Thank you, Welcome and HappyShinyPerson Post

First of all, Thank You so much Lara for the amazing post on your blog!!! Thanks to her, I got some new readers!! Yay!! Welcome! I hope you like it here, in my little pink corner!

Lately I've been struggling a bit with myself. Like what to do with my life and all that. I have to admit, I might have been a bit down because of it. Until yesterday -- I read about a young woman quitting her well-paying job and actually starting to live. A quote from the book The Anti 9 to 5 Guide: "Still others like Kate Greenen of Detroit, who's twenty-five and has worked in what she calls "the lucrative world of financial planning" since the age of twenty-one, find themselves asking with alarming frequency, Is this all there is?  -- I started really hating getting up. Life lost color -- I was always searching something fun to do or I was out shopping. Earn, consume, die." I too would rather be poor and happy than waste my life in a office where I hated every minute of it.

Life is so much better now than what it was a year ago, when I still was in work-hell. Being unemployed sucks, I'm not denying that. But it's not as bad as wasting your life doing something from which you get nothing but misery (and money, of course).

So I don't feel like complaining about my situation any more. I'm actually quite damn happy :) Thanks to the Finnish society, I get to have my "gap year," during which I'm able to think about what I really want to do with my life, where to aim next. And I get money while doing that. Not much, but enough.

I've been really determined to have "wind under Pinkkis' wings." I've even overcome my phobia of all things related to computers and social media. Now I'm on Pinterest and reading blogs about small businesses, trying to be more active on Facebook and on Flickr as well. It's a lot of work to keep your head above the water!! But as long as I like it, it's okay thing to do :). But it's funny how much on-line stuff can take up your time! Like time I could spend on sewing or watching bad movies :).

All this, all new opportunities and possibilities, and yes! the sun! are making me so happy I could just dance all day long! Dance and sing, but since I don't live alone I guess I'll just settle to jump around a little ;).

Have a great and sunny and succesfull weekend! Hubby, my great computer related stuff help will be adding a lot more treasures on Etsy over the weekend, so be sure to check that out!

xoxo,

Pinkkis (well actually my name is Raisa, so I guess I should use that instead).

Back in Business!

As you can see I finally put up a tab you can use to start following this blog! Yay! Actually I didn't realize it wasn't there. Oops! So click click! If you want to receive updates, you should start following. Me thinks. :D

I'm sure I've told this before, but I really like sewing. I don't like to sew complicated things, but I like sewing my pouches and occasionally something else, too. But recently it's been a bit annoying, since my sewing machine hasn't been working the way it should. I thought about taking it to the shop where I got it from, but don't really have the money for that. So I've been avoiding sewing as often as I could.

Until yesterday. I wanted to check if I could fix it myself. Doesn't sound good, huh? I opened up the poor thing, and it was filled with dust and lint. All over the place, and most of all, all over the place that hasn't been working properly. There was something like a thick mat of dust making it impossible for the poor thing to do what it was supposed to do.

So I took all that out, put all the right parts back in, closed the sweet machine and now it works like a charm!! Yay!! So I've been sewing! I was able to finish ALL of the pouches I had been working on for a very long time. And I started a bunch of new ones! Yay!!

Here's pictures of some of the stuff that I finished yesterday. I think the TMNT pouches are charming!! I got the fabric from a friend of mine, and it works great for pouches!

Not sure if I told you about the new interfacing I bought last Saturday, the really sturdy one? Anyways, I got some new stuff for that and I have to admit I hate to sew it. It's so thick it's really hard to work with. I mean it makes great pouches. The Blythe doll pouch is the first one I made and it came out great. But it's just too much work :( And it was way too expensive as well. So I'll be using the good ol' stuff again :) Which has been working well enough for my pouches so far. Of course, I'll use all of the new stuff I got, so there will be some more fighting between me and the fabric ;)

But at least now my machine works like a dream :D

Hopefully hubby's able to add some more stuff on Etsy today, so check that out in case you're into cute pouches like these!

Take care!

xoxo,

Pinkkis

What a wonderful day!

