Naiad Dawns, and the Tea Time Chronicles

Happy Spring, 1 year!

I think it's been a year since I started writing on this blog. I know it's some late day on March, can't be bothered to verify the exact date, but alas it's been a year!

So where I do I find myself a year later.. strangely writing personal and uninteresting stuff like at the beginning. I really made this journal as a personal "open" record, not really for public entertainment and I still hold to that. It has evolved more picturesque, because I didn't have a camera back then and I do now.

Now I have a video camera that I must learn to use, because I haven't learned and have found myself stuck at making more videos and I have to make a new video!

All I've been doing the past few days besides doing alot of laundry and eating for entertainment, has been researching the evils of a popular modern cult, well identified by the symbol "$", its founder, its current management, its techniques, etc.

Same ole shit, I go into fear and retreat into Virgo mode. My path in this life is to destructurize myself, to surrender to what is undefinable, intangible, ethereal, artistic and beautiful. To trust, to express myself with the abstract and absolute.

Only when I'm happy and confident I can do this, when I'm not, I do the opposite.. I start doing pointless "research", I start categorizing, defining, structurizing, critizicing, etc. It's what I know and brings me comfort, but gets me ultimately nowhere.

I've given myself the weekend to daze and justified it as days off. Monday is tomorrow and I'm determined to at least start with the camera. - I've not only gotten the camera but also a mini "tentacle" tripod and a big regular tripod. - These things make their way to me and cry out to be used.

As far as the Story Waters and Lee Harris recordings, I listened to the first one (it needs to be done at least after a week per cd) and fell asleep.. I don't know if I've done the work or not, so I'll just listen to it again and hope not to fall asleep again.

I am very happy however with the fact that the apartment is so clean and neat by the beginning of spring, instead of the usual dreadful spring cleaning at the near end of it. - Winter here is so cold and dark, that you can't even see dirt. I get so bummed and depressed I barely feel like doing anything and the place turns into a mess that the light of spring blatantly reveals as it comes..

Tien and Jack have been the cutest little couple since we put them together in their new cage. We took some toys out of the cage to give them more room and placed them somewhere else in the apartment so they can go and play during the day. They spend most of their time up on the lights though. But I think Jack is loosening up to us as time goes so it should eventually get pretty exciting.

Well, enough rambling.. Happy Spring! :)

Dawanda asked for it

Dawanda made a request for samples of work to give out in Dublin and Plumevine heeded the call. Even with Hobbits at home I still managed to get some time and make these golden fairy pendants for the magical folk of Dublin. I hope they make it there on time, and most of all that they are thoroughly enjoyed!

Can you see the fingerprints on that paper? On that ink, that ribbon? - 20 lovelies, each one meticulously hand made..

With lots of love :)

The Big Calm

You know how it is, so exciting, so many new things, so much fun, then it all starts to come down and you want to play. Well I want to play, I want to make videos with my new camera (a real video camera this time!), make green smoothies with the vitamix, finish more jewelry with the new materials and beads I got, update, upgrade, take pictures, find new treasures on the web, blow the dust off my sewing machine and use those beautiful new fabrics. I want to do it all, but my house is being invaded by Shire Folk!

So we've been eating alot, talking alot, strolling alot and sleeping alot.

I feel like I'm about to burst, but I can hold it for a bit longer, just a few more days.

I haven't abandoned anything, I've been under an invasion, that's all. But I shall return soon with a vengeance, it cannot be helped, I MUST express myself, MUST create!

I HAVE A VITAMIX

I HAVE A VITAMIX!
I HAVE A VITAMIX!
I HAVE A VITAMIX!!
I HAVE A VITAMIX!!!

Easter

My parents are coming tomorrow! Actually they are in Norway already, in Oslo and arrive to Trondheim tomorrow afternoon. Naturally, that means we've been cleaning up the place like mad at the very last minute. I'm so nackered and because of all the excitement I've hardly been able to sleep..

We had put Tien and Jack's cages next to eachother for a while today but had to put Tien's back at her usual spot and Jack's somewhere temporary until we can hang it up, so Tien's been pacing and banging her bell, wondering where he is. At least she likes him!

It should be an interesting week or so with my parents here, which means I won't have much time for updates and such.

On a funny note, my boss bought one of the easter eggs I'd been painting before I realized I was late for work last week! She loved them too much :)

Meet Jack!

