Peony and Parakeet

Introducing My Own Yarn!

2012-02-18T21:22:00.004+02:00

Look what I have!

Here's my long awaited dream that has come true! A yarn made from organic baby Kainuu Grey finnsheep wool that my friend Susanna Kääriäinen has selected from sheep farms and that has been spun in a Finnish spinnery for us. How cool is that!

I am selling this special yarn in my Etsy shop Woolgrey. It call it "Alku" which is a Finnish word for "Beginning". And yes, I have designed the label myself and it's based on one of my doodles.

Here you can see how the swatch looks like. The tension is 22 stitches with 3,5 mm needles.

I have been having fun handpainting the yarn. You can see more at my shop but here are few samples.

"Renaissance"

"Nereida"

"Antique"

I love the natural white too!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T19:17:00.001+02:00

Happy Valentine's day! I have sent few fabric designs for printing. This is one of those. I am hoping to see the real fabrics within week or two!

Emerald and Bigger Prints

2012-02-05T14:57:00.005+02:00

Emerald, original collage available at Etsy

Prints available at DeviantArt

When I make expressive art like this work I often start with an emotion. It is a certain feeling I have an idea of and often connected to a very precise hue of color. I had the idea for Emerald for weeks but was able to make only small components due to the lack of time. Now I finally painted the background, made the detailed drawings on it and assembled the elements I had made earlier.

This work is about inner power and going one's own way. There's some selfishness, some stubbornness and an introvert attitude. But it is not all negative energy. I think that sometimes it is needed to get back on track. I am interested to know, what does this work speak to you?

I have been getting enquiries of how to buy prints of my art with bigger size than what's available on my Etsy store. You can now buy some of my art from DeviantArt store, sizes and products of each artwork vary a bit but there are large prints, mousemats, coasters etc.

Thank you for your support and lovely messages I receive every day! It feels super great and keeps me going!

Handspun, Handdyed

2012-01-31T22:22:00.004+02:00

Some knitting projects this time!

This is Bandana Cowl (pattern by Purl Soho). I knitted it from my own handspun and was a Christmas present for my sister. The handmade tag goes so well with it, doesn't it! (I have some for sale at Etsy: here and here)

Speaking of handspun and Christmas presents ...

Here are handspun mittens, a gift to my friend Susanna. She is the one who picks the Kainuu Grey Finnsheep wool that I sell. She is brilliant at it and these are made from the wool. I have spun different shades of greys and am quite pleased with the rural look and feel.

The next ones are for my own use as this year the winter is very cold in Finland.

Mittens from finnsheep wool dyed by a finnish artisan. Love the colors of this yarn! The pattern can be very basic when the yarn is so pretty.

Socks from very thin merino sock yarn. I handpainted the yarn first.

Finally Lady Sunshine gloves (pattern by Julia Mueller). I was surprised to notice that I had started these a couple of years ago. I don't know what happened that the second glove was not finished. I finally did that and these are great. The gloves fit well and the Wollmeise sock yarn goes well with these. I usually knit my gloves from sock yarn so that they last longer.

Adding Dimension

2012-01-23T19:45:00.005+02:00

Here are some cards that I made recently for my Etsy store. Instead of using only thin papers, I added some dimension for them. The ones with squares are made from memory play cards. I covered them with tiny scraps of paper, all my own designs. The one with the star has a handmade polymer clay button on it. Remember, when I made these? (Some are available at Etsy too)

Here's a close-up where you can see the dimensional blocks better.

And here's a closer look at the star card. The polymer clay button is the same style as the illustrations. I think there's some steampunk and art nouveau going on here. I personally like the star to be a bit asymmetrical, freely drawn. It makes it look more interesting.

New Year, New Purples

2012-01-14T01:35:00.004+02:00

Here's my newest fabric design. I began with this print, made a repeat and then added some little details that break the symmetry.

I have been dyeing spinning fiber too, purples again! Available at Etsy.

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T00:29:00.002+02:00

Thank you for following my blog, hopefully you'll come back in 2012 too!

Where My Heart Is

2011-12-28T22:54:00.004+02:00

I have always wanted to learn how to draw. After getting a bachelor's degree in design I was not satisfied with my illustration skills. Then I started to draw circles. You know this "repeat 10 000 times and you'll learn it". I have made more than 10 000 circles I'm sure. I do not know if I have become much of an illustrator but I have definitely got passion for using my pens. Keep me away from them for few days and you get a very angry and frustrated woman! It's where my heart is, truly!

A glimpse of what I've just made: more handmade business cards. (Look at my treasure box of handdrawn papers, it's pretty full!)

Back to Fabrics

2011-12-26T23:48:00.004+02:00

I had to take a break in fabric design to prepare the home for Christmas. After the break the previous designs looked too conventional, too stiff and too far from my style. So I started working with a new design, much more complicated, colorful, including several layers of hand drawings.

I also tested if the pattern works with less colors, here you can see the pattern repeats too.

My word for 2012 is the same as the word for previous years: Color!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-22T22:13:00.003+02:00

This is the first Christmas after moving to the new house. I finally have the space for a real Christmas tree!

I made this ornament years ago when I used to make hand sewn quilts.

Merry Christmas!

Getting Closer

2011-12-06T15:17:00.002+02:00

I feel very relieved. This is the direction I want to go, what do you think?

After previous sketch I knew I have to turn around my idea of showing texture inside the motif. Here I let the rug type texture lead and got ornaments in the background.

I still have to think about the pattern repeat though!

The Next Sketch

2011-12-06T12:54:00.004+02:00

My sketchings for the new fabric line continues.

I find this too old-fashioned, too christmassy, too everything. Clearly this does not really go along with the vision I have in my head.

Close-up:

For me it is important to get to the bottom. The worse I make the better I see what's wrong. I have a plan for the next step now and it is totally different than it would have been if I had not make this sketch!

Moodboard

2011-12-05T13:25:00.007+02:00

Here's my design moodboard for the new fabrics. I have included the color swatches as well. My goal is to interpret the history of arts and crafts in a new way. Very challenging!

About the design process:

It is funny how I was not ready to make a moodboard before I made the first sketches. I had structural issues. I was worrying about how I could construct the design. Even if I am still not quite sure, I am more confident and know where to start the actual sketches and what source material I must gather. Then I became worried about the target group, the interiors the fabrics should fit in etc. Now after thinking about it by working with the moodboard, it is much clearer for me.

Sometimes it is really good to put words on paper too. I wrote few sentences describing the design idea. (If you are interested you can read it at Flickr.) I also like to talk about the ideas, that way they develop too.

I find it really important to keep track of my own style. One tool is to have a general style moodboard. I have that at Pinterest. When I feel uncertain or unhappy for whatever reason, I go to see the pictures and say: "Yeah, that's what I am fond of!"

Fabric Sketches

2011-12-04T23:09:00.003+02:00

My big goal for the rest of the year is to design a new collection of fabrics. I have been searching ideas and thinking about it for many months already but have not actually started sketching. Now it's about time. So here are the first sketches, made quickly in Photoshop. Not final but I want to open more of my design process so I am bravely publishing these here and want to hear what you think.

Close-up:

This is the very first one:

Close-up:

Enigma

2011-12-03T13:41:00.004+02:00

Original painting on canvas, see more photos at Etsy

Here's my my newest artwork "Enigma". The making of it started with the thoughts about the atmosphere in old, high public buildings. Like old libraries and churches. The decorated ceilings and the feel of space create almost spiritual experience. It is a mystery how the beauty can uplift the mind so powerfully.

I used acrylic paints here and added the details with pens and markers.

Home and Warmth

2011-12-02T19:20:00.005+02:00

I hate houses with no textiles. It seems to be a trend now. At least I have seen many lately in my favorite tv show Grand Designs.

For me, creating fabric is one of the main goals whatever I create. I like to study texture and structure and it never bores me. Before I grab my pens I can feel pretty uninspired but after thinking about fabrics, I am soon creating in full speed.

As seen in the pictures above, I've lately been into rugs. There are many beautiful rugs designed in Finland in the 40s to 60s that I adore. Like this Leena-Kaisa Halme's rug that I saw in the rug exhibition in Helsinki many years ago.

Textiles make home. When I need to escape from the world I take a romance novel and read few pages and get extra warmth from a homemade quilt. This digi layout is about me reading romances. I think my love for fabrics shows on the page as well.

Elegant Christmas Cards

2011-11-27T19:12:00.003+02:00

My first video ever! See how I make elegant but simple Christmas cards. In the end of the video you'll see variations of the basic design.

Jewel Tones

2011-11-20T21:06:00.003+02:00

I have been doodling rugs recently. The woolly texture of them is very appealing so I find it fun to try to make illustrations that imitate them. This one had colors that I really like so I repeated them on wool too.

