Help in a crisis

Poor Elli had a major nose bleed today whilst we were out shopping. I just wanted to say a big thank you to the lady and gentleman who stopped and helped as I tried to stop the blood flow, right in the middle of a busy shopping centre. Fortunately all was well but it was so nice to have support from complete strangers in a time of crisis. Thank you.

One of those hysterical moments....

The children and I went shopping today as we are fed up of ham and we had no bread left! As we were browsing in the fruit and veg section my son spotted some great fresh pineapples. Even better they were fair trade(the kids are expert at fair trade sticker spotting). Aleksi directed me to a particularly delicious looking one and as I pulled it off the shelf the large pile of Grapefruits next to it collapsed! Well so did we! As Grapefruits took off round the supermarket we just laughed and laughed. Obviously I had removed the key pineapple holding up the very large grapefruit stack! Finally I composed myself enough to get the kids to round up the errant fruit as I tried to restack them. As the last grapefruit was carefully returned to the pile, it started to wobble so we ran and hid in the cereal aisle next door. We did get some odd looks but boy did we laugh!

Secret mission complete!

Elli and I sneaked out last night in the dark cold drizzle and made the drop! We decided the top of the slide was a good place as it gave Harri a bit of shelter from the rain. No one was about in the park and the mission was a success. I am talking about the Toy Society Christmas drop - http://www.thetoysociety.blogspot.com/
I made a needle felted toy, to be dropped somewhere in a public place , to be found by someone who gets to take them home and keep them! What a great idea!
Meet Harri, a very special chap who has a real heart too! Here he is waiting to be found at the top of the slide in the local park. We had great fun planning the drop and all the family were involved too! Husband translated the label into Finnish, Aleksi gave Harri his name and Elli found the perfect spot for him to wait! My Mum ,whose visiting, even went for a walk this morning and reported back that he had gone! You can follow the progress of all the toy drops around the world on the blog -http://www.thetoysociety.blogspot.com/ - we will be while we plan the next one!
Merry Christmas! :)

Why now!

Over the last couple of weeks Aleksi's blood sugar levels have gone haywire! No idea why and I doubt there is a simple answer but still why now? Now of course there are endless celebrations and parties at day care and I can't deny him some Christmas fun.I asked him at the weekend what he would really like to do - his answer 'Go to McDonalds!' So we went for the first time since he was diagnosed a year ago. I have never seen a burger disappear so fast.
Anyway it seems as though things have settled down a bit(almost all today's readings were under 4!!!!) so back to juggling insulin and counting the extra grey hairs(lots!)
On the felting front I have completed 2 major projects but as they are both secret presents you will have to wait for pictures!I am really pleased with the results and hope their new owners will like them lots.
One week and counting.............

Time to get ready..

Finally I can breathe a sigh of relief. The Christmas fairs are done and dusted, the last one being 5 days long! It was however very successful and had a nice friendly relaxed atmosphere, which helped a lot.My bestsellers were my pincushions - fun to make too! Now it is time to turn my full attention to getting ready for Christmas - my parents arrive next week and the children have various celebrations at school and day care plus we have some snow! Actually it's a bit wet and slushy but it looks pretty! The shopping is well in hand, the ham is ordered and I have started stocking up on essentials - chocolates, pickles, mustard and dough to make a ginger bread house( that's Grandma's job when she arrives!!)
I still have a few felting projects I need to do and already I am planning ideas in my head for Easter! My next fair is the end of February so no time to waste!! I need to tidy my work room before I do anything else - my first new years resolution!! Jack got dug out of his box yesterday - I haven't the heart to sell him so he will have pride of place in the living room!
Merry Christmas!

Don't you just love 'em!

My 5 year old son came up to me the other day, clutching a 5 cent piece in each hand. With the most sincere look on his face he said 'Mummy I have far too much money - here you can have this!', handing me one of the 5 cent pieces. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Then today the children were watching a video of Elli when she was about 6 months old. I was in the kitchen getting supper ready when I heard this little exchange - Elli said 'Look there's me and Daddy and Grandma'. Aleksi replied 'Yes and I was in Mummy's tummy'. Elli said back ' Oh no you were still just a star!'
I just love some of the fabulous things the children say, completely natural and innocent - priceless - leaving me with this overwhelming feeling of how lucky I am.

