Spring Project

Ihan kuin kevät olisi jo tulollaan,
ainakin Kimaran kevätprojekti on jo kovasti työn alla.
Meille aukeaa pop up -kauppa Korjaamolle 21.3. ja on avoinna 22.4.2013 asti.
Kerromme projektin uutisista Kimaran FB-sivuilla!
--
Feels like the spring isn't all that far away
now that we're working on Kimara's spring project.
We'll open a new pop up shop at Korjaamo, Helsinki on 21st March
and it will stay open until 22nd April.
More about this project on Kimara's FB page soon!

xx, minna

Making pouches

Hei, hei!

Tämä syksy on mennyt lähinnä korujen parissa,
mutta hetki sitten sain Jyväskylästä tiedustelun
josko tekisin pienen pussukkasatsin ja
päätin löytää aikaa tälle pikkuprojektille.
Ja löytyihän sitä, olikin vaihteeksi mukava viettää hieman aikaa
kankaita valikoiden ja leikaten sekä ompelukoneen ääressä.

Topatut pikkupussukat sekä bambipussukat lähtevät tänään matkaan
kohti Pientäkamaria (lisäkuvia Karuskin Facebook-sivuilla).
Samaiseen putiikkiin teen myös korvistäydennystä, siitä lisää piakkoin.

Hyvää viikonloppua!

Hello, hello!

This autumn I've been working on jewelry pieces,
there has been no time for sewing.
Just lately I got an enquiry about making some pouches
so I decided to find time for this project.
And it worked out just fine,
I enjoyed choosing and cutting fabrics
and sitting by my sewing machine for a change.
Padded pouches and bambi pouches will travel to Pienikamari shop
in central Finland today (more pictures on Karuski's Facebook page).
I'll be restocking their Karuski earring selection very soon as well,
more about this later.

Happy weekend, everyone!

xx, minna

Thank You

I just wanted to take this chance to thank everyone
who visited the Korjaamo craft & design market on the weekend.
It's a place I love to go and really enjoy both interior
and the atmosphere alike.

The next venue comes up soon:
this Saturday there'll be a young designer fashion show
Dressing Mimia Design & Arts Event in Logomo, Turku
design market will be organized as part of this evening event
So, I hope to see you there!

Karuski's new laptop sleeve prototype is here

I'll do my best to get the first batch ready by this Saturday

Kiitos kaikille jotka poikkesitte Korjaamon markkinoilla,
tapahtuma on joka kerta yhtä kiva ja paikka on mielestäni viehättävä
niin interiöörin kuin tunnelmankin puolesta.

Seuraava happening tulee jo pian
tämän viikon lauantaina järjestetään Turun Logomossa
Dressing Mimia Design & Arts Event
se sisältää mm. nuorten suunnittelijoiden muotinäytöksen
ja designmyyjäiset järjestetään tämän iltatilaisuuden yhteydessä.
Toivottavasti nähdään siellä!

ps. Toivon saavani ensimmäiset uudet läppärisuojalaukkuni
valmiiksi lauantaihin mennessä


xx
minna

Craft & Design Market

I'm happy to say the first craft market for this fall is here
This Saturday and Sunday I'll be at Korjaamo in Helsinki
the venue is open both days from 11am until 5pm

Here are just a few of the newest purses
I finished this week and will bring with me
[along with popular earrings, necklaces and headbands, of course]

I hope to see you there!

Tulevana viikonloppuna matkaan Korjaamon markkinoille Helsinkiin
tapahtuma on avoinna molempina päivinä klo 11 - 17

Otan mukaani mm. nämä uusimmat pussukat
jotka valmistuivat sopivasti tällä viikolla
[unohtamatta suosittuja korvakoruja, kaulanauhoja ja hiuspantoja]

Toivottavasti tavataan Töölössä!


xx
minna

Craft Market Calling

Hi everyone,

This weekend I'll travel to Turku with Kimara girls
we'll set up a booth for a long weekend
there's a Tall Ships Regatta in town
so we'll get a chance to see some awesome grand ships, too

So funny how sweet new ideas arrive when you're busy
and should concentrate in producing things in quantities
but what can one do... I just wanted to give a try
and came up with new floral brooches and headbands

They feature a beautiful vintage Finnish print fabric
which I reinforced and added some felt to make them sturdy
I like the way they are all unique pieces yet look nicely uniform together

For sure I'll bring a bunch of these to our upcoming weekend event!
How is your week going?


xx
minna

I think It's Ready Now

Hello, it's a new day!