Here's the first set of wool that I dyed. (Available at Etsy)

And here's the second one. (Also available at Etsy)

These jewel tones get me in a good mood, hopefully you too! Colorful day!

A Nature Inspired Pattern

2011-11-19T10:43:00.007+02:00

This is my second pattern on the pattern design course.

We were given instructions to take certain kind of photos on one day. Then on the other day we picked one favorite photo and started sketching based on that.

The instructions for making various kind of sketches were pretty good. Here's my photo where the inspiration for the pattern came from. I think the similarity is quite noticeable.

The process was very fast for me. I haven't been feeling fell and had a flu, so I just did barely what was asked. I really feel that the pattern design is something where I want to develop though! I try to put more energy into the next assignments.

Starting with Simple Things

2011-11-14T22:30:00.003+02:00

Here's my first exercise for the Pattern Design Course: die cut circles on a painted background. This is terrible simple for me, it felt awful to leave it like this!

Ornaments All Over The Place

2011-11-13T12:48:00.003+02:00

The Rise of Ornaments

I have been making this collage piece by piece and it's finally finished. What can I say, I am hooked in ornaments of all kinds and new ones burst from my mind every day.

My next goal is to design a new line of fabrics. I have prepared for it by signing up Rachael Taylor's pattern design course. I hope that the course will keep me motivated to do the task! Not that it's unpleasant one, but even if I love designing patterns, it is also hard work and requires a lot of thinking.

I have got a lot of new visitors this month. Thank you! It means a lot to me to share all this with you!

In Progress

2011-11-12T01:44:00.002+02:00

A new ornamental collage in progress!

How I Survived a Scrapbooking Marathon

2011-11-09T20:18:00.010+02:00

In September I attended a scrapbooking marathon, organized by Big Picture Classes with Lain Ehmann as an instructor. The marathon lasted 26 days and you were supposed to make 26 layouts, one each day.

I was busy with a craft fair for the first two weeks so I started 14 days later than the others, determined to make all 26 layouts. My advice: don't do like I did if you ever attend this kind of challenge, start in time - no start ahead if you can! I had to make 2 to 3 layouts each day. Sounds impossible for someone who has a day job and who usually makes one layout in 4 to 6 hours!

But I did it! I accomplished 26 layouts in 12 days! How did I do it?

1) Scrapped in digi. I scrapped 23 digital layouts and only 3 on paper. Digital scrapbooking is so much faster!

2) Found photos easily. My photos are pretty organized. I star them using Stacy Julian's method: I give 3 stars for those that I want to scrap, and 2 start for those I might scrap. I also use a limited number of keywords to tag them and have created plenty of smart albums (albums with predefined rules) in iPhoto.

3) Made some smaller sized layouts. 5 of the layouts were in 8 by 8 size. I usually scrap in 12 by 12 inches but I discovered a new concept with 8 by 8 size. I use only one photo on the page. The subject of the page is "Today". The photo is taken on the same day that I scrap it. I write about miscellaneous stuff connected with that day. This concept suits so well with my life! I might take an odd photo with iPhone, then just go to my computer and scrap the page. I have made plenty of these after the marathon and it is one of the greatest discovery for me provided by the challenge.

Here are a couple of the layouts I am particularly proud of.

I am a terrible cook but as everyone in scrapbooking is crazy over cupcakes and there are so many designs to got with cupcake photos, I baked some! And the cherries on top are from the cherry tree in our garden! The digital elements are from Mary Pop's kit I heart Sweets.

The guidance for the last day was to let go and do something wild and break the rules of scrapbooking. I decided to use my own elements only, few photos, a poem written by myself many years ago and some doodling. It all came so easy, knowing then that I am passing the finish line!

Florabell

2011-11-05T12:11:00.003+02:00

Florabell, available at Etsy

It was so much fun to make this bag. I used to make these regularly but had to take a break once I moved to a new house. The inspiration of making these stopped then but when I found a bottom part from my stack of unfinished projects, it all came back! I also have another one on needles.

Playing With Polymer Clay

2011-10-31T19:31:00.002+02:00

Remember when I wrote: "I realized that the best shop I can ever find is the one I am able to keep for myself"? The blog post was all about not to shop so much but make the stuff used in crafting from the very beginning.

Last weekend I realized my storage of handmade buttons was running low. I am not very skillful in polymer clay, but it has never prevented me playing with it! And I love the look of messy, handmade stuff that goes so well with my hand decorated papers.

To make my little "art shop for me" to be perfect, I sewed some to my handmade backgrounds, just like they would be for sale in a real shop. Looking at these makes me so happy! There's so much we can do without spending almost anything but time!

Enjoying Colors

2011-10-27T20:25:00.005+03:00

I love dyeing wool!

Hand dyed Kainuu Grey sheep baby wool, available at Etsy

I spun some baby sheep wool to get samples of various yarn so that me and my friend Susanna could decide what to get made at a yarn mill.

The first three skeins in the picture have been hand dyed after spinning. My personal favorite is the leftmost, the yarn with black, dark grey and red. It is called "Joy and Sorrow" and it is inspired by Karelia, the area where the sheep wool comes from and where also both me and Susanna come from.

The second one on the left is inspired by colors used in icons. Unfortunately the red got too pink! And for the third one I got an idea from embroidery stitches. But I did not succeed in color, neither in the dyeing.

The fourth skein is natural colored 2-plied yarn that I used for the first three. And the last one is spun with three different shades using 2 grams of each in turn. It is 3-plied.

Ok, those were pretty soft and I was quite pleased with the spinning process but still nothing like this one:

I love this yarn! It is so soft! Spun from the natural dyed Kainuu grey sheep wool. Susanna has handdyed it with hand picked lichen. I have two large skeins and I am so pleased I succeeded in bringing the softness of the wool into the yarn.

From the two of us, my friend is more specialized in dyeing with natural colors. But I have made some experiments too and here's a skein of commercial sock yarn, dyed with marigolds. Not any marigolds really, as I have grew them from seeds.

It brings me great pleasure to work with wool, dyes and plants. Probably as I love everything where I can enjoy colors!

Frugal Crafter's Guide To Hand Decorated Papers

2011-10-23T17:24:00.005+03:00

Sometimes I just want to overlook all the expensive materials and make art from plain and basic materials. While watching a video about embossing powders I got the idea of using color pencils as a resist for watercolor. So, if you are filled with ideas but hate to see instructions were special materials are required, this is just for you!

You only need

paper
at least one color pencil (basic one, not water soluble)
watercolors

Here's what you do

1) Grab a paper! I prefer quite thin (90 g/m2, 43 lbs) and smooth papers, but you can choose whatever you like or have.

2) Start doodling with the color pencil. You can use any color(s) you like but using white makes the result especially interesting, I think.

3) When you have filled the paper with your doodling, paint the paper with watercolors. Paint over the doodling! Use a lot of paint as we will wash some away in the next phase.

4) Let dry. Seriously. This is the only step where the patience is required.

5) Wash the paper with water. The idea is to get the color pencil strokes appear again. You may have to use the fingers to remove the color if you want a nice pastel background.

5) Let dry!

6) Here's my example. You can use papers for collages, cardmaking, bookcovers, all kinds of papercrafting!

Here are some of my experiments showing various colors of pens and paints.

Wild Doodling

2011-10-11T22:46:00.004+03:00

Sometimes it's just not possible to stay controlled. I was thinking about art nouveau and Alphonse Mucha's work but wanted to give my pens a relaxed speed.

Here are some close-up details. The line is wild and fast.

The watercolor background is as arbitrary as the illustration.

The most difficult thing in illustrating is to get relaxed lines. That's why it's important to get wild once in a while!

Wool Fool

2011-10-09T20:01:00.004+03:00

Temptation colorway, available at Etsy

I am crazy about the wool my friend gets from the area where I lived as a child. I can't help buying it, dyeing it, spinning it, selling it. It is a part of my life nowadays. And the fact that my friend is equally obsessed with it makes it even better. I am not the only wool fool in the world.

Needle felting wool set, available at Etsy

I dye the wool with acid dyes but my friend uses natural ingredients she picks from the nature. The colors are softer and they all look great together.

Industrial dyes, natural dyes or no dyes at all, the wool is wonderful!

Where To Find Inspiration

2011-10-09T00:05:00.002+03:00

This little piece of collage is an example of how the less obvious things can really be inspiring. It is all about the interpretation.

Here's what I do.

When I find something that gets my attention, I analyze it into pieces. For example, if I see a photo in the newspaper that I find attractive, I try to find the reason why I do so. It can be a color combination, an atmosphere, a composition, a small detail that looks nostalgic for me etc.

Let's assume I have now found that very thing that caught my eye. I then start seeking for analogies, the stuff that has that same factor. Soon I am filled with ideas that I am really enthusiastic about!