In the crypt

I spent most of yesterday in the crypt of an amazing church in Helsinki - the Mikael Agricola Kirkko. It was the annual bazaar of the Anglican church in Finland. I had a very good day :)
Now I need to get back into felting mode to restock for the 5 day Naisten Messut which starts a week Wednesday! I also have a dragon to finish and a snow men to give eyes and nose to - not enough hours/days. My 'workshop' looks like an explosion in a wool factory - there seem to be clouds of wool escaping from every box and bag and you can guarantee the wool I want will be at the bottom of the pile!
OK time to get back to the needle and foam - robins and trees today!

1 year on...

A year ago, completely out of the blue my, then just 4 year old, son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. There is no family history - it is just 'one of those things' that happen. Well a year later we have all survived!! A few more grey hairs for me, but as I had lots anyway you wouldn't notice. It has been hard at times and I know it will get even harder. But he is well and luckily still in the 'honeymoon' or remission phase. This means his pancreas is still making some insulin, just not enough to cope. How long this will last is anyone's guess but so far so good.
He has adapted so well to the daily regime of blood testing - 7 times a day, insulin injections - 1 morning and 1 evening(plus occasional extras if he is unwell or is going to a party), carbohydrate counting - set amounts at set time, 6 meals a day. His HbA1c today was 6.9 - so his blood sugar levels have been pretty good the last 3 months. The Doctor and Diabetes nurse are happy so on we go. He never complains, he is learning to check his own blood sugar levels and lives life to the full - what 5 year old doesn't! At times it seems so unfair but I guess that's life, it could have been a lot worse and for that I am grateful. We will manage , we will continue to do the best we can to keep him well and we will have good times and bad times. We won't be beaten!

The curse of the smelly washing machine!

Oh boy does it smell - I'm convinced something has crawled in and die. It smells terrible. I presume it is just 6½ of gunk finally making it's presence known. I have done a 90 degree wah with vinegar which loosened up a lot of gunge. Not pleasant to see it floating around the washing machine. Now several rinse cycles later it smell as a little better. I found some washer cleaner at the supermarket so that is now running through. Meanwhile , with no tumble dryer my washing pile is slowly taking over the bathroom again, competing with the drying clean washing. A man is coming Tuesday morning to check out the dryer so fingers crossed he'll get it up and running again. Felting has had to take bit of a back seat at the moment. Aleksi has been home sick (which has sent his blood sugar haywire), the garden needed finally putting to bed before it gets really wintery. That's done so it can snow al it likes now!
We go to the hospital tomorrow for Aleksi's diabetes clinic check up, exactly 1 year since diagnosis. So he has to have a battery of blood tests including the HbA1c and I think they are going to alter his insulin regime. I am pleased to say one year has passed without major incident, no emergencies and no hospital admissions, for which I am very grateful. I know there will be hard times but so far so good. Fingers and toes crossed for tomorrow!
At Aleksi's request I made this as a gift for his diabetes nurse - sugar free candy cane of course!

Good news and Bad news

The Good news is my Camera is mended and back home. For some reason I bought extra insurance for it and now I am so happy I did as the repair would have been expensive without it! The Bad news is the tumbler dryer has broken. Now I know they are not the most environmentally friendly beasts but with 2 small children in the middle of a Finnish winter, believe me, I need one! I am only managing to get through 1 load of washing a day as drying space is limited. My husband is ringing the service people today so fingers crossed we can get it up and running again soon( I hate crispy cardboard clothes!!)
I have just booked a table at the Annual bazaar at the Anglican church in Helsinki (in 10 days time) so I need to get cracking making some more tonttu hats and Christmas decorations. No rest for the wicked they say........

The day after Day 3

Definitely a Sunday morning start yesterday - but gradually everyone woke up and overall another good day! At least I covered my costs of being there which is always a good start! My tonttu hats were my best seller , followed by my needle felting kits! Lots of people wanted just the needles so they will definitely be on my 'to sell' list next time. It is really hard to know what people will like/not like, buy/not buy but it was good experience and I'm now looking ahead to my next sale early December(5 days !!!)
Day off today, well from felting anyway! The washing has taken over the bathroom, the washing up has taken over the kitchen and the kids toys have taken over the whole house :) Coffee and a surf first.........

