A sofa story..

A perfectly normal evening for us nowadays! Chessy loves licking stuff, but our faces are off-limits. She manages to sneakily attack us now and then though, and I managed to capture one of these moments with my camera. She's such a little cuddly monster!

I do realize my blog is slowly turning into being mostly about my dog, but it's just because she's all new to me and she makes me smile so much right now! Also it's because she stares at me while I try to draw so it's hard to focus.. I'll have some new art eventually though. I hope..

Lomography Loves!

conchalibre

Vandal

crystalline green

I'm gathering inspiration, I want to draw loads today for the fun and joy of it. It's still freezing cold inside but I shall prevail, put on some fingerless gloves and just sketch away. I'm looking forward to it. We'll see if anything comes out of it.

In the meantime I've gathered these beautiful photos with the cold colors of a chilly November and I really love the feeling of them. All of these photographers are worth checking out.

Let's stay inside..

I wrote about snow-storms earlier, and guess what, it's still going on, and its getting worse! On top of that our radiators were ice-cold today because our landlord messed up and our floors are so chilly and me, J and Chessy are cuddling up on the sofa today just being lazy and trying to stay warm under the blankets.

We've been watching 'the walking dead' and Naruto today so far and soon I'm gonna make some more tea and maybe popcorn and then stay in all day long (except for the short walks because even though our dog wants to stay inside, she has to do her doggy-business outside)

Tomorrow I'm gonna start working on some more school stuff and try to make somr emore illustratiosn for myself and perhaps for my shop, we'll just have to see, right?

Fawne Westwind

Yay! I'm all nerdy playing WoW again now that there is a whole new world to explore! I played loads and loads a few years back and I love roleplaying and creating new characters and I especially love drawing portraits of those characters and imagine their background stories, characteristics and personalitites.

This character is Fawne Westwind, a nomad wandering the roads of the world along with her beloved pet fox Fenya. I'm really enjoying this little nostalgic trip back to my gamer-self and I'm having lots of fun right now.

Weekend Wishes!

LittleHouses

pandatreats

Beaky

This weekend I'm longing for spring soooo much, and the winter just begun, what should I do? It's so cold outside I can hardly believe it, but I can still wish for sunshine and new leaves on the trees. I'd wear the super cute jacket by LittleHouses and go take Chessy for a nice long walk in the park with the babushka bag swung over my shoulder and even though I never wear earrings I'd make an exception for the adorable soot, ghibli-studios inspired little cuties! Gaaw, how long must I wait until this cold goes away? I don't want it anymore, let's move with the birds and fly to the south until winter is gone..

Changeling

This is my first "finished" image for my school-project where I am making illustrations inspired and based on the book 'Tithe' written by Holly Black. I'm working on several pieces at the same time and this is the first to be really worked through. I think I still have details to fix and I might tweak the colors and so on, but I really wanted to show you what I've been working on since I haven't posted any of my own work in a while.

I have a terrible sense of time but this project is supposed to be finished in January so I'm beginning to feel some stress although I know I can pull this off. I paint rather fast once I do it, but getting the energy to actually work is not always easy. I'm still not as strong as I used to be and my mood goes up and down like a somewhat nauseating ride at a weird amusement-park. I took my dog out for a really long walk this morning though, trying to clear my head and relax. I have nothing to fear.

Pleeease?

Imagine that you were sitting at your desk, writing, reading, drawing, whatever, and then you start getting the feeling you´re being watched. It's a bit creepy at first, and then you hear a grunt coming from below the table and you see this! A pair of really round, dark eyes looking at you without blinking.

I'm currently trying to paint and focus on my school-project and it's going well. I can't wait to share the results with you soon! I really love what I'm doing right now but yeah, let's just say I have someone here who really would like me to just sit on the floor all day instead, cuddling. She doesn't seem to want to play at all though. I've tried to excite her with some toys but she just rolls over on her back and wants me to rub her tummy until she falls asleep. Maybe she's just too good for such simple things as squeaky-toys?

So lazy!

There is a snowstorm outside and I have a little dog inside that doesn't like the weather very much. Still you just have to do face it sometimes..

