It's Hot Outside

When it feels like 41°C outside, all I want to do is to sit in the shade and have an ice cold treat.

Yum = Blueberry Basil and Roasted Almond gelato from Soma....

I'm taking a day off from my "day job" tomorrow (today?) to spend time with some good friends, perhaps paint (umm...my 2nd job), and hopefully have more ice cream! ;D

** NEW ** in my ETSY Store: Sami Taste Buds - Nesting Dolls ~ An Ode to the North

Introducing the 4 taste buds - Sweet (Søt), Salty (Salt), Sour (Sur) and Bitter (Bitter), now available in my ETSY store!

They have traveled a long way from the most northern part of Norway.

Sweet (Søt) loves guompa and cloudberries, Salty (Salt) fancies lutefisk and varmrøkt rein, Sour (Sur) prefers pickled herring and lingonberries, and Bitter (Bitter) only wants radishes.

Once properly outfitted, they are ready for reindeer herding!

Tape and Stickers

I must confess I have somehow fallen back in love with stationary, stamps and stickers.
Here are some lovely finds from Hanji Handmade Paper and Crafts...

Speaking of lovely finds, have a look at Charles Fréger's "Wilder Mann" series.
Too brilliant!

Grazie Mille, Polly!

A most beautiful package arrived today from Finland, thanks to Polly!

There were so many special things:

Like Polly's lovely hand drawn birds...

The Rudolf Koivun Kuvitutsta postcard, a darkroom print of one of Polly's photos from her Diana Mini...

And Moomin goodies...

Grazie mille, dear Polly! :**
xoxo

And a happy weekend to you! :)

A Rainy Sunday Assembly Line

Lately I've been trying to work harder at juggling my day job and be more diligent with my need to paint/create.  I should probably take this painting business a lot more seriously and to "get painting" (as I was told/ordered by a friend of mine).

I've also started watching more Etsy Lab videos, and perusing through the Etsy Help Forums to try to see how I can improve my Etsy store/sales.  The hard lesson about all of this is that I'm at the complete mercy of my suppliers - I have a shipment that I've ordered in April that has not yet arrived..... :(

However, on the brighter side of things, I am very much looking forward to finishing this latest batch of toys, and I'm lucky and super thankful to have lots of support from a network of wonderful friends. 

Inspired by Finland

Polly's wonderful "100 Feeders" project inspired me so much at a time when I truly needed it. Polly is a super sweet girl who is originally from Italy, but is currently living and studying in Finland. She keeps a lovely blog and has a passion for analog photos.

To thank and to congratulate her on the completion of her project, I sent her a bird themed package...

And then had some Moomin candies to celebrate...

;D