Yellow

Only a week five days until Easter-holidays, can you believe it? This spring has been so quick, March/April until today disappeared just like that. Tomorrow is the Palm Sunday, and traditionally children make pretty Easter-branches and go around to meet&greet their family, relatives and friends to wish them all the best for the year to come. The little visitors are always rewarded with some little surprises, chocolate eggs, little toys, maybe coins. My nephew has made his visit every year (this is the 6th), his visit a few years back can be seen here. Tomorrow will be the first time when they come as pair, my nephew and my little niece (6months), but I think it still is my nephew's show this year. He loves all kind of treasury hunts, and I am planning a little egg-adventure for him for tomorrow.

My nephew loves the movies Despicable Me 1&2, and especially the little yellow Minions. If you are not familiar with them, this could be a good start or this, they really are the cutest. And the movies are great too, we have watched both many times. Many. I couldn't find any Minions-themed eggs or decoration here, so I had to (once again) improvise. So just a quick glimpse to internet (many minions there) and I was good to go!

I am sure you all are familiar with toilet roll-crafts? You either have made some yourself or have received a family-heirloom-to-be from your children/grandchildren, I presume? These are quite popular in kindergarten (we used to have a huge basket next to front door, and parents brought rolls weekly for us to use, and all were used by the end of the season, talk about cheap and innovative crafts), and really a great way to create happy decoration with anything at home, no shopping needed.

I was absolutely sure I had both yellow and blue paper at home, but when I started my minion-making I couldn't find either. Typical. But a creative crafter gets over a little obstacle like this in a second, out comes regular printing paper, old watercolors and only a slightly over-sized brush. Yellow&blue here I come!

After a quick dry it was time to start creating these little yellow-blue guys. I had no pattern, and this is no way a real tutorial to how-to, you just need to choose materials you like and go for it!

After dressing up, creating the face and adding the hands I just squeezed the little guys into sort of oval shape, cut a little pieces off the down corners, bent the pieces inside the tube and used a tiny metallic brad to keep the pieces (the bottom) together. This way the tube gets a flap bottom...

... and they can sit prettily too! Please ignore my black fingertips, they just were full of glue mixed with some eyes-black.

These can be filled with some candy or eggs or anything you wish! And even these are not *ahem* highly original (there are many similar and other wonderful ideas in pinterest and elsewhere), I am sure a little boy tomorrow will be thrilled. I know I will.

With these happy guys I wish you a wonderful weekend and sunny and bright last days before Easter Holidays! I also invite you to have a look at my Etsy-shop where I have Easter sale (-20% with code SPRING14) that lasts until next Thursday, and then I will close the shop for the holidays.

Sweet Saturday!

Yours,
Mia

Home

Last two weeks(and weekends) have been full. Sort of too much of everything: work, windy-cold weather, deadlines to meet, dirty windows. It feels that I spent at least a day and half on the phone too sorting both business&personal things. Working from home has many benefits, but it sometimes feels than when you open your eyes in the morning, it all is there, immediately, waiting. Same goes for the evenings; it's too easy to continue a little more, and before you know, it's time to go to bed. And same again next morning. This said I love working with my own schedule, and doing a bit of this and then some of that, having tea and then getting back to those...

Like designing a happy fox purse and making a hedgehogs-wall hanging or playing with some cute moomins and matching the wools with earthy-tones. Every day is different.

But home was the topic here, and Moomins are at their new home too!

They arrived there on Friday, and were gladly welcomed by MoominTroll and a happy lady called Lottie, seems that they've been waiting for the parcel together for some time already?

Hooray, I'm happy to send Moomin-love all over the world! And a big thank you Snowbird for the pictures!

Have a lovely new April week, sunshine and happiness to all!

Yours,
Mia

The winner

Hip hooray, the winner for the Moomin giveway has been picked! I used the ever-so-trusty random.org, and it did choose (between 1-17) number 8, SNOWBIRD!

Congratulations, snowbird, and please contact me Handmadebymia at gmail.com for your shipping details, and I will be mailing you a happy Moomins-parcel asap!

I will wait the contact for a one week, and if for one reason or an another we do not get in touch by then, I will pick a new winner. Thank you so so much everyone for participating, and

Happy Monday!

