Fine Tuning: Glasser - Apply

This video is seriously trippy. The song is seriously good.


If the walls were too thin you would break in.
If the walls were too thin you would break right in.

Morning.

Oh thunder opens my eyes wide. 
There is something in my mind.
Keeps me up at night.

When the window lets in hot whips of light.
Before I feel it's time to control my mind.

Morning.

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Have a great weekend, lovely friends!

© Annika - All The Live Long Day (unless otherwise stated)

A Question Of Style

THREE THINGS:

 1. Is it acceptable to wear brown shoes with an all-black outfit?

2. Where can I buy grey tights? I NEED some! 

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3. Why do some girls choose not remove the stickers from the soles of their new shoes before stepping out in them? 

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© All The Live Long Day (unless otherwise stated)

Summer, You Are Not Doing Great So Far...

© All The Live Long Day (unless otherwise stated)

Work It, Girl!

This week, my friend Abi will be going back to work after her time off on maternity leave. To make the return to the grind a bit easier on her, I thought I'd give her welcome-back-to-being-a-working-girl gift. It included a kick-ass shade of nail polish, a magazine to get her through rush hour on the tube, some all-important coffee funds, pretty post-its for her new desk, and a bag of Maltesers to help with the afternoon munchies. I also made her a travel card holder and a bookmark with a photo of her son. 

How ever much I wish that Abi could stay home full-time with her boy, I also very selfishly love that she is back in town - and working near me again! I really missed my go-to lunch buddy! 

© All The Live Long Day (unless otherwise stated)

The Brooch Swap - It's A Wrap!

How does it always happen that you have weeks and weeks of time to do something, and then all of a sudden the deadline is tomorrow? 
After some late night stitching on Sunday, I have finally finished my offering for the Flower Press brooch swap. Just in time for last mailing day! In my defence: insert sorry excuse for procrastinating here I ended up making two brooches. 
My first idea turned out a bit too free-form for my liking. I had meant the two fabric circles to be actual circles, i.e. round. And for the stitching to look neater. All in all, I had meant the whole brooch to look more fabulous and less made-by-a-6-year-old (sorry if I'm offending any 6-year-olds...).

I was not very happy with how it turned out, but my husband said it was fine (though, to be honest, how biased is his opinion?!), so I did include this first baby in the package. May my swap partner be accepting of it...

I pretty quickly decided that it would be best to also send another, better brooch, and made this next one, which I thought turned out okay, if not perfect. But at least I am willing to show you the back of it, which I could not bring myself to do with No 1... I found the pattern for the wreath here.

And here they are, side by side. Wreath Brooch and her slightly more special sister Wonky Brooch are now snuggled up in a parcel together, and on their way to Australia. God speed! I hope at least one of them will be liked. If both are, all the better - for my cracked crafting confidence as well as for the receiver, as I hear that she likes to wear brooches a lot.

It was such fun to take part in a swap, and to see what everybody came up with. Thank you, Susie, for organizing it!

© All The Live Long Day (unless otherwise stated)

I'm Jamming

This photo is my entry for this week's Creative Exchange. Marco and I went berry picking on the weekend, and I made 15 jars of jam with the fruit that we brought home. 

Strawberry jam, gooseberry jam and blackcurrant & anise jam. 

This photo is quite blurry, but I love looking at this battery of jam jars and the jewel coloured goodness that they contain.

© All The Live Long Day (unless otherwise stated)

Keep Calm And Cross Stitch

Apart from the sampler that I have been working on for the last 3 or 4 years (sad, I know), this is the first cross stitching project I have tackled in a while. The last issue of CrossStitcher came with a free chart for a Keep Calm And Cross Stitch design. 

I altered it slightly to make this:

It was a birthday present for Marco's aunt, who is the best quilt maker! I hope she really likes it! I chose a piece of vintage fabric as a background and used waste canvas to help with the count. The floss is Anchor thread No. 1098 in a bright orangey red. Because of the waste canvas, the stitching was not as neat as I would hope for. 

Here are a few more detailed shots:

© Annika - All The Live Long Day (unless otherwise stated)

Goodbye, Clarence Clemons. Thanks For Everything!

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Beautiful Vancouver

Let me share this video that Nova posted on Four-Eyes Rella. She also wrote a good article about the day that the Canucks lost the Stanley Cup final. 
There's not much I can say about all of this, except that it makes me sad.

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You can find more thoughts on the riot here.

© All The Live Long Day (unless otherwise stated)

Fine Tuning: TV On The Radio - Killer Crane

I only recently discovered TV On The Radio, even though they have been going since 2001. Their album Dear Science kept creeping up in my Amazon recommendations, but I never paid attention to it. This is a song from their latest Album, Nine Types Of Light.  Sadly, their bassist just died of lung cancer.

After the rain a killer crane after the rainbow  across the sky her graces glide across the sea.

Across creation.
And over time her gracious life escapes its station.

A cold wind blows.
The day bestows glum proclamation.

Leave it behind, your restless mind, your jealousies.
Then oscillation demands your patience.

They'll be found together in time just to say:

Sunshine I saw you through the hanging vine.
A memory of what is mine fading away.
But as night heals the ground and the moonlight steals the sound I can leave suddenly unafraid.

And after all we're free to fall once all the pain goes.
And how we stood and what was good could last so long in isolation.
A transformation.

