Oh Look, Another ATC.

This one did not come out the way I imagined... oh well, what else is new these days?

Notebooks.

I was going through at some old files and came across this: two little notebooks I decorated for friends two years ago. Hopefully they are filled with good thoughts :)

My entry for a little book :)

There have been a bunch of books travelling around Finland lately, here's what I did for a little nature book. The dragonfly is not quite as red in real life, lol!

Since I have no-one to scrap with....

...I signed up for this.

1959.

Give me an old magazine and some glue, and I'm happy for a long time. This time the outcome was some ATCs.

Lazy days.

We're taking it easy this weekend; DD had her figure skating practise yesterday, followed by a nap and a movie (my bag of candy was empty before the movie even started...). Today it's gymnastics for DD, two loads of laundry for me and then I'm making two sets of brown ATCs! Gotta love a weekend like this!

Minibook: 5 favourites.

I did another challenge. A minibook with five of my current favourites. I went spesific, so these are my favs on September 28, 2006.



Supplies: Bazzill mono mini book (3" x 3"); inks and chalks, and the corner stamp is from Finnstamper.

Same supplies, many looks!

Remember the little scrapbooking challenge I talked about a while back; the final results are in, go and see what the other ladies did with their kits.

Here's my main layout; the bottle cap came off, it didn't belong there in the end :) The scan is horrid because the tile on the top is superthick!

Spend Less in September: The End?

Last day of September and the time to wrap up my ”Spend less”-month… Moneywise I did ok; I kept my shopping budget and while I did have a few coffees and beers along the road, I still have a few euros left. My in-laws stopped by with a huge sack of potatoes and bottles of home made blackcurrant juice and berries and oh yes, they brought coffee, too, so we have a great start for October!

I didn’t buy any craft supplies and somewhere along the third week I stopped visiting my fav. online stores. I’m halfway sorting out my current stuff and quite a few things will be sold or donated! (and contrary to my previous MO, this will not mean that I can buy new stuff, lol)

Did I get to spend more quality time with my family? Yes and no; this was a rough month for us all for many reasons which I will not explain here, but there were some beautiful moments that I will cherish.

Did I watch less tv? Oh well, Grey’s Anatomy started so that added an hour a week to my preprogrammed viewing. But it was ok, because I knitted at the same time!

This was never just about the money, not for me or for any of the other people who were participating. For me it was about looking at my spending habits and realising that comfort does not come in a pretty package at 9.95 only.

Please excuse me, I will now go and make my donation to Save the Children.

I don't think I will crop another photo...

So I went a little overboard when I thought it might be fun to crop a photo :) This little 6 x 6 page is one of the things I made for the "sama supplies"-challenge described below.

Congrats Roni!!

The 2007 Ranger Design Team was announced yesterday and one of the talented people on the list is Roni Johnson, a supertalented, supersweet lady whom I've met at the about.com forum -- I've been in her swaps, so I've seen her wonderful work IRL, too!
Congrats Roni, can't wait to see what you come up with next year! In the meanwhile, you can see Roni's work e.g. here.

Waste no Scraps.

I've been working on my challenge layout (see previous posts for details) and here's a little teaser; a card I made using scraps.




Stamp from Finnstamper.com says "Congratulations".

Spend less in September: 30€ Totally Wasted.

I spent about 30€ on something that easily counts as unnecessary; I went out. No excuses, it was money wasted BUT I had a lovely time. Had two drinks, and shared a coffee with a friend (as I ran out out money, lol).

I'm a little bit dissappointed in me but I will not hold this against myself; I've still spent 0€ on craft supplies, and spent a lot less in food than normally.

It's a Challenge: Update.

I've almost finished my "same supplies, many looks"-challenge" but I cannot get a bottle cap and the green foil into the page; I have no ideas of how to use them in the LO I have... I will go back upstairs and stare at them some more.

Spend less in September: Dental Care.

