?

A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, or recreation.

2011-08-11T09:47:00.003+02:00

Friends, laughter and nobody caring about the lack of sunshine.

Me and Sven hosted a summer barbeque party at his house.
I don't often bring my camera to parties, but I figured an outside BBQ party would be a prefect occasion to try it out. It started raining quite quickly though, so we didn't get to sit outside for that long, haha.

But nobody really cared, and we all ate our food inside, with Sven as BBQ master outside in the rain under a party-tent.

Cohesive forces within the liquid cause the drop to ball up and avoid contact with the surface.

2011-08-08T10:11:00.001+02:00

Rain.

Frankly I don't mind it, drops of water make beautiful photographs.

But my camera isn't waterproof. And with the damage it got when it feel from the stand about a year ago, I should be even more afraid of getting it wet. I mean, it got a tear so I could see it's insides for Pete's sake! I need to make it a zip-lock bag cove or something.

So it is a fact that the tear could let in water and completely ruin the camera? Well, I did put some tape over it. I have never actually taken much consideration to it when I'm out in the field.If I see a good subject I run out in rain or shine, and just hope that my Nikon holds up ♥

It hasn't failed me yet.

I've worn this:

King Devanampiya Tissa of Sri Lanka established one of the world's earliest wildlife sanctuaries in the 3rd century BC.

2011-08-04T10:11:00.001+02:00

A sudden heatwave.

It's been really, really hot from Thursday until today. Living in a loft apartment is problematic with this heat, for me at least, A inst really bothered by it. My blood is just too thick for Nevada I suppose.

But I have a summer sanctuary. Our cabin in Hallevannet: Elva/River

Our home away from home, it's an almost 100 years old house standing one and a half stories tall in the middle of the forest. A loggers cabin, John's grandmother and grandfather lived there.
There's a well, an outhouse, plenty of bats living in the ceiling upstairs, coffee and sometimes our entire family fills the house and forest with laughter and talk about birds and ferns.

The marsh just a short walk from Elva is a bird sanctuary, Elva Naturreservat/River Nature reserves.

I've been wearing this:

Fishing nets are meshes usually formed by knotting a relatively thin thread.

2011-08-01T18:09:00.004+02:00

Me and Jannicke in her parents garden.
She borrowed my camera and took some pictures of me. I didn't get any of her this time around, instead her family dog Fred posed for a few shots. He's such a cutie.

We disassembled the Swallow-light fishing-net. Yes, reading that over again it does sound weird. Well, Jannicke fastened Christmas-lights in a fishing-net that resembled three Swallows for Alen-Festivalen (a music festival) last year. Swallow in Norwegian is Svale, Alen-Festivalen always have a different name that has Alen in it, last year is was Svalen-Festivalen.

I didn't make it last year, wasn't feeling well, but I hope to go this year.

The sea of flowers and candles on Larvik town-square.

2011-07-27T11:18:00.002+02:00

Du var. Du er. Du er elsket. Du elsker. Du elsket. Du er død. Du lever alltid.

You were. You are. You are loved. You love. You loved. You are dead. You live forever.

Roses, sorrow, love and compassion.

2011-07-26T16:12:00.003+02:00

The way our politicians, police and the way we as a people handle this terrible tragedy makes me proud to be a Norwegian.

Beautiful photographs borrowed from Eirik Helland Urke and Lise Grønskar (dagbladet.no).

Uvirkelig.

2011-07-23T10:28:00.001+02:00

I'm out of words.

My thoughts go to the people in Oslo and Utøya.

Be strong.

Stairway, staircase, stairwell, flight of stairs, or simply stairs are names for a construction designed to bridge a large vertical distance by dividing it into smaller vertical distances, called steps.

2011-07-20T08:46:00.001+02:00

Summer, summer still ♥

I just like to mention it, summer is such a nice season!

It's the perfect time to be lazy, it's the heat that does it I think. Not that we get a lot of it up here North. But Larvik is right by the sea, and quite far south compared to many other towns, so we get a lot of nice weather, and, no, I don't see why people hate talking about the weather, I like it!

There is one big difference that summer in the city has over summer in suburbia: without a garden right next to your window there's hardly any bugs. Love it!

Well anyway:

what are you up to this summer?

