Stockholm Calling

I'm going to make a day visit trip to Stockholm this weekend. I received a gift certificate from my aunt so I'm ever so grateful for her belated birthday gift! This grants for a free cruise so we'll be leaving today, arriving to Stockholm Saturday morning, spending a day in town and return to Helsinki on Sunday morning. One day is just perfect to visit Moderna Museet, take a look at small shops around Södermalm and enjoy a cup of coffee and lunch there. Thanks so much Britta and Amanda for your flea market tips I asked for. I've marked them on my map already. Maybe I'll make some vintage finds in Stockholm tomorrow!

I wish a nice weekend to all of you!

Little Good News

This week I was disconnected from internet for almost three days because of troubles in the cable. What an experience! It's a little bit scary how much my life depends on my laptop and internet. Anyways, I found it quite rewarding to be able (after the first shock) to concentrate on sewing and crafting. In fact I'm currently preparing for a craft happening which focuses on recycling theme and I'm really looking forward to having a booth there. It will take place in the end of April in Helsinki. But I also want to keep my Etsy shop alive and decided to list few pouches there. Here's a picture of a brand new one. You can find that among other new ones from my shoppe now.

Flowergarden Dreams

I bought a big bunch of seeds: summer flowers (different kind of poppies, zinnias, violets, forget me nots, marigolds...), spinach, mini tomatos and lemon balm. Every March I find it ever so exciting to sow the seeds. What an enchanting moment to see the first seedlings! This year I'm a little bit late so today I need to go and get some more soil and the project can start. Then our kitchen can be converted into a green house. You will understand what I mean once I have posted some pictures after a little while.

Have a lovely weekend!

Spring Promo Time

In December I participated in GetEurofied sampler box promotion for the first time. I prepared a bunch of bookmarks with my birdie print with a free shipping gift certificate. I think this is a fun way to show a glimpse of your work to new people. That's why I wanted to make something for the Spring Box. I came up with an idea of bobby pins, decorated with vintage cabochons and little sea shells I collected last summer. They turned out quite pretty, I think. These sampler boxes come for sale on April 1st. You can get one for yourself here!

Sweet Saturday

I'm so happy it's weekend again, time to spend with boyfriend and do cosy things. Lately I've been wishing to bake more, it's such relaxing and nice doing. I've got an old cook book (original written in 1948) pre-inherited from my Mom. It's full of lovely recipes (some are a bit difficult to understand because of old phrases but it's just a charming character of this book). Today I made spoon biscuits, not the best choice if you're on a diet I have to warn you! Here's how it goes.

Spoon Biscuits

200 g (7 oz) butter
150 g (5 oz) sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla sugar
250 g (8 1/2 oz) wheat flour
for filling: marmalade or jam (I used home made apple and rasberry jam)

Howto: Melt the butter on a stove in a pan, add sugar and stir until sugar has dissolved. Take the pan off the stove and let it cool. Mix baking powder and flour in a bowl, add and mix (by sifting) with butter sugar to make the batter. I always do this by hand, using wooden spatula. Pre-heat the oven to 175 C (347 F). Take some batter to a teaspoon and form the biscuits, place them on a baking sheet with parchment paper. Bake them for 15 minutes. After they have cooled comes the best part! Assemble biscuits by adding jam (about a teaspoonful might be good amount) between two pieces. As a finishing touch I sifted some powder sugar on top of them.

Happy weekend to all of you!

10 Honest Things About Me

Last weekend I got tagged by Swee. She awarded me the "Honest Weblog Prize". Thanks or sorry, depends!

Here are the rules:

"When accepting this auspicious award, you must write a post about it, including the name of the misguided soul who thinks you deserve such acclaim, and link back to said person so everyone knows he or she is real. Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. Show the 7 random victims’ names and links and leave a comment informing them that they were prized with “Honest Weblog”. List at least ten honest things about yourself. Then, pass it on!"

