syko

Museum therapy

Yesterday was a dull grey day and it was snowing when we woke up in the morning, though it's mid April! I cannot believe how late Spring is this year! I pity the small flowers that have dared to show their pretty faces, they must be freezing their cheek off during night!

To cheer myself up I went to the National museum here in Helsinki. As you can see it resembles of a church or a castle. It was built in the early 20th century, the time when Finland got independent from a period of Russian rule and it was very important to emphasize Finnish culture and heritage. Can you see the bear sitting by the stairs? I think that is so cool and really makes a statement. It differs a lot from the classical statues you are used to see at pompous official buildings. And it makes me smile! Architects should dare to have more fun!

I did find what I was looking for, but I really can't talk about that just yet :) So I'll show you this cute house banner that I spotted, it's right up my alley! 

I also got myself a pretty, little notebook with lots of blank pages, from the museum shop, to jot down my ideas in. And then treated myself to some goodies at the café. Ah, I feel so much happier today! Reminder to myself: go to museums more often.

 

Snow & Souvenirs

I was complaining about the grey weather in my last post and I got heard... We've got lots and lots of snow during the last days and I am enjoying myself! Walking in a snow flurry to take little e to school with my dear companion the blue plastic sledge and then back to the post office to pick up a BIG box  is my kind of extreme sport. 

The box is full of returned items from my Christmas exhibition. The swiss bag was a Christmas gift and is full of groceries, I made lunch for my friends Tuija and Susanna today, I'm so glad they dared to come despite of the challenging weather! Inside in the warmth I am enjoying the souvenirs we brought home from Switzerland. 

Switzerland was expensive since the exchange rate for Euros is quite poor at the moment, luckily I have always thought that you find the best souvenirs at the fleamarket. Which we did. Look at that charming tea-towel with famous Swiss buildings with a very high kitsch factor!

T is very content with the two lovelies above...

This shelf in our kitchen hasn't got anything to do with our holiday, but it is another vintage find. I found it abandoned in the attic covered in dust and decided to save it. It is perfect for my marimekko tins!

I hope you are having it warm inside! Next post will have some craftiness in it, I promise, I have just got started with a little Spring collection!

 

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!

 

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!

Inspiration trip

Two weeks ago a minibus with crafty ladies went away for a four day long inspiration trip around Finland. I enjoyed the trip immensely, the company, the hotel breakfasts and the sites! I will show you a few highlights. At Kenkävero they had an exhibition of textile artist Dora Jung's (click on the link for a short presentation) work. I especially appreciated this sketch, would look great on my wall :)

Beautiful bird.

And the rose, one of Dora's most famous patterns.

The woven fishermen appealed to me too.

In Joensuu, in the Eastern part of Finland, we visited the beautiful Taitokortteli (the 'Craft district'), there are lots of information on the home page, do check it out if you have a little time and if you are interested in seeing some traditional Finnish crafts. 

I love attention to detail so I had to catch the Karelian embroidery pattern on the napkins and the traditional Finnish sour rye bread that we got for lunch.

 

This craft bus takes the crafts to the people on the country-side, isn't it pretty?

Creative studios are so inspiring and during the trip we got to see three different crafters in their work environment. This is lovely Hanna Hirvonen from Hañhi design (site in Finnish).

I was very impressed by how she has used her heritage to make something fresh and new. She comes from Outokumpu, which is a mining community, most people in the town have some connection to the mines, this is where Hanna finds many of her motifs. Here are a group of miners on a pillow (media: calico printing).

I will show you some more pictures from my trip in my next post! See you tomorrow!