globetrotting: crafting at hell's gate

we began our second week in new zealand in rotorua, famous for their geothermal activity. during our last day there, we enjoyed the hell's gate geothermal park. little did we expect, the park ended with an optional craft activity!

we were given the opportunity to try a little wood carving, an important craft to the maori people. unfortunately, we didn't have so much time to learn about the tradition and history of maori wood-carving, but it was fun to try the craft.

we had a choice of the following designs. i chose a kiwi for the husband, and he chose a ponga for me. we were handed a little piece of wood with the image drawn on, plus a rubber mallet and chisel. the chisel had a v-shaped groove in it (images below). the maori wood-carving instructor gave us a brief demo and we were ready to test out our wood-carving skills.

globetrotting: me vs. franz josef

i climbed a glacier and i am proud to report that i did not fall off.
seriously.

a few days into our trip here (new zealand), we took a half day climb on franz josef glacier, the second largest glacier in the country (about 11 km long). we booked our guided hike via www.franzjosefglacier.com, which may very well be the only company that organizes these trips into the glacier. as i understand it (and i may be wrong), individuals are not allowed to hike the glacier without an experienced guide.

globetrotting: a glimpse of new zealand

i think i am in love.   

i'm currently on a grand vacation in new zealand with the husband. we've been here just over a week, and it is amazing. our little point and shoot just can't quite capture all the beauty.

if you haven't visited this fabulous country before, i strongly suggest you do so. what are you waiting for?  i don't want to hear any excuses about money- just sell a kidney. after all, isn't that why we were born with two?

mypublisher.com photobook review

the first time i went to europe was the summer after i graduated from college -arguably one of the greatest experiences of my life. i was there for nearly 3 months. afterwards, i decided it was time to try my hand at scrapbooking, as i had taken (in combination with the husband, then known as the boyfriend) something like 2000 photos. a few hundred dollars and 10 months later, i completed an astonishingly heavy album and never made another one again. i'm not saying that i didn't enjoy it. there were just so many other craft distractions, like rubber stamping cards (i was really into that for a while) and my student wallet just couldn't handle it.

since then, my photos have largely been left neglected. i managed to make one more album after our second wedding (yes, we had two weddings. i'm a very lucky girl.) via mypublisher.com that turned out quite well. but maybe because i was anal, (i designed it page by page in trial versions of corel draw + photoshop, and when i ran out of trial versions, powerpoint) it took me many months and i never had the energy to make one again, even though i was recommending the company to friends left and right.

fast forward a few years later, mypublisher.com has faithfully and frequently sent me coupons through email (thank goodness they didn't give up on me), and last month i received a well-timed 50% off coupon. i say well-timed because we have been traveling quite frequently in the past few years, and i've recently been feeling a little sad that our photos have just been filed away, deep in our hard drives. i've imagined how nice it would be to share memories with other people without having the entire world crowd around a tiny monitor. not to mention that sometimes it's just nice to look at an old fashioned photo album... that actually looks like a professionally bound coffee table book.

netbook case tutorial

the husband and i recently bought a new acer netbook, with the intention of using it mainly for travel and other occasions where bringing our much bulkier laptops would be cumbersome. naturally, it needed a case, so i made one. it didn't come out exactly perfect (i'll address the errors later), but i am overall happy with the concept.

as usual, i started with a few quick graphic sketches and this is the final model i decided to go with:    
                                

the bag is padded, and has two pockets. the main pocket is for the netbook and the front smaller (and unpadded) pocket is for the adapter/plug. it opens and shuts with a velcro flap, and also has a handle on the side. keeping the users in mind (we're sharing) i chose a blue and white striped heavy cotton fabric. the nice thing about this project is i already had all the materials in my craft stash.

a new sewing toy

apparently i was an extra good girl in 2009, because look what else santa got me for christmas:  a SERGER.

notice how it came pre-threaded? how thoughtful.

i had been debating for well over a year on whether or not to get a serger. my current sewing machine (a husqvarna viking emerald 718) wasn't exactly cheap, nor exactly trouble free, so i've been hesitant to invest in another piece of machinery without a serious need for one. besides, i already have a basic overlocking stitch on my sewing machine, so i was getting by.  also, i had originally been mainly looking at husqvarna viking and pfaff sergers, and they were too expensive for me to justify buying (they began at about $600-$700, i think).

so, recently i started investigating some lower end brands, such as singer and brother. singer seems to have a pretty bad reputation these days, so i focused my attention on brother. i read a lot of great reviews about this particular model, which were affirmed by a friend of mine who also happens to own one. also, the price is amazing- the current price on amazon for a brand new model is $191.75.

at this point, i should probably mention that the most i've done is take the serger out of the box and take pictures of it to show you.   however, i would also like to mention that i am already horribly impressed by this machine. why?  well first of all, it's compact and fairly aesthetically pleasing. secondly, look at all the information it comes with: 2 cds, and two instructional pamphlets:

all my $750 husqvarna viking sewing machine came with was a tiny little booklet that has been more or less useless.  now, i've only gone through one of the instructional booklets that came with the serger, but after seeing how comprehensive it is, it has left me with high hopes for the cds and the machine itself. 

i didn't mean for this to be an anticlimatic post (you know, since i'm already raving about a product i haven't even used yet)- i just really wanted to share my joy over the new serger with everyone. unfortunately, it doesn't look like i will have any time to play with it any time soon. the past few weeks and the coming several weeks are going to be absolutely crazy busy (you may have noticed that my shop is still open but more or less stagnant). 

i will be sure to share some of my serger adventures (and list new items on etsy) once things slow down again. 

globetrotting adventures - finland iii - marimekko

downtown helsinki is relatively small. you could probably walk through it in 30 minutes. maybe more, maybe less, depending where you start from and where you think downtown ends. regardless, it's not large. yet, there are three marimekkos downtown (there used to be four). two are even on the same street. aside from their stand alone stores, their products can also be found at all the department stores, and even at the local grocery store. marimekko is the only brand i have ever come across where it's possible to find the same design on your clothes, bedding, mouse pad, coffee mug, umbrella, tv, paper napkins, upholstery, purse... the list goes on.

with such a presence in the market, it's no wonder that marimekko goods can be found in nearly every finnish home. marimekko, like some of the other finnish brands such as iittala/arabia (also one of my favorites) is fully ingrained into finnish culture. and as i am sure you are fully aware of by now, it has completely sucked me in.

pictures from one of my several visits during our trip below.

oooh.

ahhhhh.
eek.
i broke down and bought one of these bags (the big one toward the bottom). don't worry i had a gift card.

!!!!!!

o.m.g.

i. spent. a lot. of. money.

happy new year!