Pretty monday

Findings from the woods

2009-08-17T14:33:00.002+03:00

I found the skull from a forrest a couple of weeks ago when I was picking mushrooms. It was lying in the hay intact and also very clean and white. To which animal it used to belong, I'm not sure. It's not a weasel or a marten because it's much more rounded. Actually it almost reminds me of a cat skull, in which case there must be a very sad story behind it. I know, I'm very weird to collect these kind of finds.
The brown striped feather was actually found by my father, but he gave it to me. I assume it's a falcon's or owl's feather. The two black ones I know for a fact are wood grouse's tail feathers.

Löysin tuon kallon jokunen aika sitten metsästä kun olin keräämässä sieniä. Se kökötti korkeassa heinikossa ehjänä ja puhtaan valkeana. Mille eläimelle se on kuulunut, en ole varma. Ainakaan se ei ole näädän tai lumikon, koska se on paljon pyöreämpi. Oikeastaan se muistuttaa jopa hieman kissan kalloa, mikä onkin sitten varmaan jo surullisempi tarina. Olen kyllä "hieman" outo kun keräilen kaikkia tällaisia.
Tuon ruskearaidallisen sulan sain isältäni, hän löysi sen jostain kuusikosta. Olettaisin että se on kuulunut joko haukalle tai pöllölle. Nuo kaksi mustaa tiedän ainakin varmasti olevan metson pyrstösulkia.

So cute

2009-08-09T18:33:00.004+03:00

Near our summer cottage there's a horse stable and these little foals are the newest inhabitants there. They are now almost two months old. Every time we go to the cottage I wanna go and say hi to the cuties.

Kesämökkimme lähellä on hevostalli ja nämä pikkuvarsat ovat paikan uusimpia asukkaita. Söpöläiset ovat nyt lähes kahden kuukauden ikäisiä ja joka kerta kun käymme mökillä haluan aina käydä moikkaamassa niitä.

August's harvest

2009-08-04T14:41:00.005+03:00

Forrests are full of delicacies and I have truly been eating a lot of them lately. I saw yellow raspberries for the first time in my life. They looked almost like cloudberries but tasted like regular red raspberries. Chantarelles are super delicious fried with onions and cream. And last but not least... a yammy blueberry pie. Though it doesn't look here as good as it tasted.

Metsät ovat täynnä ihania herkkuja ja niitä onkin tullut nyt syötyä kovasti. Näin elämäni ensimmäistä kertaa keltaisia vadelmia. Ne näyttivät hieman lakoilta, mutta maistuivat ihan tavallisilta vatuilta. Kantarellit ovat ihan ehdoton loppukesän herkkupala, sipulin ja kerman kera paistettuna tietenkin. Ja viimeisenä, mutta ei vähäisempänä... onnistuin kerrankin mustikkapiirakan teossa. Tosin kuvassa se ei näytä niin hyvältä kuin maistui, uskokaa pois!

Knitted dishcloth

2009-07-27T12:42:00.003+03:00

There seems to be a nice trend going on: everybody is knitting dishcloths. I found a bunch of patterns from blogs here and there and now I'm knitting one for myself. I'm using Bamboo yarn, which I heard is antibacterial and also very water absorbent. I chose black colour so that dirt wouldn't show easily, but actually now I'm planning to make several more in different colours too. Here is the pattern I'm using, but surely you could make any kind of pretty cloths to adorn your kitchen.

Olen havainnut erään hauskan trendin: kaikki tuntuvat neulovan nyt itselleen tiskirättejä! Olen löytänyt monista blogeista kuvia ja ohjeita ja innostuin kokeilemaan tätä villitystä itsekin. Käytän Bambu-lankaa, joka on kuulemma hyvin imukykyistä ja antibakteeristakin. Väriksi valitsin mustan, kun ajattelin että siitähän ei likakaan helposti näy. Nyt tosin suunnittelen tekaisevani vielä lisää ja eri värisiäkin. Neulon tämän ohjen mukaan, mutta tosiaan näitähän voisi tehdä vaikka minkä mallisia ja muotoisia keittiön kaunistukseksi.

Some coffee cups

2009-07-19T22:24:00.004+03:00

I disappeared for a while to spend lazy summer days and visit some interesting places. My fiancé's relatives are enthusiastic drifters and collectors. These pictures are from their old barn that is turned into a museum. The most stunning sight is the 3000-piece collection of old coffee cups.

Katosin joksikin aikaa viettämään laiskoja kesäpäiviä ja vierailemaan kiinnostavissa paikoissa. Kihlattuni sukulaiset ovat innokkaita kirpputorikävijöitä ja keräilijöitä. Nämä kuvat ovat heidän vanhasta navetastaan, joka on muuttunut hulppeaksi museoksi. Mieleenpainuvin nähtävyys siellä oli upea 3000:n vanhan kahvikupin kokoelma.

Cléo de Mérode

2009-06-10T13:35:00.002+03:00

I had no clue who she was, but I absolutely fell in love with her portraits and had no choice but to buy a collage sheet of her pictures. Now I know that she was a dancer and a great beauty also recognized by artists like Toulouse-Lautrec and Gustav Klimt.

So I started a series of collages inspired by Cléo de Mérode. They're not actually pure collages since I also use image transfer and painting (gesso and brown ink). But anyway, this is how they look now. The process still continues.

Minulla ei ollut minkäänlaista käsitystä tästä koko henkilöstä, mutta ihastuin kertakaikkiaan hänen kuviinsa ja niinpä sitten oli ihan pakko ostaa tämä kollaasiarkki. Nyt tiedän, että hän oli tanssijatar, joka nousi ulkoisilla avuillaan julkisuuteen. Taiteilijat kuten Toulouse-lautrec ja Gustav Klimt ovat mm. käyttäneet häntä mallinaan.

Cléo de Mérodesta inspiroituneena aloitin kuuden kollaasin sarjan. Tai oikeastaan ne eivät ole ihan puhtaasti kollaaseja... kuvat on siirretty akryyligeelimediumilla, nuo rusehtavat/harmahtavat sävyt olen maalannut gessolla ja ruskealla vesiliukoisella musteella. Mutta projekti jatkuu vielä.

Transferring

2009-06-04T22:51:00.004+03:00

I made some image transfer experiments - again. I wanted to try a thicker acrylic medium, one with a gel texture. So I found this Lukas matte gel medium from Articano. Instead of inkjet prints, this time I made photocopies of my images. They work much better! And the gel medium is easier to work with because of the thickness. So the endresult is almost too smooth and perfect, I might have to distress the transferred images a bit to get them more shabby.

Tein taas image transfer -kokeiluja. Halusin testata paksumpaa, geelimäistä akryylimediumia. Niinpä tilasin Articanosta Lukas-merkkistä mattaa geelimediumia. Mustesuihkutulosteiden sijaan kävin tällä kertaa ottamassa valokopiot kuvistani. Ne toimivat tosiaan paljon paremmin! Ja geelimediumin kanssa on helpompi työskennellä koska se on paksua. Lopputulos onkin sitten jo lähes liian hyvä ja tasainen siirtokuva. Täytyy ehkä hieman hiekkapaperilla hioa noita valmiita kuvia jos haluaa kuluneempaa ilmettä.

Paper masks

2009-05-28T18:08:00.002+03:00

Masks are fascinating. There's always somekind of a mystery involved, a secret behind them. I had to plan a mask project for children a while ago, and these are the tutorial pieces that I made.

