ONE WEEK!

Within a week I'm already in Amsterdam, waiting patiently. Add couple more hours and I'll be on a plain that's about to take me to Tokyo! So exciting! But also so scary. I'm not a huge fan of flying. I can take it pretty easy, thanks to little help from a doctor. But still...I'm afraid I'll start to think about all the things that could go wrong and also the fact that I'm trapped inside that metal box for hours and hours doesn't comfort me at all. Trapped. No way out. Kind of like when you are getting a tattoo, you should not think about the skin cells breaking, and all the actions the cells are taking from preventing more damage. But the needle just does what ever the tattoo artist wants and your cells are screaming for help...One should not think about that when being tattooed...

Okay, I need to go! I have a fabric printing date at the city at 10am!

Pictures!

Take care!

xoxo,
Raisa

Can I change?

Can a person change? For good? For real? I strongly doubt it. Of course you can stop smoking/doing drugs/drinking and/or start exercising and so on. But do we really change? Like maybe you've heard of life changing moments, but is it really that one moment can change the way you are? The way you think?

Oh, well. The more I think about it the more convinced I am that a person can change, and that the change can be "over night". Like images of abused animals can change a person for good!

The reason I'm talking about that is that last night when I was thinking about how happy I am with Mr. C. We've been together for five years and it just gets better  and better. But then again there are times when I absolutely xxx him. When I can't think of anything good about him. Then I wonder what on earth did I see in him in the first place. But last night I some how realized that the strong negative feelings aren't really about him. It's more about me. How I get very strongly annoyed if he doesn't behave/act/think the way I want him to behave/act/think. Do you follow? I'm not sure if I do.

But you know, when I'm all in love with him and everything is just perfect then it's most likely that way because of the way he makes me feel. He makes me feel safe and more balanced, and so on. It's not that I love him bacause he runs fast or is so goddamn handsome. umm...hard to explain. I love the way he looks because I can see it. I wouldn't love it if he was handsome but I were blind. I don't care if he runs fast or not because that's not something for me. Unless I see him in a race. So why would be the negative feelings be about him? I xxx him because of the way he makes me feel. Damn! I'm into something! So next time I feel like chopping him into pieces I should focus on me! Why do I react to his actions this way? What does it tell about me?

Interesting.  So the question about the change was about this. Can this knowledge (about the negative feelings being about me) change me?

It's early, I've been awake for three hours already. I feel like doing some serious sewing today!

I'll soon make a post about the whole organizing project. Kind of like before and after thing.

Bye!

xoxo,
Raisa

My travel journal came yesterday! It's effing great! (pic taken from the website!)

I love riding my bike!!

Boy, I had such a lovely day yesterday! I really haven't been feeling that great lately, but yesterday as I was riding my bike to the city, and stopping to take pictures of my sweet little Astrid I was so happy. The weather was perfect, I wasn't too cold or too hot, I was just perfect, the water I had brought to drink with me was the perfect temperature, my bike was light to pedal, the wind wasn't blowing too hard and even though there were other (annoyingly ignorant of the "walk on the right hand side of the road" -rule) people out there they didn't drive me crazy.

During my trip I got so much done, like picked up a fabric from courier company, bought some other fabric from fabric store, bought ribbon, sold gold chains and a bracelet (lol! I'm sure I got ripped off big time!) got some Japanese yens (again, not very good deal. Usually stuff like that bothers me a lot. And I mean a LOT! But I decided not to care! I got it done and that's all that matters! And don't tell me about withdrawing money on my bank account while there instead of transferring money here. Last time in Japan I couldn't find one single place where my card would've worked, and I had problems with my CC also, luckily I had enough cash! And also last time in the States I followed this advice and ended up borrowing money from my mother-in-law! Since I couldn't get money from my account. I feel safer when I have the money in my hand thank you very much. I'm old and old fashioned.) and also sold my old school books and got money to buy treats for my trip. I went to Ekolo and the first time ever I didn't like th eperson working there! So strange! Usually they are so nice and friendly, but this one was just distant and not "warm" at all. Also didn't like the person at the craft store I got the ribbon from. But I barely ever like the staff there, too young to understand anything about customer service. She was organizing some shelves and there was a line at the counter (me and somebody in front of me). We waited and she didn't show up, so I had to ask her to come to the register and I felt like saying sorry to bother you since she looked upset she had to serve us instead of organizing the shelves. Even that didn't bring me down!