Day 2

A good day today on many counts. Mr 'footcream' on my right, after a little 'discussion' early on in the day was much more considerate about the space issue and only nearly got poked with a single needle once!! The lady on my left managed to stay awake all day and only needed a couple of prods to alert her to customers! I managed to earn 10 times more than yesterday so am a lot happier. Highlight of the day - an elderly lady, in no uncertain terms, telling mr footcream that she did not want her glasses cleaned as she had done it herself that morning( Mr footcream also sells spectacle lens cleaner!) Just as good was the look of sheer delight on another lady's face as she took home Archie Alien to a new home! Finally a young lad bought Ray the musical note for his guitar teacher - a lady who owns a craft shop spotted Ray and asked if I could make a job lot for her shop. Oh Almost forgot the Russian lady who wants me to give her a couple of private felting tuition lessons - yes , definitely a good day :)

Day 1

An interesting experience on my first day at a large handicraft fair in Helsinki. Lots of people looked, lots of people didn't look(!), lots of compliments, sales total 21 euros, total hours worked 10½, hourly rate 2 euros! However it was fun but exhausting. The space I have is tiny and to my right is a bear of a man selling 'the worlds best foot cream' - in his enthusiastic sales pitch however he kept on bashing into my table causing a cascade of snowmen! He almost got a fully loaded 6 felting needle holder somewhere painful!
On my left is a girl who spent most of the fair asleep, with her customers trying to pay me for her goods and me then spending most of the day nudging her awake to tell her she had customers. What a day....
So back for more tomorrow!

The big day tomorrow

Well tomorrow is it - D Day! My first official attendance as an exhibitor at a large craft fair! Here is the link - http://www.finnexpo.fi/kadentaito/
I am just about organised. I went to the venue this morning to set up my table - no table! A bit of concrete floor space with my number on - 6g22 - and surprise a wall behind my table space! So I have had a rethink and plan to hang some of my pictures as well as my FeltFinland banner on the wall. So an early start tomorrow as I now have to set up the table in the morning. It won't take long thank goodness as it is quite small and my table plan is in my head!
The snowmen and felted folk are packed and I have to admit I am a bit sad to think that they won't all be coming home(hopefully!!!)

Normal service resumed!

I'm feeling human again, which is great as with 2 small children,a household to run and my first fair next week, mummy can't be sick! I've had a felting frenzy this morning, wet felting up a storm I hope. Sadly no pictures as my camera is at the repair shop after it's little trip down the stairs last weekend. Thankfully I had bought extra insurance(something I very rarely do!) so all the repairs are covered. Yippee!
My husband birthday is tomorrow so i have promised the children we will bake the biggest ever chocolate cake! I think there will be no shortage of help to lick the bowl either.
Happy Halloween!

There is never a good time to be ill....

but now is really not good. I have my first fair the end of next week and lots to do and to top it all I dropped my camera down the stairs on Sunday - not a good idea :(.
I am having trouble deciding between a cheese roll or ham roll for lunch and that is proving strenuous! I have 40+ snowmen noses to felt, at least 20 more scarves and 72 bells to sew on hats, oh yes, and billions of strawberry seeds to felt in place- oh joy!! Fortunately most of the 'big' stuff is done , just lots of finishing off to do. I feel another sleep coming on!!!

2 weeks and counting

... until my first ever fair. I've not only chosen one of the biggest venues in Finland - the Helsinki Messukeskus(think earls court but alot smaller!) It is 3 days and I'm really looking forward to it but am quite anxious at the same time. Here's the link -http://www.finnexpo.fi/kadentaito/ I've got my dictionary packed, a fistful of change(one can never have enough change!) and lots of felted goodness! Now I have to decide what to take as I only have a small table and I don't want to overcrowd it. I am doing a 5 day fair too in December so with luck should make a bit of money to help out over Christmas.

Where does it all come from?

Look an empty washing basket, a rare sight in our household! This however is the reason it is empty - the biggest pile of washing EVER sitting on the landing. We had been to our summer cottage for the final time this year so we brought back all the sheets, towels,spare clothes etc. It didn't help that Aleksi fell in the lake - another bag of wet washing!! As I write I have done 5 loads and the pile looks no smaller! The poor machine needs a rest! I don't iron - I have the luxury of a tumbler dryer and husband has non-iron shirts(thank you M&S!) - could you imagine ironing this lot too..........