Naamiot ovat aina kiehtovia, niihin liittyy mystiikkaa ja salaisuuksia. Minun piti suunnitella ja toteuttaa naamioprojekti lapsille tuossa jokin aika sitten ja tälläisiä mallikappaleita sain sitten kyhättyä.

We began with making a desired face out of clay. Then we covered the clay surface with kitchen film or vaseline. The actual mask consists of many layers of brown silk paper glued down with wallpaper paste. We let it dry a day or two and then detached the mask from the clay form. It's quite easy. Although the brown paper gives the masks kind of a creepy burnt skin-like look.

Aloitimme tkemällä savesta halutunlaiset kasvot. Savipinta suojattiin kelmulla tai vaseliinilla, ja siihen sitten kerrostettiin ruskeaa silkkipaperia tapettiliisterillä. Maskin annettiin kuivua päivä tai pari ja kovetuttuaan se irtosi savesta helposti. Tosin tuo ruskea paperi näyttää jokseenkin kammottavalta, mieleen tulee palanut iho tai jotakin.

Silk paper lets light trough beutifully, depending on how thick you layer it. You could experiment with different papers, newspaper works fine etc. The kids also painted these with acrylic colors.

Silkkipaperista valo siivilöityy kauniisti läpi, riippuen tietysti kuinka paksuja kerroksia sitä laittaa. Muitakin papereita voi toki kokeilla, sanomalehdet käyvät esim. mainiosti. Lapset myös maalasivat naamarinsa akryyliväreillä.

Something to do

2009-05-20T13:50:00.003+03:00

Some projects for the summer: crochet and reading. I started a mini ripple afghan with leftover yarns. My friend found these books from flea market and gave them to me, she's so sweet.

Projekteja kesäksi: virkkausta ja lukemista. Aloitin pienen aaltokuviollisen peiton jämälangoista. Sain ystävältäni kasan kirpputorilta löytyneitä kirjoja, hän on kyllä ihan paras!

This little Benjamin Bunny book is a true treasure. Beatrix Potter's illustrations are so beautiful and delicate.

Tämä pikkuruinen Benjamin Bunny -kirja on kyllä melkoinen aarre. Beatrix Potterin kuvitukset ovat herkän kauniita, pidän noista hienovaraisista värisävyistä kovasti.

Cards all dressed up

2009-05-08T15:12:00.002+03:00

I've been making some cards - again. These ones have pretty summer dresses made out of origami papers. There are also a few men's clothing pieces to match.

Olen taas tehnyt kortteja. Näissä hulmuaa ihanan kirjavia kesämekkoja, jotka olen taitellut origamipapereista. Pitihän näille sitten tehdä pariksi muutama miestenvaateaiheinen korttikin. Tosin niissä tuo kuvioilla leikittely rajoittuu vain kravattiin.

Flowers

2009-05-04T13:33:00.004+03:00

May is finally here and these blue and lilac beauties are blooming also here in the southeast part of Finland.

Toukokuu on vihdoin koittanut ja nämä siniset ja violetit ihanuudet kukkivat myös täällä Kaakkois-Suomen perukoilla.

Mineral makeup

2009-04-29T14:14:00.004+03:00

I don't usually do a lot of makeup, but since I like all kinds of natural stuff, these mineral makeups have really caught my interest. At the purest, they consist only of natural minerals. I ordered some samples from Lily Lolo and Everyday Minerals. These little and cheap sample sizes are great for finding the exact match for your own skin color without having to purchase the normal sized jars and then realizing they don't match.

Viime aikoina olen kiinnostunut kovasti mineraalimeikeistä, vaikken yleensä mikään kosmetiikan suurkuluttaja olekaan. Puhtaimmillaan mineraalimeikki sisältää vain luonnon mineraaleja, ei silikoneja, lisäaineita jne. Tilasin näytteitä Lily Lololta ja Everyday Mineralsilta. Pienet ja edulliset näytekoot ovat käteviä kun haluaa kokeilla mitkä sävyt ovat sopivia ennen kuin ostaa normaalikokoisia tuotteita.

These are foundations and a finishing powder from Lily Lolo.

Kaksi meikkipohjaa ja viimeistelypuuteri Lily Lololta.

I got five free samples from Everyday Minerals. I also bought two synthetic and incredibly soft brushes, the first one is a flat top brush for applying the foundation/powder, and the second one a concealer brush.

I must say this stuff works very well and feels good on my skin!

Sain Everyday Mineralsilta viisi ilmaista näytepurkkia. Ostin myös kaksi synteettistä ja uskomattoman pehmeää sivellintä. Tuo ensimmäinen tasapäinen on tarkoitettu meikkipohjan tai puuterin levitykseen. Toinen on peitevärisivellin.

Täytyy myöntää että nämä jauheet kyllä toimivat ja tuntuvat oikein miellyttäviltä iholla!

Birds

2009-04-26T14:25:00.003+03:00

Today we were feeding birds by the river. We thought there'd be only ducks but instead we came accross these noisy buddies, the laughing gulls. The collage above is a new one. But I'm not exactly sure if it's ready yet. I might still add something small...

Tänään olimme syöttämässä lintuja joella. Ajattelimme lähinnä että siellä olisi sorsia, mutta sen sijaan saimme seuraa näistä äänekkäistä kavereista eli naurulokeista. Alakuvan kollaasi on uusi. Tosin en ole vielä ihan varma onko se jo täysin valmis, vai lisäänkö siihen vielä himpun verran jotain...

New Canon

2009-04-19T13:36:00.004+03:00

So I finally got the new camera. It's Canon EOS 1000D and so far I like it a lot. I have an old trustworthy Canon EOS 500 film camera that I haven't used in years because I thought it was unpractical... developing the film got too complicated and expensive. A couple of years I used a very basic pocket digi camera. But now I'm back with all the good system camera qualities and photographing is so much more fun!

Vihdoin uusi kamera: Canon EOS 1000D, johon tähänastisten kokeilujen perusteella olen oikein tyytyväinen. Kaapin perukoilta löytyy myös vanha uskollinen Canon EOS 500 filmikamerani, jota en ole käyttänyt vuosiin. Filmin kehittäminen alkoi tuntua epäkäytännölliseltä ja kalliiltakin, koska kuitenkin käytin kuviani digitaalisessa muodossa. Parin vuoden ajan olen pärjäillyt ihan perus digipokkarilla. Mutta nyt saan jälleen nauttia järjestelmäkameran hienouksista, ja kuvaaminen tuntuu totta tosiaan paljon kivemmalta.

Smell of spring

2009-04-12T17:18:00.002+03:00

The weather forecast promised sunshine, but in this corner of the country it's been very grey couple of days. But that's okay, I've been relaxing at home and enjoying good food. Today I took a little walk outside though. The birds were singing like never before, and the nature smelled like spring.

Säätiedotus lupasi auringonpaistetta, mutta tällä kolkalla Suomea on ollut hyvin harmaata. Toisaalta se ei haittaa, koska olen vain laiskotellut kotona ja herkutellut hyvällä ruoalla. Tänään tein kuitenkin pienen kävelylenkin. Linnut lauloivat täysin rinnoin ja luonto tuoksui jo keväälle.

Kimono girls

2009-04-06T22:40:00.002+03:00

I used my patterned origami papers to make two different kinds of kimono girls. The instructions for the ones in the upper picture came with the paper package. I added sleeves and a different hairdo for the other ones.