OK, I will not cancel my dental appointment because it's September, I will pay the approx. $50 that it costs and be happy that I only have one chipped tooth rather than several cavities. DD had an appointment today, and that was free of charge. Most days I really appreciate the taxes we pay and the services we get in return; today is one of those days.

Oh and my shopping yesterday went well, got milk, bread, bananas, carrots and eggs. Will go for minced meat today. Been using up a lot of things in the cupboards (we don't have a pantry in the scale most people do) and discovered some out of date items that got tossed. Will try to clean the linen closet this evening.

Spend less in September: I don't want to shop.

I need to go to the supermarket today and I don't want to. Very strange.

Swaps.

Again, some ATCs for a swap. Romance and nostalgia.



Oh and I normally don't bother with cool techniques, but did use masking to add the little angels to the canvas :)

It's a Challenge!

Some time ago I signed up for a "same supplies, many looks" challenge at my fav. forum at about.com. I got my amazing kit today, you can see it here -- if the link works, that is! I got the kit #12. I'm trying to come up with ideas this weekend, but you see, there's the patterned paper that I fear :)

Spend Less in September: Temptation.

I think I will need to limit my online time because I keep coming across wonderful sites that have lovely things that tempt me, like these stamps. As it is, I have many stamps I rarely use, so I will go upstairs, dig into my stash and see if there is anything I can sell or give away. Wish me luck!

Spend less in September: Oatmeal Success.

Another babystep: DD is generally very good about eating her oatmeal, she has it in daycare every morning and enjoys an occassional bowlful in the evening at home, but lately she's been asking for more "fun" breakfast items during the weekends. This weekend, however, oatmeal was a success because I called it "the ultimate breakfast that many figure skaters enjoy". (DD has just started skating lessons.) She even drank a glass of milk, which is very rare!

It's all about the marketing, isn't it, creating the want and the need. Hey if I can pull this off with a 5-year-old, no wonder the marketing professionals can make me crave for all sorts of weird and unnecessary things :)

Fading Memories.

ATCs for a swap. Did he walk away from her, leaving her with a goodbye note, or is she reading and dreaming of him... (I'm tempted to add "who can say", an inside joke, sorry)

Proceed with caution.

Here's a little something I made last night: acrylics and magazine cutouts and dymo on a canvas panel (12 x 18 cm). The texts say: "Are you confident with your personal hygiene when you meet her or go out" and "is it forbidden from young girls".

Stretch.

Remember to stretch daily. Here's Aksu the Cat:

Spend less in September: Pancake revelation.

Ok, so this might not be a huge revelation in the sense of "a manifestation of divine will or truth" but it was certainly an eye-opener for me. I made a small batch of pancakes for DD and DH last night and realised there was no jam in the house. Rather than doing what I would normally do, i.e. put on my shoes and get some from the closest store, I asked, "hey is sugar ok since we have no jam?" and they said "sure". So, here is the revelation: we can do without.

Naughty me.

I had a fish burger for lunch. I did tell my friends that they better not ask me out to lunch next month because I seem to have little will power when it comes to junk food. Oh well, I forgive me.

Why oh Why.

Why is it that I cannot learn to close containers with lids? Having just spent 5 minutes crawling on the bedroom floor looking for eyelets, brads and other little objects you'd think I'd know better from now on...

Getting ready for September.

I feel good about the decision to spend less money next month. A lot of my purchases are for comfort rather than need so it should be interesting to see how I will react during the first days; will I catch myself almost buying stuff or will I end up avoiding shops as much as I can.

Bookmark.

Forgot to post this one yesterday; it's a bookmark I made for a swap. I decided I didn't want to make a tag-type of a thing, so I found a large paperclip, some fibers and beads. It's kinda cute!

Spending less.

I came across this. I'm doing it with the parameters that I will cut "luxury items" from our grocery list (no sodas or candy or anything we don't really need) as well as trips to the closest take aways and cafes. I will not buy any craft supplies during the month of September. I will spend less time watching tv and more time with my family (they don't know I'm doing this yet...). Let's see how it goes.

