Lucky Jump

As an apology for not blogging for the past 3 weeks I give you this picture of a daisy. Not good enough? As unforgivable as my betrayal may be, I think/hope all of you are enjoying your holidays as well. I´m not actually yet on holiday but the summer in Finland is always kind of like a holiday because it´s not winter, right? I´ve been working, shopping, cooking, entertaining guests and I´m not sure where all the time has disappeared. I have made some great finds in second-hand shops recently, as you might notice from the pictures below.

Only in the 80´s could they have invented something as ingenious as jump counter in the handle of a jump rope. (And only in the eighties were people that in to skipping that they needed jump counters). Nowadays all the high-tech has made this kind of things unnecessary. But I think it´s much more fun skipping with a counter than a smart phone. A jump counter with a ball bearing is so low tech that it´s funny, and it might even sometimes be more functional than a smart phone.

They say that living in the capital makes people busy. Not sure if that is true, even though I´ve failed  to blog recently. My camera has just been summer busy photographing people and food. I haven´t take many of my usual close-ups of stuff, even though I´ve been shopping like crazy, in second-hand shops anyway. After analyzing my finds, I discovered that I seem to have theme colours for this summer: black, gold, pale bluish-green and bright 50´s red. I think there is something old yet ageless about those colours.

I´m going to spend my not-so-well-deserved summer break from the blog at our cottage. There is no electricity there, nor running water for that matter, but I like it. It´s my two weeks of down shifting and camp life.  And please excuse me if this post was all incoherent topic-wise (again). It might be because I can´t help dancing to Donna Summer´s music while writing.

If you don´t hear from me in the next four weeks, just assume that I got electrocuted by my new/old “Carmen air brush” (that weird-looking brown thing, a hair dryer, in the picture). And yes it really is called an air brush. I promise in fall I´ll do a blog makeover, change the header and such. Enjoy the summer as long as it lasts!

Back in Business

 

As you might know, my brother took my camera for a while, and I haven´t posted during that time. Being without a camera has been like being handicapped. Yes, in a way it is liberating to experience things without the constant feeling that you need to take pictures of everything that´s great. After all only some experiences are better through a lens, sometimes you miss interesting stuff while photographing.

I´ve of course chosen my way, as a camera-gal, and since I tried a much more sophisticated camera this weekend I feel like it might be time to upgrade to the heavy weight series. (Better cameras usually weigh more, not to even mention the objectives..) Everyone in my family has a camera, if not two, and having a video camera while growing up was always pretty much fun.

Lately I´ve come down with winter feet syndrome (it´s not a real thing, I hope) that presents itself in a burning desire to wear summer shoes while practically skating on the icy footpaths (Also, wearing winter shoes makes my feet feel like they´re burning). So spring is finally coming, snow is melting and you can feel the Sun´s warmth. You also know it´s Spring when it´s so warm out that you can stay 10 minutes out on the balcony blowing soap bubbles and photographing them.

I have tried my best to stay away from second-hand shops lately as I´m practically broke. Yet I just had to visit one today, just to see whether a radio that I admired a week ago was still there. It´s weird but I promised myself that I could buy it if it was still there, and it was. It´s like I told everyone, it´s the greatest  radio: really good sound quality and a retro look! And it can operate on batteries as well as plug, so I can use it at the beach or at a picnic, or just in the kitchen or my room.

And  just to mention: I´m going through a major life change: I got a job in the capital and I´m moving there before my graduation at the end of May. So there will be moving, throwing stuff to second-hand shops and writing my final thesis project report, I´ll be busy but I´ll try to keep up with my writing. I hope this spring will be as great for all you guys as it has been for me!

 

Busy little Bemma

I haven´t had the time or the patience to post these past few weeks. I´ve been working so hard with my final thesis project that I´ve hardly had the time to visit second-hand shops, I know, shocking!  I´m creating a pitcher and a bowl as friends to my previous products as my thesis project. They´re both organic forms, which makes the models and moulds very interesting. This coming week I´ll be seeing how the shapes behave in the kiln.

It´s funny how ceramics work, I always wait for my first products from the kiln to cool down with the same childish enthusiasm as when I was 12. There is something magical about getting to see your work for the first time, the feeling of accomplishment after weeks of hard work. Ceramics also transform so much in the kiln, they shrink, change colour, become more dense, that it is always a bit of a surprise what you get, even with the best premeditation.

