Is it Monday again?

My noble idea of blogging daily or every other day hasn't quite worked so tonight I'm making myself blog. It is not unpleasant or anything but seems to slip my mind when I am online. Do I need to write a note on a post it or something to remember?

My honey suggested yesterday that I should make cords for keys - something kids use when they go to school - so I made 3 of them yesterday: a pink one, a yellow one and a turquoise/blue one. I also made a few other pieces I had planned - a few bracelets to match my anklets, among others - and then tried my best to pack my materials and jewellery for tomorrow. I am going to Kokkola to see my family and go to the summer event at the marketplace on Wednesday. Kokkola has this event on Wednesdays from 5 to 9pm during the summer. It is called iltatori which translates to market place evening. There are a lot of people selling used things they do not need as well as new things. The event attracts people with their vegetables, baked goods, clothes, candy and many other items. It is a nice mixture from kids with their blankets on the ground, selling their own toys to small businesses. When the weather is nice, the market place gets packed and you can sell pretty well so let's hope the sun will be out on Wednesday! 

Here are a few photos of me and my jewellery on that same market place in June.

I will be in Kokkola for over a week. My mom has a laptop so I will be blogging when I get the chance.

A wise woman writes her blog at 4 in the morning

It is late, past anyone's bedtime, I'd say, but I wanted to post here before I go and get ready for bed. This blog of mine is still such a new thing for me that posting here does not come automatically. In an attempt to make blogging a part of my routine, I am trying to post daily or at least once every few days. Let's see how it goes.

Wednesday was a post office day. I sent out a few pieces of jewellery - including an elephant necklace with one of the beautiful elephants I got in Helsinki a while ago - as well as some jewellery materials I sold via a handcraft group. I love how I can find new things in there and also recycle parts I do not need myself. I also made an order - a gold-coloured ankle bracelets - that was ordered earlier this week. I didn't have the address yet so that one will be mailed out on Friday. I am making at least 2 post office trips per week.

I got a message from the lady who runs a foster home for cats in Michigan. Recently, I donated two pieces to her auction she had for raising a little money to cover expenses of Sassy, a young feral cat she took in together with her kittens. Sassy's kittens have found homes already but she is still at the foster home, hopefully, growing accustomed to humans. She will be taking a trip to another state a little later, she is going to be living in a barn on a farm. Anyways, the lady messaged me just now saying that those two pieces I donated made her foster home $45. That is great news! I am glad I can help like that - even a little. She gave me the addresses of the highest bidders so my pieces will be on their way to Maryland and Indiana on Friday.

Pride (in the name of love)

I just posted about selling my jewellery at an Pride event on last Saturday. Since the post was in Finnish, I thought I would fill you English-speaking people in here, too. So here goes.

There was an event called North Pride here in my home town. It was a 4-day event with the parade itself falling on the Saturday, 21st. The parade marched through the city to Kuusisaari, an island near the city centre of Oulu. I had contacted someone in the local chapter of Seta, the national lgbtqia organisation and made arrangements to sell my jewellery along with their t-shirts.

The day was rainy but we had a tent of sorts so we stayed relatively dry in the rain. It was fun to interact with people and to see which pieces drew their attention. I like being at events like this and to get the chance to see the people buying my pieces. I wish there were more opportunities for that!

There are a few photos from the event in the post below. Hope you like them!

Pridea ja muuta mukavaa

Ajattelin vaihteeksi kirjoittaa suomeksi kun on tuo englanti vallannut tilaa viime kirjoituksissani.

Olin lauantaina Oulussa järjestetyssä North Pride tapahtumassa koruineni. Olin jo viime talvena yhteydessä vanhaan kaveriin Setassa ja tiedustelin mahdollisuutta mennä myymään korujani tapahtumaan. Sovimme sitten, että jos myyn samalla Setan t-paitoja, voin myydä korujani siinä sivussa. Hyvä diili, sanoisin. Pakkasimme siippani kanssa korut ja telineet isoon kassiin ja suuntasimme aamupäivästä Kuusisaareen, johon Pride-kulkue oli saapumassa puistojuhlaa varten. Olosuhteet eivät olleet otollisimmasta päästä kun tihkusade muuttui pian kaatosateeksi. Hirvitti marssivien puolesta. Meillä ei kuitenkaan ollut hätää, koska olimme saaneet Kuusisaaren paviljongilta käyttöömme ison valkoisen katoksen. Sen alla pysyimme suht kuivana.

Tykkään myydä korujani internetin kautta ja postitus sujuu nykyään rutiinilla, mutta asiakkaiden näkeminen ja heidän kanssaan juttelu ihan livenä on kyllä mukavaa. On kiva nähdä mitkä korut kiinnittävät kenenkin huomion ja vastata koruja ihastelevien kysymyksiin. Kauppakin kävi sateesta huolimatta hyvin. Olin todella tyytyväinen!

Alkuviikko on sitten mennyt koruja värkkäillessä. Sain taas uusia osia Käsityötarvikekirppiksen kautta ja niitähän piti sitten heti päästä kokeilemaan. Olen myös ottanut tilauksia vastaan ja tehnyt muutamia ohjenootteja tuonne Facebook-sivun puolelle.

Monday business

I have quite an inventory of jewellery materials. I buy them online at certain webshops, purchase them at physical shops when I have the chance and get them from a FB group dedicated to handcraft materials. Some things are limited meaning I have only a few of them but there are some materials like angels, cats, owls, wings, hearts, vampire teeth, skulls and such that I always have and purchase more regularly. Today I went through my "rock" findings. There were a lot of them so I ended up making a few bracelets and anklets with those, some darker chains and black beads. They are pretty cool, if I may say so myself.

