Reading Notes 6/52: February

Those who follow me on Instagram might be thinking 'Oh, wasn't she supposed to read Anna Karenina as sixth book?' Yes, that is true. I took a challenge to read Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina in one week and I am determined to finish it as I promised, on this week's Thursday. That means you might get two blog posts about books this week. But it is not a bad thing to have more talk about great books, is it? So this week's surprise book is Françoise Sagan's Bonjour tristesse that I read in Finnish. I heard about this book from my Instagram friend @making.house.a.home.blog and got so interested that I went to get this from a library the same week. 

I love to read about books and get new authors to read. Especially I have got a project to read books that are not originally written in English. Books in English are easy to find and I can read those in original language. But what comes to books written in some other language than Finnish or English there comes a little challenge as I can't read those books in original language and some classics are difficult to find in Finnish. Those have been translated years ago and copies have been sold out. Luckily this one was in the local library so didn't have to wait long to get to read it. Few steps to the nearest library and I was at home reading. I started this book right after Truman Capote's In Cold Blood but then got an idea to read Anna Karenina. Yet I had curiosity to finish this before Anna Karenina as this is relatively short read, only 131 pages. 

6/52 Françoise Sagan. Bonjour Tristesse (1954). I read this in Finnish Tervetuloa, ikävä. Cécile is having a lazy summer holiday with her father and her father's mistress Elsa. Suddenly her mother's old friend Anne comes to the villa and she finds out her father and Anne are having a relationship. Anne is intelligent, ambitious and demanding what both fascinates and terrifies Cécile. She becomes afraid that her and her father's loose lifestyle will come to an end. To get rid off Anne she creates a plot that includes her boyfriend Cyril and Elsa. 

Cécile is evaluating her goals in life as any young person. She wants to continue a lazy and loose lifestyle she and her father have created. Lifestyle where there is no demands, ambitions or rules. It kind of seems a dream lifestyle for a person who has no hurry in life but all her years ahead to waste. Still she admires Anne in every way and finds her sophisticated lifestyle and intelligence as something to want in her future. She respects Anne's opinions and guidance what comes to education and other big life decisions. Yet she is afraid that her life will become boring and scheduled adult life too soon if Anne and her father will marry each other. Maybe the lifestyle Anne represents is something Cécile will have later in life after she has had her adventures and mistakes.

Anne is also an opponent Cécile has been missing. Someone who has enough wit to oppose her and question her choices. That is something what every rebel needs, a person who puts boundaries to break. When Cécile's father acts like her friend instead of a parent he actually gives too much freedom and responsibility. In some cases he is even acting like a teenager and Cécile has to be the one to set boundaries. That is why Cécile needs to test Anne who is the only one with enough capacity to win her. 

When her evil plot to misguide her father and drive away Anne succeeds she is astonished. She has been playing a game and is surprised by her power to influence people. In her egoism she has neglected Anne's feelings. It is eye opening moment for Cécile when she understands that Anne is a living human being with dreams and feelings that can be hurt like any other person's even though she seems to have unbreakable self esteem. Her father in the other hand shows his immaturity when he becomes obsessed to show how he can get Elsa back from Cyril. 

This novel pictures honestly young person's naive cruelty. She is not evil but still a bit egoistic and naive. She doesn't yet understand how big influence her actions can have as she is partly a child testing her limits even though playing in adult world. The play becomes a catastrophe because of the role of her father. That is why it is so tragic in the end when she and her father continue their life as they did before Anne. Cécile has lost maybe more than she can imagine.

Have you read this book? What kind of thoughts it provoked in you?

Reading Notes 4/52: January

4/52 Cheryl Strayed Wild. From Lost to Found on The Pacific Crest Trail (2012). I read the book in Finnish. I have seen the movie Wild that is based on this book several years ago. I loved the story about a woman who decides to clear her head from past experiences and quilt by taking an enormous challenge to walk 1770 km part of the Pacific Crest Trail. Book is based on a true story and it's writer has really experienced what is described in the story.

Following might contain some spoilers! When reading the book it was easy to live through the hardships Cheryl confronts on her journey. I felt exhausted like I would have walked tens of kilometers every day even though I was reading in my own sofa. She also describes food cravings like only a person who has had hard physical exercise can picture them. I don't even like hamburgers, chips and soda that much but walking the path with Cheryl I felt huge appetite for those things. 

The story is cathartic. During her walk she memorizes the hardships and difficult moments she has had in her life and walks those memories away. First she tries to make herself unbreakable, amazon queen, that survives everything and never cries. When the journey goes on she learns a different approach to live her life and see her past. Instead of seeing her past  as a series of mistakes and unmoral behavior she questions whether these actions are actually the ones that brought her here. Maybe there is no need to remember, ponder and feel quilt about things that have already happened. It is easy to compare oneself to others and their righteous life but actually the point is to accept one's own life as it is and abandon the thought about right ways of doing things. I began to think about the essence of life and how we consume our precious moments here. Is it actually possible to live life without wasting it? Always choosing what is accepted and morally right? Or is the essence of life to sometimes live wrong, waste time for actions that take us behind in the personal progress, ponder old things we cannot change, be still and stuck. Like Boris Pasternak writes in Doctor Zhivago: "Life is no stroll through a field". It might be unnecessary to try to wipe away bad choices as those are part of the life anyways. 