My ride back home was nice, too! Even though I was getting tired and my backbag was so full I kept hitting my gigantic ponytail holder on it :)

I cooked and watched some of The memoirs of a geisha -movie. And went to bed. No sewing. Well, couple seams but thats' it. And I felt good about that, too :)

I really enjoyed the "quality time" with Astrid, I know this sounds silly. But I really enjoy the dolls and I haven't done anything with them for so long and yesterday I got to take pictures of them and even continued Molly's story! I have some great ideas for her!!

Look! Spring veggies!

Holly, the kleptomaniac.

Okay, must go working! But before I go I want to show you my food stash for my trip (that's in two weeks!!!)

 Have a superb Tuesday! I'm sure you deserve it! I do!

xoxo,
 Raisa

Mission accomplished!

My decluttering/organizing/cleaning project is now DONE! Over the weekend I emptied the doll closet and took bunch of crap aside and oraganized everything else and put them back and here are the results:

Before

At one point I couldn't even get the door more open than this!

To get here I had to clear off the floor in front of the closet.

After

I still have too much stuff for that closet, so it's not perfectly organized, but so much better!! I have the same problem with my fabric storage. I simply have too much fabric for my storage space. Sometimes I love my problems! :D

In the dolly closet there's still plenty of items that should be organized better. Like now all food is in one box, and I'd like to have fruits and veggies serated from desserts and so on. So next time I'm super bored instead of coloring my Twin Peaks coloring book I'll sort those.

Once again I've been sewing a lot. (still not that much progress, I'm afraid). Couple days ago I started to wonder if I work too much. That sounds silly. Of course I don't. But still, I'm working all the time. Everything is related to Pinkkis somehow. Online searches, fabric shopping, designing new pouches, sewing, cutting, stamping, packing, emailing, ironing. Seven days a week, hours and hours a day. I love it, but should I force myself to take it easy? To avoid burning out? I thought about that, slowing down. But I can't do it. As a person I can't "pace my self" if you know what I mean. I know there's a better word for it, kind of like portioning, but not quite. I go full speed and then I crash. But this also gives me so much.

Okay, what I wanted to say is that on my To do -list, I wrote Play with dolls! So after I got everything else done (and some extra, too) I had time to play with my precious dolls! I honestly haven't played with them in ages. I just use them as my models for the pouches. Poor things! The dollhouse was a bit of a mess, so I started putting things back on their places. But I was so tired I just kept dropping things and I think I ended up making more mess :( . So I left. And now I need to go back sewing again.

I ordered hand-held luggage scale! And flight socks :D I', really happy about the scale. Even though I have an extra luggage I'm still afraid I have extra weight. This way I don't have to worry about it too much! I can weight my bags every day! Tehee!!

One more thing! My school stuff is all done now! I had my last two major tests last week, that's why I haven't written that much. Not because I've been studying, but because I've been at school working on those tests. I went there totally unprepaired, but I'm sure I'm smart enough to pass. And at this point that's all that matters. I'm so done with studying for now!

Okay, bye!!

xoxo,

Raisa

About eating locally.

Good morning!

Couple days ago I took the train to my home town, where my dad lives (also mom, brother and some friends). I got my now working car back home. It's not really a big thing, since we don't use the car that much. And now even less, because of the spring. Riding our bikes is so much more fun.

Well, on my way home I took a detour, just to get to this organic farm I adore. I needed hey and straw for the bunnies, and from there I could get it organic, cheap and what I like the most - in bales. Instead of buying small amount of it in a bag, I got food and play material for them for six months supply! The bunnies love the bales. I don't break them a part, I just put them in their room and they love hanging on top of them. Bunnies are so cute!

