Dinner in the rain

Yesterday was Helsinki Day! …a very wet one it was.

With all kinds of great events the whole day, like a free concert in the park, different smaller gigs here and there and especially the “Dinner under Helsinki’s sky”, Illallinen Helsingin taivaan alla.

A 300 meters long table for over 700 people to get together and have a picnic right in the middle of the Esplanadin, one of the nicest streets in Helsinki.

It was raining and storming all day but the forecast had promised sunshine for the evening… So we were hopeful.

Everything was prepared: a fantastic couscous salad, cheese, crackers, baguettes, wine and sparkly. So with our full picnic bags we arrived around 7.30 pm at the event and found ourselves a nice spot.

We had just about enough time to unpack and eat the first few bites when it first started to drizzle, which quickly turned into a pouring rain.

Luckily we’d been so wise as to bring umbrellas so by the time it was pouring down we were able to just sit and continue enjoying our “not quite so fancy” dinner while some other people around us packed up their stuff and left.

Ok, the rain itself might not have been the most pleasant but it actually made the dinner even more fun and definitely unforgettable!

Surely by the time it cleared up we had finished and started packing up to go and listen to the free concert of Aino Venna.

It actually did turn out to be a sunny night, just a bit later than hoped for 🙂

Starting the getting rid process :)

Hi there,

looks like I’m starting out rather successfully on my mission to get rid of stuff. Last Sunday I went to sell clothes and all kinds of other things at a small flea market in Helsinki’s Vaasankatu. They opened up the street to be a walking street only and it was free for anyone to come and sell there.

On the way there & everything ready to go (on the sign it reads “Moving away from Finland, selling everything really cheap”)

I’m so glad that my room mate and my friend Heidi came along to help me carry all the stuff and stayed a bit. It turned out to be such a beautiful sunny day. People were actually really chatty and funny. I guess it was a good idea to put the sign up, cause that was a great opening for small talk and a nice way to show that I don’t only sell all the junk I don’t like anymore 🙂

It actually did go really well. I sold lots of stuff (well, still tons to go…but…) and I actually made a decent amount of money! Which I invested right away for tickets to the Flow festival in August, yey!

Now I’m checking out when will be the next flea market…
Juhuu mission on the way to being completed!

Wanted: A beautiful mess app

I have been following the sisters Elsie and Emma on their amazing blog “A beautiful mess” for more than 2 years and I so love their style and what they do. They write about anything from crafts, diy and decor to recipes, fashion and thrifting, with fantastic projects and lots of tips for their readers.

And now they published their awesome photo app “A beautiful mess” on i-tunes. The app offers various cute photo border options, you can add pre-drawn doodles and fun phrases written in Elsies handwriting and different kind of photo effects.

Here is what it looks:

BUT: It’s not yet available for Android 😦

So I have two options, buy an i-phone right now… or hold on and wait until they publish it for Android. Darn, why did I just buy a new Samsung? Should have gone for the i-phone…

 

Kiitos!

As I told earlier, I had sublet my room for the time away. When I returned home from my trip there was a very nice surprise. Instead of a mess, my subtenant had left a beautiful orchid behind. And so I won’t kill the flower, he drew instructions for how to take care of it. Sweet!

Thank you so much, Matias!

Have a great day!

Toss or take!

I recently got back from my trip around half the world. And in the meantime, my room was sublet, luckily luckily to one of my room mate’s acquaintance, a guy. Lucky me! When I asked him how much of my wardrobe space he’d need, he answered with: Oh, not much.  I only have one suitcase and one backpack full of stuff…  Yeahhh!

I mean, seriously! How lucky could I be. Imagine if it had been a girl with even only half the amount of clothes and things that I have. I would have been in real trouble.

So, short before leaving, all I had to do was bring some of my personal things to my friends place, carry some stuff into the basement and pack a few boxes that stayed in a corner behind my shelf. How easy.

Now that I got back a few weeks ago, I still haven’t taken care of any of the boxes, haven’t unpacked the suitcases full of clothes and the boxes are still in the basement and behind the shelf. And since I will most likely be moving away some time soon (I still don’t know when and where, but anyway…) one thought has crossed my mind. If I don’t need any of these things that I had put into storage and I was very well able to live out of a backpack for 3 months, maybe I should just get rid of all these things. Obviously I haven’t been missing them so much (apart from a few things). How about, if I am allowed to save only 1 out of 10 items, everything else must go!

