Inspiration ON/OFF

Perfect Matches

2011-11-23T19:43:00.011+02:00

Last weekend we visited Hämeenlinna and went to some flea markets. It has been a while since we last time have done such a tour. And it wasn't a useless tour I can tell. Look at these wonderful finds we did:

I could have walked past this as it was under some clothes rail but luckily my Mr spotted it. It maybe needs a little revamping but it is propably even cooler than the one we brought from London a year ago.

Isn't she beautiful?

I might say that I collect Aarikka tins (as well as quite many other things...). I found these little ones and couldn't help buying them. There were also some more of them but I took these because I thought tins with this design are not so common. They cost 6 € per piece and I thought they were a bit expensive for my budget. But as we went on to the next flea market and I found some tins like this costing 17 €, I was pleased that I had bought them.

Last but not least my favourite find of the day (eventhough this time they all were amazing!). This is the one my Mr would have passed. It certainly did have some awful glassflower shades that definitely weren't the original ones but I managed to see the potential. On our way home we remembered these shades I bought in the summer of 2010. And the best thing is that they do fit the lamp so wonderfully. I'm in love and so happy to get these beauties in use!

Summer Memories

2011-10-11T19:04:00.004+03:00

This summer I finally got a pair of my vintage frames in use. Raision Näkökulma made the lenses to fit my current eyesight. I found those frames about a year ago from some car boot sale. They were just perfect for sunglasses.

Those pearls I found in the summer from one flea market near us. I haven't used them yet but I will in the future. They are so classic! I'm sorry about the bad photo. It was taken with my mobile phone.

It's Been a While...

2011-09-17T19:19:00.010+03:00

...since I last updated my blog. Many things have happened and probably I will be telling you more later on. Perhaps one reason for ignoring this blog (and only writing "my dog's blog") has been the name of it. It doesn't feel me anymore. As I thought I might have something I could post about I came up with the idea to change it. But still I didn't want to miss the older posts. So Betty Bottom will follow me in the address of this blog.

And yes, there might be some way to start a whole new blog and move the older posts there but I have no time or interest to examine the Blogger at least at the moment. If someone knows an easy way to do it, I would be pleased to hear about it though.

Before I go on showing you some of the crafts I have completed lately I have to tell you a little something of what is going on with my my life at the moment. I started to study full time once again. I am now officially a student of tax law in Tampere university. I had to go through the entrance examinations in the spring and studying for them took all my time. Added to that I worked almost full time in a pet store from February to the end of August. Nowadays I still work there one or two days a week but otherwise the school is taking all my time and power. And it has only been going on for two weeks... But I'm very very pleased and happy that I finally got Tax Law as my main subject.

So here's a couple of cards I have made this summer. The first one is for a wedding couple and the other is a christening card.

Then there's a rather bad photo of my new dress. There's some lace on the hem and it is made of brown polka dot fabric.

I made the dress with this vintage pattern that I ordered from Pink Sepe some years ago. I had to modify the upper part a bit. Or otherwise I should have found a pair of a bullet bra...

Then there's left one photo of the souvenirs I got from my Mr. from England. He went there with the same group as we both did last year. I would have liked to travel too but my school and my student budget prevented it. When he asked me what I wanted to get I only said crowns. I have fallen for different kind of crown-stuff. And that indeed was what I got.

The crown-shaped chocolates tastes delicious! And I loved all the other things, too. Now I have so many crowns that I must be some kind of a Queen.

I Love Christmas

2010-12-28T13:21:00.006+02:00

We spent Christmas the way we have been spending it for years. We visited both our parents and spent the Christmas evening at my home. All my sisters and their sposes were there. I love Christmas because it is the time of the year to spend with your beloved ones with no hurry.

We had decided not to buy any more presents than one for everyone. So the dogs got most of the presents under the Christmastree... But obviously I had been too nice all the year because I got so many presents regardless of the decision we made!

Luckily there is still New Years Eve coming and my holiday from uni lasts till 15th January. I really needed this holiday! I am working two days a week all the time but I like my job. It doesn't stress me like my school does. And don't get me wrong! I like the uni as well but it is just so time consuming that it when it is "on" it takes all the hours from my days. As I look back to this year I wonder where the time has gone. I haven't got too many things done and seems like the year has just passed by me. I might make a "closing of the books" from the year 2010 later when I see all the things that happened clearer.

Safety First

2010-12-12T20:38:00.003+02:00

I made these Moai reflectors on Saturday and my bloke sold them today on Hot Rod Christmas rummage sale in Tuusula. I am so happy because he got a couple of them sold! Kustom Kulture shop will be selling them from now on. They are working on the web shop all the time.

Still Here

2010-11-30T20:32:00.004+02:00

I am still here alive and breething! My autumn has been so full of school, work and misfortunes that I haven't had anything I would have liked to blog about. Riemu has been sick again which has taken my energy beside some other unpleasant things. I wait for the Christmas very much to get a little break to this hurry. And I look forward to next year wishing it to be better than this one.

In case I can't find energy to post anything more this year I hope you all have a very lovely Christmas time and a successful new year 2011!

London, London And A Bit Of Spalding #2

2010-10-14T19:48:00.010+03:00

Here are finally some of the things I bought from London and Spalding.

The shirts of that company were all just great. It was so difficult to choose only two of them. Tikitiki! The good news is that Kustom Kulture is going to import the shirts of that company to Finland next year! I found that vintage dress pattern from Camden.

I am somehow developing myself a crown obsession...

I bought quite a buch of hairpieces from Claire's.

I couldn't pass these cuties! Or at first I did but I had to return to that table in Camden. I am having quite a few little pouches like that. I just can't resist buying them if they are as cute as these two...

This one is also from Camden. We were a bit nervous if it would fit in to our suitcases. Luckily it narrowly did. It is just perfect eventhough one "paw" is missing.

As usual, we bought also some books. Beautiful books are weakness for both of us... That awesome book of Gil Elvgrens work we bought from London is just so inspiring!

I have been wondering today that how has the time passed by since summer. I haven't realised it has been autumn for quite a while and today it has been snowing! I'm going straight from summer to winter this year I guess. :)

London, London And A Bit Of Spalding

2010-09-11T09:31:00.008+03:00

The autumn with its hurries is here... Two weeks have gone after our trip to England and I haven't found time to write about the trip. But here is something. I will post another text about the shopping I did on my trip some time later.

Already the evening we arrived to London we headed to the London Eye. After stopping in a few pubs of course! It is a great way to get an idea and an overview of London eventhough I think it was a bit expensive. The London Eye I mean. The pubs are also a good way to get into the way of life in London... :)

One of the dudes we travelled with is kind of a Tiki fan. More than us others I mean. He had been doing some exploration about Tiki Bars of London before the trip and we got to visit a few of them. They were all awesome in their own ways but Kanaloa was the one that made the biggest impression on me. The personnel and the owner were kind and funny people. The food was a little different from anything I had tasted before and it tasted terrific! Not to mention the drinks! :) I truly recommend to anybody interested in Tiki or good food and drinks.

We found such lovely little vintage shops as we walked a lot around London I could have spent a fortune in those. But more of them in my next post.

We also visited British museum to check out this guy and some other things from our history.

It was my second time to visit there but I would love to visit it once more with a little more time! We only had like one hour to wander aroud there because they closed it earlier because of the underground strike. That was a thing that caused also us a little extra stress because we had to get to the Heathrow and the trains were naturally jammed. Luckily the hotel personnel succeeded to arrange us taxis. It was even cheaper for us than taking the train which is unbelievable to us because of the taxi prices here in Finland. But of course the underground would have been the cheapest.

We spent the weekend in Spalding attending the Kustom Kulture Blastoff. It was a nice happening and the town was beautiful. We kind of got a hangout there as we eated every night on this lovely place called Frankie & Benny's. We got marvellous service there and the food was fine. We even got a little birthday surprise to one of the guys even though he didn't have his birthday then. :)

The trip was awesome. I laughed more than ever in a week! I wish we will make it again next year and that I have the oppoturnity to attend it then also. Thanks mates!

Just A Little Something

2010-08-24T20:26:00.004+03:00

Here is one thing I have been preparing lately. The start of the university is coming closer and I wanted to finish it before.

The armchair is saved from a dumpster by our friend. I upholstered it with a nice traditional fabric. My bloke did the woodwork meaning he sanded and varnished the wooden parts. It is looking terrific now!

I tried to take a photo of one gladiolus flower but found it impossible to capture its beauty in a picture. It is like the petals were full of tiny shiny glitter with a shade of pink in the middle. Oh, if I could make it live forever...

I have started to think of the clothes I will be taking with me to our trip to England. I want to have useful, diverse and comfy clothes and I hope I won't pack too much again as I usually do. Good shoes are the ones I will start with. The travel fever is mildly rising its head. :)

Finds

2010-08-11T15:59:00.004+03:00

Last weekend we got some nice visitors and had a real good time. On Sunday we headed to some flea markets with our friends and here is what I found:

I am going to use that basket thing as a hat stand. There are plenty of lovely dresses in that magazine. Unfortunately the patterns of them had got lost during the years. And then some more vintage patterns to my collection.

I am getting a bit stressed already as the autumn is coming. In a way I love autumn but every year it depresses me a little bit. Luckily we have a lovely trip coming in the beginning of Septempber. We are going to travel to England for a week with a little group of striper friends. Can't wait it!

Today's Finds

2010-07-11T22:30:00.008+03:00

This morning we headed almost next door to us to a car-boot-sale. Every year we carry home some nice things from there but maybe this year was the best ever. Delighted by the wonderful finds we also drove to some of our favourite second hand shops and our good luck continued.

Eg. we got 4 and a half Kilta chairs in acceptable condition for 1,50 euros! Can you believe it? I like that simple style of them and I would probably even like them as kitchen chairs but we'll see after we clean them a bit. We are hopeful that we don't have to upholster them. We also found an amazing floor lamp but photo of that and the Kiltas later as we get them cleaned!

Here are the other finds I did get a photo of. First vintage patterns from about 60's. Some nice jackets and dresses, also for the children.

I almost missed this beauty but luckily found it again. It is almost like a new! And price? 1 euro.

That little tray was my bloke's pick. He's got eye for the goods, don't you think? I, in the other hand, couldn't pass that cute little tin. The colors and the style are just so me.

This last photo is of the absolute beauties I couldn't forget as we went trough the area many times. I always returned on that table. They were probably the most expensive boughts of the day but I am hoping to get a perfect lamp out of them and one lamp body we also bought. Maybe some day...

Finally Finished

2010-07-10T20:05:00.007+03:00

Here is the dress that has been under my work for about a year now. I changed the upper part once and many other things changed too during the process. In this final version the top part of the dress is made with vintage patterns. I wanted to add something black in it to make the otherwise quite "fluttery" fabric more me. I wore it on my Dad's birthday yesterday.

Here are also some of my favourite spots on our home eventhough we haven't done any of the facelifting for the walls etc. yet. Some time ago we mentioned that we have started to collect nice clocks beside many other things...

This is the beauty I got from my Bloke a while ago. I keep my jewelry in it at the moment.

Here are some of the finds from yesterday. A floor lamp and a "chandelier". Vintage both. The floor lamp is missing the original shader. We are looking for a nicer one for it. I inherited the book shelf a while ago and I must say that it is perfect. I love beautiful things and I love them even more when they can tell me stories.

Have a nice weekend you all!

The winner...

2010-06-29T09:50:00.003+03:00

...of my tiny give away is Mrs Munster! I will be sending you the packet this week. Thank you also for the lovely Alinore for taking part!

One Hundred Posts

2010-06-14T12:12:00.005+03:00

Oh, how the time goes. I have been blogging since December 2008. Not too many posts in that long time but still. There have been many finds, many outfits and many nice things in my blog since I started but also much yearning too. Thank you all for your kind comments! Every comment is very special to me.

I am also myself following many lovely blogs. From those I got the idea for this "milestone post". I want to organise a little give away for my readers and readers of readers. So here it comes:

I am giving away this blue pair of gloves. The material is beautiful but I am afraid I am never going to use them myself because I don't use any blue clothes if jeans are not counted. These gloves deserve to be used! The gloves are very stretchy so they fit most sizes. I am also giving away one piece of me and my bloke's handicraft. This Marilyn-brooch is painted by my bloke and decorated by me.

And here is how you can get these: Leave a comment on this post. I am going to draw lots about the winner out of the people how comment this post. If you want to double you chances, you can mention this give away in your blog and let me know about it. If you are not registered on Blogger, make a nickname and comment with it. The give away ends on next Wednesday 23rd June at 14.00. Finnish time. I will be announcing the winner on that same day.

Here is one outfit photo and one more photo of my garden in the end. I just love those white Midsummer roses!

Home Sweet Home #2

2010-06-04T12:22:00.006+03:00

I try to cheer me (and you if you need cheering!) up with some beautiful things. I have been hearing quite many unpleasant news during this spring, last ones this morning, and it is starting to go beyond me. So here are some more photos and stories of my "garden".

I have hated pelargoniums since I was a child and worked many summers for our friend family who were gardeners. It has also been for me a flower of old ladies and the 1990s. Ever since I have been dreaming of an old gambrelroofed house with a glass veranda I have started to like them again. They just belong together with the old houses, don't you think? I still wanted to start carefully if the aversion comes back and bought just one lovely red piece. This photo reminds me of many dear people. The enamel pot is from my grandfathers house. My cousins brought it to me last summer. The winter garlic that is temporary placed in that pot with some gladioluses is from one nice lady's garden who taught me very many things of handicrafts, of being a facilitator and of life a couple of summers ago. I'm afraid the garlic won't be flowering this year either. Maybe next summer I am able to plant it in a place where it can flower.

