This time of the year...

Usually around this time, when children go back to school, and you can just about to smell the autumn, I start to dig deeper in my fabric stash, and get out darker shades and more wool-ish stuff. Back to school-time usually inspires for pencil cases and other study sort of makes, but this August our weather has been so lovely (best weeks of whole summer), that I just opted for quick makes (so I could get out and about quicker), and made a little batch of bookmarks and keyrings. But a hint of autumn there too, perhaps?

As soon as weather took the unevitable turn to rain rain rain, my color palette changed, and out came browns, oranges, deep wine reds...

I am not the greatest sewer, and patchwork I usually leave for those who master it. But I've always said I wish my handmades to look like handmade too, and happily put together a patchwork-ish bag from my reused tweeds. And well...It would not be me and my makes if I didn't start decorating that...

So some needle felting here and there, and little wool yarns too for embroidery... Mostly on top, patchworked part, but a little on back too:

And this I ended up with:

The very first autumn-ish bag for this year, yippee! And you know me, never ever ever ever there's only one of my makes, and the more the merrier being my motto and all - second bag in making already:

And I can feel those pencil cases coming soon too... Happy August days to you!

Yours,
Mia

Hello?

The title just says it, a shy little hello? It's been a while *ahem*, and I am not absolutely sure what happened,  I just... Somehow fell off blogging wagon and went all the way to Instagram. It is lovely and quick and easy cool there, and I went through all excuses possible from "blogging with tablet is hard" (yup, so very, doing it here right now) to "who reads the blogs anymore" and all the other lamos. I think it was mainly the longer I was away the harder writing the first lines became. Phew, that part done now!

I know there really are not as many people reading blogs regularly these days as there used to be, but when not thinking that "communicating-sharing-connecting-marketing"-mantra at all, a blog can be a visual (and in my case, a natural born blabber that I am, a literate too) diary. A blog post can show not just the finished thing (in my case a bag, pouch, knitted anything or even a weave) but the creative path you took to get there also. That I have missed so! It is lovely to show your a completed project (in my case especially as I have quite a few wip's at the same time), but it really doesn't tell you how (or why, which sometimes is the most interesting thing, why something turned out as it did) you got there in the end.

Last weekend when I seriously started thinking getting back to blog writing, I read some of my older posts. And even some of those pictures got my eyes sore (dark, gloomy, yellow, shaken, all over the place...), I was amazed still. I read posts from years 2011 and 2012 (quite a while ago!) when I turned my dream to reality and started HandmadebyMia full time, and suddenly I very vividly remembered that happiness and joy. I remembered my first bigger orders, our trips to get wool, my first "studio" in attic of our tiny house (a table by our bed). I remembered how hilariously bad I was at sewing but how happily I still did it five hours in a row. Those memories I have missed!

So here I am, trying to start my diary again. If you are still there, reading, it would be lovely to hear from you, but I am keeping in mind that diaries usually are a one man show, and sharing them is an added bonus. I am not making any promises (not even to myself) how often should I write, I just took the first step. But here I am, happy happy happy!

Yours,

Mia

P.S.  Pictures just quick phone ones around my studio, quality saluting those old ones I just complained, dark and shaky, but at the same time just "I would love to tell you more about" stuff. So fingers crossed for more stories to come...