A room to fuel inspiration!

First of all, you know that any day starting off with a plate like that for breakfast is going to be a good one. And surprisingly, it was not the Breakfast King-fiance-man who made it. I was for once the first one up this morning! Excitement to get cracking on the studio got me up. And ok, so I was hungry too. ;) (That's bacon, eggs and banana bread, accompanied by hot coffee - cool that I even got the steam coming off!)

 I spent some time admiring how beautiful Kissa's eyes are in the sunshine. Such a gorgeous green. And she loves hanging out behind the plants, which reflect even more green into them! She is so pretty, I could stare at her for hours! 

Then we decided to take rowdy puppy boy for a walk and to the dog park, so he could rumble and tumble and chase some dogs around (and exert some energy!). In reality, he got ganged up on by two smaller dogs who just kept trying to hump him. The rottweiler there was more interested in eating snow than playing with Koda, so he just had to take it from the little guys. Poor buddy. And Manta wasn't too interested in anyone but the other dog owners, she is such a social butterfly with other species than her own. 

But now, for the grand reveal!!

I have finished the studio! Like I said in my last post, it need some decorative touches still, think new pillows in different colors, some rearranging of artwork etc etc. However, the furniture has all been reworked and is mostly where it should be. YAY!!!

So without further a due, I present THE STUDIO/ CRAFT ROOM/ PINK PRETTINESS ROOM!

Here is the closet, containing boxes upon boxes of craft supplies. I am particular on organization so I assume she'd like to organize it herself in the way she sees most sensible. That, and I have no idea what stuff she wants where. =) I spent a long while last night thinking about which color to paint it: robin's egg blue, pale pale yellow, light green...or pink. But after consideration of what would my mom like most, I chose pink. I remember thinking as a kid she was so uncool for liking pink (I was a semi-tomboy) but now I understand and respect her favorite color. After all, I love it these days too. 

Here is the corner of the sofa my dad made a few years ago. This is the sofa that is in dire need of many cute pillows.  Different fabrics and definitely crocheted pillows shall adorn it one day. 

This far right corner may see a comfy Ikea chair one day. Hopefully the day comes soon. It's a rather large empty space and I can only imagine the comfy coziness of sitting in the corner with either the sunlight shining over shoulder (or the work light) and some good yarn and knitting needles or crocheting hooks at work. Ah, I really really hope to make it happen!

Here is the chair I decoupaged. It has the same rose basket as the so-called catch all. (And that chest under the table is going to be relocated to the bedroom. It's only in here because Koda sleeps where we would like to put it, and we can't take away his favorite sleeping spot, can we...)

I present the work table dreams are made of. Lily of the valley to cheer you even when your sewing goes terribly wrong or you're just not having a good day. I am so in love with this table. I CANNOT wait to see her reaction! I hope she loves it as much as I do! 

Sitting at the table, this is the view from the window, I love looking at the trees and not the other apartment buildings. In the summertime, it's so green and vibrant.

It's a bit wrinkly, but all in all, still very very pretty. 

This white set of drawers is the catch-all I keep going on about. It has the rose basket I posted about yesterday. What my mom will put in it, I don't know, but hopefully it doesn't resume its position as a catch-all.

Here is the first thing I decoupaged on Friday. I was too excited to measure things up and ended up with overlapping napkins. =( Oh well, it's still pretty cute. (It's a stool by the way)

And FINALLY, some crocheted goodness!! These are called "Circle-in-a-square motif" and I found the pattern through Ravelry. I've linked the pattern here. These are really great and stylish, I recommend! Look at all those tails too! I know I should be crocheting over them or joining squares as I go, but I only need to make 25 and I just love the crocheting part not the sewing --> I'll procrastinate. Don't worry, these can't be like the acorn I still haven't finished because I need to have this pillow done by next week when I see my friend! At least this pattern only requires two colors per square...

 Well, that's all. I am sooo pleased with how the studio turned out. I hope my mom loves it as much as I do! Thanks for reading and have a nice week!

