The Atlas of Beauty

China

Kyrgyzystan

Chile

Afghanistan

Photographer Mihaela Noroc travels all around the world to show us beauty in all kinds of cultures, and the results are stunning pictures of beautiful women. See more here.

Meaningful Herb Bouquets

Picture by the talented Jemma Keech

In all my wedding research I have found an intriguing idea: herb bouquets. This is a not a new idea, in the Victorian era they used different herbs in weddings for symbolic reasons.

Thyme for courage and strength
Lavender for luck and devotion
Rosemary for remembrance
Sage for wisdom and long life. Bonus: Sage is also great for keeping bugs away, and the scent of mint (meaning virtue) can be calming.
Cumin for fidelity
Parsley for festivity

Which would you choose?
I love the smell of rosemary, and sage looks really pretty, so the one above looks perfect!

PS. Here is an overview of more herbs and flowers and their meaning.

Thinking of change

I think spring automatically makes people ready for some change (at least me). I have been looking at my kitchen, and wondering if I should paint the tile backsplash. Right now the tiles are a in shade of cold white that does not go well with the off-white cabinets at all. 

My interior consultant friend was here tonight so I asked for a piece of advice. She suggested a blue or teal color. Perhaps something like the one above from Michael Chop´s house.

What do you think? Do or don´t?

Happy weekend!

Picture from Design Sponge

After a long week I am glad the weekend is here.
Time with friends and a celebration is ahead, and I am quite excited!

Flower arrangement seemed like a skill that the British upper class valued highly. I have never learnt it, but if you like pretty bouquets like me, you can find a lot of inspiration and helpful tips over at Design Sponge. This week features a project based on an album cover by Beck!

Also:
An easy snack recipe worth trying.
A basically free fall decor idea.
And a trailer for the funniest book in a long time: The hundred year old man who climbed out of the window and disappeared. 

DIY inspiration from Jenny Skavlan

I came across this excerpt from a refashion book by Jenny Skavlan. Check it out for some easy DIY inspiration (and maybe you will put the rest of the book on your wishlist?

Open publication - Free publishing - More aschehoug

Beautiful truth

I found this great website today. Typographic verses by Jonathan Odgen and other guest designers. 

Ethiopia Project

This is what I am a part of - providing schooling for children in Ethiopia! Five years ago I went there with a team myself. (See my 2007 archives for the stories) We visited the first school we built, met the children there and worked on the grounds.

Now, our DTS teams just returned from outreach, and brought me greetings from one of the pastors we worked with then. It makes me happy to think about the wonderful people we met there, and it is so inspiring to see the result of what we do and the effect it can have on communities.

Video made by Tim and some of my co-workers in Skien.

A revolution of love

I have been writing about our summer project of sending lots of Norwegians to the olympics in England, including some going with a viking ship. This documentary shows YWAMs first olympic outreach in Munich 1972. A 1000 young people shared Jesus during the games, and their testimonies are great! Some of our methods and style of music might have changed, but the message is still the same. If you are going to join us this summer or are just curious, watch this as an inspiration. Whats not to love about 70s style footage anyways?

Oh, and if you want to join, read more and sign up here: gofest.no

More vintage YWAM videos here.

IKEA adventures

One early winter morning three YWAM Skien ladies drive to IKEA on an interior mission. Some of the new rooms at the base needed furniture, and we were more than happy to go on a little road trip. Of course we found time for some shopping of our own, but let me tell you, there wasn´t room for one more thing in that car! I loved jigsaw puzzles when I was a child, and that skill still comes in handy sometimes.

Even though I got almost what I had a on my list, some new things were added. We bought a couple of the Poäng chairs in black for the base, and I started liking this chair. I think it would fit in my living room, so I will put it on the wish list.

One of these wouldn´t hurt in the kitchen.

And you can never get enough storage, right?

My purchases will have to wait, most of them are going towards my new guestroom/office when my roommate moves out in February. We also found time to stop by Stoff og Stil (fabric store) where I got leather needles. I have some projects in my head, and now I´ve got everything I need to start!

Beautiful people

Today I leave you with this little video of beautiful people and nature.

My IKEA adventures will have to wait for another day.

Afghanistan – touch down in flight from Augustin Pictures on Vimeo.

Man about town

I didnt think I would post a skateboard video on my blog, but I couldnt resist this one: 

The music, the style, the colors of his socks and of course, his skills. 

Well, what do I know? All I can say is that this is beautiful, indeed, I think I will call it dance-like...

Found here.

As the rain and snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth

Next year I hope to have a herb garden on my balcony.
For now, I will work on tending the plants I have inside, and hope they survive the long winter.

Source: haus-therapy.tumblr.com via  SFgirlbybay

Color me happy

We had a nerdy moment in the office today, exploring colorcombos.com.
Here at YWAM Skien we are planning to update our website, and we need all the inspiration we can get.

This is the combination I am using for my next newsletter. Pretty, no?

In other news: I finally got a vacuum cleaner.
I dont think I have ever been so genuinely excited about vacuuming...
And I got a really good deal as well. Nothing beats a good bargain, especially for a Sunnmøring like me :)

This stuff....

.... is completely amazing! It does not relate to RISK or anything else I am doing at the moment, but I found it one designesponge.com and was amazed. Watch and you will understand.





Tomorrow: RISK
Wish me luck!!

A cry from the East

Macedonia

I cant believe I will be going to Macedonia next week! Today I read these ancient words about someone else traveling, though he traveled west with his company.

"During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”  After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them."
Acts 16:8-10

I am planning RISK - an outreach to all of Europe at the same time. Over 200 YWAM students and staff will spread across the continent for a few days of prayer and sharing Jesus. It will be a great adventure, thats for sure!

Even if you are not going with us, you can follow us on facebook and on our blog ywamskien.wordpress.com

Also: some great and entertaining tips on how to be an adult.
Perhaps one tip can be to start tweeting? I just joined, and you can follow me here.

Picture source: google.com via Alicia on Pinterest

 

Source: etsy.com via Ragnhild on Pinterest

Blogging seems like so much work these days... Pinterest is much more fun! If you havent checked it out yet, it is an excellent distraction, especially when there articles to be written. You can check out my boards here. Do you guys use pinterest? 

Where did hope go?

We have had a short course in graphic design at work this week, and somehow I stumbled upon this page with illustrations. I wanted to repost them all, but you could rather go check them out here: misprintedtype

Once a plain and simple shirt

This girl must be the master of mens shirt restyling! 

Oh, how I long for spring...

Watching vs Creating

Forest building toy and legos

Wire sculpture

How many episodes of Gilmore Girls are too many for one night?

It is Friday and I have had a very quiet and uneventful night, which I am perfectly fine with, after a busy week. I also happened to stumble upon Joel Henriqeus blog where he posts about art projects and toys he makes for his kids. Tomorrow I think I will have to work on some projects of my own, but for today, I will settle with just looking around for a bit more. 

Have a good weekend!

Choices

Print by Amy Coldren

Encouraging words, a clean house, fresh air, sunshine, the Word of God, art,  good relationships, beautiful music, train rides, truth, a good nights sleep, fellowship, healthy food, a starry sky, creating, making right decisions

"I call Heaven and Earth to witness against you today: I place before you Life and Death, Blessing and Curse. Choose life so that you and your children will live." Deuteronomy 30:19

What gives you life, my friends?