Salmiakki between covers

Ahh it's been long since I last posted here! Christmas is coming but I want to show you something that I've made earlier this year. If I remember right I stole the idea for this from someone but I modified it to meet my purposes. I also stole the cute bee picture from someone but I re-drew it free hand and painted it with watercolor pencils.


You might ask: "But what the heck is it?" Simply put: this is salmiakki between covers! Salmiakki is a Finnish sweet and salty black candy. Despite its black color it is not the same thing as licorice. Salmiakki is very popular in Finland (and at least in Sweden and some other Nordic countries) but basically impossible to find in other countries. It's sweet and it's salty - and I love it! Goes perfectly with fruit sweets. :)



But back to this project. I made this for my friend who was injured quite bad. I sent this little 'salmiakki book' in mail and hoped that it would make him smile. It wasn't a big thing to make but hopefully it was a big thing to receive!

The Constellation Gemini

This card was a pain to finish. I started with the large heart and after that the card lay on my desk for over a week and I couldn't think of anything. I was ready to trash it until yesterday I got an idea of the constellation gemini. I attached the tiny silver stars on the card so that they formed a gemini as it's seen in the sky. It matched well with the person for who I made this card because they are a gemini. All's well that ends well. :)

Please see this card in full size.

PS. No ribbons this time! :D

Butterfly card

Here's another card for Mother's Day. I had very little time to make it so it doesn't quite look like I was hoping to. (Plus, I don't have any stamps.) "Mummulle" means "For Grandma".

Coffee for Mom on Mother's Day

Mom is a big coffee consumer (like Finns in general). She will get this card next Sunday. :) I used coffee beans again. They are behind a window that I cut out of a transparency and attached to the back of the butterfly. The beans move freely when you shake the card. I got the idea from this great card blog.

The text says (continues inside): "Coffee moments crown any day - even Mother's Day."

Playing around with Photoshop

This is the first time I've drawn a human figure from scratch and colored it. I played around with Photoshop and used these wonderful tutorials I found:

Tutorial 1
Tutorial 2

This is far from perfect (nose too small or too far from the mouth, shadows and other details missing, body unfinished) and it wasn't that easy to do with a mouse (I don't have a graphics tablet) but I'm content with it. Not sure if I'd try anything like this again with a mouse, though!

Bead dragonfly

I got a bead assortment mainly for my card hobby but when I saw this and this (gorgeous beadworks!) I had to see what I could do with mine. Here's the result, my first ever anything I've ever made of beads. :)

Coffee beans for graduation

My friend graduated from university and I made this card for her very quickly. The text says freely translated: "Even the best coffees are brewed with time". I used real coffee beans for decoration. My fountain pen didn't flow well on this paper and I think it shows. There are also some other details that bug me but I'm not going there. :)

Birthday fairy

Here's a card I made for someone special. Her birthday will be soon. The picture was printed from Elizabeth O. Dulemba's coloring page website. I used watercolor pencils to color the fairy. Thanks Elizabeth for this wonderful picture!

Easter greeting

Easter is soon here. I sent this card to my good friend. I suppose that she got it already so I think it's safe to post the picture here. And no, sending Easter cards is not a big business over here but I just felt like sending one. :)


One of the many Finnish Easter traditions include growing ryegrass in small pots on the window sill. I sent a bag of ryegrass seeds inside the card. The grass needs about 5 days to grow and that is also why I sent my card so early.

Ballerina ATC

I got an idea of making a ballerina ATC with the tulle I've had for years. This is my second ATC ever. The first one I gave to my friend and I don't have a picture of it.

My inner blogger

Never would I have guessed that I would start a blog but here I am, writing the first ever lines in my first ever blog. I think that I have been surprised not only by my inner blogger but also by my inner artist. I wish I had more time to make something with my hands such as greeting cards, scrapbooking, ATC's... or even cakes! But I don't. However, I want to share with you those random little pieces of art (or bakings) that I am going to make—probably little but made with heart.