syko

Hoop-La! book blog tour + Supercat give-away!

 

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!

New prints and a give away!

I just got a box with fresh, new art prints from the printers! They are now in the shop! Note that if you live outside Europe (USA, Australia for example) there is no additonal shipping cost if you order more than one print. 

If you want to be in the draw to win a print, let me know which one you would like to win! Remember to leave a valid e-mail address (won't be visible to everyone) so that I can get hold of you if you are the lucky winner!

Slow down, says the snail! You will have the time to send some love to the passers-by!

"Scandinavian retro" fish! Some are happy and some just a little grumpy :)

Peas on earth print for the gardener or the cook! Goes well with the fish print on the kitchen wall!

Frog prince portrait, inspired by my animal pouches. I hope to make some frog prince pouches for the shop next week too!

And on public demand, the batboy! I designed this in cooporation with my boy when he was four and had a very special pair of superhero rubber boots :)

If you would like to win a print, pick your favourite from my shop and you will be in the draw to win!

 

*edit* Comments are now closed and we have a winner! Laura was picked by the random number generator and will get a sanil print in the mail. Congratulations!

 

 

 

 

We love color book blog tour and give away!

Hello, hello, how nice of you to stop by! Today we are celebrating the fresh, new book We love color! We love color is a collaborative quilt book and the fact that 16 different people have designed the quilts really makes it an interesting and inspirational read! Our assignment was to make a quilt using Kona cotton solids solely and I loved to see what everyone had come up with! I love a project like this, when you are 'allowed' think outside of the box and get out of your comfort zone, even if I think the result still looks quite...me! There was a rainbow of colours to choose from...heaven! I went for happy and bright of course! I talk more about my quilt here. 

I was asked to tell you where I get my colour inspiration...well...I just love colour! That is how simple it is, colours inspire me, especially when they are happy and bright and combined with non-colours such as white, grey or black. You know like the first bright yellow flowers that pop up after a long winter, when nature is still brown and grey. That is my colour inspiration!

I was very fortunate to work with a wide palette of kona cottons, but the color I keep coming back to is candy pink. So this is my favourite kona flavour, yum!

And in my world pink and green belong together, this is a new green from kona, leprechun...

One lucky person will win a copy of We Love Color and a bundle of new Kona colors! Just comment on this post and tell me what your favourite colour is and you will be in the draw! The winner will be announced on June 13^th!

That is not all! This blog tour is also a scavenger hunt and there is a Grand Prize! Each designer will be choosing a favorite Kona color, at the end of the tour, if you give a full list of every designer's favorite color, you will be entered for a chance to win a Bounty of Basics box containing 100 fat quarters of the top 50 Kona colors used in the book! Please visit the Swatch and Stitch blog for more information about that! Here's the tour schedule for you! 

June 1st - Stash Books: stashbooksblog.com

June 4th - Valori Wells: valoriwells.typepad.com

June 6th - Kajsa Wikman: syko.typepad.com

June 8th - Modern Quilt Studio (Weeks Ringle & Bill Kerr): craftnectar.com

June 11th - Cherri House: cherryhousequilts.com

June 13th - Amy Ellis: amyscreativeside.com/blog

June 15th - Rita Hodge: redpepperquilts.com

June 18th - Jacquie Gering: tallgrassprairiestudio.blogspot.com

June 20th - Emily Cier: carolinapatchworks.com/blog

June 22nd - Malka Dubrawsky: stitchindye.blogspot.com

June 25th - Betz White: blog.betzwhite.com

June 27th - Lisa Call: blog.lisacall.com

June 29th - Jean Wells: stitchinpostinsisters.typepad.com

July 2nd - Elizabeth Hartman: ohfransson.com

July 4th - Alissa Haight Carlton: handmadebyalissa.com

July 6th - Kathy Mack: pinkchalkstudio.com/blog

July 9th - Robert Kaufman Fabrics: swatchandstitch.com

dream happy

Helsinki is in bloom and I enjoy it fully! I think the older I get, the more I love this season. Right now the town smells sweet of bird-cherry and soon it will be followed by lilacs. Just look at me! I'm running around hugging cherry trees!

I got some flowers for the balcony too, a rosy Busy Lizzie, a romantic little lady.

 For Mother's Day I gifted myself with this Clematis 'Omoshiro', such a beautiful name, don't you think? I hope it will be happy to live with us, but above all I wish that I will soon have a garden of my own to plant it in... *sigh*

We have found a house (we have been looking to buy a house for a long time now) and I am crossing fingers and toes that this time everyhting go well and we will be moving in June, but more about that later, when I hopefully have some good news to share! Until that I am focusing on:

I hope these two words will help! And the winner, I hear you asking? First I want to thank everyone who participated! The winner of Skandinavische Näh-ideen is: Katrin!!! Herzlichen Glückwunsch!