Winter Frost Bag

Bring on the snow! Another gorgeous bag finished :)

Make it PINK!

There just isn't anything finer than a nice pink bag :)
Loving the mistletoe-theme so much right now I even combined it with a hot pink bag. And it totally works!Who says Christmas can't be pink?

I like the subtle interpretation of the mistletoe here as it's not too literal. I think I see it now as a mistletoe as I'm so focused on Christmas and all things Christmassy, but I believe come spring I'll just see it as a pretty pink bag with leaves and white pearls. Though hopefully it'll be sold well before spring :)

Happy Finnish Independece Day by the way :)

Delicate Mistletoe

I'm full of Christmas spirit already.
I wonder if I hung this bag up would I get kissed underneath it..
Will definately have to test it at the Christmas shop :)

Keeping busy

Ok. Wow. I'm bit blown away at the moment.  As mentioned earlier I'm taking part in local craft shop organized by the crafters' association in my new home town. It's a three week event running from the 1st to the 23rd of December and takes place in a beautiful old wooden house downtown.

Yesterday I found out that after the shop had been open for less than two days they had already sold three of my bags. Wo-hoo! Now the problem is that I only have five bags left to be sold. Gotta get crackin and strike while the iron is hot! GOTTA MAKE MORE BAGS!! :)

Sneak peek in Santa's bag

I've almost finished making this beautiful black and white bag, but since it's going in Santa's bag I don't want to publish pictures of the finished bag just yet. I simply had to share my thoughts on the process this point because I'm super-excited with the way it's turning out!

The process of me making bags is truly a slow one. After knitting and fulling the bags they might mull in the cupboard and in the back of my mind for months, waiting for inspiration to knock me off my feet before I start working on the embroidery. This particular piece was knitted end of the summer and has been a troublesome one. Inspiration had nudged me several times but not hard enough, and my feeble attempts to grasp the little scraps of revelation and turn them into embroidery had miserably failed until I gave up.

I'm not a bona fide perfectionist, but inspiration does need to whack me in the head good time for me to actually be able to produce something to be really proud of. And eventually it did! With the holidays approaching and all things christmassy going through my head the picture of a beautiful wreath appeared before my eyes. It was if the heavens would have opened and choirs of angels sung, trumpets sound and a halo materialized above my head when the inspiration struck. Heureka! OMG I can't wait to show you all how it turns out!

Chirp Chirp!

I started working on this little pouch several months ago. I had given up on it and started working on it again many times to the point where the little bag was starting to get on my nerves. I don't know what it was, I just didn't seem to get it right. "The legs on the bird are too long, the beak is too pointy, the branches are too crooked." Sigh. So I abandoned it in the closet for two months until I had forgotten it even existed.

After the little creation had been hybernating in my Craft Closet (honestly, there doesn't seem to be a closet in this house that wouldn't fit that description) I discovered it again and looking at it with fresh eyes I actually could not understand why I had abandoned it to begin with! It was super cute and only needed a bit of work to be finished. Few more stitches here and there, added a zipper and the lining and listed it on Etsy wednesday evening. 12 hours later it was already sold!

Lesson learnt: The pieces that annoy you the most may be best left to hybernate for a while, even a long while, as in this case re-discovering it after months gave me fresh perspective and working on the item became fun again. I don't think it would've resulted this nice if I would've just pushed through the frustration, creativity flourishes in peace and calm and suffocates under pressure and stress.

Christmas Craft Show

photo by Zirpsis, source: virtual.tourist.com

This year for the first time ever I will be taking part in the local craft association annual christmas gallery, which is both a gallery and a craft shop. The gallery is held at Galleria Alli, a picturesque old wooden house, believe it or not, located right in heart of my new home town and features artists and craftsmen of all sorts around the Kerava area.

It's all very new to me, as I only heard a few weeks ago that my application to join had been accepted (should've applied sooner for more time to prepare!) and I'm now busy planning the price tags and info-leaflets and what nots.

photo by Zirpsis, source: virtual.tourist.com

The gallery opens on the first of December and will be open until the 23rd. I was thinking of only exhibiting some of my bags, so I don't have to close the Etsy shop altogether for 4 weeks, but we'll see how that goes. If you are in the area, do drop in! I will be in the shop my self for a few shifts (all the participants take part in also working behind the counter in turns), so if you want to come say hello, drop me a message to see when will I be in :)