syko

The season is officially here!

I have an early start tomorrow, I will pack my car to go to the mall where I'm going to spend the weekend selling syko goodness. It makes me happy that they are giving local crafters a space at the market square at the mall. That will give the shoppers a good chance to buy locally made, ethical and sustainable Christmas gifts and decorations directly from the makers! Before time flies too far away I wanted to show you some pictures from my Christmas exhibition in Vasa. People were so welcoming and happy so I really had a nice time. And I met some dear friends, I just wish I would have had more time to chat away with people! And talking about good people - I will have to do another post to show some pics from the workshop I held. 

The journalists from the local papers were really interested and I was interviewed for the radio. The radio guy wasn't really into textiles, but he appreciated my "I'm a dreamer..." quilt, it is quilted with the words "you may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one" from John Lennon's Imagine. I didn't get to hear the broadcast, but I loved that he was going to play the song after my interview.

Now I really have to tuck myself in, goodnight my friends!

 

Packing for a crafty weekend

I'm packing and preparing for a fun work trip to Vasa, the town where I went to school and where my parents live. I was asked to have a Christmas exhibition at Loftet, which is the local craft centre. I was very flattered of course and even happier when they asked me to have a workshop too! It is a busy time of year with projects piling up, so I admit that I have been feeling stressed, but it feels much better now! Today I feel surprisingly calm (considering that I am travelling by train with all my stuff + 2 kids tomorrow) and am looking forward to an inspiring weekend!

Of course I did not make half of the projects I was planning to, but that is just how it always is! I am happy with the three new quilts I finished for this exhibit. I promise to show you pictures!

My friend Tuija asked me one day if I had ever thought of selling my card originals and that gave me the idea of framing some of the Christmas card originals for the exhibition. Thanks for the reminder Tuija! When I first started making cards I didn't think of the option of selling the originals, silly me, so the cardboard I have sewn the appliqué on is a bleached shade of white, which means a white frame makes it look greyish= not nice. The lovely lady in the art shop suggested that I'd use black passe-partouts, which make them look great, I think!

And I discovered that my little laptop makes a nice little art display. Now I just need to decided how to attach a loop to the back of my art pieces. And here's a sneaky peek of the back, I know you always wanted to know ;)

I do have a bunch of tomte stuffies that are longing for names and a couple that are eagerly waiting for eyes, so I'm off my friends!

Have a crafty weekend!

 

Felt lovely!

My favourite stop at our trip was at felt artist Sirkka Kannusmäki's Felt flower shop. She was so very kind to invite us in her home and studio on a Sunday morning.

I was so impressed by her coherent use of white and different shades of green. Green is my all time favourite colour so it was easy to get completely charmed by Sirkka's world. Those giant blueberries would look great in a corner of my home... And look at this mega pea-pod, so lovely!

Sirkka takes note of current happenings and events on the blackboard, pretty and clever. I also liked her simple storage solution with brown cardboard boxes. I got so inspired I started to make new labels for my storage boxes when I got home (still a work-in-progress, I'm afraid...). 

Sirkka's blueberries made me think of my blueberry pillow (blåbär=Swedish, mustikka=Finnish). I just got it back, I made it for an exhibition last Spring, but the jury did not approve (it's OK, the competition was hard and my product series was a bit incomplete). I was very happy to meet my cushion again, I think the leafy corners are quite fun. There is a lingonberry cushion too, which will fit into the Christmas exhibition I'm working on at the moment. There is going to be a wall of cushions, I'm thinking...

I wish you a berry nice end of the week!

On my table today...

Here I am again, I needed a little break from the quilt I'm working on. I'm designing as I go so I need to stop and think every once in a while. The quilt will be part of a Christmas exhibition I have been asked to have at Loftet, which is a craft centre with a shop and restaurant in Vasa, the town where my parents live. When I get an idea I make a rough sketch, it takes about 20 seconds, as you can see... The most important thing is that I put it down on paper to remember it. Black ink and white paper are important companions, but any pen and paper will do when an idea strikes...

I do not show works-in-progress very often, I guess I am afraid to destroy the magic or "flow" or whatever you like to call it and I am not very fond of constructive critique when I'm in a creative process, but I decided to be brave this time and show you what I have on my table today.

I went for a blackboard look, the background fabric is kona charcoal from Robert Kaufman, if I remember correctly. The text comes from a song about an elf with a cold, that my grandma used to sing :)

I will have a lot of different types of items at the exhibition, not only quilts, so I have chosen to work with red, green, black, linen and white to get a coherent look. I want the space to give the viewer a Christmas feel, but most of the products will hopefully last long after Christmas. The most important thing for me however, is that people smile when they see my "everyday art". It makes me very happy whenever people laugh at my creations :)

My new handbag!

Finally, time to create something new! I have been needing a new handbag for awhile now, I wasn't totally satisfied with my previous design so I came up with this!

 I got rid of the zipper, been sewing so many zippers during the last years so I was determined to do without this time!

I used steady linen canvas for the bag and the dotted lining comes from an old shirt, a flea market find. It has room for my keys, my mobile phone and my wallet.

