Friday, May 07, 2010

Flowery DIY Projects: Necklaces

crocheted flowers in pink brown and beige, to be used as buttons pendants beads appliques Recently I went through a few piles of yarn and found quite a few leftovers from knitting projects. I wanted to make something useful out of these short bits of yarn and the idea of crocheted flowers came to me. I've made them before, but it's been years since the last time. I found it to be quite a fun little diversion from the usual knitting I mostly do these days.

My crocheted flowers are now available from my Etsy shop and I'll be listing more now and then. I made them to be used as buttons, so they're pretty stiff and sturdy. However, I realized there's many other uses for them too and wanted to share. This time I have a few photos of them used as beads and pendants for necklaces.



blue crocheted flower pendant necklace pink and purple crocheted flower pendant necklace
pink and purple crocheted flower pendant necklace

Have you made something from my flowers and want to show the world? I'd be happy to post a photo on this blog along with your name and a link to your website, shop or blog. Just let me know in the comments or through an Etsy convo!

Thursday, May 06, 2010

My Creative Space

The main joy in my workspace this week is the board I recently got to keep my magnetic creatures on. So tidy! So practical! And also so nice to see my creatures while I'm working at my desk. ;)

animal fridge magnets owls foxes kiwi birds elephants turtles etc plus yarn

Also pictured: the pile of yarn I picked up from a yarn sale recently, waiting to be sorted into storage. I did promise myself (and Mr Morrgan) not to buy any more until I'd used up one of the basketfuls I have... But it was so pretty and soft! And on sale! That makes it ok, doesn't it?

Want to see the creative spaces of others? Head on over to Kootoyoo's blog for a look!

Sunday, May 02, 2010

Moon

This weekend, I bring you a movie recommendation! Mr Morrgan and I recently watched "Moon" and I must say it was one of the most enjoyable film-watching experiences I've had this year. Go see it, especially if you're a friend of sci-fi.

(Hint: Try to keep from reading about it beforehand, lest you get inadvertently spoiled.)


Ahh, I love the music. And the robot GERTY's smiley faces.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

New Zealand photos, part 2

Thought I forgot already, did you? Well I kinda did. But the rest of the photos are here now! As promised before, it's the awesome scenery we saw while on two of NZ's three scenic trains: the TranzCoastal and the TranzAlpine, both operating in the South Island.

The photos start off with ones from the TranzAlpine, travelling from Christchurch on the east coast to Greymouth on the west coast and back, complete with entertaining commentary on the scenery as you enjoy the ride. The last 4 are from going up north along the east coast with the TranzCoastal and travelling across to Wellington in the North Island via the Interislander ferry.


On the way to Greymouth it was absolutely pouring with rain and so windy that said rain was horizontal. It did however give us the chance to see rainbows and pretty waterfalls from the mountains.


Once we got close to Greymouth however, the weather began to clear up.


On the way back there were clear skies and warm sun most of the time. The weather couldn't have been better, as this way we got the chance to see completely different conditions in one trip.


Cows!


Mmmmmm.


While travelling along the coast, I spotted jumping dolphins several times. Yay! Also seals.


The only problem with this type of sightseeing is that you can't jump out and walk along the beach whenever you wish.


Mmmmmmm again.


I do like this water. Oh yes I do. (I suspect NZers must dump blue dye into the water. No water can be that gorgeously blue and turquoise and be real!)


So there you have it. A small selection from the 1000+ photos we ended up taking during the trip. I hope you enjoyed them!

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Introducing the Pensive Goldfish and the Timid Turtle

The title above could make a pretty neat little story, don't you think? Or alternately a good name for a pub. I know I'd want to visit "The Pensive Goldfish" immediately, should such a place exist.

orange goldfish fridge magnet
I'm not starting a pub, however. This particular goldfish possessing a thoughtful nature happens to be one of my latest magnet designs. You might find the look familiar from Eustace the Tiny Goldfish - the brooding one is indeed similar and based on the same pattern. What is he pondering, I wonder? Whatever it is, he seems a bit worried. Poor thing.

green and yellow turtle fridge magnet
Fortunately he's not alone. His friend is a tiny magnetic turtle, and a timid one at that. He's not afraid of helping out a friend in need, though. Perhaps they can figure out goldie's troubles together?

(If the timid one also seems familiar, it's because he too is based on a previous design: Harald.)


Want to see more creature introductions?

Thursday, April 22, 2010

I bring you some knitting! Yes, really!

An actual post about knitting! Yes! *gasp*

The description of this blog says "a place on the net where I show off handmade creatures and creations of my own design", but it occurred to me that it's been aaaaaages since such a post. Oops. Well, today I'll fix that. Behold, a knitting project!


Mmmmm, what a yarn. Just look at those colours. As soon as I saw it I knew I had to have it, so I brought this home from New Zealand. It's a kid mohair/merino wool blend, so soft and light. Yum yum!

The project I'm using it for is a scarf for myself. Yup, for me. This yarn is MINE. It doesn't show up in the photo, but the scarf has a lace pattern - geometric and asymmetrical, just the way I like it.

At this rate I'll have it ready soon, just in time for... sunny spring. Ack!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

New Zealand photos, part 1

So yes, I've been to New Zealand with Mr Morrgan. The whole thing started out as a family emergency, so we "planned" the trip, got time off work, got tickets and were off in only about 3 weeks.

We're good at panicky surprise travel, it seems. If it isn't work-related or unplanned, it doesn't happen. We still need to go on our honeymoon, for example. Been thinking about doing that for only the past 5 years or so.