Sometimes I think only the people who are inspired by a set of challenges will choose ceramics as their field of work. There are so many ways to get it wrong, even the masters get surprised by a new kind of fault every once in a while. And because there are so many phases to manufacturing ceramics, you can´t really be sure of anything until you´ve wrecked them all, preferably of course one at a time to get the most failed goods. Obviously I´m joking, not to be cynical, but sometimes it feels like the faults just keep on appearing from nowhere, that is the challenge.

To other topics of today: The spring has finally started to show in temperatures as well, we´ve had mild temperatures with horizontal snowfall and wind(= blizzards). One day I was going home at 8 pm and I just had to laugh at myself for choosing a short cut path that had totally disappeared in the snow. It was quite amusing to plow through the snow dunes feeling like a pioneer.

Today we went for a walk on a road on the ice of a nearby lake. And yes, it is safe to go on the on ice, as safe as you can get driving a vehicle weighing a ton on 50 cm thick ice. Just remember NOT to attach your seat belts. It was really windy there, and I guess if Finland had any deserts, they´d be like that, cold, windy, empty with snow flying in the wind.

And for the pictures in this post, you can enjoy my newest finds from the second-hand shops as well as the scenery of Finland in the winter. I have given my camera to my brother as he is completing his military service and wants to take some pictures. Honestly, I´m not sure when I´ll be able to post again, at least with pictures anyway. In the meanwhile, you folks just keep on working, trying to reach your dreams and know that I´m cheering you on!

Shades of white

First of all: Yes I didn´t write last week and yes I´m pretty sure none of you even noticed that. I was busy roaming the second-hand scene in Savo, eastern Finland. I bought a bag that caught my eye just as I had lost hope of finding anything really unique and fun. Sure I kept repeating “I must be insane”, as I carried the ginormous bag around, but man that bag is retro and cool. You know I just couldn´t resist that little golden text. The Regal bag is going to be a special place for my handy craft stuff like buttons and yarn.

I also bought some red woolly shirts, no surprise there, I like to dress up warm. In fact usually I can´t wait for the woolly shirt season to start (for me it´s October til April,not sure about how normal people have it).

This weekend, after weeks of snowfall, it finally dropped to -25 C and the sun had the sense to show itself in weeks. Sometimes if feels like I run with solar power the panels being my face. I just get tired if I don´t charge.When it´s dark and it snows every day it is easy to forget how great winter can be in its diversity. It´s like snow was designed to make the winter a lighter experience, I mean the way it reflects light and is amazing in general. Snow comes in so many shapes and sizes that it´s difficult to keep track.

The sudden drop in temperature grew frost on trees over night, and today I set out to capture it on camera. I definitely haven´t seen this much frost on trees this South for some time. Once in the North it did look like white butterflies were sitting on trees all around, but down here it´s not that common.

Winter also gives you a good excuse to enjoy warm things like my today´s breakfast tea and porridge. You might notice I take a lot of pictures of my green rug, in fact I often eat sitting on the floor there in front of the sofa. For some reason I´ve gotten used to it. And now I´m babbling again and also out of topics. I promise next weekend I´ll have something interesting and better prepared for you. Just hang in there, the future is coming. I´ll end with a picture that clearly states: If a three looks like this, you better not kick and stand under it the same time.

 

Snowdown

So the vacation has ended. I haven´t yet got around to visit second-hand shops all that much. Just bought these red rubber boots/shoes for the spring, I know it´s not coming for like another 3 months but a girl can hope? Even the thought of spring always gets me agitated, I feel like I should shed a skin and that is when I usually start going through my closets. While reminiscing I do find bags of unused stuff just ready to go the second-hand shop. It is like soul cleaning, almost like rearranging your furniture, you feel better as soon as you´ve done it. It sounds weird but it always lifts my spirits to see my closets half empty.

Spring also brings the hopes and dreams of gardening and I´ve already forgotten last summer´s really hard work with the weeds. It´s not like a garden can really go 3 weeks alone when I´m at the cottage 500 km away. With spring in mind I went and bought my first orchid, I just couldn´t resist because it smelled so nice and had really nice colours that match our bedroom´s.

I recently read a column by an elderly lady, who said that the fact that we own too much stuff is not the result of loving stuff too much but rather the result of not loving stuff enough. When you have many things, you don´t get all that attached to all of them. I agree, but with a condition, that the fewer the products, the better they must be. I find that it is difficult to love something that doesn´t have a funny idea, memory or great functionality. On the other hand the more you love something, the more accepting to their flaws you become, but for the loving to start, you need a connection.  Less loving = growing disposability.

