Søstrene Grene and Moo Business Cards

Some New Things – Danish Knick-Knacks and Business Cards

Recently, a new store opened up in Versailles that I’ve been very curious about. All I could see inside the windows were some small home-decor pieces which looked very scandinavian in style. It took me a while to venture inside, probably because the name of the store just brought up more questions than answers: Søstrene Grene. The only other tid-bits of information I could glean from the shopfront was that it originated in Denmark but is now “all over the world” … Finally, my friend Katie told me how cute it was, and that I had to go. I’m so glad I did!

Like a cross between an ikea and a craft store, the shelves were lined with various items, generally organized by color. Yarn, stickers, patterned boxes, wire hampers, mugs, tote bags, framed prints, gift wrapping, stationery, etc. I was expecting everything to be overpriced, but no single thing I bought that day exceeded 4€!

You can see some of the things I picked up in this photo, including the tea towels underneath.
 Søstrene Grene and Moo Business Cards

On a slightly unrelated note, I received my custom set of business cards from Moo this morning! I thought they’d go really well with all the other items I picked up from Søstrene Grene. I love how Moo allows you to create multiple designs on each card. I went for a set of 100, with 20 of each color. The black and white image was my own, but all the other colors and fonts were designed using Moo’s on-site design tools. I opted for eco-friendly recycled paper, and the finish is nice and matte.
Moo Business Cards

Most of what I purchased was useful, like the towels and cups, but I wasn’t sure how to utilize the two little patterned boxes. After some thought I decided to store some makeup in them! I love the idea of having an organized, attractive vanity, but for as long as I can remember, my makeup area has been more of an explosion of products strewn about everywhere. Even though I have more lip products than fit in this box, I narrowed it down to my favories, the ones I actually use. Same goes for the blush-bronzer-powder box, just my most-loved products! Maybe I’ll do a blog post in the future about my preferred makeup items.
Makeup Storage

Find more about Søstrene Grene at their website, or follow them on Instagram.

Moo makes business cards and all other kinds of paper goods, website here.

Favorite Things / French Californian

Favorite Things

Today I thought I’d do something different, and if we like it, I may continue this as a recurring feature. TONS of bloggers do a “favorite things” feature every week or month, so why shouldn’t I?  I had this idea while browsing through Society6. It’s a website that supports artists by turning their work into art prints, iPhone covers, pillows, rugs, shower curtains, clocks, mugs, and even tapestries. I’ve seen them start small and grow into something great! Because Society6 takes care of production, the artists have more free time to create. It’s perfect for me because I just can’t be bothered to find a quality photo printer, let alone fabricate iPhone covers myself!

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Office Inspiration

Now that my life here in France seems to finally be picking up speed, I find myself dreaming of creating my own personal office space, so I’ve compiled this small collection of office inspiration pictures, all found on Pinterest! Currently, we have not one, but two beds sitting next to one another in the downstairs section of the apartment – the second bed has served us well for the hosting of guests that has been ongoing for the past couple months, but I think it’s time to clear out some space for MOI!  I hope to find a new home for our second bed and slowly start assembling a little space for myself.

I especially love these images I’ve found on Pinterest.  I love that the dominant shade is white, with pops of metallic, wood, and/or bright color (except the completely monochromatic desk in the second picture!).  After a bit of research, I’ve discovered that Ikea not only sells full-on desks, but they also sell table legs and tops separately.  The desk in the image below is assembled from these Ikea parts, but they painted the legs copper, which makes it look amazing!!  What’s nice is this particular combo would only cost about 40 bucks or so – not bad for a desk, especially one that can be easily disassembled when it’s time to move.  I’d actually love to do the exact same thing, unless of course I find a beautiful desk on the side of the road… On Sundays people throw their big items on the street for disposal.  Yesterday, my friends who just moved into town scored a coffee table from the sidewalk!

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Favorite YouTubers: Fashion and Lifestyle

My primary source of entertainment is no longer pop-stars, blockbuster movies, or reality TV shows – it’s the Internet.  YouTube is the fabulous place where people just like myself can start producing content; cooking, fashion, personal style, lifestyle vlogging, travel, DIYs, exercise, humor, short films, music… literally anything and everything!  In case you’ve been living under a rock, I’m here to inform you of the next generation of digital entertainment, by sharing just a few of my absolute favourites.

The best thing about YouTube is how normal everybody is.  It’s similar to blogging, but on another level.  The viewers and the producers are equal, and the intimacy with which they share their lives and personalities create unique relationships.  Even though I’ve never met these people in real life, I feel like I know them as friends, in a way.  They interact with their viewers both online and in-person, and speak directly to us via a camera lens and a computer screen.  Also, most of them not only create videos based on a specific topic or theme, but also vlog their daily lives and/or travels.  In theory, watching somebody’s daily activities would be either boring or creepy, but somehow, it’s so interesting!  (and it’s not creepy because they voluntarily post the vlogs!!)

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New & Improved Website!

Im very pleased to announce the “launch” of my new website! It caused a lot of confusion and frustration, as I did it all myself, with an ENORMOUS help from my husband Erik who is a programmer and knows how coding works (which I don’t). It’s not entirely perfect or completely professional, but I think we did a pretty damn good job! I think the biggest change is the addition of a “homepage” on which you can see a rotating slider of popular posts, find content based on category, see live feeds of my Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest profiles, as well as subscribe either through Bloglovin’ or email. I wanted to add a homepage in an attempt to add another dimension to my online presence, moving away from just a blog, to more of a website. This will open up more opportunities for me in the future, once I’m ready to branch out into other areas. Perhaps running a shop, creating a zine or travel guide, producing YouTube videos…

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Johanna Tagada

Artist Feature: Johanna Tagada / BonjourJohanna

As I was going through a blog-redesign binge in the wee hours of the morning last week, I realised that one of my sidebar categories reads: “Art”, and I haven’t featured an artist in over 3 months! :o So without further ado, let’s get into some art!

Johanna Tagada is an abstract painter who also works with many different media, including painting, collage, photography, textile design, and ceramics. She’s originally from France, but currently lives in Germany. Her heritage is multicultural, and so are her interests; She speaks many different languages, travels often, and is inspired by cultural heritage, especially folk art.

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