... new beginnings

Lavender sachet finished

2012-01-27T10:42:00.001Z

I finally finished the lavender sachet (it even smells of lavender) which was a gift for one of my friends. Heres the finished project. I'm so proud of it, it was the first I made of that kind of bag.
The design is from The CrossStitcher magazine.

Kindle

2012-01-08T22:49:00.001Z

Wups... Might have 'accidentally' bought a Kindle 4 today. It's really cool though, and I can get books on it really cheap! The main reason I got it is travelling though. We're going to Austria next month, and the Kindle is so much more convenient than dragging along a suitcase of books. I did that a couple of years ago. Ten books for one week. Did read all of them, but a Kindle would have been just a tiny bit more handy. It's my new baby! I'm so happy I got it :)

// Michelle

First finished projects in a very long time

2011-12-22T20:36:00.001Z

Here's the two little Christmas socks I've made for my colleagues :)

GoodReads

2011-06-09T14:09:00.000+01:00

I have a profile on Goodreads. I'm not sure if you are familiar with the website, but it is an online bookshelf, where you can keep track of the books you've own, have read and the ones you want to read.
When I first started adding my books, I thought it would be easy to do. But it wasn't.

Don't get me wrong, the process of adding books, rating them etc is easy enough. It is how little I know of my books that are frustrating. When they were bought, when I first finished reading them and so on. I cannot retrieve when they were bought (except the ones I've bought online) and when I first read them. That got me thinking.
I want to start my own little tradition that I know others are doing for themselves as well. Every time I buy a book, I want to write down the day I bought it. I also want to write down the day I start reading it, and the day I finish it. Somehow I think it will give me lots of satisfaction, especially because I feel I already lost so much in not doing it from when I first started reading.

My dream is to have them all displayed in my own private library. When that time comes, it will be good to be able to open a book and recollect memories from them, not only from the text, but also from where and when they were bought.

When some day I get kids, and they hopefully will be just as happy to read as I am, I will pass the tradition on so it will become natural to them. It might not become useful to them at all, but I hope it someday will. I know I will enjoy my books even more than I already do.

At first I was surprised at how much a website like Goodreads can get you thinking. But now I am happy for it.
If you don't know Goodreads, the link is right here: Goodreads
My profile on Goodreads: Profile

//Michelle

Creativity

2010-10-20T20:08:00.000+01:00

Hi all.

Have been creative, just not the writing kind. Have finished two embroideries and have started a third. So that is all good news.

However that is going to change soon. Nanowrimo is slowly starting to creep up on me. It is starting first of November as always, and I have some ideas on what to write. Need to see if I can get a notebook tomorrow, so I can start writing down my ideas :) I hope that this third nanowrimo novel is actually going to be something that is worth working some more on after nanowrimo has finished. Wish me luck!

// Michelle :)

Busy, busy bee

2010-08-26T09:23:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone.

I haven't written here for a while. I'm very busy settling in.
I moved to Denmark in the start of August, and I have since gotten myself a job, unpacked most of my moving boxes and made my flat fit for living in.

I have lacked nurturing my creative side lately. My embroidery has about 10 stitches more than it did, when I arrived here. I have written 230 words on a short story. That is it.
When I have properly started my new job (I have been in training since last week) I will see if I can push some life in my creativity. Right now I sometimes try to force it out, but it isn't always it is working ;)

Hope to write again very soon!

Cross stitching

2010-07-26T20:26:00.000+01:00

So I promised in my earlier post that I would upload some pictures of my cross stitching. I am home, so here you go:

I made these cards for my mum and sister.

The left, blue one was for my mother that had just been in Amsterdam before her birthday. She also loves tulips, so I found it to be quite fitting.

The right, red one was for my sister. I love how colourful and cute it is!

Both are made with charts from The CrossStitcher.

I made two, identical notebooks for my two friends. We have cake day at work, where we all work, and I used to make some cupcakes that both of them love. And when I showed them the pattern in the magazine, they loved it. So I decided to make them into notebooks.

The chart is from The CrossStitcher, the notebooks are from Debbie Cripps.

Twitter...!?

2010-07-26T15:49:00.002+01:00

I det mindste bliver Twitter opdateret... Jeg broderer og læser mere end jeg skriver i øjeblikket. For at være ærlig, skriver jeg slet ikke.
Jeg havde fødselsdag i torsdags, og jeg fik £20 til Waterstones af min kæreste Shaun (Han har også betalt en tur til Danmark, men det er en anden historie). Jeg tog i Waterstones (ville have været i Waterstones og forkæle mig selv alligevel, men nu var der en ekstra god grund!) og fik 2 bøger med hjem. Kom også i WH Smith og fik 2 bøger med hjem derfra også. Og da Shaun og jeg skulle fejre min fødselsdag på Zizzis (italiensk restaurant) fredag, så skulle jeg også have en smule makeup med hjem.