As to the why, it makes sense, doesn't it. I can live with less, my family can live with less. There are others who need more, so why not try to create some balance. If you think it's naive, then try it first.

Oh, and at the end of the month I will make a donation to Save the Children.

Wanna join the challenge?

Gratification.

Ok, I'm taking babysteps here. Finalising some swaps, simple stuff to give me instant gratification. Here's a little something I made this morning for a retro-swap, found the image online, the rub-ons say "those were the days..." and as a final touch I added a hairpin with a little ribbon tied to it.

Inspiration.

I'm in a rut. I've looked at my materials, I've tried a few things, nothing works. So I go and look for inspiration online. Here are my fav. blogs at the moment, in no particular order: Francine, Ali E., Violet, Breanne, Susanna and Elsie F.. Go visit these ladies' blogs and be inspired.

A Quick Present.

It really pays off to hoard things like little notebooks and pretty boxes, you never know when you need make a quick pressie for someone. This notebook is for a colleague. Sincere apologies for the lack of any photo quality, I took this one with my phone...





Supplies: cheapo notebook, thick handmade paper, ranger distress inks, flower stamp, some fibers and a cute little bead.

Perfection.

This is where I went on Thursday, an exhibition of the works of Fabergé. The details, the precision, the perfectness. They had two of the easter eggs on show; the Uspenski Cathedral one and the Alexander III Equestrian one . Fascinating stuff!

Change of plans.

I was supposed to get some "me-time" and scrap, but instead I'm getting on the train early tomorrow morning and meeting my SIL in Tampere. Might check out the local craftstores... So I bid y'all fairwell, see you on Sunday!

Back home...

...phew, we had one hot train ride today, the train was jampacked and the AC was out of order or running on superlow. Next week DH has promised to mind DD so I can do "something". I want to scrap!

Off to meet the Moomins.

This is where we are going this weekend... taking the train to Turku (almost 8 hours), just to spend a day with the Moomins. DD has been waiting for this trip for almost two years now, so hopefully she will enjoy it...

Do you remember...

Here's the cover and a sample spread from the gift album I just finished. It's a tiny thing, ATC-sized! I used two types of circles as embellishments, and varied only their place a little, keeping it simple. Blurred everyone else's faces but my own, since the photo was taken 29 years ago, I've seen worse shots of myself, lol!

Scanning in old photos.

I'm working on old photos for a change, well, relatively old, 30 yrs or so. Scannning them in and printing out some of them for a gift album I want to finish this weekend. So many memories, some good laughs and some tears, too.

More ATCs.

I'm on a roll here, ATCs get created, and more swaps are heading my way! Here's what a did for a nature-themed swap.

Teachers' Gifts.

I've been meaning to post this for a month, lol! Here's what DD made for her teachers, I got some textile pens and cheapo canvas bags and look, it's a designer product!

Odds and ends.

Some ATCs I made for a swap, well three swaps actually. Kinda like the retro circles myself.

Monkey business?

I'm telling ya, this kid of mine knows no fear. This is what she does on a playground, and tells people that children who do gymnastics don't get hurt...

This is the only time I will...

...make a football related reference. Go see this.

And no, I don't like football, but the song that is used there is a recent favourite.

Scraplyric.

Check this out --> Scraplyric.

Under the sea - under construction.

I was trying to come up with a sea-themed ATC last night. Couldn't figure out what to do for plants, any ideas?? I've versamarked (can you use that as a verb?) some leaves on the card, but they are not right at all, you can sort of see them if you look closely ...what to do, what to do!?




Stamp from A Capella.

Pink.

Ok, here's my pink page (also see a post below about recycling a page). I added my journalling on a tag, you can see the fibers but the tag is hidden. The journalling tells the story about my DD having a bath one night and going beserk afterwards, running, dancing, screaming and laughing. Then all of a sudden she walked to the camera and looked right at it. Total peace.