The story about the insect? I was thinking about the curtains of our library room (Compton by William Morris) and how I love them. They have very detailed floral ornaments that I absolutely adore. Actually, they reminded me of botanical plates. And I never had thought before how ornamental old botanical drawings really are! I went to a local library and browsed some botanical books, then accidentally found the book about insects and was totally hooked: I wanted to draw insects with ornaments, sort of go back to the concept used in the curtain. I would never have thought insects being so ornamental without deriving one thought from another!

Hopefully my method is useful for you too!

Using Hand Decorated Papers

2011-09-27T23:40:00.007+03:00

A greeting card, available at Etsy

One of the most popular posts in my blog is How To Make Your Own Patterned Paper. If you have made some, I want to encourage to use those!

Or buy some that I have printed from my artwork, available at Etsy!

In one of the previous posts, I gave a glimpse of an art journal that I made recently. I want to show better pictures this time! In this journal I have combined my artsy photos with the papers, some printed, some originals.

I hope you enjoyed the art journal!

It's Always about Fabric

2011-09-25T01:39:00.002+03:00

I made this post card design by scanning illustrations and finishing them with Photoshop. Like the title of this post says, I am constantly inspired by the idea of prints on fabric. I haven't got new fabric designs for a long time so I think it will be time for those soon!

After the Craft Fair

2011-09-15T22:00:00.004+03:00

Digital scrapbooking layout using my own background papers. The template and few other elements are from Scrap Orchid collaboration kit All About Me, purchased from The Daily Digi.

The craft fair is over and I have had few days to take it easy. Like the layout says, it feels like an achievement. It was hard work to prepare the sales table but definitely worth it. I love talking with people about creativity and creating stuff. I really loved the experience!

Sacred Things

2011-09-10T00:23:00.004+03:00

When making this illustration, I was thinking about sacred things. What is sacred for me, how to go towards it and how to share it with others. Very difficult to express in words but so easy to visualize!

Sneak Peek

2011-09-05T19:53:00.003+03:00

If you have followed me on Twitter, you know I have been preparing for the craft fair in Helsinki like crazy. Have a sneak peek with these photos!

The Color in My Mind

2011-08-30T19:54:00.009+03:00

I had been dyeing wool and playing with acid dyes when I suddenly got this obsession about bright tomato red.

I could almost feel the color and there was no way escaping it. I had to put it on paper. With some doodles of course!

See the description at Etsy to get the explanation of the whole process.

Harvest, original collage, available at Etsy

Preparing for a Craft Fair

2011-08-27T23:09:00.004+03:00

Set of 3 handdecorated papers, available at Etsy.

I am attending a craft fair in Helsinki after a couple of weeks. I have been spinning, dyeing, doodling and painting like crazy and even if it's fun, it is also hard. I do have my day job too. And it is always nerve wracking to put stuff for sale. People might not like it. They might find it too expensive. And the biggest fear: they might not get inspired at all!

I love seeing people who are passionate about what they do. I can tirelessly listen to anyone who talks enthusiastically whatever their specialty is. And I want to be one of them too. Even if I can criticize my own work endlessly, I want to forget all that critique when going to the fair. Being able to talk what I have been doing in the late evenings and weekends for years, it is a luxury. Like this blog is. Hopefully the things that inspire me will inspire some others too!

Two of Everything

2011-08-19T19:58:00.005+03:00

Whatever I do, I always end up dividing myself in two. There's the logical side and the emotional side. There's the perfectionist and the one who really does not care. In crafts I have two passions: paper and fiber.

I made these tags for Lain Ehmann's ScrapHappy community tag swap. I opened my little treasure box of papers and dived in into the world of scraps and doodles. And inks. And strong colors. But when the tags were finished they seemed missing something. I finally got it: the string! Rushing to my stash of handspun wool, I grabbed some. Luckily I have the same taste of color with my knitting!

Fiber is like water, the world could not exist without. That's why I could not resist when my old schoolfriend Susanna brought some from our childhood area. It's been more than a year and we've played with it, carded it and spun it. Finally we were able to make it in bigger portions so that also you can enjoy it. Check out my new Etsy shop Woolgrey for organic wool and handspun yarns.

There will be new products soon at Peony and Parakeet too. And this blog continues to be a hub of everything that I make, either with paper or fiber. Thanks for following me!

Quilting with Pen and Paper

2011-08-06T21:41:00.005+03:00

Have you ever heard of swapping deco squares? They are 4 by 4 inches squares that you decorate and send to your partner. This was my first. The given theme was "Playing with inks" and as I love inks I just had to participate.

The square shape made me think about quilting. I used to be a passionate quilter some years ago. I still like it but do not dedicate that much time for it anymore. But I love sewing with my pen, adding small stitches and lines, combining paper like fabric pieces.

Here's a sample of my quilting on fabric. Just a small potholder but I even named it. It's called "Childhood" and it really reminds me of my Karelian origin and my childhood home in the 70s. This one was given to my sister and she luckily liked it too!

Look Far

2011-07-19T23:33:00.003+03:00

After spending time with overwhelming circles and patterns I felt that something quite opposite was needed. The world of folk art never stops inspiring me, japanese this time!

Marie Antoinette

2011-07-18T19:50:00.003+03:00

I love the Marie Antoinette movie. I have watched it again and again and I love to examine the photos of the scenes. I wanted to doodle something overwhelming and overanything so I picked one photo, some paint and plenty of pens.

You can see the conceptual illustration in the lower right corner. I have found out that helps to figure the shapes of the doodles first. After the concept sketch, I made the original paper, shown in the upper right corner. Then I took photos of it and made some more versions on the computer. Romantic Monday!

A Happy Organizer

2011-07-17T19:54:00.005+03:00

I am attending two great online courses at the moment, both in the area of scrapbooking. They are produced by Big Picture Classes. The first course is Stacy Julian's Library of Memories. It is about how to keep up with photos and stories. I have managed to organize my scrapbook pages plus 4500 digital photos within few weeks!

Another great course that has put me organize my stuff is Lain Ehmann's Mother LOAD. It prepares for 26 days scrapbooking marathon. I made this layout about my scrapbooking space as the first week's assignment. I think it's pretty cozy but actually it's only temporary as we have been renovating the library room at our house and once my table arrives, I will move my scrapbooking stuff there. The real library of memories and the place to scrapbook, I am so happy about it!!

Last week's theme at Lain's course was putting all the scrapbooking stuff in good order. I am pretty organized in that sector but after going through my die cuts and odd alphabets I got this idea. I put them all together in separate divisions of one plastic container. I love this arrangement, it's so practical! If you have problems with handling the small stuff, try this!

Here's my layout for week 2 of Lain's course. It's about how my dog Cosmo makes my life happy. I think both of these layouts really show the happiness. Well, on summer holiday, it's so easy to be content and happy!

More ATCs, made in the middle of summer nights. I love to stay up late and play with paints and doodles.

During the days, I have been dyeing yarn and wool! Here's some tussah silk and bluefaced leicester wool blend. Happy colors here too.

Artist Trading Cards

2011-07-08T12:41:00.002+03:00

I have always liked small-sized stuff so got into making some artist trading cards. Artist trading cards (ATCs) are very popular among artists and art hobbyists and there are a lot of groups where people swap them. The card's size is 2.5 x 3.5 inches.

I love antique items so I made some illustrations of that theme. Before that I played with Photoshop to create some digital cards. Have a closer look of these and see the review of my other illustrations at the new Flickr folder called Illustrations.

Never Not Doodling!

2011-07-05T11:13:00.005+03:00

I am participating this week's Get Inspired scrapbooking challenge with this layout. It has my budgie's childhood photos. The first two of them has been taken by her breeder Annica Haga. This is a digital layout and most of the elements are from Michelle Underwood's Wild Hearts kit.

What I really like in digital layouts is adding some doodling with the pen tablet. I have Wacom Intuos 4 in medium size. I have used it for the title. The digital page looks so much more personal when some hand writing or hand doodling has been added on it.

Talking about hand doodling, I have spent some non-digital quality time too. Here are the papers I decorated yesterday. The blue one is my favorite. They are for sale as a set in my Etsy shop. Check them if you are interested adding some wild stuff for your art journal, cards or what ever you like to craft from paper.

Back to Colorful and Complicated

2011-06-24T23:37:00.006+03:00

This is my last assignment for the Composition for Collage course. It's a collage, mostly built around one small picture. The colors here can be a bit overwhelming but after those black and white ones I have made lately, I could not resist using really vivid colors.

There's so much going on in this work. It's like my head at the moment. Ideas after ideas. What I really want to do next is something pretty graphic. Like this one, maybe you recognize that I have used pieces of this in the collage.