It does sound like making life so much easier. All this stuff only makes it difficult to even think of having to move, is very hard to keep tidy, gathers lots of dust, takes away space (in my room and my mind), and would even make some money if I could sell most of it. But then again: they are my lovely things! The thought of giving away all my precious things is very painful. Really! I tend to make a emotional connection to every single item I own. Even the least used peaces of fabric have some kind of a story to them. So how can I ever get rid of them. We share a collective past, they have been part of me and my life for so long and now I’m supposed to just ditch them?

How come that I always kind of admire those real simple interiors with not much more than one huge couch in the middle of the room, everything kept in a clear style with maybe one main color. And my home? It’s full of colorful things that don’t even match, stuffed book shelves, boxes full of crafty materials, tools and self made items, plus a closet with more wardrobe than I would need in a year.

I think I need help. Maybe a professional belongings-sorter or a freelance declutterer. Is there anyone who could just tell me which things to keep and which not to? Just like the girls in Sex and the City 🙂 Toss or Take!

If you think you can help me, please contact me at iloveallmythings@can’tthrowanythingaw.ay

 

DIY Jewelry pin board

Every time, I was looking for my earrings, it was rather annoying to go looking through various boxes and when one earring was found, the other one was not to be seen. Plus, I thought it’s a shame to put those lovely items hidden in boxes. So I took a regular pin board, spray-painted it black and made holes to put the stud earrings in.

It’s a rather simple but very effective DIY. It looks good, keeps all the pairs together and doesn’t even take much space. And the dangle earrings are hanging from the edge of a glass or a vase.

Nowadays my biggest problem is to decide which ones out of my many earrings to put on 🙂

Best childhood smells

I couldn’t sleep cause I had cold feet, so I went to make myself a nice hot water bottle. Before closing the lid, I always push the water out so that the bottle (or could I rather call it bag) isn’t too stiff. The smell that comes out of it in that moment is one of the best smells ever! It is the feeling of warmth, coziness and comforting of my mom that comes to my mind. I thought, I’d take that as a reason to post my Top6 childhood smells here.

1. Definitely: Hot water bottle
2. Latschenkiefer (mountain pine) shower bath
(I can literally see my sister and me in the bathtub, wearing hats made of bath foam…)
3. Warm cacao
(It had to be exactly 45 seconds in the microwave and then I would start drinking, making sounds of satisfaction, and only set the mug down when it was empty… Oh how great!)
4. Our downstairs heating basement (even though I didn’t particularly like the smell then, it brings me right back to my childhood once I smell something similar)
5. Kolophonium (Rosin) – I used to play the violin for many years. Blocks of rosin are used to rub on the bow hair so it can grip the strings and make them speak, or vibrate clearly.
6. Freshly baked bread – My mom used to bake bread at home, oh what a mighty smell!

Good night!

In loving memories…

My dear grandmother passed away just before Christmas. A few years back, she gave me an old necklace. This is her at about 5 years.
This way, I’ve been able to keep her close to my heart at all times!

Happy New Year! Just a bit late…

Hi, I know it’s been a while…
I’ve kept myself busy, which isn’t supposed to be an excuse… Or maybe it is.

I generally don’t like New Year’s promises… Cause they rather often aren’t kept. Still, I intend to do a few things, I just won’t call them that.

First of all: I’d like to be back here, writing my blog. Just with a few changes… instead of only posting creative projects and ideas around design, I will use this platform to write about anything that comes to my mind. Also, as I’m going on a nice “little trip”, I’d like to post updates and photos from where ever I travel. So my posts may sometimes be more travel emphasized and at other times crafty and creaytive 🙂 Well… creativity and design is about everywhere, not just in craft and design projects… So why not explore the world, find it and post it?

But sure, I’ll also continue making my little creaytive/crafty projects…

Can’t wait to start exploring!

Oh how sweet, candy mittens!

Hi there,

I just want to quickly share my new lovely mittens. I found the instructions for them in the latest Novita magazine. Actually we already have one pair just like them, made by Sampo’s grandmother but well, obviously they are not mine, they are rather big and… they are not pink!

It was real fun making them and even more fun fishing them out of the washer! I love them!

Still got a little of the wool left. Should I make baby mittens? Any ideas for what to do with left overs?

Have a good night!