VILLA BETULA

JUST GOT BACK FROM ROME!

13/07/2018

Heeeeey, long time no see! I realized it was such a pleasure to drop internet, had no plans to, but I must admit it felt good! Guilty pleasure when you “have to” be so “in here” to make it work. But I can’t let it steer my way, I also need vacations without sharing them in real time.

So, there are two reason why I dropped it all, reason number one: I’ve been in Rome for week with my ten year old, who’s also the photographer (and owner of the cap) in the photo below. She has this magical ability to capture me the way she sees me. This is the only edited photo so far, more to come! By the way, we had an amazing time, and I felt like a child in the pool 😉 We ate less ice-cream than expected, but more caramels, and I’m now addicted to a certain Italian caramel and don’t know how I’ll make it without it!! 😉 I also got a couple of sleepless night, the reason is below the photo…

Reason number two (like I have to excuse myself…): It’s nuts how much admin work and practical work it has been, and still is, with the apartment and the house. I was suppose to be all done with the wallpaper and painting before every big piece of furniture will be moved on Wednesday (!!!!), but noooo way that will happen. Not even close. I’ve hired someone to move my furniture, to avoid a heart attack and a broken back. A new fridge and divers will also arrive the coming week, and if I am to believe the “rumors”, the apartments is now all ready with electricity and water. I’ll go there later today and have a look…

In a couple of weeks Villa Betula is no longer mine, but “New Villa Betula” – I’m ready for you! (even though I have no idea where to put all the things I’ve decided to keep, gosh, there will be several sleepless nights…).

NOVEMBER WORKSHOP: LOTT & GRÅBLOMST (OPEN FOR REGISTRATION!)

01/07/2018

WHAT DOES YOUR HEART SAY? FIND YOUR PALETTE AND TELL YOUR STORY.

– We will give you the seed you need to start listen and tell your true tale.

I can finally proudly present my partner in crime in November: Michell Lott! He’s a multidisciplinary content creator and journalist, and has covered interiors, design, architecture, art and travel in a very well know Brazilian interior magazine for the last five years.

One of his biggest strengths is to see beauty in simple things, and he has some serious skills (I have to say that!) when it comes to colours and creating a palette. Michell also uses his phone to photograph and edit with, and that’s some of what he want to teach you. I will use a system camera, and together we will make it work for all of you. Bring what you have, and embrace the possibilities with what you got – you will be able to tell your true tale. Together we will find our palettes and photograph environment and people in natural light.

I’ve collected all workshop information (and how to register) at the bottom of this post so you can easily find everything you need to know (time and time again). First I want to repeat What does your heart say? Find your palette and tell your story – We will give you the seed you need to start listen and tell your true tale… Does this sounds like something you would like to join?

Mr. Lott (ha ha) is super excited to meet you all, and so am I!

Colours, atmosphere, you… How to find it, and how to capture it. You don’t have to be in your photos, it’s totally up to you. But before you know it you’re might ready to push yourself a little out of your comfort zone. And if not it’s just as good. So many possibilities, so little expectations. We where thinking about being like a little family the two days we have together!

There will be held two workshops since we want to give as many as possible the opportunity to join us!

Workshop #1 – Saturday 10th + Sunday 11th of November

Workshop #2 – Tuesday 13th + Wednesday 14th of November

We will gather around this table…

Would you be comfortable to be in front of the camera too? At least you will get the opportunity!

So excited to pick up this person at the train station in November!

Hope to see so many as possible of you! <3

WORKSHOP INFORMATION:

Where to buy a spot: in my shop here

Where: Hamar, Norway (in the «New Villa Betula»)

When:

Workshop #1 – Saturday 10th + Sunday 11th of November 2018

Workshop #2 – Tuesday 13th + Wednesday 14th of November 2018

What: Colour and photography workshop.