This is an old background where I have changed the colors with Photoshop. And it looks very much like Marimekko, so Finnish, I think. My intention is not really imitate anything. I just want to play and doodle and encourage others do the same. Have fun and see what the result will be.

Before my designer studies I always questioned what I created. I thought that studying will teach me question even more. However I work now much more intuitively and freely. And especially recently I have really started to leave behind my inner critic. Life is so full of things, there's room for everybody. Why not draw what comes naturally, and enjoy the process!

My final thought's about the collage course: I really loved it's clear structure (one type of composition each week) and especially the teacher's comments. The teacher, Claudine Hellmuth, commented each work uploaded in the gallery. I think that's exceptional and very educational too!

Creative Dreams

2011-06-22T18:44:00.005+03:00

Here's my third completed assignment for the course Composition for Collage. I have decided to call this "Generation Gap".

I love doodling and playing with inks and could not help it here, it almost got out of hand. When my summer vacation starts within a week, I promise, it will totally get loose. I will be doodling and splashing ink all day and night!

I have ordered a new book of collage: Collage Couture. I am so looking forward having this! Based on the reviews and sample pages it will be a good addition to my collection of inspirational books.

Your Style Is My Style

2011-06-13T20:15:00.003+03:00

Another home assignment for Composition for Collage course. The idea of trying to use the downloads provided, felt terrible at first. Not my style, period. That's too mildly put. I actually hate most of the pictures I have downloaded. And the recommendations of using the white space - those are the worst.

Last week was pure agony. This week my thoughts have began to change. I actually enjoyed making this collage, with white space and all.

We people truly are quite flexible beings once we get out of the personal fixations. There's so much we can be and so many different things we can create. It would be silly just to draw similar lines or circles day after day. And it is not too adventurous to leave that white space. Sometimes, at least!

Out of The Comfort Zone

2011-06-03T21:45:00.003+03:00

I am attending Claudine Hellmuth's online course called Composition for Collage. Here's the first exercise, the theme was asymmetry. I used the images that where downloadable from the classroom.

I am so out of my comfort zone here! Not because of the idea of composition but because of these type of collages are not me at all. But in the end this is exactly why I attend courses once in a while. It is good to get forced to make something different. Hopefully after the weeks of homework I can find something new to add to my own style.

The Biggest Challenge in Any Art

2011-05-27T22:51:00.005+03:00

I have started to believe this: the biggest challenge in making art is to relax and let go. No need for stiff lines or regular shapes. That's my rule anyway.

Today I was not feeling relaxed at all. So I created a mental wall, trying to assure it's safe to doodle whatever comes to my mind. I think the protective attitude shows in the result but it does not really bother me too much.

When making these collages, I try to be quick and not to calculate too much. I love fast strokes as they leave no time for consideration. Lately I have started to concentrate more on the intuitivity of the process than the plan that I am going to accomplish. It gives me so much pleasure when I am not analyzing every move.

I have noticed that art journaling is becoming more and more popular. No wonder. It is something not to be taken too serious. And what I have seen, people are often more successful in their fast made sketched pages than in their really serious canvas paintings. It is a bit ironic sometimes but that is art: relax and let go!

Little Luxury

2011-05-16T21:55:00.018+03:00

This is my little luxury: having fun with colors!

I took a paper full of tiny doodles, colored it and added some scrap pictures over it. This way I made a deco book front cover and then could not resist decorating the back cover too.

Decos are small books that circle around person to person and each one decorates one page.

More about swapping decos in the blog post from December.
I also made a page for one deco using the same technique. And this really is a color splash!

Most of the scrap pictures shown here are found in the local supermarket! Suprisingly they had a greater selection than many craft stores!

Doodling on Fabric

2011-05-09T22:00:00.003+03:00

Crazy doodler, eh? I made a new folk bag and added doodling on it, even on the back side of the fabric.

See more pictures at my Etsy store, it's called Aurora Borealis.

What Is Valuable?

2011-05-04T20:39:00.010+03:00

My answer is: Little things with big stories.

A tiny piece of hand decorated paper. How long have I practiced to achieve it - tens of years! It seems ridiculous but it represents a lot to me.

Plain wool. Some might think it's nothing. But this wool is really big for me.

My friend has bought it raw from the area where I lived as a child. She has spent months and months learning how to find and pick the right kind of wool, how to process it and find people who can do it in bigger portions. We have shared hours and hours around this wool, learning its qualities.

And yes, small thinks can grow bigger.

I got this fleece from my friend. It's grey finn sheep, Kainuun harmas, wool, processed for spinning or felting.

In the near future you might find a small portion of my friends fleeces available at my Etsy store.

If you are interested in yarn instead, well there are plans for that too. Dyed fiber or yarn? Planning ...

Join my newsletter Peony And Parakeet Specials if you want to be alarmed when there's wool available.

Budgie Pages and Style Talk

2011-05-02T18:12:00.006+03:00

I have had pet budgies for almost 20 years. So when I started scrapbooking in the beginning of last year, it was natural to make some pages of them too. Here are my budgies pages so far. Now that I look at them, there might be a maybe a slight style change in my scrapbooking.

This is my latest layout. It is made for the LOAD scrapbooking challenge. The first day's prompt was about making a basic layout with a photo, a title, some journaling, cardstock and patterned paper.

Well, there's really not much basic or simple in my style but I honestly tried. Ok, I did not succeed in making anything plain but I quite like the result, very unplanned but turned out ok in the end. Now I wonder, why do we use so little hand drawing in scrapbooking, I am definately going to try to include that more in the future.

This and the next one are my newest budgies and I have used baby colors for their pages. I love little bits and pieces of embellishments and I used them generously here.

The last layout is about my very first budgie. This page was made during the Amy Sorensen's scrapbooking course called Textuality. It focused on writing and I really enjoyed writing my budgie's story.

There has been a lot of talk about style in scrapbooking. There are even courses about how to develop your own style. When I see something that I like, I try to analyze why I like it. There are often the same elements that really catches my eye. When I repeat them in my own work, I get pleasure creating them.

The funny thing is that the more I learn about my own style, the easier it comes to play with the style. It also enables making something in a totally different style when being aware of the elements that affect the style in general. I have began to maintain a moodboard of my style at Pinterest to have pictures that I love all in the same place. If you have tips about style, leave a comment!

Ink Love

2011-04-30T14:11:00.008+03:00

I have written about inks and how I love them. This time I want analyze why I am so into using them. The reason is my love for glassware.

I just adore colorful glass. In Finland we have, and have had many great designers for glassware. Nanny Still, for example. And they are not all that expensive! Even everyday glass in Finland is just wonderful, I think.

If inks could turn into some material, they would be either silk or glass. I use two kinds of inks at the moment. The first is Windsor & Newton drawing ink and the second is Tim Holtz's alcohol ink. They are a bit different, the first one not being so high in intensity but I love them both. Windsor & Newton are better than watercolors. They blend nicely and they maintain their intensity even when mixing some water. The alcohol inks are more like power drops, thicker glass!

Last time when shopping inks I was following the other customers. They were looking at papers, paints, whatever, but nobody else was near the ink shelf. I felt like they were in the flea market missing the real find! "These inks are the best you can buy here", I was almost about to whisper to them! But did not, of course. It would have been crazy act, at least in Finland were everybody is so calm, cool and collected, even when shopping at the art department!

Royal Wedding

2011-04-29T20:47:00.006+03:00

I took the afternoon off from work to watch the royal wedding. The beautiful dresses, the glory of Westminster Abbey and both the joyful and formal elements of the ceremony just fled into this collage.

You can see that I was pretty serious with the wedding. I was making tea and having cake that had "W & K" on the top!

Super Doodling

2011-04-27T19:23:00.004+03:00

Here's a deco page where I doodled over doodles. This is how it happened.

I found a photocopied background of my doodling, tiny tiny stuff! I then doodled some flower and leaf motifs on white paper. I also cut some small pieces of hand decorated paper. Finally attached them to the background paper and used markers and color pens for coloring. I think this could be called super doodling!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T12:31:00.012+03:00

Last night when I was staying up late and playing with papers I wanted to make the easter greeting for the blog. I had this urge to make something showing where my roots are, in the eastern Finland. This year I have been watching easter eggs at the shops. In the south, where I live now, everything is so pastel, so blend, even the easter decoration.

Sometimes I get so fed up with the white country style or the contemporary stuff, you know those square shape white sofas combined with lightweight white curtains. Not me, never.

So here's my easter greeting for you, plenty of colorful eggs, jewelry and fabrics!

The day before I was playing with Tim Holtz alcohol inks and soft color pens. I love inks. I also have black writing ink that is really great for deep black. If you have not tried the alcohol inks, have a go, you wont be disappointed! I just blob them straight from the bottle and try not to think too much. I love the way they layer with the color pens. The soft pens are like velvet and the ink is like silk.