There's a new guy on the block, he's Jack, he's a pirate and ready to be a star!

Find more videos like this on Indiepublic

Web boutique!

There is now a pretty front boutique for Plumevine on the web! I wanted to personalize my boutique a bit and facilitate online purchasing of the goods. It may be found here!

Live your life to the full, hold nothing back

This morning a little girl said to me in my dreams "Live your life to the full, hold nothing back".

It's not always easy to mantain the level of confidence required for this. There comes a time when I question myself and what I'm doing, I start comparing myself to other people and wonder if I'm doing something right or something utterly stupid. These moments creep up on everybody, and how to deal with them? I don't know, but my dreams come to my aid every now and then.

I'm contemplating on getting a better video camera. I'm using a very low quality digital camera on my videos and the poor quality bugs me. Unfortunately you can't get a good video and photo camera in one, so I have to pick and I think I'm going for the video option.

There are fun things happening here in the background but due to the video Tea Time Chronicles, let's jsut say I don't want to spoil anything?

But I can say this, today was my last day at the course, so I should feel less stressed now..

The Tea Time Chronicles!

Big juicy rabbits? I got big juicy rabbits!!

Find more videos like this on Indiepublic

I hope you like it :)

Rabbits and Passion

I finally managed to get a much needed good night's sleep. I keep pushing myself throughout the day, there's just something more that I want to do and time just flies! Lately I'd been pretty tired and restless but this morning the gods of sleep had been kind to me. - That's the side effect of being dipped right into your passion, body limitations start to get back burner priority and next thing you know you have a permanent twitch and a smudged kohl look under your eyes..

Alas, here's a peek at those beloved time-consuming projects:

That's Plumevine laundry, hanging to dry :p - And some Caribbean booty.

Better than signing the pieces on th back, these little hand made badges are a much cuter way to personalize them. The new packaging is still developing, but yes, every single piece comes beautifully gift-wrapped :)

I have a pretty big rabbit that's struggling to get out of that hat because it's so fat and juicy! That one will have to wait a bit ;)

The Players of This Faery Symphony

Costume design, interior design and film are things that I've always loved but haven't really pursued. Who knows, one day I might pick up a camera and make moving pictures, dress players and create an atmosphere at a location besides my own home. Right now I work with what I got and do my best at putting my heart and soul right into it. I know what it's like to live drowned in a need to please and to follow for the sake of harmony, for the pursuit of harmony. But I never found more harmony, lasting harmony, genuine harmony in my life until I decided to live strictly by my heart and soul. And it does take guts, lots of guts, and being very stubborn.

This is how I embrace every whisper of spirit that comes my way. Take life and make it something beautiful that you haven't seen before, even better if it sounds crazy, and even better if it doesn't really make sense. Create, create and create! Life is for creating, so celebrate :)

So much excitement in the web has kept me tied down to the computer when I'm not out and about doing things. But I have a few rabbits that came out of my hat and they want to do a little tap dance here :)

Book covers? I adore Phillip Pullman's Dark Materials and The Sally Lockhart Mysteries. The Golden Compas, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass, these magical items being the key elements in his great stories adorn the covers of a latest edition of these books. The Ruby in the Smoke is another jewel or item of power which graces the cover and plot of yet another exciting story of his.

When I make a piece of jewelry, the process is quite lengthy, the concentration is crucial and as I do not yet make two of the same piece, it's always an unique experience that requires much thought, planning and discovery. Each piece takes me on a journey and once on the other side, I usually find a bit more wisdom and understanding of the tools and elements that I create with.

I love every piece of jewelry that I make and quite honestly I make them all for myself! But can't bear to hold on to them. The energy needs to express itself outwardly, be shared and experienced by another personally so that it may grow and well, do its magic. Otherwise it feels stagnant, energetically constipated! It must go out into the world. I have a few things that I keep though, but just a few.

Being so precious to me, and so rich with an energetic story and blueprint, I decided that they were worthy of their own book covers. Wherever they may go, their story shall begin to weave and develop, who knows how the story will end?

This is how the book covers for each piece came to be, and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

The other rabbit is a bit more practical, and a bit more shy so he will have to wait.

There's much weaving and fuss happening behind the curtains here to make Plumevine as lovely a creation as it can be. Some materials waiting to come together, pieces to be complete and more stories to be born.

