4x

Snaps from the past two months in squares.

4x before the snow

4x snow

4x Christmas

4 x Dag

4 x light



4x burlesque



4x food

4x at home

4 x me

CHRISTMAS

I love Christmas! Mine gladly goes on until Epiphany, although more calm and subtle with spices, gingerbreads, mulled wine, colorful lights and candles still, after the first few more intense days of food, family and gifts.

CHRISTMAS CARD / THE RED CHRISTMAS DRESS FOR THIS YEAR

Merry Christmas from me and the little ginger bread man! Have a happy Holidays and remember to eat lots of chocolate. And that giving is more important than receiving. And so on. Peace out!

My red dress for this year is from Trashy Diva.

CHRISTMAS TREE AND CHRISTMAS NAILS

 Time to decorate the Christmas tree!

 Only this year we did not get one -

I decided to decorate my little palm tree instead.

I also put my nails into Christmas mode. I got to try out nail stickers in a not that nice pattern but which functionally seemed like the solution to all fading nail polish problems, ever. So I ordered some sets in nice colours and, well, there was an hour of my life and a set of euros waisted, sadly. Looks like I went a little creative with the papers and tape while giftwrapping... *

But back to the tree : Ta-da, most tacky Christmas tree ever!


*) The nail stickers just look more like stickers than polish, and when filed down they still look like stickers someone tried to use a nail file on. I put some top coat on to make them more "thick" but it didn't help that much... works pretty alright when seen form afar though.These were form Nail Rock, the ones I tried earlier that worked better were Sally Hansen, only all their patterns were too, well, not for me.

THE FAUX-KNITTED WINTER SKIRT

Maybe itits comes with age but I feel colder winter  by winter. This year I decided to be extra smart and sew myself a super warm skirt for winter wear.

This one is made from fleece fabric, you know, the kind kids stuff is made of and outdoor gear lined with. Well you know. Only I turned the fabric inside-out,  it is the kind of fleece that is not the same on both sides but is woven with a knitted-like texture o the back side.

 I have the soft side inwards and also attached a ready-bought slip to the skirt to stop it from going all static together with my tights. Warm, (as in WARM), soft and stretchy, mmmyes, pretty perfect.

The kitty blouse is from Vintag'Eijas and the shiny bag is Accessorize.

THE SIENCE OF A POM POM AND THE PAIN OF CRAFTING

As I only had about three hundred other things to do I decided to make us some pom poms the other night, I had had some yarn waiting for this moment for some time. (How annoyig of a person does that not sound like? "I have lots of things to do, but I feel like making pom poms! Tralalala!")

But as it was propably twenty five years ago since I last made such I needed to consult google before getting started. If you suddenly get a pom-pom urge, here's how to:

You need to cut two circles with holes in the middle (like a donut) out of cardboard (or, I even saw they had ready made plastic pom pom rings on the hobby department in the big store but hey, come on...) - I cut up an old cat food box. I made a couple of sizes.

Then you spin your thread, you can use many at once, round both cardboard donuts, cut the threads up in between the donuts, put a string in and tie firmly before removing the cardboard. Zippa-dee-doodah, ze pom pom is ready!

As soon as I started cutting the cardboard I remember how much I actually hate crafting. Or not hate, but how much it frustrates me. It's messy, and if the result does not look pro-made, which it seldom does as I don't craft often enough, I get pissed off. I thought spinning the thread around and around would perhaps be meditative or so (as much meditative something can get with a baby, two very intense cats and two older boys with their computer games at home can get) but it was in fact not. And nowhere on the world wide consulting web did anyone say how long you should cut your threads or what would be the best way to spin them in order not to get all messed and knotted up or take forever to spin. Really, was this as annoyig when I was five years old?

I noticed that buy cutting away part of the circle spinning was faster and I was able to spin'em straight from the roll clew. But then the pom poms went bazookas when cut up and turned out all miffo as they wouldn't stay together long enough for me to tie them tight.

But shame on the ones with hundreds (alright, tens)  of meters of yarn to go who gives up! I went trough the pain of cutting some more cardboard and realized the best way was just to cut the donut open, not remove a slice, and tilt the pieces a bit so the ring could be fastened to a whole circle again for the cutting up phase. Pompom science here. Perhaps that's the way we did our pompelipoms when I was a kid too; maybe this is the way to go, but ze interwebz failed to tell me. Well now you now.