More than colors and shapes, I think of materials when I make the collages. I try to imitate all kinds of fabrics, glass, porcelain, they never cease to inspire me. I love to make cards with all these materials in mind. Here are few of the latest, imitating glass and porcelain.

Scrap Picture Inspiration

2011-04-16T11:34:00.009+03:00

I love scrap pictures. They have the exact nostalgia that really touches me. In these cards I combined them with my doodling and the result is overly romantic, I think, but I actually like it that way. There are people who want to express their deepest pains and the state of the society with their art. I respect that and believe that's what art really should do.

In a way, I want to express high emotions too, only in a different way. I love fashion and esthetics, the old time beauty and how it's based on ornaments. I do not think the beauty is the opposite of pain. Generations after generations people have made they way to lift spirits and touch deep by making beautiful things. I believe you can go deep whatever your style is. That's my goal anyway.

That Little Push from ScrapHappy.org

2011-04-11T19:24:00.008+03:00

Here's a scrapbooking layout that's my entry to ScrapHappy.org's sketch challenge in April. It's about making circles and why I love it. I have used my hand decorated papers for the layout and I quite like it how they work with the photo and with the peaceful background. (I try to keep hand decorated papers available in my Etsy shop from now on so if you like to try them, see Peony And Parakeet at Etsy).

Now you might wonder what is ScrapHappy.org. It's a community hosted by Lain Ehmann, a famous scrapbooker. It has a monthly fee and each month you get blog posts that have challenges, videos, audios and other fun and inspiring things for scrapbooking. I like the way Lain brings her personality online. You also get to participate her Layout a Day challenges where you scrapbook layout a day for the whole month. Those repeat three times a year.

What I really like with Lain is that she really tries to make scrapbooking easy. The sketches are very simple and her tips about taking time for scrapbooking are practical. Sometimes I need that little push to get the page done!

How to Make Paper Flowers

2011-04-03T21:24:00.012+03:00

Once you have made your own patterned paper, why not turn them into adorable paper flowers!

I just love the way they go along with the papers. Once you have developed your own style, anything you do can be combined together. As I have said, the best shop for papers and embellishments is the one you can set up for yourself!

So take out your hand decorated papers (I have quite a pile of them) and start making flowers! In addition to papers, you will only need correction pen, black marker (I love PITT artist pens), some embroidery floss, glue (Tombow is my favorite) and scissors.

Pick three papers that work well together. Remember to ensure there's enough contrast between them.

Cut three circles, a small one, a medium one and a large one. My largest one is about 3 inches (7,5 cm) but you can make them in various sizes. Just be sure the smallest circle is big enough to add details like button holes.

If you have made your papers drawing layered circles, you have your circles ready to be cut. I cut the circles free hand as I am not so fussy about making them accurate.

After cutting the circles, take the biggest one and draw the shape of the flower with the black marker. I like my flowers to be asymmetrical. I think they look more artsy that way!

Cut by following the marker line so that the black marker line remains visible. The line frames your flower and make it look more dimensional.

You can also change the shape of the second circle if it feels right. I often find myself adjusting the shapes of the circles during the process.

Make the smallest circle to look like a button by drawing circles with the marker and the correction pen. Then add holes with the marker. Big holes look better than small ones.

Now you have the three parts of the flower ready to be attached. Glue the parts together. Then take your needle and sew the buttonhole. After this phase I often add details with the marker. Here I have added little dots around the button and circled the second circle. As I love adding layers to my work, I finally glued the flower to another paper (blue one in the picture) and cut it out.

Here's the finished piece. Have fun with your papers!

Burning Heart

2011-03-28T20:33:00.007+03:00

I got inspired by Pave Maijanen's song "Palava sydän" (burning heart). I used sewing machine and handmade papers for this. This is also available as print in DeviantArt, I've added few of my photos and collages there too.

This was the first time I used my sewing machine after moving to the new home in December. I think that even if I sewed paper I am heading towards textiles. I have some new ideas and they relate to fabric.

Burning heart - that's what I really have nowadays. My heart is burning for creativity, it is so wonderful to see art and make art. It makes my life worth living. I hope that you feel the same way too!

Treasure Box

2011-03-19T14:26:00.008+02:00

I needed a new, larger box for my handmade papers. First I went shopping to the shopping centre trying to find a suitable cardboard box. Did not like anything I saw. Then I went online to find a pretty tin container. Could not find one either. The world is full of boxes but nothing pleased me.

Finally I noticed a box on my shelf that I have got with a present and had not thrown it away because of its sturdiness. Well it only took a couple of hours to make the collage on the top!

Now when I open it, it is full of my little treasures. Pieces of papers that I have doodled on!

Painted Pottery

2011-03-17T18:46:00.003+02:00

It all started with the two flower pots that I found at the antique flea market. I found them so inspiring! Then it continued with the few drops of wood stain that were left in the jar after some home renovation. I made some patterned papers by combining the stain with the watercolor pencils. Then I had to scan them just to see how they looked like at the computer. And then it all got out of hand ...

I made a digital scrapbooking page about the pots.

But before that I made my own kit.

It is available for you for free. Just remember: just for personal pages, no commercial use, no alterations.

Painted Pottery Digital Scrapbooking Kit (large zip file, over 17 MB)

Art Journaling With Bad Taste

2011-03-14T20:34:00.005+02:00

I have many strict rules. Let's just say my mother was strict and I inherited the personality. However, there is a little rebel inside me. Today, I got this stupid idea of cutting letters from magazines and incorporate them to my art journal. I tried to get rid of the thought of ruining all my handmade papers by glueing cheap lettering on them.

If you have read art journaling literature you recognize that I had a conversation with my "Inner Critic". I strongly believe in inner criticism and I am actually pretty fond of my Inner Critic. She always knows what's best for me and the life with her is very simple: toss toss toss away... No second thoughts.

But today I had the day off from work and my Inner Critic was feeling lazy too. So I did it, grabbed the scissors and chose carelessly the words "Talo" (house) and "Valo" (light). It sounded like a small poem and suited to my mood as I was enjoying our new home and all the light that comes through its huge windows.

Needless to say the page did not really satisfy my Inner Critic. But as it was made to a Moleskine journal and it was difficult to tear the page off without breaking up the journal, she decided that the page would be treated as an evidence of bad taste that anybody can have in their weak moments.

Sales Table

2011-03-12T17:12:00.007+02:00

I am going to a small crafts event tomorrow and here's the most of my sales table. Fabrics, cards and decorated papers. It has been fun to gather them all together and it will be fun to attend the event, sales or no sales!

Colorful Music

2011-03-05T23:56:00.005+02:00

This art journal page is called "This is how I see the music". It is inspired by my favorite artist Tracy Chapman. For me, music is a very visual experience. I see lines, shapes and colors when I listen to it.

Speaking of Tracy Chapman, I made a scrapbooking layout last summer about me listening to her music. This was my very first digi layout, the template is by Cathy Zielske.

Scrap Journaling

2011-02-27T12:05:00.005+02:00

Ok, I confess, am more and more into art journaling when speaking of paper crafting. I do still love scrapbooking, the whole non-commercial and commercial ascpect of it. But spending a day buying scrapbooking stuff and scrapbooking in a crop at the annual scrapbooking event in Helsinki, made me get back to basics. I realized that the best shop I can ever find is the one I am able to keep for myself.

I imagined walking into an art journaling shop where I have hundreds of little circled packed in cellophane bags. Would I like to pick the spring colored ones or the mix with the handmade buttons? Or perhaps I would like to browse background papers, all neatly arranged and made by ... me! This shop would be me-me-me, I-I-I, and perhaps something made by a friend, an artist that I love, but all handmade, and in components, ready to be scrapped ... I mean art journaled or put into a collage!

I woke up early in the morning, eager to start the manufacturing process. I began creating circles, flowers, leaves and backgrounds. And found some handmade buttons as well. I did not have the time to make something from textiles and yarns, I was too excited to get to the buying mode. Well, this shop had great service and everything was free, it was easy pick up all the pieces needed.

Then I could not hold myself anymore. More is more! Well, this is what you get when you get overboard with shopping!

What if your scrapbbook and art journal would be almost the same thing ...

Tell me what you think? Did you get the idea?

Playing With Faces

2011-02-11T14:22:00.003+02:00

As mentioned in the January blog post, I am attending Traci Bautista's FASHIONISTA! art course and here's the exercise where we draw the fashionable face with markers.

I try not to take the course very seriously but just enjoy and play with pens and paints. This reminds me of my childhood. When I was a child I used to draw hundreds of faces and give them names and families. It was a bit like playing with paper dolls. I could entertain myself for hours. Well, I still can spend hours and hours drawing this and that, so no change there!