I also bought broad beans, peas, and all sorts of flour. And they were all grown on the fields around the farm. I absolutely love knowing where my food comes from! You can't beat that feeling! Once we were in a restaurant (they got their first Michelin star this year! Congrats Chef & Sommelier!) and they told us everything about where the food came from, how they waste very little, pick wild flowers/herb on their way to work and so on, and I loved it! Food should not be just something that comes from the store, wrapped in plastic! (Only Laura Palmer should come wrapped in plastic. ;)

The whole thing around food is just so weird. Why do we have to get our food as cheap, as easy and as fast as possible? Even if it meant hurting others (nature, people in less developed countries and animals) on the way. All the negative images, the bad stuff people don't want to know, or the producers don't want us to know, since it might affect on our actions which I doubt - we know, we just don't care. We think we can't afford it, we think we "can't" live without cheese/meat/crap, we think it's too difficult, we think it takes too much time, we think blah blah blah. And most people don't really give a shit. But back to the negative images, they are hidden behind what ever the ad people have created. They don't post pictures of bruised kids picking cocoa beans on the chocolate bar, the don't post pictures of polluted rivers and lakes on bags of flour and they definately don't post pictures of pigs that can't even turn in their cages on the pack of oh! so very hip and f**ing cool bacon! Oh, no - that might upset the hipsters.

Lol! Can you tell I got a bit carried away, writing about that is like pouring gasoline on a small fire...This was supposed to be happy, uplifting post! Not a guilty trip! Sorry!

The farm was amazing, even covered in snow. The couple who runs it were away, on a vacation (good for them!!) so there was this young man working and he was so friendly and sweet. He smelled heavily to fish, and that smell got stuck on my hay, too! And for a day the bunny room smelled like fish!! Hahaha!

I have tons to do, so I better start working! I hope you all have Tasty Thursday!

xoxo,
Raisa

Fight against boredom.

I do get bored pretty easily. I'm also quite bad with serial work (not sure if that's the correct term, that's how I'd say it in Finnish. And actually it's not even what I mean.). I don't like doing the same thing over and over again. Well, who does?

But I'm a master of divinding things/work/tasks into smaller, easier portions. Like cleaning - I never clean the whole house, wash all the windows (I never wash the windows anyway), empty the whole dishwasher. I do it in small portions. I take out all the forks. Then all the spoons. All the glasses. And so on. And usually I'll end up emptying the whole load. Or whatever I was doing. One small piece at a time. Usually getting something small cleaned/organized makes me want to continue. But don't you dare to force me to do anything! I don't know why but I'm really awfully bad with stuff I HAVE to do.

So of course I use this method when working on my pouches, too. I have to admit I don't love it all the time :) Sometimes I enjoy the "sweat factory" feel of it, I like the rapid moves, I like to pretend I'm in a factory sweating my ass off, sewing the same seam over and over again, and then passing the product to the next table, where somebody else (actually that would be me, and the table would be the same one) would sew the next seam over and over again. But even then I keep looking at the clock. Making excuses to do something else. So I keep making these deals with my self: 10 seams and a tea break, then back and another ten seams and a piece of candy and so on.

Instead of making all of these in a one sitting I made five at a time, and then five more...

I think it makes life a lot easier and more pleasant if I get to do everyday tasks and my work this way. Instead of doing 10 sleepsacks I attach 10 zippers, sew 10 flaps, and so on until it's done. Or I keep changin the fabrics, do things in different order - anything to make it "new" somehow.

I also have this pretend thing I use quite a lot. If I have to clean I pretend I'm a cleaning lady who works for some celebrity, if I'm cooking I pretend I'm in a cooking show, and like I mentioned before if I'm sewing I pretend I'm underpaid (hahah! I don't have to pretend that!) factory worker.

Do you  any tricks to share how to make your everyday life any easier, or more fun?

xoxo,
Raisa

:D!!