Then they started turning out al righ and fastt: pom poms, yeah!

When a lot of time had passed by I had a hellofalotta pompoms and it looked like a kindergarten class on a sugar rush had been all over the place.

But yeah, all the pom poms. They'd look good in a christmas tree for example, hanging one by one. Or as a garland. But I wanted to make a wreath out of mine. I know there are ready-made different wreath-bases to buy, but I would never come up with the idea to actually go somewhere to buy one. Instead I had to go the experimenting way, which obviously would not turn out as fancy as would I have had one of those making-life-easier-ready-made-base ones. I fastened mine on a ring cut out of cardboard, or thick paper actually; the only thing big and thick enough I could find after a bit of annoying searching time was a piece from a goodie bag I'd received.

I tied my poms to the ring I'd cut out, then glued a second paper ring onto that, and finished off with a bit of mexican oilcloth to make the wreath a bit sturdier. And to look nice on the backside. Which no one of course will ever see.


And ta-fucking-da, there it is on the door! Would make any mother-of-the-eight-year old who made it proud. Where that the case. I can say Dag made it. A total prodigy.

So much text about fluffy yarn balls. No but really, it turned out rather cute. And who doesn't love pom poms after all? Plus believe it or not, afterwards I even made some more of those as it was going fast and easy it almost was terapeutic rollig all that yarn after all.

Now I just need to invite some people over to admire that wreath while waiting for me to open the door (must linger a bit hehe); we live on the top floor with only two neighbors. So no one will really see it. But thank god for the internet, right?!

SIX MONTHS

Congratulations to Dag Evert Edison who turns half a year today! Time really does fly.

He was born on the lightest day of the year and now we're already at the darkest one. (Heading for summer again, sort of, yey!)

THE OLDTIMER KNIT / BURGUNDY AND GREY

 I think it's rather seldom with new-bought clothing that an item would last for over a decade if being in use sort of regularly, but I have a cardigan that I have had for so many years it surprises me every time I think about it; I bought it in the late nineties when I was sixteen or seventeen. What also surprises me is that I still fit it!

120 FIM at the time it was very expensive, but the twenty euros it equals today isn't really "anything". (Although, many things cost the same in marks as they do now in euros, I remember paying two marks for a coffee in the past millennium. Nowadays you hardly get a cup for a two euro coin... )

 But anyway, was well worth the marks and pennies; here it still is!

Thinking about it I remember this cardigan also went missing for some time back then, I was seraching for it like crazy and kept asking my younger sisters if they had borrowed it, but they hadn't and I didn't have a clue where I could have left it. The mystery knit, totally X-fioles (which is also a totally nineties thing. Mulder,). A year later or two it was found in a box under my sister's bed; turns out she had borrowed it after all but was afraid to be caught lying and had tried to get rid of the evidence. Sort of. Teenage logics. Haha! I wonder if she remembers this one...

The dress under the knit is Trashy Diva, but that's for another post.
And here's me and Dag. Bye!

ONNEN MAA

Score (by Tuure Kilpeläinen) for an upcoming series on Finnish schlager, Iskelmä Suomi. The series will be seen starting from February on Finnish TV.

Eddi and I filmed some nostalgia mood shots for the series on our farm late last summer. Most of you will not be able to see the series due to country restrictions but you can watch this video instead!

THE DAILY MAKE UP, AND A LITTLE MORE

I often get the question to do a make up post, but even thought I enjoy make up my interest in it comes and goes. Now I managed to empty my make up bag and snap some shots of what I carry around with me:

For everyday use I only wear pure mineral or natural, organic make up. After some thought it seems the only sane thing, that what you smear onto (or, into) your skin on a daily basis would be free form extra chemicals and substances, consisting of ingredients you actually can read and understand. For special events I use a mix of natural and "conventional" make up, depends on on the required look. At some point I totally freaked out about the thought of chemicals and felt my skin instantly clogged up when applying oh-so-smooting-silicone based foundation (you know -or maybe you don't-  like the feeling when you have a piece of chocolate and it's BAM 10kg per thigh immediately. In your head.) but that cooled down; I don't have any issues using products for shows and shoots as log as it smooths out and glitters up.

I have no problems leaving the house without make up if I head for a walk or go to the gym or so, but if I am going anywhere a little more than just that I do my usual set which takes about five minutes. Base, brows, something on the lashes at least.


