Turquois!

I made a new necklace again, this time with turquoise and white pearls. I think it'll suit my black dress perfectly, since there's some embroidered turquoise flowers on it. And then I also already have matching earrings: the ones I made before the baptisme in july.

But here comes some photos of this new creation:

White pearls!

More pearls! :) I actually finished another necklace too:

(Note the panda looking over my shoulder ;))

The white pearls are actually rather old. I think they used to belong to my great grandmother Katarina but then she or my grandmother gave them to me already when I was pretty young. Then they've just been in my stash for years, waiting to be used for something. I'm glad they (or at least a few of them, I still have some pearls left) finally did find a new home.

Then I also used some golden and silvery sweetwater pearls, and they have a compleately different kind of story. When I worked at the Mustio Mannor a couple of years ago, we sold these bracelets made out of sweetwater pearls in different colours. The problem was that they used to break quite easily, making the pearls roll all over the room. Of course, we tried to gather all the pearls and send them back to where they came from, but there were always some pearls left behind. So, occasionaly, when I a few days later found one lonely, lost pearl on the floor, I put it in my pocket :)

Necklace in red

Yesterday I was reading some handicraft blogs again and found especially one that I liked very much. It's called Annan aarteet. She's got a beautiful blog, where she presents all her different crafts. Mostly jewelry and cards, but also some sewing and knitting. 

Once again inspired by all the lovely things I found around the web, I finally finished my first pearl necklace.

It's mostly made out of old pearls I found in my stash. I actually have quite a lot of them. When I was a teenager, I was really into this pearl-stuff so my mom bought me a lot of small glass pearls. Unfortunately I think my inspirations flew away after making only a few bracelets back then, but lately I've had some use for the pearls again in a lot of different crafts. Like this one :)

In case anyone's wondering, the music sheet underneath the necklace is Mozart's Fantasie in D minor :) I love playing that tune. It's really beautiful! But I really should practise it more... I never seem to learn some parts of it.

Cherry-berries

After surfing around on different handicraft-blogs, I got inspired and made a new pair of earrings. They're very simple and not at all like the fabulous creations on the blogs, but I like time anyway. They suit me. And I call then Cherry-berry earrings :)

I also started making a necklace, but that one isn't finished yet. I guess my inspiration just flew away...

Then I also got a (in my own opinion) splendid idea! I want to start a hobby-club! When I was out for a walk with a friend this afternoon, I told her about my idea, and now I already have one member! Yay! The idea for the concept is simply to have an excuse to meet friends more often. Everyone could bring some of their hobbies with them and then we could gather somewhere, maybe eat some good food and just spend time together. And as I'd like the club to be very liberal, a hobby wouldn't even be compulsory. Or you could bring a movie, or a book, or whatever! The most important thing would be to bring yourself. Tell me, isn't this a good idea? :)

Now, what could be a good name for the club...? Hmm...

(Almost) 100% homemade!

Inspired by a friend at work, I made som homemade muesli and I have to say it turned out delicious!

It contains four-grain flakes, cornflakes, hazelnuts, pinenuts, raisins, dried cranberries, dried bananas and some brown sugar. I roasted the nuts and flakes along with the sugar in the owen and then just mixed them up with all the other ingredients. Especially the cranberries where actually quite expensive, but I decided I could afford a more luxuary muesli-version this time. Maybe I'll make a cheaper version of it next time :)

Then I also made homemade hamburgers a while ago:

I even baked the bread myself. Homemade hamburgers are just so much better than what you get in e.g. McDonald's. There's no extra fat (or other suspicious stuff) and you can choose exactly what you want to have in it and how much of everything. Then I also made some spicy potato wedges as a side-dish to the burgers. Yummy. Cooking at home is just so great. ...As long as everything goes according to plan...

Summer!

Now, here comes the pictures I promised already a few days ago

I had planned to do all of this quite evenly while I was at my parents' place. But in stead of doing the most important thing, i.e. study the old letters for my master's thesis, I ended up knitting for most of the time. I think mt newest knit will be ready in just a few more days, yay! I'm so excited about it. I think it's going to be my favourite so far!