I´ve always been fascinated by hiking gear: Small, light, efficient, functional, multipurpose and because you carry it around on your back, you better make sure all of those products are used. I think that is a great way of thinking about what to buy, what you actually need. I´m not saying that you should consider which products you would bring with you on a deserted island but you could think about travelling in general, and of course moving to a new home. Besides, everybody knows you ought to bring water filters and survival books to a deserted island, not stuff you love, right?

For the past couple of weeks, the snow has really kept on coming. You know it is snowing pretty heavily if the snow gathers on a vertical steel surface of a street light. Yet sometimes a good storm is exactly what I need, I get to dress up in my warm clothes and prance around not giving a damn about my appearance. Like today, I went for a walk in the area and caught bits of sunshine/exhaust fumes and some photos on the way.

One slacking lady!

Yup, been busy as you might have noticed. After returning to the wet South for my practise I´ve been working for 12 days straight. I didn´t really feel like posting after work. But now that I´m on my extended Christmas holiday, I´ve also had time to take some pictures to cheer this post up. Not that my text especially needs cheering but, well, you know the rule: no pictures = it didn´t happen. I´ve also finally finished the mittens I was making for my sister: you´ll notice the creative gift wrap at the end of this post.

Besides, it is good to post now I have something to brag about: some design products from Turku. I bought the dish cloths(the first picture) from KUI Design and got Tonfisk Design´s WARM set in zebrano wood as a going-away present as I finished my training there. I´m glad to start my holiday but also grateful of the things I learnt during these 5 weeks. Google KUI or Tonfisk Design for more products and info.

Today I really tried to find something from some “high street” shops, but couldn´t because they just can´t give you the same kind of feeling of treasure hunting as second-hand shops can. I couldn´t find anything interesting or colourful enough. There is also the question of quality: when I buy second-hand I can honestly find more durable clothes and shoes.  I fear I may have become a second-hand shop addict.

Yesterday I visited a couple of second-hand/antique/vintage shops here in Turku and was surprised by the lack of service I received. I know that I don´t look wealthy(especially when all my nicer clothes are at home in the North) but it´s just plain insulting if no one greets you when you enter (instead just stare) and say nothing when you say thanks and bye-bye.

Last week I myself was selling products of the Turku Design Now! group inside a shopping centre and I´ll be damned if I didn´t greet every single person that showed some interest in the products. Good customer service is a bit like good design in a way: You´ll notice it by time it cannot be found.

Shopping / Gift spree

So I´m back at home this weekend, and how nice it is. It´s funny how being at home instantly makes me feel better. Even though I feel comfortable living temporarily somewhere else, being at home just cuts my worries in half. Those worries being what the heck is happening to one of my teeth (seeing the dentist tomorrow) and how to manage everything going on.

And as you might expect, I´ve been shopping second-hand AGAIN. Found some great Christmas presents but can´t really talk about them since the recipients might read this. For myself on the other hand I bought Finnish leather boots that can fit me even with woolly socks on, and a PTA jacket, also made in Finland. Shoes fitting with woolly socks on are crucial during the winter, and mostly they are damn ugly. The jacket is of a wool-polyester mix and it kinda looks like a motor cycle jacket with the zipper on the side.

We´ve agreed not to buy Christmas presents this year, but the few I´ve gotten seem to increase their numbers in my wardrobe. They are all either self-made or second-hand so they don´t really count, right? I´ve always thought that gift wrap paper is a waste of our natural recourses unless it´s recycled paper like newspaper or such. Last year me and mom came up with one alternative wrapping idea: Gift bags made of Christmassy fabrics with attached ribbons to tie them up with. The fabrics were mostly old curtains and table cloths. The bags work very well, they are almost like decoration themselves.

As winter is unusually slowly crawling down from North to South, I´m joyful since I like to ride my bicycle to work as long as possible without  having to be knee-high in snow. It snowed today but it melted almost instantly as you can see from the picture. There´s one thing I just noticed: Our second moon, the construction crane with the annoying light ad has also gotten itself a Christmas tree, I wonder who was the lucky one to put it up there…Drink tea, eat cake, cook, listen to music, finish some presents, sounds like a plan!

Frozen

SORRY for not posting last weekend, I had to travel almost 6 hours by train last Sunday. When I arrived to my friend´s place, where I´ll be staying for the next 5 weeks, I really didn´t have the strength or the pictures to start posting. I could have given you the heads up but didn´t so that is that…

Today I took a nice walk in the nearby neighbourhood woods or which for me turned out to be mostly smooth cliffs under the powerline. I didn´t take any of the actual jogging paths but found some interesting places. When I go for a photo shoot outside it´s always useful to be adventurous. I hardly could have taken pictures such as these walking the asphalt. Sometimes you really need to look for the right light, find details you wouldn´t normally notice,change angles and improvise. I´m not saying that I´m all that radical in my photo layouts, conservative more like, but trying get cured. The main thing: take lots of pictures so you don´t have any regrets, you can always delete later, I at least do, I know some people don´t.