Hopefully my mood is better tomorrow. At least I get to dress a bit better because we are going to celebrate one friend of ours, who has a graduating party in the evening. Now I should get a grip on me and go plan my outfit for tomorrow before going to work.

PS. The next post is the 100th post of mine. There might be something nice coming up if I only would figure out what! :)

Home Sweet Home

2010-06-03T14:41:00.005+03:00

Here is just a little peek of what my new home is about. From the garden at first! :)

Have a nice end of the week everyone!

Finds

2010-05-31T22:04:00.009+03:00

Here are some of the finds I have done lately. First is a lovely orange vintage sofa that can be turned into a bed for two. I love the color and the wooden details!

The same day I found the sofa I made an even more fabulous find. As I saw this beauty in one charity shop near our new home, I knew I couldn't leave without it. I would propably love it more with a little more delicate shader or then I just change the fabric of the old one. Sorry about the bad photo.

Yesterday we went to a Dog Show with Riemu and as we returned from there we visited some second hand shops nearby. I am not too much of a hat person but I couldn't resist this one. It fits my head perfectly and the design of it is wonderful. The brooch came with it. I don't know about you but wouldn't this hat moan for long hair with some lovely vintage hairdo with it?

We have had some not so pleasent surprises with the house after we moved in so there propably won't be any renovating news in a while. I have only been doing some planting in the garden. But I must say that already now, after only three weeks this place feels like home!

Old Ones

2010-05-21T22:46:00.004+03:00

Here are some outfit photos that I was supposed to post weeks ago. The first one is from Hot Rod & Rock Show and the other one is from the First of May. I am wearing mostly vintage or made-by-me-things.

Very many thanks to Ripa who took and sent me these photos!

It's Official!

2010-05-09T09:01:00.003+03:00

I am a house owner now. Wohoo! We have been planning for this for years and a while ago we found a good one. This weekend we are moving in! I am exhausted already after the first days but today we will move rest of the things. I am also very excited! The house is a very traditional house built by the immigrants from Karelia in the 50's. It has been fully renovated ten years ago but we will be doing some facelift in the future to turn its style back to the 50's and 60's! Can't wait! So busy times ahead and I warn you, there will propably be more interior posts during next summer than anything else!

Now back packing! I wish you all a very nice Mothers Day!

Something Is Going On

2010-05-04T16:25:00.004+03:00

Oh, the time goes so fast! The Hot Rod & Rock Show went by and I had very good time there. Riemu's breeding happened already before that so I was able to spent the whole weekend with the stripers. The only drawback was that we didn't get in to the night party where the Go Getters and other bands played because it was sold out! It would have been nice to dance the night away as I sew a new skirt for it on Friday. But we went to a little pub nearby and did our best to enjoy the night. There was one nice band too, but it was a bit too crowded at first.

So that was a wonderful weekend. I will post some outfit photos as I get them. As usual, I was behind the camera all the weekend so that there aren't any photos of me in our camera. Maybe that is just a positive thing... :)

Last weekend it was Vappu. We spent it at home and got some nice visitors on Friday. Norma Jeane and her husband came to spent the night with us. It was fun to have them here after a long time! Here is what we served them with: Home made muffins! (I don't like the word cup cakes because it is so IN here in Finland at the moment.)

There are some even more busy days coming in my life for the next couple of weeks. More of it later. I hope I have more time to blog in the upcoming summer!

Living in a Buzz

2010-04-22T13:18:00.004+03:00

There is so much going on in my life at the moment that I have troubles concentrating in one at a time. I have heard about the busy years of the families with children but all I have is a dog and a spouse. Still there are times I cannot manage everything I should be doing. There are good things and some sad things going on and my head is one big merry-go-round.

I have been dressing quite comfortably during the winter, maybe to comfort me in this busy situation of life. I thought that as the sun starts to shine and snow is off the change to the dresses and skirts goes naturally. But no. I keep on looking like a bum. Here is a peak of it.

There still is light in the end of the tunnel. This weekend it is Hot Rod & Rock Show time! I have been waiting for this weekend and I will surely get dressed better at least on Saturday night when we are going to eat dinner with all the pinstripe family and after that do some funky moves in the rhythms of the Go Getters! The only problem is that can I find time to do that because there are too many moving objects in my weekend like maybe going to work, maybe making some breeding trips with Riemu and then having the problem of where to put Riemu as we are away... The only way to find out what happens is to live through it and try to hurry up between places A, B, C and D.

There is one picture I was to post last weekend but as I have a new laptop (<3) and I am still missing some important softwares for it I couldn't post it. I got some lovely crafts magazines from my mother-in-law. Those are from the sixties and are so inspiring but... I know what I do on the lessons of the next academic year! I have decided a while ago that I am going to carry on with the studies in the university. I am starting a new job tomorrow that should give me that chance. Reasonable amounts of work, money to be able to study. I am excited!

Maybe I can post some more dressy outfits next time. And hopefully I have more sure things in my life by that. Hate living in uncertainty.

Easter with Coco

2010-04-05T18:59:00.005+03:00

I spent my Easter at my home home and at home reading and watching movies. My Easter was full of Coco Chanel to be honest. I watched the TV-movie Coco Chanel by Christian Duguay which was shown by YLE2 here in Finland. I also borrowed the DVD of the Coco Avant Chanel by Anne Fontaine.

I liked them both a lot. I am not familiar with the actual history of Coco Chanel so I was a bit confused about some diffenrences in these two. If I must name my favourite of those I would choose the TV-version. It was longer and went deeper. Still I can't deny that I just love Audrey Tautou! And maybe the visual world was more attractive in that movie starred by her. As I said, I liked them both and would recommend also them both for everyone interested in Coco!

ACS 2010

2010-03-31T19:48:00.005+03:00

It is Easter! That means it is American Car Show -time! I am not sure if I am going to visit it this year but as usual my bloke, Mr B. is going to be there the whole long weekend.

A few weeks ago I looked at some of his crafts and thought that here is a chance for us to co-operate. Here are the test pieces. As usual, I am not that pleased with these brooches but they are the first ones I made this way. Mr B. did the painting and I added them some little girlie things.

These pieces of Riemu Design-Betty Bottom-art work are for sale in the American Car Show in the Hot Rod Art section not to mention all the amazing paintings, handbags, t-shirts and stuff Mr B. and the other talented artists are selling there! If you visit the ACS, don't forget to visit that section!

A Few Things Done, A Few Dozen To Go

2010-03-14T17:17:00.006+02:00

I have spent some kind of a holiday this week. I haven't been doing any other reasonable things than sewing. First I made a spring jacket for Riemu. Then I made something quick I had had on my mind for a long time. I sew an apron with a vintage model and vintage/recycled fabric. I should have changed the shape of the upper part as I thought but I didn't... So I am not that pleased with the outcome. But I certainly will use it!

After the apron I started a project I came up with by chance. I would have had quite many other projects first in the line but this new one inspired me the most. I made an other spring jacket but this time for myself. I bought that fabric in the autumn from a flea market and it has been haunting me in my thoughts. I like it a lot eventhough I usually am not that big fan of a green colour. I had thought about making a vintage style jacket suit of it but finally I realised that there wasn't enough fabric for it. So I came up with the idea to make a bit more rocking jacket for a chance and remembered the one I was desiring from Mrs Munster's blog a while ago. This is not even close to that beauty but it is something I just wanted to do. I let the inspiration lead me fully in this one.

This friday I visited a big fabric store and left most of my money for this month there... I am so, so excited about sewing at the moment and having loads of ideas and projects in my mind. The only problem is that I still have one period with the university to go in this academic year. And there are plenty of exams to come, one of them next week. So it is time to start reading again and try to keep the inspiration behind but living!

Wedding Anniversary Book

2010-03-03T19:01:00.007+02:00

I made this altered book for my dear friends almost a year ago for the wedding present but I just have forgotten the photos. Now that I have been on a sick leave and haven't had enough energy to sew, I decided to make a post about it at last.

The idea of the book is that there is a page and a place for a photo for every wedding anniversary. I don't know about other countries' habits but here in Finland there are about 20 named wedding anniversaries. First ones are every year but then later every fifth or tenth year. They are all named after some material starting from soft and cheap materials and proceeding to stronger and more expensive. So the name of the anniversary and the years are there with some decoration, song names and some poetry.

I started the job with ripping off some pages. If I remember right I ripped off two spreads from every block despite the ones in the back part of the book. Then I glued pages together in pairs and made a frame in the back. That means I glued pages in thickness of about 1 cm together and cut off the middle part of them. See the picture to make me more clear...

This ripping off pages is to make room for the photos and other decorations so that the book doesn't spread. The frame is for a photo and some other stuff in this case. In my first altered book I made a little statue in it. That book was about fashion in 50's and 60's and something quite disoriented. A normal school job so to say.

Then when the pages and the frame were glued and well dried with dozens of paper switches and days under the pressure I started to decorate the pages. I used what ever I got in my mind and tried to put there as much personal things as it was possible with very little words.

Retro Food

2010-02-28T18:55:00.004+02:00

I bumped into this recipe last week and couldn't resist trying it because this food looks fun! I found it from one circular and it says that this kind of meatloaf was a common dinner in Finland in the past days.

Besides the funny look it tasted good!

Nothing more to write about in this weekend. I haven't been doing much more than reading for the next week's exam... I'm really looking forward to spring and the many events where I can dress up a bit! It has been such an elaborate winter which I have spent mainly in my most cosy clothes and every day has been a bad hair day. :)

15 ½ /104

2010-02-20T15:05:00.004+02:00

I started a new bigger project a while ago. I saw a stunning and colorful bedcover in one Finnish tv-series called Karjalan kunnailla. I loved it and decided to make a nap blanket inspired by it.

As I have to have something to do with my hands on classes I decided to make the blanket of 15x15 cm pieces that I crochet or knit. I need 104 that kind of a piece for my blanket. Those are just perfect things to do on classes. It's simple enough so that you can still concentrate on the speaker and you don't have to carry too much with you. Just one ball of wool and a crochet hook. So far I have crocheted all the pieces but as I get my new bamboo sticks after a couple of weeks, I will be knitting some too.

Getting Older

2010-02-16T18:50:00.006+02:00

I turned to a new year number on Valentine's Day. I didn't celebrate it specially. My bloke made me some tasty chocolate cake on Saturday and I ate too much, too good the whole weekend. There are no signs to be seen anymore of my lighter appearance that I had in the autumn...

I got some books and a lovely brooch. The brooch and the Fingerpori book with a dedication picture and signature of Pertti Jarla are from my bloke.

This is the time for tulips! The spring is coming. Birds have started to sing and Riemu is seeing bitches everywhere... Hopefully I get energy from the sun and have more time for this blog as well in the spring!

Latest Crafts

2010-01-26T18:28:00.006+02:00

Oh I have once again had some major motivation problems after the holidays. I really have had lost of motivation but to "wrong" things. If I only could find such a passion for tent books as I did for novels after a long brake. Something like 1000 pages in a few days. If I had that speed with the tent books too, I really didn't have any problems with the time use...

I do have had motivation for crafts too and it is growing as the spring things are arriving to the ads and magazines. I have been eagerly scanning through all my vintage and new crafts magazines and books to find suitable instructions for all the things I have on my mind...

Here are some of the things I have finished lately. First a warmer jacket for my little one. I made it last Saturday for our first official agility competition that took place on Sunday. It went ok. Riemu just decided to go under all the hurdles. Nothing more of that. If any of you is interested, Riemu also started his own blog last week so that's a place for the dog talk from now on. You can check it out here.

As I might have mentioned before, I am knitting or crocheting all the time on the classes in the university. It somehow calms me to the state of mind where I can focus on the things the professors etc. are talking about without falling asleep after 15 minutes. Of course the craft has to be easy enough so that I don't have to count the eyes all the time.

During autumn I made a big pile of woollen socks for presents. After the Christmas I have made things for myself: a cap that suits my new dog club uniform and this hat with a model from one 70´s magazine of mine. Those Neulo & Virkkaa -magazines have some awesom classic models. If I ever have an idea of something I want to knit or crochet I first browse through these treasures because I think that for example the models of the latest Suuri Käsityölehti -magazines are mostly crap.

The hat is crocheted with two different yarns. The pattern was wery different from the things I have made before but easy. I also made that flower from crafting felt and some sequins and re-vamped that reflecting crown brooch because it started to fall apart. Cannot wait to complete some other projects of mine!

My Christmas and New Year

2010-01-09T18:21:00.009+02:00

January is almost on the midway but here is a post about my Christmas. We spent a week and a half with our families. It was relaxing and nice eventhough we had a plan for almost each day. Here are some photos.

I did the setting for our Christmas Eve's dinner. White, red and some nature was the idea. I love doing things like that!

I had done some of the Christmas presents by my hand. For example I knitted three pairs of woollen socks. Here are some other things I made for my sisters. Reflectors for dog lovers and hair bands.

The dogs were more eager to open the gifts than any of us. At least Rico knew that there are many for him under the Christmastree! Luca was a bit confused about everything because this was his first Christmas.

I must have been very kind in the year 2009 again because I got so many and wonderful presents. Here are some of them.

Most of those books are my bloke's but as I love books, I'm happy about them too. That Vintage handbags -book is full of beautiful photos and inspiration! My bloke gave me some wonderful vintage pieces. Purses, jewelry, mirror... And then after everything: I got a gift certificate for Mirkka Metsola's products!

On the New Year's Eve I tried to make some 20's waves on my hair again. Only this time my hair is shorter because I cut it again before Christmas. It was quite tricky but here is the result.