Later, I went through and packed some orders, tomorrow is a post office day.

Here's my workspace as it looked last night.  I decided to keep my lovely tiger puzzle near so I can admire it while I work.

A busy Sunday

I have been concentrating on my tiger puzzle for most of this week so I haven't been making too much new jewellery - mostly just orders I have had waiting. Today, we finally got the chance to tackle the pile that was waiting to be photographed. We went through it rather quickly but the photos are great - thanks to my talented honey! I will post the photos on Facebook tomorrow. There are a lot of things from earrings to anklets to necklaces and the themes vary from cats to horses and elephants and vampires and hearts and many other things!

It is past 2 am so I think it might be wise to try and get some sleep soon.

Photo problems

My photo slide show is driving me nuts. I have added photos to the album the gadget is rotating but it refuses to show anything but the photos I uploaded the other night. If you click the slide show and look at the photos in another window, you can see all 40+ of them but the blog only shows those 10. I even removed the gadget and added it again but it doesn't help. If anyone has an idea what to do, I'd love to hear it!

I got a few new findings from Kirjohelmi yesterday: some pretty locks along with new dogs and horses, all silver- or antique silver-coated. They came in about a week so I am pleased.

All my photos are here.

New things in the blog!

I've spent the last hour or two playing with Blogger and Picasa. Now there is a slide show of some of my jewellery photos on the right as well as a cover photo of sorts. I've also added some other gadgets, including some links to my favourite places to shop for jewellery parts as well as links to things that inspire me. Take a look at feel free to leave a comment to say hi!

The beginning

After much consideration and procrastination, I finally decided to set up a blog for my jewellery. I have often been told to do so since the content on my Facebook page is in Finnish which, to be honest, is not a language anyone else but Finns know. In an effort to share my passion with friends and other people around the world, I think a blog was due!

I am just getting started here so there is not much content yet. However, a few important things have found their way to the right-hand column there. I will add to those lists gradually. I am also thinking about a convenient way to share photos of my jewellery, there is a lot of those! For the time being, I will attach photos to my posts so you can see some of the pieces I have made in the past.

If you have any ideas or requests in terms of the blog, feel free to leave me a comment. I will be happy to use those as we go along. :)

It is a cloudy day today. My spouse is working on the big project, the PhD thesis, and Nasu is sleeping under the sheet on our couch. She likes to make nests for herself from time to time. I finished a pair of earrings earlier and dabbled with a few ideas I have been thinking of lately. I have also been messaging a few customers about their jewellery being on the way. I bought a beautiful 500-piece puzzle with two tigers yesterday. I think I will go take a look at the daunting amount of pieces in a minute. 

Alku

Olen jo jonkin aikaa ollut aikeissa perustaa blogi koruilleni ja niiden tekemiselle. Minulla on äitini, kutojaihmeen, kanssa yhteinen Facebook-sivu, mutta se ei korvaa blogia, jossa on enemmän tilaa jutella ja jakaa kaikenlaista sisältöä. Sivu on hyvä korujeni esittelemiselle kuvin, mutta olen kaivannut paikkaa, jossa voisin jakaa arkeani korujen parissa. Hetki tuntui sopivalta, joten kirjauduin tänne Bloggeriin, valitsin ulkoasun ja aloin kirjoittaa.

Teen korujani kotona. Aiemmin se oli varsin haastavaa, koska minulla ei ollut omaa työtilaa. Jouduin siis kantamaan tarvikkeitani pöydältä hyllyyn ja takaisin aina ennen ja jälkeen työskentelyn. Tukholmassa vietetyn kevään aikana tarve hankkia myös kotiin työpöytä tuli hyvin selväksi ja, kiitos ihanan siippani, nyt minulla on sellainen. Hän näki kollegansa mainostavan Facebookissa antiikkista isoa kirjoituspöytää ja näytti kuvan minulle. Sanoin heti kyllä eikä kauaa kestänyt kun pöytä muutti meille. Se on ihana, iso ja tilava ja todella kätevä laatikoineen. On mahtavaa pitää osaa tarvikkeista tallessa laatikoissa, joista ne saa nopeasti käyttöön.

Ensimmäinen blogikirjoitukseni kun tämä on, kerronpa vähän itsestäni. Kuten jo blogin nimestä käy ilmi: olen Niina ja teen koruja. Innostuin hommasta muutama vuosi sitten kun tarvitsin sairaslomalla jotain mielekästä tekemistä, joka olisi luovaa mutta ei vaatisi akateemisen maailman tavoin kirjoittamista ja ajattelemista. Alku oli hidas ja kovin vaatimaton, mutta pikkuhiljaa korut ovat vieneet minut mennessään. Nykyään teen niitä harrastuspohjalta myös myyntiin - omiksi ja läheisten tarpeiksi kun voi tehdä melko rajallisen määrän koruja näin pidemmän päälle. Ajatuksissa siintää haave toiminimen hakemisesta ja oman pienen koruyrityksen perustamisesta jahka pääsen jaloilleni ja voin siihen haasteeseen tarttua. Toistaiseksi olen kuntoutustuella ja otan päivän kerrallaan.

Muusani ovat rakas puoliso sekä meidän kissa, Nasu. He ovat monin tavoin mukana korujeni tekemisesssä apuna, tukena ja inspiraationa. Nasu tykkää loikoilla työpöytäni vieressä olevalla matollaan ja ottaa välillä spurtin tippuneen tai hänelle heittämäni helmen kanssa. Puoliso jaksaa kuunnella intoilujani tarvikelöydöistä ja uusista ideoista. Hän myös kuvaa koruni, joten kaikki blogiini laittamani kuvat ovat suurella todennäköisyydellä hänen ottamiaan.