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Get off the cross we need the wood

About Me

Maybe-not-really-20-something-anymore from Norway who likes to scrapbook and take photos documentarystyle and dreams of photojournalism when not working as a photojournalist and that's pretty much what this blog is about. And I like it this way.



My Scrapbooking

Been scrapbooking since late fall 2005. Currently fortunate enough to be a part of the design teams for Hambly Screenprints, Fancy Pants Designs and Pencil-Lines. ♥



2/2

~~ Do you see the smileys? ~~

Posted by Ania On Thursday, October 28, 2010 5 lovely comments

aniacard

It might seem like I’ve become obsessed with cards and Pink Paislee lately. For week two of the PageMaps challenges over at the Aussie Scrap Source-blog, I only managed to sneak in this card created w/a mix of the Sweetness and Parisan Anthology collections.

6a00d8345570e869e20133f5647657970b

This is the sketch by the way – for the squares I just sewed the pattern on.

aniacard_cu1

Love this clustered mix – all pretty much from the lovely Parisan Anthology-collection (ribbon, paperbits and bling) mixed w/ornaments and a sweetness-badge.

aniacard_cu2

This is how it looks inside by the way.

admitone

I don’t create cards only. I scrap layouts too. Like these photos from one of the Toy Story-movies we watched in 3d earlier this fall (we got to watch all 1,2 and ofcourse 3 movies in 3d. At least the kids & hubby did, I actually only joined for 1)

I used Crate Paper’s School Spirit for this one.

admitone_cu1

I totally forgot to save the tickets from the theatre (don’t you hate it when stuff is like, floating all over and messing up and like, everywhere when you don’t need them, yet when it’s time to actually USE them they’re mysteriously…gone….I found these in the newly washed pants…).

Nevertheless….I remember when a ticket cost 45 NOK when I was young (bit unsure if I do recall or just think it must have been 40nok before that). These days it cost between 90-100 NOK, so figured it’d be fun to document that bit of info too.

admitone_cu2

I love the dimensional chipboards from Crate Paper, and I figured it’d be especially perfect on a page about 3d Smile

Huh. Look at that. A smiley. As a graphical icon. Do you see it?
(I’m using Windows Live Writer for most of my blogposts, and it recently got upgraded..apparently the upgrade means icons are now available).

Smile with tongue outSmileWinking smile Open-mouthed smile
Hm. I don’t know if I like them or not. I think I prefer the plain txt-versions, not the icons – it sort of doesn’t fit into a blogpost. Or does it? Hm!

mo9ca Said,

10:15 PM

Oh My.... Denne var bare råbra!! Digger det du har gjort med mønsterarket og sømmen og rivingen imellom!! Og mønsterarket var jo noe helt for seg selv... *sikle*
-og denne bringer tilbake gooode minner fra Papirfesten... Godt dere fikk tak i Cola til Rommet - så dere kunne gå en tur på rommet og kose dere med Rommet... hehe!! Neste gang blir jeg også med :) Kule bilder og kult oppsett!! KUUULT!!
*klem*

Ja, det håper jeg virkelig! Open-mouthed smile

Eli Said,

7:47 AM

Arsenic *fnis* De gamle er eldst sier bare jeg og så legger jeg den saken der død tenker jeg; før du blir FOR lei ;P Knallkul layout og Yey for rom på rommet!!

THANK YOU! Nå har jeg det skriftlig!

Grylla Said,

10:13 AM

Så kul. Digget den revne kanten rundt.
Gøy med rom på rommet, skal vi ta en reprise i slutten av november eller? *knis*

Ja, nå er jeg blitt eldre (aka klokere) og! Smile with tongue out


5 lovely comments

~~ Skal bare… ~~

Posted by Ania On Tuesday, October 26, 2010 8 lovely comments

skalbare You know, the Hocus Pocus line from Pink Paislee, which’s Halloween-themed, aren’t for Halloween-only (just check out Danielle’s gorgeous Christmas-cards!). It’s also good for when creating reminders about why too much of certain things might not be too good for oneself. Just sayin’

Feel free to check out my Pink Paislee-post to check out the sketch this was based on (from Pagemaps :) ).