I know winter is coming when......

the little snowflake appears on my car computer, the kids put their hats on with no arguing, I put a hat on(!), I turn on the 'hot' seats in the car, 'steam' comes out of our mouths as we walk to school/ daycare,the cat refuses to go outside. Yes it is well on its way - yippee we want snow!! The down side - new winter suits and boots for the kids, changing the summer tyres to winter tyres(hubbys' job!), lost gloves and hats (again).
We are actually having a beautiful autumn. I don't remember so many lovely coloured leaves and clear blue skies. The squirrels are stocking up on peanuts and the birds are heading off for warmer climes! It has also been an amazing year for mushrooms of all shapes and sizes.

A sad day for Finland

Today one is greeted by a sight of forlorn flags hung at half mast. Today is a national day of mourning, following the harrowing events of yesterday. The sky is clear blue and there is no wind, the leaves are the most glorious array of reds, yellows and orange - beautiful. A day to remember, a sad day.

We love Wall - e

What a great film - we took the children to see it at the weekend and what fun it was! We are great fans of the Disney Pixar films and this one did not disappoint even when dubbed in Finnish. Go see!

96 years of marriage!

We have just been over to the UK to celebrate my parents 50th wedding anniversary - a great party of family and friends. I began to do some quick maths and worked out that between me, my parents and my 2 brothers ( and respective other halves!) we have clocked up 96 years of marriage - God willingly this time next year it will be 100! Not bad eh!?
I also enjoyed a day out in London,visiting my favourite book shop, coffee house and delicatessen. I miss it in someways but in so many other ways not at all !!!
Back home and back to work, lots of it, only 3 months to Christmas and 7 weeks until my first fair..... frantic sound of needling and wool sorting in background!

Holiday over

Phew, I'm exhausted watching people doing the most amazing athletic activities over the past couple of weeks. Brilliant and now I can't wait for London 2012. I'm already planning the trip - one of those things on my must do list - go to an Olympics.
Elli has settled really well at pre school and told me then other day she has some friends. I'm so proud of my little girl. Aleksi can't wait to go next year!
I am back into the swing of felting and roll on Christmas! I spent 6 days in eastern Finland on a natural wool dyeing workshop. Wow - what hard work but it was great to have the challenge of learning a brand new skill. Lupins and heather have taken on a new meaning - green and yellow! I promise to post some photos but here is one of the fruits of my labour. Thanks to Rod and Karoliina for a brilliant time.

Look!

I know twice in one day, but husband is trying to install a new high definition digi box so the tv/olympics is in hold. So I went into the garden and dug up one of my potato bags and found these, all 2lbs 4 ozs of them. Roll on sunday lunch tomorrow!


HaHa just noticed the title of my previous post - perhaps this will be me by the end of next week!!!!

Couch potato!

Great, a really good excuse to crash in front of the telly for the next 2 weeks and watch sport you would never normally contemplate giving the time of day to - The Olympics. I love it! Just been watching weightlifting , shooting and cycling - all very exciting. The kids are less impressed at Mummy hogging the TV - I've already told them we will be going to the Olympics in London 2012 which went down like a lead balloon! We shall see....

Check out this fun site - www.wordle.net - you can make fab pictures from words! Thanks to Suse-the-slow-knitta for the link, spotted on her blog - http://wishidaskedmygran.blogspot.com/

Off to school

My baby, who is actually 6½ now, starts pre school next week! She is sooo excited. I can't believe she is just about to embark on one of the most important times of her life. Little brother gets his turn next year - look out! Here in Finland they don't start 'proper' school until 7. At 6 they go to preschool which basically prepares them for the school day and what to expect. On all accounts the Finnish education system is supposed to be one of the best around - we shall see! The boy starts daycare again next week, he quite looking forward to going back for a change but I think that has to do with the fact that they have completely renovated the playground, swings , slides, basket ball area - lots of fun. I'll let you know what he thinks next week!

Happy Household

A good day for both of us! Finland won the Ladies relay in the World Orienteering championships and Great Britain won the men's relay, so we are both happy! Well done boys!! The lawn got mowed, the weeds got pulled up and I got through a shed load of washing - all finished off with a sauna and cold beer - lovely!