It's like my life is on pause for a bit while I get used to this new situation at home, so I haven't done anything but take my Chessy out for walks, sleeping on the couch and running errands. Tomorrow though I'll try to really focus on some schoolwork and maybe there will be cake? Cake is good, very good..

So I'll just stay lazy today, me and my lazy snoozing, snoring dog in front of the TV.

Weekend Wishes!

Bucks County frames

idea2lifestyle

bytinster

I can't help it. Even though the winter weather outside is beautiful in it's crystal white perfection I long for warm summer afternoons with an orange sun making everything appear golden.

I love the art print of the bike on top of this post. It makes me happy just looking at it. I would love to hang that here in my kitchen for inspiration. I also wish I could sit here in my kitchen in this long, comfy-looking skirt that just makes me want to walk on an empty sandy beach more than ever. Lastly I fell in love with this retro fabric with orange flowers on a dark brown background. I'm not into dressing up pets, but since my Chessy needs a coat when she goes out I've been thinking maybe I should try to sew my own for her? I don't need any more fabric than I already have though. I have way too much to handle!

Chessy is here!

We've had such a nice morning me and my little dog. She arrived last night, a bit nervous at first but she's so well behaved It almost feels too good to be true. Maybe she'll turn out to be a monster soon?

Compared to having a huge, wild bullmastiff puppy at home this is like having a very friendly old lady sitting around being polite. She loves the couch, and we dozed there this morning, lazily watching TV after the morning walk. Right now she's asleep, snoring by my feet just as I dreamed it would be like.

I'm so happy to feel another presence around here while J is at work, and to be able to just reach out and rub her tummy when I start feeling a little down. She also brings me out to experience the sparkling new winter snow. I haven't felt this calm in a very long time. Thank you Chessy!

Sweet Artist: Michael Shapcott

I've been coming back to Michael Shapcott's gallery again and again to admire his amazing portraits, all painted traditionally with a captivating feeling in them. I'm addicted to portraits of girls, and these ones are beyond beautiful to me.

There is so much emotion in his work and so much life in the eyes of the people he paints that it feels like they could come alive and speak at any moment. This is something I would like to be able to achieve in my own art as well and I'm gonna keep being inspired by this amazing artist.

Mr. Shapcott has a great gallery with a bunch of really sweet paintings to browse through, so make sure to check it out!

Lomography Loves!

Shoujoai

Drumfire

pamelaklaffke

life on mars

bakeylove

It was a while ago I did this, and I've been browsing around the enormous library of the lomo-community to collect all the images I love. When I feature them here I like to go by color-themes. I love intense teal, faded yellows and dusty browns. I can't get enough of looking at these! Make sure to visit these talented photographers galleries as linked below their photos!

Dog..dog? Where?!

Here! Or at least over there until I go get her this friday. I have a dog. Oh. My. Gooooodness!

Ok, so I'm freaking out a bit, swaying from anxiety, worrying and panic to pure joy, happiness and jumping up and down like a mad person!

I went to see Chessy, this four year old french bulldog who needed a new loving home where she can relax, take it easy and be loved all the time. I was so scared when I went there because I had no idea what would happen, but me and this slightly shy but loving little creature clicked! If I were a dog, I'd probably be just like her.

Unfortunately though all the pictures I took turned out horrendous! I had to use the build in flash of my camera and it made everything look freaky and there was this other, slightly more lively frenchie there who wanted all the attention and kept stepping on my dog to get into the spotlight. Chessy didn't seem to mind much though, she's laid back and cool.

So today I'll be going to the store to pick up a load of stuff for her. She needs to wear clothes outside because she gets cold easily and I've heard she enjoys soft squeaky toys. I've already built a little nest for her right here by where I sit working all day and it feels so surreal that she'll be home friday evening. Just in time for Wahlbäck-family taco! I hope she'll fit into our family right away.

Back to morning tea

I'm back in my apartment and I'm sipping white tea from my favorite cup while trying to sort out my thoughts. If you know me, you also know I'm a very worried person. Every little thing can cause some trail of thoughts that end up in disaster, but I can also imagine all sorts of happy and wonderful situations! The problem for me is to be realistic, and to balance my thoughts and ideas to face reality and just.. be. I think I need to learn meditation.