Tein vastikään hankkimistani kuviollisista origamipapereista kimonotyttöjä. Ohjeet yläkuvan tyttöihin tulivat paperipakkauksen mukana. Lisäsin hihat ja erilaisen kampauksen alemman kuvan neideille.

White chalk, black dress

2009-04-04T23:18:00.005+03:00

PJ Harvey's White Chalk is one of the most beautiful songs I know. This live version is awesome, and she's wearing a very nice witchy black dress.

PJ Harveyn White Chalk on yksi kauneimmista kappaleista mitä tiedän. Tämä live-versio on aivan upea, ja Pollylla on ihanan noitamainen musta mekko päällään.

ATC review

2009-03-25T22:14:00.005+02:00

1. Halloween, 2. Coffee, 3. Carnival 1, 4. Carnival 2, 5. Selfmade, 6. Mata Hari 1, 7. Mata Hari 2, 8. James Dean, 9. Virginia, 10. Anna, 11. Lost seaman, 12. Porsche, 13. Mercedes, 14. Rex, 15. Romance, 16. Broken heart, 17. Miss Fortune, 18. River people, 19. Light Dance, 20. Beltane, 21. Sea Love, 22. White magic 1, 23. White magic 2, 24. Sisters nature club, 25. Sisters sewing club, 26. Going sailig, 27. Pictores Operis, 28. Where to dine?, 29. Dreamers 1/4, 30. Dreamers 2/4, 31. Dreamers 3/4, 32. Dreamers 4/4, 33. Fish Soup, 34. Primavera, 35. Learning to fly, 36. Miss Spring

Playing with Mosaic Maker again... These are some of the ATC cards I've made last year. At the moment I'm planning on buying a new camera, so maybe there'll be some fresh photos here soon.

Leikin taas tuolla Mosaic Makerillä... Tässä osa viime vuoden aikana tekemistäni ATC-korteista. Tällä hetkellä suunnittelen uuden kameran ostamista. Piakkoin täälläkin voi olla siis nähtävillä tuoreita valokuvia.

Digital experiments

2009-03-20T22:11:00.004+02:00

Catching up with my crafting projects... I'm a bit late with my layout for Listamania challenge: Favorite TV-series. I'm not sure if this really qualifies for a scrapbook page, because it's all digital. Making layouts with computer isn't exactly my idea of having fun with scrapping, but now I've tried it anyway.
I used InDesign, converted the document to pdf and then to jpg image, so hopefully the colors don't look too creepy and bright on your screens.

Olen hieman myöhässä edellisen Listamania-haasteen kanssa, aiheena oli parhaat TV-sarjat. En nyt ehkä ihan käsi sydämellä kutsuisi tätä oikeaksi scrapbook-sivuksi, koska se on tehty kokonaan tietokoneella. Päätin nyt kuitenkin kokeilla tätäkin tapaa, tosin ei koneella työskentely ole ollenkaan niin hauskaa kuin leikkaaminen ja liimaaminen.
Käytin InDesign-ohjelmaa, muutin tiedoston sitten pdf:n kautta jpg-kuvaksi, joten toivottavasti nuo värit eivät näytä ihan karmean räikeiltä näytöillänne.

Old drawing

2009-03-17T21:10:00.004+02:00

I'm having a super busy period with work. I've said yes to every project I've been offered, and now they are all taking place at the same time. So typical. There's a bunch of crafting projects waiting to be done, as soon as I'll get those work things out of the way.
Here's a pastel drawing from at least eight years ago. I made a series of coral plants and fossiles. Wish I had more time to draw nowadays.

Työkiireet ovat verottaneet kovasti aikaani ja voimiani. Olen kiltisti lupautunut yhteen jos toiseenkin projektiin, joita minulle on tarjottu, ja nyt ne sitten osuvatkin kaikki päällekkäin. Tyypillistä. Askarteluprojekteja on oikein jonossa odottamassa toteutustaan, kunhan nyt saisi nuo akuutimmat työkiireet alta pois.
Yllä oleva pastellipiirustus on noin kahdeksan vuoden takaa. Piirsin silloin sarjaa koralleista ja erilaisista fossiileista. Jäisipä nykyäänkin enemmän aikaa piirtämiseen.

Catherine's Palace in Tsarskoje Selo

2009-03-08T14:30:00.004+02:00

Obviously the palace is so huge that I couldn't fit it in one photo. Here is the view from the inner courtyard. Back in those days I didn't have digital camera, so there was the excitement of not knowing how the photos will come out until afterwards.

Palatsi on niin valtava, ettei sitä saanut yhteen kuvaan vangittua. Tässä näkymä sisäpihan puolelta. Tuohon aikaan en vielä omistanut digikameraa, ja kuvaamiseen sisältyi aina se kutkuttava jännitys, kun ei tiennyt miten otokset onnistuvat.

The interior is all gold and diamonds - almost. One room is even covered with amber. I wasn't allowed to photograph inside, but you can see a glimpse here.

Sisätilat ovat silkkaa kultaa ja jalokiviä - lähestulkoon. Yksi huoneista on jopa vuorattu meripihkalla. Sisällä ei tuolloin saanut kuvata, mutta täältä voitte käydä kurkkaamassa hieman.

The shabby backyards of the otherwise grand palace are inhabited by stray dogs.

Loisteliaan palatsin nuhruiset takapihat ovat kulkukoirien valtakuntaa.

Statues in Tsarskoje Selo

2009-03-01T12:38:00.008+02:00

I've had a very bad flu for the last four days. Since I was way too tired to do anything else, I looked through some old photographs from my travels.
In 2002 I had an unforgettable trip to St.Petersburg and Pushkin (former Tsarskoje Selo). I totally fell in love with the huge parks and beautiful statues. So here are some of them. I'll show you photos of the Catherine palace later...

Olen ollut neljä päivää ilkeän flunssan kourissa. Koska en oikein muutakaan jaksanut tehdä, selailin vanhoja valokuvia reissuiltani.
2002 tein unohtumattoman matkan Pietariin ja Pushkiniin (ent. Tsarskoje Selo) Valtavat puistot ja kauniit patsaat tekivät minuun lähtemättömän vaikutuksen. Tässä muutama patsas, näytän myöhemmin lisää kuvia Katariinan palatsista...

Patterns

2009-02-24T21:57:00.005+02:00

Web shopping is just way too easy! I was anxious to get some patterned origami paper, so I bought some from here and they arrived today. Shipping was quick enough: six days from UK to Finland. The Yuzen papers feel incredibly soft in your fingers and the patterns are fantastic. So, a very good purchase indeed.

Nettishoppailu on ihan liian helppoa! Himoitsin kuviollista origamipaperia, joten tilasinpa sitten sellaista täältä ja tänään lähetys jo saapuikin. Kuusi päivää Englannista Suomeen on mielestäni ihan kiitettävän nopea toimitus. Yuzen paperit tuntuvat uskomattoman pehmeiltä kädessä ja kuviot ovat tietenkin upeita. Hyvä ostos siis.