skalbare_cu1

Love the clear cards – had a leftover I decided to use here :p skalbare_cu2

It’s been a while since I did a this distressed layout :) skalbare_cu3

Also got to use some leftover-rubons, from the Bayberry-collection :) skalbare_cu4

More skulls… skalbare_cu5 Huh. I think I’m seeing a theme here. *cough*


;)

 

Ellen* Said,

11:31 AM

Åh - du lager altså så utrolig lekre og kule ting!! Alltid! Jeg digger den border-punchen - den var helt utrolig kul! Men er det enkelt å få det så fint i hjørnene?? Og så var det danse-sjelettet kult! Sånt vil jeg ha!:o)

Oh yeah – love the double loop-punch from Martha Stewart. It’s easier than I thought to do a smooth punch around the corners, although I sometimes cut too much from one side – but it doesn’t seem to be that noticeable when I do.

Eli Said,

12:31 PM

Hihi - jeg utfordrer deg til å komme innom her en dag og prøve. Tøffa! ;)

 

WILLDO! Eh :p

Maren Said,

2:10 PM

Omg. Den borderpunchen gav meg lyst til å scrappe igjen. Wooow. :D

Christine Said,

4:26 PM

ååååååh, den borderpunchen der altså! DROOOOOOOOL! Jeg som ikke scrapper lenger engang og greier!

GO FOR IT!!!!!! Scrap again pleaseeee :)

~Sasha Farina~ Said,

10:52 AM

i still want a kinder bueno :P

Shush, woman! ;D

Brenda Hurd Said,

7:09 PM

wow, wish i had your energy, and craftiness, lots of projects and all super cute!!!

I don’t really feel like having lots of energy, but thanks anyways :)

 

This week shapes up to low level of scrappiness due to some school- & workrelated stuff (and the looming cold/flu lurking around me trying to trap me), but I’ll be back with a vengeance this weekend. I hope :)

 

Oh, edited to add – forgot to mention this, duh!1

designteamsearch-large

Elle’s Studio is looking for 8 new designers for the term Jan-June 2011! If you love her tags and products I’d suggest you go here to look at what you need to do then send in your application asap! :)


8 lovely comments

~~ Maybe I’ll come down ~~

Posted by Ania On Friday, October 22, 2010 10 lovely comments

Here’s a few more random challenges I’ve joined lately:

card1A birthdaycard created w/Pink Paislee’s Sweetness. (The challenge can be seen here)

card1_cu1

I purchased a few packages of bakers twine on etsy…loves :) card1_cu2

This bling is a part of the House of Three collaboration with Pink Paislee called Parisan Anthology. The whole collection is lovely.. card1_cu3

I love this borderpunch (from Martha Stewart) !card1_insideI also embellished the insides w/the cornerpunches and some rubons from Sweetness :)

anadored This layout was for the same challenge as well. Sketch by Becky Fleck. I used Pink Paislee’s Cupid-collection for this one combined w/Hambly Screenprints :) And I love my necklace – more so because I know my kids loves it too – Adrian’s proud when I’m wearing it, while Amalie keeps asking to “open the book” so she can point out that there’s her, and there’s Adrian…

anadored_cu1 I like how the black Hambly rubons beneath the letters really make this layout methinks. anadored_cu3 And I love the flip notes (Here: from Sweetness)...!

bookmark2 Simply Handmade Blog hosted a challenge about Halloween-tags. Figured I’d join, creating spooky bookmarks for my kids :P Here: Pink Paislee’s Hocus Pocus-line..

bookmark1 Still Pink Paislee’s Hocus Pocus-line

halloween_tag And finally – one w/Hambly Screenprints-stuff :)

On to the comments:

HegeAL Said,

4:34 PM

Oi..var hvitt på vestlandet ja gitt. Her er det kaldt, men ingen snø enda.
Digger forresten Loen i forrige innlegg *lol* Vi er nok ikke 19 lengre nei. MErker at 30 tallet nærmer seg farlig fort :-P
Ha ei god helg, Ania!!
-klem-