Rain or shine I'm pretty busy sewing and making this week
yesterday I made some small changes to the structure
of this new envelope clutch I showed you last Sunday.
It has taken hours to put every piece together but
I think it looks quite perfect and works well now.

Once I get a batch of these ready I could list them to my Etsy, too.
Oh, and tomorrow Wednesday I'll be at Kimara's shoppe in Helsinki,
stop by and say hello if you're in town!


xx
minna

New Work: Envelope Clutch

Hi,

It's been a while since I wanted to create an envelope clutch
but came up with a nice design just this weekend
so here are the first pictures of my new piece.
What is great about this design is that this clutch
closes with a zipper (everything stays securely inside)
but has also a beautiful flap with a magnet closure
which gives detailed finishing touch to this piece.
Both inner and outer fabrics have been reinforced
so the clutch holds its shape nicely.

Besides sewing I strolled in the woods for hours yesterday
we went for mushroom hunting and found lots of chanterelles
so I bet we'll make chanterelle soup (maybe even a quiche) today.

I hope you're enjoying your weekend, too!


xx
minna

New, Pretty Things

Hello!

I've been tinkering with some sweet new things here
fabric scrap covered button magnets,
chalkboard magnets with a ribbon (or without, too),
bambi pouches + other small pouches (no pictures of those yet).

What a great opportunity to try out some fun things
as we now have the Kimara summer shop open for August

Soon I need to get busy with a three days crafty event
I'll attend with these Kimara ladies
it's called The Culture 2011 Tall Ships Regatta
and takes place 26. – 28.8. in Turku

There hasn't really been chances for shop updates on Etsy yet,
hopefully this can happen somewhere later in August.

If you want to see pictures of Kimara shop
have a look at my Flickr and our FB page.

Have a happy week!


xx
minna

My Creative Space

It's the studio post day today!

Yesterday I started with
a new batch of button pouches
Here is a sneak preview of fabrics
I chose several floral prints
in cotton and corduroy
many of them are local flea finds
and a couple are Japanese print patterns
flower fabrics are just great
especially in the summer season!

Want to see more? Head over ourcreativespaces...

ps. Here're some summer cooking tips I posted just today


xx
minna

My Creative Space

Hi!

The days are running fast again...
this week I have spent lots of time
searching and ordering supplies for my post earrings
new wholesale orders are waiting
I'm so happy my little earrings are loved *smile*

This is a little bit boring but
I haven't created all that much this week
here are just my newest additions to
Karuski's Etsy shop: earrings, necklaces + bracelet

vintage velvet cabochon adorns this long necklace

these lovely Japanese stones are getting rare these days

vintage red velvet cabochon sits on a hand painted setting 

sweet brass locket is the focal point of this long necklace

large satin rose and vintage beads make this bracelet

More creative spaces over Kootoyoo's new site ourcreativespaces...


xx
minna

My Creative Space

Hello Thursday,

Last weekend I was at the design craft market
It was really nice, I enjoyed a lot.
This week I slowed down a bit
I've been photographing new pieces
I'm putting them to my Etsy one by one
some are already there *smile*

sparrow with roses necklace

plum post earrings

apple blooming necklace

Do you have plans for the Easter?
I'm not traveling anywhere far from home
but will spend time with H
it will be fun to cook together
looking forward to that

Happy Easter to you!

ps. Lovely soothing images for your eyes and soul...
I'm loving Krista's photography


xx
minna

It's About Buttons

Hello!

Just two days ago I came up with a new design
It's so funny these new ideas pop in my head now
when I'm busy making for the weekend's craft market
But what can I say, I feel grateful
It's not easy to make something new and fresh
and these ideas don't come every day
at least not in my case.

They turned out long cases, perfect for pens, pencils and brushes

I covered button blanks with scraps of vintage fabrics

I love to treasure left over fabrics, even tiny pieces of them

I got a lovely donation of button blanks from Susanne.
Isn't she the sweetest ♥

Have you made something with buttons lately?


xx
minna

Craft Market Preps/Displays

Hi there,

This week I've neglected my poor little blog a lot.
It's incredible how days seems to have too few hours.
I'm sure you've noticed the same, no?

Besides working on new jewelry and purses
for the upcoming design craft market
I've been thinking of how to display my pieces
I scored a sweet little scarf from a local flea
and wanted to give it a new life so
I came up with an idea to tweak my earrings display.

I've been using this old frame in the past but it screamed for an "update"

I placed the fabric on top of an recycled cork memory board
(which I first cut to fit the frame)

thumbtacks stick to the board and earrings have now sturdy hangers

This vintage cake stand is another flea market find and perfect for my button rings

I also needed some nice promo pictures

and figured I could use my chalkboard sign to display my newest earrings

The sign itself is a vintage tray which I had painted earlier

So this is what is going on here right now.
I hope you find some of these inspirational!

How was your weekend?


xx
minna

New Photos: Experimenting

Hello!

Today I crabbed my camera [or it's actually H's but I get to borrow it]
and had a small photo shooting session.
I thought it would be the time to improve my photos again
so below are examples what I came up with.

What I find important is the nice natural light
which means it needs to be a sunny day [not guaranteed here!]
I hoped to bring a bit of spring spirit to my item shots
so I added flowers as props
[they are not real but still look quite pretty]
I tried to go close to the item and
I used a wide shutter to reach more depth to the photo.
I love pictures that aren't equally sharp but have
small points in focus and the rest of the picture may be blurred
They simply look appealing and interesting to me.

I'm constantly struggling to find the right color balance
as I'm looking for a little dreamy look
but still want to keep the colors true.
One thing is sure though:
photos are never ready when they come
straight out of camera but need some editing too.

Well, there's always room for improvement!

xx
minna

New Work: Pouches & Clutches

It's already midweek and this is my first post this week!

Here in Karuski studio it's been a joyful day.
I finished a bunch of *new* pouches + a couple of clutches, too.

These pouches are useful for carrying small things such as
-change
-keys
-phone
-make up

Almost all of these new darlings
have a sweet little button embellishment.
Of course.

vintage button on the clutch's front

springy green and tiny blooms

a batch of *new* zipper pouches

For more button inspiration head over
P8-buttons & fabrics...

See you soon!

xx
minna

New Work: Earrings

Hi there,

What a nice weekend we had visiting a good friend who threw a house warming party on Saturday night. But, Henri got sick and had fever on Sunday and Monday too.

Today I felt strange after getting home from my riding class. Now it feels like I'm not going to get out of bed tomorrow. I couldn't take a few days off from working now. Need to finish doing taxes and such. But I don't want to work when feeling icky and feverish, either. *sigh*

Here are just a few new earrings I photographed this afternoon. Red roses are in Karuski's shoppe, other new ones need to wait until I get back to normal.

tiny roses

dangling vintage blooms

woodland love hoops

Good night... hopefully I will talk to you tomorrow.

xx
minna

My Creative Space

This week it's been so cold again:
-15 – 22 C in South and -30 – 35 C in North.
The sky has been blue and bright. No more snow storms or rain.
Sunshine is definitely bringing much needed extra energy *smile*

I picked some fabrics from my stash,
light colors to set my mind towards upcoming spring.

recycled napkins, bed sheet and more

A few new clutches are ready and listed in Karuski's shop

More creative spaces at Kootoyoo's blog...

Spring inspired eco-friendly treasury I created last night...

xx
minna