Listamania 2: Favorite mugs

2009-02-18T12:34:00.004+02:00

The second theme in Listamania challenge was to list your favourite mugs. What a great subject! I think that coffee or tea certainly tastes better if you drink it from your favorite mug. Here's my top5:
1. Arabia's big Taika mug, 2. Arabia's Moomin mug with Snufkin, 3. Aquarius mug (I love horoscope stuff), 4. and 5. Russian teacups (Deep blue and golden ornaments really do the trick for me)

Listamanian toisena aiheena olivat suosikkimukit. Tosi kiva aihe! Olen ilman muuta sitä mieltä, että kahvi ja tee maistuvat parhaimmalta omasta lempimukista nautittuna. Top5:
1. Arabian iso Taika-muki, 2. Arabian muumimukeista Nuuskamuikkunen, 3. Vesimies-muki (horoskooppijutut kolahtavat aina), 4. ja 5. Venäläiset teekupit (tumma sininen ja kultaiset koristelut vain jostain syystä vetoavat minuun, sitäpaisti venäläiset kupit ovat ihanan ohutreunaisia)

Award

2009-02-18T12:21:00.002+02:00

PiaK gave me this lovely award. It feels really good, thank you! There are so many great creative blogs and most of them already have received this award, so I'm not gonna pass this on this time.

Sain PiaK:lta tämän upean tunnustuksen. Kiitoksia kovasti! Selailin kaikkia ihania blogeja, joita löytyy todella paljon, ja useat ovatkin jo saaneet tämän samaisen tunnustuksen, joten en nyt sitten laita tätä eteenpäin.

Origami madness

2009-02-14T22:23:00.004+02:00

Origamis are my latest obsession. I started borrowing origami books from the library about a month ago, because I wanted to teach some very easy foldings in children's art school. I found out that some kids were way ahead of me; one 11-year-old boy basically teached me all the basic tricks. So now I can continue my practises alone. I also got a great origami book from my dear friend. All the designs in the above picture, except the crane, are from that book.

Origamit ovat viimeisin villitykseni. Noin kuukausi sitten aloin lainailla kirjastosta aiheeseen liittyvää kirjallisuutta, jotta osaisin opettaa muutamia ihan helppoja perustaitoksia lasten kuvataidekoulussa. Pian selvisi kuitenkin, että muutamat oppilaani olivat jo melkoisia mestareita origamin saralla. Homma menikin sitten niin, että eräs 11-vuotias poika opetti minulle kaikki niksit ja perusjutut. Nyt voin sitten itsekseni jatkaa taitteluharjoituksia. Asiaa helpottaa kovasti myös tämä mahtava kirja, jonka sain ystävältäni. Siinä on kaikkia vähän erikoisempia malleja, jotka sopivat erityisesti kortteihin ja sensemmoisiin. Kaikki muut yläkuvassa näkyvät origamit, paitsi kurki, ovat tuosta kirjasta.

Happy Valentine's day!
Hyvää Ystävänpäivää!

Icy swimming

2009-02-07T13:58:00.002+02:00

This sport, presented in the pictures above, is something that I could propably never do. I went to watch the Finnish Championships of winter swimming. There were surprisingly many enthusiasts taking part in the competition. I think the common nominators for these swimmers are Finnish willpower and good sense of humor. Despite the freezing water, the atmosphere was very cheerful, the contestants had a sip of cognac to warm up after their performance.

Tässä on sellainen laji jota en kyllä varmasti uskaltautuisi ikinä harrastamaan. Kävin tänään nimittäin katsomassa avantouinnin SM-kisoja. Lajilla on yllättävän paljon harrastajia, kisassakin oli mukana yli 1000 uimaria. Vaadittavista ominaisuuksista tärkeimmät lienevät perisuomalainen sisu ja hyvä huumorintaju. Hyisestä vedestä huolimatta kisan tunnelma oli erittäin iloinen, lämmikkeeksi kisaajat nappasivat tujauksen konjakkia.

Making lists/ Listamania

2009-02-03T22:13:00.006+02:00

I'm taking part in Listamania challenge. The first assignment was to make list about books. It could be about your favourites or most wanted ones or whatever, as long as it's book related. My list is about the books in my own bookshelf, that I read most often. I'm going to make my list pages in 15x15 cm format and bind them together with binder rings.

Osallistun Sannnikan Listamania-haasteeseen, jossa ensimmäisenä tehtävänä oli koota kirja-aiheinen lista. Perusteet listaamiselle sai päättää itse. Omien suosikkikirjojen paremmuusjärjestyksen miettiminen osoittautui ylivoimaisen vaikeaksi, joten päädyin sitten rankkaamaan omasta hyllystäni löytyvät opukset luetuimmuusjärjestykseen (voiko tuollaista sanaa käyttää?) eli että mitä tulee useimmin lueskeltua. Lista on siis aika tietokirjapainotteinen:

1. Human Anatomy for Artists; Gyorgi Feher, Andras Szunyoghy
2. Collage techniques; Gerald Brommer
3. Symbolit, piilotajunnan kieli; Carl Jung
4. Typoteeseja; Markus Itkonen
5. Haru, eräs saari; Tove Jansson ja Tuulikki Pietilä

Omat listasivuni teen 15x15 cm kokoon ja yhdistän valmiit sitten albumiksi.

Keeping it small and slow

2009-01-28T22:31:00.004+02:00

I've been busy and tired at work, but the mini art journaling challenge keeps me inspired. It's a good stress release to dive into little art projects. Small is the key word for me right now. If I had to make big pages and large paintings I'd be overwhelmed and even more stressed out. Small is good and calming.

I have also started a long planned scrapbook project with my old photos. I mean the really old ones. There are pictures of my grandparents parents and their siblings and friends etc. A lot of mysterious group portraits from which I can't really identify anyone. It's propably going to be a very simple album with few photos and some basic information, since I have so little material. But I love doing it anyway, slowly but surely.

More mini art journaling

2009-01-22T14:06:00.002+02:00

Here are my art journal tags for the last two weeks. I really like these kind of challenges, where someone gives you a question to ponder on. And of course it's a blessing to have these lovely persons who have time and energy to organize different challenges and that way keep the rest of us inspired and crafty.

Ice skating

2009-01-18T15:51:00.004+02:00

Today we went ice skating to the lake Saimaa. Weather has been just right lately, so the ice was thick enough and there was only a thin layer of snow on it. The conditions were perfect for skating and it was wonderful! So much space to go to whatever direction. And it's a big lake, we really could have skated hundreds of kilometers. But we didn't have such extreme goals, just wanted to enjoy the moment, skate a little and then have a nice cup of hot cocoa.

Art journaling prompts

2009-01-10T13:42:00.006+02:00

Keeping an art journal has been on my to-do list for a long time. For some reason, there hasn't been much progress. My Moleskine journal I bought just for this particular purpose, is almost empty and has been sitting abandoned on the shelf. I realised that I need more discipline with journaling, inspiring prompts and sharing my work with others. That's what gets me going.

I purchased L.K. Ludwig's wonderful book "True vision, Authentic art journaling", and immidiately started working with my Moleskine. It's important to start with something, anything. No matter how the pages turn out. I just have to get the process started, an then go from there.

Another great source of inspiration is a journaling challenge that I luckily came accross: "52Q, a year of mini art journaling". There's a Flickr group for the challenge and you can also read more about it from the hostess Emily Falconbridge's blog. The question for the first week was: what do I wish for this year to bring? Here is my take on the subject:

I'll be using small tags (front and back), one for every week. I'm planning to use a binding ring to attach the pages together.

Natural science

2009-01-08T21:27:00.004+02:00

This interesting box was a find from flea market. It was temptingly called a "biologist's collection" and I just couldn't resist it. I'm not even sure about the other items, but the sea horse is definitely beautiful. There's also somekind of hay, a small twig of lingonberry and a piece of lichen or maybe alga. You see, I'm not the biologist, I'm just an aesthete.