Anyway, I went to meet some wonderful dogs this weekend and felt in my heart that a french bulldog is the right dog for me and that I should do what I can to reach that goal someday. However, now I'm facing a situation where a dog can become mine so soon as this weekend, and I'm going to visit her tonight. She's an adult dog who needs to go to a calm, loving home and her name is Chessy. I'm so happy and so scared at the same time. I'm so afraid I might make a mistake that maybe things won't turn out well, or that J doesn't like her. I can't control any of these things, so I should try to leave them and just focus on having a nice day today before taking the bus over to my adventure. Nobody knows how this will turn out, but you can be sure I'll write about it here. You'll just have to stand my ramblings about dogs while I feed you with photography from my little mini-vacation to the little house in the forest!

Going away for a while

I'll be going to my parents-in-law to visit them and their gorgeous cats for a while and just relax. I need a breath of fresh forest air and that amazing silence of being in the middle of nowhere. I'll probably be back in a few days though.

I just might go visit a dog-breeder too that raises french bulldogs and pug dogs and if it feels right I might be starting to save up the little money I have, sell some very priced posessions and if everything turns out as it is in my imagination I shall have a pug-puppy in a few months, but of course it's way too early to tell and I know myself, I shouldn't get my hopes up to high because the fall back down from that exitement is not happy..

I'm happy now though, and what is life if you can never go around hoping for good things to happen? Wish me good luck on my quest for a pug dog now, and see you soon!

From a Fairy Tale

I'm so happy right now! For the first time I have created my own jewelry and I'm so excited to present this little collection of necklaces!

They are all up for sale now in my Etsy Shop and I would be so happy if you'd hop over there to have a look at all of them. They were so much fun to photograph but even more fun to create! Each necklace is hand-braided from fine vintage embroidery-thread in different earthy colors to match each painting. The paintings themselves are printed on high-quality paper, carefully mounted onto the locket and protected with layers of gloss varnish. Finally I treated the edges around each painting to give them all an aged look.

I want the feeling of these to be as if you found this locked in an old box in your grandmothers attic and if you open it maybe you will find a secret hidden message inside?

We all need more magic in our lives..

Identity, be who you want to be..

I've written 150 posts here now.. During the time I've had this blog I've made some big changes to my life. They may not be dramatic to the outside world, but to my they are. I have decided to pursue my dreams and try in every step I take in life to be who I want to be, not the person others may expect me to be.

It may sound obvious, but it is very difficult for me, and I don't think I'm alone, because I believe that many find obstacles or walls of doubt and lack of self confidence to get through before taking steps forward. I sure have a huge amount of walls to break through still, but I will deal with them at my own pace in my own way.

My biggest wish right now is to get over my shyness and my anxiety enough to participate in a world that I've been looking at from the outside for the longest time but never dared to enter. I want to go to concerts, to art events and fashion shows. I want to be there, talk to people, make connections. But for a girl who has difficulties even picking up the phone to call her friends because of immense shyness that is not an easy task. It's a huge goal.

I think many of you out there, if not all of you have both big and small dreams and goals that you want to achieve. Some may be for your career, some may be highly personal, but I believe that everyone needs to take care and take every step towards being who they want to be, not who others expect them to be, and don't stress yourself too much, okay? Good things will happen, I'm sure of it.. Good luck!

Childish adrenaline rush

I ran across a snow covered lawn today, the cold flakes reaching up to my knees. I ran with a smile on my face, jumped and twirled and stumbled. I fell and I laughed, snow covering my knees, my mittens and my face. The sudden rush of happiness felt like a sort of small miracle! I don't know why I did it, maybe it was the nostalgia of playing in the winter landscape, or maybe my body just craved sudden movement and that childish rush of adrenaline.