Progress is as sweet as banana bread!

I have never in my life been such an efficient painting machine! We've painted the table, painted the "catch-all", painted the closet (seen in a previous post), painted door steps, painted some baseboards, painted some door frames...! And I have also decoupaged like a crazy person, the table (love love love the lily of the valley, even the hubby to be was excited with the result), a stool, a chair, the catch-all. All that is left is coloring in the panels on the closet doors and we are done painting! Exciting times we live in. ;) Hopefully by tomorrow, we will have my mom's studio finished, missing only some final decorating touches! (I'm thinking lots of pillows for her sofa) Here is a sneak peek of the catch-all's rose basket. Love it!

I have also been working away on those granny squares. Perhaps pictures next time, the sun has already set here so the colors wouldn't be done any justice anyway. 

And food, lovely lovely food. Today we had rice porridge with currants that I found in the freezer. It tasted like summer. Mmmm summer.... And to top it off, we even had some banana bread that I forgot in the oven. 5 more minutes and it could have been black and crispy. Instead it's on the done side of done. Lol. It was incredibly moist though. Yum. Thanks Martha Stewart for the recipe! Link here!

That's it for now, hopefully we get a sunny day tomorrow and I can take some nice pictures of the studio!!!

Thanks for reading!

Freezing Friday

Sadly, the warm spring-ish weather has left us, and although it is a pretty sunny day, I refuse to spend more than necessary of it outside. -21 C ---> chills you to the bones!

I did indeed manage to get a friend to come over and take some pictures of me in my dress yesterday. When she emails them to me, I'll see about posting them on here if anyone is interested. And in another happy bit of wedding news, I've chosen to decorate the church with some of these tulle and silk paper flowers from Greedy for Colour. They are so pretty and I imagine they cannot be so difficult to make either! =)

As for the acorn. It's still waiting for its last round and assembly. Poor thing. I did however get 4½ granny squares ahead in my birthday gift granny pillow for my friend. I'll try to post pictures next time of my progress. 

In other creative news though, I have been working on creating my mom the studio of her dreams that she so very much deserves (I'm paying her back for the Halloween costumes she sewed us every year)! We sanded and painted her work table white and I stole the catch-all set of drawers from the hallway and painted that white too! Now when they are all dry, it's time to decoupage! The table will get some beautiful lily of the valley napkins  and the catch-all as we call it (semi-lovingly, it's been around FOREVER) is getting baskets of roses. Stay tuned for photos, I am pretty excited!

On the food front, I've been enjoying the most amazing dessert ever: Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!! I got the idea from this blog: Our Best Bites. They have some super great recipes too. I've been eating this breakfast lunch and dinner for the past couple days. Ah, indulgence <3 

Still warm and gooey, eating it at night in my pajamas :)

The perfect breakfast, lol

 Well, I am off to granny square! Thanks for reading!

Weekends have a habit of ending too soon

The weekend went by far too fast and I was occupied by far too much cleaning and scrubbing for my liking. However, I did get to have plenty of yummy treats. Saturday was Runeberg day (he was a Finnish poet) and on Runeberg day we get to eat delicious Runeberg pastries. Almondy, rummy cake with a dab of raspberry jam on the top with a circle of sugar frosting. Simple and tasty. Here is mine with tea (remembering is making me drool...)

And to ease the pain of only getting one delicious (tiny) cake on Saturday, we made a whole (Jell-O) Oreo pudding pie on Sunday, complete with homemade Domino cookie crumb crust (Domino cookies = Finnish Oreo equivalent). 

Sugar is my weakness. Especially if it's mixed with butter, flour and other tasty goods ending in a cake/pastry/cookie etc etc etc. By the way, isn't that rose mug gorgeous, it's my absolute favorite here at the parent's house. Inspiration to one day conquer watercolors, which I have always secretly feared. 

Another good bit of news, I got my phone case done -- FINALLY! (It only sat there for a week waiting to be sewn and buttoned). Et voila! (It is far more turquoise than the picture would have you believe! ...and sorry for the blurry picture)

(My phone is peeking out, saying hi.) 

The weather was phenomenal on Saturday and sadly wasted spent by making a bus trip to the grocery store but I managed to get some photo time, because as everyone knows, pictures turn out the best in the natural light. So, here are some things that make me happy when the sun shines in through the windows.

How my mother keeps orchids alive and blooming annually is beyond me. I am just happy I am here to enjoy it for her. 

So so so so beautiful!

While I know these are boring indoor plants, they remind me of a childhood in Florida and they are just so cheery and bright light green.

And how could such gorgeous cushions not put you in a good mood? I think the crocheted lace may have been by my grandmother? I'll have to ask my mom. And the one behind it was a find from her trip to the grandkids last year.

So that is it for today, one day late. But better late than never? And if you were wondering from my last post, no I didn't finish the acorn. Grr, why is the last round and assembly bit so hard to get around to doing?

Thanks for reading! Hope you have  a nice week!

P.S. I got my wedding dress delivered today!!! Super excited! It was a surreal experience to put it on, especially when I added the veil to the ensemble. It needs to be hemmed, but all in all, not bad for ordering online. It was a leap of faith and I am glad I took it! ...Now, just need to get the shoes and some accessories (yay!)! I tested to see if the hubby to be can find this blog, he can't (which makes me wonder how you could)...which means if I can get a friend to come over, I will most def post some pictures! So super happy!

Spring has begun!

Sunshine, birds singing, dripping sounds of snow melting... spring is definitely imminent, if not already here! I am loving the just below 0C temperatures and the thought that soon we'll have tons of flowers and all that good stuff summer brings. For most people, these pictures I am posting today probably don't look very spring-y at all, but hey, we're a hop and a skip from the Arctic Circle, so whatcha gonna do. =D I took these photos last Friday when we decided to walk to the vet (Koda got his last vaccines, he weighs almost 17kg at 16 weeks!) and I snapped these in the rush. 

Frost covered and gorgeous

I was having a thing for frost covered bark that day 

Dr. Seuss trees

The lake...it's starting to melt in places!

As if he's saying, enough with the pictures, let's gooooo

Blue and white, the Finnish flag makes sense now, right

Thin ice ---> no ice! I can't wait!

 As far as my crocheting, I am constantly inspired and motivated...but living life is getting in the way. School is getting in the way. Grr. I am going to scrape together some time this weekend though, and try to finish my second turquoise phone case (some improvements made) as well as the sock knitter's acorn (pattern found on Roman Sock's blog). Then I have all the little granny squares I want to try, finally should get around to being a "real" crocheter and do something traditional. ;) Oh, and then I really would love to make all kinds of accents for my parent's home... Which, by the way, is coming along nicely. I've been organizing and ditching stuff. This weekend we are taking care of the kitchen. Which by the way, has the loveliest lace curtain thing. It was made by my grandmother who was an avid crocheter! So, as you can see, it's tough to concentrate on other things than crocheting in this place... Handmade lace, teacups and pink... I never thought I'd say I mostly like my mom's style. Growing up, I see...

The cat sure loves her grandma's  plants...

This cabinet above is the project for next weekend (supposing the kitchen revamp is completed). I am going to give it a nice touch up coat of white and paint the panels some delicious shade of pink. This was actually my old closet in high school, I am the one who painted it blue then. I really love the color, but this is my mom's storage closet in the studio we're making her. When I paint this, I am going to paint her worktable as well. And on that I shall decoupage some pretty rose napkins. I am so excited!

The wedding plans are coming along great as well, I should get my dress next week or so! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgh! I can't wait to see it! And I've decided I want to have a tulip bouquet. And to keep myself warm on those brisk March days, I am going to crochet an ivory shawl, as soon as I can decide on a pattern (always the hardest part, don't you think). 

Thanks for reading, I will try to post this weekend if I can!