Min høst endte med:

Bøger-
Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex af Eoin Colfer
The Ambassadors Mission af Trudi Canavan
Holy Warrior af Angus Donald
Blood and Ice af Robert Masello

Makeup-
Baked eyeshadow i farven Starlight fra BodyShop
Expert Eyes kohl blyanter i sort og brun fra Maybelline
Colossal Volum'Express Mascara i sort fra Maybelline

Jeg har allerede læst Artemis Fowl og Ambassadors Mission, og jeg er i gang med Holy Warrior. Alle tre kan bestemt anbefales, men forgængerne skal helt sikkert læses, før man går i gang med nogle af dem.

Jeg er også igang med et broderi med tre højlandskøer. Det er et bogmærke, jeg købte i Skotland i 2008, og nu er jeg endelig kommet i gang med at lave det. Vil smide nogle billeder op når jeg har lavet det færdigt :)
Jeg har også lavet nogle andre små broderier, og jeg tror, jeg lægger billeder op af dem, når jeg kommer hjem. Jeg sidder på arbejdet i øjeblikket, og billederne ligger på Shauns pc.

Jeg tager hjem til Danmark i næste uge, og jeg håber, at jeg får skrevet mere, når jeg er derhjemme og bor alene. Jeg får et nyt skrivebord i fødselsdagsgave af mine forældre, og det skader jo aldrig :) Jeg håber, at det kan skubbe lidt gang i inspirationen.

Nu må vi se hvad der sker! :)

Små bitte mål

2010-05-26T22:43:00.000+01:00

Jeg sætter mig tit et mål for aftenen, når jeg er på vej hjem fra arbejde. Jeg ved præcis hvad jeg vil når jeg kommer hjem (vaske tøj, rydde soveværelset op osv) men for det meste sker det bare ikke. Jeg kommer hjem, sætter mig ved computeren, og så er den aften gået. Det er ikke engang fordi jeg er kreativ ved computeren og sidder og skriver, nej jeg sidder og surfer på nettet på især Facebook, KomOgVind og Twitter.

Jeg bliver snart nødt til at finde ud af, hvordan jeg kommer i gang med de ting, jeg gerne vil nå. Jeg har to forskellige metoder, jeg engang i mellem benytter mig af, hvis jeg er stædig nok:

Nogle gange skriver jeg en liste på vej hjem i bussen. Den bliver skrevet ned på et papir eller i min kalender, og så går jeg målrettet efter den. Når den så er afsluttet, kan jeg sætte mig ved pcen med god samvittighed. Det sker mest når jeg skal pakke til en weekend i Danmark.
Hvis jeg allerede har nået at sætte mig ved pcen, så benytter jeg siden NowDoThis. Den er et nyttigt redskab hvis man har den åben på hele siden og har viljen til ikke at åbne en ny tab ved siden af. Det er en yderst simpel måde at lave en liste på, det eneste besværlige er, at man skal klikke på en knap hver gang man har udført en opgave. Men det er mere et luksusproblem.

Et mål der har været på min liste det sidste stykke tid, og endnu ikke er blevet streget ud, er at skrive oftere. Jeg vil så gerne skrive, men som beskrevet i et tidligere indlæg, så går det bare ikke så godt.
Så vidt jeg kan se går det helt ok med at skrive blogindlæg lige nu (ikke at jeg har vanvittigt mange, men hey! jeg skal jo starte et sted) så det er jo en start. Så må vi se om det ikke også skulle blive til noget fiktion lige pludselig...

Manglende skrivelyst

2010-05-25T14:36:00.002+01:00

Det er altså meget besynderligt. I en del måneder har jeg ingen lyst haft til at skrive. De gange jeg har prøvet, har jeg skrevet en linie eller to, og så er jeg stoppet. Jeg ved ikke hvor min inspiration er forsvundet hen, men måske har jeg endelig fundet den en smule. Jeg er i al fald lige begyndt på en historie, som jeg håber bliver en del af et projekt, der måske en dag kan udgives. Nu må vi se. Jeg skal jo have skrevet en hel del, før jeg kan begynde at tænke på udgivelse. I det mindste har jeg allerede skrevet mere på den lille historie, end jeg har gjort siden jeg lavede mine 250 ord om dagen (- når jeg skriver at jeg har skrevet mere, er det 150 ord, så det er stadig meget, meget lidt).

