Monday 28 November 2016

UMK!


Photo: YLE / Miikka Varila

So, you know I've been rather (add ""...) lately, and one reason is the fact that I am part of UMK, which is the competition for the song to represent Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest.

I'm a huge lover of all things kitsch and camp and thus also a huge Eurovision fan (and prefer it at it's most glittery self) and I also have this thing of never saying No to anything as you never know what one thing might lead to. There are a lot of catchy tunes and both fun and interesting artists in the competition this year, and I know glammy rock n' roll is not up everybody's alley, so this will be an interesting ride. And I promise mine will be filled with a lot of glitter.

Tuesday 22 November 2016

WINTERIZING SUMMER STRIPES


Well, it's that time of the year again when you either have packed some of your clothes away (if you are the organised type that actually does that instead of having to lean against your closet door to close it. Not saying I'm either one  though, ehrm), or have started indulging in some hardcore layering, in my vocabulary known as winterizing.


I wear quite a lot of my dresses during the colder season as well paired with thicker tights and something underneath plus a layer or two on top. It depends a bit on the dress weather it works or not; the thinnest materials seldom look good that way, but this cotton is a bit heavier.

This is a cotton summery dress that I got from thai vintage store Sugar & Cream Vintage, that you might remember me writing about some time ago.

It's in mint condition with hidden buttons in the front and, like in the red vintage dress I have from the same store, this one also has a hidden zipper in front in able to step into instead of having to pull it over the head.  Handy!

But I just might (or: will, eventually) have to add a pair of patch pockets, which, as you know, makes everything better - I have a cotton fabric with similar soft coloured stripes, just a few more hues in the blend. It will sit pretty well there.

And no, I didn't cut my almost-there outgrown bangs back; this is a wig! I use some pieces on stage and in shoots for all those days that I did not have the time to roll my hair the evening before, but some of them can make themselves useful during the bad hairdays of everyday life as well.

For those who want to know; apart from the Sugar & Cream Vintage dress the belt vintage too, the bag from the early 00's, boots new and the wig from Annabelle's wigs.

Saturday 19 November 2016

THE GOLD LINING


Me, online: So, now that winter is coming and we're out on the countryside for good I should really get myself a pair of practical boot...- uuuh hello what are these?!

So yes; I am still trying to remember to get a pair of practical shoes, because I ended up with a pair of cute black velvet-y platform boots instead. Now ho would've thought.



Well, in my defence, if you can manage to drag 20 kilos of suitcase for three days in a row on the cobblestone streets of Prague they could kind of be labeled as "practical", right?
But no, these boots with their flocked surface are indeed not for the muddiest days.


While on talks about the sliver lining (the one of clouds you know, that applies to events and situations) you can also talk about a golden edge in Swedish, which is applicable to anything or anyone that gives everyday life and existence even the tiniest sense of luxury. So this muddy-snowy-stormy November I'll let my gold lined heels act as the little golden edge of the day. Walk, at least. And thinking about it, I still have my old workwear boots from the harbour to wear in the countryside mud instead.

See, every cloud does have a silver lining!

I bought the boots from LightInTheBox.


Thursday 17 November 2016

TÄHDET TÄHDET; ALL THE STARS


I'm home from Prague and started my week by visiting the rehearsals of the Tähdet Tähdet-show, where we got to coach fabulous singer Johanna Försti some burlesque posing and confidence.
You can see it on Sunday evening at mtv3!

Friday 11 November 2016

SNAPSHOTS


Yesterday we shot a thing with huuuuge hair!

Today we filmed a thing with sleek hair and a cool leatherjacket.

And now I'll go to sleep on a lonely mattress in my empty city apartment as I am off early tomorrow morning to Prague to perform! I'll also teach a workshop on Sunday; join in if you're over there!

Tuesday 8 November 2016

FOUR THINGS RIGHT NOW: LATE MONDAY EVENING


It looks like this when you open the door:

Which a) is just so wrong as it's only the 7th of November (yes, that is my sad frozen Halloween pumpkin under all that snow  -ffs this snow fell ONE DAY AFTER HALLOWEEN. So wrong.) and b) would be cozy would we be three weeks from now and would one not have to go anywhere.
I've been outdoors today, sadly, and driving home late at night was not very nice.