There will be coffee, tea, simple lunch and really long dinners when the workday is over! Chats and new people with the similar interests, and tons of things to learn from each other along the way! I really want to make you all feel at home, so it will be held in my pad. This means we will be like a small family for a couple of days, and there are only six spots on each of the workshops.

More detailed information about the daily schedule will be given to the participants closer to the workshop date. In general we will be taught all the tips and tools Michell Lott has to offer, both when it comes to colours, styling, and use of your phone as a camera and editing. I will use my system camera and also use some time in Lightroom if some of you want to.

We want to teach you about storytelling, and how you can tell yours, also without the most “fancy” equipment. It’s about heart, it’s about guts and it’s about you. This is your time, your journey, your possibilities.

Host: Maren Ingeborg Gråblomst
Guest instructor: Michell Lott

Fee: 4700 Norwegian Kroner

Included:

– Goodie bag

– Two simple lunches/ snacks
– Two dinners (w/one beer/wine). First day at a restaurant in town, second day in my pad.
– Coffee and tea
– Styling sessions
– Photography sessions

– Editing sessions
– Colour palette sessions

Not included: Hotel and transportation

Language: Will be held mainly in English, and maybe we’ll learn some Brazilian phrases!

Travel: It’s very easy to get to the workshop: take a flight to Oslo Airport Gardermoen (or a train to Oslo), and you catch a train to Hamar which only takes an hour, and then there’s a two minute walk from the station to my apartment! Easy and fast 😉

Cancellation policy: Due to logistics and the people involved, this is a non refundable workshop.

Feel free to email me at contact@villabetula.com.

When you have reserved your spot by purchasing a place through by my shop here, you will receive a confirmation email and a more detailed schedule will arrive in your mailbox closer to the workshop date.

See you in my pad in November! 😉

SLEEPING IN A DARK CHOCOLATE

29/06/2018

All I do is painting! 6-9 hours a day – who said I was tired of painting walls and ceilings after years of transforming Villa Betula? 😉 I just close my eyes and enter new projects, and that’s how I operate. That’s how my life looks like. Workshop projects too, I’m getting sooooo close now, and my next blogpost is most likely the one when I reveal it all. I’m almost getting nervous and have to pinch myself in the arm. Almost too good to be true, ya know…

Yay, my new bedroom colour! It’s totally like dark chocolate, and what could possibly be better to sleep in?! I was at the paint shop before I decided the colour – I was looking at a fan of tiny tiny tiny samples with codes, and just pointed out one. Didn’t know whether I would end up with brown, green, plum…

First coat of chocolate in the ceiling, but I actually managed to get the second (shiny!!) coat on before I went home late last night, so I’m super excited to see it when I get back to the apartment later today. I am so sure this place will be the coolest place I’ve lived.

First sneak peek of the kitchen! Hopefully there will be electricity in not too long, and I will paint it later in July. I have a smashing collaboration going on for the kitchen, living room and hallway! Something I’ve never tried before…

Imagine a wall to the right here, and that’s where this wallpaper is going up. It looks like I’m might going to do it all by myself, wish me luck!! I really don’t like the floor in this room, so also visualize a huge rug, ha ha 😉

And my daughter’s room, where she decided the colour herself. What a brilliant choice! She wanted to have the same as we have now in the hallway in Villa Betula. Melted my heart of course… I’m done with two coats and a shiny ceiling already, I’ll show you later!

So, lovely people, stay tuned and peel your eyes, because I will most likely spend this late evening trying to figure out how to make a “smooth” way to sign up for the workshop in November.

CAN YOU FEEL THE EXCITEMENT?!