Creativity Heals

2011-02-09T18:49:00.006+02:00

Here's my entry for Inspiroidu scrapbooking challenge #145. It is about my dear beagle Toni who passed away just few weeks ago.

This was a very difficult page to make but I felt I needed to do it. When I started scrapbooking a year ago I thought I could only make happy pages. But as life goes along sad things do happen. I did not want to document Toni's last days. Instead of that I summarized how handsome and sweet he looked at all ages. He was a very special dog. I will be making many layouts about him and his life with my other beagle Cosmo but with this page I try to accept what happened.

Creating Keepsakes magazine, January 2011 issue, has a great article about scrapbooking difficult events with the title Creativity Heals.

The Beginning of Fashion February

2011-01-26T22:21:00.007+02:00

I am slowly recovering moving to a new house and starting creative work by attending Traci Bautista's FASHIONista! workshop. It is about making drawings inspired by fashion. I am celebrating the coming month by naming it Fashion February! You will see my interpretations of fashionistas, join to make a few of your own! I started by watching America's Next Top Model and Dolce & Gabbana's advertising and here's the first one!

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-23T20:11:00.003+02:00

I always dream about preparing for Christmas well ahead and usually never will. This year of all the years I have done more Christmas preparations than many times before. Even if I am about to move to a new home within a week and I am living with a small chaos at the moment!

Here's the cover of a mini album I have made as a present. I think mini scrapbooking albums make great presents. I picked some memorable photos for my sisters, like this gingerbread house which we made together when I was a small child.

Hopefully new memorable photos will be taken this Christmas for future scrapbook pages! Happy holidays!

Playing With Decos

2010-12-13T19:52:00.003+02:00

Here's a couple of recent pages I have made for decos. Decos are handmade booklets that circle from one person to another and everyone decorates one page. When all the pages have been decorated the deco is sent to the person it is made for. Think about tens, even hundreds of decos with different themes waiting for you to decorate a page and send it forward. How crazy is that?!

Pretty crazy, with very little purpose, but I still love that hobby! Would I never make a collage of vintage boat trip or strange nature phenomenon? Without decos, probably not. Decos stretch imagination and help finding personal style. It is also interesting to see what other signers have created with the theme. Deco swappers appreciate the solitude spent with decos but at the same time they appreciate the network among similar people.

When I make decos I enter the imaginary world where anything is possible. Can't think a better way to relax!

Winners!

2010-12-06T21:33:00.004+02:00

Using random number generator I have randomly picked the recipients for the card surprise package. They are:

1) Martina

2) Holly Eva

3) Monika

Martina, Holly Eva and Monika, please contact me by sending your mailing address to peonyandparakeet(at)kolumbus.fi!

Thank you all for commenting! I really enjoyed reading your comments!

Giveaway!

2010-11-29T18:59:00.007+02:00

To celebrate the coming holiday season I am giving away 3 surprise packages of my cards, some glossy postcards, some folded greeting cards.

To participate the giveaway:

Tell me what you would like to read or see in Peony And Parakeet blog in 2011.

Pictures of folk bags? Instructions for craft projects? Articles on art journaling? More sock knitting? What inspires you?

Leave your comment on 3rd December at the latest.

I will randomly pick the winners before 7th December.

The Last Page

2010-11-22T19:20:00.005+02:00

Here's the last page of my first ever art journal. I am little worried about the lack of text in the last journal pages. Also, should I use more realistic illustrations? I guess there are no rules in art journaling but I still want to question and seek my way in it!

How To Make Your Own Patterned Paper

2010-11-06T13:35:00.009+02:00

While preparing moving to a new house I have tried to avoid big projects. So I have done quite a lot of paper crafting recently. One of the easiest and quickest things to do is to make patterned papers. I use Canson sketch paper (90 g in thickness) and whatever paints and pens I possibly have.

I think that sometimes more really is more, so I call these "More Is More" papers! I am going to use these for my art journal pages. Before cutting them I scan them so that I can use the same paper digitally or print a copy of it. That way I have always some papers available.

Now I am going to show you one of the easiest way I know to make really rich and colorful paper. Besides the paper, you will need watercolors, marker pens, gel pens and colored pencils, correction pen and relaxed mind. Don't worry about the mess you make, it will look lovely in the end!

1) Paint the background with watercolors.

Use circular strokes. Don't think.

Dry the excess water with tissue paper here and there to create some lighter areas.

2) Make doodles with markers.

I love to use PITT artist pens here. Any medium marker will do.

I like circles and swirls but you can doodle what ever comes to your mind. Relax your hand and keep the pressure light.

3) Continue doodling with gel pens.

Now change to gel pens and make detailed doodles. I use Sakura gel pens.

Some might think that this is the last step but no way! More is more, remember!

4) Color areas with colored pencils.

If you look closely there might be areas where colors are grayish or not so prefect. Take your colored pencils and work the problem areas. Do not worry overlapping the doodling. The layered look is just what we aim here.

It looks like this now. Finished? Oh no!

5) Doodle with correction pen.

One of the best pens you can buy is a fine point correction pen. After you have colored all the white areas, you can make the white to come back with the correction pen! Now doodle over the paper, here and there...

6) Add contrast and shine.

Take your black marker and make pretty dots near the white areas.

Optional: If you have a gold metallic pen you can doodle mindlessly over everything to add some extra shine.

Isn't more really more? You can stop in any step, of course, I couldn't!

For the busy people I have created a JPG file from the finished background. Subscribe Peony and Parakeet Specials, my email newsletter (formerly known as "Kukkilintu Moments"), and receive the file to your email!

New Elements in Life

2010-10-24T19:36:00.005+03:00

My art journal has only one page left. These two pages repeat the idea that I have been trying to catch for a long time: have something light and flowing on the heavy background. I am intrigued by the fact that even if something can be easily understood conceptually, it can still be very hard to express it.

I am probably in urge to paint light, evaporating elements because my life is about to change. Me and my husband have bought a house with a big garden and we are moving to the new home within few months. I will get more room for all the creative activities and so does my husband. But our first creative project will be renovating the house and, when the summer comes, planning the garden. It will be hard work, but we are very excited!

What Scrapbooking Has Taught To Me

2010-10-08T22:49:00.004+03:00

This is how I spent most Friday evenings: have a coke, listen to Paperclipping Roundtable podcast and make a scrapbook layout. It is so relaxing and so much fun.

This week's Paperclipping Roundtable was one of the bests ever. The discussion about scrapbooking museum and what it would consist, is both deep and entertaining. I am pretty sure that scrapbooking is one of the noblest hobbies one can have. It really shows how valuable time is and how unnecessary it is to own and want everything. Through scrapbooking I have learnt that everyday life is huge and valuable. And I have only scrapped from the beginning of this year!

Here's one of the 50 layouts that I have made so far. It's about my first dog Anja and a stuffed toy dog that I bought because it looked so similar to her. Even if Anja has died many years ago, I often think about her and how she got excited about small things in life. For me scrapbooking has taught that, really cherish the small events. I believe strongly that all the big things are collections of small ones. If you can understand the value of small steps someday you will be able to take a big leap too.

Doodling Over Photo

2010-10-03T20:42:00.007+03:00

I love scrapbooking so I wanted to add some to my art journal too. I combined illustration with a photograph. It looks so summery, the lily from the garden and all the pastel colors!

The page was also very easy to do: just some doodling with pens on the background paper, then attaching the photo and then doodling over it. I love to doodle circles, it is the shape I am most fond of!

From Three Bags To Three Idols

2010-09-27T20:00:00.005+03:00

Here are my newest folk bags, all custom orders. The fabrics I have used in these bags are my own designs and create an illusion of continuous knitted fabric. I think of my bags as collage, combining different elements in uniform way.

I would love to add more artistic elements to my bags, like wild paintings. I often think my work is too controlled, too designed. I admire the look of relaxed illustrations, especially lively drawings. It is like I have walked a long way to be able to create something detailed and then, I just wish I could go back to the child's world where anything is possible and everything is relaxed and playful.

That's why I admire Miina Äkkijyrkkä so much. She is not only brilliant sculptor, but also outstanding illustrator who has designed fabrics for Marimekko. She, Anni Rapinoja and Sirkka Könönen are my three idols!

Why I Would Like To Be Purple

2010-09-20T20:18:00.004+03:00

Here's a very special folk bag that I have made by custom order. It is meant for a spindle, that's why its longer than my regular bags.

I got the fabric with the order and I just fell in love with it. It was pure joy to make the matching crochet and knits. I love blue purples! They are very spiritual colors and there's nothing mundane in them. I wish I could be purple - well over everyday worries and petty thoughts!