Anyway. Fortunately everything ended up going well, so we got about 3 lovely weeks in New Zealand with Mr Morrgan's side of the family. As tradition dictates, there will now be some photos.


Early in the trip, we got the chance to explore Real Proper NZ bush with just a little trail going through it, somewhere near Palmerston North on the North Island. For a Finn, it was odd seeing pines and tree ferns mixed together. How exotic!


Ah, the tree ferns, how I love them. It's not too hard to imagine a big dino munching on the fronds.


More tree ferns! Well, one. We also spent a lot of time among more organized plant life, such as the Botanic Garden in Wellington...


...and the one in Christchurch. Once I'm rich and famous, I want a pond and a bridge like this.


We even went to see the Ellerslie International Flower Show in Christchurch, with such fancy sights as a flower lighthouse...


...a brass band on bicycles...


...and a more peaceful Japanese-style garden.


While in Christchurch, we also spotted this pretty water fountain thingie...


...and this. The NZers have interesting ideas about lawns!


The 2nd part will be all the awesome scenery we enjoyed, mostly from the South Island. Hills! Mountains! Rivers! Turquoise seas! Cows! Don't miss it!

Monday, April 05, 2010

Spring Approaches

flower basket One thing I hoped for during the trip to the other side of the world was that when we'd return, we'd be welcomed by the awakening greens of spring and that we'd miss the icky, wet melty-snow part before it. Well, we kinda managed it. Most of the snow is gone, but the greenery hasn't returned yet.

The balcony is pretty grey at the moment, but there's a bit of exitement nevertheless. The second half of this autumn post of mine shows the plan I had for my early spring balcony. The photo on the right here shows the current state of the basket. There are shoots! Yay! Due to the trip I was a little late in digging them out of their winter protection, but I hope that won't be a problem.

Which of the flowers, if any, will appear from these beginnings? We shall see!

Thursday, April 01, 2010

Welcome Home

So, we've been travelling. Starting with the train to Wellington at 6 am Tuesday morning local time from Palmerston North, New Zealand, and arriving in Turku, Finland, at about 1 am local time on the night to Thursday. All in all, that's over 50 hours of trains, flights and airports. Over 50 hours. *shudder* Fortunately everything went smoothly, with the main setback being a jar of Kraft's crunchy peanut butter confiscated by airport security (sniffle).

sunny Wellington in march After two days of travelling, with no proper sleep during the whole time, one ends up in a certain zombie-like state. In such a state, we found the last flight of the trip, from London to Helsinki, to be very amusing. Hilarious, even. It was like a "welcome back to Finland" type of thing.

Some background first. On the way over, we went with British Airways from Helsinki (Finland) to London (UK), from there to Sydney (Australia) via Bangkok (Thailand), and finally to Wellington (NZ). Travelling back, we flew with Qantas from Wellington to Melbourne (Australia) and from there to London via Hong Kong. The last bit to Helsinki was with Finnair.

The BA and Qantas flights, especially BA, happily surprised me by actually having good food. For example the lamb and whiskey pot pie, or the nice chicken curry... All served with salad and dressing, bread, dessert and your choice of beverage (mostly wine in my case). In short, food with actual flavour and variety. Even the coffee was nice most of the time.

So, what about the Finnair flight?

Well.

Imagine, if you will, the following "meal". Overcooked, soft pasta. Strangely cooked chicken, with occasional inedible crunchy bits of... cartilage? (Actually, I don't really want to know.) Veggies that seemed to be that cheap kind of thawed frozen peas, carrot cubes and undefined beige "other". Anything alcoholic had a price tag and I don't even know how to describe the coffee.

Welcome home to Finland!

Then getting off the plane and stepping into the Finnish early spring weather; cold, dark and rainy with dirty piles of melting snow... Remembering the pictured warm sun, blue waters and 25+ °C (77+ °F) of that last day in Wellington...

Yup. Home sweet home. *sigh*

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Life happens

Sometimes I delude myself into thinking I've got life under control. When that happens, it doesn't take long for life to laugh at my silly notions and pull a few moves to show me how things really work. Unexpected event after unexpected event piles up in a matter of a few days until I'm pulling my hair out trying to make it all fit together with how I'd expected my near future to be. Oh well. It keeps me on my toes.

As always, it's a bit of good news and a bit of bad news, plus a few pretty neutral things that nevertheless need some attention. This is one reason why the blog has been so quiet lately, and quieter it will be, for I'll be closing my Morrgan's Creatures shops on March 3rd and will reopen in April. (So, if there's anything in the shops you'd like before then, now is the time to place the order.)

I hope you have an inspiring spring, see you again in April!

Friday, January 15, 2010

Happy 5th!

Barely have we recovered from Christmas and the New Year, when the wedding anniversary sneaks up on us! Eek! It's really been 5 years since our wedding. Where did the time go?


Well, in any case this calls for celebration! And celebrate we shall, by making a delicious dinner together (including the white chocolate panna cottas with layers of coffee pictured above, and fried goat cheese with pear slices and roasted pine nuts) plus having nice drinks and fun co-op gaming with our anniversary present to ourselves, Borderlands. Perfect!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Tuesday Finds: Winter White

Happy New Year! It's my first post for 2010 and as it's a Tuesday, it's time for some fine finds.

There's been a lot of snow this winter, snow and cold, which makes me a happy girl indeed. This week, the white has been everywhere. Snow on the ground, ice on the river, snow and frost on the trees making the branches white, frost on buildings... Even the sky has been a solid white. On top of all this, the fog was so thick this morning that everything just faded into white in the distance. It felt wonderfully strange, like we were walking through a true magical winter wonderland, something not quite real. Such a fantastic feeling.



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