I had super great day yesterday, so I'm in a super great mood today, as well :). A bit of a sad thing is that the greatness of yesterday came from consumerism. I got some amazing (super amazing! still very excited!) fabrics and made a decision to order more zippers. (I've been putting them off, to order to my mother-in-law's address to save a lot of money, so I'd get them when we are visiting them in the States next summer. But I really don't have any long zippers left and some of the fabrics I got are meant to be sewn into make up purses. So hell with saving money, I want my zippers! And I want them now! Or at least in couple of weeks!) Now I have about 250 zippers coming from the States :) I also love zippers! They are so pretty! But only in huge quantities. One or two won't float my boat.

The two fabrics (that are spread out the most in the photo) are waterproof, so they will be perfect for make-up pouches. I was also thinking about making some sort of lunch pockets out of them. Somebody once showed me a small purse like that and said it's really handy. It's like a re-usable plastic bag for sandwiches and such. And very pretty, too. I mean mine would be if they were made out of such beautiful fabrics. The fabric at the bottom if all about Sanrio characters and the other one is sea themed. I <3 them both! I love octopi and this one has very pretty ones!

I've also made a lot of new jewelry. Still not sure if they are going to work out, but so far so good!  Do you see anything you'd like?

I don't know if it's the increased sunshine or what, but I've noticed some sort of growing interest in clothes. Which is very dangerous. I don't want to start shopping for clothes, especially online! Fleamarkets and thrift stores are ok (environmentally and financially), but online stores, not at all! And it's the on-line stores I'm after! Last week I found an amazing dress and just now I found super cool leggings. Here's picture of the one I might have a chance of getting, thanks to my up-coming birthday and generous hubby! <3 Hubby, who's also know of being my style police said the leggings would be cool on a boring person, but I'd be too wild for them. Hmph. Not sure if that's a good or a bad thing. But I guess I'm not thinking of buying them anymore. But the dress I still want, very much! I like dresses cuz they allow you to eat a lot without it showing! (hahhah!)

Hubby's cleaning, but I'm trying to get him to new fleamarket down the street. Hopefully they'll have good stuff there! Maybe some cool clothes... ;)

Okay, take care!!  Here's something to rest your eyes on. Don't get offended! ;)

xoxo,

Pinkkis

Greetings from Jäähalli Fleamarket!

A few weeks ago I noticed that Jäähalli Fleamarket was still active. I used to go there every weekend more than ten years ago. I don't know if they've been there the whole time or not, but it doesn't really matter. So week ago I took hubby with me, and we went to see if it's any good.

And it was! Well, not really good, but pretty ok. Lot of sellers, but the set up was a bit confusing. We had to walk back and forth to see everything. And occationally we ended up on the wrong side of the tables. Like we were among the sellers, and that was a bit confusing ;).

The first The first time, I got this pink car and exercise bike for my dolls. I love them! Especially the car. It's missing a windshield, but I was wondering if a glass shop (window glasses kind of place) could make me one out of acrylic. Hubby got himself a purse ;). I'd say it was a good trip, not compared to some of the greatest fleamarket days, but overall it was worth the trip.

I love fleamarkets, btw. Most of all, I like the weird and unusual stuff they have. Or might have. I guess it's the chance of finding something special that's most thrilling. And on top of that it's a lot more ecologically friendly than buying a new things from the store. And a lot cheaper, too! Well, not always. Sometimes the seller doesn't realize that they are at fleamarket -- they seem to think they are at antique store or that they are selling stuff that's somehow pimped to be even more expensive than the exact same thing at Ikea... I hate that.

Most of the time I look for toys. And I know pretty well, just by looking at the seller and her/his merchandize, if it's going to be ridiculously overprized. Eight euros for a messy-haired barbie? No thanks. Five euros for new-generation My Little Pony? No thanks.

It's kind of funny how I'm at my strictest at fleamarkets. Sometimes when I'm having "too much fun" on ebay, I try to think about whether I'd be willing to pay the same amount of money on something similar at a fleamarket. And the answer is always no. Like 20 to 25 euros for Blythe-sized typewriter. No effing way! And on ebay that wasn't a consideration at all.

Kind of funny.