23/06/2018

I got the keys for the apartment yesterday, all of a sudden, yay! No electricity and no water yet, but at least I can paint and be here alone and do some planning. Take some deep breaths. Invite my sister for my first coffee at the balcony (coffee from the vinyl and coffee shop on ground floor, one of the best spots in town!). Walking around in circles, thinking that life has a tendency to sort itself out when I calm down…

My old french sliding doors got its first coat of paint today – black! It’s actually the only thing that will be black as night in the apartment. Tomorrow I’ve set my alarm to ring early, as I eager to continue with the max shine layer of black – this door will shine, just like I’ve started to do. Life – a magical journey, even when it’s bad. All the shit has taken me where I am, and I don’t want to be anywhere else.

A DIAMOND IN THE LIVING ROOM

18/06/2018

This post is sponsored by Myldre Interior (Hamar, Norway).

Part II of my sweet and heartwarming collaboration with the local shop, Myldre Interior, which I seem to have fallen in love with! If you missed out on part I, you’ll find it here.

This shelve though – perfect, perfect, perfect… Made my eyes “scream” the first time I saw it, haha 😉 I looked at it so many times, visualizing it primarily in my new kitchen. The plan is to use it for all kinds of daily kitchen things, you know, all the stuff you want to have just one arm length away.

While we wait, the shelve and I, we spend a lot of time together in the black room. It’s perfect for books, and last but not least – vinyl records! So when (not if) my vinyl collection expands, I’ll might have to find something else for the kitchen! The shelve is very solid and can carry quite a lot of weight, which I think is great!

About two meters tall, and you can make it look very “smooth” like it does in this room, or you can go all in and make it one of your statement pieces. It will say more “boom!” in my very small new kitchen, both because of the room size, the colours (still a secret!) and it will be rather stuffed with things, you know. And yes – I will show you when it’s all ready, off course I will!

Myldre has a wide range with a mix of interiors, faux plants, gourmet and well-being as well as different accessories like jewelry and handbags. Here you can find unique vintage furniture and other interior treasures of recycled wood and rough metal. There are also the most delicious pillows and rugs in lovely colours and nature materials.

Yesterday I also found out that they’re might able to get hold of the kind of lamp I dream about both night and day – I really love their kindness, and they’re so service minded and chatty 😉

Pleased! With so much!

Click your way to Myldre Interior at Facebook here, and Instagram here. The shop is located at CC in Hamar, Norway, and you won’t regret a visit (or several!) 😉

I wish you the very best week! I’ve started mine with a soft and warm heart…

A GATHERING FOR MOTHERS

13/06/2018

Rais your hand if you would like to sit here with a bunch of great women, eating simple food, talking about pretty much everything! I had a bunch of mothers from my daughters class here on Saturday, and it was not the last time! I could also feel how my future brunch club might be like…

It was the perfect set up to try the new table, but since there where many of us I had to add my little little octagon beauty…

OK, I did vacuum before they arrived, but that was pretty much it. When did I become so super relaxed?!

Everybody brought something, either simple food, some sweets, chips, champagne… Everything tasted amazing, I can’t imagine a better night, it was soul nutrition for me! We ate and enjoyed all kinds of conversations for 8-9 hours, and it started to be light again when I got to bed. So now I’ve felt rather sleepy for three days, haha 😉

Earlier that day I started to pack away books and magazines, and I know this looks very “blog’ish”, but I seriously pack things like this in my old empty suitcases (#sorrynotsorry). But now I need to get some cardboard boxes…

Suddenly this has become my “office”, and guess why?! I’ve started to listen to music again, a lot. Like all the time. And this is the sweet spot for listening. So I listen, and I work. And I buy vinyl.

This is how it looks when I plan my new home… This is a sketch of my bedroom, can you tell?! It doesn’t get better than this, and I understand everything I try to tell myself here, but I guess it wouldn’t make sense for anybody else 😉

THE TABLE OF MY DREAMS…

11/06/2018

This post is sponsored by Myldre Interior (Hamar, Norway).

…Is in tha house!! 😉 So, for how long haven’t I been looking for a table like this? With no luck though, until I found it at a local shop, Myldre Interior. Sometimes I need to be reminded that there are so many possibilities and treasures just around the corner. From now on I will definitely be much better at saying hello to my local hard working independent shops, which Myldre Interior truly is. It’s not a part of a big chain of shops – this is the one and only, and I love it.