The Great Outdoors

Back home after a few days 'holiday' if you can call running around a hilly rocky forest with a map and compass 'holiday'! We went orienteering near Jyväskylä and stayed in a spa hotel so for me at least it was a holiday from cooking,tidying, washing etc!!! The kids had a great time in the pool and the steam sauna helped work out the aches and pains. I spotted this little toilet house as we walked round the hotel grounds - wasn't sure whether to laugh or be offended! Here are the kids on a string orienteering course, wish mine had a piece of tape to follow!!

Triffid potatoes!

Gardening advice needed - Are my potatoes supposed to look like this?! They are taking over the garden! Hopefully we may have a few potatoes to show for it along with the 6 beans , 4 peas and 8 carrots and even possibly a leek or two. We have also had plenty of luck fishing so a large fish soup is on the menu! Now we head off for a few days 'holiday' - a couple of days orienteering near Jyväskylä, a nice hotel with a pool, child care provided whilst husband and I wander around the woods, no cooking! Think I might just sneak my felting kit in when no one is looking!!

One month later..........

A month with nothing new , my apologies. June was a busy month with every weekend being spent away from home. Fun but tiring, and the humungous piles of washing that materialise after a few days away from home! - takes me all week to clear it and then it reappears, Arghhhh!
What were we up to you may ask? Visits to the summer cottage - more fishing with a couple of good catches, the interment of my father in laws ashes - simple but very moving, midsummer jollifications(and yes it rained), orienteering in Jukola Viesti, the biggest relay race in the world( I think)with some friends over from UK - exhausting but a great weekend. I have even managed some felting and the snowmen are slowly multiplying!
Holiday time is now here, the children have finished daycare so my peace has been shattered. I have been digging out the old favourites to keep them busy, bubbles, the paddling pool and making slushies! Happy Holidays!!

Fish and Felt

I really enjoy a spot of fishing - you can't beat bobbing about in a boat on the lake, staring intently at an orange blob, waiting........! Aleksi came along this time and he caught 2 little fish. He was so happy, he didn't stop giggling and singing( not ideal fishing conditions!!) It was very therapeutic as I find felting is. Both needle and wet felting are my therapy and with luck I may even make a bob or two. Anyway this dodgy lot appeared last week. Plenty more to come as little ideas keep popping into my head which ultimately become their head! So back to the day job - more felting...and might even do a spot more fishing at the weekend!

An inspired morning

It all came together this morning - plenty of wool, hot soapy water and elbow grease and these appeared. Very happy I was too! I hadn't actually planned anything but then things happened and I was on a roll! I love doing the needle felting, managed 2 smalll and 1 rather large tonttu (gnome) hat whilst I watch Man U v Chelsea, but I love it when the wet felting projects all come together. A good day!

Organised Chaos

My workshop aka the spare room looks like an explosion in a wool factory! As much as I try and sort it out it just gets messy again - sounds a lot like my daughters bedroom. My 4 year old son is really good about tidying his room but Elli has other ideas. Wonder where she got that from :)
I have managed a bit of creating, lots of little bits - scarves, hats and noses for snowmen, a couple of candy canes and the odd gingerbread man. I have had a gazillion ideas for caricatures and have been scribbling little pictures to remind me. I so often have the best ideas at the most inopportune moments so have started to carry round paper and pencil! Looking forward to a creative day tomorrow - I hope!

A Perfect day

Yesterday was Mothers Day in Finland and what a lovely day I had. The Flags were flying and I enjoyed a lovely breakfast in bed with cards and presents, enthusiastically delivered by the children. We then head of to the coast and in a lovely secluded area had a picnic followed by a walk through the woods, admiring the blueberry bushes laden with flowers( bodes well for this summer). Back home I managed a few chores in the garden, namely digging out the compost box, ready for the summer! The lawn has been cut and the garden looks so good. A BBQ of chicken Tikka was devoured in the evening sunshine and with a glass of bubbly in one hand I managed to snatch an hour doing a jigsaw puzzle while husband watched the ice hockey( and Finland beat USA!!) A perfect day!

Spring has well and truly sprung

What a glorious day - the trees now have tiny bright green leaves, the bulbs are blooming(those not eaten by Mr Hare!), the squirrel has got his russet red coat on , the grass has been cut, along with gazillions of dandelions(bizarrely adored here in Finland - well they are about the first flower to appear after winter so anything that isn't white or brown looks good!) The kids had a lovely day playing in the garden and we had our first supper outside. Things are looking good!