The dress is the vintage one seen many times. The jacket is the one I made for the wedding last summer. Those are propably my most beautiful shoes that my bloke has brought me as souvenirs over a year ago. The brooch is one gift I got from my bloke.

For the last photos I have to add two of my little boy. It has been quite freezing here for many weeks now. Can you see how much he likes these cold weathers? He doesn't like to use his coat but freezes without it. We were finally suppose to attend to an official agility competition for the first time last week but it was over 20 degrees cold in the morning so we stayed under the blankets. Next time, if there ever comes one, and if it happens in the winter I do pick a race that is held in a hall with warming! If we get people laugh then at least it is warm so that I can blame it if I get red over Riemu's fussings. :)

Have a nice weekend you all!

This Year I Have Mostly Been...

2009-12-17T12:33:00.009+02:00

... studying. First was the Thesis. Then came Business law.
... learning to enjoy the sports. The long walks with Riemu and also some jogging.
... wondering how beautiful is nature. This I have learned with Riemu as we have wandered in the forests nearby.
... taken a couple of thousands of photos with our new (or not anymore new) Canon 450D.
... delighted of the wonderful vintage finds I have made.
... learned a lot of myself.
... started to dress in vintage style a whole deal more.
... enjoying my time with our many friends.
... advancing in my agility skills. And Riemu has done the same eventhough my skills have advanced more in my practising with Rico.
... too busy to update my blog.
... applying for very, very many jobs and got a couple.
... making many mistakes and trying to fix them up. With some of them I have found that it isn't always easy. Sometimes it is impossible.
... realising again how important my dear friends are to me and finding out how good it feels to make your best to help and delight them.
... trying to figure out what I am ment to do in my life and what am I good at.
... sewing and making crafts too little.
... having good times with my dear family.

I wish You all a very happy and successful New Year 2010! More of my Christmas and everything next time.

What a Nice Day!

2009-12-16T20:21:00.004+02:00

My morning started with a nice walk in nearly 20 celsius cold sunny winter weather. Riemu wasn't too happy with his brand new out-door-socks but I enjoyed looking at him and breething the fresh air. It really woke me up. After that I checked out my exam results and noticed that I had done really well. It feels good to start Christmas holiday now. Eventhough I have to keep reading on it too.

Then I went off to see my ex-roommate to Hämeenlinna. We checked out Hämeenlinna's flea markets and here are the results.

The 50's curtain was way too expensive for my budget but I bought it still... At home I realised that we don't have any good room for it. Hopefully some day soon... That polka dot thing is a dress that some company in USA has made from vintage fabrics. I had to buy it because of the brown polka dot part. I will make a skirt of it because I don't like the upper part. Then I bought one lovely book of the first real celebrity of Finland; Armi Kuusela. It has some beautiful photos in it. The cute cowgirl book is a souvenir from my dear ex-roommate. Thanks once more! You are really sweet! Then there is one old magazine and adorable children's vintage pattern.

The last piece is a vintage French fries maker. It was so funny that I had to buy it for my bloke. What I got today from an advent calendar he has made for me must have been a bit more expensive:

It is our 5th anniversary today and how lovely is that! I am speachless. Nothing more to say today but I am happy.

Still Alive #2

2009-11-28T16:29:00.012+02:00

Gosh. Somehow I have had way too much to do this autumn. School, work, dogs and some stuff with myself. We have been buzzing around every weekend but now. I don't complain. The autumn has been nice and I/we have made better finds than ever. Perhaps I start from the oldest picture.

We found that lovely bookshelf a while ago. We decided to buy it the minute we saw it. It made us do some re-arrangements in our home but I was all the way worth it! I have been muttering about that we had our computers on our sleeping room but not anymore. I am pleased. And the shelf is beautiful. I found that 60's jacketsuit the same time and from the same fleamarket. I had to do some revamping for the jacket because it was too big for me. I also shortened the sleeves.

Then I made the trip to north. I visited my grandma and met my other relatives. One new and really small one too. He was lovely. :) The brown purse above is from that trip and it is my new favourite!

I cleaned my Granny's wardrobe because she wanted to get more space to it. I took some old clothes of hers to a charity shop. They were not old enough for me. :) But this one I was not able to throw away. I browsed some old photos of my Granny and she has worn that dress at least when my big sister got her name. The shoes that aren't in view that well are also from her as are the ones I wear with the jacketsuit in the other photo. That purse is one I found from the fleamarket tour in Oulu.

Here is one other photo of my founds from there and some other stuff. That bandbox was a must buy as were the gloves. The Coca-Cola case and that 70's coat are some of the things we have got from different people at different times. So here is a piece of our lobby.

Last weekend was the long waited one. I met my dear friends in "Thanks-for-the-wedding-party". We haven't seen each other after the summer (or at least all of us haven't). It was fun and I enjoyed it a lot! I took some photos of the Wedding Anniversary Book I made for the couple but will be posting about it some time later. We are going to have a girls cruise later with the ex-bride and my ex-co-bridesmaid. Cannot wait!

Last week the post brought me something nice. I had ordered some vintage patterns from Seija. The only problem with them is that I would love to create all of them but I don't have time! Maybe next spring...

I have been collecting vintage patterns for a while. Most of them are from the 60's. Here is my saldo at the moment:

Now it is time to get something to eat. Here is still one picture of my little Christmas three. It is so cute! I have been crafting a bit between all the other things but cannot show them here yet. :)

I wish you all have a nice weekend!

Busy

2009-11-10T21:01:00.005+02:00

I have had major problems finding time to write posts nowadays. Eventhough I really would like to. The fact is just that I should be studying 24/7 if I wanted to get any results... Here is how I have been looking while studying this week.

I spent last Friday night crafting instead of studying because I was quite tired and depressed. I made that headband and that pencil case and I must say that those made me feel better. More of everything sometime later. :)

Nothing Special vol. 2

2009-10-27T20:24:00.004+02:00

I have been back from my trip to the Granny's for a while. Ever since I have only been studying for the exams I am having tomorrow and next Monday. There are 3 of them and I am not sure if I manage to pass them all with this little time... So why am I writing this instead of reading? Hmm...

This post is mostly to say that here I am still. I did some excellent finds from the fleamarkets of Oulu. I will be posting about them and some older finds when I find time and get a photographer. Here is just a little collage of my dear memories from my childhood home county. My primary school, the old mill near it and the alley near my home-home. And yes, it was like winter there!

No Matter...

2009-10-16T19:21:00.004+03:00

... how unlucky I have been in my other life but I truely have had some awesom luck on the second hand field. During a couple of weeks I have been finding such wonderful thing I am very joyful of. Here are some of the things that have made me happy.

Last Sunday I was just supposed to go buy some chicken to cook for my little one. To my surprise the flea market next to the shop was open and of course I had to stop by. First thing that caught my eye was the vintage purse. It is quite messy from the inside but it costed only 50 cent. I have been looking for a brown purse and this is just it. Believe it or not it is my first brown purse!

Today I returned to the same flea market(s) because there were some things that left me uneasy. And there were some new things aside. I could call this the Bag Day. The big vintage purse was today's first find. But absolutely my favourite find of the day is that Karhu bag. I have been craving for the way too expensive repro ones but this is more! The color is perfect!

So tomorrow I will head to North and meet my relatives including the new one that was born less than a week ago. See you next week! (Hopefully my Bloke makes my laptop alive during my trip...) :)

Irritated

2009-10-15T14:51:00.002+03:00

The whole world is against me... Hmph... Or more technically there are some minor irritating things in my life at the moment but too many of them at the same time.

1. My laptop is probably coming to its End. It is working VEEERY slowly. It is already/only 4 years and I would like to have a new one but I really couldn't afford buying one at the moment. So now me and my Man just do the tricks we can and hope for the best.

2. There have been 2 post deliveries in the past couple of weeks that haven't reached me. Meaning Finnish Post has something against me. I bought one wonderful vintage sewing book from Huuto.net and paid well for it. Now maybe somebody else is enjoying it. Then also one Pinscher buddy sent me some stuff that I haven't got either. I am very very mad about these things. I don't know if the reason is the Post or is someone stealing post from our mail box. And what else is missing that I don't even know about? Once before one neighbour brought a letter assigned to me to our door. She had found it from their yard opened and thrown in to a pond. It was my payslip. But it happened a couple of years ago.

3. Riemu's stomach isn't getting any better. After a few "harder" days there always comes a "solute(?)" one. Yesterday I bought quite expensive food for him from a vet. Hopefully that will solve the problem. I truely madly deeply hope so.

Well those are the top three things. Referring to the first issue I'm not posting the photo of my weekend finds. I just don't have the patience to wait a minute or two after every click right now. Hopefully I get that done before I head to my Granny near Oulu on Saturday! Hope you all are more cheerful than me!

Cyan Saturday

2009-10-10T18:41:00.005+03:00

Eventhough my little love has problems with his stomach again we decided to stick to our plan and go for a little trip to the city. It was the every autumn's habit of visiting the October Swap & Meet in Tampere. There wasn't too much to see for me again but I did get the Burlesque Poster Design -book wich is nice!

We also visited one flea market where I bought a pouch of jewelry. Most of them from the 70's or 80's I guess. I had to buy the whole pouch because there were some nice earclips in it. I will be selling the reasonable other ones as I get the table at a flea market near us. I have been queuing for a couple of months now because I want to get the same table I had last spring. I'm too lazy to price all the stuff again...

But here is the outfit I was wearing today and Riemu with his Can-I-Come-To-Bed -look. Click it bigger for more details!

I got back sewing yesterday and got a whole deal fixing of the old clothes done. I am pleased. I also made a rain coat for Riemu. I must add some minor things to it before use and publishing. Eventhough it is probably the ugliest dog cloth I have seen and I am not very pleased with my accomplishment. I kind of did it quickly just to get something done and get back to work again... Right now I should be deducting one vintage jacket I found a couple of weeks ago or some old jeans of mine that are going to be capris quite soon. What am I yattering, back to work asap!

Autumn Colors

2009-10-07T18:10:00.004+03:00

Here is just how I looked today.

It has been a rainy and stormy weather so I decided to wear rubberboots. It was a good decision because after the lessons I went to get some accessories for my crafts I have planned to do and it was wet out there. I have a slight feeling that I might be getting back in business with crafts after a way too long break. I have already started slowly with some easy little things like adding some lace to an old skirt and taking my knittings with me to the lessons.

I'm feeling quite positive about everything at the moment. I am quite excited about the studying. I am also getting back my energy to doing also something other than just reading. And of course now I got the flu... But still the only thing I could complain about is that I don't have too much money and I do find too many ways to waste it! :) Like the wonderful Vaudeville Boutique I visited today but unfortunately couldn't buy anything. Maybe next time I take my bloke with me...

It Is Autumn!

2009-09-30T19:37:00.004+03:00

It has been quite cold here in Finland for the past two days. I don't have anything to complain about it. It has been nice to snuggle in the lounger with my law books since I have two examinations this week. Yayks! I guess these exams are telling me something of my future with business law. At least I have felt that the subjects by far have been very interesting and challenging in a right way.

But so much for today. I have to get back to studying with my huge mug of tea. Purrr... Here is one photo of how I looked yesterday. Nice and warm pullover and my favourite shirt made me feel comfy as did the vintage earclips, the necklace from my childhood and the felted flower I have made.

By the way last weekend we did some very good finds that I am really excited about but more of them later after the exams! :)

The First Attempt

2009-09-25T22:00:00.003+03:00

Photo by me. Photoshopping by my Bloke. Inspiration photo from here.

This week I have...

2009-09-23T19:29:00.007+03:00

... mostly been studying public law. Yammy.

... been wondering why all the toilets in the university smell so awful.

... observed all the chic looking and strict girls in the corridors of the uni. The overview gives you an impression of well-dressed and urban group where most individuals stil have their own unique style. And probably everyone thinks as I do; my style is something different. And however most of us are just a part of the big mass. One thing is for sure. My style is far from urban. I am a real Juntti, meaning Hillbilly.

... noticed again that the lecture rooms in the uni are really chilly. Need to remember to take some shawl with me next week!

... been falling in love with hats. Now that my hair is shorter and I am not having a pony-tail everyday I have found vintage hats fashinating me a lot. I even have bought a couple of simple and cheap ones from a charity shop but they need some work to be done before wearing.

20´s hat pictures from here.

... eaten macaroni and cheese like in the good old upper secondary school times. Miss them sometimes though. Those were good times with many dear friends around and near.

... made long and slowly walks with my little convalescent. The forest is finally getting to look like it is autumn. Love it.

... imagined the ways my new hair could be done. Where do I get these done? Why do the curls always make me look like a granny like I did in my 8th class photo?

Worried

2009-09-21T21:25:00.003+03:00

Riemu has been sick again. He has had digestion problems whole his life and now for the second time the diarrhea has become quite bad. Last summer as he was just a little boy he got a very aggressive diarrhea and got dehydrated. Still he got better without antibiotics. This year he has had the disease for over two weeks now. Everything other has been tried so yesterday we had to start antibiotics. Hopefully it works.

Luckily Riemu has stayed quite normal the whole time. And normal means energetic, tail-wagging, everywhere-wanting, playful and lovely Pinscher. There has been a couple of days that he has been quite tired and felt sick perceptibly. The other one of those days was yesterday. It feels so bad to look at a little innocent creature to suffer and you cannot do anything.

After we get him better, we have to start to scan trough different foodstuff if he is really allergic to something. We haven't noticed earlier that his digestion problems would have been related to anything special. Those problems come and go. I'm afraid that we just have to live with them. Hopefully still we can find ways to make him feel better nevertheless...

On Saturday Riemu got a cute new toy. A squeaky toy the Piggie. Here is what happened.

