Ellah-ellah-ellah

Ellah-ellah-ellah, originally uploaded by -syko-.

Sorry for the heading, but I am in a complaining mood today so an annoying hit song fits perfectly. This is a detail of one of the quilts from a small collection of umbrella quilts I made to celebrate the weather this winter... No matter how I try I can't seem to get good pictures of my work. I need more bulbs and lamps. I went to a special lamp store last week and they did not have a single spot lamp with a clip fastening. Nor did they have daylight bulbs. What kind of lamp store is that? Can't wait for IKEA to open here (this Summer), I know they have exactly the practical and good looking lamps I want . I have read a decent amount of articles on the subject of how to take good shots of your work. But it does not seem to improve my skills. And I would prefer sewing to getting to know my camera better. It does not like me. Maybe I should go and see if I can find something for lunch. It sounds like I'm hungry. And it's snowing! AND I have a new t-shirt. Have a nice day everyone!

*edit* Rather than the song above I would like to recommend Charlotte Gainsbourg. I got her CD for Christmas from T and it's been playing in my studio ever since. The music is by Air, another favourite band and lyrics by the lovely Jarvis and The Divine Comedy. What are you listening to? I would be happy for some tips!

*edit 2* I have had lunch and am now reading the camera manual...

Muffins

Muffins, originally uploaded by -syko-.

Todays post is for Stepanie S, who bought the most amazing cupcake the other day and inspired us to bake yesterday. These are more like tiny Finnish muffins than huge American cupcakes. Tip of the day: If you use smaller cups you can eat three in a row without any difficulty.

Stephanie is special to me because she started her blog about the same time as I did, AND she was the first one ever to comment on my blog. And she is very talented. Go see her beautiful blog, she just got written about in Artful blogging magazine.

Here is some cupcake goodness on etsy, if you want more sweets:
hat by Joujoux, tea cosy by Tabidesigns and a felted cupcake by hodgepodgedesign. Delicious!

And, for those of your who are waiting, the shop up-date will start February 1st.

And the winner is Ruth

fairy angel with dots 2, originally uploaded by -syko-.

I am honestly happy that my son picked Ruths' name from the basket in the give away. Ruth is one of the wonderful persons that always takes the time to write nice and encouraging comments on my posts. Thank you! Ruth is an Australian living in South Africa and I very much enjoy reading her blog; Ruth's place, about life in Africa. She also shares my joy for crafting (so this will be a great opportunity to send those scraps for you that I promised :)

I'll be back soon with next step of the interactive project, if I can get through the task I've been given...

Interactive project stage 4

interactive project stage 4, originally uploaded by -syko-.

Some of you might remember the interactive project I started "awhile ago". It's been resting over busy December and holidays but today was a good day to get back to it. The winning suggestion was given by cathygaubert who liked to see some birds collecting bits of thread for their nests. Many of you wanted birds, so here they are! Now I would like to have ten more suggestions for the next stage, please! Six more to go until the quilt is finished, I hope I can fit in so much on this small piece of fabric!

I want to thank you all for the overwhelming response on my last post, I should give away stuff more often :-) It is very nice to see that so many people stop by to read my notes and enjoy my thread work! I will ask my daughter to help me draw a winner and announce it tomorrow!

Hugs,
Kajsa

100 and 1 for free

lunch, originally uploaded by -syko-.

Please join me for lunch! This is post 100 on this blog and as I like to celebrate everyday life we'll do it my way (there will be a give away too so you just have to read through this post...). One of the dis?advantages of working at home is that you have to make your own lunch. I think it is very important to make a warm meal for the kids at night and to serve them appropriate breakfast, but I tend to forget that I have to eat myself. Sometimes I have so fun playing with fabric that I suddenly wake up to a screaming stomach, run to the fridge and find it EMPTY. Or is it empty really or are we just facing another creative moment? Please serve yourselves:

Pasta Carbonara for one à la Syko

1 egg yolk
grated cheese
garlic
pepper
ham, sliced and diced
frozen green beans
caprice
pasta of any kind, I found some very cute animal figures in the cupboard :)

Cook the pasta and the frozen beans. While the pasta is cooking stir the egg yolk, grated cheese, sliced ham, pepper and pressed garlic in a bowl. Drain the pasta and immediately add the egg mix. Add the beans and the caprice on top. Voilá!

Yesterday I got an e-mail from Lark books, they are making a book on baby quilts and asked me to send in an entry. I will! I actually had a wip with fabrics from this project lying around that I think would be great for the purpose. Cross your fingers!

And since this is my 100th post I want to thank you all for taking the time to comment with such an enthusiasm that even at bad days makes me want to sew and sew more just to be able to share it with you. Oh, and I thought I would give away a fairy angel to celebrate the occasion. Just comment here and you will be in the draw. The winner will have a few different fairies to choose from :)

Btw I would never had forgotten my lunch hour while I was working (for someone else).

Making it happen

making it happen, originally uploaded by betsy..

