I am on the hunt...

...for an old map. I have been craving one of these for quite sometime but haven´t done anything about it...other than think that it´s really cool ;)

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The colors in some of these maps are wonderful and the wooden lining at the top and bottom just adds to the charm. Now that I am in the process of decorating my boys bedrooms I thought it would be nice touch to have a vintage map on the wall. And since they are both adopted from India it would be an even nicer touch to narrow the search to a vintage map of India...could be a challenge...

1. Emely Henderson 2. Apartment-therapy 3. Designsponge

Hopefully I´ll manage to find what I am looking for....without having to pay an arm or a leg! Any suggestions or ideas?

Have a lovely day
M

The search for spring

After long and frosty winter I can wait for the spring to come. Here in Iceland you never can be sure when winter is letting go and the spring time has started.

I captured some signs of spring in my own backyard, it is always a joy when you see them....

The poem is by a little girl called Caitrin, I think she is in the 3d grade. I found it on the internet when searching for spring inspiration and fell for the simplicity of it - a young poet in the making :)
Have a lovely evening
Knús
S

Gitte Brandt

There is something enchanting about Gitte Brandt´s paintings. The mild colors and naive style come together in very joyous paintings that would look good in the living room as well as in an art-oriented child´s bedroom.

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Gitte is a self-taught painter from Denmark. I like that about her, that she is self-taught -  that if you have a passion for something but don´t have the oppertunity to study it just learn it yourself. Anything is possible if you set your mind to it.

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I have been seeing her paintings more often in interior magazines but unfortunately not with my own eyes. With a big birthday coming up this fall maybe I should start hinting someone ;)

Check out her website if you want to see more of her work.
Wednesday today....which means two days till the weekend and easter vacation fast approaching...lovely!
o&o
M

Rie Elise Larsen

There is just something so cute about little flags all lined up on a string. The danish designer Rie Elise Larson shows us how to make some ourselves...super cute :)

Check out her website to see more of her designs.

Rie Elise Larsen

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M

Yellow monday

What was supposed to be a simple procedure of putting up new units ended up in having to paint the whole livingroom. The walls turned out to be rather bad...that´s what you get for loving candles ;)

Hope everything will be ready for easter. At least I have some yellow to put me in the right mood.

Hope your Monday is turning out nice.
o&o
M

Quiet Sunday...?

Not quite. At the moment my house is a complete mess and the boys are thrilled to play in the debris of the IKEA packaging - there are clearly many things you can do with cardboard paper.  We are in the midst of putting up a new unit in the living room...the first step in reorganizing the appartment and give the boys their separate bedrooms.

I am very excited about the change but unfortunately I have the "RIGHT-NOW!" syndrom, which shows itself in the form of massive impatience and wanting to decorate and finesse...before everything else is ready ;)

Number One saw so many possibilities in this and even made a sword for Number Two :)

An old icelandic saying, roughly translated: He who has no brother is naked on the back, or: your brother has your back

Well back to work, mustn´t let the husband slave away while I blog ;)
Have a nice sunday
M

Neon origami crane

There is a thing for neon going on these days and I can´t help but to like it - maybe it´s the old 80´s flare in me? - there is just something so fresh about these colors...if used in moderation that is ;)

I had a piece of paper in the most wonderful neon-coral color and decided to make an origami crane from it. Felt like the apartment could use a bit of a color splash.

I´ve had a thing for origami cranes for some time and I love the symbolic meaning for cranes. They  symbolise health, happiness, immortality and longevity. In Japan origami cranes are a popular gifts for f.e. new borns. It is also supposed to bring good luck to fold an origami crane and if you have folded 1000 cranes you will be granted a wish by a crane. I haven´t folded thousand cranes - but I´m getting there ;)

Here are some instructions if you want to have a go at making your own crane. The photos are not a complete  step by step instructions but just so you get the gist of it.

Follow these and you will be allright ;)

Good luck and if you have any questions about this just leave me a comment.
Happy friday!
M

Dairy free life

When my daughter was almost 5 months old we found out that she has a serious allergy to milk products.Because I was and still am breastfeeding her I have to live my live like I have the allergy as well. 

At first this was not easy, because I found out that so many food products contain milk products and some of the milk products have a name that I had never heard of before. To be sure not to eat any milk products I have started to make most of my own bread and cake, which is no so bad because I love baking :) Here is one of my favorite cake, I have mixed the recipe up from other recipes and put into it what I like dark chocolate and cinnamon - and it is totally dairy free.

Here is list I have one my refrigerator and have given a copy to the grandmothers:
Allergy for milk and all milk products list of words that can be used in food about milkproducts.

• Mjólk, milk, mælk, melk, mjölk

• Mjólkurduft, powder milk, mælkepulver, melkpulver

• Þurrmjólk, dry milk

• Undanrennuduft, skimmed milk powder

 Other word that can be named in the list of ingredients:

• Butter, carmel flavor, casein, caseinate, cheese, cream, curds, lactalbumin, milk

• „high protein flavor“ lactose, „natural flavoring“, rennet casein, solids, sour cream,

• Whey and yogurt.