For the moment indoors is not that nice either. It's all full of boxes; we have pretty much emptied the city flat by now. Or, I have, suitably we had to move out the month when I'm alone in the blizzard while Eddi is in a sandstorm in a dessert in Iran for four weeks, doing stuff geologists do (in this case; teaching research methods). These boxes will empty one by one as we get some renovation done upstairs while others will be repacked to wait for future times and possible new flats. So now we a) don't have to have Christmas at our place this year or b) should have Christmas at our place this year as there will certainly be chairs and plates for everybody. Ha. Ha.

No but really, it will turn out nice here once we get it sorted out and renovated up. Just need a lot of money and spare time first, peanuts!

Talking about peanuts, made a big batch of quinoa snack bars/cookies/mush to munch on for the rest of the week - I  haven't made any of my usual vegan yummy-but-yucky-looking-stuff for a while so really had to restrain myself from eating too much at once of these. Which isn't that hard, as the raw bars I make are rather heavy; these however a bit lighter thanks to the quinoa. I've been eating so much chocolate and quick snacks lately as I'm on the move a lot and constantly, but now I'm hoping to get away from that a bit again and instead get my sweet tooth soothed and energy need fulfilled with better options (which I was better at before when I had a bit more time on my hands).

These bits took a blend of cashews, sun flower seeds, buckwheat (for a little crunch), dates, cocoa, coconut flakes, oats, coconut oil, a spoonful of organic peanut butter, cardamom and vanilla, liquorice flavoured sea salt and cooked quinoa; a mix on the recipe for the quinoa cookies and the raw bites that I usually make. Which reminds me; I should go and add some hemp seed on top!

Before calling it a night I still intend to finnish fixing a costume of mine that needs a few more sequins; heading over to Prague to perform and teach this weekend! Getting that costume work done is not so easy when the cat decided the dress was his spot tonight. But they blend together quite nicely, don't they?


Sunday 6 November 2016

THREE SHADES OF RED AND SPARKLY GRAPES



Well, I've said it before, but: any lazy hair day or don't-know-what-to-do-with-my-face-day can always be saved by a turban. And some lipstick.

This time also wth some sparkly earrings. Or hang-ears, as Dag mistakenly calls them ('häng-öron', from "örhängen"; which is Swedish for earrings, "ear-hangs", or 'things hanging from the ears' as you could translate it.)

The turban is made by Rubylea, vintage inspired grape studs from Collectif.


Wednesday 2 November 2016

LET THERE BE LIGHTS. AND COLOURS!



My friend and artist Aiju Salminen turned her whole building into a light installation yesterday! The big house is in the corner of two of the busiest streets in Helsinki  (I used to live just opposite, when I was still living downtown btw) so it got a lot of attention. The habitants were all in on the thing and put up coloured silk papers in their window to brigthen up the November darkness. The idea is not original, but has not been done in Helsinki before.

Picture from Värivalotalo on Facebook.

Tuesday 1 November 2016

HALLOWEEN AT KAUHUKLUBI

Happy Halloween! (Because, even  though it's past midnight here by now there's still some Halloween left somewhere in the world).

Last year I spent my Halloween (with a skeleton) at a pilates trainers camp, but this year I got to celebrate it big time at the horror-themed RubiesKlubit burlesque club I produce with Tinx. It's great when you get to host an event with a spooky voice all night long.

Here are a couple of shots from the show, all shot by Bernhard. Miettinen.

I did my 50ft woman thing, inspired by the, ehrm,  epic masterpiece from 1958.

Pepper Sparkles.

Vera de Vil.

Tinker in monster mode.


Bent van der Bleu.

One of the winners of our costume competition and my skeleton hand handing over his price.

We run RubiesKlubit about every six to eight weeks at Mascot in Helsinki's Kallio district, always with a different theme. The concept has worked really well and it has developed into a great club night with a super audience each time. The next RubiesKlubit will be on January 13, but before that we'll throw our yearly Christmas show Under the Mistle Tease on Decdember 17!