Polaroid Fun

2009-01-06T18:43:00.005+02:00

My friend used to have a Polaroid camera many years ago. I remember the excitement of waiting for the image to develop onto the paper. But because the Polaroid film was quite expensive, we couldn't take tons of pictures back then. Times have truly changed, now there's a free software you can use to turn a regular photo into a Polaroid-like picture. How cool is that! The application is called Poladroid and it can be found here.

2009

2009-01-02T15:34:00.002+02:00

Oh boy, it's January already. We had a nice and cosy couple of days at the cabin just sitting by the fireplace, skiing and going to sauna. But we also had a gorgeous fireworks, and my fingers got nearly frozen trying to take pictures.

Winter is so beautiful. Wish I could capture the views more accurately, but the light is so scarce. I'd need a better camera.

I still have a few days left before going back to work. Gotta take it easy and relax.

Last minute wrappings

2008-12-22T16:00:00.004+02:00

Gift wrapping is one of the most fun things in Christmas. I give a lot of selfmade gifts, and I want the package to reflect the same kind of do-it-yourself feeling. Yesterday I found this great tutorial showing how to make a nice little paper bow. It's quite easy and very addictive, I already made a dozen of them. They are gonna make cute finishing touches to my gift wraps.

Have a peaceful and warm Christmas everyone!

Decorative

2008-12-19T17:06:00.002+02:00

How could we survive this season without candles here in the dark North! I'm glad for all the extra light there is available, wether it's real candle or electric christmas light. Although you must be aware of the high cost of electricity these days. That's part of the reason why I have a huge pile of candles to feed my appetite for atmospheric light.

Saucers in the upper picture are flea-market finds. Vintage die-cuts will be hanging in the christmas tree this year.

Sweet couple

2008-12-15T18:10:00.005+02:00

I want to share this lovely little music video by Anssi 8000 & Maria Stereo. They are a very cool married couple who make music together. I've totally fell in love with their sound. Hope you like them too. The song is called Bachelorism.

Reading warmly

2008-11-25T12:00:00.004+02:00

I'm Reading again. This time I found newly translated (to Finnish) L'Amour humain by Andrei Makine. He writes so beautifully. Of all his books I like Le Testament français the most. That was the first of Makine's books I read, and after that I had to get my hands on all of them. I use the original french names, because the translated ones vary quite a bit. And as a nice little detail, the original titles are also included in the book covers in Finnish editions.

If you wonder why my hand is posing in the pictures wrapped in a tube... I just wanted to show my new wrist warmers. I knitted basic garter stitch and used some leftover multi-colored yarn. Fast to make and warm to wear.

Snow, sweet

2008-11-20T22:31:00.005+02:00

This was the view from my window today. A winter wonderland! Snow brings so much light into these darkening November evenings. It's the same darkness every year but still it somehow surprises me time after time. But snow...I love it and really wish for it to stay. Probably it'll melt away pretty soon I'm afraid.

Some cute cuties under process here. I'm not sure yet what these will turn into. I might add aforisms or other sweet words next to the fairies.

Party

2008-11-15T17:32:00.005+02:00

I bought this Zettiology stamp and now I just can't stop playing with it. The little party hats on the characters' heads reminded me of elves hats, and so I made some Christmas themed cards as well. Hmm, not very traditional kind of seasons greetings, more like a carneval going on.
But it goes along with my evening plans: I'm gonna have a little pre-Christmas party with my friends. Yey!

Award

2008-11-15T10:42:00.004+02:00

I got this lovely award from Sandy. It's very heartwarming, thank you!
Right now I find it way too difficult to choose blogs I love, because there are hundreds of them, so I'm gonna be a bit dull and not pass this on.

Poetry

2008-11-10T17:36:00.004+02:00

I've mentioned before my love for Anna Akhmatova's poetry. I'm still not good enough with russian, so that I could fluently read the poetess' authentic language. Marja-Leena Mikkola has translated Akhmatova's works to finnish in 1992, not all of them though, but an inclusive collection. To my surprise, I found that she has now made a new edition of the poems, some of which she has even changed a bit. This new book also includes works that haven't been previously translated.

Here's one of my favourites in english and in finnish (the newest translated version)

Willow

And I grew up in patterned tranquillity,
In the cool nursery of the young century.
And the voice of man was not dear to me,
But the voice of the wind I could understand.
But best of all the silver willow.
And obligingly, it lived
With me all my life; it's weeping branches
Fanned my insomnia with dreams.
And strange!--I outlived it.
There the stump stands; with strange voices
Other willows are conversing
Under our, under those skies.
And I am silent... As if a brother had died.

Paju

Kasvoin koruommelkuvioiden hiljaisuudessa
nuoren vuosisadan viileässä lastenhuoneessa.
Eikä ihmisen ääni ollut minulle rakas,
mutta tuulen ääntä saatoin ymmärtää.
Rakkaita olivat ohdake ja nokkonen,
vaan rakkain kaikista paju hopeinen.
Ja paju kiitollisena eli kanssani
koko elämänsä, unettomuuteeni
leyhytti unia itkevillä oksillaan.
Kummallista! -elin sitä kauemmin.
Tuossa törröttää nyt kanto, ja vierailla äänillään
toiset pajut juttelevat niitä näitä keskenään
yhteisen taivaamme alla. Olen ääneti...
Tuntuu kuin olisi kuollut oma veljeni.

Project management (or the lack of it)

2008-11-06T16:38:00.010+02:00

I have several crafty projects going on and you can certainly see that when you step in to my home. All tables are full of stuff, piles here and there, lists of things to do lying around. But even if it looks like a total mess, I know where everything is. Let's call it a creative chaos. It sounds better.

Cheering up

2008-10-30T15:57:00.006+02:00

Oh my, it's so rainy and dark outside. I can't even take proper photos because of the missing light. In the middle of this depressive weather I wanted to cheer myself up and bought a big and pretty tea mug. I'd been admiring this Iittala's "Taika" mug for a while, and now it was on sale, so I just finally had to have it.

Always learning

2008-10-26T20:57:00.005+02:00

I signed up for this online class. I'm not really a scrapbooker, but maybe this way I'll get a kickstart to becoming one. In any case it's an interesting concept and will surely be useful and inspiring. We'll see how it goes. I'm excited!

TMTA: Halloween

2008-10-21T13:07:00.003+03:00

It's Halloween time soon, and this week it was the theme at TMTA. So here is my little group of trick-or-treaters.

Ginger

2008-10-19T14:46:00.002+03:00

I'm always curious to see which fruit seeds start to grow if I sow them in a flowerpot. This time I made an experiment with a ginger root. It grew amazingly fast. It's funny how some of my plants die despite of eager care, and some just keep on flourishing even if I'd rather let go of them. Same thing happened with my avocado. I just wanted to try if I could grow it from the seed, and now I have a 1,5 meters high tree in my living room. I need a conservatory!

Singer

2008-10-12T12:45:00.003+03:00

I'm not much of a sewer (maybe it's just because of not having enough practice), but I've been dreaming of a sewing machine for a long time now. It's not that I really need one and would spend a lot of money on it, because I don't know if I can actually make anything decent with it. But as a stroke of luck, I was given this lovely old Singer 760. Yey! It's in perfect condition and makes very good stitches. The retro look of the machine is also adorable. I'm so happy. I'd better go and practice some more sewing.

Weekend in the nature

2008-10-06T12:45:00.003+03:00

I spent the weekend at a lovely little cottage with two of my dear old friends. Although it was a bit rainy, we enjoyed the autumn nature, made grilled food and bathed in sauna. The nights are really dark in the middle of a forrest. When living in cities, people rarely see that kind of pitch-black nights anymore. It can be a bit scary too, especially when you know there are wolves and bears in the area.

