marimekko unikko skirt

i have a tendency to buy multiples of clothing and shoes i am particularly fond of.  after making my marimekko samovaari elastic waist skirt (which, btw, had a dye-wash mini disaster... a story for another day), i thought it'd be nice to have two.  i whipped up one using marimekko unikko fabric and black elastic before we left for our trip to finland.  it seems so fitting to flounce around town and the cottage (as pictured here) in such a nationally recognized fabric.  for those of you unfamiliar with this pattern, it has been in print in different color and size variations since the 50s.  

these photos were taken in the woods by the family cottage (in finland), and is a very typical scene in finnish nature. i am always particularly struck by the beauty of birch trees.  i think they may very well be my favorite type of tree. 

so tall and sleek! it's difficult to say whether the finnish countryside is most beautiful at the height of summer or in the dead of winter... although i'd choose the summer temperatures over the winter in a heartbeat.  

marimekko unikko tote giveaway winner

the winner of the marimekko unikko tote bag is....

congratulations, erin!  i will be contacting you to get your mailing information.   thank you to everyone else for entering. perhaps you'll be the winner next time.

marimekko unikko tote GIVEAWAY

back in january, i posted about my trip to a marimekko store in finland. one of my prized purchases was this large bag, below.

                                                                                                     marimekko.fi

the bag came out to be about 110 usd, which was a hard amount for me to swallow. but, since i had received a couple of gift cards for christmas, i decided to go all out.  i love the color scheme of this bag, with the pink and red boldly sitting against a black background.

recently, while i was doing some fabric research online, i came across another bag with this pattern in my image results. 

                                    avon.com

"how cute!" i thought. i immediately investigated further.  turns out, this tote bag is being sold at avon.com for a small fraction of what i paid for my other tote above (albeit, this one is smaller).  apparently, marimekko partnered up with avon last fall to create this color scheme for avon's breast cancer crusade. look, it's reese witherspoon sporting the bag (i had no idea she was a honorary chairman).

what was a girl to do? i couldn't possibly pass up such a great offer. so, i promptly bought... a couple. a few. several. okay, okay, i bought a LOT.  it's for a good cause right?  other people in my life would love them as gifts, right? plus, i could always use a couple more totes myself (can you really have too many totes?).  and surely... surely, one of my readers would love one. 

right?

do you want one?

because i am giving one away. to you! well, maybe.  if you're lucky.  are you feeling lucky?

to enter the giveaway to win one marimekko - avon tote, you have the opportunity of up to 3 entries:

entry 1: follow my blog + leave a comment to inform me (if you are already following, leave a comment stating so)
entry 2: leave a comment on this entry (tell me, do you like marimekko?  own anything designed by them?  are you brave enough to carry around a bag with giant red and pink poppies on them?)
entry 3: blog about this giveaway, and leave me a 3rd comment + link me to the post
make sure you leave a way for me to contact you on your entry/entries!

this giveaway is open until midnight, wed, may 19th, central time. open to u.s. and canadian residents only!
1 winner will be chosen via random.org on thursday, may 20th.