thrifting

I bought this dress from Primark exactly three years ago whilst living in London, I really liked it.
Unfortunately it did not survive more then 2 washes.
For some reason I kept it and it has been moving with me to two different countries sense that second wash. But when out thrifting a couple of weeks ago I found the perfect pleated vintage skirt to have on top.

LOVE

listen to this

"Mr F. Fox dreams of moving to Paris, he wants to cook, he want to study art and see the Eiffel Tower at midnight. Mr F. Fox is one of those who escaped from Central Park Zoo, a cold and misty November morning a couple of years ago. He has an expensive taste in fine jewelry and champagne. He comes out at night as the park closes and if you are lucky you might catch a glimpse of him up by 68th to 71st street"

All my latest illustrations comes with a story, this story above is from the illustration I´m working on at the moment.

I have been doing illustrations for some time now... I have been working mainly with my hand drawn sketches in "Photoshop" and "Illustrator" to make them with a glossy finish (you can check them out if you want to in my Showcase).

Right now I´m doing my Illustrations only by hand using pencils and a dash of watercolors.

My private illustrations is lifestyle based, inspired from fashion, art, vintage, places I have been, people I have met, my dreams and thoughts.

They are some times very personal, for me, maybe not visible for the naked eye, I think that is why I have a hard time sharing them and have a hard time finishing them. But sense this is the beginning of something new for me, with a new city, new people, new country and new home... I have decided it is time.

Soon you will meet Mr. F. Fox!

LOVE

corners of my home...

Me and my family have moved a lot in the past years, but now I´m finally having a feeling that we will stay put for a while. We have lived in our new-place-new city-new-country- for little over 2 months now... and I´m really enjoying myself.
Our home is filled with everything from vintage, quirky one-of-a-kinds, homemade and minimalist pieces.
I always tend to move our home decor around so I find myself getting new favorites every week.


Here you have a sneak peek from our home and what seems to be my favorite things at the moment:

This lamp is over 50 years old and still going strong, just love it!

I have had this, what actually is a teapot, made in to a flowerpot (I really don´t drink much tea). And I also have a hard time giving up freshly cut flowers, as you can see

Took a little bit of the garden inside yesterday and placed it in a big old milk bottle

I love jewelry, don´t you!?

A frame from last weekends flea market hunt, a tiny project, the frame will contain one of my illustrations. The origami cranes I made myself (the only origami folding I can handle, but they are cute)

Bought this Lucky Cat in China once, and I couldn't imagine our home without it

 I love globes, I which a had a bunch more, this one is from my grandparents and the dancing Hawaiian girl is actually a souvenir from a Maui vaccination

I have a lot of boxes, big boxes, small boxes, round boxes... They are great for storage and pretty to look at 

A tiny tiny little porslin rabbit, this is also a souvenir (BIG chock), we spent a weekend in Riga and this little guy just had to come home with me, he fitted in my pocket, very handy

Children's shoes, also bought in China, I have a pair of red and blue once as well. They are so darn cute, but I  still don´t know if the children actually suppose to wear them or if they are for decorative use only!? Do anyone know?

LOVE

Spring

This is our first "winter-turns-to-spring" in Scandinavia in 9 years... and I have been sick and tired of the cold, the snow, the ice and the darkness.
But finally there is a small hope for spring, I have brought my spring shoes down from the attic and also bought a pair of new vintage loafers, my feet are all set!

(1.Office 2.Swedish Hasbeens 3.Vintage)

A lot of  nude to brown shades, but that is how I like it!

LOVE

how we made our macaroons...

Ok, as I said before this is not our first attempt making macaroons, it is a bit difficult, but with some patience it actually worked in the end and I´m more than happy with our result.
I have collected macaroon recipes for years and they all seem to be different.
But here is the one that we finally did, with some moderation:


We used (in the beginning) 90 grams of egg whites, which in our case was 3 eggs.
We later when realizing the batter was to thick added an extra less beaten up egg (there is probably a Frenchman turning in his grave when I write this, but hey, it worked).
125 grams of ground almonds or almond flour
125 grams of icing sugar  
25 grams unsweetened cocoa powder
125 grams of caster sugar (superfine sugar) divided into two equal portions


We used the directions from Choco Paris which follows like below (but what we made diffrent was to heat the owen up to 170 degrees C and once the macaroons where in the owen we turned it down to a 150 degrees C and checking on them two or three times and ended up adding three minutes to the time spent in the owen).
Finally, for the filling we used Nugatti Air sandwich spread (and there you have yet another Frenchman turning in his grave)

1. Pulse the almond powder, icing sugar and cocoa powder in a food processor just until a fine powder is obtained. Then sift the mixture into a large bowl. If using almond flour, you may simply sift the almond flour and icing sugar together.
2. Place the egg whites in a bowl and add half of the caster sugar. Begin beating the whites and sugar at low-medium speed. After 2 minutes, when the mixture starts to rise and holds its shape, increase the mixer speed. Continue beating at medium speed until firm peaks are obtained. Add the rest of the caster sugar and beat until all the sugar is dissolved.
3. Transfer the beaten egg whites to a larger bowl (if necesssary) and add all of the almond powder mixture. Using a spatula, gently fold the mixture until the dry ingredients are completely incorporated, taking care not to overmix. The batter should be smooth and glossy and have a lava-like consistency. It should form a ribbon when dripped from the spatula.
4. Line two baking trays with parchment paper. Fill a large pastry bag half full with batter and, using a 2-cm (1/2 inch) tip, vertically pipe the mixture into small mounds about the size of walnuts. The batter should be fluid enough that the macarons slowly flatten themselves out. Tap the trays against a hard surface a couple of times to remove any air bubbles.
5. Allow to the macarons to sit for 20 to 30 minutes until a “skin” forms and they are no longer wet when lightly touched.
6. Bake at 160 degrees C (325 degrees F) for 12 to 14 minutes. Shells should be smooth and shiny, with the characteristic “foot” or ridge underneath. You can tell when they’re done by very lightly tapping the side with a knife or fork. The macaron top should not slide but remain firmly on its foot.
7. Remove macarons from the oven. Cool for a few moments and remove with a lifter. They should come off easily.

GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR MACAROONS!


LOVE

Macaroons

We have been baking some chocolate macaroons (the delightful french cookie)  this weekend... with a magnificent result, I have to share our success tomorrow!
It´s our third time attempting to master the macaroon, and I felt if we still failed this time around I would never try to make them again!
But they turned out so good that we will actually try to make some pink raspberry macaroons tomorrow afternoon.


Love

a tiny DIY followup...

Our DIY "mini grass terrarium" after a little more then a week... it was fun!


LOVE