Good morning! I started my day like never before - I drank Sakura Sencha! So what's the big deal you might ask. Well, let me tell you!

For five years we used to have a small cafe called Manga Cafe. They served the best tea ever, Sakura Sencha. Green tea flavored with cherry blossom flavor. I don't usually like flavored green teas, I prefer the plain Japanese green tea. And genmaicha (lesser quality green tea with toasted rice - very yummy!). But at the cafe I was brave enough to try something new so I had my first cup of Sakura tea. And ever since I've been going to that cafe just to get the tea. I never tried any of their other flavors, always the same sakura. It was that good! (The cafe itself was quite...um...not very cozy, and they didn't have anythng vegan, and even their non-vegan treats were quite awful looking, not like freshly baked treats, but store-bought, ones that stay edible for ever). So, after five years they closed. And I no longer got to drink my favorite tea. I was stupid enough not to ask where they got their tea. But yesterday on my FB wall there was an ad for a teahouse called Thehouse. I contacted them, asking if they knew what was the Sakura Sencha I enjoyed so much - and it was that very same place where Manga Cafe bought their teas!! And now I have it at home!! Life couldn't be any sweeter!

I got so much done yesterday! I drove my broken car to my dad's, who'll get it fixed (perfect timing for that, it was still very nice spring day yesterday, and now there's tons of snow and more coming non-stop!). I had a massage, got to hang out with my mom, and dad also. Then I came back to Helsinki, bought my tea, bought fabric for an albino bat that was requested by a customer, I met bunch of friends to whom I had bunch of stuff to give to. We had lovely tea and even a vegan sandwich!! at a baby friendly cafe in the middle of the city. I was so surprised to hear they had a vegan option, and they even said it was vegan on purpose!! If you know what I mean.

And then finally after a long day I got home, to have my very first home brewed cup of Sakura Sencha. It was perfect! And it still is :) I'm very happy!

Yesterday, while meeting friends, I traded two of my cookbooks to two hand made notebooks. And now I'm in love! I had ordered one notebook for myself, and one for Mr. C. He got to decide what kind of he wanted, and of course I got to decide what kind I wanted. I wanted pink dots, and he wanted orange triangles.

  

They are made by super talented and very sweet Russian girl, named Sasha. She has cute store on Etsy, called PaperPlane Stationey. Sasha also has a blog! 

 

My notebook had the most amazing pages! They were made of three different types of paper (all leftovers from the printing house she works for - very eco friendly!), and every now and then there's a pink sheet! Love it!! The notebook I'm using at the moment for my To do lists is about to be full, so I'm very happy to have such an amazing replacement for it! Thank you so much, Sasha!

So much to do today! Sewing, cutting, drawing patterns and then later on we have 90's party! Not sure if I'll dress up or not, because of the weather...

Take care! What do you think of my new notbooks?

xoxo,
Raisa

Self pity post turned into something else.

I feel like poop. But enough about that! Lets focus on what I bought instead!

As you all know I'm going to Japan in

• 2 246 400 seconds
• 37 440 minutes
• 624 hours
• 26 days
• 3 weeks (rounded down) 

And I''m pretty well prepared for the trip! I have bought tons of food (for three reasons: 1) eating out 3 to 5 times a day is damn expensive! 2) Eating out 3 to 5 times a day is quite a challenge for a vegan who does not speak the language! 3) Finding a restaurant that serves vegan food 3 to 5 times a day will take up a lot of time! I don't have a lot of time. I'll be too busy shopping! ), I've booked my extra suitcase, or room for one on the returning flight. And I've contacted three travle agencies to get a trip to Studio Ghibli. I still don't have it, but I'm waiting for a response from the most recent company I contacted. Keeping my fingers crossed! I really want to go! I've been there twice already, but I love the place. I love it even though I'm too old/big to play in the Catbus! :( 

I also have a small Smash Book album for the trip! And I have big plans to actually work on it during the trip. Somebody told me that won't work but I want to prove her wrong! It's different when you travel alone! I also have my travel journal, the same I've had for almost a decade! My first entry on that journal was written somewhere between Helsinki and London, on my first trip to Japan :D But! Last night I was reading my business book and it had a picture of a website, and on that picture there was a picture of a Bon Voyage Travel Journal from boygirlparty. And I wanted that journal!! So I went to Etsy looking for travel journals. Didin't see any I liked. Checked the boygirlparty site. Couldn't find the journal there either. Googled it. Found it! On Etsy and also on the actual website. Hmmm...I must've missed it.