Rain boots under the sun

I've been featured at stumbleupon.com! Thanks to the lovely Rena Klingenberg. My listing can be found here!

Not only that, but I'm in the 4th position of the top 10 most visited websites from my web hosting service. I just have to laugh at this, took a screenshot and everything :p

I had a lovely day outside with Petri. We went for some supplies and on the way we got me a gorgeous pair of rain boots! I'm so in love with my rain boots, I'd sleep with them, on..

We took a stroll through Bakklandet, a sweet street downtown Trondheim where you can find a row of boutiques and cafes. That's where Gaven is located, and I thought I'd give you a little picture tour of the place.

I love the counter, especially that antique cash register.

Ann Helen Designs, ann-helen-65@hotmail.com

Kris Design, kristinrindal99@hotmail.com

These are but a mere few of the things you find inside. Hand-made soap, jewelry, hats, scarves, dresses, bags, you name it and if it's sweet, it's there! Gaven means gift in Norwegian, and that's something you'll certainly find inside.

Downtown Trondheim is never short of whimsical beauty.

And never short of whimsical people in pink hats and sweet brand new rain boots!

Big welcome and big thanks!

On friday 7th of March, Plumevine received 1,273 visits!

I shall give the credit to Etsy, but then I'm really not sure, I'm not that web-savvy :p

This is definitely a record for me and in all the joy I decided to take Plumevine a little further and as of today, you may reach me at http://plumevine.com!
(This means I have to change my link on every site that it's listed, selling time anyone?)

But in thanks to my new visitors I have a humble gift to share. It's a pity my camera didn't manage a better picture of these kingly creatures. Today I dropped by the pet store to check on the budgies, and to my surprise I found seahorses! I was so excited I took pictures, behold..

I'd never seen seahorses in person before. I guess today's been filled with a variety of firsts :)

Tadaa!

I've been busy as a bee in a flower field!

The good news is that Plumevine is open at Etsy!

Do drop by and have a looksie! I've got so many things to post here, but I've been very short on time. In fact I have to hurry to my Norwegian course right now. So I'll fill in the rest when I come back!

P.S. Let's have a moment of silence for the US dollar.. I haven't used dollars in years, it was disturbing to see the contrast in prices from Norwegian Crowns at the shop to my ole memory of a glorious US dollar. I did bring them down a bit either way.

Golden Heart jewelry available at Gaven starting tomorrow!

I'm very happy to announce a new line of jewelry that will become available at Gaven from tomorrow. These are called Golden Heart, simply because they display a golden heart! Also, because if you carry one of these, it means that you've contributed to helping the sweet animals of Trondheim's Animal Shelter live more comfortable lives, until they find a loving home. Which shows that you indeed have a Golden Heart.

And of course I will show off my latest display!

This one took me all night to finish. I used one of those plastic sign holders for the wall, I got this one at Office Max in the US. Using a base of wood, I embellished it with clay which has been painted and given an aged, shabby-chic look. I connected it to the plastic with a couple of small screws, since the plastic had a couple of holes on it.

A piece of ribbon goes inside the plastic fold, allowing for it to be hung on the wall.

That's the power of late-night creative feats. I could have just bought an old frame and attached some nails to the bottom, but that wouldn't have been as much fun :)

Life in Chippyland

It's getting a bit lonely in Chippyland. She's grown so much! And every now and then she gets really loud...

Poor plastic Fred doesn't seem to be much fun at all for Tien.. She just pecks at him every now and then.

We change her water, see if we missed her food, change her poo paper, everything, and to no avail her loud fit simply goes away after a day or two all on its own.

We've been wanting to get her a companion but have been dreading the thought of it meaning twice the work for us. It's lovely to have a budgie but let's face it, pets also come with a little bit of work and the fact that we find ourselves busier around here is what brings the question about: Will she be happier and less maintenance with a friend, or will a friend mean more maintenance and noise?

It's not so much cleaning the cage more, but the attention part. We think she's getting loud because she feels lonely. But then, we don't really speak bird, so we don't know for sure.

She's in the main room here, where were are always at, she sees us practically all the time but we're not able to give her completely personal attention that often. Her cage door is always open as well, she goes out mostly when she wants us to really see her, but loves being inside the cage most of the time.