I love Betsy Walton's work and had a hard time choosing which print to buy. This however had both the colors and the theme I was looking for. It will be part of a collection of etsy art (yet to be hanged) over our sofa, the colour scheme is white and rainbow :) Now I just need to get them all framed. Shop Betsy Walton art here.

And about making things happen. Today I've taken one more step for my little business, later this week I will know if I will get the loan I've applied for which will mean a new sewing machine and a computer!

Forget-not the light

fairy-angel Forget-me-not, originally uploaded by -syko-.

One of the most important things when you sell your things on the internet is good photos of your products. A winter without snow and a lot of rain has very poor natural light to offer so I finally built myself the light box I have been planning for so long. I still need to get a better spot light outside the box to get a clear light, but I think this box will do the trick. I really want to have decent pictures of my work in the shop.

I came up with a new angel design for Christmas and felt I was not just ready with them yet so I decided fairy-angels would be as great for Spring and Valentine's day. I found a vintage pillow case with Forget-me-nots that I used for the appliqué, isn't that a sweet flower for Valentine's day? The dress is made from linen in light turquoise. Here is a sister dressed in pink. They will appear in the shop February 1st or hopefully sooner. The beautiful wall paper in the background is Saga from Sandberg, I was happy to get a leftover piece when our friends decorated their little boy's room :)

Finally Fabric Fun

Creating, originally uploaded by -syko-.

Today was my first work day after Christmas and I enjoyed it so much, even if I had some problems sticking to one thing... I had to do a little bit of this and a little bit of that, I needed to try out "a few" new ideas I've been pondering over the holidays. But I guess I will manage to keep calm and carry on at some point (I need that poster so badly!). I have a few custom orders to do before I can concentrate fully on the shop. I know some of you are waiting for an up-date, in two weeks I hope to have some fresh stuff to show you! Spring will be white and bright this year!

Meet Matilda!

Swap goodness - meet Matilda!, originally uploaded by -syko-.

She arrived in the mail today, our friend Matilda and is now having a picnic with her new friend the Swiss cow (a favourite Christmas present) Thank you so much Joanne! She is so well made and came with a bag and a little picnic blanket :) You can see more of Joanne's creations in her shop alice4thimble.



Sally was so kind to send a little bonus package in our little Christmas ornament swap. Thank you so much! The crocheted coasters looked great on the Christmas table :) Check out the wiener ribbon modeled by the only thing I have left from my grandpa, a green clay dog, ain't he cute? My Mil is a dachshund lover, I think I'll make something for her with the ribbon.

Little E is still not well, but as happy as always, I hope he is well enough to go to Kindergarten on Monday, can't wait to spend a whole day with my sewing machine again!

Mobile swap

mobile swap button, originally uploaded by elsiemarley.

I am a big fan of Elsie Marley's work, so when I saw she was arranging a mobile swap, I just could not resist! I have wanted to make a mobile for a long time, but I needed a push like this. I'm not sure what to make yet, thinking birds maybe... Buttons? Why don't you join here?

No crafts to show yet, Little E has been spending what was supposed to be his first week at Kindergarten this year at home with me. Four days of fever. Sigh.

Giraffer på snor

Giraffer på snor, originally uploaded by -syko-.

In December I admired this book on Mette's blog Erleperle. She was so very kind to offer to help me get my hands on it. Thanks again! It was a great Christmas present to me and the kids. The best gifts are the ones that you can use to make something with, don't you think? Me and little E made some rolls from it the other day, I had to have prove that I didn't buy it as a so called coffee-table book. It HAS all the qualifications, the pictures and the layout are super yummy. Here are some projects that I would like to try:

A table cottage:

A snow "globe":

And the animal ornaments that named the book, so kitschy that I am sure my kids would love to make them:

Wehlitz Nadja and Maria (2007): Giraffer på snor. Thaning og Appel.

Happy Healthy and Creative New Year

Healthy new year, originally uploaded by -syko-.

The new year has started with (the usual) resolutions of a new healthier life. Me and my friend Jenny have decided to meet every Sunday at ten for a long walk. We agreed that we needed a certain time and day to be able to make it a weekly hobby. No cheating allowed. Autumn was quite stressful for many reasons and included too much unhealthy food. So my other mission 2008 will be to make the kids love beans and lentils as much as I do.

2008 will be a very special year for me, it is the first year as a full-time business woman (that definition of me makes me laugh out loud) and I am full of excitement. I am very happy to tell you that my work will soon be available in a new little shop in Helsinki, called Pulu ('pigeon'). More syko news soon!

I had to pack away my studio for Christmas so I am slowly building it up again. Going through all the crap takes time, but it sure is healthy, at some point you just have to let go of old projects. Can't wait to start working on some new ones, my head is bursting as usual...

I look forward to another blog year with you, can't wait to start creating again and share the joy with you all! Here is some of my sewed joy from 2007.

p.s. the deer glass is a thrift store find, cost me 10 cents! The white beans are going in a soup tomorrow.