New Hair

2009-09-18T19:32:00.007+03:00

I love going to the hairdresser. Who doesn't? The best thing is that I have a slight feeling that I have found a new hairdresser I can fully trust on. I have been looking for one for a long time.

Not much text today because it is quite late already. This is what I looked like yesterday. Hairstyle is inspired and guided by the lovely Aya from Strawberry Koi - vintage style blog. She has kindly made a tutorial which I have followed a couple of times. Each time the result is different...

And here is the new haircut. AFTER:

Later I will try some older looks. If I dare. The hairdresser gave me some tips of how to make 20's-look waves but warned that they aren't easy to make. So if I ever manage to make it I'll let you know. :)

Last night...

2009-09-17T18:36:00.010+03:00

...with this long hair. Being dramatic? Yes. I'm going to get my hair cut tomorrow morning and I can't wait! They are going to be quite much shorter than they are now. It is dramatic because my hair grows veeery slowly. And because I let them grow because of the wedding this/last summer.

I looked like this yesterday.

It is getting quite chilly here and the class rooms in the university are freezing. That is why I have my great granny's old woollen scarf with me. The dress is vintage. And my hair is (almost) free which has happened very seldom if ever!

Hopefully I can do my hair somehow like these after tomorrow.

Photos borrowed from here, here and here. More of everything tomorrow!

Thoughts Inspired by Orange

2009-09-09T19:16:00.011+03:00

This day was mostly orange and brown as I feel comfy in them. Those colors are me.

I'm quite exited about the studying now. I want to start reading business law. Quite different from my recent profession? Yes it is. I have found my true enthusiasm quite late in my life.

This business thing has lived inside me whole my life. I have got it from my dad and it is in my genes. As I was younger, dad told me to go and study law. I wasn't listening of course. At first I dreamt of becoming an actor. Acting is my dear hobby that I have had too little chances to do. I went to a upper secondary school that was specialized in performing arts. There I realised that acting is a nice hobby but that's all.

It is me playing Barbie a couple of years ago in a school project.

In upper secondary school I found psychology. It was cool and interesting and I decided I want to go to university to study it. That wasn't so easy. I applied for that many times in different universities. Once I even got to the interviews and aptitude tests. The results were that I am not applicable to study psychology. I didn't give up but started to read it in open university.

I'm not a big fan of Freud but he sure was an interesting person and his work is important history of psychology.

After studying psychology for a while I found the Craft and Recreation studies from the internet. I was like WOW! This is it! Well I didn't get in at the first attempt so I signed in the university with statistics as my main subject. That's because I was able to get in only with my grade of maths from matriculation examination. I studied statistics and psychology one year and noticed at last that I don't want to become a psychologist.

The second attempt let me in the university of applied sciences and I started eagerly study crafts and recreation. Studying the crafts and other functional methods was real fun but I was missing some challenges in the theory parts. When I started my entrepreneurship studies on my second year when I was already very disappointed with the whole school I woke up. I had gone through some things I thought interested me and some things I love as my hobbies and now I saw that it had been there all the way. Ironic is that I got my worst grades in the university of applied sciences in entrepreneurship but still I knew that I wanted more of it.

Photo borrowed from here.

So now, as my job situations turned the way they are, I am making it real and studying business law in the university. As a minor subject for now but maybe as main some day. It still depends on many things. How do I get along with student budget for many years from now on? Do I want to be something like 30 years as I start my real working life? How about family? What if I could now get a full-time job as a facilitator? Many questions of money, age and dreams all together.

I just have to take my life as it comes and make my decicions when they are needed. At least tomorrow I am going back to the university but who knows about next week? The thing that is for sure is that somehow I want to continue studies in business. If it is not possible in the university as a full-time student, then I will do it other way round attached to my possible job.

Back to School

2009-09-08T17:05:00.004+03:00

Today was my first day back in the university. As I have told, my job ended a week ago and I haven't managed to get any job I would have wanted. So I decided to go to university again. I am taking it from day to day. At the moment I am not sure if I am going to ever graduate from the university. It very much depends on the job opportunities I might get. Right now I could use a part time job to get the bills paid...

But here is how I dressed for my first school day. Trousers and shirt from my H&M packet. Sweater vest is my mom's old from the 70's. The bag is a present chosen by my dad as they were in Nice with my mom a couple of years ago. Jacket is from fleamarket. And the photo didn't succeed at all but because of the butterfly I couldn't let it go.

Bows And Buttons

2009-09-02T15:11:00.006+03:00

This day I have mostly been...

* trying to improve my Photoshop skills.
* washing laundry.
* walking in the forest with Riemu and trying to avoid elk flys.
* pimping my ballet pumps Riemu had tried to destroy.
* enjoying the possibility to do just what I want to.

So here is a story of what can happen when you leave your shoes and your dog alone together.

One day a while ago somebody accidentally left our shoes available for Riemu as he was alone. Riemu had conveyed half of the shoes to our sofa and tested his teeth on my newest ballet pumps. Luckily he had only eaten the decorating bow of the other shoe. Otherwise they and all the other shoes were intact.

Quite a long while later I decided to pimp those unlucky pumps into a brand new and better than before brilliancy! Here's what I did.

I used some lace, tulle and buttons and attached them with needle and yarn plus glue. It was easy and quick job. So nice to get something done!

The lesson of this story? Misfortunes can turn into fortune. The End.

Latest Finds

2009-09-01T16:56:00.009+03:00

Yesterday was my last working day at my ex-new job. Now I am spending the rest of the week working everything I haven't have time to last couple of months. And I am enjoying it. I have no clue what and where I am going to do next week but I'll just have to handle it. Hopefully I get the work I want! Here are a few photos of my outfit of the day and some finds I have done these days.

Today was a lovely rainy day. Walk in the misty-kind-of-rainy morning waked me up carefully and nicely. I felt like dressing up like this when I left to visit some flea markets and charity shops. Most of the clothes are from my H&M packet that arrived last week. Luckily my chap didn't see the bill... I had to put two photos because of my beloved little fellow.

I found that vintage apron from a charity shop last weekend. It cost only 0,50 euros. The earclips are from another charity shop I visited today. Someone had left that old Sprite bottle beside the flask returning machine of the grocery. I quickly emptied my bags of the plastic ones and replaced them with one heavy and beautiful old bottle. Yay! These kind of finds are the best!

Also this apron is from the last weekend and from the same place as the blue-colored and cost the same. It's just cute! Gloves and the purse are bought today. Those darker gloves need a gentle fixing. Both of them cost 0,80 euros. I'm quite sure that I won't use that purse as it is now. I bought it primarily for the bamboo handles. I have a couple of ideas for purses in my mind. I should just get to work! :)

Here is a closer look at the white gloves and some other finds of today. I love that kind of necklaces and this one has just the right color. I couldn't pass those earrings. I'm not a fan of that kind of hanging ones but I thought of making them clip-ones because those wooden apples are adorable.

I'm quite happy with my latest finds. I have had good luck these days. There have been long times that I haven't found anything. I also found one cosy home-trousers and nice linen trousers today. What a nice rainy day once again!

Dear Marilyn...

2009-08-28T19:03:00.002+03:00

Oh, this night I have been just browsing through this site. There are lots of adorable pictures of Marilyn Monroe that I haven't seen ever and many lovely ones I even have on my computer. This is just the right way to spend a night at this state of mind. The only problem is that I get so inspired by these photos and I know I have plenty of tasks before I can get my hands in these ideas... :)

Nothing Special

2009-08-28T17:55:00.008+03:00

Blaah, there's so much going on but nothing to write about. My clothes have been boring this week and I have some kind of lazy period going on. I haven't done anything. I do have many inspiring ideas and thing to do but at the moment I get nothing done. So there's nothing more to say about this ending week than it was my last one in my ex-new-job. The financial depression here in Finland caused that my employment contract couldn't be continued. So now I have been balancing with doing my last tasks, writing job applications and making educational plans. And all I can do is wait and see if I catch something or if I go back to the university after couple of weeks. Very stressing again. The thing is that I am not sure of some of the jobs I have applied for if I would rather like them or studying...

According to other things, look what my bloke made for my blog!

He is a very talented modeller and he did this during the first week of his holiday. More photos of this and some first class designing and painting can be seen from his brand new websites of Riemu Design! Unfortunately they are only in Finnish but the photos tell more than the words.

Riemu Did Well Again

2009-08-22T16:37:00.005+03:00

We were on a dog show for FCI groups 1 and 2 in Nokia today. Riemu got excellent ratings, was the best Pinscher and got his third certificat. He has just got the first one on June so he won't be a Champion yet. But I'm so proud of my hansom little boy!

Riemu shows his nice white teeth to the judge.
Here is the saldo of the day. It is just too hard to take a photo of a black dog and a blue and white rosette.
Have a nice and sunny weekend!

Rainy Days Are Good For... Skirts!

2009-08-18T17:38:00.003+03:00

My outfit of the day consisted of the skirt from my mothers youth, polo shirt and belt from H&M, sweater-vest from flea market last Saturday (I love it!), seamed stockings and shoes from Citymarket. I forgot to wear any jewelry... Posing is weird again. I'm only learning to use the auto trigger of the camera. And the normal morning hurry affects also. Excuses, excuses. :)

Finds of the day #3

2009-08-16T18:41:00.009+03:00

I went to visit some flea markets yesterday. My outfit of the day looked like this.

The scarf saved the bad hair day. I bought the purse from the sale of a local market this week. Those shoes are my graduating gift for myself. I just couldn't resist them. I love clogs!

I was so surprised and happy to find this 60's dress from a flea market near us. It only cost 3 euros! Someone has probably made it herself, the lining is missing. The fabric is beautiful black and brown and the cutting is nicely individual. The best thing is that it was big enough for me! I wouldn't wear that short dress anywhere but home. Maybe still I figure out some situation and ensemble to use it!

Those glasses are from a charity shop, purse is from my Granny and shoes from the local market. And the posing... Argh.

This apron is not vintage but the style is right so I couldn't resist it. It cost 2 euros in a charity shop. I have a fabric and an idea for making an vintage style apron myself but maybe it can wait a little longer now.

Here is still one photo of some of the things I bought from our summer trip. Both are bought from stores that sell new products. The funny thing is that the products are from the 70's to this day, unused and brand new. I love going to those shops. I always find something worth buying. There are surely more of the kind in Northern Finland.

The gloves are made in Checkoslovakia which hasn't exist after 1993. I bought two pairs because they cost only one euro. The scarf is made in USSR. I love the colors in it.

Rooting Storages

2009-08-15T16:27:00.004+03:00

As I do every year when we visit our summer cottage, also this year I went through all the old stuff stored in it. There are our old toys, clothes, hobby things and everything the previous owner of the cottage left there.

The best things this year were my Mom's old clothes. They are from 70's and 80's and most of them are blue which I am not so into as a color. I got inspired by them and eventhough they were wrinkly and worn out in our childhood plays I decided to ask my bloke to take some photos of me wearing them. So here they are.

I would love this dress if it weren't so blue and a bit too large for me. And I heard that my godmother had made it for my mom. I have to admit that the trousers were too small for me. I was able to fasten the button but the zipper... Mom has been somewhat thinner than me. The sunglasses are from the 90's. :)

This dress is one of the best colored. I just couldn't help making this a bit hippie style. Woollen socks are mine, made for me by one sweet old lady when I was a child. The bag was my Grandfather's. The sunglasses are probably new, from flea market.

This dress is as artificial as a dress can be. Very warm to wear with my Daddy's old woollen tie, Mummy's ski boots and the skis we sisters have all learned to ski with. And the bloody chopped wood pile. Didn't get any smaller after hours of work.

This outfit I took home with me. The knitwear is lovely as is the skirt with its cute flowers. The travel case was my Grandfathers again.

Also that shirt came home with me. It looks nice after a decent laundry and ironing. The skirt is rosa. And the books are old. I'm sitting on our sauna's stairs.

This is another artificial fibre dress. And another blue and white dress. Luckily I have our Old Teddy and the Blue Puppy to take the focus off my lovely posture...

Last but definitely not least. My Mothers wedding dress. It isn't too dressy or dashing but it is still my Mom's. And I have to admit that I do look like her in this photo as she looked in her wedding photo. Eventhough she was 5 years younger in it than I am now.

Hopefully I have time to go through and clean my Grandmothers wardrobe after a couple of weeks as I have promised her. Maybe I get some more funny photos then!

My Finland #1: Late Summer

2009-08-15T15:29:00.014+03:00

Well well well. Our holiday at our summer cottage was nice. The journey from our home there goes through half of the Finland but all the photos are from Puolanka or near. Which means that we are in the middle of Finland. Though many people living in southern Finland would say it is Lapland over there. In fact there is the middle point of the continent Finland in Puolanka, believe it or not!

I had promised me not to do anything there but I had to brake that promise. A big heap of chopped wood was waiting for somebody to pile them up. But at first we had to cut the grass and tidy the cottage. And then we needed to do some shovel work with the alley leading to our yard. The base of our car touched the ground so it was time to even the alley a bit. The weathers were on our side. And sure did we sweat at our work but physical work was just good for me. No special thoughts, just work and then good food and sauna afterwards.

So I enjoyed staying at our cottage as usual. We did some little trips nearby it and I took photos of the things I love so much in Finland. We made the required trip to Hepoköngäs. It is the highest natural waterfall in Finland. Its height is 24 meters which must sound tiny for most of the foreign people but it is still beautiful. And Finnish.

The forests are just so clean and nice in Kainuu and Lapland. And look so different from ours here near Tampere. I feel home in those forests, of course. My childhood home is near Oulu and I have spent many summers at our cottage.

