Pretty Swedish Blogs...

Green with envy for THESE girls actually, there are just too many! I think there are a lot of pretty Swedish bloggers... here are a few of my favorites...

Emily Dahl. Her gorgeous strawberry blond locks and doe eyes are just too pretty, plus she takes lots of dreamy photos of vacations and simple everyday things and moments.

Emma Sundh. To get your daily dose of glamorous vintage dresses and housewares.

Sandra Beijer. Oh just because she is so dang cute... plus she lives in NYC so that gives her major cool points. hehe

Elsa Billgren. There is just something about red heads and girls who adore oysters.

Enjoy! (There are quite a few more, you can find them in the 'Blogs I heart' list to the left, if you'd like.)

Happy Mondays! and Recipe!

It doesn't feel like Monday today, which is good I suppose, because Mondays aren't my favorite. But today I have major energy (I was majorly lacking energy last week, blah) and I have tons of fun new projects to work on and a few nice ones to finish up!

Once in a while my American roots crave some real sticky bbq goodness. On Saturday we satisfied this craving with some huge savory sticky ribs, home fries, zucchini salad, and super expensive imported American BBQ sauce, hahaha (can't believe I spent 9 dollars on a bottle, outrageous!) and enjoyed a glass of red too. yum!





Sticky Ribs:
I prefer to par-boil my ribs instead of slow cooking them in the oven on low temperature to insure they become gorgeously tender and stay juicy, not dry. Boiled them in water seasoned with salt of course but also bay leaves, garlic, onion, and whole black peppar corns for 2 whole hours. Once tender they got a slathering of sticky sauce and were thrown under the grill setting in the oven at 200 celsius for about 15  minutes on both sides, so the sauce gets gorgeously caramelized. Ribs are like meat candy!

Home Fries:
Cut large potatoes into wedges, slather on a good coating of oil, sprinkle with salt and peppar. I make sure to align all of the wedges with the skin side down to ensure they are cooked evenly and so that they don't get stuck to the pan, they all get perfectly golden and delicious this way. I also bake them with the fan setting on the oven at 175 celsius so they are crispy on the outside and super soft on the inside. When potatoes are made like this, it is difficult to stop yourself from eating all of them up.

Zucchini Salad:
Super easy, simple accompaniment to very rich food. (One needs something that is fresh, and salad is not my favorite, soooo incredibly boring!) Peel the zucchini length wise with a potato peeler, leaving out the seeds once you get to the middle. Salt rather heavily, drain the water once the long strips go soft. Drizzle with olive oil, red wine vinegar, peppar and chili flakes. Done.

End of the Year Art School Exhibits, Stockholm!

The majority of this weekend's activities have been devoted to checking out the latest works of art and design students from the major art and design schools here in Stockholm; Berghs, Beckmans, and Konstfack. Rather fun to see what kinds of ideas and projects (craziness) they are coming up with these days. Must admit that for the most part I am at a loss to what the work is supposed to be about, totally over my head, but it is fun to see anyhow. (I think I have lost my Art School weirdness, oh well) It is obvious how much work is put into each project (an entire semester, haha or a few all nighters). Nah, but seriously, these are very good schools, their students go on to be super successful at ad agencies, and get art agent offers left and right, and a few might even get work shown in galleries or bought up by museums if they're really lucky. (Just a smidge jealous...)


At Berghs the most serious school, one could say, had many very developed professional final projects, for vacuum cleaner companies, allergie awareness, music festivals, and the such. They seemed to be ready for purchase from huge companies. (And very well might be) You can see and read about all the projects here...

At Beckmans where the projects are much more Contemporary Art (a.k.a. arty farty) I experienced many more, 'huh?' moments. (But many were also very clever!) Read more about the projects and see more pictures here... Some of my favorites:

And finally Konstfack which is more of a mix of the two, with a pinch of traditional art techniques, was very impressing just in size... it was like a full on Contemporary Museum of Art. Lots of talent and a lot of 'huh?' moments here too. hehe Read more about the artists and their work here... Some of my favorites:

(Photos taken from respective school websites.)

Stephen Campbell

This is the best work I've seen in a while. Simply hilarious and gorgeous! By Stephen Campbell.

Bruno

I have a major love for dogs. Love them! Can't have one or two just yet (bf won't allow it, plus I'd prefer if we had a nice yard for them to play in too.) So owning a furry friend of my own will have to wait. But I really do get a kick out of drawing other's pups and kitties. I drew this handsome chap as another example of a custom dog portrait for my shop. (Because just one example isn't good enough. I'll do a few more in a few different styles soon.)