I'll try to hang on to that feeling now for as long as I can. It was such a relief. Some of you may know I've been dealing with depression and anxiety for a very long time. I don't talk much about it here, but it's always present in my mind. Today I felt true happiness, the pure childish laughter again without any hint of dread sneaking up behind me for the first time in a very very long time. It was only for a few minutes, but it helped. I can already feel it. I'll try to run freely more often..

Autumn is gone.. Bye!

I have defied the snowstorm several times today, forcing my way through poofy mountains of snow on the streets to go to school, but now I'm at home and I'm not going out any more today, not even once!

I picked up my second roll of Diana film from the lab today and It was way more successful than the first. I wasn't expecting such a good result but I'm happy with the pictures that came out. I love the ones that are well exposed and a bit yellow in the tint best. They remind me of the still warm autumn days that feel like they were just yesterday but when I look out through my window today I can't believe it's even the same world I'm living in.

I'm gonna be sitting here with my huge cup of cinnamon tea and pretend I'm in a magical winter world.

Lots of things to do

I'm sitting in the sofa looking out the window right now and the snow storm that is raging outside and I'm trying to make myself leave the warm blankets and go to the kitchen to make something sweet and hot to drink.

Today I have school stuffs, a doctors appointment, picking up a roll of film, tea with G and later today J's mother is coming over. I'm all confused and I don't quite know how to plan all this in my head because I'm so used to doing nothing at all except creating during my days.

I still feel that today can be a really good day. I just have to kick myself up and make breakfast for myself!

Lomography and Dogs..

leangarnm

daitita

More lomography pictures! I'm going to pick up my second roll of film from the lab tomorrow, how exciting! I hope it gives a bit more of a result than my last one..

Tonight I wish for a calm tea-party with a friend and a little dog. I can't help myself. When I started this blog I had a dog, my beautiful wild Juno which we had to give back to her breeder since we weren't prepared enough when it came to her size and energy. I've learned from my mistakes since then but as my life looks right now I feel that I really want and need the company a pet gives. Spending hours and hours alone at home no matter how interesting my work is, it just brings me down. Sadly though J doesn't feel that we can get a dog before we get a bigger place to live, and yeah I kinda agree with him I guess, but still I'd give almost anything to have a little cuddly creature next to me in the sofa right now and someone to go on chilly pre-winter walks with during the day.

I keep looking at ads for puppies, old dogs, homeless dogs and I even put up a note at our local grocery-store saying I can watch peoples dogs while they are working and such. I'm nervous about it, but I'm still hopeful someone calls and I get to spend some quality time with a furry being with four paws. We'll have such a great time together!

More girls

I'm almost finished with all the paintings for my necklace collection but I'm unhappy with how the "rose" girl fits into the collection so I'm replacing her with "thorn". The main reason is because the small eyes of the rose-girl won't translate well into the tiny format they will be printed in. Today I also finished the girl with the lace collar. I wanted to add femininity, red and pink shades and a faded soft feeling. I also made some changes to the frost and salt pictures and added some more detail and fixed some mistakes I had made.

I'm almost ready to print these babies and make jewelry out of them! After that I will prepare packaging with hand folded origami gift boxes and cute stuff! I'm so happy about this, it's something completely new for me and I hope it will work out. I'm nervous!

Weekend Wishes!

geministudio

EarthWalkers

prunellasoap

Pug dogs! There is nothing I want more right now than my very own pug, french bulldog or boston terrier. A small dog with a flat nose and curious eyes to keep me company during my days at home.

I'm a poor art student still and can't afford these expensive dogs. It makes me sad, but in the meantime I can browse through Etsy and find the cutest pug-related products ever! It's incredible really and if I ever get to adopt the dog of my dreams I shall buy him a cozy cowl to keep him warm during cold Swedish winters.

Symmetry

There is something about a symmetrical portrait that will always captivate me. I love painting these and I love playing with the small differences in eyes, lips, the shades of blush in the skin and the flow of the hair. These portraits are specially made for the secret project of mine which I mentioned last month somewhere and now I'm starting to get somewhere. I am going to create a series of portraits of beautiful girls which will be the focus of a collection of locket necklaces which I will be making. I'm really excited about this and I hope it will turn out as it is in my head. We'll see what happens.