For the base I use mineral foundation. A little darker shade in summer, a little lighter in winter. My set is from Bellapierre;  I use the shades ivory and ultra. I have both the loose powder foundation as well as the compact one. I brush it all over my face with a big soft kabuki brush. These work really well for me, just perfectly really, leaving the skin looking natural while still giving agood coverage and a nice shimmer, although now in winter my skin dries up a lot and I am on the look out for a liquid foundation.


After foundation sweep on some rouge on my cheeks and then add loose shimmer powder on my cheekbones and under my eyebrows for highlight. That's kind of the 'trick' int he trick. I use a rather nude shade- champagne- from Bellapierre. It's a small jar but the stuff if very intense and will propably last several years.


(Before I  started using minerals I had a "day time" and a fancier, "night time" foundation.  For daywear I had different Lumene foundations, but my 'fancy foundation was Lancome's Photogenic Lumessence which I still use on shoots etc, it's a great one. I used the Lumene radiance primer almost daily before, giving a beautiful pearly glow. I also have the Nvey Eco creme deluxe foundation for 'fancy' use.)


Eyeliner used to be a staple in my everyday routine until I did my first lash extensions, when the eye looked so god just like that I got lazy and started leaving the liner out. Now that I no longer have the extentions I still go pretty much without, unless I am going somewhere. Then I use a natural one by Nvey eco which I paint on with a brush and some water. But if I want a sharp deep black wing I use an eyeliner with felt tip liner. For me the Rimmel one has been great for years.

My eye socket is rather deep -or something like that- which casts shadows framing my eye, so I seldom use any eye shadow unless I am going for a more made up look or certain style, or want some colour. I might just brush on a little rouge in the outer corner of the eye, goes with the same sweep as the one on the cheeks. But I always fill in my brows with a brown pen a little to highlight their shape.


Then the lashes - is it just me or does anyone else concur that lashes are not what they used to be as age kicks in? In my teens and early twenties I got the question if I wore false lashes all the time. And any mascara was perfect. Now, I feel most mascaras are only ever so average and so are my lashes.  Especially after having had extensions... it was the best thing I've tried beauty wise (seriously, where were those when I was out all the time and used to wake up wherever? Alright, couldn't have afforded such then. But anyway. Damn! One decade too late). But having extensions for more than a couple of months is pretty damaging for your own lashes I'm afraid.

Right now I use three mascaras, which are all pretty alright, but obviously not perfect - otherwise I'd be rocking just one. I have the Terre d'Oc mascara, Lavera's double brush (both natural) and Lumene's Sensitive eyes. But I use false lashes just as much -  when used to wear those applying them takes no longer than applying two coats of mascara and with the right adhesive (I have Duo) they stay on for as long as you wish. And the lashes need to be with a thin silicone strip too to attach well and look real. I am a total lash junkie, with lots of different models and sizes. Not to mention the tranny-sized ones I use on stage.


On the lips I use one of Sante's pens; the red one or the dark pink one. It stays quite well on the whole day. I may add some red with my red stain from Vapour beauty.


I have a lot of lipstick in different shades - I love lip colour - but it's a bit like jewelry to me; I tend to wear a certain one a lot periodically (also depending on the outfit and occasion of course) but in daily wear often go without -pretty much like it is with the other items I have, coloured eye liners and different shadows. I have a lot. Not to mention that suitcase full of glitters I drag along for shows.
But that's another story.

THE BLACK CAT AND THE TINY SILVER HORSE

Lulu and Dag's little rocking horse-moneybox on the piano.

IN THE BLACK WIG

Photo by Adam Monaghan 2012.

ONE MORE PAIR BEFORE WE ALL GO

The tax return money came and I went out to buy winterboots yesterday.
This is what happened!

Could have been worse.

Somebody commented on post of mine that she found it hard finding good shoes, there was always sone little detail wrong. Unfortunately not with me, I find perfect shoes in just the rigth shapes all of the time. These for example are so chunky! and wonderfully chubby somehow. Goddamit, I am living one big shoegazm!

Someone also may recall me saying something about having a hard time wearing all of my heels and these are not exactly blizzard-weather prrof, no. But, you see, there's this thing with black items. When you find something perfect and black, you must go for it. Especially if they are high heels that are super comfy on.

Plus I though the world was about to end yesterday anyway. So one more pair before we all go!
But apparenty the world won't end until next week.

(I got the shoes from Stockmann's. They also have them in red. Mmmmm....)