White is the new black, it's a summer thing I suppose:

Marbles originated in the Harappan civilization in Pakistan near the river Indus.

2011-07-17T19:20:00.001+02:00

Peonies can be classified by both plant growth habit and by flower type.

2011-07-12T15:25:00.000+02:00

Sun, rain and coffee ♥
Norwegian summer.

I've taken my first summer bath.

We've had a rainstorm inside (forgot to close the window, ops).

I've been so lucky (not) to get a summer cold.

I've been bit by mosquitoes.

I've enjoyed the sun.

Nicoline has played with her toys and eaten tuna for lunch.

I've picked plenty of flower bouquets.

We've found insane amounts of wild strawberries.

I've found a total of 12 four-leaf clovers so far,

and I've found the perfect straw hat.

I've worn this:

"Can you tell this is my spot?" ~ Nicoline

2011-07-10T19:28:00.000+02:00

Jasmine is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family, with about 200 species, native to tropical and warm temperate regions of the Old World.

2011-07-09T14:19:00.000+02:00

Summer ♥

Me and my mom went for a walk on one of the dirt roads in Hallevannet, a fresh-water lake were I've spent many hours of my childhood hours.

It was perfectly summery warm outside.

We walked past an abandoned cabin, which had an adorably wild Jasmin bush planted right by the road. It was in desperate need of some trimming, so we took a few branches to help it out.

I've worn some white:

Torshov ligger i Bydel Sagene, nord for Grünerløkka og Lilleborg.

2011-07-03T20:42:00.001+02:00

A fence is a freestanding structure designed to restrict or prevent movement across a boundary.

2011-07-02T18:22:00.000+02:00

Sunny days ♥

They sure are awful to take pictures in, everything gets all weird glossy white or-whatever-the-heck-I'm-suppose-to-call-it. Overexposure but just not in a cool way.

In times like this I wish someone skillful had photography tuition here in Larvik. Maybe there's some trick I just don't know yet.

I've worn this:

Trientalis europaea is a plant in the Primulaceae family, called by the common name chickweed wintergreen or Arctic starflower.

2011-06-29T14:32:00.000+02:00

We call them Skogstjerne, just Starflower, in Norweigan.

The season for the different flowers are all too short.
A picked me this bouquet when he and a friend was out in the woods.

But I've sadly been too sick to get out much this Spring, so I never got the chance to find one on the forest floor amongst the moss and spruce needles.

Oh well, there's always next year ♥

I've worn a floral summer dress:

Two ♥

2011-06-28T21:47:00.000+02:00

And just like that I'm at my second year into the world of blogging ♥

Fonts, header and template layout have all been changed this past year.

I've taken about 4500 pictures (is it wrong for me to think that's not really a lot ? Haha), I got a new lens, the Sigma 24mm F1.8, and A even bought me a proper camera-stand (a Sony strangely enough, Sony makes a lot of things! Well, at least I don't think they started out making toilet paper like Nokia, haha. It's true! I saw the commercial in an old magazine!).

I've been learning a lot about design though Frøken Bøk in the design-group she tutors at Verket, so far consisting of only me and her. It's made me think about what I'm doing here in regard of fonts, pictures, line-shifts and design in a whole new way.

So, what do you think of my little blog?
Anything you want to see more/less of?

Sommeravslutning på Verket.

2011-06-23T21:40:00.000+02:00

Last day at Verket before the summer vacation.

There was coffee, lunch and friendly faces as usual, with the extra added speeches and some entertainment in the form of singing, piano and some dancing from Heidi and Jannicke wearing tutus and golden hats ♥

Verket will be closed for 5 weeks, stating up again the 22. of August.

A bit of vacation suits me just fine now ♥ And I'll be all rested up for when it opens again.

Changes.

2011-06-21T09:03:00.000+02:00

Something old, the background, something new, columns woo, something borrowed, well, the entire template, something blue, my links ♥ haha.

I got around to changing my template to the new designer ones. I'm pretty much completely confused by the HTML for these layouts, but with a lot of reading I think I'm getting around top understanding the coding a bit more.

There's still a few changes to be made, but I'm getting there.

What do you think?

Det Gule Galleriet.

2011-06-20T13:01:00.000+02:00

Det Gule Galleriet ~ The Yellow Gallery is a gallery and coffee bar in Stavern.