We also made a little roadtrip that lead us to cross the border of Lapland. We visited Ranua Zoo which I had visited last time some 15 years ago. It hadn't changed too much. That trip of ours took about 250 kilometers and we saw 20 reindeers on it. Plus the ones in the zoo.

On the same trip we visited some flea markets but didn't find anything special from those. Still I couldn't help buying this bark ring which I unfortunately lost after one day wearing it. It cost 20 cents.

On the same roadtrip we did some walks to the forests and there was so much blueberries you could just have sit and eaten. Yammy!

I also saw some good blueberry places on our morning walk with Riemu here near our home. Maybe I'll take some jar with me to our evening walk... But here is the final photo of the first My Finland post. I'll surely make another post later this year when the autumn takes over.

BBQ '09

2009-08-14T18:29:00.007+03:00

Last weekend we had our annual BBQ party for a little group of Finnish pinstripers. The day was full of surprises. At first one of the mates arrived with a trailer. I had heard something about it but I had no idea that they had bought and painted a big and magnificent grill for us (or more for my spouse because he is having his birthdays later in the autumn)! We were speechless! And another surprise followed half an hour later when the other ones arrived in a beautiful classy hot rod we hadn't seen before.

Oh, it was a wonderful party once again. We laughed so much, ate well and the ones who have the talent painted the hot rod during the night. They made it even cooler! The day after we visited some second hand stores nearby and went for a little sightseeing with some of the visitors and that day was nice too! Unfortunately I didn't find anything special but I am happy about a couple of vintage magazines I bought.

The setting was as colorful as usual.

The runner and the odd glasses are vintage. Others are mostly Arabia or Iittala as it nowadays is. I got the green glasses and the Kartio-ewer as a graduating gift a couple of weeks ago. I have always wanted to have specially the ewer and I love the new color of them!

The napkins are made by Marimekko. Aren't they so summery and Finnish?

The lady of the house was wearing Finnish design by Vuokko Nurmesniemi. It is originally designed in 1960. I got this one as a graduating gift from my sisters. I think it is just the right cloth for a facilitator with its secret little pockets and joyful colors.

The sunglasses are vintage (at least from the 90´s) as is the car :).

Tomorrow is the day that I'm going to spend writing a couple of posts of our summertrip. I have no compulsory tasks so I'm probably going to just make long walks with Riemu, write posts and MAYBE do some little sewing things. And eat something delicious. Mmmmm, I must go and get some fresh raspberries! Have a nice weekend!

Something Quick

2009-08-12T21:27:00.005+03:00

Oh dear, the holidays are gone and I am back sweating at work again. Some lucky ones are still on a holiday so I have to do their work too. Well, it isn't that big deal at all. I wish I could do it longer... But my employment contract is closing in the end of August. And what do I do then? I have no idea. I mean, I have a lot of ideas, but I don't know which of them are achievable and which most reasonable. I'll just have to wait and see what happens. And it is a bit stressing.

Our trip to Puolanka to our summer cottage was nice and relaxing despite all the physical work that was waiting for us there. I will make a post or two of it later this week when I finally, after a couple of months have a day that I don't have to go anywhere. So nothing more of that for now. I just wanted you to know that I am still here and will start posting things a bit more regularly towards the autumn. At least if the things go as I hope.

Here are a couple of more photos from the lovely wedding I have been hyping all the spring and summer. There are hundreds of photos from there but eventhough I wished, there aren't too many of my outfit. I wished to have some detailed photos of it but... These couple of photos I have posted are pretty much it.

I had a blazer (made by me) with the dress. And I also had gloves and a purse to make the ensemble. The jewellery where mostly from Flared Ghosts also vintage rhinestone-jewellery.

And here are we three; the bride and her bridemaids. Oh, you girls are dear to me, and beautiful! I will choose one of the photos of us and put it to my wall. We haven't had any photos on display ever since but the middle age is showing it is coming also this way. :)

I'll be back!

Happy.

2009-07-28T13:53:00.004+03:00

The Wedding is done. Everything went well and the party was fun. The Bridal Couple looked beautiful and happy. I hope everything best for them in the future! I love you guys!

Here are two photos of me from that day. In the first one I have the bridal bunch in my hand. Later in the evening I caught the other one the bride threw... So now my family is waiting for my wedding. I guess they'll have to wait for a while... But the bunch is just cute! This picture isn't the best for showing the dress but it is the one I sew for myself. Jewellery is vintage. Surprisingly I found those shoes from a supermarket.

This is the best photo I got from my hairdo. And it is from the very late evening. :)

But now I have to hurry. I haven't packed yet and we should be going. More of everything after the trip! I am going to spend it doing nothing and enjoying everything! Have a nice week!

Finished

2009-07-19T19:34:00.009+03:00

I am exhausted. I have had a weekend full of work. I have been sewing and crafting and crafting and sewing. More of the crafting part later. I might get some kind of instructions done for a few things. We'll see.

Finally, after over half a years being under work I finished my bridesmaid's dress. The last thing to do that had prolonged the project were the hems. But now it's done and here's one piece of it. More after the wedding.

Yesterday I spent the day with my grand old overlocking machine. My back aches still after the long hours with something like 15 meters of tulle.

But now it ist done also, my huge petticoat. I have to store it in our sauna at least till the wedding to keep it big and fluffy.

I still have some minor things to prepare before the big day but I am starting to believe I can manage!

Doggies and Treats

2009-07-10T16:07:00.006+03:00

Last Monday Riemu met his new little brother. And he loved him! They started to play right away and didn't want to end at all. Riemu was quite tired after the visit. Here are couple of photos of the buddies.

Who are you dude?

You oldies are booooring! Says little Luca.

Brothers "on a line".

Here are still some too expensive chocolates we bought last weekend from Porvoo. They were goooood.

My dear ex (roommate) sent me a packet of mints. I miss you M.! And I feel bad that I haven't had time to write to you. But I try! Anyday now...

My man had made the most wonderful (and calorie rich :) snack for me when I came home from work. Pancakes, fresh strawberries and icecream. Yummy!!! I love fresh Finnish strawberries! And not to mention pancakes and icecream. What a perfect way to start weekend!

Now I have to go sewing again. At the time I am making a blazer for my Bridesmaid dress. You can see some of it in the photo with the mints.

Lovely Weekend in Porvoo

2009-07-06T21:52:00.015+03:00

We had a nice trip last weekend. I enjoyed walking in the streets of the old Porvoo and spending the evening and night in a nice B&B. Here are some photos once again. I'm too busy to write any decent posts nowadays...

On Saturday I wandered in Porvoo looking like this. And spotted some nice car too. The shirt is self-made.

There were just adorable little foals in our lovely B&B!

These little creatures make me miss our old horse again. And the times we spent in forests or our sunny Sunday morning walks in the fields...

The cat of the house wanted to have a closer fellowship. My look is pretty dull because I am talking cat language... :)

First in the Sunday morning I bought washing nuts. Cannot wait to have time to try them.

One of the most beautiful buildings of the day.

The required Porvoo sight.

Outfit of the day for the Christening on Sunday. Skirt is my own product. Gloves and purse are vintage ones.

Oh, it was a nice little trip. And now it is again work, work, work. Looking forward to the next weekend!

Quick Post

2009-07-03T20:33:00.006+03:00

The Bachelorette party of my Dear Friend came and passed. It was fun at least for the Bridesmaid. :) The day before the party I looked like this.

The dress is made with some shirt pattern plus skirt part. I couldn't help buying the fabric eventhough it is some craft fabric not made for clothes. This is one of my most used dresses.

My bloke was in Sweden last weekend in some modelling competition. I got some nice souvenirs from him. <3

I love those jars!

The Stunning Stella I have got as a Christmas present earlier but it fitted the picture. It's lovely that my bloke is better in buying me perfumes than me myself!

Tomorrow we are off to Porvoo for a mini vacation. Then on Sunday we are having the christening of the little baby girl of my bloke's sister. So busy weekend ahead again!

Ps. Riemu has got a new little brother as my little sister got an Australian Shepherd puppy. He is just so cute I could eat him! Meaning the puppy of course. :)

Midsummer Memories

2009-06-24T19:21:00.009+03:00

We spent the Midsummer at our summer cottage in Puolanka. The Midsummer was very much about dogs, eating well, enjoying life, going to the Real Sauna and having nice time with my sisters and our blokes. The weathers weren't too warm but this little trip to the middle of the nature was pretty much what I needed. If I only could have stayed a little longer... But here are some photos from our mini vacation in Kaenuu.

One of the favourite ways to spend time: Darts.

Dogs enjoyed spending almost all days outside. And they were exhausted in the evenings!
Roni hides under the table.

Rico is almost asleep.

Riemu chose the sofa to match his colors.

The bridge over troubled water.

Sunset beach... Or maybe something a bit more Finnish.

Awww, what nice times we had! I have four weeks to go to my vacation which then takes two weeks. Hopefully then again I get the chance to travel to our cottage. It is my special place in the world where I really relax and feel good!

Maybe already next time I will have some other subject in my post than dogs. :) I hope I have time to visit some flea markets and second hand shops and do some good finds or dress up a little bit to cheer me up! Until that, Enjoy the Summer! At least in Finland it is showing its best at the time.

Bachelor of Culture and Arts

2009-06-17T18:05:00.014+03:00

It's been a while. I thought that after my school is done, I have time for crafts and stuff. I was wrong. I have been coming and going the last couple of weeks and the speed is only going to accelerate. The wedding is coming, next weekend it is the Midsummer, every weekend in the summer is already filled with different kind of happenings... I mean, all of these are nice and I have myself chosen to go and take part in everything but... I would really need a week or so to just relax. And sew! I still haven't sew the blazer and the petticoat for my bridesmaid's dress and I haven't found reasonable shoes either. Panic!

Now I stop complaining and go to the main point here. I just came from the post office with my graduating diplomas. So now I really am a Bachelor of Culture and Arts! I'm proud. But still cannot see any change in me or my life. Suppose that is because I believe that this isn't it. I'm quite sure that I will be studying more in coming years. Maybe as soon as in the next autumn. That depends on whether I'm getting the chance to continue working where I work now or if I get another job. If not, then I go back to erode the seats of the university again...

But now some updating in what I have been so busy with. Two weeks ago we were on a special dog show in Porvoo. It is such a beautiful town! Especially the old town. Here is one photo from there. We'll probably go back there with better time later this summer.

We got some success with Riemu in Porvoo. He was the best junior Pinscher and got the Certification. Here he is posing with it at our back yard.

Here are some photos from the last weekend that I spent in Tornio in Agility Championships cheering for Rico. He is now officially 37th best mini agility dog in Finland. :) He could have done better, but I'm still proud of him and my sister who leaded him! And it was nice to see all the "Agility Stars" of Finland in the same competition and realise that even they are not succeeding every the time. :)

Rico was tired already on our way up north.

Roni took part in pre-competitions on Friday and won the other one of them!

It was raining quite heavily during the first race.

And this one is from the Final round.

And here is one beautiful building of the day from Tornio. Unfortunately I didn't have time to go inside and buy some dress fabrics...

Tomorrow we'll be headind up north again. We'll spend our Midsummer in Puolanka in our family's summer cottage. It is a tradition. The weathers haven't promised a lot but I know we will have fun anyhow! So now I wish You all a very merry Midsummer! Hopefully the sun will appear also here in Finland!

Busy Weekend Again

2009-06-01T22:19:00.010+03:00

Here is a photo collage of my quite a hectic weekend.

On Saturday we had an agility training with Riemu. The instructor was the well-known agility guru Juha Orenius. We weren't at our best that day but I learned much of other's trainings, too.

After following up the training for several hours we went off to take the dogs to swim. Riemu wasn't too excited about the water and tried his best to bark Rico out of the water. Here are some calm photos of apple trees blossoming from somewhere in between all the rush and noise. Or is the first one cherry? I'm not sure anymore.

The apple trees are just so beautiful at the moment! Too bad that they blossom so quickly.

On Sunday we were invited to the secondary school graduation party of my bloke's cousin. The house where the festivities took place was adorable. One of a kind that I would love to have. Charmingly weathered old mansard roofed building... Unfortunately I didn't get any good photos of it.

I was dressed in my "First Real Dress" that I sew a couple of years ago. It is a little too short in my opinion nowadays but it is a true summer dress. I made it with a pattern of a nice top adding many meters of fabric to the hem of the top. The shoes are many years old wooden sandals with an optional heel hight. Love them. The gloves are other two of the ones I found last weekend. Purse is a vintage one: I found it right before Christmas from one second hand shop from Huittinen.

Just Complaining

2009-05-27T22:05:00.006+03:00

Oh, life is just a hurry. Days go running in between workplace, hobbies and compulsory events. I would just need one week holiday. A couple of days I would just be, do nothing. The other days I would spend updating dog clubs accounts and member list, sewing the missing things for the celebrations of the summer, searching for the perfect shoes for my almost ready bridesmaid dress, finishing the already prolonged spring cleaning... And first of all I would organise our home that has started to look like a dumping area with ambiguous stuff lying everywhere. I thought I am an accurate person... Well, I just don't have enough hours in my days at the moment.

On Saturday I found some time to go to a car boot sale. There was one awesome seller who had vintage clothes and accessories, lots of them! I bought these from her.

These are my first white gloves. And what would a decent 50's style girl be without white gloves? Nothing. Maybe because of that I haven't been so fifties at all. I'm just one in a million in my everyday clothing. But summer brings many good chances to dress up better and art up distinguished ensembles. I'm sure to find good opportunities to wear both of these!

Testing My Nerves

2009-05-22T21:32:00.005+03:00

We participated unofficial agility competition with Riemu yesterday. This photo tells pretty much all essential about the day's events.

