lace,  pitsi, dentelle, kant, spitze, merletto, enjace ….  Lady Luck favoured Minna from Karuski and Kristen from knotted nest - carefully selected and packed lace bundles will be off to your way!

Zorro the Fox was so exited about our first giveaway that he wanted me to give some lace for everyone who played along, I kind of agreed with him since it was so fun to see you here and read the stories. .. so small lace bundles are awaiting you all !

Am currently dreaming of having all my linens nicely ironed and folded in some beautiful dark wooded cabin… since my linen collection is still quite moderate and that perfect cabin is still somewhere I just get inspired by these two lovely books of lace and linen. Tricia Foley’s Linens and lace is one and an other is The Book of Fine Linen by Francoise De Bonneville.

Inspired by lace (check the previous post) Rinna and I visited an amazing hidden gem – last lace factory in Finland (last as far as we know now – so if you know any other operating lace factories in Finland do let us know !) The story of this place is incredible and you can read more about it at a lace diary ! If you are interested in Finnish lace in general a lace museum at city of Rauma has lot of pictures at their website . Rauma is known for their bobbin lace.

Since my lace collection has expanded lately I’d like to share some of it with you – and here we go – pikkuZAKKA’s first give away !

A bundle of off white and colored, linen and cotton lace from Finland’s only operating lace factory and some from historical Vaasan pitsitehdas.   Enter by leaving your comment – I’d be interested in read your lace-stories..
Give away is open for comments until 8th of November

Book of the moment is this time actually a sneak preview for an up-coming book.

Perhaps the most beautiful lace-book of all times is due to January 2010. Three wonderful young Finnish women: Rinna Saramäki, Riina Honkimäki and Emmi Jormalainen are finalizing the photoshoots and compiling of this fairytale like book. Publication is by Wsoy.

Lace-book introduces you to different lace variations including instructions for lace making techniques. A bundle of wonderful ideas on how to use those lovely, delicate lace treasures found in attics and flea markets with new personal way.

The captivating images throughout lace book inspires you to enjoy beautiful details and to add a dash of lase to your own wardrobe as well.

Sneak preview images seen here are courtesy of makers and evoke feelings of nostalgia and zakkalicious excitement. Thank you Rinna !

Writers take you to the journey of making the book at their blog: a-lace-diary.blogspot.com

It was not a case of ‘love at first sight’ -- me and matryoshka dolls. It took over two years from ‘they are kind of trendy and cute’ to ‘ I so want my own collection’. Today there’s a tiny, but I think beautiful collection of nestling dolls living in my book selves. Every now and then I let my boys play with the girls. And it’s so fun to watch them being amazed with emerging dolls. Tough I am constantly worrying that they will not throw or drop the linden ladies.

As a child there were few nestling dolls at my paternal grandmother and I remember now telling stories what the girls have done. Usually they have found some hidden treasures or experienced other interesting escapades.

Матрёшка.:.Матрёшка.:.Матрёшка.:.Матрёшка.:.Матрёшка.:.

So what are these elusive dolls made of ?

History places the first nestling dolls to Japan. A story states that a russian monk started to cut wooden figurines of Buddhist sage (Fukuruma) and then a toymaker in Russia later on adopted the matryoshka dolls. The origin of name is not totally defined.  Suggestions are derivatives from popular russian girl names (Masha, Matryona) to hindu mother godess Matri. An other interpretation is that name means mat tyoshki -- mother of trees. Matryoshkas tell stories from modern day politics to folk stories (like snow maiden and fenix bird) , they may be elabortaely painted or decorated by woodburning.

If you want to know how to paint a matryoshka doll -- check this video. (do not forget to check the other related videos too..)

My collection is getting a new girl. Found this amazing wood burned Matryoshka today from Whiteserendae

Who knew that cooking together (even if separated by miles) could be so fun !

What is Friendship cooking ?

Make one recipe from your cookbook !  Make a same dish from same cookbook on a same day with your friend, sister, mom, grandma, daughter, or neighbor.  Something new that you never tried before and upload your creations and stories.

If you are interested in friendship cooking. Join us in our Flickr group – Friendship Cooking. See you there.

Am very exited about a first ever cook-along am attending. It’s a private one between my friend Hyein from Ohio and I.  Some time ago we selected a lovely colorful cook book ‘Apples for Jam’ (Tessa Kiros my favorite kitchen maven). This sunday we’ll be both making red ‘Veal involtini’ which was my first choice for our fun experiment !

lovely cookbook

I adore meditenrannean food. Spanish tapas, Italian pastas. Greek delicasies, and all the lovely baklavas and couscous from southside of the sea. And am also week about cute stories, and Tess and her books really have amazing stories which carry me from Northern Europe to sunny, warm seaside of the sea. Not to forget the amazing photos…

Where’s your favorite food from ?