I surely don't know who Bruno is, but he is just darling!

Audrey Grace

I have finished giving my 3 first Audrey Grace illustrations some gorgeous light colors and brightness. What to see? Also which do you like best?

Grace's Honeymoon

Grace's Wedding

To Catch a Thief

I don't want to play favorites but I think so far I just adore 'Grace's Honeymoon' the best. Don't tell the others. These prints will be first available at the Audrey Grace Boutique pop up shop November through December, and then afterwards will be available in my Etsy shop. (I know that is just forever from now!)

Girl Crush...

I got a new girl crush, Coury Combs of Fancy Treehouse. Her love for straw hats, flowy shirts and skirts, thigh highs, and bright colors makes me want to pack my bags and move to California so I can also wear these kinds of clothes made for perfect weather (dang cold rainy Stockholm). I can't imagine having such a well stocked, vintage, feminine closet. (Can we switch? Please)

I need a straw hat!

På Svenska ;)

Varför inte svara lite lätta frågor på svenska den här konstig onsdagskvällen... Johan kollar på högljuda trailers brevid mig och jag är lite lätt trött på att rita för ikvällen. Hittade listan på sötaste Sandra's blog. Nu kör vi! hehe



Namn: Emma Kristina eller Kristina Emma.
Piercingar: bara en i värje öronsnibb för fin fina örhängen
Tatueringar: aldrig!
Längd: 169cm
Skostorlek: 39
Hårfärg: Min naturliga mörkblond
Fräknar: ett par stycken på näsan
Motto: Se det positiva i alting, vara glad
Kär: Gud ja!
Önskar du att du bodde någon annanstans?: Nej, älskar Stockholm, och Aspudden
Tycker du att du är attraktiv?: ja det tycker jag :)
Vilket schampo använder du? Tycker om Wella produkter
Vad är du rädd för?: Mörkret
Gillar du berg och dalbanor?: Inte direkt



Senaste...
Filmen du hyrde?: Four Lions, dum, sådär rolig.
Filmen du köpte?: Marie Antoinette, typ 4 år sen
Låten du hörde: ny drömliknande låt av Watercolours
Låten du laddade ner: Lysnar bara på Spotify, men jag laddade ner Radioheads nyaste senaste.
Personen du ringde?: Johan för att jag hittade inte honom på H&M (han var i provrummet)
Personen som ringde dig?: Johan för att han hittade inte mig sen på ICA
Personen du tänkte på?: Min lille syster. Saknar henne mer än alting i världen



Favorit...
Låt: Ceremony av New Order
Sak att göra: Krama Johan, eller laga mat, eller rita
Sport: sport?
Kläder: Klänningar. Finns inget finare (kanske kjolar då)
Film: Amelie
Bil: tycker mycket om Minis
Serie: Arrested Development är det roligaste jag vet, men Gossip Girl gör mig ganska glad med.



Har du någonsin...
Gråtit över en pojke?: inte så många gånger
Gråtit över en flicka?: säkert bara över att min syster var dum när vi var små
Ljugit någon?: flera gånger, men inget hemskt
Varit i slagsmål?: nej jag är lugn och snäll
Blivit arresterad? nej men jag har sprungit ifrån polisen, usch
Träffat någon från internet?: Johan och jag träffas på internet! :)



Antal...
Gånger du varit kär?: 2
Gånger ditt hjärta brustit? en gång och hoppas aldrig igen
Hjärtan brustet på grund av dig?: Tyvärr många gånger, speciellt på högstadiet :(
Tjejer du kysst?: noll
Gånger ditt namn varit med i tidningen?: bara ett par gånger, hoppas på flera gånger



Senaste...
Boken du läste?: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Läser om hela series innan sista filmen kommer ut i juli!
Personen du fick e-mail av?: Sötaste Viktoria Love, ni kommer se snart vad jag har ritat till hennes blog
Personen du fick brev av?: Mina sötaste Mormor med bilder som hon förfarände framkallas från 35mm.
Personen du fick sms av?: Johan som sa 'Lovely!'
Gången hela din familj åt middag tillsammans?: När jag var hemma i USA förra April :( för länge sen
Saken du köpte?: ett par röd vit rutiga platta sommar skor, fina!



Det var det. Lite kul i alla fall. Tror jag ritar lite till innan jag lägger mig i sängen och läser mer Harry.