Laughing allowed. And preferred. Nothing else was to be done. Eagerly looking forward for the next ones on June... :D

Finds of the Day #2

2009-05-16T18:35:00.006+03:00

In the morning I went to visit a charity shop near my home-home. I have already earlier made some good bargains there. Here are today's bargains.

Vintage glasses, NiGuRa, YLVA. Exceptionally the lenses aren't too strong for me eventhough my glasses are only for agtismatism.

Earrings. I already have orange and black ones.

And then something for the kitchen. The blue one I found today. The red one that is på svenska is a gift from one friend of us. These are wonderful and funny.

And the grand total for all these? 2,50 €

20 Meters of Tulle

2009-05-15T19:14:00.009+03:00

I went to the fabric store today to celebrate this:

I felt like a novelist when I hold all the 5 pieces of my writings in my hands. :) Such a huge edition! All I have left to do is to wait for the diplomas. I am almost a Bachelor. :)

As the caption tells, I bought material for a petticoat. It is going to be huge and I hope that I can make it so that the skirts and dresses look nicely poofy. I don't want the hems to point horisontally but descent roundly and smoothly like in the old pictures. I should start working on it to be sure that it is ready for the wedding in the summer.

I also found something I might have hated a couple of years ago:

(I have made the willow box a couple of years ago)

I don't really think that this fabric is very much me. It is a bit too floral and a little too little brown for me. My often mentioned Grandmom would probably love it. I just couldn't help the feeling that this is the right one for the dress I have had in my mind. It is something like a mix of the following top part and skirt part but I'm going to make a full dress of it.

I'm not sure of the belt/bow thing but probably if I make it, it will be plain black. And because the fabric is so strongly patterned, the top part will be clean eventhough those tiny little bows in the other top look just adorable. Oh, I'm so motivated by this fabric and model but I have decided to finish the dress for the wedding first with it's petticoats and other accessories to make sure they are ready when they are needed. And there's some spring cleaning, too that has been strangely interrupted by everything else...

Finnish Baseball, Here I Come!

2009-05-14T19:19:00.004+03:00

Yiihaa!!! Now my life has finally come to that point where I can start thinking of joining hobbies. (Dogstuff is not counted, it is a way of life :)) I have loved Finnish Baseball since I was a little girl. I always went to play with the boys on the breaks at school. And this sport has been the sport that I have felt I have been quite good at. In school context of course. I have never had the opportunity to go and play it in some team because we have lived in such small communities. The distances were too long.

In upper-level I had the chance to attend a short Finnish Baseball course and the ardor to play flamed again. In the upper secondary school I joined the girls baseball team for the tournament between upper secondary schools of Tampere. That time I could have gone to play in some team as I lived in Tampere but I was already almost 18. It would have been difficult to get into the same level with those who might have played since they learned to walk.

This ardor has followed me through the years and every spring it flames up. This spring at last I feel that I have the opportunity to go and make my dream come true. I just found the Lady-Baseball in the internet. It is just playing to keep fit and have fun. You can join the ecercises whenever you have time. They are organised two times a week and there might be some games with some other communities' Lady-baseballers.

Oh, I just can't wait to get in action! Of course we might not start to play right away because they don't demand any experience from the joiners. And I just hope that the Lady-rules aren't too soft for me because I have always wanted to play with real rules even in school. I'm so excited! I wish I had my baseball stuff here so that I could go and try them out a bit! Which sport enthuses you?

Photo borrowed from www.uusitupa.net

Sewing Again!

2009-05-13T19:48:00.003+03:00

I carved out the way from our workroom's desk for my sewing machines. That room has mostly been administered by my bloke during this spring and you can see it. It really is time for spring cleaning up but first things first. I have thought of sewing a summer cover for Riemu's trevel cage. The "winter one" is sewn from a windproof fabric and it doesn't respire at all. So it has turned out to be inconvenient in these sunny days travels.

I fished out some vintage curtain from my fabric box and started working. It is good to start with this kind of a simple job after a long break. However it took two evenings to get this done. Of course I haven't been sewing all the night but still. And the next thing to sew is a summer bed for the cage. I have been brainstorming it and now I just have to find reasonable materials and try out if my idea is working. But more of that later perhaps. Here is the new cage cover:

Wonder if Riemu is getting sick in the car because of the floral fabric? We'll see.

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T19:34:00.007+03:00

Yesterday we visited NormaJeane and her family to celebrate the Superman. My outfit for the day looked like following. Sorry about the dark photo. And there was somebody who just decided to get in the photo.

Then today we have been visiting our Moms to celebrate them. My mother had got such a beautiful flowerbunch from my dad as well. I continued acting like my Granny to amuse my family and took plenty of photos of them. Here is one.

My weekend has been relaxing and nice. It feels so good to not have to think about something you should be doing when you are not doing it. If you know what I mean :). Can't wait to get off all the school stuff! I guess that I'll need some time just doing nothing on my free-time before I get back in business with all my ideas for my coming crafts.

I'll put a required dog photo to the end of this post. This time it's taken of Rico. His eyes say: Give me the yummies! I just love him... <3

Friday!

2009-05-08T21:33:00.004+03:00

What a wonderful day to get flowers! This bunch is so beautiful, so me. He just knows what I like. I also got some honey and birch balm to use in sauna. It felt good on skin. And when I came from the walk from the forest with Riemu, a delicious meal was waiting for me. Perfect day even though my workday wasn't all so convenient.

I begin to understand my grandmother. I have been laughing at her photographying all the flowers everywhere she goes. And already now I do the same... <3

I Went to School for the Last Time...

2009-05-06T17:02:00.010+03:00

...and I looked like this.

The dress is made with some 70's patterns. The fabric is an old table-cloth. Tights from Seppälä and shoes from Citymarket.

This is it. My school is over. There are still some minor things to do like applying for the graduation and putting my Thesis to covers but... Then I'm free! I just sent the Thesis for the printing after its last accomplishments. So now there is nothing to do for it anymore. And I am sure that I sent some wrong version or that there are still some huge mistakes in it... Sigh.

I rewarded myself with a little shopping after the long and stressing day. I bought something for my mom for the Mother's Day. I also found some nice and cheap cardingans that I have been missing whole winter. Already yesterday I found these little beauties from Citymarket with only 10 euros.
But now I just try to relax and forget about the doubts I have about the Thesis. I cannot do anything for it anymore. I heard that my bloke is going to make some evening snack to reward me of my effort. I know it is going to be awesom! Just a little deviation to my slimming for a good reason. :)

Dogs, Dogs, Dogs

2009-05-04T19:54:00.010+03:00

If my May Day weekend was much about cars, it was very much about dogs too. We went to train some agility on Saturday evening and tried to get some good photos. Then on Sunday we had a Match Show in our Dog Club. And today we had our weekly agility practises with Riemu. I was so happy! Riemu had totally forgotten his fear of the swing that he got a couple of months ago. Complete break in practising it was effective. Today he performed the obstacle eagerly and with very minor hesitation. Yiihaa!

So here is a cavalcade of the best succeeded photos from our Saturday's practises. First it was Rico's turn because he is the oldest. And the best :)Here he is jumping off the tube and anxiously asking for the next obstacle to bust on to.
Agility turns the salivation on... It is just the passion for the sport!
Then it was Roni's turn. I had the honour to get to lead him. He is just too fast... And his passion for agility is something unbelievable. Here he is jumping through the ring.
And here is Roni's style sample of the slalom.
Last but not least was Riemu. I was a bit mad at him after he broke my mobile phone the night before as we were sleeping so I willingly gave the leading turn to my sister. And it looked good! It is essential to see your dog doing the agility with somebody else every now and then. It opens your eyes to see, how the dog really works on the obstacles. It was not too bad from a young male Pinscher that begins to have many more interesting things in his head like bitches and wild animals. But here is Riemu taking his turn on the ring.
As Riemu is still young, just over one year, he is jumping high fences separately. This way he is learning the jumping technique before he starts to jump high fences on the courses. Riemu shows here that there are no problems with this height.
The last photo is taken when Roni was doing the course. Riemu is looking a bit nettled that he has to wait outside... <3
That's all about dogs this time. Undoubtedly there will be more in the future. Should I change my blog's name into Betty Bottom's Dog Blog? :) Well, surely after my school is done I have time and endurance to start to do crafts again. And the summer brings many other things than dogs and crafts too!

Sick Leave...

2009-05-04T14:47:00.012+03:00

... is a perfect day for updating the blog. I have been busy with finishing the Thesis and other studies. Last week I was about to break apart with my stress. And thanks to the final returning of the Thesis, I got a horrible flu on the May Day weekend.

So here are some photos of my weekend. I will make another post later about the dogs. We have been taking quite a many photos of them during the weekend... But here to start. Usually the day before the May Day is in Finland an official heavy drinking day. After a couple of hours school day and a job meeting after we spent the evening mostly with these kind of feelings:
We had decided to cave our old Citroen DS out of the corner of our barn and attend a May Day drive with it. It was a bit of a job to clean and service the old beauty after many years of overlooked. But we made it with my bloke and my dad. And even though it has some shortcomings in its finishing, I love the way it looked in the evening sun.

Two Big Cats on May Day:

Classic.
We decided to enjoy more machine beauties on Saturday at Lahti Classic Motor Show. There I found another adorable Citroen that I would love to get to drive. This is Citroen SM.

Who wouldn't want to have one of these cuties?
Okay. This is enough of my weekend with cars and vespas. Today I have been mostly in bed with my flu. But I have also read my school mate's Thesis in order to comment on it in the final seminar. This school stuff is starting to get limited but it starts to feel more and more heavy towards the end of it. I'll put some tin photos to the end to cheer me up. All the others of these we have got for free but the oil tin is full and brought from Italy. Co-op and the yellow one are from one friend of us and the salt tin is from my mother-in-law. I love all of them but perhaps most the salt tin. It is so beautiful!

See You in Hot Rod & Rock Show!

2009-04-24T19:54:00.003+03:00

I am going to spend tomorrow and Sunday in Tampere Exhibition and Sports Center in Hot Rod & Rock Show. You might detect me hanging out with the Arctic Pinheads. I am really looking forward to it because the past years has confirmed to me that it is one of the funniest weekends of the year. The Pinhead Group is just hilarious! And when they are not joking or laughing they are painting some incredible pieces of art. This year's theme is tattooing. So have a good weekend, I sure will! :)

Jewelry for the Summer

2009-04-22T22:25:00.009+03:00

I might have mentioned that I have got the great honour to be a bridesmaid for one of my dearest friends with one other of my dearest friends. I started to design a dress for the wedding last summer and in the autumn I almost sew it. There are still some little things like hems and braces to go. And some kilos to loose before I look good in it. I was inspired by the next old pattern photo and my dress is going to look much like it (hopefully...).

I'll just have to sew a bigger petticoat for it and find some nice shoes. And it wouldn't be bad to find some more festive gloves that I have. And then I have to think of some kind of a jacket or scarf or something... But this week I completed my jewelry for the wedding. They are all found from here during this spring. Can't wait wearing them and the whole ensemble!

I also visited this art exhibition today. It was nice to try out sitting in a Bubble-chair and Pastilli-chair and dream that some day we can afford one of those...And I couldn't help buying these pastilles to ease the sorrow. The one with the pin-up girl and a Vespa is for me as I have been dreaming of having a Vespa of my own. Lots of dreams I have... The one with VW's is for my bloke who has some kind of a fixation for them as you can see from here.

Hey! Not a word about Riemu or dogs in general in this post! :)

What If I Want to Have a New Puppy?

2009-04-20T19:46:00.005+03:00

Awww. My sister is probably going to have a puppy this spring. Her fanatism about the dog has caught me. I have found myself too many times searching for some cute little puppies. Most of the time I have been scanning Smooth Fox Terrier puppies but some Parson Russel cuties have stolen my heart as well...

Deep sigh. Maybe someday when I am a house-owner. I guess Riemu would love to have company to his lonely days as we are at work... How will I cure from this disease? The photos of Riemu from last summer doesn't help at all.

Next Post will for sure be about something else than dogs. I promise!

Weekend Summary

2009-04-19T21:59:00.011+03:00

This weekend has mostly been spent photographying. We have taken some hundred pics and here are some of them. Surprise, surprise! Most of them are taken of our dear little friends. Maybe next weekend's capture looks a little different. We are going to spend it in Hot Rod & Rock Show in Tampere. I can't wait it. The best thing in these kind of happenings is to dress up a little better!

I just love the way the systems camera focuses on just what you want...

Cute-one at one of his favourite places and positions.

We were on a collective walk with some mates from our dog club. There were something like 15 dogs and they enjoyed it so much. Here Riemu got some female company and he isn't sure how to behave with them.

Riemu imagines he is a greyhound.

A "little" over exposed photo but funny.

Unfortunately this isn't too clear but Riemu is just looking so horrible. I cannot help mentioning how proud I was of him as we got some visitors today. There were a couple of small children along and Riemu was very interested in them. My heart melted as I saw how carefully he sniffed those little creatures that he hasn't seen too often. And he would have loved to play with them as the children played with some toy cars on the floor!

This one shows nicely Riemu's baddie-boy-ears. And just as I thought they are getting better, the other of them started bleeding again on Friday...

Rico tries to catch the ball before the young ones.

All the friends together. A little shaken photo again but the intense gazes to the same point makes this one capturing.

Blaah, I should have used this writing time and all the shooting time reading the Thesis of my opponent and correcting and completing my own one. Well, don't have to think of how to spend evenings next week. And I should also be preparing for the weekend and the guests we are getting on Friday. Getting a little stressed again. Luckily the new job has been as nice as I thought it would be. I have prospered and eventhough my head seems to be in some kind of a jammed condition, I have been able to learn something about the job. But now it is time for bed as tomorrow starts a busy week. Hope you have a nice one!

