Gardening

On Friday will finally be moving to our new flat, and we have a small front yard and a small back  yard. I've never had even a tiny yard. I was planning to have a Japanese  style for the front yard, and for the back yard no style, just lots of green, lots of recycling, and lots of herbs, vegetables and flowers. Now that it's autumn, I have to wait with the green things until it's spring again. But now I can work with the layout and outside furniture, and flower pots, and all the amazing recycled garden projects, I've found online. If you have great ideas for recycled garden ideas, I'd be happy to hear them! I googled "recycled garden ideas" and this is what I found. So many awasome things!

Lushome

CasaSugar

homelife

Besthometip.com

treehugger

Backyardpatch-blog

Backyardpatch-blog

Decorate Your Home With Unique Art Prints

I try to support artists, small businesses and entrepreneurs, whenever I need or want to buy something new. Now that I'm living in the Netherlands (and still trying to find a job), I'm also trying to make some money by utilising my artistic skills. Check out my art prints of my drawings and photographs in my Society6 -shop. If you don't find an art print from my shop, that would be good for your home, browse through other artists' art. There's plenty to choose from!

My favourite artist / photographer in Society6 is Kevin Russ. He travels around with his car, sleeps in it, and takes his photos with an iPhone. If you're interested in reading more about Kevin Russ, check out this article about him. He sounds like such a cool, down to earth guy, and his nature photos are absolutely beautiful.

Here are some of my art prints that you can buy in Society6, hope you like them!

Cotton Cord

I'm in love with crocheting, and especially crocheting with cotton cord. When I lived in Finland I bought cotton cord made of excess cotton from the textile industry. If you have any tips on where to find it in the Netherlands, please let me know!

I crocheted a lovely round rug a few years ago, and I've washed it in the washing machine at least ten times, and it still looks great. I started grocheting an other rug for my friend, but because I have some problems with my arm, I couldn't get it finished. The pattern of this rug is so beautiful! You can find the pattern instructions on this blog, but sorry, they are only in Finnish.

I taught my friend to crochet the beautiful pattern, and now she's continuing to crochet the rug on her own. I hope I will have some pictures to show you soon! I have enough cotton cord for at least one more rug and maybe one basket, but I just have to wait that we can move first. At the moment we're living in a hotel in 's-Heerenberg, Netherlands, and waiting to get our own flat. We should be able to move in the beginning of September, but the landlord is on holiday at the moment, so things are not really moving forward.

My Friend Elina

I visited my friend Elina a few days ago. In the winter I taught her to make amigurumis (crocheted or knit stuffed animals or human figures) and now she showed me how to make pull tab purses. I got to know Elina in high school and we were really good friends. At some point we lost contact for a few years, and then last winter when she saw my amigurumis on Facebook, she wrote me a message asking if I could teach her to make amigurumis. And of course I could! I think, it’s a lovely story, amigurumis brought us back together!

Elina also likes to experiment new materials, especially recycled materials, to make her own unique items. At the moment she’s making a pull tab pillow cover, I can’t wait to see it ready. And now that I know how to make amazing purses out of pull tabs, I would really like to get started with one. Unfortunately, I have still quite a lot packing to be done, and we’re moving on Tuesday.

I took a few photos at Elina’s. The wooden box is so cute! It’s been made with decoupage technique, and Elina got inspiration for the box from my decoupage items, that I have shown in this blog. It’s so absolutely cool to be able to inspire people! That’s actually the main reason I started writing this blog. I’d love to have Elina as a guest writer in my blog, I bet she’d have many amazing ideas.

Elina had her earrings, bracelets, and necklaces hanging from strings and nails. It looked so nice and that way, you will always find what you're looking for. I think I’m going to do the same thing in our new flat. 

Outside Living

In the summer time it's so nice to relax on a balcony, terrace, patio... You name it! Our balcony is very small 50's balcony, which was mainly built, so that women could air their home textiles. These days I use it for the same purpose too, but I'd also like to have a roomy outdoor space for relaxing, gatherings with friends, and quiet afternoon tea moments. I'm hoping to have my own backyard in the Netherlands. I'd love to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and herbs. Viiru would also love spending time outside, chewing tree branches and enjoying the sun.

These pictures are taken in the Housing Fair in Finland. The photos show how you don't really need a lot to create a cosy outdoor space. Just a few chairs, pillows, a rug, and some plants. Outside spaces are perfect for recycled items. Imagine: building a sofa out of wooden pallets, mattresses covered with colourful textiles and unique pillows. Or making it totally black and white! I might try the black and white version inside and the colourful version outside. For flower pots you can use old coffee cups, buckets, pots, vases, or anything you can think of. Then make it your style by covering it with fabric, paper or a crocheted cover. I can't wait to try out these ideas!