Then I also made a summer drink. It's a Pirkka-recipe (Hunajainen mansikkabooli) and was really easy to make. Just 1 l of apple juice, 1/2 dl of honey, 1 lemon and 1 l of strawberries cut in half. Then I put the whole thing in the fridge for a couple of hours and then added 1/2 l of sparkling water with the taste of forest fruits and some ice right before "serving" it. The next time I think I'll add a bit more lemon, because it was maybe too sweet like this, but nevertheless refreshing.

As the sun was shining on Sunday, I went out to take some pictures in the garden.

 

This is a some kind of a self portrait in the garden :D

But now I think I'll just let the garden speak for itself. First up something I think is like a small zen-garden, then just a lot of flowers :)

   

 

 

 

Summer means knitting for me...

...or at least kind of. During the summer I usually have more time to knit than during the winter when I have all my studies, so no wonder I finish more projects now. Here's the latest finished knitting project; a black shrug. I'm a bit unsure about the sleeves, I might redo them later and make them long after all.

It was a quick and easy pattern, really easy to follow and the size fits perfectly.

Then to some other news. As I told you earlier I applied for the class teaching program here at the University of Helsinki. The results came yesterday and unfortunately I wasn't accepted. I was 7 points away from the minimum 203 points needed. Of course I'm dissapointed but I guess I just have to try harder next year. At least now I'm prepared for the tricky interview. It's just that there's so much to read for the written exam, that I don't know how I'll make enough time for it next year. This spring I only had a few lessons and even so I felt I didn't have enough time to prepare. But next year it's full-time studying again so it'll be even harder. But there's no point in being miserable. The weather has been so wonderful in Finland this summer so I refuse to let it pass me by. I know some people already complain about the heat, but I think it's great. I'm glad it'll continue like this at least for a few weeks more. The only bad thing about it is that it's so hot inside too. Last night I woke up several times because of the heat and was sweaty all over. Yuck. Air conditioning would really be a great thing...

Well, better get back to work again :)

Champagne taste

Phew, it's been hot today. But it's nice too. I have this week off from work (except for tuesday and saturday) so I'm trying to get some work done on my master's thesis. It's just not that inspireing to sit inside by the computer when the sun is shining outside and it for once is warm even in Helsinki. I was outside for and hour and a half, but then I had to come inside again to prevent buring my skin. I'm still too white for this kind of weather since I've been working most of the sunny days so far.

I've had time to finish another handicraft too:

I'm not sure if I like this white purse or not. It's sweet but the shape is a bit... I don't know... Not like I pictured it anyway! But maybe I get used to it eventually.

You can also get a glimps of an impulse buy I made a couple of weeks ago, but here's a better picture:

It's a painting I saw in the shopwindow of a tiny, little shop a couple of blocks away from where I live. I love champage! :) Just haven't figured out where to put it yet, though. Maybe the kitchen? Or the bedroom since it's yellow? Hmm...

Baptism

I was to the baptism today. I think the hero of the day behaved real nicely even though he was a bit cranky in the beginning of the ceremony. But no wonder! I would be angry too if someone woke me up during my nap and then poured some water on my head :) Here's the little cutie when he was still asleep:


And here's our godparents' certificates. I actually never thought I'd get the chance to be a godmother since I don't have any siblings. But luckily I now have someone to spoil after all.


And now I think I also can reveal what I made for the little boy:


Of course he also got a silver spoon, these small bootees were only like a small bonus. I found them on Ravelry and couldn't resist them. I thouht they were so cute. I just hope they're not too small. The boy grows really fast, so there's a good chance he'll never have time to wear them... But well, no can do. I had fun knitting them anyway! :D

New old dress

I'm going to a baptism on saturday, more precisely my godson's baptism. However, I was a bit stressed since I didn't have anything suitable to wear for the occasion, but then last weekend I remembered I had this old dress, I haven't used for ages. Mostly because it's a full-length dress, and there's hardly ever any occasion for that kind of a dress. Then it has also been way too big for me.

It really looked horrible on me when I tried it on. So I had to make some modifications, and this is the result:

I have to say I'm pretty pleased by the result. The biggest modification is the length, I now made it knee-length. And then I also had to make it a lot smaller around the waist. Last but not least, I also put on a white silky sash to accentuate my waist. But that part is removable, so I can wear the dress without it too, if I want.

Then I also made a pair of earrings that suits the dress:

With them I think I'll have the necklace I got for my own baptism: a silver locket.