1. I don't like to follow news, in fact I try my best to avoid seeing them.
2. I love nature. I enjoy hiking in solitary places & wildlife in north of Finland.
3. I'm terribly scared of snakes. If I spot one on a magazine I'm holding the paper flies away in a nano second.
4. I competed in swimming until I was 19. It meant training 6-10 times a week. Haven't been to pool for many, many years now.
5. Another passionate hobby of mine was horses. Tried to convince my parents to buy a horse but didn't succeed. I wish to begin this hobby again one day.
6. I'm often pondering the meaningfulness of life. It makes my life somewhat difficult.
7. I've been travelling a lot, experienced foreign cultures, studied several languages, lived abroad. Nowadays I cherish calm life near the woods.
8. I left the office day job in order to gather happiness. I have partly succeeded.
9. My daily schedule is far from what they call normal. I stay up till early hours and sleep in the next morning.
10. I'm both considerate and short-tempered, depending on a situation. Sometimes too reluctant, other times too direct. Always sincere. It's difficult!

I'm tagging the following blogs, brilliant both in content & design: emedemarta, lapomme, loulouandoscar, matchstickgirl, outiouti, paperflowergirl, staroftheeast

Also I want to thank Modish for featuring karuski on their Eco Friendly Find. Wow!

Giveaway at Oh, Hello Friend

Have you visited Oh, hello friend blog yet? It's one of my favorite places to get inspired on web. Danni has several great weekly series, I especially enjoy her photo picks on Thursdays. Right now she's running a lovely giveaway, please check all choices and instructions (very simple!) how to enter here. Last day to enter will be March 12.

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Oletko jo vieraillut Oh, Hello Friend -blogissa? Se on yksi suosikkipaikoistani löytää inspiraatiota webissä. Dannilla on loistavat viikottaiset teemat, pidän erityisesti hänen valokuvavalinnoistaan jotka hän julkaisee torstaisin. Tällä hetkellä hänellä on meneillään ihastuttava giveaway, näet kaikki vaihtoehdot ja ohjeistuksen (helppo juttu!) osallistua täältä. Viimeinen päivä osallistua on 12. maaliskuuta.

My Easter Secret Bunny!

I can't believe I could wait till today to tell you these news. Mailman brought me yesterday a parcel from Anna (with annarubyking and lilarubyking shops) living in Greece. I got two pairs of sweet tiny studs with hand drawn color and details + few of her birdie postcards + a thoughtful thank you note, everything beautifully wrapped. You can see me wearing a n o t h e r super beautiful pair of silver studs included in the package. This gift was part of our EST team's Secret Easter Bunny swap. I feel so overspoiled, I'm speechless. Thank you dear Anna!

edit: Thank you Mitsy for matching the swappers and organising this fun project!

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Tuskin pystyn uskomaan todeksi, että pystyin odottamaan tähän päivään kertoakseni teille tämän uutisen. Postipoika toi eilen paketin Annalta (hänellä on Etsy-kaupat annarubyking ja lilarubyking) Kreikasta. Paketista löytyi kahdet sievät nappikorvikset + muutama hänen tekemä lintukortti + ajatuksella kirjoitetun kiitosviestin, kaikki kauniisti paketoituina. Korvissani ovat k o l m a n n e t pakettista löytyneet superkauniit hopeiset korvakorut. Tämä lahja oli osa EST-tiimimme Easter Secret Bunny -lahjanvaihtoleikkiä. Tunnen itseni aivan ylihemmotelluksi ja sanattomaksi. Kiitos ihana Anna!

edit: Kiitos Mitsylle koko projektin organisoimisesta!

Weekend Wishes

This week was hectic. I finished my orders for a couple of boutiques and mailed them out succesfully. I've been struggling with my inventory list for taxes. It makes my head hurt. I hope to get this done on Friday, to be able to enjoy the weekend. By showing Heidi Yount's beautifully shimmering photo on this post I wish the same to you. You can see more of Heidi's fine art photography here. In fact we are sort of sisters if you didn't know (some of you know!). Happy weekend, enjoy!

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Tämä viikko oli kiireinen. Viimeistelin pari tilausta ja sain ne onnistuneesti lähtemään. Olen tuskaillut inventaarioni kanssa. Siitä tulee pää kipeäksi. Toivottavasti saan sen valmiiksi perjantaina ja voin sitten nauttia viikonlopusta. Samaa toivon sinulle tämän Heidi Yountin kauniisti kimmeltävän valokuvan kautta. Voit katsoa lisää Heidin taidevalokuvia täältä. Itse asiassa olemme tavallaan siskoja keskenämme ellet sattunut tietämään (osa teistä kyllä tietääkin!). Nautinnollista viikonloppua!