Life without dairy doesn´t have to be so bad - you just have to be willing to try other things and make experiments with new ingredients :)

Enjoy your day!
S

Design March

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Hönnunarmars or Design March starts tomorrow and mAs is excited about all the cool stuff happening all over town. Icelandic design has been making its name in the last years and we have so many talented designers. Design March celebrates that and puts the spotlight on our designers this time every year. So if you are interested in (icelandic) design and happen to be in Iceland you should definately check it out.

Some of the events that intrigue us are f.e.:
KRADS - Playtime - A workshop designed by the Architechtures at KRADS in corporation with LEGO...fun to check out with your kids :)
Kronkron - show their spring- and summercollection.
Pop-up shop / Design forum - A selection of finnish design in Netagerðin
ATMO -  A collection of icelandic fashion designers gather in the 17 house on Laugarvegur.

And so much more....you can find the program here.

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Stáss

Volki

Design March on facebook.

Have a good day! The sun is shining, feels like spring could be near :)
o&o
M

The little things in life...

Enjoy your evening, we plan to :)
M

Little visitor and loads of pillows...

My little niece came with her mom for a visit and I just had to shoot some photos of her and some of the pillows I have been making. I´m on a mission to sew from all of (well most of) the fabric that has somehow ended up in my closet (?). My husband keeps teasing me about some fabric that I bought some years ago (back in ´98 to be exact!) and had all the intensions of sewing a jacket...the fabric is now tucked away in a box in our storage...biding its time ;)

So now I am on a roll...and at least four new pillows have been added to the sofa. I love the IKEA fabrics, love the patterns and colors, and also the Marimekko fabrics - and I happened to have fabrics from them to make two pillows. But I am very happy with the one with the diamond pattern. That one is made from a dish-towel from Ferm Living. And I think that is a great idea, if I do say so myself ;) ... if you see a beautifully patterned dish-towel...just use it for sewing pillows!

And yet again Friday has arrived. The week seems to consist of Mondays and Fridays... and I love fridays ;)
Have a great weekend
M

Cardamom Bread

This is my favorite bread, I got the recipe from my Kindergarten and I often bake it at home. This recipe is so easy to use and you can also make it into:

Pigs in a blanket
Croissants with ham and cheese
Cinnamon buns
Vínarbrauð (not sure about the english translation for that)

I will probable make some of this soon and show you how it works out. If you would like to get this recipe just send me a line :)

I let the dough rise in a bread machine

Ready to go into the oven

And ready to enjoy :)

Have nice evening 

knus og kram 
S

Meet Anton...

A new family member joined our little foursome. His name is Anton, he works in a circus...he is the strong guy. My little guy is very happy with Anton and my older one has demanded to get one too - but he will be named Fransesco (my older son´s own idea) and Fransesco is the acrobatic in the circus. Hopefully he will be born soon ;)

Anton is the result of a creative session this weekend. The idea was just to sew some cushions, wich we also did, but the idea of Anton was just suddenly there. It is amazing how much time it takes to get into the creative mood but once your there you just don´t want to stop. So the sewing machine is occupying the dining room table and there is fabric everywhere...but what the hey ;)

Hope you´ve had a good monday
M

Have you ever had this feeling?

 

Stumbled upon an old postcard with this writing on it - supposedly a graffiti found on a wall in London ca. 1980. Decided to make a print out of it - kinda rings true doesn´t it? We want to grow up so quickly but then we wish we were young again.

A bit too philosophical for a nice Sunday? I am enjoying my Sunday with my three men - baking biscuits and making nut snacks - the brothers fighting and being cosy to each other every five minute - and my sister S heading over for a creativity session = good day in the making :)

Hope you are having a lovely Sunday

o&o

M

Friday findings

My little wishlist - things I want but don´t need...but want all the same. Just wanted to share with you some of the lovely things that have crossed my internetsurfing-path ;)

Weekend ahead with lots of fun stuff to do, lovely people to see...hope yours is going to be wonderful too.
o&o

M

photos via:

Thief & Bandit
happy deliveries
Monki
Donna Wilson
Rice
Ferm Living
topshop
Beklina

Cleaning time…

What is better to do in March when you have sick baby at home and the weather takes turns in snowing and raining, than to clean your closets. Yeah my favorite thing to do :) I have lots of things in my closets, for example old clothes that I’m always hoping to fit in to again or I have liked the fabric so I meant to make something out of them and lots of yarn that somehow has built up in my closet. So my theme in March is to make something out of my fabric and try to knit as much as I can out of all my old yarn, I know I can´t do it all in just one month but at least this month I will start... and hopefully I can show you all the outcome soon...

Það er kominn tími til að taka hressilega til í skápunum hjá mér, það hefur safnast þar heilmikið af garni og efni.  Svo núna ætla ég að nýta tímann í mars til að taka til í skápum og reyna að gera eitthvað skemmtilegt úr því sem ég finn þar, vonandi get ég sýnt afraksturinn af prjóna- og saumaskap hérna á síðunni fljótlega.

On this site they give advise about how to clean your closet

 Here is good example of  Before and after closet

enjoy your evening S

Home sweet home...

...the only problem is that you might never want to stop reading ;) It certainly can be difficult to kiss the sun goodbye and face the grey winter again. But...the spring is near and the countdown has begun.