Edit: Sunday (4th of October) after dinner .. Unfortunately no pictures. We were all eager to start tasting the new dish. We had invited the family next door (made a perfect excuse for me to take out the better china and really make an effort). Unlike usually this time adults ate first and kids after (not because we would like to dine without the kids but since they were still playing so nicely… and like the recipie said I had to serve meat ‘pronto’

Veal involtini will definitely stay on our list.  Tough I did cut the corners by using owen insteads of frying the veal in pan ;D – (bit healthier and easier may I say). When I was buying the veal from a pretty good shop it dawned to me that the guy preparing the veal for me had no clue of Veal involtini nor saltimbocca… strange.. anyways the veal was of good thickness but the pieces were absolutely two big and he recommend much more meat for everyone – but luckily I kept true to our recipie since it was just good amount for each.

So how was the meal all across the ocean ?

A Jazz-classic performed by Japanese jazz-musician Kimiko Itoh
{Original song from Sound Of Music of course }

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens,
bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens,
brown paper packages tied up with strings,
these are a few of my favorite things.

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels,
door bells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles.
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings.
these are a few of my favorite things.

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes,
snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes,
silver white winters that melt into springs,
these are a few of my favorite things.

When the dog bites, when the bee stings,
when I’m feeling sad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
and then I don’t feel so bad.

{Music by Richard Rodgers Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II}

Found one cool shop at Etsy today : PilliPilli Design from Italy -
do check out for example her lovely articfox keychains !

fox and other critters

Find out more of her creations at:
www.abitofpillipilli.blogspot.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pillipillihandmade

Have you ever fell asleep in the middle of exercise ?

This happened to me the other day.

During my semi-regular morning pilates session I have somehow really really relaxed during transition phase and woke up when the DVD-program ended. This made me think how to enhance my poor energy levels…Instead of blaming the autumn and poor weather (since we’ve had really amazing September) I need to turn my eyes towards my daily routine. To help me find out the energy stealers, a compilation of a list was due. I adore lists. Listing regular weekday and it’s action points, made it quite easy to find the energy stealers. I then selected 3 (hopefully quick-win) items to change

-         Little E wakes up around 4.30-5.00 AM –  sleep is somewhat haphazard from this point on.. => Move little-E to boys room … This should help with prolonged- morning sleep after adjusting period.

-         Organize home ( bulldozing, de-cluttering  and cleaning-spree is definitely needed chez our casa at the moment) => Ask help from girl next door and hire a professional cleaner. And oh.. really consider what to keep and what to throw out. This change is supposed to ease the household tasks and lessen the frustration of things being lost.

-         Distribute exercise routines along the day in smaller time slots. F.e. maybe during lunch break go outside for a quick walk… this should help with getting more FRESH air and hopefully more energy.

Do you have your own ideas/routines on how to get out of the energy-thieves…. Please do let me know !

27.9.2009 Kaapelitehtaalla on hurmaava tapahtuma – Helsinki Vintage – pitäisiköhän laittaa hiustyyli uudeksi tai koittaa taitojaan pajatson ääressä ?

Helsinki Vintage on ohjelmallinen myyntitapahtuma, vintagekulttuurin helmi, joka kokoaa yhteen maan laadukkaimmat vintage ja second hand -myyjät. Tapahtuma on viihtyisä ja leppoisa sunnuntain viettopaikka, joka tarjoaa mahdollisuuden menneiden vuosikymmenten aarteiden ostosteluun, viihdyttävän ohjelman seuraamiseen ja wanhan ajan kahvilaelämykseen.

Myyntivalikoima painottuu vintagemuotiin, mutta myynnissä on myös sisustus-, harrastus- ja keräilytuotteita sekä kauneuden & komeuden hoitoon liittyviä palveluja. Tapahtuman ohjelma koostuu viihdyttävistä ohjelmanumeroista, näyttelystä sekä miljööltään teemanmukaisesta kahvilasta.

Tervetuloa matkalle menneille vuosikymmenille!

Helsinki VIntage

Helsinki Vintage – The Event For Vintage Loving Vigilantes!

Twice a year organised Helsinki Vintage gathers the best vintage and second hand dealers of Finland and offers a fascinating and vast variety of goodies from past decades. The event has it all from decor to original vintage fashion items. The one-day vintage hulabaloo is topped with entertaining program with a hint of nostalgia and a cool cafeteria with flavors and sweets accordingly.

Next Helsinki Vintage 27th of September @ Kaapelitehdas.

Welcome to a nostalgic journey in to the past decades!