The memory lane

I just received some happy mail, a pretty card from my dear, dear friend Anne, thank you so much! And not only did that handwritten card make me smile wide, it also throw me back to my childhood.

It was the UNICEF-card which I recognized from the style immediately, and looking on the back confirmed it, and that brought back some happy memories. We, me and my sister, used to get puzzles for Christmas, and UNICEF-puzzles to be more precise. Those always came in white box with a really colorful and detailed picture on top. They were not the easiest ones to make, but we loved them. Seeing Anne's card made me remember those happy times, and also got me rushing into my studios storage room and...

That is one of those puzzles! Actually this is not an old one, I got this for Christmas a few years back (the old ones are in my mom's storage), but how could I have forgotten this? It seems that I have opened the plastic bag inside, but the puzzle itself got never made. Not until...

Today! This is just what I needed after this week. We all know (and have) those "color you calm&happy"-coloring books, and there is a time and place for them (I have one too), but I think it is time to give good old puzzles some praise. I can't think of a better way to slow down, leave your mind in peace, and concentrate on finding just the right pieces...

...starting from the edges, always, starting from the edges.

Thank you for this trip down to the memory lane, Anne, and happy&tranquil weekend to you all!

Yours,

Mia

P.S. I was not sure where to link as this was no way a commercial post, but buying the UNICEF cards, puzzles and all the other things you also donate money for a good cause. More about UNICEF's wonderful job can be read here, worth checking out.

Happy little scraps

After a mild autumn/winter our temperatures have dropped dramatically; we woke up to -26C this morning! I always get confused when I try to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit, so I will guess nothing but say this is REALLY cold, and it seems this continues for a few days at least. We have little snow to make everything white&pretty, so looking out of the window it all seems quite winter wonderland-ish. But to actually go outside it is an another thing. I almost got my fingers frostbitten earlier today, when I went to get some pictures of my new cozies...

These happy little pouches were born from the inspiration of this post from Teje! She discovered a bunch of fabric scraps and instead of throwing them away, she is happily creating a quilt with them! Her lovely blog just moved, so she can now be found here, please go and say hi! But back to scraps: I took a look of my woolen stash, maybe, just maybe I would have some happy scraps there too...

... alright, how about any smaller?

Some (read: a whole basket), definitely some.. Okay, what to do with those then... Maybe to knit something... but do I just always knit? How about crocheting then? Buahahahah say you, who know me from longer time, my crocheting skills are non-existing really. But how about if I just went free as a bird-method, meaning I pick up a hook and tiny woolen ball and...

Some happy flower-ish creations! And after some felting you could almost say they look like flowers!

And after a while I just could not resist some knitting too, and a pouch after a pouch was born. All from those yarn ends, so colorful was the name after the game. After a little felting this bunch was ready!

And how about those two scraps-creations put together? We have a happy scraps-pouch! Here's one in blue...

... and an another in shades of green...

... and then some violet, pink and orange too:

 Happy, happy, happy! And definitely to be continued...

Lovely Wednesday to you too!

Yours,
Mia

New Year, new...

Happy New Year, dear friends!

I usually have taken a look back to my year around this time, but I think I will leave that for little later. 2015 was a mixed year, in so many levels, that I think I will concentrate on the future. I am so sentimental at times with "what if" and "if only" "maybe I should have" so this time I will say "I so will" instead!

An another thing I am going to do, is to start keeping a "made me happy today" diary. I saw the idea somewhere years ago (thank you so much who ever you were for this!) to write down each day one thing that made you happy. Just one thing. Should not be too difficult, and by the end of the year you should end up with 365 things that made you happy, who could not want to see that? And I firmly believe no matter how bad your day is, there is always one thing to write down. Just one thing!

You could create amazing scrapbook-sort of masterpieces around this idea, but I know myself, and I need something really simple. So I just have my pretty Santa brought (thanks Vivienne for elfing!) pad&most wonderful pen ever (my bil brought this for me from US last autumn, thanks T, if something is me, it's this pen!), and I am going to write the date and my thought down there. Keep it simple always works for me.

Happy New Year 2016, friends, see you often this year!

Yours,

Mia