And well, the obvious fact is that she's a female! Female budgies aren't as cuddly as male ones, and she may just not be so willing to come out and be social on her own because of this.

We're warming up to the friend option and might go looking for one after pay day.

Hopefully then Chippyland will be a bit of a happier place.

Enjoy some vintage Tien!

A day full of surprises!

Today's been filled with surprises, and it isn't over yet!

I was featured by the lovely Carolina Gonzalez from My Little Magick Shop! (See some her beautiful pictures and products above). She writes:

"Lorianne is a wonderful jewelry artist. She handcrafts magical, dream-like pieces from her studio in Norway, a very magickal place by itself. Her pieces are inspired by Nature, Fairies and everything between worlds. She works in a variety of techniques - with wonderful skills I have to say - in what could be considered Mixed Media, but with a touch of fantasy and a taste for texture that makes it stand among the rest. I am so glad she found me because now I can be a fan of another wonderful artist!"

I'm still blushing.

I've also received my package of goodies from Brass Bouquet! I have nothing but wonderful things to say from them, excellent quality and even prettier in person.

There's also some talks of a new shop in town where Plumevine goodies may find another home in here in Trondheim. Sounds like something very romantic, just the kind of stuff that I love.

I also opened an account the other day at TalentDatabase.com. The site is a bit slow but I'm loving it. I've found really gorgeous work by very talented artists.

Every day I find a wonderful new place on the web, a wonderful artist, beautiful artwork and inspiration. Feels like I'm surrounding myself with creative, wonderful people. Just the kind of thing I promised I'd do when I decided to put an end to anything that didn't fulfill me. Like Carolina says, magick works!

Here's a couple of gorgeously inspiring photos I found at Flickr:

New faces

A little bit of craft talk..

This is the little shelf I got to display my vintage perfume bottle collection and other pretty random things. I got it from Ikea since I wanted something right away and well, cheap.

After a day or two in a mess of paint, wood dust and sweat I managed to get it looking more or less decent. At least good enough for my taste. I'm still learning about antiqueing furniture and there are a few things I'd like to try.

Another project was a peg board? I don't know what you call that. I wanted something where I could display my finished jewelry, until it goes to the shop so I could see it.

Ikea comes to the rescue once more. This simple peg board took a bit longer to finish as I had to redo the pegs completely with clay, paint, etc. That took some time. When the pegs where finished then they could be assembled on the board.

Then I placed a "frameless frame" underneath, with a pretty vintage pattern paper as background. It took two sheets and I didn't mind leaving an edge in the middle so I wouldn't have to cut them.

These I found at the salvation army store. I'm starting to become addicted to that place.. I dread the thought of having a house loaded with all kinds of old things waiting forever to be turned into something more interesting. Well, these I hope to finish this month.

I'll probably pick this up for selling, if I had a dime for every person who wants to buy my jewelry display...

It's March!

Febuary was like a crazy train, so it's March now and I'm hoping March will be a more pleasant ride. A rush of new things came along with an almost equal rush of limitations, to put it bluntly, rushes rush and it can be rushing.

I want March to be a settling month, we'll see.

The website has been updated greatly. There's a cool gallery now and a few other things like these pretty banners:

Tomorrow I plan on doing a bit of photo blogging, since the site is more or less complete now I can focus on other things for a bit. And once I've set up shop at Etsy, then I can start making more jewelry!

But the best thing right now is that I don't have to get up early tomorrow, or the day after, or the day after... I loathe getting up early because I stay up so late.

I can't help it, all the best ideas come at night and I get hooked right away, then notice that it's almost morning and I'm still not in bed.

So off I go..

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Happy Spring, 1 year!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Dawanda asked for it

The Big Calm

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

I HAVE A VITAMIX

Monday, March 17, 2008

Easter

Meet Jack!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Web boutique!

Friday, March 14, 2008

Live your life to the full, hold nothing back

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

The Tea Time Chronicles!

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Rabbits and Passion

Sunday, March 09, 2008

The Players of This Faery Symphony

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Rain boots under the sun

Big welcome and big thanks!

Friday, March 07, 2008

Tadaa!

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Golden Heart jewelry available at Gaven starting tomorrow!

Life in Chippyland

Monday, March 03, 2008

A day full of surprises!

Sunday, March 02, 2008

New faces

Saturday, March 01, 2008

It's March!