Hver gang jeg starter en historie i øjeblikket, mister jeg modet meget hurtigt. Jeg ved ikke hvorfor. Jeg håber, at jeg snart overvinder det. Jeg håber, at jeg henover det næste 1½ år får skrevet rigtig meget. Jeg har jo stadig en drøm om at blive forfatter. Men en drøm som den kræver jo en del fra mig selv. Den kræver, at jeg skriver. På det seneste er jeg blevet inspireret flere forskellige steder fra, og jeg håber at det er nok. Jeg vil jo gerne - jeg skal bare sparke mig selv i gang.

150 ord er en start. Jeg vil nu hoppe tilbage til min historie og få skrevet noget mere. Det er jo bare et spark, der skal til. Bare et spark, og noget varm kakao måske ;)

NaNoWriMo finished, I won!

2009-12-02T11:01:00.002Z

Hello all.

Been ages since I last wrote here, I know. Was kind of behind schedule at NaNoWriMo, did manage to finish on the 28th of November though. And then I didn't write because I've been writting 50004 words in under a month. So I think it is fair.

I'm back though, right now writing from work.

We are now fully staffed, which has made a huge difference. It's really nice and quiet, even though we just took over the PC support for our company's other department.

So I hope for a december, where I get to write again. I will see if I can keep writing 250 words a day and at the same time finish my NaNoWriMo novel. It's not going to be easy though, as I also have discovered Counter Strike. My boyfriend talked me into trying it, so I at some point might be able to play Modern Warfare 2. Not sure though, been watching him playing it, and it looks confusing. I like the simplicity of Counter Strike!

Just a little update, hopefully I will post a story later!

Wup wup

2009-11-09T21:13:00.000Z

Wups, a bit of time since last update. Have been a bit slow with the nanowrimo, but it is finally getting a long, at least a little bit. Am so far at a bit over 10000 words, so I'm slowly getting there. I've reached todays word count, which was my goal today. Will see if I can get the daily word count a bit further down tomorrow, it is about 1880 words/day at the moment. Am relaxing at FaceBook right now, then it is dinner time, then sleep. Will have to get up at 5 again tomorrow, so I can get to work on time. Isn't it lovely?

Hope you feel good and might even write a bit today :)

Whodunnit?!

2009-11-02T21:39:00.000Z

My NaNoWriMo novel took an interesting turn I did not expect. But it's gonna be so much more fun to write now! Am still keeping a wee bit ahead of the daily word count with 3367 words.

I am in chapter 2 (still haven't written more on chapter one) and I now have 3 subplots. I can feel where this is going and it's going to be confusing. By the end of the month I'll probably scream of need for Liquid Story Binder :P Well, if this novel is as promising at the end of the month as it is now, I will definately see what LSB is all about.

I also need to measure myself for a nanowrimo hoodie, and I need to donate as well.

Uh, and I've started to Twitter a lot! So much fun! I really like to tweet!

1786

2009-11-01T20:24:00.002Z

1786. That is how many words I've been writing on the NaNoWriMo project so far. And since my daily quota is 1667, I'm doing okay.
Started chapter one, which is a very boring introduction (really need to change that when we hit December) wrote most of that and hopped along to chapter two, which had a lot more fun in it. There is still some work I need to do on chapter one, but that will not be done today. Nor anytime soon. I need some word busting first :D The introduction/chapter one can come along later.

Things I've noticed about my writing:
* I am terrible with written speach. It is so flat and needs so much work. Will not do that before December though.
* It's hard to start, but when it's going, it's going okay ^_^

250 - NaNoWriMo - 30.10.2009

2009-10-31T12:59:00.000Z

Obviously today my head is all about NaNoWriMo. so here we go.

***

NaNoWriMo

Tomorrow it starts. Thirty days of frantic writing and, towards the end, hurting hands. It will be crazy, it will be scary, it will be tiring, but most of all it will be fun. The 1st of December I will, hopefully, have accomplished it again. Winning NaNoWriMo. Last year was amazing. The trills of watching the word count go up. The stress when it doesn’t go up, or it doesn’t go up fast enough.
I will still need to look decent and fresh for work and I will need to pay attention to the customers problems, even though it will be hard. For I will also write during work. After work. Maybe even in the bus to and from work.
In a situation like this, Google Docs is one of the most useful tools in my opinion. I don’t use Liquid Story Binder (will take a look at it along next year, so I can use if for NaNoWrimo ’10), all I have are Microsoft Word and Google Docs. And it worked last year, so hopefully it will work this year as well.