TMTA: Coffee

2008-10-02T11:31:00.003+03:00

What a great theme this week at TMTA! I start my days with a nice cup of black coffee, that's how I get myself going. But I'm not merely a coffee person, since I also drink tea. Coffee in the morning and tea in the evening. A good mixture.

Perfect trim

2008-09-30T15:07:00.002+03:00

I really do a lot of paper cutting. My most used tools for that have always been a good old metal ruler and a craft knife. They work very well indeed, but now I finally wanted to try a good paper trimmer to see if it makes the cutting a bit more quick and easy. I bought this Fiskars trimmer, because I heard it's quite good. And I must say that I really like my new tool. It cuts perfectly and it can also be used for scoring. The size is just right for me too, you can fit a 30,5 x 30,5 cm paper in there. But the whole thing is very light and doesn't take too much table space either.

These perky dotted papers are by Doodlebug. The trimmer and the papers are both purchased from Heinikka.

New stuff

2008-09-23T13:33:00.004+03:00

I bought some new materials from Paperikeiju; papers, collage sheets, tickets etc. New stuff is usually very inspiring and that was the case this time also. I made these two atc's with a hint of carnival feeling.

Pekka the Horse

2008-09-21T18:37:00.003+03:00

Just typical: We were taking a nice long walk in the beautiful autumn forrest. I had my camera with me to get some great and colourful shots for my blog. But what happens is that I got two pictures and then the battery went low.

Anyway I managed to get a shot of this handsome trotter horse called Pekka. To be honest, I'm not a horse girl actually. I've propably sat on a horse's back less than five times in my life. But they are such beautiful animals.

TMTA: Handwriting

2008-09-17T14:25:00.004+03:00

I love writing by hand, and that was also the TMTA challenge this week. There's something sweet and innocent in the selfmade look.. like the lady's dress in my ATC. Maybe she's a mad seamstress, or maybe she just has a very unique taste.

TMTA: Dancing

2008-09-13T15:12:00.003+03:00

Oh, it's Saturday already, so I'm a bit late with my ATC. This week's challenge at TMTA was dancing and I was in the mood for the eastern dance and Mata Hari.

Harvest

2008-09-11T16:32:00.002+03:00

My cherry tomatoes are ripening nicely on the balkony. I have a little bit of green in my thumb after all. To celebrate my gardening skills I knitted new mottled green socks. The yarn is Polkka from Seitsemän Veljestä. My feet look somehow overly big in the picture...

Red and yellow

2008-09-09T16:20:00.002+03:00

Colours of autumn are slowly beginning to show in the nature. I found the reds and yellows else where too. My ochra knitted scarf got finally finished. It turned out pretty well after blocking, even though it looked like a big mess at some point. The polka dot scarf and the large table cloth were thrifting finds.

Nice place for an exhibition

2008-09-06T10:39:00.003+03:00

I had a little exhibition during the last couple of weeks. The place was a lovely old wooden school building, that was luckily saved from demolition and is now used for art and craft activities. It's also a beautiful and inspirational setting for workshops. I was teaching an art course for children there in June.

The walls have a delicious light blue panels. A huge part of the painting and renovation in the building was voluntary work. Great citizen activity indeed!

Box of happiness

2008-08-27T11:14:00.003+03:00

I made this little box for my friend who got married. It's a tin cigar box, which I aged with sand paper, acrylics and inks. Inside I attached altered playing cards and little bingo buttons. The letters form a word ONNI which means either happiness or luck in Finnish. Luck is needed in the game of love, but happiness is a state of mind that we all should pursue.

TMTA: Rendezvous with...

2008-08-19T20:53:00.006+03:00

I've had a long brake from making ATC's, but now I'm finally back in business. This week's TMTA challenge was very much fun... I immidiately thought of James Dean. That's a man I'd like to meet! But of course, I can only do that by watching his movies.

Minty

2008-08-17T21:54:00.004+03:00

There's a large bush of Green Mint on my balcony. It has grown enormously during the summer and it makes cute flowers too. I've infused the leaves and made many pots of delicious mint tea. I have cherry tomatoes growing too, but they look a bit stunted, so no picture of them this time.

Playing with playing cards

2008-08-15T16:52:00.004+03:00

I bought a cheap pack of cards for experimental purposes. First I tried the very easy packing tape transfer technique. Here you can find a clear tutorial on that. I used pictures of a man and a woman from an old magazine. I think newer magazines with better printing quality and paper will give better transfer results. But I like everything old and scruffy.

The old magazine paper was so thin and fragile that I couldn't scrub it all off without harming the images. Especially in the woman's face you can see some paper pulp left. But when I glued the finished transfers on the playing cards using glossy acrylic medium, it also made the images more clear.

Since I like everything to be a bit worn out, I sanded the cards to give them matte surface. Then I made them look dirty with inks and acrylic paints.

Getting colder ...need a scarf

2008-08-11T13:29:00.004+03:00

I'm knitting a scarf called Autumn Morning. Doesn't it sound poetic? And very current too, the weather is getting colder and summer is definitely over. The pattern is from Ulla. My piece in the picture doesn't look so good yet. I chose quite thin knitting needles, so the lace pattern doesn't show properly because it's so tight. I hope it'll get better after blocking when it's finished. The yarn is Gjestal Maija. Yellow is a bit untypical color choice for me, but for some reason I'm loving this ochra tone right now.

Beeswax collages

2008-08-02T13:46:00.005+03:00

I've been meaning to try this for a while, and now I finally did. I used other adhesives too, so these weren't pure wax collages. The wax is only used on the surface and to adhere the lace. This takes some practise... the hot liquid wax solidifies very fast when spreading it with a brush. A heatgun or a quilting iron would be super useful tools to prevent the instant cooling, and the iron would make the surface nice and even.

I left the woman figures without a wax layer, so they would have more contrast and pop out from the more blurred, waxed background.

My few tools for the project: white beeswax pellets (I used double boiler to melt them) and a brush (it got ruined, from now on it's a wax brush only), the surface is a stretched 15 x 15cm canvas.

Collector's box

2008-07-31T11:53:00.006+03:00

I have all kinds of old stuff stored in my drawers. "Good finds" from here and there, waiting for the right kind of project to be used in. This box was a nice find indeed, it made all these other stuff click together and give birth to a new story.

Initially this was a Ferreira box, I assume it had miniature wine bottles in it. I'm not sure exactly. I used some acrylic paste to cover the carved letters on the side of the box. Then I collaged it with book pages to give it some pattern. Finally I added many layers of brown acrylic paint, then smudged it and scraped it and tortured it until it looked distressed enough

The insect pictures are cut from an encyclopedia. I glued them on the back side of the old medical bottles. It gives an interesting 3-d effect, when you look at them trough the curved glass. The white egg shaped thing is a silk cocoon. The jaw bone propably once belonged to a mink or an ermine. I found it in a forrest years ago, all weathered and white. Actually I have the whole scull, but it's in pieces.

Card with a shirt

2008-07-29T18:39:00.006+03:00

This is a confirmation card for a young man. It was quite difficult to come up with an idea that wasn't too religious, but not too humoristic either. So, I kind of stayed with the realistic aspects... Usually confirmation is the first big celebration in a boy's life, he maybe gets his first real suit. And then, at the latest, he is forced to learn how to tie a necktie.