I snapped some pictures right before opening hours a couple of weeks before tourist season, the outside tables and chairs are all so cute.

We didn't stop for coffee that day, maybe next time ♥

I love cardigans (and flowers), but I seldom wear yellow:

deviantart Portfolio ♥

2011-06-14T21:19:00.000+02:00

I fixed up my deviantart Portfolio page and I'm quite happy with the results.

I do want to do something similar with the header here, but for now I'm too busy trying to figure out a way to happily combine my old design with the "Simple" layout by Josh P.

Apparently not an easy task with my limited HTML skills.

Wish me luck!

They have compound, deeply lobed leaves, and large, often fragrant flowers, ranging from red to white or yellow, in late spring and early summer.

2011-06-12T09:23:00.003+02:00

I love peonies.

I had a wonderful book about flowers when I was little, it consisted of poems and drawing of flowers, on the page with the peony the little girl in the book has made the peony into a little house which she lives in.

I want to live in a peony too ♥

It's been raining a bit,

and I never let a chance to wear my wellies pass me by !

They also play an important role in producing oxygen and reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, as well as moderating ground temperatures.

2011-06-06T12:09:00.006+02:00

It's been lovely and sunny this weekend ♥

I'm working on the pictures I took for my sister in Oslo.

But I haven't gotten that far with them yet, so instead I'm sharing some pictures I took of the amazing flower trees that bloomed for two weeks at the top of the town square in Larvik.

Two cute girls I know has made a tradition out of picnicking under these lovely trees when they're in bloom, maybe they'll let me join in next year ♥

I would have worn this dress,
but then I realized that it's just too short to not wear pants under..

Oh well..

2011-06-01T11:01:00.003+02:00

To take some pictures of Oslo for my sister Linda.

They're moving to Larvik this Summer ♥

And now she wants some pictures to remember the city were she met her man, were little Eirik was born, and were she has lived for the past I-don't-even-now-how-many years.

Let's hope it doesn't rain !

Not wearing these shoes:

Beige, Camel, Nude, Powder, or whatever you call it ♥

2011-05-31T17:28:00.008+02:00

[polyvore]

I found this beige coat at Vero Moda the other day, the color is just perfect. I've always loved beige, it's so earthy but at the same time clean.

If I had a lot of money I'd get those shoes too.

And a cute little necklace watch.

And perhaps a gold-toned cuff bracelet.

Hehe ♥

Portable computers, originally monochrome CRT-based and developing into the modern laptop, were originally considered to be a small niche market, mostly for specialized field applications such as the military, accountants and sales representatives.

2011-05-27T09:00:00.004+02:00

I've added a new label called life to my tag-cloud. It includes posts with a bit more personal content than the weather and how much coffee I've consumed.

In some of them I even talk a bit about me ME, which I don't really do much of here on the blog. Or in life for that matter. I think I just like to pretend to be healthy, hehe.

I also tided up some labels and fixed some line shifts. I've gotten so strict at them since working with Marianne with design at Verket.

Annnd - drum roll - I got a new laptop !
I went for the HP ENVY 14 It's gorgeous, a bit big 14.5" which is a strange size, but I didn't really find any in the 13" range that I wanted, and packs more punch than my desktop which I just find silly, plain and simple. And now I'm poor, but it was worth it.

Have a great weekend lovelies ♥

Kitten does not care for computers.

Or kisses for that matter.

Neither does the Companion Cube.

Paving with cobblestones allows a road to be heavily used all year long.

2011-05-24T08:42:00.000+02:00

I like sun. And I like Stavern.

Stavern is a tiny town (just recently got their town status back actually) located in the municipality of Larvik, south of the city of Larvik in Vestfold.

It hosted a military naval base from 1667 to 2002 (the pictures are from the base), and I can still vaguely remember what the base was like with all the boys and girls in uniforms. The base had a beach at the end of it, so it was open all summer.

Recently the base was re-purposed into a Police Academy.

The base is a great location for photography, with it's old buildings and cobblestone.

I've worn this:

Magnolia is a large genus of about 210 flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae of the family Magnoliaceae, it is named after French botanist Pierre Magnol.

2011-05-18T13:40:00.004+02:00

The amazingly beautiful magnolia tree in bloom at the naval base in Stavern.