And quite a long, thin shoulder strap, just how I like it!

Now I will take it for a ride on my bike and try it out and if I still like it after that I will make more for the shop, which I will reopen later this week! The pictures are a tad bit grey, I know, it's raining, Autumn is on its way...

Kajsa's happy stitches

I feel bad for being absent for so long, but I'm back now finally on a brand new little laptop! The last weeks have been very busy. Friday night I had a 5 hour long promotion session for the Finnish edition of my book at the Academic bookstore, which is the biggest book shop here in Helsinki. It was very exciting and exhausting, I talked, ironed and sewed for five hours! I need to finish the piece of art I created in collaboration with the audience, but I will show it here later. The book is called Kajsan iloiset tilkut, which translates to Kajsa's happy stitches :) I have ordered a bunch of books so if anyone is interested in a signed copy, let me know!

Sadly I didn't get a picture of my workshop, I was too busy! I took this picture when I came, the authors of the new Marimekko book Surrur gave a workshop before me. It felt really cool to see piles of my book in the store and to have a snack in the lounch with best-selling authors...

Saturday morning I got up early to drive to the Regatta in Turku where my friends from Kimara had set up a tent the previous night, they had arranged everyhting beautifully. Take a look at the pictures at the Tuuni and karuski blogs! I made a bunch of these boat keyrings for the event and came back home with most of them so when I open my shop again a little boat like this might sail in!

And... it's tomte time again in Sykoland! 

Opening day pictures

 
We're back to everyday life, well nearly, school begins next week and I've had my first full-time work day after the holidays. It feels fantastic! I've started making tomte stuffies for Christmas :) Above is a little quilt I made for our kimara container shop. Here are some more pictures from our opening night a week ago!

Minna looking pretty with lovely balloons.

My house keyrings and badges...

We had some lovely homemade cookies! Love the look of the geranium with the crocheted table cloth (which is actually an old bedspread)!

Cushions I made for the Peonies and weeds exhibition in June and some mobile bags...

My quilt and lace pillows from tuuni.

Another optimistic little quilt, all fabrics are reused, except for the violet flap :)

A little Syko goodness...

I will be in the shop on Thursday, if you're in Helsinki -- do come and see me! If you're not, thanks so much for visiting me here on the blog! Once I get my new computer I promisepromisepromise to blog more frequently!

x

Kajsa

Peonies and weeds

Phew! We spent five hours in very hot conditions building our exhibition display today. We had lots of stuff from 10 different makers so it took some time before all items had found a place, but we had lots of fun! It is funny how different people interpret the same subject differently. We all worked around the theme Peonies and weeds and the colours pink and green (I actually thought it was lime). So we had a range of greens and pinks to combine to create a somewhat harmonious whole.

I didn't bring that much stuff, but I managed to come up with a new product, mobile bags, that I have been asked to make several times. I will design a larger bag for iphones too. I found this birdcage fabric that I ordered via Spoonflower a long time ago and got inspired! If anyone would be interested in buying some, I just made it available for purchase @ Spoonflower.

I also made a couple of cushions from old embroidered pillow cases. Kristina Lindroos-Heriksson knitted the matching socks.

Yrsa from ArtGlassCenter contributed with these lovely glass bowls, you can also spot beautiful woven art and carpets by Marina Thurén. The bed linen and the big pillows were made by Mikaela @ Rejböle gård. The white crocheted rug on the bed was made by Marjaana @ Mattobaakari.

Catharina from Cattaus is a genius at making metal wire come to life. I love these dragonflies!

Find all contributors here (page in Swedish). And a last shot of my houses and the poster I designed!

Happy weekend everyone!

Summer circus

Peeking in to say hello! My days are filled with kids, sewing, food making and attempts to enjoy the beautiful Summer weather. I'm trying not to freak out and to focus on enjoying it all. Starting on Friday I have a show in the town Porvoo together with 9 other local crafters. It will last for the month of July. We call it Peonies and weeds, I got the honour to design the poster :) I will have it printed today, crossing fingers that it will look good!

Everyone has been working with the theme colours pink and lime combined with white/natural colours and lace. I can't wait to see what everyone has come up with! I will make sure to bring my camera on Friday and show you the result! 

 
 I made a baby quilt from new and vintage fabrics for the exhibit. I also used some of my own apple fabric! I am working on a lap quilt too, I wonder if I'll finish it in time... Probably not.

Now off to feed the kiddos and then sort out a way to make them entertain themselves in my workspace!

I hope you are all happy and relaxed!

 

 

My little monster

On Saturday I had a workshop for a group of school kids. They designed and made their own softies, mascots and monsters. "This looks so much better than I thought it would", said one of the girls when she was finished with her owl :) 

We started by making sketches on large papers,by that I tried to avoid the tiniest pieces! 

Most kids did some kind of raw-edge appliqué on their stuffies with my assistance. With black thread, of course! Then there was some machine and hand stitching...

...and a some running around...

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 ...and some pretty cool new creatures were born!