The breath that leaves me blue.
Embolden us to see it through.
This life of love and letting go.
A killer crane after a rainbow may be found together in time just to say:

Sunshine I saw you through the hanging vine.
All memory of what was mine fading away.
And as night heals the ground and the moonlight steals the sound I can leave suddenly unafraid.

Sunshine come crawling through the hanging vine.
All memory of what was mine fading away.
And as night heals the ground and the moonlight steals the sound I can leave suddenly unafraid.

Sunshine I saw you through the hanging vine.
All memory of what was mine fading away.
And as night heals the ground and the moonlight steals the sound I can leave suddenly unafraid.

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Wishing you a happy weekend. Let the ones you love know that you do!

© Annika - All The Live Long Day (unless otherwise stated)

Zucchini & Hazelnut Salad

I can tell that it is summer when salads become my staple food. Salads and ice cream, to be precise. (Has anybody tried the new Magnum with Ghanaian cocoa and hazelnut ice cream? It's divine!) 

I made this salad after leafing through my copy of Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi for inspiration. In it I found a zucchini and cob nut salad. I just glanced at the recipe, though, and then created my own version. I never know whether I'm allowed to share recipes from cookbooks or not. I had zucchini and hazelnuts in the house and thought that if I just looked at the picture and then did my thing, I would first of all feel some kind of accomplishment and secondly be able to post the recipe with a clear conscience. (To be honest, I think it would be quite cool if some famous chef actually read my blog and - outraged upon finding their recipe here - sued me over the copyright. Theoretically speaking.) 

If you get the chance to go and eat at Ottolenghi, please do! Or at least buy yourself one of his cookbooks. The food tastes amazing, it is full of intense flavours and interesting ingredients. It's also slightly pricey, so I do not go very often. However, on the occasions that I have eaten there I always ended up with a food induced happy face.

Below is my recipe for a salad à la Ottolenghi. I think tasty, but happy face not necessarily included.

Zucchini & Hazelnut Salad(serves 4 as a side)
Need To Have:
2 medium zucchini1 small bunch basil1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted & roughly chopped2 tbsp olive oil1/2 lemon, juiced1 clove of garlic, mincedsalt pepperparmesan
Need To Do:
Cut the zucchini lengthwise into very thin slices or make ribbons with a peeler, skin and all. Discard the middle part that has the seeds (or make soup out of it, or feed it to your rabbits...). Put the zucchini ribbons into a large mixing bowl.
Chiffonade the basil leaves and add them to the bowl. Also add the hazelnuts.
In a container with a tight-fitting lid, put the olive oil, the lemon juice, the garlic, and salt & pepper to taste. Close the container and shake thoroughly to combine. Pour over the salad and mix through. Check for taste and add more seasoning if necessary.
Transfer the salad to the serving bowl and shave some parmesan on top. The amount really depends on how much you like parmesan. 


© Annika - All The Live Long Day (unless otherwise stated)

What's Not To Love: Made By Maddy

Made By Maddy is the virtual home for the illustrations of Australian artist Maddy. 
Maddy draws and paints all kinds of girls (and boys, sometimes). Many of her girls seem very vulnerable, some are sad, some look angry. And a lot of them love cats! 

Here are a few examples of her work that I thought were beautiful:

  

   

  

All Illustrations © Made By Maddy

Please visit her blog and see for yourself. I think Maddy is amazingly talented! 




© Annika - All The Live Long Day (unless otherwise stated)

Pictures In The Park Or: Brunching With The Stars

Last weekend was a weekend of girlfriend goodness. Friday night I met with my classy friend Gila at the Tate Modern for a good chat, yummy food & wine and some Miró. And on Saturday I hooked up with another friend, gorgeous Abi and her equally gorgeous little one-year old, Sam. I had somehow convinced them to be models for me, so that I could practice taking photos of people. You can see some of the outcome below. 

After our photo session in the park, Abi took me out for brunch at The Haberdashery, a little café she had been telling me about for a while. We sat down in a charming environment of whimsy, bunting & vintage teacups and ordered our Eggs Benedict. While we're happily eating and talking, the café owner is having a chat with somebody behind me, about the art that is displayed on the walls. I look around to be able to see those prints for myself, and guess who is the chattee?! Mr Tumnus! Robbie Turner! Charles Xavier! The star! Whatever you may want to call him, he just sat there, like us other non-Golden-Globe-nominated people without BAFTAs, sharing the table with his little baby.

Oh, and the Bennies WERE delicious. As was the freshly pressed apple-and-ginger juice and the blackberry muffin! Your food is served on mismatched china and your drinks in jam jars, if you're lucky. There is a vintage & craft fair once a month. Plus, Kirstie has been to The Haberdashery, too! And Kirstie does know best! I will definitely be back, maybe to try their thick Italian hot chocolate or one of the many cakes on offer. Even if you aren't able to brush shoulders with any celebrities, this is the place to be!

And now for the cute toddler:

 

 

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On a completely unrelated note: 

This morning I'm getting on the tube. A woman who is also getting on the tube spots that I have spotted a seat. I am closer to the seat, but the woman actually starts running to get to it first. She does. I ask her if she is kidding. She is not. She sits down. I wish her a lovely journey. And go look for a seat in the next carriage. Public transport, eh?! It brings out the worst (rarely the best) in people.

© Annika - All The Live Long Day (unless otherwise stated)

Sad But True

This is a scarily accurate pie chart. It sums up exactly how I work! Do you know how many hours of my life are lost to making toast?! Which will then be eaten by the computer? 
I think I need a nap!

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© Annika - All The Live Long Day (unless otherwise stated)