Beautiful Building of the Day

2009-04-16T19:40:00.008+03:00

I was facilitating today in Hämeenlinna in relation to my last few school responsibilities. Tha day was very nice with lots of lovely customers. The sun was shining and the theme of the day, Spring, really appeared to us. And then there was this house on the same property with the places we facilitated in.

I love old buildings and those with mansard roof especially! This one looked so tempting with its cute rosa color. And it looked a bit exciting too with its lovely decayed appearance. And there's a lake only 50 meters away from the house!

I would really love to own this kind of an old house some day. It has been my dream for years. It shoudln't have to be by lake but I wouldn't say no to that either. The main claim is that there isn't any neighbours too near! Yes, I am a bit of a loner. And that bit of me is not so small at all, I have to admit. :)

A little garden around the house with old apple trees and wildlike flowerbeds... Well, people can dream of different things. Some of them come true, some not.

One dream-come-true was the thing that we finally bought a better camera we have been talking of. I haven't have time to use it yet but I surely will. I cannot wait our old home's appletrees to blossom! Hopefully before that I become familiar with our dear new Canon EOS 450D. Maybe I should also borrow some photographying guide... As I have mentioned, my studies have included one course of photographying but I have quite much forgotten about it...

Back Home

2009-04-12T21:18:00.009+03:00

I was spending some Easter time at my homehome as my bloke has been all the Easter in American Car Show. This Easter has mostly been just what I needed in the middle of the busy spring. I have enjoyed good food (yes, I have made a little exception to my no-cheese-and-no-sweets-April but decided to keep it going at least until the end of May with a couple of exceptions like this...), long walks in the forest with dogs, some bowling and other good time with my family, some agility... Especially the morning walks to the near forest with Riemu have been empowering to me. The waking nature with birds singing, the tempereture is just above zero, sun shines bright behind the trees, the air is so fresh and rich in oxygen and the little friend running and every now and then stopping to see me... That was all I needed. Here are some photos of my Easter. Most of them again taken of the dear friends of mine.

Mom had bought some adorable colored tulips.

Side by side.

Just throw the ball!

My handsome tail-wagger.

Tomorrow I'll do some schoolwork. They are getting rare, yeah! I'll also continue my spring cleanup. I'll be taking some stuff to the jumble sale next week so it is a perfect time to search through the cupboards. And tomorrow I will also get my bloke and our wonderful new camera back home. Cannot wait to learn to use it! Meaning the camera of course. ;)

Happy Easter!

2009-04-10T12:04:00.003+03:00

I wish you all a very happy and relaxing Easter! This is just what my Easter breakfast looked like today.

Now I'm heading to an agility training with Riemu. Enjoy your Easter!

Hot Bargains

2009-04-06T20:11:00.010+03:00

I have been using my becoming salaries months before I get them... Almost. First I ventured to order some books from Amazon.com about a month ago. And of course I used my bloke's Visa... :) So actually I didn't spend my money. I saw these books at my work placement and fell in love with them. As I see my self kind of a crap drawer I find these books inspiring and I guess I will use them a lot in future. And as I should now how to use some nice softwares with which I could work on with the pictures of the books I'm looking forward the times I have a scanner and the softwares and some time to implement my ideas.

Here's one of the most inspiring pictures of the first browsings. This is something that summarises the changed taste of mine for this spring. I don't yet know how and with which approach I'm going to work with it... Sorry about the shoddy photos of today...

Yesterday we visited some of our favourite second-hand-stores and we couldn't walk out hands empty. I found these couple of treasures.

The name is something like "Fashion picture" in English. These are from years 1945 and 1948. And I love them... Here is one spread where the magazine (1945) introduces some new hairstyles. It says that hair is getting straighter and "rolls" are decreasing in the hairdos. Wish I could create such hairdos...

And at last here is one spread of the 1948's magazine. I just cannot help adoring those drawed pattern packets of the old days or any fashion sketches! I could do... many things to learn how to draw. I would be pleased just to get the skill of drawing clothes.

Just to avoid a post without the Thesis I have to mention that I just a moment ago sent it to the first comment round. So it is slowly getting finished! And another compulsory thing to take up is that I have enjoyed the first couple of days in my new job. And I believe I'm going to prosper in it just fine!

Love of Life Arises from Tiny Little Things

2009-03-30T13:41:00.006+03:00

... and when those things happen in a short time frame they make you feel, hear, smell, see and taste it so concretely! Here are some examples that with each other can cause a stupid smile in your face or a warm feeling inside. At least for a while.

- A little time just for yourself and nothing else.
- Getting to sleep past 8 eventhough it's Monday.
- Realising that your little buddy's ear hasn't bled since a couple of days after been bleeding daily for over two months.
- Not having to cook because you have some good food already made earlier.
- Listening to good music. Koop's music gives a good mood and Francine brings the feeling of spring.
- The shuffle function chooses just the right songs first.
- Remembering that you'll have a dinner with a dear ex-roommate and a little shopping in jumble sales before it during the week
- Realising that the Thesis will be ready for the first comment round before expected.
- A long walk in forest with your little buddy.
- Looking at your little buddy's deep brown eyes in a bright forest with a tiny little pile of snow on his nose.
- Seeing your little buddy running free and happy.
- A little water drop falling to your cheek to prove that spring really comes eventhough it has been snowing a couple of days.
- Finding some "naava" from a twig in your neighbouring forest to approve that there still are some clean forests in Finland.
- Plans to make people laugh in an "end-of-season-agility-competition" with the little buddy.
- The scale showing a couple of kilos less than after Christmas.
- The decision is made: Try to live without cheese during the April.
- Starting a new job these days.

Awully positive writing from a Queen of Pessimist Thinking. :)

The Cherry Blossom Girl's photos in this post discribe also my feelings today.They are absolutely perfect.

Easter Inspiration

2009-03-28T12:46:00.005+02:00

I see my postings have been mostly about Riemu or the growing things lately. But all I have time to (or have to have time to) is Riemu and feeling springlike. Otherwise my time goes with the Thesis. There is one week left to write it for the first comments. Then there is still one month before the ending seminar to put final touches to it. Hopefully when it is done I have a new camera and I can put my energy to learn to use it. Probably that time I start to have more time to do reasonable posts too. If there still is life after the Thesis to write about! :)

The Easter is coming. We have been preparing for it since the Valentine's day at work. Which reminds me to mention that my work placement ended yesterday. Somehow I feel relieved. One piece of my studies is completed. But still it is very bittersweet. I loved my job and I would have loved it more without the stressing part of the Thesis. But this is life. Maybe some day I have a chance to go back there.

But back to Easter. I haven't been a big fan of Easter. It has just been four days holiday for me. And the past 4 years I have spent it in Helsinki in American Car Show. This year I probably don't have time to go there. And this year was the first year I bought daffodils, which I haven't liked earlier. And I even thought of decorating a little. And I already have the oat growing. What is happening to me? We usually don't even decorate for Christmas even though it is my favourite holiday... Am I becoming adult? Old? Sentimental? Don't know but still I love the way the flowers look at our table.

Not too much of an idea in this post either but I just have so many things in my head. Maybe some day again...

One-year-old Riemu

2009-03-21T10:07:00.009+02:00

Riemu had his first birthday yesterday. He didn't get any cake but some deliciuos evening meal with a wiener acting out the candle. Earlier we made a long trip to the forest where he got to run free. And so did he. After a week with less action because of the infection he had so much energy that I would have been pleased to get some of it. He almost looked like a greyhound on a race when he scampered like crazy. I felt so good to see it because he looked so happy.

Oh, I can't wait for us to buy a better camera... And me to learn how to use it. And me to learn how to take as good photos as eg. many of the bloggers I follow have on their blogs... I guess the first thing for me to learn those things is to learn some patience with getting to the outcome I want. We had a photographying course at school last year and that made me even more interested in it but I just haven't had time to go deep into it (or money to buy a reasonable camera). Maybe this spring or next summer!

And finally here is one reason I feel springlike today. The oat is growing so fast. And the sun is shining so bright. And I am going to meet some good friends of mine later today. I'm happy.

Spring Grows

2009-03-18T19:23:00.009+02:00

Something is happening here while we are at work. First ones are taken this morning, the other ones right after work which means about ten hours later.

There is oat growing in the glass vase and peashoots in the old enamel mug.

I just love following how plants grow. It makes me feel good and calm. Mmmm... It is important for me in these stressing and busy times. How tiny things, how great effects?

Surprisingly Silent...

2009-03-14T16:44:00.008+02:00

...was our appartment when I came home from work yesterday. At first I just had a strange feeling and then I noticed what was wrong. Riemu didn't come to greet me. He just lied on his lounger... Quite fast I realised that something wasn't right. He just nodded when sitting, when couching. And usually we cannot hold him still over two seconds. Well, off we went to see a vet. Boy got energy and didn't seem at all sick when we got there but the vet told that he has an developing infection in his aspiration tract. Now it has been quite a silent day and night at us. And we were supposed to go to a dog show tomorrow. I'm kind of relieved that we don't have to go there. I find them so stressing situations for me and the dog...

But there have been some nicer things in this week beside. I got the opportunity to go to theatre in relation to one school thing. I got a chance to dress up a bit after a long while. So here is the outcome:

Here is also one photo of one thing I made at work this week. The model for it is from a Tilda -book. I find Tilda -things cute but still I am not a big fan of them and all the commercialisation of the "Tilda -thinking". Either way this was an idea I found nice eventhough there have been this kind of stuff in stores for a while.

I don't know if it is the spring making this happen but I have started to admire light pastel colors and sweet fabrics with slender flower prints in stores and elsewhere... My new heading bar tells more of it. And usually I am a fan of bright and strong colors. Or maybe I'm getting older... Still I have to go cook now.

Sunny Sunday Afternoon

2009-03-08T21:05:00.011+02:00

This time more photos and less text. Let's see if I can manage that.

We got an old coffee tin from my mother-in-law. I could see it as a treasure box for my jewellery but my bloke wasn't confirmed about the idea. Probably he is right. This art-deco-style-beauty wouldn't get it's worthy place in our wardrobe where only we could see it. I'll just have to go into action with my idea of making a jewel box from one old plywooden box of mine instead... This one has to go to the kitchen.

After a long planning phase (all this winter) I finally remembered to take the camera with me when we went out with the dogs. And luckily it was so wonderful weather! This time there are only Rico and Riemu because the batteries run out in the cold before Roni came to join us. In fact I didn't get many photos of these buddies either before the batteries said stop. But here are the best and those I liked the most.

"Scream. Edvard Munch"

"Looks like a dirty attack."

"Kangaroo."

"Upright."

"Learn to fly."

Oh, it has been a nice day. The boys were so exited about running after the snowballs. Rico loves to destroy them. And also the small snowmen we tried to make. :) I love those buddies...

Now heading to the next busy week but still enjoying the fact that I don't have to worry about the job issue any more. Or at least before August.

I Love My Job, Part Two

2009-03-06T19:04:00.009+02:00

... and hopefully I will love my new job as well! I got a phonering about an hour ago and got to know that I have a job from April till at least August. I'm so excited! I have been writing job applications for weeks, 3-6 every week. I haven't only seeked for jobs in my own field but still I have got only one invitation for an interview. And surprisingly that was all I needed! Now I can concentrate on finishing my schoolwork and feel so relieved. Oh yeah. Do you know this feeling?

Of course this means that there won't be any end-of-schoolwork-trip to anywhere or any summer trips but it doesn't matter right now. The job isn't 100 % my own professional but I get paid for it probably better than I would get from being a facilitator. It's still not much but for sure better than what a student gets!

But back to the caption. Now that I still have 3 weeks time to do crafts in worktime I must take everything off it. Here are some more examples I have made so far.

I have had plans to make an apron with vintage patterns. I haven't proceeded past the idea stage so I decided to accomplish one model from Suuri Käsityölehti 2/09. I modified it a bit by adding those patchwork pockets and that valence. I made this partly from my own materials so I will take it with me when I end my work placement. I still want to do the one with the vintage patterns... Maybe I have more time when I have the job and no school anymore.

There is also a brooch made from a stocking flower in the photo. Those are something most of our profs get chills from. I'm not a big fan of those even myself but as I have to put customers needs first, I have done some examples of that technique too.

I got so inspired by those blue fabrics I also used in my apron that I wanted to do something else too with them. And usually I don't like blue color very much. I designed and accomplished a little patchwork purse with pearl handles. All materials are recycled which makes me like it even more. And customers have liked as well.

Coffee packet -crafts are very popular in the workshop. Mostly customers use them in baskets but I have done something else with them. Earlier I made a bib that I have forgotten to take a photo of. Today I finished this experiment. :) I'm sure that this coat would catch people's eyes in agility competitions as Rico is already known of his versatile carderobe. I'm just not sure if my sister dares to walk next to Rico if he has this on. Or is it the other way round... :) I'm also a bit uncertain of the functionality of this piece.

Right. Now I go to sofa and later sauna and celebrate my great day with Ben & Jerry's! Mmmmm...

I Love My Job, Part One

2009-03-05T19:24:00.008+02:00

Finally I have a week that I have time to do something else too, than the Thesis or activities with Riemu. And the reason to have this time is that I have got the major flu of the year. I thought I could avoid it with my good immunity that I have got from working close to people but that was just imagination... Anyway, the flu gave me one day off work and I had time to fill in the Thesis intake of this week.