Anyway, yesterday we went there again. There was some of the same sellers as last week, which to me is always a sign to avoid them. "Professionals" who are there to make money, not to get rid of their unwanted things. This time I wasn't that lucky with toys. I got something, but nothing worth mentioning. But I got some clothes! I usually don't look for clothes that actively. I don't have any kind of problem with second hand clothes, not at all. But I don't like to go through of piles after piles of clothing. But this time there were few tables that said small clothes, so I got interested. I got something black -- I have no idea what it would be called. Kind of like a dress and cardigan mix. Also got bright green top from the same person. I think I paid 2,50 euros for those. :) A few meters further, a white top with french bulldog on it was on display. To me it looked really expensive. I was trying to keep myself from getting too interested. But I really liked it. I couldn't find the size tag, and the seller wasn't sure. And it looked like you'd had to have big breasts to fill it. And to be honest, I even asked if that was the case. And she said no. Then I asked for the price. Fifty cents!! Whoa!! As you can see ----> it wasn't too expensive ;) That's a very special treat, since I'm really photo-shy. I even asked hubby to take a headless pic of me, but as always, he didn't listen and did whatever he wanted ;).

Thanks to that top, I was really happy with the trip.

Last summer I had probably one of the best days at a fleamarket. I rode my bike (alone, hubby didn't want to ride almost 20 K's to the other side of the city - lazy ass bastard!) through the city, to Hietsu Fleamarket. Within a few lovely (actually it's quite annoying place with all the masses of people) found all this --> Sindy kitchen units!!! Sindy arm chair!! Beauty, Barbie's dog!! My Little Pony trinket box!!! Super great! And I managed to get it all home piled on top of my bike.

I hope your weekend was filled with great finds, too!

xoxo,

Pinkkis

Sunshine, finally!

So far the whole winter has been so cloudy! Awful! And now that we're having few sunny days it feels like the whole world is smiling. And I feel like smiling as well.

I've felt a bit low lately. Usually I don't envy other people, but recently that feeling has been driving me crazy. It looks like everyone else has their shit together and I just can't figure out my life. I'm getting older every day and I don't have a clue what I want to do with the rest of my life. I thought I wanted to be a nutritionist, but now I'm having doubts about it. I'm much more interested in ecological stuff, like consumerism (don't laugh! I didn't mean in the shopper's point of view, but the consequenses of our extreme consuming, and stuff like that). So I might aim at that. But for how long?

Oh, yeah. About the envying part. I don't envy anyone particulary, but just everyone who seems to have stable, balanced life. People who'll stick to their plans, who can save money, have routines and you know, all that normal stuff. Like excercise! I go running for two or three months, and just when I'm about to see some progress I stop. Way too boring. I'd rather collect stamps than run one more meter. So I quit. And try to find "a new love." Even when I'm super bored and down, I can get a kick from the idea of knowing that something new will come up. There will be something I fall head over heels for. I just wish it would be something smart, something useful. So far the good, smart things has been losing weight, saving money, and obsessing over Martha Stewart. Just to name few. (But I never really do even these "the smart way" --> I lose too much weight, I open up too many bank accounts, I order too much MS crap.)

But when I'm not into something I get very bored, I eat too much (candy and other treats), I watch stupid movies, I read stupid books, I don't get things done, I don't study, I don't sew or do crafts. I just suck when there's nothing sparkly in my life. Oh, well. Anyways, I've gotten the envy thing chopped into smaller, bite size pieces and I'm able to understand it more and maybe even use it to make myself feel better. And so now, also thanks to the sun and all, I feel a lot more energized and I feel like doing something, like maybe even studying. That's always such an energy boost if I manage to do something like that, something like homework for chemistry. It's so silly. I know so many things that would make me a lot better, but I just can't get myself to do those things. Instead I make things that make me unhappy. Like being on the computer for hours and watching stupid movies. I hate wasting time! I like being useful.

Enought of that already! So the sun is shining, I got some energy to actually do something! I've ordered a lot of (way too much, actually) jewelry parts for my PINKKIS projects - can't wait for them to arrive! When they come I'm sure there will be a lot of creative energy around the PINKKIS Factory! But meanwhile I need to focus on the materials I already have. 

 What I'm trying to say the spring might be coming and she's seems to be carrying a bit of restless energy in her arms. Please, stop by! Share some of that with me!

Had fun day at a fleamarket yesterday w/hubby! I bought a car for my dolls!! A very nice car! Pics coming soon. But before that I'll share some pics I took this morning!

 Have a great start for the week!

xoxo,

Pinkkis

Pinkkis Etsy Store!

Ladies and gentleman, it's here! My PINKKIS Etsy store is back in business! And you are among the first people in the world to hear about it! Woohoo!

***Pinkkis on Etsy*** Check it out! My husband has done a great job picturing the uniqueness of my creations! Hopefully a lot of people will find my store, and most of all will like what they see and maybe even purchase something!

Please help spread the word: share pictures of my jewelry (and eventually pouches) and link to my store on your blogs, Facebook pages and where ever else :). All help is highly appreciated! Etsy is a huge place and my store is still a tiny place, so I need you :).

I'm not sure if I have even shared pictures of my newest creations yet. I have gotten really into making miniature scenes in pendants. I think they are just amazing!

So far all of my information and thank-you notes are in Finnish, so I need to work on those, too. But that's something I really like doing paper: crafts, adding stickers and stamps, etc :)

Hubby and I went to the post office to check all the shipping options and prices. What a bummer! Finland is a much more expensive country to ship from. Hopefully that won't scare customers away!

Yesterday I ordered some new fabrics, even though I don't really need more, but there were so many cute ones I just couldn't resist. And I'm running out of Blythe fabric. Too bad I'm also running out of zippers and don't feel like ordering more right now. I'm trying to leave it to when we go to the States and order them to my mother-in-law's in order to save on shipping. We'll see. I also ordered some stickers, which is super silly. But I want to be able to add something cute to all of the packages and letters I send out. And I was running out of stickers. So it was okay. And they were rather cheap.

Dollhouse's getting a lot better, too! Pictures? You bet!

Okey dokey, gotta go! Take care!

xoxo,

PINKKIS

Pinkkis Factory

We've had quite a lot of renovation going on in our house recently. We've redecorated the kids room walls and all of our old floors, except for one room. And that one room is my Pinkkis Factory. I think our house is starting to look the way it's supposed to and it feels really nice. Of course all of the walls downstairs are really crappy, but we're so used to it so it doesn't bother us that much.

But back to the Factory. Now that everything else is starting to look a lot nicer, and after my husband moved his computer downstairs (we used to share a room), and after I gave his old desk to my son, my room started to look really awful. I'd post pictures if I wasn't so embarrased.

I didn't even feel like doing anything in there, 'cuz it was such a sad, messy place. But then few days ago I decided to do something about it! Hubby helped me to move the heavy furniture back and forth (I just couldn't decide! So many options!). Finally  I got it all settled so I could start the annoying/lovely part - putting everything in its place. I'm still kind of working on that. But I got a really good start. I'd say 90% of everything is in their own place now and I got a lot sorted out as well.

So now I just can't wait to go upstairs to either sew, cut some Barbie dolls into pieces or play with my lovely dolls!

Here are pictures of the new, improved Factory!

Crafting desk, now facing the window. I'll definitely get a new mat (pink from Fiskars) for the desk.

Details

Sewing desk

Sewing corner. Will add some pictures or something to the wall.

Details. Above craft desk.

Framed postcard from the amazing Mab Graves. If I just could find more of these frames I could frame the two other postcards I have from the Dolly Collector series.

Old Lego animals that I collect.

Just some misc. toys and stuff.

My Hello Kitty plush collection

Some of my collections (I collect pretty much everything)

Hello Kitty and some other plush toys I also like, plus my one and only Monster High doll. I do NOT collect other dolls other than Blythe. So I do not collect MH's, Barbies or anything else. Sometimes I forget and buy them anyways : / .

I've sewn a lot of the new fabrics I got before Xmas, and I have some pictures to show you!  I've also made some new earrings and have plans for new stuff so I guess I could say I'm having a very good phase with Pinkkis right now. I've also asked that main squeeze guy if we could re-open my Pinkkis store on Etsy. Madeby, where I have a small store is completely dead, has been for ages. So I'd be more than happy to move back to Etsy. It's just that the competition is so hard there! But at least it's not dead!

Okay, here are some more pictures and then I want to go create something!

I hope you enjoyed them!

xoxo,

Pinkkis