I found some more video tutorials on how to make origami shirts and ties, and I really liked the way they give dimension to a card.

Wedding card

2008-07-25T16:13:00.005+03:00

My friend asked me to make a card to a wedding she's attending. Only things that I know about the marrying couple is that they like the Fifties and listen to Elvis. That was enough information for me to make this card. And I had so much fun making it!

The sepia toned couple is from a 1950's magazine. Originally the man and the woman were in two different pictures, but I combined them together. The winged heart and the two little hearts are self-made embellishments. You can't really see the details in the photo, but I drew them on paper with regular markers, then applied a thick coat of Glossy Accents over them, let them dry over night and cut them out. The outcome looks like thick glossy plastic or something.

The only thing missing is Love Me Tender playing when you open the card...

Cloudy days and sunny days

2008-07-20T19:56:00.004+03:00

One cloudy day I went to see the the great Sandcastle in Lappeenranta. This year's theme is wild west, so there are cowboys, indians, horses and other neat stuff -all made of sand, water and glue. A friend and collegue of mine was in the sculpting team, and I sure know it was a huge amount of work. It also took lots of skills and talent. You can see more pictures of the work process here.

Luckily there was one sunny day too. I spent it at the summer cottage, mostly lying on a boat and watching the clouds go by.

Video tutorials

2008-07-15T11:10:00.003+03:00

I just love watching these craft tutorials on YouTube. It's very enjoyable to watch someone making things and at the same time giving instructions and tips. And also doing it all with a great care on a neat and organized table, unlike mine.

I might never try these projects though, I just like watching

Tuned birdhouse chime

2008-07-11T17:33:00.004+03:00

I got my hands on a nice little project today. This wind chime was a flea market find from last week. Otherwise it was lovely, but I didn't like the winter themed decorations. Snowy trees in July? No way!

So I collaged it a little bit and added some paint. And now it's happily hanging on my balcony. Such a pity it's not windy today, I have to shake it frequently to hear the tinkle.

Brilliant!

2008-07-11T17:22:00.003+03:00

I got this lovely badge from Ansku. What a heartwarming surprise. Kiitos Ansku!!
Now I should forward this to 7 brilliant blogs, but I find it too difficult since there are so many great ones. I must think about this very carefully. Maybe I'll return to this subject later...

A day in Vyborg, Russia

2008-07-06T13:42:00.005+03:00

I did get a chance to go abroad this summer after all. A day in Russia is abroad isn't it? I live quite near the Russian border, and it wouldn't take more than 15 minutes to travel there. But you need to have a (relatively expensive) visa and the customs formalities take forever when you go over the border. But anyway, this time we travelled to Vyborg and had a lovely day shopping and just chilling.

There was this interesting face carved on one of the old linden trees in Torkkeli park.

These were yummy! Fried sunflower seeds.

Yellow buddies

2008-07-01T20:07:00.002+03:00

A little lion and a big duckie are made of same colors. Like two peas in a pot. I just can't stop crocheting, it's too addictive.

Women's houses

2008-06-26T20:19:00.004+03:00

So, I'm dwelling on my house inspiration again. These little cottages are inhabited by some vintage styled ladies. It kind of makes you wonder though... do they really have a door on the back side of the houses, or how else are they ever gonna leave there?

Birdhouses

2008-06-25T15:08:00.003+03:00

I've been making some collaged birdhouses on leftover matboard that I got from a framing shop. The holes are for attatching a metal wire, so these can be easily hanged anywhere. More houses coming soon...

At the beach, but no bikini's

2008-06-18T12:04:00.005+03:00

We made a mini summer trip to Pori and visited Yyteri beach. There was no chance of sun bathing though. Thick gray clouds filled the sky, and there were occational showers, but we were lucky enough and didn't get soaking wet. Anyway the nature was beautiful despite the dull weather, and I got to see the Sea, which was my number one plan.

More colors

2008-06-13T20:32:00.005+03:00

Yey, the sun is shining again after a long row of rainy days. The busy weeks with art courses are now also over and it's time to sit down and unwind a bit. There are little amigurumis growing on my balcony... well not really, but my basil behind the bunny looks luscious, doesn't it?

I'm testing a new kind of yarn: Gjestal Janne, which I ordered from here. It's a lovely yarn and suites perfectly for amigurumis. The color range also delights me. Yarn thickness is similar to Finnish Novita's Seitsemän Veljestä, so you can easily combine the two.

Children's art

2008-06-06T20:10:00.002+03:00

We had a wonderful and creative week. I'm very proud and almost amazed how well the course went. Somewhat large amount of plaster was used during lino cutting, but there were only small wounds. And nobody cried.

Here's the house we had the course in. This painting was made by Julia, 8 years.

Lino prints all ready and neatly in rows.

Group of cheerful paper mache matryoshkas.

Retro cards and art courses

2008-05-29T15:10:00.006+03:00

Making cards again... This time I used old pictures and ads from 1950's and 1960's magazines. They had a lovely sepia tone, which I love so much. There's a pause in my crochet projects, because I had to order some more yarn.

Next two weeks I'm going to be busy busy busy. I'll be teaching art courses for children. The first week will include ceramics, paper sculpture, painting and lino block printing. Sounds fun, but I'm also a bit nervous. I hope there'll be no bad injuries from lino cutting, especially for the younger kids. The students' age vary from 8 to 15 years. Quite a range!

The other week will be about computer graphics. We'll learn some scanning and image processing, basic stuff really. Children can use their own drawings and paintings, add text, turn them into posters and do different layouts. We'll see how it goes.

Little amigurumis

2008-05-25T21:26:00.004+03:00

Making one of these little amis from Ana Paula's book takes me only a couple of hours. It's fun, I can make many of them, use leftover yarns and play with the colors. They are about 6-8cm tall each. I was missing plastic eyes, so I gave my creatures embroidered ones.

Crocheter also needs a coffee break, and a yarn muffin.

New books!

2008-05-20T15:15:00.003+03:00

I've been yearning for these books and now I finally went and ordered them from here. They arrived very quickly and I absolutely love them all! These collage books by Gerald Brommer and Claudine Hellmuth are very informative and comprehensive. I especially like Brommer's book because it has more of a fine art style approach to collage. Hellmuth's book is more casual and sweet, and it also gives very clear and inspiring instructions to different technicues.

Ana Paula Rimoli's book is a real cutie, and all the crochet patterns are very easy to understand and follow. I can't wait to get my hands on yarns and hooks. Chee... my hands look ugly in the photos by the way.

Anna and Virginia

2008-05-20T13:42:00.003+03:00

TMTA had a lovely theme this week: Women in art. I couldn't choose from two of my favourite women in literarure, so as a compromise, I made two atc's. Anna Akhmatova is a great Russian poet and Virginia Woolf is one of the most interesting modern novelists of England. I've always been very inspired by these women, their work, their personality, and also their tragic and melancholic lives.

The elegant profile pictures of these ladies are image transfers. I added some crayons and used metal leaf as their crowns, although the scanned images don't show the golden glow properly.

Cards and pretty images

2008-05-19T10:15:00.005+03:00

I've been making some cards using images from here. Except the one card above left, which has a stamped face from Crafty Secrets Clear Art Stamps. I just recently found this wonderful Graphics Fairy blog that offers free vintage clip art images. And what comes to the terms of using their pictures, they are an Angel Company. It means you can use the images also in projects for resale - within reason of course.

Day 10/10: On the sea

2008-05-16T10:13:00.004+03:00

We've come to the last day of this great challenge. Thank you Jaana for organizing this again! My sailor here is looking for land even though he's standing on the shore. He's kind of lost it.

Ollaan tultu tämän mainion haasteen viimeiseen päivään. Kiitoksia Jaanalle kun taas jaksoit järjestää tälläisen! Merimies tässä etsiskelee maata, vaikka seisookin parhaillaan rannalla... mennyt kai ihan sekaisin.

Day 9/10: By car

2008-05-15T18:23:00.002+03:00

Cars aren't really my thing. I don't even own one. But again, for some funny reason, I've saved these old pictures of Porsche and Mercedes, and now they found their final places.

Autot eivät varsinaisesti ole minun juttuni, en edes omista sellaista. Mutta taas olen jostain kumman syystä säästänyt nämä kaksi vanhaa autonkuvaa, ja nyt ne sitten onnekkaasti löysivät tarkoituksensa.

Day 8/10: Emperor

2008-05-14T14:19:00.003+03:00

I've had this picture of Louis XVI lying around for a long time, just waiting for the right occasion to be used. Well here it is. I embellished it a bit, but kept it quite simple.

Tämä Ludwig XVI:n kuva on pyörinyt nurkissani jo jonkun aikaa odotellen sopivaa käyttötarkoitusta. Tässäpä sellainen nyt olisi. Hieman koristelin, mutta kaikenkaikkiaan pidin sen aika yksinkertaisena.

Day 7/10: Romance

2008-05-13T12:12:00.002+03:00

This gentleman has bought his dame a bottle of Eau de Cologne. She is mesmerized by love, or maybe it's the strong and perky smell of the 4711 that got her head spinning.

Tämä herra on ostanut daamilleen pullon Eau de Colognea. Leidi on aivan lumoutunut rakkaudesta, tai ehkäpä kölninveden pirtsakka tuoksu on vain saanut hänen päänsä pyörälle.

Day 6/10: Dangerous temptation

2008-05-12T14:39:00.004+03:00

I skipped one day, but here I go again. Presenting a dramatic love triangle; Christian fell in love with another woman and poor Linda was left alone. Love can be dangerous indeed.

Yksi päivä jäi väliin, mutta nyt olen kehissä jälleen. Tässä onkin sitten kolmiodraama meneillään; Christian rakastui toiseen naiseen ja Linda-rukka jäi yksin. Rakkaus se vasta vaarallista onkin.

Day 4/10: Friday's salvation

2008-05-10T17:39:00.003+03:00

Miss Fortune was kind and there was luck in games this Friday. The bingo sheet I used here is received from yellow house alice.

Neiti Onnetar oli suosiollinen ja tänä perjantaina oli onnea pelissä. Tuon bingokupongin olen saanut yellow housen alicelta.

Day 3/10: Happened once by the river...

2008-05-09T19:07:00.004+03:00

This was an interesting theme. Somehow my card turned out very darkish, it's more like a PJ Harvey kind of river. And what are these guys doing there? Something shady?

Tämäpä olikin kiinnostava aihe. Jotenkin tuosta kortistani tuli vain kovin synkeä, vähän sellainen PJ Harvey-tyyppinen joki. Ja mitäs nämä tyypit sitten puuhailevat tuolla? Jotain hämärää kenties?

Day 2/10: Light Spring Dance

2008-05-07T21:54:00.004+03:00

Yey, there's a new ten-day-atc-challenge by Jaana! Actually it already started yesterday, but I missed it. Today's theme is Light Spring Dance, and I'm in now. I used this lovely couple you might remember from my earlier atc. The Mrs has a shorter haircut here though.

Kivaa! Jaana julisti taas uuden kymmenen päivän atc-haasteen. Eilinen eli ensimmäinen päivä hurahti tosin minulta täysin ohi, mutta nyt olen jo juonessa mukana. Tänään aiheena siis Kevyt Kevättanssi. Innostuin taas käyttämään tätä jo aiemmasta kortistani tutuksi tullutta pariskuntaa. Rouvalla on tässä kylläkin hieman lyhyempi kampaus.

Sweet summer reading

2008-05-02T21:54:00.005+03:00

I'm reading Moominpappa at Sea by Tove Jansson. I think there's some deep wisdom of life included in all the Moomin books, although they're categorized as children's reading. This book is particularly charming, because there's a mysterious and isolated island, a lighthouse, beautiful seahorses, the horrible groke and of course the sweet Moomin family. Elements of a Great Story indeed.

The simple black and white illustrations are also magical.

Beltane

2008-04-29T22:13:00.004+03:00

The first of May, Walpurgis Night, Beltane, May Day, Labour Day... many names for the same celebration. It was also this weeks theme at TMTA. I was more inspired by the celtic traditions and witches with my atc.

Actually it's quite interesting how this ancient spring festival has modulated during decades. It used to be a celebration of fertility and beginning of summer, and later it became a fest of working people and students, especially tech students. Well that's the case in Finland anyway.

Have a great first of May everyone!

Pines and birds

2008-04-26T14:19:00.005+03:00

I took an evening walk in the pine forrest the other night. It's lovely to have longer days now that the sun goes down later and later. The birds are all back here after a long winter, and they are singing like never before.

I had my mom's dog Sami with me. He got a bit frustrated because I was constantly stopping and taking photos. But it was quite an adventure for him too since he found so many animal tracks and bird feathers to sniff.

We walked along a beautiful sand ridge with lots of pines. Some of the trees were very old, which is quite rare these days because of the effective wood industry.

I wish I'd had a recorder with me so I could've captured the bird voices. Now I must do without them, but at least I can make some collaged bird cards.

Mysteries of the Sea

2008-04-21T22:06:00.004+03:00

This week's theme at TMTA was Water sprites and/or mermaids. My mermaid is saving a shipwrecked prince from drowning. Or is she really? There is kind of a nasty look in her eyes. Does she love the sea more than the man?

Lumbago

2008-04-20T20:57:00.003+03:00

I've had some issues with my back lately. On friday I had a sudden and painful cramp in my lower back and it totally stiffened my position. So I couldn't walk or sit properly until now. What a weekend! From now on, there's going to be some pilates or other stretching in my life! A lot!

These two atc's were lying on my table unfinished. Today I gave them some darkish finishing touches. But I named them after "White magic", that is often preferred to as a healing or good paranormal magic. I could use some of that.

Layering

2008-04-14T22:35:00.004+03:00

I continued my atc-experiments with transparency prints. In the picture above, you can see a really weird looking collage beside the photo of three women. Abstract art? Well not really, it's just the bottom layer of course.

Nominated

2008-04-08T12:25:00.005+03:00

I got this

from Sannika. Thank you so much, it really made my day! It feels good to know that people visit my blog and maybe get some inspiration from it. There are many great blogs bringing joy and new ideas to my life, and I'm very glad to be part of this blogging world.

I want to forward this badge to these lovely blogs:
-Anskun Kammari
-A pot of rose tea
-Itkupilli
-Pia K
-Russian Tea Time

Here are the rules:

1. You have to nominate 5 blogs, which havent had awards before.

2. Each of the blogs must have a purpose!

3. The nominated blogs must make a link back to this page!

4. The logo from the award must be put on their blog and it must link back to this blog.

Pictores Operis

2008-04-07T21:04:00.004+03:00

This week's theme at TMTA was Middle Ages. In my ATC you can see Heinricus Fullmaurer and Albertus Meyer working on botanical illustrations behind a window.