Super expensive shipping, but I had to get the journal! And now you want to see the journal, right?

Picture taken form the boygirl Etsy site.

 Isn't it pretty! I love filling pre-printed stuff like that! I like doing things "right"! So yes, I ordered the journal and now I'm hopin it will be here before I leave.

Before all that I was in the city, dressed as a bunny. We had like handful of us, "terrorists"/animal activists, and we were raising awerness of animal tests, collecting money, handing out leaflets. The usual. I wear the bunny suit at all of our events, if appopriate. I hate to talk to people. Well, not really hate but I just don't get it if they don't get it. I honestly don't think there's any justification towards animal cruelty/abuse. Period. And if they don't agree I don't feel like explaining, I feel like -beep-! It got censored 'cause I'm also against violent toward people.So when I'm wearing the bunny suit people won't expect me to talk to them. Bunnies don't talk.

I rode my bike, total of 30+ km. :D I loved it, but was very tired when I got home. On my way home I went to the post office to pick up my latest purchase: More fabric! Yay! But unfortunately there was an error on my order I they sent me faux fur I have no use for, and I didn't get something I had ordered for. :(

You probably can't see it, but there's toy animal -like fur on top of the pile, the brown fabric. I want to make "moon bear" sleepsacks with that and donate all the profits to Animals Asia! The fur is really great, like I said it's more toy animal like, smoother that the fur I usally use for my sleepsacks.

Need to get something done! Did I tell about the dresses? I cut some patterns out two days ago, sewed some of them yesterday, not convinced yet, but getting closer! The pattern is nice, but need to find the parfect fabric for it! Sorry for all the bad grammar/spelling. Can't bother busy Mr C anymore with my silly stuff.

Bye! (ps. Talk to me. I like it!)

xoxo,
Raisa

Happy Mail Day!!

I haven't gotten anything in th email recently. Mr C has gotten a lot more, which is really annoying! I'm supposed to be the mail order person in this household! Mail order bride. :D But yesterday this got fixed, and it got fixed good! Even the delivery guy said (to my hubby who opened the door) that this is like Christmas!
                                                             What do YOU think?

I got "rose fur" I ordered for a very VIP pouch/sleepsack, a book (I'm addicted to small/craft business books), striped fur (to make a tail to a lemur pouch which was requested, to make a bee and cheshire cat), zippers and alphabet beads. Very happy!! The rose faux fur is amazing! I thought the roses would be a lot bigger and that got me a bit worried if I was able to sew it. But they are rather small so sewing in the middle of one doesn't "ruin" the whole pattern.

Other than admiring my new supplies I organized the "package" closet. I really didn't do that much-no more taking everything out and sorting stuff and wiping the shelves and walls and all that. I just organized the stuff that was in there and that's it. It doesn't look very impressive, but it's functional!

I also did get a lot of sewing done! Everything that was on my to do -list! Good girl! And on top of that I cut at least four dresses. Hopefully the pattern will work! Also figured out my vest problem! Finally gave up on one vest I've tried to make to work for ages. I'll try something else!

I was supposed to go to school last night. But I forgot. Not sure if I'll take my biology test again after all. My grade wasn't really that bad, and I haven't read at all in two months, I think. So why bother?

Need to go, tons of stuff to sew!

xoxo,
Raisa

Packages, and the Project still goes on!

Hello!

