Haaste / Award

Tuuma ja Toimi-blogin Johanna haastoi minut esittelemään tutustumisen arvoisia blogeja, joilla on alle 200 lukijaa. Tämä onkin aivan ensimmäinen haasteeni... kiitos Johannalle tästä huomionosoituksesta! 

Lueskelen kaikenlaisia blogeja, useita hyvinkin satunnaisesti mutta tässä muutama joita seuraan suht' aktiivisesti...

Virkattu lintu

Anna on näppärä käsistään ja blogi onkin ihanan värikäs ja elämänmakuinen. Kauniita kuvia, ihania ideoita ja taitavia toteutuksia. Kaiken kaikkiaan ihana ja inspiroiva blogi! 

Sol13

Milla ompelee ja virkkaa paljon... hauskoja ideoita, taitavasti toteutettuja käsitöitä ja runsaasti kivoja kuvia :)! 

JaanaMaa

Jaana tekee mitä ihanimpia neuleita ja on todella taitava tekijä! Ehkäpä minäkin jonain päivänä tartun taas puikkoihinkin... 

Ihania blogeja on netti pullollaan joten eikun surffailemaan :)!

I got an award by Johanna of the blog Tuuma ja Toimi  to choose some of my favourite blogs (with under 200 readers). This is the first award I've ever received so... thank you Johanna!!! 

I think I'll choose a couple of english written blogs as well... so here we go...

Katie-Claire's Cottage

Lovely Karen has a wonderful garden and she sews a lot. She also loves to scrapbook and bake... lots of nice recipes in her blog. Check out! 

Un arc un ciel dans le lavabo

Amazing Valérie takes gorgeous photos and has a wonderful taste in everything. I love the way she sees life through her lense! 

There are lots of wonderful blogs out here so it's hard to name just a few.

See, those two crochet projects have been finished and are in use :)! 

It's been raining today... and soon I'll take my younger one for a haircut and go shopping for new clothes for the older one as a birthday present. Isn't that what the days off are meant for ;)?! 

Cards...

Some of you know that I've been making all kinds of cards for years. I've made all my Christmas cards since 1992 and a lot of others too. I've got lots of ideas in my mind and in my sketchbook and when it's actually  time to make something, I just gather the ideas and start working.

So here are some of the cards I've made this spring... 

Angry Bird themed invitations to Lauri's birthday party (made real quickly on one morning as I realized I just had to make them if I wanted to invite his friends for the party... it happens...).

Angry Bird themed birthday card for Lauri :). And the little needlefelted piggy as well. 

Birthday card for a male relative... 

Birthday card for a friend... 

...and so is this one. 

I just finished up a wedding invitation project for a friend... will show you that later. 

It's been a busy spring. It's been quite cold too... but finally, there are flowers!!! 

Love those color spots in my garden... 

Hope you're all having a beautiful spring!!!

Gray rug

The spring in Finland is very "interesting"... one day it's warm and lovely, the next day it's snowing. And so it is today, snowing. I already took my bike out and it was great to get around much faster than by walking. Now I'm walking again as I don't dare to bike on the snow. Oh well, in a week or two, or at least in a month, it'll be a lot different. But so far, there's snow on the ground and at the moment, in the air as well. 

Last week I started a new crochet project as I finished the granny square blanket. I have seen lots of rugs made with Lilli-ontelokude (cotton), either with Juhannusruusu- or Aura-pattern by Kauhavan Kangas-Aitta. I chose the Aura-pattern and used a hook #10. I still need to crochet the 3 last rounds, but before that I need some more yarn... so I'm going to the yarn store tomorrow. The rug's diameter is about 130cm when finished and it weighs almost 4 kgs. Crocheting a thick yarn with a big hook was great... I think I'm ready to start a new rug soon :). 

A friend of mine completed her studies and she bought a new sewing machine for herself as she got some money as a gift. I thought I'd make her a pretty little pincushion, which is always useful while sewing. I also gave her a jar full of colorful ribbons and buttons, just to inspire her for making things. 

Despite the gray, snowy day... I'm happy to stay inside and craft. More Birdies will be ready soon... so until then...

Have a happy week :)! 

In March

It's been a busy March, all kinds of things happening. Lauri had his 8th birthday and he asked for an Angry Bird cake. So I made him one! He designed the cake and I tried to follow his idea as well as I could. I hadn't used marzipan before but it was actually very nice to work with. I was a bit in a hurry so I made only one Red Bird for the top of the cake and three Red Birds for the side. Lauri loved the cake... and that's what counts! For me at least. 

 

We got more snow last week. I wasn't too excited about it because it already looked and felt a lot like spring... and then one morning it's time to dig out your shovel again. Phew. Oh well, the days are already warmer and there has been some really beautiful sunny days. I can't wait to get my bike out, makes it so much faster to move around. Before that, the roads have to be clean of snow and ice... 

I finally finished the Granny Square Blanket. It was about time. I didn't find any tutorial or pattern for the border so I made it up myself and I think it came out very nice. Here you can see the beginning... I will have to take photos of the whole thing though. Now I need new cushions for the living room and I've been thinking about pink or purple... :)

Less busy weekend and next week coming up... time for crafting again too.

Have a lovely weekend to you all! 

Tiny (not so) Angry Bird

My younger son L is having his 8th birthday this week... and we've been planning it with an Angry Bird theme. The game is very popular among the kids and although I'm not that interested in those angry looking birds (would rather make them look happy!), I can't help using that theme in crafting. Especially because the kids love it! 

I found this tutorial which shows you how to make those birds by needlefelting... so I just had to try it. L loves all kinds of cute little things at the moment. He comes from school soon and I'm going to find out if he likes my little surprise for him today!  

It's a gorgeous sunny day today... and see those buds in the trees already!!! The spring is here..! 

Have a beautiful week! 

Colorful flowers

The weather up here has changed from a cold winter weather to milder springlike weather... it snowed again yesterday but the snow is already pretty wet and heavy so it melts down quite quickly. I'm ready for spring so I made some flower brooches with a piece of reflector fabric in the middle. All kinds of reflectors have been very popular here in Finland lately and you can see all kinds of handmade ones...they're probably so popular because our dark season lasts so long and they are really useful during the winter. But, these little flowers are for spring...

A group of lovely ladies took me out last night... it was like a belated birthday dinner. I also got tulips (wonder how they knew I love them...), really cute minitulips, in many colors. So pretty! And don't they match nicely with the card I got from friend?! 

I had a great online chat with a friend this morning... I'm so happy to have you in my life!!! 

Have a beautiful day... no sun here today but I'm in a happy mood! 

Sunday

It's been a peaceful Sunday, much needed every once in a while. Time to think, time to settle down and have a cup of tea. Time to crochet and make plans for the new week. The boys have been out with their friends and my husband has been working... so I've been enjoying the house just for myself.                                                                             

                                    

Last week I found a w.i.p. granny square blanket I started crocheting over 2 years ago. Now it's time to finish it up and start a new bigger project (already have something in my mind).

I like crocheting little flowers and trying out new patterns... the one above is one of the newest ones. I found the pattern at Ninuska's blog. I added a safety pin on the back and already used it.

We had friends over yesterday and I got a bouquet of tulips... my favorite flowers! They are also a definite sign of spring :).

Cards for friends

 "Good friends are like stars... you don't always see them but you know they're always there."




















It's Valentine's day tomorrow. It's not a big thing here in Finland but I made a few last minute friendship cards today. I used pretty papers from my stash and made some cardstock heart "buttons", which I attached with yarn. Then I added a stamped "friend" and a piece of pretty ribbon. Simple yet pretty.

I crocheted an edge with white yarn for this card. I think it came out quite lovely and a bit romantic too.

Somehow I used the same color scheme in almost all of these... :)

"Friendship isn't about whom you have known the longest... It's about who came and never left your side."

Thank you for your friendship... old and new friends too! I'm happy to see you here :)!!!

Little fun with names

This is just a little post, a fun little activity for you... I got the idea from Sandra Juto's blog.

First, write the name on the folded piece of paper. Then cut around the letters, just leave the folded side uncut. You could also use patterned papers as Sandra did here.  

Unfold the names... and you'll see these fun little creatures. I like them just plain but you could draw them faces and clothes if you like. 

:) Have a good day!!! 

Birdies

I made my first Birdie last year and have made tens of them since then. Most of them I've sold or given to people.

In January I got an order from a friend... so I made a new batch, in different colors. 

I'll let her choose which ones she wants... and I'll be adding some to my Etsy shop too. 

I think next I'll be crafting something else than Birdies :). 

Have a nice weekend, everyone! 

Frozen...

It's been a cold week here in Finland. This morning the temperature was -24°C.

Last winter I made several ice wreaths or ice cakes as I called them too. So last night
I got this idea of making some again... I added some white roses I got for my
40th birthday to decorate the wreaths. And I think the result is quite beautiful.

Here are some of the ice cakes with lingonberries which I made two years ago.
I love the white frosting on them :).

The weather is bright and sunny, and even though it's really cold.... it is so beautiful
outside. The sky is blue and the trees are gorgeous!

It's a great day to stay inside and craft! I'll better get going back to my sewings...

Stay warm!

It's time...

I've been wanting to do this for so long but never gotten there... but today it is time to do it! Start blogging, I mean :). I have no idea how to do it or how this works but I'm surely willing to try and learn.

The question has been whether to write in finnish or in english... and I've come to the conclusion that I want to write in english, which will be good practice for me and also that way all my friends abroad can read this too. I think I will use finnish sometimes too... because some things are much easier to describe in my own language.

This blog will be mostly about crafting... because that's what my life is about. I don't know where this will take me but hopefully I can inspire you and be inspired by you... isn't that what blogging is about?!

So, let the journey begin...