syko in print

As many of you have already noticed I have received the first collection of paper goods from my brother. I am very excited about our cooperation and I really like how these first cards turned out. It feels special to see your designs in print. I developed a special technique for these with appliqué on paper. Rasmus and I have big plans for other printed products with my designs, everything from shopping lists to wallpapers is on our list :) I have had some troubles sleeping, planning future paper products... What is your favourite kind of paper goods? I think napkins would be so cool...

I was overwhelmed by the response my cards got on flickr and etsy. Thank you so much my friends for going shopping!!!

Now when I got this back from the print shop I will be able to go on with the interactive project. I'll be back in a few days!

It's a very cold Easter here, the wind is freezing and we just got some snow! How is the weather in your part of the world?

Danish dreams

I talked so much yesterday so today I will just leave you with these small quilts I made from a linen Jackpot dress I bought second hand much because of the beautiful fabric. It never fitted me anyway. I adore the faded flower pattern on it. Reminds me of nostalgic dreams, very Danish ones... So I added a few cotton patches, cotton batting, appliqué, quilted dream, dream, dream, used a vintage pillow cover for backing, threw them in the washing machine and voilà!

And thanks for the response on my last post, it was very appreciated, as always! Happy Easter to each and everyone!

Original me

When I was young, sorry I meant younger, I used to try hard to be different. I had a strong belief that normal was bad (and deep inside I knew I was one of them...). Trying to be different applied to clothing and creativity as well. I wished to be creative, but since I had some difficulties with getting in touch with the deep suffering me, I could not make ART. Though I had read The Idiot by Dostojevski and a range of other Russian classics. The advantage of getting old, sorry I meant older, is that you start to understand the meaning of community and interaction. That people don't live in a vacuum, even not the very creative individuals. I started to think about this when I excused myself for jumping on the owl trend making this cushion a while back. I got another reminder of this yesterday when I received the etsy finds newsletter and found my house scarf featured in it. Hurray! In the newsletter Anda says: I'm an applique maniac (you can see my whole Etsy shop here, I used to sell full time back in 2006) and thought I was being original when I made some house appliques a few months ago...turns out I was tapping into another Etsy meme.

This made the deep teen devil on my shoulder crazy:
"-And you have been making pouches with house appliqué on today!"
"-You are just like everybody else!"
"- So what!" I replied. I love appliquéd houses and my appliqués look just as original as I am. And a lot of other people share my joy. Which makes me happy :)

Spring fashion

7 birds scarf, originally uploaded by -syko-.

It's snowing again, but I am doing my best to help Spring to fly in. Todays contribution is this Spring scarf, I made it a little wider than my previous scarves. This one is in the shop, but I think I'm going to wear one myself next week, when we go to the first night of this opera. T has made sound design for a robot they will have in the foyer. So cool. The project is. AND the fact that I am going to a first night with grown-up people. I hope I will behave myself.

On Friday I will get the postcards I've been waiting for (one with a flock of Spring birds) + a few other printed products my brother has helped me with. Yes, a bike with a pile of fabric too, thanks for asking! I'm so excited!

Carina was kind enough to interview me, please head over to her craft blog, if you are curious to see what I had to say about my craft! And check out her shop too. This crocheted blanket is so beautiful and well made!

*edit* for those of you who haven't seen the origin of my crazy birds, it can be found here.

R is for rabbit

R is for rabbit - mini art quilt, originally uploaded by -syko-.

This is the most fresh member of the ABC-family. It is for a little girl, obviously. I think this is my personal favourite so far. I am thinking of printing cards of these, but I will have to see if the scanner likes them, it can be a little tricky with fabric. At the moment I am waiting for another collection of postcards with my designs, I will hopefully have them next week.

I just talked to a friend from Åland, who is engaged in a local museum where I worked for two Summers when I studied. I was trained to become an Ethnologist, you know :) Freya (I love that name!) asked if my mother and I wanted to have an exhibition in the attic of the museum. Of course we want! Mum will make a summery collection of paintings and I will quilt, of course. Very inspiring. I will probably be making a couple of larger quilts similar to the baby quilt I just made, but with a Summer feel. A fun project to look forward to!

Finished quilt and etsy news

Autumn day quilt - finished!, originally uploaded by -syko-.

I used some cotton batting I have been saving for awhile for this quilt. Finland is a developing country when it comes to quilting so I was so happy to find a shop that had cotton batting in the town where my parent lives. Because people does not understand the wonderfulness of this , that shop is now closed :( I guess I have to go on-line to get it next time.