Dunno why, maybe because of the spring? but I've been really tired lately. So annoying. I'm not into sleeping at all. I hate taking naps, I hate sleeping late. Id o like sleeping when I'm tired, at night. And funny thing, I enjoy sleeping while watching movies. Specially at the movie theatre! I do have a explanation to that: When you've paid to see a certain movie you really want to watch it, right? So, if you're so tired you are willing to miss the movie and waste your money then you must be really tired and the sleep is the sweetest ever. Logical?

So, I hate being tired during the day. That's when I'm supposed to be energetic and active and all that. Being tired is kind of like being hungry or cold. It takes over everything and that's all you can think of. Grrr! So annoying!

I hope it'll pass soon! I'm feeling just a tiny bit groggy at the moment, that shouldn't stop me from doing what I've planned for today. Maybe I need some fruits? I wanted to have fruits for breakfast, but we didn't have any. Just bread. Uh, I'm getting sick of bread.

Sorry! Enough about that! Yestarday was all about packages! I had a huge list of things to do, but I only managed to do ship my orders. It's insane how much time it takes! Seriously! Want to hear more about it? (If not the skip the following paragraph - I hope that's the correct term!)

First I write down the addresses and what they've ordered. Then I look for the ordered items, make sure they are free of wrinkles, dust, bunny/dog/faux fur hair. I wrap the item into a tissue paper (usually hand stamped by me. I stamp them while watching movies, if I'm not sleeping ;), also if needed I wrap some details or the whole product into (recycled) bubble wrap, write a Thank you -note, add some stickers or other "freebies", put the freebies in a small (recycled) and also hand stamped plastic bag, maybe add a brochure and/or business card. Quite often I wrap some sort of ribbon or yarn (from a thrift store) around the tissue paper, to make it look like a gift. Then I fill in the customs declaration form (so the ink has time to dry). Lately I've been using old wall paper I found while organizing the Tehdas as my wrapping paper. It's not the best thing to use, since it tears quite easily, but I'd reinforce it with tape anyways, so it doesn't matter. So, I roll open the wall paper on my handy packing table and stamp it with carefully chosen stamps. This is quite silly, but I actually try to match the stamps with the content. I was so bummed when I realised yesterday I had given away my bat stamp! It would've been perfect for the bat sleepsack orders! Last week a customer ordered a vintage horror movie themed pouch and I stamped the package with spider webs and such :).

Yestarday I used bird who "sang the address".

Then I reinforce the paper with clear tape. And then wrap the order in it. And that's about it :D. I know it's silly, but guess what! I like doing that! And I also like to think it makes the receiver happy! Most of the mail I get makes me mad/sad/poor, so when ever I get something "special" in the mail it makes me super happy. And since I'm using quite a lot of recycled/upcycled material on the packing I feel I "have" to make it look nice. It would be so easy to buy pink bubble wrap envelopes and just slip in the product in and print out the address and call it done. But oh! That's would be so boring!

After all that I usually beg for my hubby to walk the dogs to the mail box, but sometimes I have to walk/ride my bike to the post office, usually if I miss the four pm deadline.

I've gotten a lot of positive feedback from my packages! So it's really worth all the trouble!

I love Mondays!

My project is not doing as well. Well, I don't know. Maybe it is. I still have two closets to clean up and declutter and organize. That's not that bad. But I don't feel like doing those at all. I enjoy the room the way it is right now, I'm getting used to the new places for certain tools and supplies. So it's kind of done, but then not really. Two more to go!

The last two pictures are of the doll closet. I can't even open the door anymore. Mainly because of the boxes in front of the door, but also because of the mess that's about to fall all over the place if the door is opened. The other closet is really not that bad at all. I know it looks like a mess, but actually it's just the bottom shelf that needs to be organized. Maybe I'll do it today!

Here's what I did recently. Dusted Kitties and the top of those cabinets and also the dish drying cabinets organized.

Four weeks until my trip!! I'm so excited!!

Take care! Oh, also would anyone of you have any ideas how to organize the doll closet? I don't! I have doll clothes in two suitcases, boxes and boxes full of furniture that I MIGHT need, bags full of food items, Barbie's dogs, cars, a boat, fake grass, rolls of fake dirt and so on...too much everything. But I'd use quite many of them, if I just could open the door without fearing getting it all all over me.

