Merry Christmas

It's the Christmas Eve today. We will prepare a dinner for two, indulge ourselves with hot sauna, unwrap the presents and enjoy the peace & silence. Tomorrow we will drive some hundreds of kilometers to visit H's parents, stay there for a while and keep on driving to meet my parents as well. The cats will be travelling with us. This is the first time we have two of them in a car, I hope it goes well. I wish a peaceful Christmas to you, enjoy the holiday to the fullest!

Wrapping Gifts

I got all my Christmas presents wrapped! I used only recycled materials to keep the whole package eco-friendly, I think it makes a perfect sense. Why to make and purchase lovely things with a small impact on Mother Earth and wrap them up in something that uses valuable resources and probably ends up into landfill? These papers I used are from shipping materials I have received when ordered something online, small paper bags I've got when buying post cards and so on. Labels are made from pieces of left over paper, butterfly punch gives them a cute look. A few tags are free downloadables I had printed long ago but didn't use until now. I'm sorry I can't remember where did I download these, but I know there are some beautiful freebies at Creature Comforts. That crocheted piece I found from my studio, it's from a table clotch I had repurposed when making jewelry, only one piece was left. So here it got a new purpose and can be used all over again. In fact, all these packing materials I used can be either re-used or recycled. Oh, and another idea: I placed small gifts on a glass cake display stand. It looks sweet on a living room table.

These ideas work pretty well all year around, I'd like to think. Happy gift wrapping!

Simple Home Decor

Here is a really simple idea for your home! I made this card holder by crocheting paper yarn with a big crochet hook. I made about 1 meter long string with the most simple loops. It took about 10-15 minutes from start to finish. I had these vintage clips we use to hang curtains, they have a little hook on the top which I can hang on the crocheted loops. Even without the hooks the clips would work just fine. You can make the length as you wish, my holder looks nice with six Christmas cards on it. I tied the other end of the string on a curtain holder stick (or whatever the name is, I don't know exactly!). You could also hang it on the wall, by the door way or maybe you can find another suitable place at your home.

When the holidays are over, you can still use it all year around. Switch the cards or use the clips to hold little memo notes, for example. Happy crafting!

From The Photoshoot

We had a little photoshoot session on Sunday evening at home. I'm very pleased with the pictures. They have exactly the right feel I had on my mind. Thanks H for your valuable help! Now, I plan to make a small batch of these tote bags with a couple of color options, probably a few big clutches and handbags too. They should be ready in the beginning of January. I'll show you then, right after we get the new photos taken, of course. I plan to have a shop update around that time too.

Today I baked some salty pastries, wrapped Christmas presents and placed them in the living room (I really love wrapping gifts). Christmas holiday, here we come!

Something New Soon...

On Thursday I talked about the idea of making tote bags. Sometimes, just sometimes I'm quick in my actions, this is what happened now. The first try is here, will continue making a couple of variations this weekend. Obviously photos need some improvment as well... I have pretty much figured out what kind of feel I want to have in my photos and that definitely includes having a person in a picture. It's just a bit of a challenge to arrange a model (usually myself) each time as most of my items are one of a kind. It means a lot of photo taking. But at least I have the idea what everything should look like. Improvment in progress!

Happy Weekend!
ps. Do you have any craft project going on right now?

My Creative Space

I love to play with beautiful beads, I could just collect and arrange them in bowls all day long. To tell the truth sometimes I love to look at them more than creating with them! Now, I would like to make some new earrings and bracelets out of these colorful supplies (mix of wooden beads, vintage plastic and faux pearls). As it looks like the Christmas orders are slowing down in my Etsy now there might be good chances to make something new soon.

This is a custom bracelet I made a couple of weeks ago for an Australian customer. She requested everything in turquoise and as I didn't have any papers in that color I ended up painting the detail on the brass bezel with gouache (laquer is applied on the top to protect the paper). We both agreed it was a good solution. Beads are vintage glass from Japan. Her lovely feedback inspires me to make more jewelry pieces with color in the future too!

I visited our library this week and found a couple of inspiring books about recycled and vintage fabrics. Besides jewelry I'm thinking of making some nice shopping totes, you will see soon. Also, I placed my cotton clutches on sale section. Have a look, there are few pieces available!

Are you already busy with Christmas preparations? I have shopped some handmade online so no need to stress about gifts any longer. Some baking would be nice, just to have that delicious smell around the house...

Monday Moodboard

fairytale plush by lapomme
nuno felted clutch by crafts2cherish
anemone ring by staroftheeast
nuno scarf by juliafelt

Finally we have a good layer of snow on the ground and more flakes are falling, it is looking so beautiful. Also, the thermometer is showing -10 celsius today so the chances are that this one will stick for a little while. In honour of lovely snowy day I put together a white moodboard. Enjoy!

And more Monday Moodboards on Greet's blog... have a great week everyone!

Sweet Package

Finally I got a chance to show you this: a lovely gift I won from a give-away few weeks ago. I got to choose something worth $45 from Bebe & Alice's shop and I chose this beautiful scarf made from recycled fabric circles. Also, in addition to this I was allowed to pick little something extra so I asked for a birdie ornament I had received from Heather earlier. This new one shall be a Christmas gift to someone special (so hard to give it go though!). Heather even added few fabric scraps for inspiration. Actually, we've been chatting about having a small co-operation project next year, you'll hear more about it soon, I'm sure. Yeah, and it's so funny it was me to win this give-away as we are already friends, thanks to Etsy!

If you like what you just saw, have a look around Bebe & Alice's. It's a great place, I can tell ya!

My Secret Santa

An intriguing postal note was waiting for me yesterday. It was for my Secret Santa gift from Nicole in the Netherlands. I picked up my secret parcel from PO right away. She had made a sweet lacy pouch (she obviously knew I love lace on purses), sparkling lovely earrings and a very cute birdie mobile. She even added some local candy for me. This pouch and mobile are made of fused plastic bags, I love this eco-friendly idea! You can find more of these mobiles in her home decor shoppe. Oh, and she's offering the rest of her jewelry line at very affortable prices, have a look here.

Thanks so much Nicole, you're a sweetheart!

Monday Moodboard

crocheted collar by mariannes
personality earrings by alibli
snow field photo by enchantedpond
wool wrapped bangles by mysticfibers

I'm back from the Christmas fair. It was again such a nice event, thanks for everyone who came to see me yesterday! I also made small purchases: a sweet little birdie reflector, comics, earrings and a tiny pin back. And the best of all, I got to meet other Finnish Etsians: Hanni of Vaisto and Ioulia had their tables there too, that was just great! Also thanks for Tuija of Tuuni and Elina of HappyDayDesigns for coming to say hello to me.

Today's moodboard has shades of mint, it's a lovely color for winter, I think.
More moodboards on Greet's blog...

My Creative Space

Few days ago I finished this new clutch. Design is the same as earlier except the embellishment is totally new. I made it combining reflective ribbons with ordinary ones. Here where I live it's so dark in the winter, it's important to wear reflectors so that others can see you, it's the safety matter. So I decided to try reflective materials on my clutches too. Maybe the purpose #1 here is not to be seen by others but it could be fun if the ribbons reflected some light, say having the purse in your hand on the street or sipping a drink at a bar.

I'm attending a small Christmas fair this Sunday. I'm making these reflectors to be sold separately there. These would look cool pinned to your hat or jacket, what do you think?

More creative spaces on Kootoyoo's blog...