Happy Easter! Happy Spring!

I've had a few busy weeks again, but I managed to find time to create a bit of Easter ambiance.

First I planted some grass seed. It sprouted overnight. I love the furry white hair that first appear. And the stalks. Fragile, but determined, little spears of green.

After a few days it looked like this.

The beautiful root system is the reason why I planted the seeds in a glass candle holder.

Then the chicks and chocolate eggs moved in.

I dyed these eggs some years ago, using tea, coffee, onion peels and crocus petals. Yesterday I got a tip about more natural dyes for your Easter eggs. Check it out here.

An Easter cupcake gave me renewed energy to finish what I'd started.

I made paper crocuses with the kids on Wednesday

and was so inspired that I made a whole bunch for myself. Spring is late in Finland this year, so in lieu of real crocuses, I can enjoy these instead.

Thanks for visiting. Happy Easter and Happy Spring to us all! - Annika

Busy Fingers

I've been busy again for a few weeks, following a visit to the dentist's, where I had my very last wisdom tooth removed surgically. Things were a bit slow chez moi afterwards, as my jaw was pretty sore, which meant that I've had a lot to catch up with. (I was a bit worried that the last of my wisdom would go with the tooth, but I've had a few clever ideas since, so I guess I'm safe...)

My fingers have been busy this weekend, as I'll be participating in a fair (Arbismarknaden) at the adult education centre next Friday. I'm selling handprinted and machine and hand embroidered items, such as the pretty purses you've seen on this blog before (here and here (the green purse is still unsold)), these little boxes (my very first blog entry!), and these coin purses I've been making this weekend:

The prints are made with a hand carved linoleum stamp I made myself.

I also made a couple of coin purses for a friend and myself. The print on these is a monoprint which I texturised with a handcut eraser stamp in the shape of a key:

I'll report back later about the fair, Until then, have a great week, and thanks for dropping by! - Annika