Okay, take care!
xoxo,
Raisa

Dusting Kitties

Hola! I slept till 9  o'clock! I don't know when was the last time I was able to sleep that late! I guess I woke up around 7am, and almost got up. But then decided to stay in bed. I'm glad I did. I was really tired yesterday.

Too tired and bore to actually sew. I did sew something, vests and shirts, but I had to force myself to do that. I colored my Twin Peaks coloring book :) And also sewed a mattress, a duvet and a pillow for my "Dream come true" doll bed. I liked that. Also took a picture of my newest doll, wearing my newest outfit (bought as a reward for myself for well done job on the sleepsacks!) on the bed (which was also a reward, for the same reason).

I did get something "real" done, too. I dusted my Hello Kitty (and few others) plush toys! Boy, were they dusty!

I took bunch of stuff off the top of my cabinets, and placed something else on top of there instead. Now I have more space for the important stuff close to my desk. And that's a good thing!

This morning, before I got up I was thinking about my upcoming birthday. Since it's the last one before I turn to "really old" I wanted to have a party. Well, since it's me I'd want to have a party anyway. I like parties. :D Okay, so I was thinking about who to invite. And from there I started to think about who has invited me to anywhere during the last 12 months. If I only invited those people I'd get maybe two or three people to my party. That made me so sad. Is it us, or is it me? Is there a partying world out there that I'm not aware of, or is it that we're "too old" to throw parties? Then I started to think about why do I keep inviting people who never invite me to anywhere? Why don't they invite me? Don't they have anything to invite me to? Or do they think they know I wouldn't come anyway? (I probably wouldn't, so I guess they'd be right with assuming that, but wouldn't that be a bit rude?) Or is it just that they don't want me to their parties? (how awful!)

But then I decided I'm not like that! I can invite who ever I want, I can consider whom ever I want as my friends, and if they don't want to invite me for their parties that's their loss!! Not mine! And most of all - I don't have to feel guilty for not inviting everybody I know! Right?!

Enough of that! I have life to live! We've been invited (or was it me who invited us to come over?) to a late lunch at friends' house. And before that we want to stop by at Kierrätyskeskus.

And I need to fix some pictures before I can add them on Etsy. There's one more observation I've made I want to share: Life is weird.

Happy Women's Day!!

xoxo,
Raisa

The Project

I really didn't do anything about organizing the Tehdas yesterday. I tried to take off one of the racks, with no luck. It's stuck. And now I can close the cabinet doors and the door are blocking part of the window making the room darker that it actually is. Grrr! Need to ask hubby to do it for me. Grrr!

Yesterday really wasn't my day. I mean part of it wasn't. And part of it was. I found out that one of my dolls got totally smashed on her way to beauty parlor. The face is ruined. I know it's just piece of (expensive) plastic, but it feels really bad. She was one of my girls. And now she's gone. Luckily she wasn't one of my favorites, otherwise I wouldn't have sent her to a spa (to be customized) in the first place. But still. One of my girls. :(

 It really looks like the post office people have mistreated the package. I wrote to them but am still waiting for a response. The package wasn't insured, so I'm afraid there's nothing they are willing to do about this. It really sucks. That was a sturdy cardboard box and the doll was wrapped in bubble wrap. And they really don't break that easily. The dolls I mean.

Okay, enough of that! I didn't get a lot done yesterday, I think. But in a way it was a good day. I drew and cut a lot of patterns, even for the secret project. I should have more time to work on that over the weekend. And I have decided to actually finish it and just put it out there. Like it or not. It's nothing that special anyway. Now that time has passed I can have a better perspective of the whole thing. And it's not really that big of a deal at all. It used to be in my head. I don't know why. Maybe because I'm a bit "ding dong" in the head...Okay, so my big project is a line of doll clothes! Wohoo!! I know I might not be the first person you might think of when talking about fashion, but trust me - the style I have chosen for my line I'm very good at! And the style is....? Harajuku/Japanese street fashion! I can't make elegant or sweet, but I'm very good with crazy and colorful! :D So far I have thights, leg warmers, shorts and I'm working on shirt and some sort of a vest. And it will be sold as a set. I love sets! I also have planned another set with stockings, a dress, a bag, a necklace and also a vest. All in "Harajuku Style" :)

I'm struggling with the shirts. So far I've only used second hand fabrics, except for some of the thights. Maybe I should use the store bought fabric on the shirts as well, since it's kind of less stretchy. I might be easier to work with. Well, I cut few shirts yesterday, I'll sew those and decide after that. I also bought some iron on transfer sheets for printer, to make my own designs on the shirts. But so far I've pretty much used only printed fabrics. Sorry for babbling about this. I just wanted to share, and not to keep it as a secret anymore. :D

Okay, my sewing machine wants some attention. One more, two! more things! I rode my bike to the city yesterday. Approx. 15 km one way. First time this year. Mr C changed the tires to my bike and the summer tires were incredibly light to pedal. I loved it! I love riding my bike! There's quite a lot of dust out there at this time of the year, when all the sand is still on the ground, but other than that it was great. (also the sand makes it a bit dangerous, since it's so slippery.)

Also, I managed to get this great kitchen set! I've seen it being sold before, not this particular set, but similar vintage sets, but the shipping has always been ridiculously high. It's big and rather heavy set, so no wonder it costs a lot to ship here. I've seen it in Australia and in the States, never in Europe. I didn't see it in Europe this time either, but better than that - somebody who's also coming to the Blythe Europe con is selling her kitchen! And I bought it! She'll hand deliver it there!! Super awesome!

I've decided to dust my Hello Kitty plush toys today. A lot of work! Also the top of the cabinets.

After that I don't have that much more to do. I still have two closets, and I guess I should do my drawers as well. One of the closets is the doll closet. And that is the worst. I had to use a pice of wood to keep the stuff from falling off when I open the door. It's really that bad. But I'm not doing that today.

Bye!
xoxo,
Raisa

The organizing project, what ever it was called of. Day xx

It's all my hubby's fault - He told me not to write my blog since he's about to move it to somewhere else. And it's taking forever. A month ago I asked how long the whole new website thing is going to take, and he said two to three weeks....yeah right!

Well, my project is not doing any better. But I have a real reason for that:  I've been really busy with sewing! Sewing and drawing patterns and all that. I've managed to organize a "bunny room closet". And that had a huge impact on the whole room, since I got all of the boxes that were lying on Tehdas floor put in it! Awesome!

I know it doesn't look that great even after I cleaned it, but at leats I know pretty well what's in it. The bottom shelf, the one on the floor, I left that for the bunnies. I rarely keep the door open, but when I do Hyrrä, our other bunny likes to go in there.

I've also organized few smaller closets. Not sure if I've shared the first picture already. 

I kind of feel embarrased of showing this stuff to you. I've seen too many picture perfect craft spaces and then seeing these pictures on the screen....not so cool. Pretty much everything I have is from thrift stores and flea markets. I just don't like matching furniture and clean white surfaces that much. It's nice in the pictures, but I need more "action" in my surroundings :) Maybe I should pay more attention to the pictures I take, try to make them look prettier.

My next mission is to organize this:

It's not that bad, at all. But the shelves themself are a bit of a struggle. It's actually dish drying cabinet (fab Finnish invention ;) and the shelves are a bit weird. It's got quite a lot of space, so it's quite valuable. I wish I was still making soap - it would be perfect for drying them! :D I've empitied it quite a lot already, it used to store my glitter, plastic animals, fabric for doll clothes and some unfinished projects.

Uh! 10 o'clock already! Need to go!! The sun is shining and I have pack of bats to photograph!!

I'll try and write more often!! One month and two days till my trip!!! Wohoo!!

xoxo,
Raisa