Lula Said,

6:36 AM

Vi hadde lett snøfall her igår kveld, men det la seg ikke. Jeg ELSKER snø jeg da, så håper iallefall det blir hvit jul:) De bollene dine så fantastisk fristende ut! Loen under her kjenner jeg meg igjen i gitt hihi. Nå er jeg blitt litt uti 30 årene, egentlig nærmere 40 (huff!!). Du er fortsatt helt rå på å kombinere ark, slik at de passer sammen. Takk for masse inspirasjon Ania:)
Ha en flott helg der borte på vestlandet:))

Glad jeg ikke er den eneste som ikke er 19 lenger…ellerno….;p (takk for fine ord ;D)

Eli Said,

4:44 PM

Mmm - deilig bakst :) Men BT har ikke rett; om de ikke tenker bare Bergen da. Her ute har det snødd tidliger enn dette i oktober for det husker jeg veldig godt. Det var nemlig den 19 og det var en lørdag, så det er noen år siden, og ei venninne av meg skulle gifte seg og ble LITT overrasket over det voldsomme snøfallet ;) Snø er fint det - men kunne godt ha latt vente litt på seg. Snø er fint om vinteren; og helst oppe i fjellet så man kan bestemme selv om man vil besøke den. Men sånn som vi hadde det i de første mnd i år var veldig greit. Januar ble en lys og fin mnd i forhold til hva det pleier å være :) Flinke deg som skifter dekk sjøl; hvorfor skal ikke vi damer gjøre det likså godt som en mann? Jeg har et problem; SUV-dekkene er litt tunge! Skiftet på gamlebilen men denne klarer jeg ikke. Godt man vet hvordan en telefon virker og kan få noen til å hjelpe seg ;)
Dekkskiftebildet er skikkelig kult! Godt jobba Adrian :):)
Klem

Sånn er det med de store avisene; det er storbyene som teller, ikke grisgrendte strøk ;p Og ja, fliiinke Adrian og ikke minst, FLINKE MEG! :D

Ps. Tunge SUV dekk? Pffft…unnskyldinger ;p

Maren Said,

2:38 PM

Digger layouten! Og kortet var superfiiint. :]
Snø. :( :( : Godt å se at det ikke er bare jeg som ikke er happy for snøen!

Vet du, nå gleder jeg meg litt til Amalie kommer hjem for hun vil fortsette lage snøhuler og sånn i hagen…og jeg må finne ut hvor skiskoene ble av..så lenge jeg kan være inne og kikke/ta bilder ut vinduet :P (men altså, det verste med vinteren er jo de enorme temperaturforskjellene – ute vs inne i en fullstappa buss, feks…

 

pattyo Said,

1:01 AM

I am envious that you have snow already! I am a winter season person (probably not a lot of us around!). The buns look delicious. I wish there was an English translation.

Winter season person! So these people really do exist! :p

I could give it a try I guess, it’s really worth the time!

 

Chocolate buns (original Norwegian recipe here, go there to see the step-by-step images :) )

900-1000 g flour
5dl milk (approx 30 degree Celsius)

25-50 g baker’s yeast (25 if you’re able to leave the dough for 1.5-2 or more hours, 50g if only one hour)

150g sugar (white refined)

2 ts grounded cardamom

(I also added some vanilla, I’m addicted to adding vanilla to anything sweet)

1/4 ts salt

1egg

approx 150 g diced butter

Mix the above together, apart from the butter (use a kitchen aid or similar on slow speed for approx 10-15 minutes). When smooth, add the diced butter and mix for another 10 minutes or until all the butter is absorbed in the dough. Cover with plastic and let it ferment (sp?) for at least 1 – 1,5 hour, preferably a little longer if you’re able to.

