...with some pretty pictures of my chopping-boards, taken by my friend Karin Lindroos, I love her sense of colour!
And this first day of Autumn (looking grey outside) I am also loving the sense of Summer in these pictures...
The chopping-boards and trays are made for me by a family company in Sweden. The quality is great, I think!
Phew! One post written. Been away so long, so much I could say. Talk to you soon again.
...will soon be available! It took some time, honestly it always does, but now they are ready, off to the printers!
We have been working a lot with patches lately! Well, you know I always do, but together with my trainee Nadja we have made a bunch of peek a boo baby quilts during the last month. We only used what I had on my shelves, a mix of new and fleamarket fabrics. It was a creative challenge to find the right fabrics for each quilt, when I had decided not to order any new fabrics for the quilts, but a very fun challenge it was, and I did have enough to choose from and my shelves are not empty yet... Here is one of our favourite quilts, a very springy one that is now available in my shop!
Under the flaps you will find some appliqued pictures to peek at together with the baby. A kitty...
A piggy...
And a doggy dog!
For the backing I found a really nice baby blue gingham sheet.
One more patchy thing before I wish you all a happy weekend! A brand new print of a little elephant going off on an adventure in her home made hot air balloon! It's available in the shop.
Happy weekend everyone! I am enjoying the silent early hours myself, when the rest of the house is still sleeping!
A month or so ago my blogger friend Kirsty Neale of Ginger & George e-mailed me and asked if I might be interested in participating in a blog tour for her new book, Hoop-La!: 100 things to do with embroidery hoops. When I get these requests I am often a bit worried that I won't like what I see = awkward. I wouldn't be comfortable with praising a book or a product that I do not love at heart or fit the vibe of my blog. Now, watch the promotion video above and you will understand why I did not hesitate to say yes this time!
Hoop-La! is a playful, whimsical, happy and inspiring book! And I was particularly charmed by the quirky and playful appliqué pictures. The dachshund and giraffe here make me smile. I am sure these would be very appreciated in most kids rooms!
I happened to have a little hoop that I've picked up at the Flea market some time ago so I decided to have a go at this loopy hoop art and whipped up this wreath. Kirsty has a lot of good tips for decorating the frame too, with more time I might spice this one up a bit as well!
Kirsty is giving away one of the hoopy projects from the book at each stop at this blog tour. I picked the super cute Supercat. Sadly I can't participate in the give away myself, I know my son would like this on his wall. You can. If you are really, really charmed by this kitty, comment on this post and you will be in the draw to win this famous kitten from the brand new book Hoop-La!
Remember to check out all the stops at the blog tour here!
P.s. There will be more book news in next post! My new Finnish holiday craft book Jouluiloa is out!
You can enter the give-away until November 15th, the last day of the blog tour!
...stitching new cards for the Syko card collection. I am a bit late with the Fall collection this year, but I have decided not to beat myself up about it, I am the boss in this little company after all :)
The colours are a bit off here, but you'll get an idea of the greeting card to-be! There will also be a little something for everyone who loves to sew, or anyone who loves someone really!
And one for all the guys who are stepping into giant boots i.e. getting married!
I hope you like them! I hope to have them all available along with some new holiday cards in early October!
Next weekend I am taking part in Konstrundan, an open studios event, which means there is a great deal of tidying up going on here in my studio. My trainee Jennifer is helping out and has been busy all day ironing and folding fabrics. Guess which shelf she is done with?
Fall is in the air so I wanted to bring the season into the shop and composed a harvest teamed cushion.
I've also bought two skeins of yarn, which seems to happen every year this time. Now I hope that I will have a pretty shawl to show off in a month or so!
Imagine the relief when I sent off my part of the Christmas book to the publishers and could move on to Summer projects! The weather is on my side, it is warm and everything is turning green, finally!
We had a picnicin the forest yesterday among all the wood anemones, the best of ways to spend Mother's Day!