Bored. Will challenge you. / Tylsää, haastan teidät...

LOL, well I'm not really bored, but it's getting a little akward to see that there are people visiting and never leaving a comment so I have not idea who you all are!!

So, I'm gonna challenge you to create something that has PINK in it, use your fav media, scan or photograph your work, post it online and leave your link in the comments. Come on, humour me :)


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Mullon tylsää, tai melkein ainakin (eikä tämä mitenkään liity neljään siideriin jotka join äsken yhtä monella terassilla). Laskuri tuolla sivun alareunassa näyttää, että kyllä täällä joku käy, mutta kommentteja ei juuri kukaan jätä, joten tässä tulee haaste: luo jotain jossa on pinkkiä (tai vaaleanpunaista :)), kuvaa työsi, postaa se nettiin ja jätä linkki kommenttina tähän viestiin. Joohan?

Recycling a page.

I'm back home -- alone. DH and DD are spending two more days on the countryside :) Started to sort out stuff and found this page I made for a friendly competition on one of the lists I participate in; everyone scrapped the same photo.




I already found a photo to replace the current one so stop by later to see how the page looks now.


Supplies: CS Bazzill; PP DCWV, distress ink Ranger; rub-on letters Making Memories, buttons and fibers unknown Oh and rauha = peace.

Getting ready for Midsummer.

I'm off for a few days, will take DD to in-laws' summer house to enjoy the Midsummer.
Back on Sunday, with new work to post!

Using a ready-made kit.

When I noticed Creating Keepsakes was selling a nifty little album with premade embellishments, I ordered two just to see what they were like. The albums are cool, but I wasn't too keen on all the premade stuff.

Last night I was looking at the stuff again, trying to decide if I should keep it or sell it online and decided to give it a go. Here's the first page, DD making silly faces in a German train :)

Something completely different.

I'm not into bright colours really, but hey, a girl can try?

The title says "ice cream", add a voice effect of a tired 4.5-year-old and you got it :)






Supplies: CS Bazzill, PP Making memories, letter stamps Ma Vinci, ink Versamark.

Santra and the Boys.

Here's the layout I did with the photo of my grandmom and her two sons. I scanned and printed the photo out, the lo is 12 x 12.



My journalling is written on a tag and hidden, you can see a little circle clip that holds it in place behind the lo.

Journalling: Santra and her two sons in 1921, my uncle and dad, a sweet little boy at 4 years of age. I don't know what their life was like really, their dad worked hard as a farmer and the boys must have helped him. When my dad died in 1982, I was 15 and going through the worst teenager angst. I was sad and hated him for not giving me a chance to get to know him as a person. Now that I would love to hear about his thoughts and feelings, he's gone, as is pretty much everyone else. That is one of the reasons I'm sharing my memories with you, my DD, to make sure you know how I feel and what I think. I love you today, and forever.

Supplies: CS Bazzill, PP and sticker letters Basic Grey, other small stuff unknown.

My dad.

This is a picture of my grandmom, whom I never met, and her two sons. The cute little boy with blonde hair is my dad. The photo was taken in 1921 and for years my sister and I thought it had been lost for good, until last week she found it! Needless to say it has been scanned in and printed out and the files have been burned on to a cd. I'm working on a layout on this one as well as on a series of ATCs so please stay tuned. It's my dad!!

L could also be for Learning

But it's not gonna be, lol. However, I did learn yesterday that even if you cover a notebook with thick mulberry paper, the original cover will show if it is red and swirly :)




Stamps are from A Capella.

Should L be for Lazy or Laundry?

We'll see soon, I hope. Or maybe it should be for laughter?



This is DD running wild :)

K is for Keepsakes.

Journalling: Keepsakes, mementos, memories. That's what this is all about. Making sure that memories don't fade away in storage boxes or old envelopes.