When you use cotton batting you want to wash the quilt when it is quilted to get that old fashioned look. Another nerve wracking moment in the making of this quilt. Luckily it came out in one piece and in the same colours (I had pre-washed the fabrics before sewing, but you never know...). I love the texture it has after washing, the clouds got fluffy and the quilted lines around the borders appear much better. I used what I had for the back, it got a contemporary look I like a lot.

And about something else, the Alchemy is back on etsy! I've heard a lot of this old-new feature and I can understand why it's been so missed among old etsyans. Through the Alchemy you can put in requests for custom items. Take a look at it! I think it will be a great way for customers to find what they are looking for among all the etsy shops!

Inspiration!

I love to inspire, so today I would like you to head over to Carla over at Thriftin' and Craftin' and see what a little quilt of mine can do! So exciting!

The quilt is ready, I spent a horrifying 40 minutes expecting the worst while it was in the washing machine, but it made it and the clouds look just as fluffy as expected. Will post a picture tomorrow when it has dried!

Stage fright

Quilted clouds, originally uploaded by -syko-.

Today I have made some progress on my quilt for the LARK book. I made the backing, the quilt sandwich and started on the quilting. I have also written half of the instructions which makes me quite proud of myself :) Clever me decided to use the Two sole walking foot and the BSR system for the first time for a project that is going to be featured in a book... Not much practicing going on here. I DID try both on a tiny little trial piece before I started though. I also suffered from a slight stage fright before I started, it's been awhile since I quilted something this big. It was a nerve wracking start, but I think it's going to be alright. Good, but not perfect. My new favourite phrase.

I made the quilt top last autumn so the colour scheme is not the one you've seen here for the last few weeks :)

Thank you very much for your kind and encouraging comments on my last posts! I try my best to get back to you with an e-mail or a comment on your blog, but sometimes there is not enough time. I still read and appreciate all your comments very much! Thanks for being there!

Nightlife

Summer houses in a row, originally uploaded by -syko-.

Yawn. I didn't get my beauty sleep for a couple of nights so I'm a little off. My happy little baby E is showing that he will son be 2½. He has major mood swings during the day, cry attacks at daycare and apparently processes this during night. Last night he woke up several times screaming: "No, it's mine! I had it first!" Which led to me lying awake thinking about the best ways to arrange papers for the bookkeeper.

Next week I will quilt and write the instructions for the baby quilt I am making for the LARK book (Baby quilts) I will participate in. It will be published some time next Autumn. They wanted us to send a baby photo of ourselves so I have had a fun time looking through old pictures. My mum has tried a lot of different hairstyles :) I hope to show you some quilt progress next week! Cross your fingers that Aurora does her job well!

I have added a few fishing boats and Summer houses to the shop.

Happy weekend!

Fishing boats

Fishing boats, originally uploaded by -syko-.

The boats I made for Janet Bell's gallery are finished. This was a very fun project and I am quite pleased with how they turned out. Might be making more if I hear someone shouting... See close-ups of boats here, here and here.

There was some great news in the paper yesterday, the play The King in Moomin valley at Svenska teatern next Autumn! With the traditional music by Erna Tauro. Very nostalgic, we used to listen to the music when we were kids. I made some muminmamma food the other day, strawberry dessert, it is so easy to make, but it is one of those things that makes me feel like THE moomin mum with all the necessities in her handbag. In real life I am the one that forgets to bring a spare diaper and has to ask a stranger to borrow one. Making a strawberry dessert, or even better, pancakes every once in awhile gives me some mum-points that allows me to go on being silly me most of the days. But as my dear daughter says: "Mum, I like you because you're silly!"

Monday monday - woohoo

owl cushion cover, originally uploaded by -syko-.

It is a natural law that Mondays are like Mondays. Not my favourite day at all. The shop I made ten ABC-quilts for is not going to open it's doors after all, due to sad and understandable reasons, but it was no good news to start the new week with. I will list the quilts in my shop instead during the week.

When I showed you the house cushion a few days ago I promised something more natural for Spring too. I thought I would not join the owl trend, (there is 5896 owl items on etsy at the moment...), but then I got this piece of Japanese fabric that had to be used. Woohoo, says my owl, I bet he likes Mondays more than I do :)

Good Monday news is that the Spring issue of the online magazine small is out. They take magnificent pictures, support indie artists and it is free to subscribe!

I hope YOU are having a good week start! See you soon!

Mailday

mobile for swap, originally uploaded by painted fish studio.

My mobile from Elsie Marley's mobile swap arrived the other day and I love it! I love the colours and the contemporary look of it and wish I had a beautiful burgundy wall like Jen (painted fish studio) to hang it against (see picture). Thank you so much, you made my day Jen! Check out the painted fish studio shop too! I especially love these block printed coffee cup cards: