Beautiful Package

Happy Friday!

Besides it's been a beautiful summer day
I got a sweet surprise in my mailbox today
a small wallet made by lovely Andrea

I make handmade
I buy handmade
what's a better way
to support people whose work you love

About the weekend
I might spend it reading and
doing a little bit of gardening
maybe even wash the windows
(downstairs is ready but upstairs *still* waiting)

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

ps. Here's Andrea's Etsy shoppe...


xx
minna

Studio News

Quick hello from Karuski studio!

I'm working hard on new bambi pouches for my reseller Joutomaa.
If I only have time I'll have the pictures taken &
share some with you before mailing them out.

My first spring craft market is coming up soon.
It is just 1 1/2 weeks away.
I'll share the booth with Tuuni.
She makes lovely home decor items.

There are incredibly many things going on now.
I try to post about the craft market preps
as some of you may find inspiration from there.

narcissus is blooming in the studio

My newest gift boxes for large earrings and necklaces

I tore some vintage cotton fabric to protect each piece

smaller boxes for stud earrings and rings

New supplies arrived today
I must get back to creating now!

Have a great and creative day, everyone!

ps. A couple of new stud earrings found their way to the shop...
pps. EcoEtsy's charity auction got started yesterday!

xx
minna

Craft Fair Preps II

i got paper bags in different sizes
last night i stayed up late
embellishing them
i stamped paper cake doilies
and coasters too
added a little glue and voilá
packing material is ready
i hope buyes will like them
and re-use the bags a lot after the purchase





Lots of vintage cabs and cabochons arrived in mail. Now I can make a nice selection of post earrings right on time before the weekend.

ps. I've got about twenty pincushions in vintage cups ready now. Things are improving!

Sweet Packages

Today was a lovely day full of surprises! Mail man brought me several packages: orders I had recently placed on Etsy. Have a look below, aren't they all beautiful!

Sweet handmade packages waiting for being opened

Japanese inspired gocco print made by Anna of Annarubyking

Lovely vintage rings from Cookoorikoo's shop

Vintage velvet purse from Italianpostcards

This velvet clutch purse I plan to bring to my craft fairs to store the change money. Of course I could occasionally take it along to a night out as well. It would make a nice match with one of those rings so well, don't you think?

It makes me happy I have supported my fellow crafters by ordering through Etsy. Besides this these purchases are environmentally sound too. In fact I've been making almost all my purchases from fellow crafters for a long time now instead of going to a regular shop (if we don't count grocery shopping of course). I do encourage everyone to do the same whenever possible!

My Creative Space

Today I embellished some of my bigger jewelry boxes with butterfly die cuts I had punched from department store's catalogue. What a happy thing Stockmann's catalogue had the same romantic color scheme I've been after for the spring season!

There's a fair coming up in a month so I decided to start with preparations a head of time. There's always so much to do but this year I try my best not to find myself panicking in the last minute.

More creative spaces on Kootoyoo's blog...

Calendar Love

I do love calendars. My life is not hectic anymore, I don't need them to write down daily meetings or anything like that. I just love having a calendar if it's a beautiful kind. A planner type of calendar is a place to jot down little notes or mark friends' birthdays so it does have a practical function, of course. But, I must say finding a suitable calendar isn't easy for me. It was already January when I found 2010 calendars I really liked. But it was all worth waiting. Today I received a sweet package from Made by a muffin. It can't be anything dull if the name is that cute! This is a custom made cotton fabric covered planner. I just adore that little fabric button and a string closure it features. Inside I found lots of interesting and useful pages: World holidays, weights & measure tables etc. Oh, and she even included a book mark made from a vintage measure tape, just perfect for a girl who sews. Thanks Laura, I'm loving my muffin calendar!




And here is a wall calendar I purchased a bit earlier this January. It was a PDF download from naomilynn's shop. I love its modern and simple look. I printed it on a semi-glossy photopaper I found from our drawer but it would look nice on a brown kraft paper too. So now I'm feeling content and relieved, I can happily watch these calendars all year until December 31st!

Beautiful Things

I received a beautiful package a little ago, Japanese inspired earrings from Fleurfatale. Her packages are treats themselves, I really enjoyed opening this one. The earrings have lovely washi paper with a strong seal on the top, hooks are handmade of sterling silver, a perfect combination for my taste. She even added tasty Belgian chocolate for me, isn't that super thoughtful. Thanks for your kindness Greet, I'm loving your earrings!

And here's a little idea for you who make & sell jewelry. I purchased a sweet heart shaped tin box to hold things but I figured, it could be used for shooting jewelry photos too. I'd add a few dried flowers and it would create a nice vintage feel. Of course fresh flowers would make a nice alternative if you wish to choose so. Maybe you have some tins around your house or can spot one on a flea market or a store...

Happy weekend my friends!

My Creative Space

Today I worked with my giftboxes. I gave them a finishing touch by adding those lovely little vintage scraps on them. They are a little bit kitsch but oh, so sweet and compliment my girly jewelry pieces nicely, I think. We used to collect these scraps as kids so I have some emotional connections to them too. Next time I visit my parents I hope to find those original scrap books of mine, real treasures.

Each gift box is now unique, that's the greatest thing of all. I will just add a little ribbon and voilá! I hope my project inspires you to embellish your gift boxes in a beautiful way. There are so many possibilities, choose the one that suits your style the best. Use scraps, die cut figures, pieces from an old news paper or a magazine etc. You name it!

Would you like to see a bunch of other creative spaces, hop over kootoyoo's blog...