 

The fill:
1,5 tbl baking cocoa powder

3 tbl sugar

soft butter

50g plate of dark chocolate, finely chopped

 

Mix the cocoa and sugar and chop the chocolate. When the dough is ready, roll it out into a large rectangle and apply softened butter to half the rectangle. Add the cocoa/sugar and chocolate and cover the filled side with the non-filled one. Roll it lightly before cutting into strips and wrapping them into the buns (I’d suggest looking at the images on the original blog as the images explains it so much better :) )

 

Let the buns double in size, apply beaten egg on the surface and bake at approx 225 degrees Celsius (437 F) for about 10-15 minutes. Because all ovens are slightly different when it comes to actual heat it’s advised to watch the buns the last minutes to determine when to take them out :)

Hmmm I think that’s it – let me know of corrections and stuff please :)

 

TGIF – AND HOORAY (NOT) FOR INTERNATIONAL CAPSLOCK DAY! :p

 

Title: “A few small bruises” – Maria Mena


10 lovely comments

~~ White October ~~

Posted by Ania On Thursday, October 21, 2010 10 lovely comments

I think I read in BT that it hasn’t been this early snow since 1975 or something like that. Sure, the forecast did warn about snow incoming on Weds, but in my brain that didn’t really compute; it’s too early! :p

Nevertheless. When the view outside your window looks like this:

DSC_5916Then it’s definitely time to do this:

DSC_5886And when your kiddo in addition is at home because he’s sick, then you definitely bake this:

DSC_5908

 

A few things to note:

  • Yes, I changed the tires all on my own *flex* (you’re welcome to say how good a girl I am thankyouverymuch)
  • I’m a manual kinda gal when it comes to shooting. Yet, when leaving the camera to others, I usually put it to Aperture or Shutter-priority (if I’m worried about camera shake). This time I did Aperture-priority and look at this picture my kiddo snapped! I love it, and if I was shooting I would probably not have thought of snapping the motion of the wheels being moved like that – I’d be too worried about sharpness and stuff. Which brings me back to what I’ve been pondering and discussing with some friends earlier – are we missing out on cool possibilities because we’re too afraid to leave the thinking to the camera and rather want to go through trial&error w/manual settings? I mean c’mon – the cameras are like, smarter and better for every new generation, why should we not trust it every once in a while? When I first got my DSLR, I first shot program-mode, then moved on to aperture-mode (occasionally shutter-mode, but mainly aperture) then finally plunged into manual – and haven’t looked back. Thing is, as seen and realized here, I am too focused on doing my best to create tack-sharp and preferably bright images, rarely delving in creating images with motion, which can tell a story just as good or even better than a sharp one. I need to start include motion more in my pictures methinks. This makes me wonder if I should let go of the control-freak in me and just play and go with the flow and learn and be reminded of other perspectives from the other modes. Same thing w/focusing, I’m using single point AF but thinking I should dare test how good dynamic/auto-area AF is...but it’s like, when I mess up the focusing then at least I can go “mkay that one’s on me”, having that as a constant reminder to not slack and keep practising/upholding my skills, instead of cursing at the camera for picking the wrong focus for me….??

  • Um, this is, hands down, the BEST recipe ever on chocolate-buns! Can’t wait to do cinnamon/sugar/almonds or just plain buns w/this one!! (Found it via Ellen’s blog) I mean, I believe I’m pretty good at baking, but this one really really ….yum!

  • Aussie Scrap Source has a challenge going on and I’ve entered it – if you would like to, feel free to drop by, have a look at which layouts/cards you like and vote for the ones you think are best.


10 lovely comments

~~ Did it just snow?? ~~

Posted by Ania On Wednesday, October 20, 2010 3 lovely comments

Um I think it did. Ugh!

I hate freezing. I hate sweating. Why can’t the weather be a nice, comfortable & constant in-between? :p

But I digress.

I’m just gonna share my Elle’s Studio-projects for October (check out the other ladies’ galleries here!)..I’ve already shared my Halloween-stuff for the ongoing Halloween-challenge over at Elle’s Studio (enter before Oct 25 for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the store!), so here’s the rest:

crap_web Guess what I found when I was attempting to clean up my paper-stash! BAMPOP! This paper of theirs were one of their cutest imo, which explains why it’s been saved for all these years.. but as with the Basic Grey papers in the other post, I decided it’s now or never. Brought the paper with me to Papirfesten and found a way to use it, yay :) The fun-shapes tags used here must be my favorite with Elle’s Studio – at least they are what I consider Elle’s Studio’s trademark-tags, which made me fall in love with her style and designs long ago.