I want a tree like this when I get a garden ♥

Norway took this opportunity to declare independence, adopted a constitution based on American and French models, and elected the crown prince of Denmark-Norway Christian Frederik as king on 17 May 1814.

2011-05-17T09:20:00.002+02:00

And just like that it's 17th of May again, and it's Norway's National Day ♥

Marching bands, ice-cream, flags and hipp-hipp hoorays.

I tidied the apartment a bit, but other than that I haven't gotten any decorating done, next year perhaps, hehe.

The plans for the day are as traditional for me as always: meeting up with some friends on the town square, following the children's parade (each elementary school district arranges its own parade) up to Bøkeskogen were I'll try to find some family in the myriad of people and flags.

Happy National Day ♥ Gratulerer med dagen

Origin of the term "café" is from French for coffee.

2011-05-15T14:18:00.000+02:00

At Verket Cafè.
I love the silver plate center pieces, and the different colored chairs almost as much as the un-painted one ♥

The first recorded use of "light blue" as a color term in English is in the year 1915.

2011-05-09T17:23:00.003+02:00

I still occasionally draw. Though not nearly as much as I wish I had time for. Well, that's not really true, I just never make time for it. I, for whatever reason, do other things.
I suppose I'm not as much home as I used to be. When I was really, really sick I couldn't really leave the house for more than maybe an hour at a time, so I stayed indoors mostly. That's usually what it's like having M.E. The other day my mom told me she was glad it had rained so much the summers when I was at my sickest, seeing how she didn't like leaving me at the house alone.

Some things change, some things stay the same.

It's been sunnier now though. And I'm out more, at some point I guess I got a bit better. Or maybe I just got better at being sick. Hehe. I do wish I could find more time for drawing though..

White and blue:

Like the ocean which shapes them, coasts are a dynamic environment with constant change.

2011-05-02T22:45:00.003+02:00

The world turned green in a hurry this year. Suddenly there are leaves everywhere, green grass and flowers.

My favorite picture in this series; definitely the little green sprout with the snail-shell hat, mayhap it was getting pretty for the royal wedding? Me, my mom and Nicoline watched it on TV in my apartment with coffee and some deliciouses pastry.
Hats, dresses, royalty, our queen Sonja looking so beautiful and dignified with her cream coat and red dress, green trees inside, and the brides dress of course. Kate looked so beautiful, and they both looked so happy.

Nicoline fell asleep after about 5 minutes though, I don't think she was that interested, perhaps hats and dresses isn't really the thing for an old cat.

Hope you guys had a great weekend ♥

I finally bought this dress:

Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline) solid material. Glasses are typically brittle, and often optically transparent.

2011-04-27T19:07:00.001+02:00

It's been sunny and lovely outside lately.
And I have been taking some spring pictures, but I haven't gotten around to editing them yet, so instead you get to see some of the pieces of glass I found at a beach, they're summer-ish in color ♥

In little Larvik the birch trees have just sprung, there's now a broad assortment of flowers in both yards and outside, and if I could only find my summer jacket I would totally be wearing it. But I have no idea were it is, I thought it was out in our closet storage space in the hall, but turns out it's not. We at least finally found the key though, so we can actually get in there again. Well, A found it. In one of his pants. Where he had put it, hehe.
So now we're putting away winter clothes and boots.

I've actually been wearing this beige sweater for maybe 3 weeks now.. Haha.

Happy Easter ♥

2011-04-21T20:29:00.003+02:00

Happy Easter everyone !

Personally I never really decorate for Easter, it's just up for one week so I never bother. But my mom loves it, so I took some Easter pictures at her house. And there was even some candy. Yum.

Hope your enjoying the sun ♥

Anemone nemorosa is an early-spring flowering plant in the genus Anemone in the family Ranunculaceae.

2011-04-17T08:23:00.002+02:00

A little coffee-cup with Windflowers, or Hvitveis in Norwegian, I picked Wednesday evening when me and A went for a little walk in Bøkeskogen, Larvik's Beech forest.

More and more flowers are popping up all over the forest floor, soon the ground will be all white and green ♥ I hope the leaves will start sprouting soon too.

What do you call theese little white wonders were you live ♥ ?

Blåveis (Hepatica nobilis) er en flerårig urt i soleiefamilien. Den har karakteristiske, leverformede, vintergrønne blader og blå blomster i april - mai.

