Inspiration in the tub

I consider myself a happy person. Most of the time. While I'm desperately waiting for several things to be finally over, I'm checking on that Alvhem site quite often - and always make myself tea as soon as I discover new pictures there (which means - Frau Mayer is going to intensify the pleasure :). Today was such day again...

Me+laptop+tub+this flat:

 

There are so many elements I'm loving here: the art wall, the sheepskin on the pristine white floor (too scandi to be anything else), the shelves in the background, that A (WHERE do people find such letters?) + Kusmi tins on them, my favorite flowers on the coffee table... And the colourful Eames chairs!

 

Those shelves are too lovely not to do a close-up! Mmmh... What have we here? Beautiful cookbooks, vintage scales + botanical postcards arranged in a frame (guess who has recently purchased two deliriously beautiful botanical postcards. Well, it might be Frau Müller the Cat but ...) Ikea lamp, got you! 

What makes me feel a bit better is the fact that my coffee machine is cooler. But that's about it. 

Yes, they have a little vintage table here. And some cushions on the floor. Lovely. Ebay's been mean to me recently - no good tables out there. But it will change, I'm pretty sure! And then I'll post pictures so that Nadine can be proud of me :)

See that sofa? As for me, I do it all the time - in every second scandi blog I visit. I wonder if it has a name... 

And there's something about those white Ikea picture boards/shelves that makes me want to have loads and loads of them as I've already accumulated enough artwork to fill at least seven!

Don't you want to steal all kinds of scandi ideas when you see such flats? I certainly do! 

Objects of desire: Cavallini

I've spent ages recently looking for this calendar by Cavallini&Co:

 

It's called Flora and Fauna and it's sold out EVERYWHERE in the world but some shop in Florida that hasn't answered my request yet. The German distributors aren't worth mentioning, it took them more than a week to process my order and in the end all the calendars I ordered were suddenly "not available" (though listed on their webpage).

Any hints/advice on Cavallini calendars are welcome here. You may even stop lurking! 

I wonder why a company producing such wonders doesn't care enough to get itself decent distributors. I guess the calendar's gone now. Can't imagine finding it offline anywhere in Germany although I did come across this set of cards which was mercilessly purchased the moment I saw it:

Happy Cats II

 

THIS is going to arrive soon. The Happy Cats are tired of Winter - and are looking forward to Spring! Just like me :) I'm so happy I got to know Dasha and her talent. Hope one day she'll start selling these bundles of positive energy on etsy. So far, this post is your chance to tell her these pictures are wonderful! 

Esplanade - probably the loveliest store in Lower Saxony

As I spent Friday driving around Hamburg like a total madwoman and spontaneously went back to Hannover in the evening instead of shaking the stress off at a salsa party, I only managed to get to this wonderful place on Saturday - 10 minutes prior to its closing-time. Fine! I also didn't have my fancy camera with me so the pics are lousy, too - but here's a little store tour for you, my dear non-existent readers!

Of course, the place is in the List district. Where else? It's chock full with Pip, Greengate, Rice and Co (take any shabby blog and find tons of these thingies there!)  - and sometimes I give in to the temptation, too. This time two wonderful coffee cups and saucers as well as two mugs (yes, they were Pip, spring-sky-blue AND beautiful) kind of jumped into the bag. They'll look especially good displayed next to some simple Ikea bowls in a matching tone of blue.

See? They're on your right!

Greengate! Let's drool :) Next temptation I'm going to give in to is getting myself a couple of blue bowls with white dots ON them and planting something IN them (I know that everybody does it but isn't blogging all about being inspired by other people's ideas?

Mmmh! Love the pillows :) Oh, and see the little cabinet next to the lamps? I've recently found a similar wooden one and I'm going to use it as my first victim-to-paint!

Waiting for a similar table to appear on eBay! Those legs....

 

 Due to the über-lousy quality of the picture you can't really see how gorgeous this old painted wardrobe actually is. Well, think 1000 times more gorgeous and you'll be close!

All right, that's it for now, there's a couple more pics at my Flickr account so help yourself and I'll be signing off in order to have some fun with tuna steaks and beans (been eating in a better way for a while and it's paying off!) 

Freedom is so near or Happy Cats

Today is a very special day for Frau Mayer ( not for the cat, though, cause it's REALLY cold outside so she can't use her bed on the window sill any more and is currently using my duvet)  - although not everything went quite as she wanted it to be, from today on she is going to finally finally finally have more time for herself. Just like these happy cats created by the most talented Dasha a girl I'd never met but known online for ages.

I've made a long list of things that need to be done and totally loved it! I'll start with cleaning, making doctor's appointments and sorting things out and slowly but surely I'll get to:

1. Selling all the things I don't need any more. Yes, including that cross trainer. And the mags.
2. Going through my huge mag collection and deciding what stays and what goes.
3. Decluttering the basement. One can hardly move there - and I'm not lying, I tripped on some unknown object yesterday while searching for something in one of the endless boxes. This process will also include some wonderful moments  - for instance, sorting my art!
4. Doing sports! Probably not today, though, because it's about -15 degrees outside and I hate the very thought of driving to the gym. Also, I've just eaten an organic chocolate cookie :) A wellness day might be a good idea for a smooth comeback, though.
5. Finding a new tenant for my place. Don't wanna paint!
6. Reading + doing some holiday planing. Haven't been on the road for a VERY long time.
7. Shopping for all those necessary thing: camera bag, new printer+scanner etc.

I guess, 7 is a wonderful number so let's call it a day and look at some more lovely pictures! I wish Dasha would draw a happy cats picture for me one day...

The last picture is my all-times-favorite! I wish I could draw.... 

Dreaming of freedom

Right now I shouldn't even be online. I should be working like hell. On my drafts, on my lesson ideas, on whatever.
However, I am online and I'm typing this post. Damn tired of being under pressure all the time. Damn tired of drafts, drafts, drafts. I haven't had time - and nerves - for being creative without having a terrible conscience for ages. Let's think of something really good, for instance, about porcelain (a really fresh and new topic on this useless blog)! What am I going to buy myself as soon as I get to London - or maybe even the States? Right you are, I'll be heading to Anthropologie that Sarah has been musing about so much lately.
I do have a little wish list. Number 1 on it is clearly this mug.

To be honest, I'd love to have at least three. An A, a K and a V to start with. Let's hope Anthro won't discontinue them before I get to a store (shipping is 40 damn euros! For three mugs 4,44 euros each!)
Great, productive weekend to everyone reading this entry.
Or a great, relaxing one which is even better but not the case here.

Visualizing wishes

There's a lot being told about visualizing one's wishes in order to help them come true.
I have never been really serious about it - and should probably give it a try.
Let's start with porcelain!

I can recall endless hours spent reading and re-reading, re-re-reading and re-re-re-reading this book. At a certain point I even started biting little pieces off the pages, probably trying to swallow a part of that magical world. Mumins are the best possible creatures ever and I still love them all dearly!

And this is Mumin Troll himself! 

And these are Hattifnaten, those weird electrical creatures who always travel in groups and never say anything.

Oh, so many childhood memories... I would love to have the entire collection - but a couple of them actually costs a small fortune (which is why I need to visualize those :)

And now back to the more realistic items. I know that nowadays almost everyone who's a bit into Scandi style possesses some Greengate items. And I know I never really liked polka dots. However, I was thinking of adding some blue to my future kitchen (right now it's down to all possible tones of yellow+green) and I guess these would be just perfect for planting some future victims of mine:

Well, green will not be forgotten, for sure!

I'll be modest and call it a day - and there's another draft waiting to be written.

See ya none, dear noones!