Easter Is Coming!

And how do I know that? Without Pinterest I probably would have not noticed it yet. Last easter I made an Easter themed illustration and people have been pinning it now. Also I love Faberge eggs and discovered via Pinterest that many other's do that too.

So, thinking of eggs like a minute or so, I had to begin to make my own ones!

Introducing My Own Yarn!

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!

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

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

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

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

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.