2011-04-11T13:32:00.022+02:00

There's Spring in the air and everywhere else for that matter. The Pennywort have blossomed, there's Crocuses and Snowdrops in my moms garden and looking out the window I can't see any ice in the Larvik fjord.

Pictures from Barkvika in Herlgeroa, the 4. April when there was still a bit more snow. And that's little beige Sine taking Shira for a walk ♥

I've worn florals:

Summer soon ♥

2011-04-04T13:00:00.001+02:00

[polyvore]

I want those shoes !

But I'm just not paying 38 dollars in shipping for 28 dollar shoes...
Oh well, I suppose I'm left still searching for that pair of perfect brown lace wedges. At least I'm likely to find some cute note-books, and If not I can just dress a boring one with a pretty fabric ♥

It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets.

2011-04-01T16:57:00.003+02:00

I'm making some business cards for Verket, and seeing how their profile is mostly square, with the logo and the web-site, I'm making square ones with squares! Hehe. They'll be 54 x 54 mm, basing the dimensions on the international standard of business cards: 86 x 54mm which is the size of credit cards.
And I just figured out how to properly mosaic pictures in inDesign, Object > Path > Make Compound Path (a bit more clicking than the easy-peasy Create Clipping Mask option in PhotoShop). So I'm going to play around with some pictures of the cafè as the front.

Photographs taken at a business card brain-storming session with Marianne at her office. Paper and colors ♥

I've worn pink the last couple of days:

A sea generally refers to a large body of salt water, but the term is used in other contexts as well.

2011-03-28T15:07:00.001+02:00

It's sunny outside.
And with the it I can definitely feel some energy returning to my body, which is nice, it's not a lot yet but I'm getting there. At least the cold, dark winter is over, winter always makes my M.E. so much worse. The wind is still coming inn pretty cold from the sea though, I don't like cold wind, always makes my head hurt.. But at least there's sun ♥

Well, nowadays I spend my time relaxing with friends at cafès, laughing with A, cuddling Nicoline, trying to get some constructive photography work done and also trying to figure out if I'm going to invest in a new laptop that I can use for some design work (no, I'm not getting a Mac, they're in my opinion way overpriced).
So, boys and girls, enjoying the sun ?

I've worn this, but soon these boots will be a bit too warm! :

As an evolutionary trait, the flatness of leaves works to expose the chloroplasts to more light and to increase the absorption of carbon dioxide at the expense of water loss.

2011-03-19T10:37:00.001+01:00

The 15. of March, a Tuesday, was the first officiall spring day for me ♥ sunny and warm and the birds happily singing their Spring songs.. I could never get the hang of Tuesday and Thursday, I never remember which is which, language wise I mean. Haha, I usually know when it's Tirsdag and when it's Torsdag as they're called in Norwegian, or Wtorek and Czwartek in Polish (A taught me, him being half Polish). But the names in English still eludes me, Tuesday and Thursday. .

I picked a bouquet of birch branches a while ago, normally called bjørkeris here in Norway, and with the warmth and sun peaking through the windows they have started to shoot. So even if the weather have gotten pretty cold again, there's at least a bit of Spring, indoors at least.

Spring is almost here ♥
How is it coming along where you live? Any green leaves outside yet?

I've worn this:

The company is best known for its Pantone Matching System (PMS), a proprietary color space used in a variety of industries, primarily printing, though sometimes in the manufacture of colored paint, fabric, and plastics.

2011-03-14T21:31:00.002+01:00

Monday, Monday.
Last Monday I had a lot of fun with Pantone color searching, ever since I've a little girl I've had such a thing for colors! I love, love, loved when my mom went to hardware stores that had paint, I would take as many color sample sheets as I possibly could without it looking to. Odd. Hehe. I loved when we had color theory at school, mixing paints and sticking little pieces of printed color-squares onto color forms.
I wish I could afford a Pantone color fan, but I find 1000kr (or 180 dollars) just a bit steep..

And speaking of paper, this Monday me and Marianne went over to Punkt 1, a printing company in Larvik, for a guided tour to teach me about the possibilities of paper and print for a designer. I've never seen so much paper in one place! And their hall wasn't really all that big either, but the rolls of paper they had. Meters and meters of it!

Paper and colors are fun ♥

I've worn this: