"A wonderful summer" -exchange from Leena

I got this beautifiul sachet from Leena. The theme for the exchange was "A wonderful summer".Thank you Leena so much, I love it! Now I am thinking what kind of treasures will I keep on it. :) There was also a lovely card with birdhouses so the package had my favourite things. :)

A beautiful Mailart from Maleysia

I took part in a mailart exchange at a Yahoo group. I got this awesome mailart / project case from Aw from Maleysia. The theme was Stitching Accessories and she had stitched scissors, needles, threads etc. with a beautiful thread. I love it, thanks Aw! :)

Mine is still on it's way, so no pics yet.

Good news and Happy Midsummer fest

Once again comes a time that things happen very quickly in my life. This time I have positive news. :) On next Tuesday I will go and sign a new employment contract so from 5th of July I am no longer unemployed! I found a job! It all started yesterday when I found out about the job. Today I had the job interview in the morning (it was 1,5h long and the best job interview I have ever been in) and just before 4 p.m. I got a call that they wanted me to come and work for them. Eventhough I thought earlier about changing to a whole different line of business after this job opportunity I am happy to stay in information technology. My new titel is "information systems specialist", sounds fancy doesn't it. ;) This job is so much better for me than my old one and I trust my new bosses and the company. I started to be a bit nervous about how long I will be unemployed and also worried about the financial side of it. I am so relieved now! Tomorrow we celebrate the Midsummer here in Finland and now I also have another reason to celebrate. :)

I have been stitching but all are so hush hush that no pictures yet. That too will change in July. I have also done some gardening and as it's out there for all to see I will show you some pics too. :) My dad made me a decorative ladder from old hay poles. I found two perfect planters to put on and also some wild-like flowers to plant. On the upper ladder there are two angel geraniums, on the lower ladder there are two red verbenas. On the top ladder I put a birdhouse I bought earlier. There's also a birdhouse among the violets. :)

Happy Midsummer fest to all!

Whales Ahoy!

My two friends both have little girls and their birthdays are very close to each other so on Thursday they had one party to celebrate them both. I wanted to make the gifts myself and wanted to make something bright and cute for them as they turned two and three. I found pretty fabrics and decided to sew these cute baby whales. You can find the pattern here, there are no instructions though. This was a fun little sewing project. :)

 Whales on a shore (actually it'sjust our backyard :))

My husband took this so you can see the size better.

Biscornu exchange

I took part in spring-summer biscornu exchange in Finnish exchange blog. My hands made it hard to finish in time and it was on its way two days late but finally arrived to Pike. I stitched a biscornu that has spring coloured flowers on other side and summer greens and browns on the other side. The chart is from Kissy Cross, you can find it here. The summer sides threads are from our local fabric store and it only says "R" on the band. The spring side is stitched with DMC's Color variations number 4060 and Atalie's "Aster". I happened to have just the right coloured flower button and bead in my stash.

I received this lovely summery biscornu from Minna. Funny thing is that it is also stitched by Kissy Cross' chart. :) Isn't it the cutest! The fabric has some glitter but it doesn't show in the photos. This chart has a fun fence that goes around from one piece to another. Thank you Minna!

My hands have gotten much better during the sick leave. My doctor decided that we wont try again and risk ruining my hands complitely and she wrote me a slip that says I am not fit for the job. I took it to my employer and he was a bit bummed out since he had hoped I would work for them for a long time. So from Tuesday on I will be unemployed again. Finding the bright side: now I have time to dig in my garden as soon as the weather gets a bit warmer. And I am sure I will find a job that fits me sooner rather than later.

Still here but hurting

I just wanted to let you know that I am still here eventhough my blog has been silent for a while. I've had bad joint pains on my fingers and wrists for weeks so I haven't been able to do any stitching or anything else. I've seen a doctor twice this week and now I am on one week sick leave. I hope that it helps and my hands stop hurting. But I might have to quit my new job since it's the reason for this and the doctor said it's only going to get worse. I have one small stitching that I need to finish this week so I try to sew a bit every now and then and try not to put too much strain on my hands.

As I try to rest and get my hands in better shape I also wish the spring will come back. For a couple of days we've had sleet. I have already bought some new things for our backyard and I can't wait to see the flowers starting to grow. :)

Very late birthday gift to Kirsi

I'm taking part in a Birthday exchange in Finland and now I even remember that I do... This is what happened. I got the email about my exchange partners in early October last year. Well I had just heard a few days earlier that I lost my job. I wasn't feeling very well then and I didn't put the date to my exchange calendar like I usually do. So I totally forgot the exchange and the dates. On March our exchange host emailed me asking if the package had been lost in mail since the birthday girl hadn't received it. I was so embarrased when I had to tell her that no it was not lost in mail since it doesn't even exist! So so embarrassing...  I promised I will get right to it and started to stitch the present. I had a great start but then we got in the middle of selling our home and buying a new appartment (and after all the hassle someone else made an offer that the seller approved so we didn't get the new home we wanted). Finally this Monday I got the present in mail and luckily Kirsi liked it a lot. :)

I stitched a part of chart called "Flowery Heart" by Cross Stitchers Club. I sewed a sewing caddy from a brown fabric, "Blush" Layer Cake by Moda Fabrics and bias strip. I didn't find model for this so I made up my own. I had seen pictures of sewing caddys in internet and liked them a lot. I thought Kirsi might want to use it as a cross stitch project bag. It has six pockets on the outside for all the bits and pieces. The chart for the card is from Mausimom's blogi and it's called the "Vogelpaarherz". The present also included two thread winders from The Gift of Stitching shop and two needle threaders (with cutting blades).  You can see a good pic of the whole present in  Kirsi's blog since as usual I forgot to take a photo of the whole thing. :D

Many blogs have had spring photos. Well we can't take photos like that since it's still very wintery here in Finland but these photos show that the snow is melting here too. :) We had these beautiful icicles hanging from our gutters. Longest ones were almost one meter long. When the sun shines they sparkle like diamonds.

I felt like baking on Wednesday so I made these yummies, carrot cupcakes. I made those little marzipan carrots myself too. :) As my hubby didn't like these (he is not a big fan of cream cheese... go figure...) I took some to work with me yesterday so I didn't have to eat ALL of them alone. :) It did not take long until they were all eaten. :)

Stitched mailarts and a baby gift

I took part in Finnish stitched mailart exchange and stitched an assisi styled envelope to Lumivalko from the blog Lumivalko ja Ruusunpuna (written in Finnish). The chart is called "Americano" and it's from a magazine  Ricami d'Assisi, I ordered it from Casa Cenina. The magazine has many beautiful assisi charts. Inside the envelope I put two cards and two stamps. I found a perfect rose stamp to the envelope but sadly it was lost in mail and also the other one of the fairy stamps that I put inside was lost too.
I stitched this on white 28ct Brittney evenweave with DMC thread 321.

Front:

Back:

Details:

The dotted lining:

One of the cards had a saying that is perfect for us crafty people. :)

"Ihminen jolla on mielikuvitusta,
ei laske luvuissa vaan mahdollisuuksissa."
("A person who has imagination
doesn't count numbers
but possibilities instead.")

I got an mailart form Marja. She stitched me a beautiful mailart with birdhouses and sent me two matching cards too. And as I like sheep she put in a sheep stamp and one frog stamp in too.

My cousin had a baby girl in January and I stitched a present for her. It's very similar to the one I sent to my friend for her son, a pacifier pouch and a bunny. For the pouch I stitched  Little 'Uns chart Baby Newton from the Cross Stitch Card Shop magazine, issue 65. I stitched it on white 28ct Brittney evenweave, with one over one. I used both Anchor and DMC threads. Charts for the bunny are from the World of Cross Stitching magazine, issue 126.

Details: