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

Is it okay?

Is it okay if I don't post anything today?

My desk, my mess! One Month Project, Organize Tehdas. Day 9?

Howdy!

.Yesterday was a very good day! I got so much done! Finished the bat, Totoro and a fox carriers, and got a lot of others almost done. And I cleaned my desk! Not the drawers or anything, but now at least the desk is decluttered and a lot more fun to work on!

Here's the pink haired blogger working on some important details. :)

First time for a very long time I took a short break from sewing and organizing and all that "serious" stuff and played with the dolls a bit. Actually just to organize the house, since dolls were just piling up on two of the top rooms, the ones that the doll house doors don't cover. The main reason for doing that, other than it bothered me that my precious dolls were on piles, was that I needed to locate Miki's (the middie doll) other shoe. Honestly that was awful that I had lost it. It was her shoes I liked the most: little red Mary Janes with a cat face on them! Sorry there's no picture. I tried (twice) but it didn't work. Google Zukin middie. So yes, I had lost one of her shoes. Before I decided to keep the doll, I was thinking about selling her without the shoes, so I could keep them. Even though I wouldn't have a doll who could wear them. That's how much I liked them :) And now I had lost one of them!!

I was a bit worried since it wasn't in the dollhouse. I pretty much never vacuum the room, I have too many miniatures and jewelry bits and beads on the floor. So I sweep. So I was quite sure it had to be in the room still. But wouldn't I spotted it along the cleaning?

I emptied my zipper drawers, since they were underneath where I had kept the clothes, and the drawers are open all the time. The shoe was found in the last drawer!! Yay!! I was so happy!! Now I had the shoe and also more organized doll house! :D And inviting desk! Life is good!

Here's the small closet I did couple days ago. The one I didn't post yesterday. Doesn't look that great, not impressive at all. But that's okay. 

 And here's the bat, finally finished! Well, it still needs the zipper pull beads and deco, but other than that - Done! I'm super happy with the way it came out!

I have so much to do today I won't have time to organize or anything. I'll try to do the zipper pulls this morning, so hubby could photograph everything. But other than that, I just can't. I have some four hour meeting and then I need to go celebrate my mom's birthday! I'll try to drive our broken car to my dad's (who can get it fixed by his brother) and that's making me really nervous. It's 35 km's away. :(

I should get started! Enjoy the sunny weather! (in case you have sunny weather! if not, then enjoy whatever you have!)

xoxo,
Raisa

No post today. Well, a short one.

Sorry. I don't have anything to post. I did manage to clean and organize the closet I was supposed to but didn't enjoy it at all. So I don't feel like posting about it.

I want to sew and I just want Tehdas to be clean and the whole thing to be over already. I've noticed that all the things that are without a proper place at the moment are really killing the creativity in me. I don't want to finish the Totoro, since that would mean I'd have to sit down by my desk. And my desk is a mess, not a  inspiring mess, but kind of like an empty mess. The mess boring people make. I want to start making my own messes! I'm starting to hate all the new places where I've placed my items, to make make more sense to the whole room. I know I'll get used to the new places and it's handy to have it more organized, more concentrated. But god! I don't know where anything is anymore. You know those automatic moves you do to reach for a pen or scissors or whatever - I do that and what I get is something totally different. I guess it's good for my old, senile brain to get some excercise like that.

Maybe I should throw away my plan to organize everything in an order and focus on my craft desk instead. To get that functional might do a lot of good for my lack of will to do something other than just sewing (my sewing desk is clean and uncluttered).

Well, it's 9.30 am and I want to get some serious progress done today so I better start working!

Take care! And take it easy.

xoxo,
Raisa

One month bla bla bla, day 6 and 7?

Sorry, I can't keep track. I don't really think anyone cares which day I'm on, so why bother?

I took a day off from the computer, which is why I didn't post yesterday. And also I was one day behind on my too-tight schedule, so there wasn't really that much to show.

I spent two days working on my sewing corner. Not because it was too much work, but mainly because it was so boring and you really couldn't see the progress. Especially in pictures it's quite hard to see if one has dusted or not. So on the first day I dusted everything and on the second day (and that would be yesterday) I organized and cleaned the desk.

Mostly I've been sewing. I have to say I love cotton -- you know, the non-stretchy one. I absolutely love working with it. After all the stretchy and fluffy and furry materials, basic cotton is a dream to sew. I'm getting better and better with my sherpas and faux furs as well, but nothing is as easy and comfortable to sew as cotton is. Sorry! That was my little love letter to cotton. :)

But yes, I have been sewing a lot. I have a lot of custom orders I'm (still) working on. While trying to figure those out (like how to make a bat-shaped carrier?!?) I have learned something very strange about me: I enjoy the mental challenge. I hate it when things go wrong, but this has been fun and it's given me strange, reality-based trust of my skills. (That might sound strange, but trust me, it feels even more so! lol!) I think I'd be great at designing things and creating the prototypes. I like to solve problems, I think.

I've also tried (and re-tried, and re-re-tried) finishing my t-shirts for the secret project I've mentioned earlier on. I'm afraid I'll never get it finished, and one reason for that is that I'm afraid it'll fail. (I've done some serious soul searching over the weekend ;) .) I just don't like stretchy materials. Or my sewing machine doesn't like them. But I'm not going to give up. Not yet!

Back to the project! My goal, among packaging and shipping tons of orders, (the code is still valid for today! PINKKIS300 will take 30% off of your order! Expires today!) is to organize this closet. It's a small space, so there shouldn't be that much to deal with. But all those papers! What am I going to do with all those papers!?! This closet also contains most of my stamps. But my inks and rest of my stamps are somewhere else and I want to keep them all together. So I have to do something to fix that.

Last night hubby and I started watching awful, awful movie called 12 Years a Slave. So far it's been just so depressing and sad. Somehow it has made me think about the animal slavery, too. The way we are used to live, all the well being, it's all based on slaving somebody. We couldn't have "it all" if the prices were fair for the other part as well. Animals are paying with their freedom and with their life, and it's just so unfair. People making our clothes, toys and growing our food pay with their health and sometimes with their freedom and life, too. But how can we settle for less? Less toys? Less clothes? Less electronics? Less exotic food items? Just look at my craft space! I have it all, and I just keep wanting more and more!

Not the ending I wanted for this post. Enjoy the colorful picture my daughter took yesterday.

xoxo,
Raisa