This year I’ve actually planned a bit. I have an idea; I have somewhat of an outline (if you can call 10 lines an outline); I have a computer at work and at home; I even have a blog and Twitter and writing buddies to pace me. All in all, I think this is gonna be a good NaNo year. And I will win. I won last year, I’m gonna win this year. I want to. That is my goal.

250 - Home - 30.10.2009

2009-10-31T10:38:00.001Z

Here's the one I wrote yesterday. I quite like it actually, one of the first things I've ever written in English!

***

Home

She looked back over her shoulder, but there was no one there. “Strange”, she thought, as she was sure she heard footsteps not a minute ago. She clung her purse a bit closer to her body, slightly pacing her steps. There it was again. She sure of it. She counted to three, quickly spun around, but there was nothing to see. She shook her head. It had to be her imagination. She started walking again. Home wasn’t far away, only a mile or so left. She had already walked a couple of miles from the club. Her feet were aching, but she didn’t really think about it that much. She had had such a fun night out with her friends. They headed home the same time she did, but they didn’t live the same place.
She heard the footsteps again, and this time she was sure. There was someone following her. When she walked faster the steps fell out of rhythm for a short while, before settling with hers again. She wished she had an alarm, or a pepper spray or something on her, which she of course didn’t. She looked around to see if she could get help, but the street was empty. She didn’t dare look behind her as this might trigger, whoever it was following. She could see a big cross road ahead and knew there would be people. She knew the area, and there was a bus stop with loads of night busses, where there would be people waiting for the bus. She paced herself walking faster, but she didn’t reach the road. Suddenly someone grope her arm, and the momentum swung her around. Her eyes widened with fear. She recognised the man’s face. It had been all over the news the last couple of days, as he was wanted for three rapes and he was a murder suspect as well.
He put a hand over her mouth before she could scream, and dragged her into an ally. He smacked her up against the wall and violently started to kiss and almost biting her mouth. She tried to get air to scream, but her throat was slowly being crushed by his big hands. When his mouth finally left hers, she couldn’t breathe and slipped into unconsciousness.

250 - Lille Ræv - 29.10.2009

2009-10-31T00:01:00.000Z

I did not finish this short story. But it is still being published. It's unfortunately only in Danish. Will publish an English one tomorrow.

***

Lille Ræv

Det var en stille morgen. Selv fuglene var ikke vågnet helt endnu, man kunne engang imellem høre et lille søvnigt pip fra trækronerne. Gaderne var overstrøet med gule og røde blade, nogle steder i flere lag. Der ville ikke gå lang tid, før sneen ville ligge tyk og hvid og dække gader og stræder. Det var allerede koldt nok til, at man kunne se sin ånde som en tyk røgsky, når man hastede fra det ene sted til det andet.
I parken under en busk, var et hul. Hullet var normalt dækket af blade, men sidst på efteråret var bladene ved at være faldet af buskene, så nu lå hullet åbent og sårbart. Der var dog ikke mange der overhovedet værdigede hverken buskene eller hullet et blik når de hastede forbi med forfrosne fingre og næser.
Nede i hullet puslede det. Det var en lille ræveunge, født sent, , der prøvede at lægge sig bedre til rette. Den skubbede sig lidt frem og tilbage for at finde det bedste sted. Den fandt det, og lagde sig ordentligt til rette. Langsomt faldt den i søvn igen.
Ude i parken gik en voksen ræv rundt. Den var en omstrejfer, sulten efter føde. Den snusede rundt i cirkler, og langsomt nærmede den sig hullet. Den snusede til en busk i nærheden af hullet og blev opmærksom på, at der var ræve i området. Hvis der var ræve i området var der også føde i området. Den nærmede sig langsomt hullet, og fik færten af den lille ræv.

New beginnings

2009-10-30T23:54:00.000Z

I decided that I finally will do something about my lack of writing. - I will actually start writing! I recently came across a blog, where the girl wrote 250 words every day. I do think that it was only in October, but I've decided to take it a bit further. I've decided to write 250 words every day, 11 months a year. The last month I will do NaNoWriMo.

My texts will be in both Danish and English, and they will be published here. My NaNo novel won't though, but I will post updates about it both here and on my Twitter. You can also see below for those updates.

There will probably also be written about other stuff, but the writing is the main thing to publish.

I do hope someone will enjoy reading what I write :)

- Michelle