Here's to new

Happy New Year soon, dear friends! This year has 2014 passed pretty quickly, it feels that it was summer just last week or so, and now we are heading to in 2015 already, wow! This blogging year has not been the greatest, but I have enjoyed so much reading the posts from my fellow bloggers, and I try not to feel too guilty about my slow pace, life happens at the times as we all well know (and it just happened after I started this post, can you possibly tell that the paragraph above was written in 2014 already?). It has been sort of tradition to take a look back when a New Year starts, and here, here and here are some previous posts about that. And here is a brief glance for 2014:

January-February-March

Beginning of the 2014 was cold and snowy after a very mild autumn, and as the images suggest, sun wasn't too regular visitor around here. Some little people visited more often, and auntie just loved that. We all had a sort of difficult autumn, and to start a happy and more healthy year was just joyful. Work-wise I tried to take it slow still, and not to make that big changes, and started the year with some happy mittens and other felted creations. And some Moomins - they ended being quite a hit on 2014 too!

April-May-June

April and May were pretty and sunny here, but June... Huh. It was cold, rainy, COLD, dark (did I say COLD already?) and miserably - in Midsummer Eve we ate outside (with Finnish sisu), and then run inside to put some logs into fireplace. Huh. But other than weather it was great, we got the new deck and house got first lick of paint too.

July-August-September

We had most wonderful, hot, sunny and beautiful July-August, and it made up for the miserably June mentioned earlier. We spent a lot of time outside (hello new deck!), many BBQ's and a few Birthdays were also celebrated out in sunshine, and a certain little boy got a lightsaber for his 6th... And I was ever so lucky to be a winner in Jane's wonderful giveaway, thank you still once dear! Then came September, and you can see on the last images how the weather turned - in a day! We had lovely adventures with my sweet little niece still in September. An another great story to tell&remember later is how we had our first snowstorm around 23rd and we were stuck in a market when the power went off...

October-November-December

In October we (me&Sis) finally got ourselves to cinema to see Moomins on the Riviera! It was such a sweet and lovely movie, so if you have a change to go and see it, please do, it makes you smile for a long time afterwards, I promise. We also had a little guy for a sleepover(s), I spent some special time with my niece too still, and we had some wonderful adventures in woods with mushroom-finds. On the darker side of the life was present too as I lost my uncle suddenly, but thankfully his funeral day was sunny, dry and beautiful. HandmadebyMia-wise I think the happy felted wreaths and pretty bunny-sisters were the most important creations - and I wish to continue making both in the future. Christmas-time was magical, happy and relaxing, and the New Year was welcomed with some fireworks and very cold weather. Now it is January 5th already, and I have had almost two weeks more or less off from everything, time well spent and much needed.

Now it is time to slooooowly start thinking of 2015 and all new things it will bring. I have some new plans for the first three months of this year, and all that should keep me quite busy, but I wish to keep popping in here every now and then too. I think instagram will show my whereabouts much more regularly, please feel most welcome to come and say hi there too! And oh how I am waiting for the spring already, light and sunshine and flowers and green outside... With the picture above (from Midsummer 2014) I am turning on the Pre-Spring (see the official GRD-calendar here) mode just this very minute!

Happy, healthy, sunny and bright New Year 2015 to you all, thank you all for 2014!

Yours,
Mia

Merry all around

It has been merry, bright, happy, eventful, surprising, tasty, noisy, cold, sunny, loved ones all around = just perfect Holidays here. I wish you and yours have enjoyed everything to the fullest! The house is getting silent now, I am sauna-clean and wearing the pretty new woolen socks made for me by my dear, dear friend, and it simply does not get better than this. I am now off under the tree with a box of something good and a great book - it is still time to be merry for a few days. Enjoy!

With love,

Mia

Days around here

Oh my, it seems that December posting is not that intense this year. Days fly by, and it is almost third Advent already, only a week and some to go until the big day! Here are some pictures from the past week:

We had the first hyacinths (LOVE the scent, simply divine), celebrated Finland's 97th Independence Day, baked the first cookies (Hattifatteners are the traditional ones), and two candles were lid on the second Advent...

... first pretty cards arrived, and the first present too! I must not open it yet, I simply must not...

*click to enlarge and to see a bit closer*

...and my Christmas Village Everwood* is up! It has a new tree (with a music box) for its central square, and the happy snowman ice-skating (also with music) I got last year from my hb's sister. Everwood is pretty large already, but I am just off to Christmas Fair and there might be a little something to add still - villages keep growing, right?

Wonderful weekend to you all!