The Highs and Lows

Life has been a rollercoaster these past few weeks and it is only now showing signs of slowing down. On the up side I was approved for a business start up grant which means that for the next few months at least I have some money coming in and I can really get to grips with making FeltFinland work. My business is also now registered so it is official - I know own and run my own business!
On the down side my father in law passed away - he had been unwell for quite sometime but it was still a shock when it happened. Fortunately we saw him that morning and he got to see the children one last time.
But as they say (without sounding callous I hope) life goes on and it does. I am in the process of needle felting 26 snowmen's heads and bottoms and numerous tonttu (gnomes) hats! I have a load of wet felting ideas in my head and hope next week to get my hands soapy! I can't wait - I really enjoy needle felting but you can't beat the satisfaction of turning a load of fuzzy wool into (hopefully) a beautiful creation with just soap, water and one's hands.Brilliant!

All creatures great and small

I love them - we have a family of red squirrels in the garden who demand peanuts, magpies who have stand offs with the squirrels over the peanuts, a couple of pheasants who potter around doing their thing then there is a ruddy great big hare! He is huge, twice the size of my cat! It is great to have all this wildlife in the garden BUT dear Mr Hare has just eaten my glorious display of crocuses. They had just bloomed in the spring sunshine and gave a great splash of yellow and purple in our currently brown garden. Now they are gone, munched, no more - I am devastated! However my son saved the day by coming up to me in the garden as I mourned my crocuses and with a gentle pat on the back and a big hug he said 'Don't worry Mummy, it doesn't matter' It's true - it doesn't matter and far worse things will happen that we will have to deal with. Sometimes we need 4 year olds to remind us of that.

Extremes

They say variety is the spice of life - well we have experienced both extremes of the spectrum these past few weeks - starting off with having to drill a hole in the lake to get water to wash with, collecting logs for the fire early morning in -17 degrees C and hunting for Easter eggs before they got buried by more snow! Then having flown across the pond we sat sipping cold beer by the warm pool, splashed in some great waves and ate huge pancakes for breakfast! Of course we met Mickey and had many a ride on the carousel in glorious sunshine. We loved it all!

Home again

Well I am back home in body but my brain is not sure if is still in the USA or in England! We have gone from 85 degree F heat in Orlando to 4 inches of snow at Mum's in the UK and now a grey damp Finland - no wonder I am bewildered! Time to download photos, put on more washing and try empty the suitcases by the weekend(not sure that will happen!) I love going away but I love coming home too....

Holiday time!

We all enjoyed a lovely Easter break at our summer cottage, near Lappeenranta, about 40 kms from the Russian border. Lots of snow, clear blue skies - it was beautiful. I love the way of life there, back to basics and at the moment with the lake frozen there is no running water. So drinking water from the neighbours well and washing/sauna water from the lake, after my husband has drilled through the ice! Logs need to be collected to keep the fire going so plenty to do! The children had fun with a egg hunt on Sunday morning,nearly a disaster as it started to snow big time but my eagle eyed son managed to find them all.
Now we are off on a trip of another kind - the other extreme you might say, Orlando, Florida to see Mickey and his mates! At least it won't be -17 degrees C there. It will be nice too for the kids not to have to wear winter suits and boots for a few days. Time for some fun - I can't wait!

Eggs galore!

I have been making Easter eggs by the dozen, well at least 1 dozen! They are such fun to make and the possibilities are endless.....
Also talking of Easter, check out the Easter parade at http://qdpatooties.blogspot.com/ ,where I have a couple of entries - a hot chick and a Easter bunny! Some of the other entries are just amazing - what a clever lot we all are!

Almost done

My website is almost done but still needs a few finishing touches. Once I'm happy then I will go 'global' -in other words e mail everyone I know to tell them!! I have summoned up enough energy to finish the caterpillar and a pincushion I owed as a swap and tonight managed a few more Easter eggs. I really enjoy making them as the design possibilities are endless and they look great in a little nest!

Non creative week

It's actually been a bit of a 'non' week in all aspects! We have all been struck down with the flu so lots of paracetamol and hot drinks all round. Plus just as we thought spring was on its way , it snowed - lots - so winter is temporarily back well and truly. I managed to get to my business class but with the tutor deciding to choose this week to speak Finnish(usually the course is done in English), me blowing my nose like Dumbo and being deaf in one ear, I'm afraid the finer points of Pricing and Invoicing passed me by. Hopefully I will have better luck in next weeks Book keeping class!