So, now that I have some time, I decided to show you what I have been up to in my work placement during the beginning of this year. I have had plenty of time making examples because some days we have had so few customers and so many instructors. So here are few of the things I have done:

We had paper pulp -weeks a couple of weeks ago. I made this little crown from chicken wire, newspaper, adhesive and paper pulp. There were a few customers who bacame inspired by this but they made it bigger. They made their crowns for birthday parties' of some 40 - 50 year-old men. :) I love the fact that many of my customers are so broad-minded and unconventional even though (or probably I should say because of) they are senior citizens! And I thought they would like to do these kind of things for little princesses or princes... I learn from those wonderful people all the time.

We have got carried away with the "medals of honor" in the workshop. Or at least we instructors have. Here is one I made. It has some lace and ribbon in it with crafts felt and ironed reflector decorated with beads. It can be given to a person with merits in the outstanding work in safety field. :)

I have been working with memories in my Thesis and it has taken over my imagination and guided my ideas of examples, too. Here is one output of these thoughts. I was only supposed to do an example to show the idea to the customers. So most of the things I took in it have only principled meaning for me. The idea is to gather some meaningful and beloved things in a memory portrait.

I have to explain my creation a bit. Now that it is ready it looks like a mess to me but perhaps it is just what I am right now. I think the messiness has to do with the bright colours I chose for it. My original idea was to make a stylish and lightcoloured piece of art from this. When working I realised that I don't have materials for that kind of a thing because I love bright colours and many messy stuff. :)

The frames are some that I bought from my first real workplace. I love wood, especially dark wood. The backround is made with crazy patchwork technique from old fabrics of mine. There is one piece from an old favourite shirt of mine, some piece I have printed myself and some that I have got from another dear ex-workplace of mine.

Probably the main thing in the portrait is that little unsuccessful photo of my grandma and grandpa on a swing as they were young. I love the photo perhaps just because it is a bit fuzzy. There is some special atmosphere in it that makes me feel warm inside.

Then there are some little things I adore like buttons, lace, gingham ribbon, pictures of vintage patterns and some nice crafts decoration I got from work. Somehow I like dragonflies eventhough I feared for them as a child. There is also a toy Jack Russel Terrier. It is the breed that conclusively made me fall in love with dogs and want an own one. Again there is an vintage brooch because I love brooches. I just hoped I could have got it from some relative to give more meaning to it...

That should be it for this time. If I remember to take photos of some other things I have made tomorrow, I will make another post of my dear job for Friday Night's Entertainment for me.

End of The Halfway Holiday

2009-02-15T09:57:00.013+02:00

Oh, I have enjoyed my week so much. Hopefully I have energy to start working hard again tomorrow. Especially my weekend has been wonderful with dear friends visiting us on Friday and my family yesterday. And yesterday we also visited book and collecting fair where we got rid of all our money. But starting from the Friday.

I had my birthday yesterday on Valentine's day. Because I had guests already on Friday I also got some presents then. I got some beautiful stuff from my bloke and above you can see the most beautiful thing of them. It is a vintage brooch. He ordered it from the same netstore, where I got the other brooch a month ago. This is so adorable and the box... <3 I can't wait the opportunities to get to wear all my wonderful new vintage jewellery!

I also got tulips from my bloke. He had bought 25 of them as I turned to 25 years but at home he counted that there is 26 of them. But I think they look amazing in our Aalto-vase that we got as an engagement present before Christmas. I get some kind of satisfaction looking at some beautiful nature creations such as those I have planted myself... Maybe that's why I love indoor plants also so much.

I got those mini glasses, bottle, Persil packet and Bisquit box from one dear friend of mine. I almost had to go and get my Lundby back in from our stockroom. Then I remembered why we had to put it there (no room for it) and placed those lovely little things in our kitchen shelf where I have some vintage dollhouse furniture. I think those are bit of a different scale but look good still! The other dear friend gave us some tasty consumable stuff from an eco store. We also got a fire felt in case our feelings get too hot. ;) And then of course our little boy got many treats and a new ball he has been playing with a lot ever since.

Then yesterday we visited the fair. We found some lovely stuff...

The clock needs a new mechanism to stay in time. Cannot wait to that, it looks so good to me. We start to have quite a many clocks. Everyone of them in different time... The lamp is some Danish design and has teak and plastic in it. We just couldn't help buying it. And just to say, these were quite cheap in my opinion. We do not usually buy very expensive things even if they are wonderful. I'm very pleased with these finds! I also bought Taschen books of Fashion of the 60´s and 70´s. Unfortunately there weren't one of the 50´s Fashion. We also got the new Fingerpori book with a witty dedication picture. I got some good laughs with it yesterday once again. There were also many other adorable things, jewellery, books and stuff in the fair but the money run out. :)

Still Alive

2009-02-08T16:50:00.008+02:00

Yiihaa! I'm going to have a one week holiday from my Thesis. Of course I have the activity part of it every Wednesday but I'm not going to write or read any books that have something to do with it. Though it doesn't mean a week without school work, I have some other tasks to take care of... But still, I have about half of the writing work done by now.

Riemu here shows how I'm going to spend the time that I have free from the Thesis. There is also another reason to keep one week off. I'm having my birthday next weekend. I will get long waited visitors on Friday and enjoy quality time with them! On Saturday there will probably be some kind of a coffee and cake party for my family and on Sunday we'll go to a dog show with Riemu.

We had our first real dog show in January. He got excellent evaluation but I'm still a bit nervous. He is just a bit too sensitive in a wrong way. For example last week he decided to be afraid of the floor. He just sat on the sofa and whined. And that's not the only thing he has fear for. I have heard that Pinchers have the inclination to this kind of sensitivity. But the breeders keep looking just for the outlook and these kind of things take root to the race. That is a pity for us who want to have a nice workable dog. Well, I just hope he'll get over the harmful sensitivity when he gets older. The thing I am happy about and hope stays the way it is, is that he hasn't shown any signs of being afraid of the people. He loves everyone who visits us or shows any interest in him.

I made a wonderful find last week when I found the boots I have in the photo. I had adored them before Christmas but didn't have money for them. I was just supposed to buy food from a market last Thursday when I saw these on sale. And when I saw the price, there was no turning back. They cost only 10 euros! I thought I don't like these kind of boots but these made me think these are closest to my idea of the perfect boots than any of my older ones. And for real I would have needed some warm and cosy winter shoes... My bloke took the photo yesterday when I had to test the boots with my pencil skirt and new seamed stockings. My hair is just a mess and face looks awful after a day in front of the laptop but still I somehow like this photo. Usually I only see my huge bottom when wearing a pencil skirt so this is some kind of an exception.

Today I have written some chapters to my Thesis, gone to a walk in the rain and done some baking. First I made some buns because our freezer has been quite empty for a while.

Then I made bread. Some of them are for my visitors next Friday but it also tasted good with my smoked reindeer pasta. Mmmmm...

I think it is time for me to get to the sofa and start relaxing after working hard all day and all beginning of this year. There will be some busy couple of months ahead but I can handle them with the thought that it is over by the summer. Then I hopefully has got a job and some time to travel somewhere warm for a while.

Going to Wintersleep

2009-01-22T19:27:00.004+02:00

Oh dear. I have had so much to do for the last weeks and I still will have for the coming few months. I have my Thesis, project for my main subject, practical training, some lessons, work search... I'm so tired already working all days and having some other issues in my life aswell. My hope and dream is that I get the opportunity to travel abroad to relax after this shit but that calls for a job to go to after the trip. It is still something to wait and hope for in the middle of working hard.

So all this is to say that I probably must have some kind of a hibernation season from writing the blog for a while. It might take a month or so. Or perhaps I need this earlier as some kind of a therapy. We'll see.

I'll keep reading what You others are up to when I have time. Have a nice Wintertime! And don't forget me completely :)

PS. I made those teddybears as a school project in 2007. The task was to make an empowering object. The orange one is for the days and the blue one for the nights. Every cloth and button in them has a story. I'll keep them near me on my wintersleep!

Almost Lazy Sunday

2009-01-18T18:35:00.006+02:00

We stayed over night at my homehome. That usually means a lazy Sunday with relaxing and eating too much. And that's almost what happened.

In the morning we spoke about my car that I have thought of changing for a couple of years. We came to an outcome that this would be the time. I don't need so big car anymore and I don't need a diesel car either after this spring. This means that I have started the bereavement work with it today. I know it might sound weird but I also know that there will be tears when I have to say good bye to it. We have had so many good times. I have driven some enjoyable 200 000 kilometres and shared misery and joy with it... :)

But what have I done to get the almost word to the title? We visited some flea markets and second hand shops today. We found an adorable little drawer and even more adorable mirror. So this is a bit how it looks like in our lobby now:

The other mirror and the things in the mirror are in our toilet. We thought of painting the feet of this drawer black to make it look more like fifties.

I'll also add a photo of me with my outdoor clothes. It's much of a made-by-me-photo.

The coat is designed by me and my mother-in-law sewed it. Almost everything other is made by me. The reflector and the hat are felted. The scarf is crocheted and the gloves are knitted. I put my new brooch-treasure to the jacket just for the picture. Usually I use a cheaper one. The handbag is pinstriped by my bloke. Those witch -boots are my favourite shoes for the winter eventhough they have very thin outsoles so that my toes freeze in minutes.

Here is one photo still of my hansom little baby. We tried to get a reasonable photo of it for the breeder but it was too cold outside. That's why the rear feet look a bit funny. And those ears... I tried to make them take up the right position but no. They are just like his mother's. I still have a little hope because they are perking to all quarters alternately but I guess the chances are quite small.

Postman brought me a new treasure!

2009-01-14T16:19:00.006+02:00

But first to the challenge NormaJeane gave me...

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

* I have loved acting since I was a little girl. For some strange reason I still love it eventhough it has gotten quite hard for me. I sometimes even get nervous when just having a talk in front of the class at school.

* I get tears to my eyes more easily than anybody else. So I don't need a lot for that. And they come in unexpected situations. That's so annoying allowing for my becoming occupation...

* I have been on a cover of a well-known Finnish magazine about a year ago.

* I have built one plastic scalemodel of a car. And it won second prize in a competition.

* I was extremely good at school when in middle school.

* I love sweets, chocolate, chocolate cakes, ice cream... The sweeter, the better. And I can eat unbelievable amounts of them!

I'll challenge Olivia Rouge and Rhia. I don't know enough blogs at the moment to get six people to challenge...

About the treasure then. I got a link of this new netstore of old jewellery by mail last week. I was just supposed to check out what stuff they are selling but... I fell in love with one brooch. I had to explain ordering it somehow to myself and I also told the explanation to my bloke: This is my birthdaypresent for me. My birthday is coming after a couple of weeks. So today there was a packet for me in our letterbox.

I usually fall in love with round brooches with many glittering stones in it but this one isn't round. Glittering it is though. It has a beautiful shape and the orange stones are just wonderful. In the store they guessed that this might be from the fifties or sixties. I don't know how you can see it but the point is that I think this is the most beautiful jewel in my jewelbox from now on. Can't wait the opportunity to wear it for the first time! Maybe I should dress a bit better than usual tomorrow for school...

I have already used two hours of good worktime in the internet. And I was supposed to do one presentation today. Maybe I can still do it.

Kitchen Beauty

2009-01-11T13:34:00.011+02:00

Oh, I'm so happy! We had a worderful night last night with NormaJeane's family. It was fun to meet friends because we have been much with the family during Christmas and New Year. We got a really lovely present from our Guests: A vintage kettle! There are some sunflowers designed by Esteri Tomula and it is made by Finel. Thank You mates once more! Also the things inside of the kettle will surely be used.

The story with this kettle's way to our kitchen is funny, too. I was supposed to buy this on my trip to meet some friends but I didn't have cash. I took a different route back home so the kettle just haunted me in my thoughts. Then I saw it in NormaJeane's blog. She had bought it without knowing me to have adored it too. It was an amazing co-incident. And now it is on our stove. <3

As You can see, it fits perfectly to our kitchen! I love bright colors in decorating, especially orange. There are also some other favourite kitchen things of mine in the photo. We have two of those chopping boards, the other one is blue. Some friends of ours found those dollhouse furniture and bought them for us. I love old coffee tins and there are only some of them in this photo. Two of them are in use all the time! We have found many lovely fruitknife sets in a short time. The other two have teak tops. When we make a festive setting, we use our plastic dishes. Some made by Fiskamin in the sixties are in the photo. There is one new object among the vintage ones. Can you find it?

Wellwell, it's time to go for a walk with Riemu. This morning I spent doing some school stuff and got done some too! :) After the walk I'll just relax and enjoy the food remains of yesterday!

Vintage Patterns

2009-01-08T18:34:00.006+02:00

I was looking for something from my closet when I found these. I have no idea of what was the real thing I tried to find so I decided to take photos of these treasures of mine... I found these from flea market last autumn. They were sold in a taped plastic back so that I couldn't see the backside of them. And in the price label it only said "Old Pictures of Vintage Dresses". It was nice to notice that they are some kind of a patterns. I have other vintage patterns too but these are for sure the oldest ones.

I don't know if I ever try to actualize these. They seem a bit complicated for me. I tryed to buy one packet of vintage patterns from a net auction before Christmas and I think those were the same kind. There were no photos of the patterns in the auction but according to the description I got the idea that they probably were the same. There are little numbers in the pictures and in the description it said that the packet had 17 patterns in it. It also included some kind of an odd measurement thing that was ment to help transfer these patterns to the fabric. It would have been nice to get it but it got too expensive for mee...

Maybe some day I get enough training in making clothes, courage and perseverance to try these because I think they look fantastic. They both look like winter dresses, almost like coats. But fantastic. Well, I think I should get back to my school work again...