Making this bag was color therapy for me. It makes me think how important it is to work with the colors that have some kind of personal meaning. What colours touch your soul?

Handmade Business Cards

2010-09-18T17:43:00.005+03:00

As a participant of Discovering Y.O.U art marketing course I was encourage to try to make my own business card. I was a bit pessimistic first, but making these was so much fun!

It all started with the stamp I had ordered from Vistaprint.

The stamped text box is nothing artistic but the it hit me. I am going to paint and draw the image on the other side. I took an old sheet of blank business cards and started painting. As I also make textiles, especially knits, I wanted to have some of them in the card too. I took few balls of handdyed yarns and made some samples of them. What do you think about the result?

My art journal has got a couple of new pages. These are inspired by interior decoration and gardening magazines.

Colorful Illustrations and Gray Yarn

2010-09-11T16:02:00.008+03:00

Here are more pages of my first art journal that I am making at Traci Bautista's Discovering Y.O.U. course. I am getting there: undestanding how fun and fascinating it is to have journal. I have always dreamed about having an extra room for library and now I dream also about the whole bookshelf with books that I have made myself.

I am also more and more into illustration. I have been listening Thomas James's podcast Escape from Illustration Island for some time. It is worth listening if you want to go deep with the professional illustration world. I quite like to find stuff way above my own skills, it really makes me practice more and more.

Here's a journal page with some illustration:
Few spreads of the journal:

Besides making journal, knitting and other regular crafts, I have been making yarn from the wool I got from my friend. I have carded the wool myself and now some of it has been spun to the yarn. Now so colorful than my journal pages but I think it is so cool to be able to make yarn from the wool collected from the area where I spent my childhood.

I want to finish with colors though. Here's a card that I made some time ago with stamps and markers. Stamps are great for creating illustrated feel too!

Dreaming Big and Art Journaling

2010-09-06T12:42:00.007+03:00

I am currently attending Traci Bautista's e-course called "Discovering Y.O.U." It is about marketing your art and it includes exercises that are meant to put together into an art journal.

I am pretty organized person and just could not crab some odd pages in different sizes as it was suggested. Instead, I chose an old book from my book shelf, downloaded Altered Books Tutorial from PaperClipping.com (which happened to be for sale just at that time) and started converting the book to the journal.

The book became very overwhelming in patterns and all. But it's so me, so I think it's ok. The papers and decorations are all my designs.

Here's the front cover:

And here's the back cover:

If you haven't seen enough patterning yet, here's the inside back cover. I have to take a deep breath before opening it!

First pages:

The exercises require quite a lot of thinking. Like this one: creating your own artist mission statement.

While making this I am constantly meeting the person I am most familiar with: my inner critic. She can be very discouraging, to be honest. Compared to scrapbooking, art journaling goes much deeper, and I almost hate it! My inner critic wants everything be controlled, black and white, clear-shaped ... bla bla bla.

When she's off, I browse the wildly patterned papers I've made for the book, giggling! How serious art journaling should be - I don't know! I am a total beginner in it!

Summer Nights

2010-08-08T19:52:00.002+03:00

I love Finnish summer with lots of daylight. These newest bags are about Finnish summer nights, the one in the front is called Night Garden and the one in the back is Summer Sunset. I really enjoyed working with these deep, rich colors.

Summer Sunset is partly felted, I took a risk by trying felting. I was pleasantly surprised. As the knitted part was very thin, it did not transform too chunky. Summer Sunset is for sale in Kukkilintu store.

The World of Wool

2010-08-06T18:30:00.009+03:00

10 months ago, before I bought a spinning wheel, I did not realize how deeply one can fall in love with the wool. I had been knitting all my life, how deeper could it get! But now I know, there's a new world, and it's a world where wool is the queen and I am its' servant.

Before spinning I thought that sheep is sheep or merino. Now I know: there are so many breeds, so much different wool, even sheep wool, that it will take a lifetime to try them all. Very soon I also realized that I want to dye my wool and not only buy luxury fibers from the web but also buy wool produced more locally.

Then it hit me: the spinning wheel would not be enough. I need a drum carder. By not traveling abroad this summer I could finally justify the purchase. Now there's one limit less, I can card my local wool and mix fibers with this machine!

I had some coarse Finnish sheep wool to try it out. It looked pretty bad after dyeing but my magic carder did some wonders!

Then I had to spin some of it, of course!

Now I have just got a bag of rare Finnish wool, the breed is "Kainuun harmas" and this wool is much softer. What makes it very special is that my friend gave it to me. She had bought it from the sheep farmers in the area where I used to live as a child. She has washed it and now its my turn to card and make some yarn from it! I got it in three colors!

New Postcards and Enjoying Summer

2010-07-27T18:03:00.006+03:00

I have a couple of new cards for sale in my Etsy store Kukkilintu. The first one is called Always Together and I was thinking about summer weddings, true friendships and everything so positive! The second one is called Sit Here and was inspired by interior magazines. I love to read them and imagine myself having like 8 different houses for suiting different occasions and moods!

Even if I have been crafting like mad, I have had also some time to enjoy the summer which has been particularly hot in Finland this year. I love to see my pets enjoying it too, here's my guinea pig Pepe. He thinks our small garden is like a huge superstore filled with snacks!

Changes in Blogs

2010-07-22T23:59:00.003+03:00

I have had a little crisis for a quite a long time with my blogs. I want to blog both in English and in Finnish. Using them in the same blog seemed like a good idea first, but really, it's not. I think it makes the blog difficult to read. I also want to blog about all the crafts I make, not only knitting or papercrafts. So I have deciced to reduce my three blogs into two. This one will be only in English but it will have not only paper projects but also textile arts. ou can find this blog using the short address www.peonyandparakeet.com. The other one is in finnish, called Pioni ja Parakiitti, and it will have the same concept of covering all areas of crafting that I do.

What about Kukkilintu? I have imported the blog posts of Kukkilintu blog here and labeled them for easy browsing. Kukkilintu blog will not be updated and I kindly ask you to follow this blog instead! I will continue Kukkilintu shop and Kukkilintu Moments newsletter. For clarity, I have changed my Twitter account to PeonyParakeet. If you follow me on Twitter, please follow PeonyParakeet in the future! I have also founded a new Etsy shop called Peony and Parakeet and will move Blythe doll clothing there. Folk bags, fabrics and cards will remain in Kukkilintu shop, at least for a while.

I hope this is not all too confusing. I really came to a point where maintaining three different blogs was too much. I also needed a unique name that I can register in most of the services and can be remembered easier.

With these paper flowers I wish you welcomed to Peony and Parakeet whether you are interested in knitting, spinning, papercrafting, dyeing, buying my crafts, even soap making as I reveal a secret: I have made my own soaps for many years and love it!

Jewelry Inspired

2010-07-16T01:08:00.005+03:00

In my imaginative world I can be as rich as I want!

Mielikuvitus ei tunne rajoja rikkaudelle!

I really enjoyed making these cards, thinking about jewelry and adding stamped images all over the place. This first card has strong colors and that makes it look a bit asian to me.

Näitä kortteja oli kiva tehdä, haaveilla koruista ja lisäillä leimasimella kuvia kerros kerrokselta. Ekassa kortissa on aika voimakkaat värit ja siinä näyttää ehkä siksi olevan aasialaisvaikutteita.

The second card is not only about jewelry but also about buttons. I love buttons, both stamped and real ones! I made this one to look like a charm bracelet.

Tämä toinen kortti on paitsi korujen, myös nappien ystäville. Olen itse ihan nappifani ja tässä olen yhdistellyt sekä nappileimoja, että oikeita nappeja tarkoituksenani kuvata rannekorua, jossa roikkuu riipuksia.

Summer Stamping

2010-07-14T16:40:00.003+03:00

We have a great hot weather in Finland. Almost too hot to do anything but simple stamping.

Kuumalla säällä ei oikein voi tehdä paljoa, mutta leimailla aina voi!

I made this card using a collection of stamps and butterfly stickers. Somehow I find stamping almost as relaxing as knitting and spinning!

Tein tämän kortin erilaisia leimasimia ja perhostarroja käyttäen. Leimailu on uskomattoman rentouttavaa, melkein yhtä rentouttavaa kuin neulominen tai kehrääminen!

Swedish Wedding and Finnish Summer

2010-07-07T23:02:00.000+03:00

Here in Scandinavia the biggest news in July has been Swedish Princess Viktoria's wedding. I watched them on television as most of the women in Finland certainly did. So romantic! I could not help making a few folk bags inspired by the celebration.

Here are Silvia (the queen mother), Viktoria (the bride) and Madeleine (the sister of the bride)!

After all the silk and chiffon I went back to Finnish culture and visited Visavuori, a finnish sculptor's Emil Wikström's summer cottage and studio. Very Arts and Crafts, my favorite style!