Ahead of the game

I have had a good felting week and have finished a lot of projects. The dragons egg is on its way to the USA, the happy car is now with its new owner and my friends baby is admiring her bee mobile. Now I need to find something else to felt! Any ideas?

Fame(and fortune!?)

I'm famous - well sort of! An article was written by a friend and it has appeared in the March issue of Taika, a finnish craft magazine. It is in Finnish but my friend Elina, assures me it says lots of good things about me!!
I feel now things are slowly coming together with the 'business' - the website is almost ready, not quite though , still needs a few tweaks. I still have loads of forms to fill but I am gradually working through those. Soon all will be official (I hope!)

A productive week

I have had a good week felting. I have managed to finish a few thing and of course start a few more!!
Here are the latest results.........

Next to come - a dragon's egg, car for a birthday boy, bees to finally finish and then who knows.

Circlin' the wagons for Holly

I have been very lucky with my health and only recently when Aleksi was diagnosed with diabetes did I really appreciate the Health care system here in Finland and also in the UK. So it must be really tough when you haven't got that system to catch you if you fall. Holly from oceans of fiber http://www.hollyeqq.com/is having some medical problems and needs some support, especially financially. Sandy from http://homesteadwoolandgiftfarm.com/ is running a sale/ auction of fabulous yarns and other treasures to help support Holly.
My contribution is these two - Brad and Angelina, needled felted and wearing the latest in woolly scarves made with holly's wool. Please visit Sandy's website and support circlin' the wagons for Holly.

Busy, busy!

Well, I have had a few productive felting days, snowmen, dinosaurs, easter eggs, rabbits, a wool inspired picture and bees! Keeps me on my toes - I quite like having a few projects on the go at the same time as needling dinosaur legs for hours on end can be exasperating, especially when you are trying to get them the same shape and size! Today will be scarf for snowman and a caterpillar, plus some dino spots if I get the time. I'll post some photos when there are done!

February already!

Where did January go? It's February tomorrow and before we know it, it will be Easter! At least I have managed to do some felting, actually making snowmen for next Christmas. At this rate it will here in a flash! It feels good to be back creating again and I plan to wield the soap and hot water tomorrow - I love wet felting. So many ideas , so little time!

No excuses

I'm all set up now in my little workshop, computer up and running with the new wifi Internet my dear husband installed, virgin radio is on and I have no excuses now for not writing my blog! My internet page is almost ready at www.feltfinland.com so next weeks task will be sorting and uploading photos. Very exciting!

Us

Us
Originally uploaded by feltfinland

I LOVE black and white photos. My niece took these at Christmas and seeing her new camera inspired me to invest in a new one too!

My christmas presents to me!

I have splashed the cash today and oh was it fun! Our old PC is really not well so welcome to a new all singing and dancing laptop! It will be great as I launch into the big bad world of business and the camera that also found its way into my shopping trolley will be great for showing off my works of art on my website.

Spring cleaning

I have started spring cleaning already! i know it's January and we are in the middle of winter here, though you wouldn't know - not a snow flake in sight.
The first thing to be blasted was the kids craft box, next the desk then the large pile of Christmas stuff piled in the corner. I walked into the playroom full of good intent but decided coffee was a better option and the toys could wait another day!
The little boy is still not 100% but his blood sugar is starting to settle so I am a bit happier about that. Some days I wish it would all go away - well one day who knows!

The long weekend

Back home from a weekend at the in-laws. They live 3 hours drive away in Lappeenranta in south eastern Finland. Thanks must go to Shrek for providing the in car entertainment! Foul weather(wind, snow , sleet....so no playing outside), a small flat and two excited children don't exactly go well together but we just about survived even when our 4 year old diabetic son threw a high temperature which sent his blood sugar skywards. We are still learning as far as his diabetes is concerned but we coped and we are home safe and he is now curled upon the sofa with Piglet, looking a little happier.
I am quite pleased with the look of the blog but I'm sure a few more tweaks will come about. My next task is to try and post a few photos!

Setting up

I have a love - hate relationship with my computer. Today is not a good day, in fact this is a chuck it in the pile of wet snow outside the window day. Yes I am trying hard to set up my blog! Well third time lucky it is slowly taking shape and with a few(well lots probably) more tweaks I will be happy.