The longest week.

What a week... lots of tears, some laughter, too many people far too far away to be hugged. And my DD saying these things that make me want to cry some more, like "mom, missing someone means you love the person who's gone someplace else" [äiti, ikävöiminen tarkottaa sitä että rakastaa sitä kun on mennyt jonnekin muualle].

Flower power!

I love my online friends, not only because they share their art and ideas, but because they are the most supportive and generous bunch of people I've ever met :) Below is the lovely flowery stuff I got from Nina -- thank you for making my day brighter!

F is for Feline.

Ah, my feline friends, gotta love them and gotta try not to hate them. Journalling tells about my first cat (in the photo) and how losing her hurt.




Supplies: ranger distress inks, chalks, various cat stamps, letter stamps from Dreamcottage and the dymo lookalike was cut from a magazine or somewhere.

More ATCs on their way...

There's a bunch of stuff waiting to be finalised; mainly ATCs, but also a little bit of scrapbooking. Please don't give up on me and do stop by later on :)

BTW, my counter at the end of the page said 1004 today! The first person to leave me a comment for this message will get a little crafty goodie, so please leave some sort of a contact info, too! Any takers??

Rags to riches?

Not sure what this little thing will be called yet, it's a prototype for an ATC-swap. It's somehow a little off, don't know what to do with it, really...Any ideas?





Supplies: background stamp from MaVinci (stamped in versamarked and embossed with clear powder), ranger distress inks and chalks used on the image printed in sepia from here, ribbon, prima flower and a minibrad.

Update on the Easter Bunny Issue.

It's only 7.50 pm and DD is fast asleep, she figured that if she goes to bed early, she won't have to wait so long for her treats. She cleared the floor next to our bed (she sleeps in the big bed when either DH or I are out of town) so Bunny can place the basket without bumping into things. Not sure what size of a basket she's expecting...

So I have the night all for me, what to do... crash on the sofa or get my lovely new prima flowers out again? I need to finish off a series of ATCs, will post them tomorrow so stay tuned!

Oh, and happy Easter :)

Waiting for the Easter Bunny.

DD doesn't believe in Santa, but she sure believes in the Easter Bunny. Having written a letter to the bunny and having drawn endless pictures (see below for a sample), this morning she asked the BIG question: "Mom, how can the Easter Bunny lay eggs, it's a mammal, right?". My girl!



Original art work by DD, aged 5

Easter break!!

Ha, four days off for me and DD (DH is still on the road, he'll be back on Sunday). I've stocked up on Easter eggs for DD and some for me, too...

Off to play with my new prima flowers that I got today from Bargainpack along with some other goodies.

E is for Everlasting.

Journalling: I have this Chinese symbol tattooed on my shoulder as a reminder of what is important. A couple of years ago I was looking for some answers and one of them came from I-Ching, the Chinese Book of Fortunes: work and career are there for a while, family is everlasting.





Supplies: ranger distress inks, gin-x rub-ons, dragonfly stamp (maybe) from Ink and the Dog, a brown and a black pen. I printed out the symbol and made a template with a crafts knife, be careful when you use one, they are sharp little buggers!

Just a card.

Nothing major going on, just a little card I made for a friend. Halaus = a hug.




Supplies: Butterfly kiss- stamp from MaVinci, text stamp from Finnstamper, a little inking and chalking all around, lol, and a silk flower attached with a minibrad.

Spoiler for Easter Swap!

If you are in the "ihanitse.com" Easter swap, don't look further, there will be a spoiler....


It seems I officially addicted to ATCs and the vintage kind of a look, lots of shades of brown and gold, fuzzy images etc.

Here's my contribution to the recent swap:





Supplies: Ranger distress inks, background stamp from MaVinci, vintage image from here, ribbon, brads, paper clips, beads, oh and some chalking on the image which was printed out in sepia.

D is for death.

I promise, E will be more cheerful!

Journalling: As a child, it seemed that every extended family get-together was at a funeral. Losing my dad when I was 15 made me grow up, losing mom 7 years later made me sad, and losing my brother a few years back just hurt so bad I didn't think I would get over it.




Supplies: Ranger distress inks, MM rub-on letters, stamp by Ink and the Dog, Quickutz phototurn, minibrad and a piece of paper from an old book.

C is for Children

On with the ABCs: C is for children. The journalling is about DD being an only child, not by choice but by chance as I've miscarried twice. The rest is a bit too personal to be shared online but I'm sure you get the point.

B is for Books

Ok, here's B, which is for Books. The journalling on the back tells about how I grew up in a family that read a lot and how I as a kid read a book a day, which of course was time a way from other activities such as getting fresh air, lol. Now that I work in publishing, I don't read for fun as much as I used to, but sometimes I do miss the peace and quiet of it all, as well as the escape to other worlds. The little tag lists my fav. authors, the Brontë refers to all the sisters.

Oh and the o's in the stamped word --> my eyes after reading too much, lol. (Well it was a mistake I made in spacing actually, but hey, it kinda fits to the theme, right?)

A is for Art

I'm doing the ABCs of me, a series of ATCs that describe me and my thoughts. I thought it was appropriate to start of with A is for Art, or is it? There is a bit of journalling on the backside that deals with the difficulties I have with the word "art"; I was never "artistic" or really "into arts", but still I love one of the definitions: "skill acquired by experience, study, or observation". Complicated stuff, eh?