Almost vintage

When my mom graduated, her mom, my grandma, made her a dress for a party. The fabric was really heavy, good quality silk and the skirt part was a full circle. When I was ten (or somewhere around that age), I found the dress from my grandma's closet and wanted it to be altered to fit me. That dress is now in Emma's closet. It is perfect and I love it.

Apologies for the electrical socket in these pictures - you will seeing it a lot in future photos as well, since this seems to be the best place to take photos :)

Something different

I don't know if this will be a regular feature, but as the name of my blog suggests that bags and crafts make me happy, I feel that something has been missing from here. So far, I have only shown handmade bags which is very appropriate for a crafts blog but when Petriina from SILKKIÄ SAMETTIA blog requested to see my actual handbags in this blog, I decided to give it a go. We'll see, I might delete this post, if I feel it does not fit together with the other content :)

Anyway, confession: I am a bagaholic. I love nice shoes as well, and fashion in general, but bags make me extra happy. A few years back, I decided to sell all my bags ( a LOT) and concentrate on the good stuff, designer bags. Now I have a small but nice collection and lots more closet space that I used to have! I try to buy only bags that I need and that are classics, but sometimes I stray...

This one is a classic bag, Dior Cannage Hobo, from Lady Dior collection. The leather is so soft and the lining is thick suede. This is very slouchy and I kind of hate that, impossible to find anything from the bottom of the bag! But, I love the look and love the leather, so this one's a keeper.

Stripy kneehighs

Pattern: Novita sukkalehti 2011, pattern z (in Finnish, as usual)

Yarn: Novita 7 veljestä (fuchsia & white), pink yarn is vintage 7 veljestä or Nalle, mustard yarn is Finnish lamb wool, bought from a farm

Needles: 3 dpns

I got my inspiration from these colours, they just had to be used together. The pink yarn is from my grandmother's stash, leftovers from a sweater she made for me when I was Emma's age, so it is very old. I have just as old turquoise yarn as well, just have to figure out where to use it :)

The socks were almost impossible to photograph, Emma could not keep still. Oh well, I needed only one shot that was not blurry and I got three!

After all that jumping, she finally had to lie still.

My girl :)

Hot pink

Just a quick snapshot of this crocheted bag I made. Never mind the surroundings, just needed to find a place where to hang the bag and this one had the most light. Love the hot pink edge even though it was not part of the original plan. I just ran out of the grey yarn... 

Pattern from Pierrot Yarns. There are a lot of lovely free crochet and knitting patterns in Pierrot Yarns website, and even more in the Japanese version of the site.

Crowns!

I have been thinking about making some crocheted crowns for a while now, ever since I saw some ideas in Pinterest. I've pinned a lot of crowns to my crochet board so I had to make my own version.

I used clear plastic headbands that were extras from Emma's birthday last year. They used to have cardboard princess crowns attached but I removed those. I knew it was worth while to save them! These are so simple to crochet, just pick any lace trim pattern you like and crochet around the headband. 

My model is a bit tired in these pictures, she has been quite ill with influenza. Now she is again full of energy, just in time for the weekend :)

Rebecca, again

Just wanted to show you this hat again, I finally persuaded (read: bribed) Emma to model it for me. I'm sorry to say but this hat, or the colours I used, is not my favourite. Perhaps in different colours, solids, not stripes? Oh, and the buttons, they are not perfectly aligned, even though I thought so before...

I've been really lucky!

I've been meaning to write this post for at least a month now but haven't just had the time to collect my thoughts. Now I am making time, since I really have been lucky and want to thank everyone involved. (I feel a bit embarrassed to have waited for so long to thank them, so sorry guys!)

So how have I been lucky? I won in five (yes, FIVE!) blog giveaways during a three week period. I think that is unbelievable, I usually never ever win anything.

First thanks go to the blog SILKKIÄ SAMETTIA. Petriina has a beautiful lifestyle blog full of lovely pictures. Her house is colourful and amazing, her thrift shop and vintage finds are awesome and her style is impeccable. Oh, and she is an amazing cook as well (more recipes, please, Petriina!). I won a beautiful kitchen towel from the Oh Little Rabbit Etsy store, I have been using it ever since.

Second thanks go to the blog Nappiterapia. Lisbetk's craft blog is full of her lovely crafts. She is a resourceful crafter who is not afraid to use any material she finds. She makes jewellery, she knits and crochets, she weaves carpets, she does everything. I won these snuggly warm wrist warmers, just perfect to wear at work during the chilly winter days.

Third thanks go to the blog KOTIPALAPELI. Rillirousku's blog is full of inspirational craft ideas and decorating inspiration. Her home is so stylish and colourful, just what I would want to have in our home! I won a Sylvanian families play set, and it has been played ever since. Emma loves it so much that she sometimes even sleeps with the tiny bunnies... While she still lovers her Ninjago Legos, the Sylvanian families are a new favourite and she keeps constantly asking me when we can buy her more Sylvanian families. Sigh.

Fourth thanks go to the blog Erleperle. Mette's blog gives me so much inspiration. She knits, crochets and sews amazing creations and her pictures are full of colour and beautiful things! I won a beautiful linen bag and have been using it ever since.

Fifth thanks go to the blog Rose Hip. Beata's blog has lots of lovely crochet projects and her amazing crochet trimmed pillowcases have been featured in Decor8, one of my favourite design blogs. I was thrilled when I won one of her beautiful pillow cases!

That is it. I must confess that after winning in these giveaways, I started franticly taking part in all kinds of giveaways but sadly, I think my luck has run out :)

More mushrooms

More random yarns and some basic mushrooms. Now I have moved on to something else :)