The wood is re-used from Indian trucks, and I love that this table comes with a soul. I feel connected to all of its hidden stories. And super sensitive as I am, he he, this is really the perfect table for me. Truly rough, and truly beautiful.

Some green marks left here and there – wonder where they comes from… Now they serve as a base for every meal, many coffee cups and as a place to put the poppies which grows in my garden. I even had a party around this table a couple of days ago. It was a success to gather eight fab women around here!

“Your heart desires, your heart opens, your heart aches, your heart breaks and your heart heals. It is all part of love”. My morning routine, by the table.

When I visit the shop I crave so much, and I know I will visit it so many times after I’ve moved to town. Both because there are certain things there I want to treat myself with in my new place, and they will also be just a four minute walk away from my pad! I don’t know if that’s a good thing, ha ha 😉

So this is the table we will gather around when it’s time to start the brunch club! Are you ready!? My heart and mind is ready ,but the apartment is not, so basically I just have to be p a t i e n t. That’s not my middle name!

Myldre Interior at Facebook here, and Instagram here. The shop is located at CC in Hamar, Norway, and the it’s very intriguing and magical, go visit! Go, go! 😉

BEHIND THE SCENES

05/06/2018

Ready for me rambling on about all kinds of things, jumping from one thing to another? I’ve done that a lot lately. It’s my general enthusiasm, and I enjoy it.

So, lovely people, what are you up to? Sorry for promising blogposts to come that takes “forever” to get out, but my calendar is too full. And it’s totally my “fault”. I kind of like to be occupied with projects that I love to work on, and I feel blessed with my work situation. My main job is to keep head above water, you know, and when I manage that I have a tendency to work on a lot at once. I crave to get better at singletasking! I bet it’s much healthier than multitasking, what do you think?

Photographing and editing for a local shop is what I’ve been up to the last two days, and I loved to do this. Time flies so fast though, and I kind of forget to eat when I work! And it takes forever when I decide to put myself into the scenes as well. Maybe one out of ten that works, you know…

Guess some of you spotted Abigail Ahern’s house in the book in front of me. I also guess some of you didn’t know I’ve been in her pad, both photographing and interviewing her? Have a look here if you missed it!

Apropos many projects at once: I’ve not forgot I am to tell you about the workshop, it’s just that I also tend to forget that people don’t always have on top of their calendar to answer my mails day and night, ha ha. When I have a good idea and think it’s “only one mail left, and then everything’s nailed”…. Well, usually I’m wrong! But keep your eyes peeled, because this workshop will might turn out to be for an even smaller group than first thought…

Coffe, yes please! Just realized I’ve had only one cup today!! How can I forget about those good sweet breaks… Guess it’s called flow, at least that’s the reason the last days. And conversations. Some people have the ability to be so open and honest I almost fall off the chair. Thanks, it means the world!

More feet, ha ha, sorry, but this is behind the scenes and I have not had socks on since April or something. And yes of course I stand on the table if it suits me 😉 My home, my table, my feet, my rules. And isn’t this poppy the most gorgeous? It was the first one blooming in the garden, exact in time for photo shoot. Today it’s four more out the waving in the wind. Orange and pink, perfect combo.

Got myself a couple of new books – an adorable one about Frida and one from another adorable one, LisaLove. I also bought a print from her, and have one from earlier. Both saved for the apartment!

You know when it’s difficult not to get angry at myself? When I’ve worked hard to make something “unrealistic” happen, and when it actually happens I get so anxious about it actually happening that I’m turning tired, acute sleepy, not capable to continue other things and so on… And start to worry about things that has not happen, and most likely won’t happen, several months ahead. Gosh… Calm down, Gråblomst! 😉 You’ll make it, you are a doer…