I got these slightly dated and stained 1980's marimekko fabrics from a friend, the quality of the cotton is great and the blue painted canvas-like surface inspired me to make a small collection inspired by the sea. The sailing boat above is going to be a cushion.
Ta mej till havet (Take me to the sea) is a traditional Swedish song that seems to reflect my current light-hearted state of mind...
I really like the bright pink letters against the dreamy blue...
I quilted some free motion wave shapes with teal thread (Sulky from gütermann, the thicker quality, I love that thread!).
The letters are appliquéd with vibrant neon thread, hard to catch with the camera!
And there it is on the wall in our studio shop! Welcome! My messy studio is hidden behind that white door...
p.s. If you take the time to read this post you get a coupon code at the end. Scrolling down is also allowed :) d.s
I think it's been two years since I first got the idea of having cutting boards with my appliqué prints made and now they are finally here! There are a lot of products that I could have made with my prints, but most of them do not fulfill the ethical and ecological standards and the quality I want my products to have. I want to feel as proud of the products that I have had made by someone else as of a product I made with my own hands!
And I am very proud of introducing these cutting-boards that arrived on our doorstep yesterday! They are made of quality material, that is birch veneer, by a family company who specializes in making trays and such. The cutting board has a durable melamine coating that protects the printed picture, so you do not have to be afraid to use your sharpest knife on this one!
This peas on earth cutting board immediately moved into my own kitchen! I think there will have to be another blog post about the peas that inspire me so much right now, because today I feel like saying something more about quality products and craft business.
Most of you are familiar with my postcards, it is the Syko product that is most well-known and liked by so many people, which I am very grateful of. I have many resellers that sell my cards only. I love to have a product that anyone can afford! And it is pretty cool to have your own postcard collection, who would have thought? Still, I consider myself a crafter and take great pride in what I make and do. Which is why the cards are printed on recycled paper by a small business in Helsinki, were I know people personally. The cards are important, because I try to make a living on this business and I think the people who are able to make a living solely on handmade products in Finland today are not many. Above all I want to make and sell stuff that puts a little (or a big) smile upon your face in your everyday life! And that, I think, can be achieved by selling happy and cheerful things, but also when you know that what you sell has been ethically produced!
So the post about my new cutting boards became a little talk about my business policies, I hope you enjoyed it :) And since this is business, so I would like to offer you free shipping on all orders over 15€ from my Etsy shop until Friday night with the code BOARD4U.
Voit tehdä tilauksesi myös sähköpostilla! Det går bra att göra en beställning per mejl! order (at) syko.com
These two pillows have returned from a shop that I hadn't heard from in two years. I assume they have been tucked away in a cupboard for some time now. I had totally forgotten about them myself, so I haven't been crying over them! If you are selling handmade goods on commission in your shop, please give them some loving care, someone put their heart in making those things! I am glad I got my cushions back! The good thing is that these are both designs that I haven't made for a long time and they are going right into my Etsy shop!
Today I did something that made me very proud of myself! I managed to mend little e's jeans that have been lying in an annoying pile in my studio for quite some time now. It took me about 20 minutes to get two pairs done! I had fun and used some scraps with heat n' bond (that's the iron-on adhesive I use for appliqué) that I improvised with to make the patches. It became a cat and a frog! Scroll down to see how I did it!
1. I ironed the patches with heat n' bond over the hole.
2. I used the mending foot/appliqué foot that allows me to move freely over the fabric. These jeans are very slim so it was a bit tricky! I worked the seams several times to get a durable patch.
3. Ready! As you see the seams are shaky, but when you stitch several times it looks like you did it on purpose. At least this is what I tell myself :)
The kitty looks like he has had something strange to eat... Little e says he's going to wear these jeans to school tomorrow! That's the best feedback I could get :)
Artist, crafter, mother of two, blogger, small business owner... Author of the sewing book Scandinavian Stitches. (Stashbooks)
Recent Comments