Supplies: clock wheels stamp from A Capella (still learning to use gold ink, it's messy); a piece of an clock wheel, a key and some rub-on letters. Keeping it nice and easy!

A Capella.

Go visit A Capella, they have some seriously gorgeous stamps. Anje speaks English, too, so no language barriers for non-German speakers :)

Hard Rock Hallelujah?!

One of the fondest memories from my childhood has to be the one night every year when I was allowed to stay up really late; the night of the Eurovision song contest. I haven't been watching it for years now, but had to last night. Lordi bloody well won the thing. This is so funny!

J is for Journals and for Jouni.

Ok, two ATCs for the letter J.

J is for Journals has a bit of journalling on the back: When I was a kid and had to deal with all the pains of growing up, I did a lot of journalling. Somewhere along the journey I lost my voice. I'm now learning to write about me and my life again.



Supplies: Background stamp from TAC and the key diecut is made with my QuicKutz.


J is for Jouni has a name of a song scribbled on the back. The song pretty much summarizes how I've been feeling lately. Oh and Jouni is a friend, in case you wonder, and he will get this card as soon as he asks me over for coffee (Sunday ok for you?).



Supplies: the letter stencil is from Ma Vinci (I love that place!!), it's been covered with all sorts of randomly stamped images from Ink and the Dog, Ma Vinci and Sunday International. A little dragonfly brad on the one corner and a bat eyelet on the other; a bit of an inside joke there.


Note: I think I'm running low on creative fuels at the moment. I want my mojo back!!

Edited to add the missing word :)

Shop to save.

Sample ATC from a series I did for a vintage swap at Ihan Itse.




Supplies: Background stamp from TAC, shoe stamp Ma Vinci (I think...) (stamped on aged cardstock, cut out and glued in), a little vintage discount stamp, a little inking here and there.

I is for Imperfect.

Journalling: If I aimed for perfection, I would never finish anything. So I'm learning to embrace imperfection.



I was tempted to play with the letters a little and make the word read "I'm perfect" but it was too much of a hassle, lol.

Supplies: background and letter stamps from Ma Vinci, dragonfly maybe from Sunday International, some beads making the scan fuzzy :)


Oh BTW, if anyone ever wants to buy me a t-shirt, thiswould be nice.

H is for Home.

Journalling: I love our home, with all its clutter and dust and endless cat hair. I also love fancy zines that give you the latest trends in home decor. But I wouldn't trade our home for any of their fancy creations.





Supplies: Everything is recycled, the card is cut of a panel sample, and decorated with clip-outs from an old wall calendar and an issue of Good Housekeeping.

Happy Mother's Day to you and yours.

I suggest you go and read Lisa Vollrath's site if you haven't already done so. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

An idea that failed (big time).

Ok, so I had an idea of making a cutesy summer card for a friend, I had all sorts of fun materials to play with and in my mind's eye it looked great. Put it together in real life and... no good. Oh well, can't win every time!

Oh and I will post the failed thing, too, let it be a reminder that it's ok to try new things, lol!



Supplies: Finnish postage stamp, silk flower, brad, all sorts of inks, and finally slide holder and tiny thermometer from one of my favourite shops skybluepink.

Back to basics?

I got some lovely flower diecuts from Maiju, almost too cute to be used! I love simple things, so here's one for you all :)

G is for George.

Here's finally G for my ABCs. George, of course. Can't help it, love his looks, acting is not too bad either, but those eyes...

Happy 1st of May!

Report on our May 1st festivities: went to the market square where people gather round noon (some for political reasons, some for other), bought DD an ice cream cone, had lunch, got the obligatory balloon for DD (featuring Disney princess characters this year), walked home and collapsed for a nap! Off to a friends' house in a bit and later to the movies to see Syriana. Will try to post my ATC for the letter G tomorrow, be prepared for a big laugh then!

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?