Yours,
Mia

*Oh yes, named after one of my ultimate favorite TV-series 

Start counting

Happy December 1st! It is amazing that we are on this date now, somehow even this autumn was dark and gloomy, it went really, really quickly. And now it is time to start counting the days... And my blog would not be mine without the Advent candles, this year they are in beautiful vintage Festivo (by Timo Sarpaneva) candle holders (thanks, Sis!) and the candles are...pretty me (thanks again, Sis!), or what do you think?

This autumn has been so much better than last year, but I unfortunately didn't find the time to make a Christmas calendar for my blog. Older December-posts starting from December 1st here , here and here - you are so welcome to take a look of those, they were such fun to make. This year I think I will be blogging about my Christmas preparations around this almost-new-still house, but I can not promise everyday posts. But if the days continue to look like today, who knows?

Sunshine*! Oh yes! Almost blue skies! All day! Pure love!

Happy Monday, everyone!

Yours,

Mia

*I was sent some sunshine a while ago from UK, and I think even it sure did take its time, it was from Vivienne& Jane. Thank you ladies, and please keep it coming!

Friday, Friday

In the spirit of Black Friday I am officially opening the Holiday Season already, and all the items in my shop will be in sale 28. - 30.11.2014. Everything will be -20% (excluding the shipping costs) with a coupon code* SNOWSALE - happy shopping! 

Lovely weekend to all!

Yours,

Mia

* Here is more information about Etsy coupon code: etsy.com/help/article/350

Dark times

The title would suggest, that life around here is somehow not that great, but no, all is good*. Except it is dark. All the time. 24/7. No sun anywhere, at all. Makes getting out of the bed morning hard but picture taking even harder.

I wanted to show (and also put them into my shop) some new Christmas-wreaths I made, but once I got the images of the first one (not great, but pictures at least), I went inside to make some last touches to the others and...

...I came out again and without a flash you simply could not get one decent picture! Truth to be told my next thoughts would look close to *%&#**#¤**, but lets just say that I was somewhat annoyed. I seriously wish it is more prettier and brighter at yours!

To beat the darkness around here I bought the biggest star I could find (it is approx. 75cm/29.5inches from one point to an another), and I must say it helps. A little.

Wishing you a good day, I will be back when I have some lighter&brighter stories to tell!

Yours,
Mia

*I am also blogging via my hb's laptop as mine is not feeling well. I am all good about that now, but on Monday it wasn't fun at all. Let's just hope that it can be fixed or Santa's stockings will be significantly less full this year if I need to get a new one. So positive thoughts, please! Thank you!

Sisters

You would not believe the giggling and whispering and dress-trying and photo posing we have had around here past a few days! It has been such fun, and now I am more than happy to introduce the first bunny-sisters (yes, I know, I thought they had a brother but no, all girls this time):

Say hello to Anabel, she is the oldest (and tallest of the sisters), she is a all set to go and make some Christmas-shopping:

And then there is Agnes, she loves knitting (she has knitted her own dress and several others), and she has a new shawl-design on her needles as we speak:

The next sister is Allie, she loves cooking and spending time in kitchen, and has just made a pot of tea - you are so welcome to join her for a cuppa:

Then to the third youngest of the sisters, please meet Ada! Ada, just like Agnes, loves knitting and has just started a scarf to match her pretty light blue smohair-dress, and she is so proud of her new starry-tipped needles too:

Next pretty girl is Adele, she really is the princess of them all! She has a pretty dusk-pink dress and a fancy handbag (she loves the metal chain-handle!) and she is just off to a carrot-singers concert:

And last but not least there is Alma, who you already met on Monday! She is still carrying the Santa-letter with her...I really wonder it is ever gets sent...

There you have all six bunny-sisters! We all have smohair up to our ears here, but now they all are introduced and ready (and eager if I might say so, the hopping and giggling is never-ending) to fly to their new homes. You can see them more closely here, please go and say hello, I wish they will make you smile too!

Happy Wednesday!

Yours,
Mia

Meet Alma

I am not sure if this has happened to you, but sometimes when I have a clear plan what I am going to do I somehow manage to get myself completely sidetracked, and something totally different from my actual plan is created. This is quite close to what happened this weekend, and Alma was born.

I was actually planning something else (bunnies were in my mind but not Alma), but when I was finished, there she was:

She has a special hand knitted smohair (yes, smohair, pretty close to mohair but better she says) Holiday-dress on, her best peppermint-necklase and the special red bag to carry a very important letter to mailbox...

 ... It is to Santa (and we all know Santa lives in Korvatunturi)!

But what I am not sure is if the letter ever gets sent in time; Alma is the sweetest little bunny but she, just like me, gets sidetracked pretty easily, and can be found dreaming of Christmas here and there - the letter still in her bag!

I wish you all loved meeting Alma, and if I just can let her (and her sisters and brothers) go in a few days, the will jump into my shop. Maybe you can help her to mail that precious letter?

Lovely Monday!

Yours,

Mia