Yours,
Mia

**Edit. snowbird and I have been in touch, and happy Moomins will be shipped her way soon!**

Giving away some Moomins

It's been on my mind since I wrote about the new Moomins in January and again a week ago: To share some of them with you guys! I wish I could send one of those new mugs to one of you, but I am just too afraid that it'll arrive in pieces, and that wouldn't be fun for you or me. So for a while I've been looking for those new Tove100-items (here's the link to a cool e-booklet of Tove Jansson's life in English) wishing to find something that I could safely send anywhere, and it finally hit me last week! 

A pretty pot coaster! It's by Finnish fabric company Finlayson, and it has cute Moomins on both sides. Who could cook without one, really? And to add some Mia-made Moomins too I used my endless craft-skills (sarcasm intended) and screwed a hook on one cute Moomin, added a metal rings and

A happy keyring was made! And while shopping some paint&silicone rubber (don't even ask) yesterday I simply couldn't resist choosing some cute stickers too:

And to complete the set I added five happy lollipops to children and/or child at heart (read: you), so this is the set waiting to be won:

*click the image above to see the Moomin-lot little closer

Just leave a comment to this, today's post, and if you wish, you can share some thoughts of Moomins if you happen to have any, but leaving a comment with some sort of name/way to recognize you should you be the winner is enough. I will pick (randomly) one winner on Sunday, March 30th, and ship the happy Moomins-lot anywhere on the following day. Everyone's welcome to participate! Best of luck, all!

Happy Sunday!

Yours,

Mia

The Best

I have the best Sister. I know, you all have great ones and such, but I have the best. She's the baby-one too (only thirty-something, that's nothing, really), quite a few years younger than me (read: five), and She also has a birthday in March. She got the usual "I choose my presents myself so I'll end up having what I really want"-Moomins (from that special Tove Jansson 100years-series):

And as usual, there were some special treats made by me also. We have a really similar taste in clothes&accessories, but She really loves tapestry bags; I think She got the bug in 90s and never really recovered. I know her tapestry-condition only so well, and I have made her a quite a few bags over the years. This birthday didn't make the exception except the bag is bigger than ever:

and there's a matching scarf too:

Oh my, She'll be ever so ready for the spring, don't you think?

And that bag should take in everything and some - the older a lady gets, the bigger the bag (sorry, Sis)!

Happy Birthday, dear Sis!

***

Lovely Monday to you all!

Yours,

Mia

Bunny in a basket

Around this time of the year I usually have made some pretty Easter-coasters for my shop, like these and these. This year I wanted to create something different, and ended up with some happy easter-y baskets:

But hey, is there someone lurking from one of those pouches? Lets take a closer look...

 ...and closer...

Oh yes, it's a little bunny holding an Easter egg! How about the other baskets?

Hello little birdie! How about this then...

A little bunny with a snowdrop as scarf? Oh yes:

And like all the others, there's a pin on back:

...to make any outfit a happy&easter-y! Just like this little tweet with a big yellow daffodil would do:

...and still one more bunny in a basket:

Hello sweetie! Pretty tulips, a whole bunch!

All these happy baskets with little bunnies&birdies can be seen more closely in my shop here - and with them I send you a lot of sunshine and wish you a

Happy Wednesday!

Yours,
Mia

What a week

This week is an official Winter Holiday (skiing holiday we call it here) in my area, and while the skiing itself is out of the question (not enough snow believe it or not) with rainy, + degrees weather and bare land, other fun and exciting activities have been found.

We had a lovely visitor for the first ever without parents-sleep over! He arrived with a big suitcase full of toys and books and games, and bathrope for going to sauna with his beloved godfather. Such fun, and he already announced that next time it'll be for two nights...

I also gathered yet an another year *sigh* but it was worth getting older as I've been spoiled with flowers, cards, presents and happy visitors. We had chocolate mudcake (some of us had sweet potato-mash and cucumber) and other favorites. Mr. Postman has delivered happy parcels all week (the best way to celebrate: a whole week!), thank you sweet people all over the world!

I've also read (library-borrowed) magazines for new inspiration and bought some springly-colored wool, and wish to show new things to you soon. And the cherry on the cake: tomorrow is the International Women's Day and my dear sister has offered to treat me, our mom and my princess-niece with coffee and buns (cucumber for some) in a lovely coffee-shop. What a wonderful week - I could get used to all this! How's your week been?

Happy Friday, and sunny weekend soon too!

Yours,

Mia