MORE CAPES FOR THE PEOPLE!

Beret & cape by Fiona Timantti.
Photo by Saara Salmi.

SMALL AND BIG EMBROIDERIES

When Dag got his name he was wearing the same frock Eddi and his family has received theirs in. The tradition is also to embroider the name of the new family member into the frock. A very nice tradition yes, although the embroidery part has given me a wrinkle or two between he eyes. Not my favorite thing to do, as I hate to have to be so precise.  Which is something that works fine for me when drawing on the computer, but less fine with anything by hand. Although, I did do some nice butterflies in different coloured yarn with pearl applications on some of my dresses and pockets back in the days when I was 17 and an art school hippie girl. But that was then and back then was a long time ago.

Quite suitably, I received a present - an embroidery inspiration book by Karin, crafting glady extraodinaire. I remember visiting her blog earlier and being impressed by her cute and pretty embroderies applied to all sorts of things. "Små och Stora Broderier" is her second book, and as the name says, it consists of ideas and how-to's for both small and bigger embroideries.

This was sent as a personal gift to me but I was later contacted by her publisher with a copy and asked to review it.

 (Bonus baby feet)

 The book features decorating traditionals items like cushions as well as more modern and funny items too.

 If you do not want to draw the patterns yourself everything featured in the book is available for copying.

And also explanation to how the stitching is done. (See, this is what I need! I only ever knew how to make those loop-stitches. And had sort of forgotten about them too. Not that this will help me get those name letters any more precise or neat, but at least now I have more ways to try out now:).

I mainly thought the book would be enjoyable from an aesthetic point of view for me with nice pictures and so (which it is and it has, with a clean and pretty layout) but it actually made me want to try and do some embroidery too...that also is one of the ideas of the book; to serve as ideas and inspiration both for those who have never touched a needle and a thread, and those who already know their way around decorating items with those, but mostly to awake the lust to start doing something with your hands.

So, to share the joy I have another copy to give away for one of you!

I will ship the book anywhere to whoever wins, but note that the book is in Swedish, being of most use for Scandinavians. However, the pictures and instructional drawings also take you quite a long way even if you would not understand the text.

To enter, it's the usual : leave me a comment on this post. (You don't have to be a follower of this blog, but then again, isn't it a little, well, embarrassing just wandering around the internet participating in giveaways?) I will draw the winner randomly so please leave me only one comment. Really, one. It will screw things up otherwise. And, make sure you are reachable to me trough that comment, as in trough a blog or (working!) link, contactable profile and so on, or leave me your email. 

If you share this you can get another entry by commenting again and leaving me the link to your post.

You can enter until next Tuesday; September 18! I will draw the winner shortly thereafter.

BLACK CATS EVERYWHERE

My youngest sister gave me a set of Polkka Jam pastel cat prints for my birthday (she has a history of giving me cat-tings) that I now put up in the kitchen. I've always liked Polkka Jam's prints and I had always thought of putting something on that wall so these came in handy.

The theme of the prints also serves as a nod to our other kitchen, the one in the farm house, with the rugs and wood stove and so on.

And to the cats of course. But that does not even need to be mentioned.

TIDIED UP AT LAST (PLUS THAT HIDEOUS MONKEY I ONCE GOT)

Our flat in the city has looked like a dump for the past year. It's been messed up by unpacked gig-bags of mine, filled with my paperwork and crumbled over with Dag's toys. As we've mainly been concentrating on fixing up and renovating the farm house, and all free time is spent there,  our apartment has been rather sad and forgotten.

But now I  finally got around cleaning it up -to the extent my sister doubtfully asked Eddi why was it so neat there, what's going on? when she came over- and it feels great. I haven't gotten everything I want organised yet, but I'm getting there. And as my nausea from the lost pregnancy is now over I apparently got an energy boos; I even washed all walls and every door in the house. And we might even get around finishing Dag's room now that I'm on fire!


I got some new plants and moved around the placements of the old ones. I always thought that plants are a great, quick and affordable way to freshen up and make a mini-renewal of the interior.

The Helsinki poster we have framed on the wall is one of my favourites by one of my favourites, Erik Bruun.