So that this post should not be totally organized I´ll let you know something I´ve tought about this past week: The most interesting part about second-hand shops is that you can never actually know which shop you are entering(you´ll understand what I mean soon enough) and what you might find. Last weekend I visited a new shop in my area and found 3 completely different things: a Kenwood microwave oven, a plastic bag full of really nice warm classic-print fabrics and a necklace(all needed of course). Had I looked for those exact products as new, I probably would have visited 3 shops.

My Conclusion: Second hand shops are like mini department stores: they´ve got everything (except food), even the things you don´t yet know you need. And the best part is that you don´t really need to spend all that much money. So when I went shopping this weekend, and I didn´t know of any second-hand shops in the area, I was pretty lost and visited like 20 shops to find some tights and headphones. However entertaining that was, it took a lot of time and was not that kind to my wallet.

And please people if I don´t make any sense and jump from topic to topic, it might be a case of total brain freezement, or the clinical term: brain lagging. It is totally understandable after seeing the sun for the first time in weeks yesterday. Have no idea what I´m going to talk about next week but hope to see you then!

Taking it easy

Truth be told, I´m not really into writing today. I´m exhausted for various reasons, even though the weekend with my parents and other relatives was fun. Today I was going to take some pictures for the blog and I came home early so I´d catch daylight. It didn´t really work out as I had hoped, as the daylight was gloomy and bluish. So I decided to turn to my old friends bulbs, baking and glögg. Glögg is a spicy Christmassy juice beverage that´s always served hot.

Waking up in darkness, getting  home in darkness, it kinda wears you out. “Oh what a surprise: it´s foggy, cold, and raining just a bit, and OH, did I mention DARK?” Well it´s not that we live in total darkness, the nearby construction crane light ad is always there like a second moon to light up our kitchen at night.

You might understand my reluctance to write today if I told you I got a bruise the size of my palm in my centre back. But seriously, I´m not telling you that…It turns out saunas can be very dangerous: In the last 2 weeks I´ve heard of 3 people (one of them being me) getting either bruised or burned in sauna.

And since my only hope for today’s post were pictures, (and not a proper topic), I did take some photos. There is a second-hand jar I found few weeks back, and a handmade porcelain bowl in the dark.

At the end of this week I´ll be completing my training here and travelling south for my next practise. Before that I need to arrange some stuff here, I hope I get everything done in time, but right now, I´m just going to relax and take it easy, for my body´s (and mind´s) sake.

Cheap is never really CHEAP?

Or is it, can a product be just cheap, end of story? I, in my own foolish positiveness, believe that the people who use the phrase “nothing in life is free” are a bunch of cynics, those glass half empty kind of folk. To put a price on a friendship (for example) is cruel and uncalled-for. With products on the other hand, I feel the cheap/free products are always produced at the cost of something important like workers conditions, eco-friendliness or quality.

I know people don´t really want to hear my antagonizing preaching about prices and products, and companies most surely don´t want to announce their shortcomings in ethical questions. Just think about it if you picked up a cheap mug at a store and the package said: By buying this product you accept child labour, hazardous working spaces, poisoning the environment, giving all the profits to rich share-holders and just about EVERYTHING ELSE THAT IS WRONG WITH THE WORLD, yeah and by the way, we can´t be sure this product will last even 2 weeks in a washing machine. Would it make a difference?

I´m not saying expensive = righteous + quality. There is a lot of  “air” in the expensive brands´prices. It is easy to add up the prices if every resale adds at least 50 % to the price. Quality is also a subjective matter: When a consumer buys an expensive bag, he/she treats it better than a cheap one, and therefore the product might last longer. As they say: A man´s rubbish is an other man´s treasure. Talking of treasure, check out my second-hand shoppings in the picture, I think I exceeded myself this time! (Hint: when you pull your cursor on the pictures you get the description)

What I´m asking you as a consumer is that you give a damn about things. Start small, build up a small group of brands you trust and respect. You might even recommend them to your friend, if you are satisfied. You need not become a fanatic like me…

And even if nothing in life was free, I feel better not thinking about it. I think that if I kept on thinking the price for each favor and kindness in life, I´d get old and bitter in the end.. Well who´s to say I´m not already?