I have a summer holiday and a lot of going on with my craft projects. It is so tempting to be awake late when Finnish summer is so unique and wonderful. The sun hardly goes down, it's so much light and the weather has been warm, almost hot. I hope all those who have planned to visit Finland are here right now as it's now as good as it can get!

How to keep up?

2010-06-29T22:04:00.000+03:00

During this year I have received several requests to send an email after I have listed new items at my store. I gladly send these emails! Over the months it has become clear to me that people who like to follow what I do and when I list my next folk bags should be able to subscribe these emails more freely. So I have set up a new service: Kukkilintu Moments email newsletter. You can subscribe and unsubscribe it whenever you want. I will post a short email after I list folk bags to my store or release new products. I will also include some personal touch in every newsletter. I excited about this! Feel free to subscribe Kukkilintu Moments!

I have a few new folk bags under work, here's a sneak peek of one of them!

Cards Are Here and About Sirkka Bag

2010-06-27T14:50:00.000+03:00

I have my first set of cards printed out. The next ones are already being designed. These all are made to go with my folk bags and the colorful world I love and adore. I was a bit puzzled of how to sell the cards. I made mixed sets for Kukkilintu store but if you miss a certain combination, leave me a convo and I will list it for you.

I also made some Moo cards. I will include a Moo card for the next orders at Kukkilintu. Aren't they just so wonderfully rich and colorful!

In my last post I promised to write more about a very special bag I made during the spring. It was a custom order folk bag whose owner just loves Sirkka Könönen, a Finnish textile designer. Well, I am Sirkka's fans too so the project was not only challenging but very interesting! I started with the collage of Sirkka's work, then picked the colors and designed the motif. I started thinking about cranberries and cloudberries. My father used to pick these berries. One morning he left early to pick some cranberries and came back before dinner. My mother made a desert from the berries and said to me that “this desert could be served in the finest restaurants”. She appreciated the cranberries so much.

When constructing the bag I thought how memories and stories are so important in everything I make. My concept of living is a "Knit your story" thing. My inner critic has a strong, powerful voice, but it is silenced by the stories. There cannot be anything wrong in storytelling. It is so hard work to try to be a better designer and I am afraid I never will be good enough. But whatever happens, the power of stories always surprises me and makes me forget all the possibilities I might never get. Everything is possible in my imaginary world! I wish I can give a glimpse of it for you via this blog!

More photos of Sirkka at my Flickr site.

Using Predefined Colors

2010-06-23T20:20:00.003+03:00

Here's a layout I made using the colors given in Scrap Camp pre-class assignment. This is about my dogs and how they have to wait for us to come home, get fed and taken out for a walk. It is heart-breaking to leave them every morning when going to work!

Tein tämän sivun Scrap Camp -kurssin ennakkotehtävänä. Siinä piti skräpätä käyttäen annettuja värejä. Värit oli valittu alla olevasta kuvasta ja annettu väriruutuina.

Here's the given predefined color palette, inspired by the picture.

I have to mention that as I love animals, I love Basic Grey's new line Max & Whiskers. Finally something really appropriate for the layouts about animals. Love, love love it!

Eläinrakkaiden skräppialbumeihin sopii hyvin Basic Greyn uusi Max & Whiskers. Suomessa sitä saa ainakin Paperikierteestä. Aivan ihana minusta! Naiivi, mutta en mahda mitään, että vetoaa minuun ja sopii niin hyvin eläinaiheisiin sivuihin (joita minulla on lukuisia ja joita tulee vielä lukuisia).

Using Cake Paper and Two Languages

2010-06-23T19:39:00.005+03:00

As I have both english and finnish speaking readers I have decided to change this blog bilingual. My aim is not to translate every word but include both english and finnish in every post now on. Feel free to leave comment in either of the two languages.

Koska blogillani on myös suomenkielisiä lukijoita, kirjoitan vastedes osan merkinnöistäni suomeksi. En käännä sanasta sanaan, vaan kirjoittelen vapaasti. Kommentoida voi molemmilla kielillä.
Here's a layout which I made for this week's Inspiroidu scrapbooking challenge. The challenge was to use any stuff found in kitchen. I immediately knew I had to use this cake paper as I had just read instructions from May Flaum how to use die cut circles for a page. She advised to cut them in two pieces and use the other one for the photo and the other for the journaling. This page is about my african violets!

Osallistun tämän viikon Inspiroidu-haasteeseen tällä sivulla, jossa esittelen saint paulia -innostustani. Sain idean käyttää kakkupapereita May Flaumin ohjeesta, jossa hän neuvoi halkaisemaan ympyrän muotoisen skräppipaperin ja sijoittamaan tekstin toiseen ja kuvan toiseen puoliskoon.

Speaking of May Flaum I will be attending her scrapbooking class called Scrap Camp at Big Picture Scrapbooking. I have very high expectations as I was so pleased with my previous class, Textuality by Amy Sorensen.

Olen ilmoittautunut May Flaumin pitämälle verkkokurssille, jonka nimi on Scrap Camp. Sen järjestää Big Picture Scrapbooking ja odotukset on aika korkealla. Osallistuin keväällä Amy Sorensenin Textuality -kurssille ja se oli aivan huippu. Voin melkein lajitella tekemäni sivut kurssia ennen tehtyihin ja kurssin jälkeisiin.

My First Teddy Bear

2010-06-08T19:54:00.004+03:00

I am taking part of this week's Inspiroidu scrapbooking challenge with a layout made today. The theme of the challenge is toys and it immediately brought my old teddy bear to my mind. I found an old photo of me holding him and asked my husband to take a photo of us today. We have both got older but our spirit has stayed the same! The hanging teddy bear is to remind me of the evening when I had eaten too much berries and accidentally vomited on him. My mother put him to the washing machine and hanged him outside to dry.

Welcome Summer, Welcome New Products and Gardening!

2010-06-06T18:45:00.000+03:00

First, I want to thank you all for so many wonderful messages I have received in May. It means a lot to me that there are people in the world who share the colorful world of Kukkilintu. In the picture you can see few of my latest folk bags and also a couple of my mixed media art work. I will have few greeting cards printed from these in the summer and they will be available for purchase at Kukkilintu store.

I had some stomach aches in May and was examined carefully. Luckily they were just untypical symptoms of appendicitis and I was operated. Before I knew the relieving results (yes, going to a surgery can be relieving!), I only had one regret in life: not putting enough effort on gardening. So I had to make this cabbage themed folk bag for all the gardeners!

I also have finished the folk bag I told you in my last post. It was the one inspired by the finnish textile artist Sirkka Könönen. That was a very special project for me and I will tell more about it in my next blog post in the coming weeks.

Painting Backgrounds

2010-05-13T13:50:00.006+03:00

Today is a public holliday in Finland and I have tried to make most of it already. I have been painting backgrounds for my doodling. I put them all together here in one photo. The colors look great I think.

Here is a couple of finished doodling made recently.

Doodling at Creative Doodles

2010-05-09T20:19:00.009+03:00

I am attending Traci Bautista's online course called Creative Doodles. The picture shows my first weeks exercises. This course is so much fun! Filled with videos and colorful ground material for the exercises.

I have been a big fan of Traci since her book "Collage Unleashed" was published. Her style is something I can really relate to. The book is one of the most inspirational books I have ever seen. If you haven't got it yet, I really recommend it!

Text, Photos and Scrapping

2010-05-04T18:24:00.006+03:00

A scrapbook page "April in Pictures".

In April I participated Picture Spring course organized by Big Picture Scrapbooking. I think it was more about stretching the creativity by completing the assignments than really learning about photography. I do not recommend this kind of course for someone who does not know much about how to adjust the camera as the course was merely a daily challenge than anything educational. Luckily I was familiar with all the basic settings of my SLR camera so that was not a big problem for me. And, I got few really nice photos during April and I am pretty pleased with the result. I really put a lot of effort for taking photos and shoot thousands of photos (really!) during April. My daily picks can be found in my Flickr folder.

Now I am taking part of another course, Textuality. It focuses on writing and is just wonderful. Very educational and full of instructions and examples. Here's one of the exercises I have completed, it's about our kitchen and it is filled with text! The photo has been taken in April - I have so much photos now to use on the layouts!

A scrapbook page "Our Kitchen and How We Would Change It"

I especially like the colors of this layout.

I am taking part of this week's Inspiroidu challenge with these two layouts as I also made them to match this week's theme: using a big alpahabet in the beginning of the title.

A scrapbook page "Why I Love Peonies".

Above is the first layout I made for Textuality - and a bit of the mess I make when I scrap! I have always enjoyed writing but have not really realized the opportunities to use a lot of journaling for scrapping. I intend to improve my layouts not only by taking better photos but also by adding more text and meaning for them.