 If you know your Helsinki you'll love the simplicity of how landmarks and parts of town are portrayed.

Here's my anti-Bojesen monkey btw (and this is a total btw-mention).
It's horrible and not really supposed to be there, but I once hanged it ironically and then it has stayed. You know,  the classic wood design monkey-toy-thing by Bojesen that costs a lot and has no actual function, that people have on, or hanging from shelves (preferably a string one like this). Well, my sister and I have a thing of sending sad stories or links and such to one another. Sometimes it leads to things, like when I once saw a super sad listing for an old teddybear no one wanted and she ended up buying because she just had to. Another time a friend of mine linked me a weird ebay listing for a "hideous monkey" on my wall joking it was Plytis' evil cousin. My sister then sneakily got me the hideous monkey for my birthday the same year. Yes I did scream out in horror a little when I opened the package, before laughing like crazy.


Hideous, ain't it? I have no idea why it looks like this or why anyone would make it so, and sell it, but well, I know why someone bought it.

I can't leave you with the image of the scary monkey so here is a cuter picture of Dag, happily unaware of said monkey, playing in his play kitchen.

WHO IS THE FAIREST OF THE LARKS? / THE BEDROOM WALLPAPER

Whenever I post something from our bedroom in the city flat I get the question where our wallpaper is from. So lets give it a post of it's own then shall we.

The wallpaper is called "Ken Kiuruista Kaunein",  translating "who is the fairest of the larks?"

It was designed by Finnish ceramic artist and designer Birger Kaipiainen (1915-1988) in the 1950's.

I had seen bits of it before, online and the test sheets they have of it, and always wondered what the hell was going on there; if you look at just a detail of it it's kind of weird and the birds sort of ugly. Well, yeah. But once I saw a picture of the wallpaper on a wall I was totally smitten by it. It builds up a beautiful pattern.

Well of course, this is really the way it is with all wallpapers, you have to see them at large to really get an idea. Some patterns that look great when seen as a detail in a catalogue may be a disappointment on the wall; personally I don't like it with decorative patterns that although they are made to appear asymmetrical turn "stripy" when put together, for example.

Ken Kiuruista Kaunein comes in four color variations. It was made for and is still made by PR-tapetit / Tapettitehdas and you can get it from Tapettitalo, where is where we have bought all our wallpapers from. (I'm also assuming that you by now figured out tapetti is Finnish for wallpaper.)

 

More known than the beautiful larks is the wallpaper "Kiurujen Yö" (The Night of the Larks), which is said to be the most famous wallpaper in Finland. It is, obviously, also by Birger Kaipiainen and comes in many colors; the picture above shows two. (Image from Kotivinkki magazine.)

(And btw by now you probably also notice you can fit whole sentences into just two words in Finnish. Or, in fact, one. End of mini-langauge lessons.)

Another little btw, there's an exhibition of Birger Kaipiainen's ceramics at Emma, the Espoo Museum of Modern Art, which is just around the corner from us.

JANUARY AND ONWARDS

So, it's a new year (again! aready!) and I have a new calendar hanging on my wall.

I'm always quite eager to choose a nice one -and I often get a nice one as a gift for Christmas, so did I this year - but then at then end of the year I notice it is still hanging on October or November...

My calendar for this year is the Come to Finland-calendar, which consists of vintage travel posters for Finland, re-made into a calendar. And you know I love old travel posters. I have the book from the same series with gathered postcards and posters (which I wrote about here).

Some of the posters for this year. Nice! Although the actual calendar part is of course not as nice as the one in the Fintage calendar (which I made. Heh.)

PS. here's a little alrighty-right then fact for you: 2013 is the first year since 1987 to have four different numbers in it. Alrighty right then!

RETRO LEMONADE CARDS

Erik Bruun is one of my favorite graphic designers, as you may know. He did the Jaffa ads from the early sixties that I have at home for example. This Christmas Jaffa has a campaign with images inspired by Bruun's design. Me likes!

 

These cards were made by graphic design students who won a competition to attend a master class with Bruun. You can send these as electronic postcards here. 

(Here's a cute ad with dancing bottles and the old master himself. You know, in case you were in the mood for some happy dancing bottles or so.)