crap_cu1_web

It’s another of these “oh-high-heeled-boots-I-love-thee-but-must-realize-I’m-now-old-and-goes-for-comfort-these-days-woe-is-me”-layouts of mine. Look at that heart badge – I love it! It’s from Pink Paislee :)crap_cu2_web

While at Papirfesten I found two new loves: White chalk glimmer mist (it’s amazingly opaque & cool – look at the splotches on the tag and the letters…cool, eh) and these thicker-letters from American Craft (fantastic is the name I think). Cool, neutralish font & perfect size! The white ones can be misted in any color too, yay. This number-tag comes from one of my faves from the new stuff from Elle’s Studio, Mix and Match Vintage Number Tags, and counts 1-31. crap_cu3_web See that twine? I stole borrowed some from my neighbours at the crop. I need some of these of my own!

babycard_web

Remember the babypicturs of Lykke?

I wanted to wrap the CD with the pictures in something just as sweet as her..*wink wink*

Enter this combo: Pink Paislee’s Sweetness, transparencies from Hambly Screenprints and tags from Elle’s Studio :)babycard_back_web

Opted for a brad-closure at the back… babycard_cu1_web

Three – because Lykke is the third child :) (hey look, lovely metal-badge!) babycard_cu2_web Gotta love Hambly Screenprint-transparencies – used both the white doily one for the background, and this cute little baby tee as an accessory.

card_web A little while ago I wanted to thank my friends for joining me at a night-shoot, so I created this card for them. Rub-on and transparency from Hambly Screenprints, paper from Fancy Pants Designs and tags from, duh :p

card_cu_web

I like the effect rubbing the rub-on this circle tag gave. card_open_web Inside was a set of these lovely magnets from Carambatack Design.

 

Being part of design teams has its perks (no, really :p).

Thanks to Elle’s Designs (and I believe, also via Fancy Pants Designs at an earlier point), Helmar adhesives were so kind to send us samples of their adhesives, and my favorite is the unique scrap dots tube. It sort of reminds me of the kind of siliconetubes you do your bathroom tiles with (I have no idea what it’s called in English), but the tube states it’s acid free which’s good to know because, uh, you wouldn’t know when reading the precautions on the tube :p

Nevertheless, it’s like a 3 dimensional glue dot, only in tubeform which allows you to decide how much and how dimensional your stuff will be..and since I find it to be pretty unique and I really like this one, I figured I’d share it with you..

helmar

I’ve been using it a lot lately (eps as I’ve run outta 3d glue dots, grumble), and I find that it fits my style of scrapping because I often leave my projects overnight..so I don’t really know how long it takes for it to dry… (I guess that would be a drawback if you’re an impatient scrapper)

ania_sketch_cu1  But when it does, it’s sturdy!helmar2 And it dies clear, which is great for projects with transparencies and stuff :) Me like!

 

I think that’s it..

oh, I’m no longer a part of the Fancy Pants Designs team, which makes me ambivalent – I’m sad but also happy for the new team – two years on the same team is a long time (yet doesn’t feel like it), so while I would have loved to stay on the team, I really wasn’t that disappointed when I learned I wouldn’t continue to contribute to the DT because I also realize that after two years it’s time to let go… I’ve had a wonderful time, every time the boxes have arrived has been like mini-Christmases (when isn’t when DT boxes arrive? :p) – thank you so much for the chance I’ve had the past two years to showcase your products, Fancy Pants team!! I’ve always have fond memories and I wouldn’t say no if you wanted be back in the future *wink wink* ;)


3 lovely comments

~~ My Pencil-Lines Cards ~~

Posted by Ania On Sunday, October 17, 2010 5 lovely comments

As previously mentioned, Pencil-Lines is celebrating its 4th birthday and here’s my contribution:
I chose sketch #125 and created two cards:

ania209One: Made with Hambly transparency & kraft stickers and tags from Elle’s Studio.

ania209_2 Two: Made with Pink Paislee’s Sweetness scraps and tags from Elle’s Studio.

6a00d8341cae8753ef0133f51d0b95970b

Do join – for my challenge you can win papers from 3ndypapir :)


5 lovely comments
    -Get off the cross we need the wood-