People's lives always seem more genuine, better, real and righteous. It feels like people move forward and put effort on things that make them accomplish their goals. Like how do they get everything right when it takes so much time for me to get one part of the life functioning? After all we know little about the people around us and their deepest wishes. Some might have the best life ever when you look at it but that person actually would like a totally different life. Maybe their dream job, partner and house are not what they really want in life. Even the happiest of people are ordinary and lost sometimes.

During the journey Cheryl also goes through her relationship with her mother who died young. Her mother's life had been tough and ended before she could fulfill her dreams. Cheryl's mother says on her death bed that she never got to be herself but only obeyed the wishes of others. Parents are somehow examples of the possibilities in life even though you would choose a totally different lifestyle than theirs. After all we mirror our choices to those of our parents. It is difficult task to find a balance in your own life after an experience like Cheryl's. It sort of pushes you to do over your limits to live your own life without wasting it.

Reading Strayed's life story was purifying. In the book she lets go from her heavy backpack also mentally by accepting her life and letting herself to put behind bad memories and phases of life. The most important thing is to head to the future as a person you have become and make choices that represent you not anybody else.

One Opinion About Creativity

Quite often people make a mistake believing creativity is a magical force that chooses a person to whom it appears. It is like being creative is something given. You have got a receptor that receives ideas and directions. In my opinion there is no such receptor. Being creative is active process you have to start every day and it requires lots of work. I haven't got a single idea ever just waiting and being passive. Relaxing is one way to process ideas and it might feel like the best ideas come when you just wait but actually the process has been started earlier when you have exposed yourself to something inspiring.

How to start the process then? After you have finished a project you have been working for long it might feel like you need a break. Usually my head feels empty as I have run from project to another for a while. When working with one idea I usually come up with the next one because making is one thing that boosts my creativity. When seasons change or a theme has been worked through there might be a gap between works and you get to start from an empty table. An empty table feels horrifying and inspiring at the same time. First it feels like all ideas have been used and nothing new is coming. That is when I look after sources of inspiration. I like to read, watch movies, collect colors from nature (with camera), walk, go thrift stores, study trends and listen to radio. One way to get started is to choose a material or theme and then brainstorm what it could become. If you are looking after home decoration or craft ideas you don't have to concentrate only on home decor books and trends. It might boost imagination to learn about new phenomenons and ideas outside that focus. Actually reading and learning about something that is totally new to you might open new ways of thinking and with opened senses you come up with new themes in your work.

How do you continue when your ideas don't seem to work? As a crafts person my solution is to soak my hands in the materials, do experiments and then finally decide one path and start making. After a break it feels like the projects don't turn out as great as the last ones before the break. There are days of self doubt. I question myself and why on earth I am continuing this when obviously I am nobody with poor ideas and nothing to give anybody anymore. But you have to start somewhere and make without self critique for awhile. Accept the satisfactory. Or what you consider satisfactory at the moment, it might turn out great when you think about it. Because what I have learned is that when you give yourself to crafting, decorating, writing, or what ever is your way of self expression, you start developing ideas and come up with great new project plans. I could twist ideas  in my head till the end of the world and I would always find something that just doesn't quite work. It is essential to move to sketching and testing. Sketches and tests might give results after a while when you hear something new and two pieces of information combine to one. It could be described as the moment when you have just waited and an idea comes out of the blue. But as you now know it was not that simple and there was lots of hard work included.

What I see as the most relevant thing is to see your self worth and believe that you have great ideas coming if you just give time and effort. Also motivation and determination to create are not to be forgotten. Creativity is not a narrow group's privilege and there is no division to creative and non creative people. There are creative people in all fields with different interests and specialties. Still it might arise critique if you consider yourself creative and you might get pressure to proof it. But after all only person who needs to be reassured is yourself. And that means, again, lots of self reflection and work.

Creative and inspirational week to you all!

Sannu

24.12. Merry Christmas!

What makes a Christmas for You? We all have our own kind of Christmas. Christmas is a time of traditions both old and new. Some traditions have passed through generations and some have been made only last Christmas. More will be created this Christmas. I only keep the ones that feel good. I think there is no point hanging on traditions that feel like a burden. One of my latest addings to Christmas traditions is Christmas walk that I will be doing third time this year. Before Christmas sauna I will take a walk, admire Christmas lights on yards and windows, maybe pass few Santa Clauses in their cars, watch great river that is coated with ice, take one or two running steps to keep warm and finally come home to see the Snowman and Christmas Peace Declaration from TV. 

Some years ago I understood that I can cook what ever I like for Christmas and ever since Christmas table has been full of all kinds of treats I love. Yesterday I spent all day cooking and baking. I tried new recipes and got the first taste of Christmas 2017. Best part is today evening when I get to go to the fridge  and take little bit of this and that, sweet and savory and continue watching TV or reading a book. 

I won't put too many activities to one day as there are many festive days ahead during this two week holiday season. Some day I will watch old black and white movies for a whole day. Most days I will spend reading. Also I would like to try if I can still skate. 

After all Christmas is yours and your nearest and dearest and you can spend it as you see it is best. There is no right or wrong way. 

I wish you peaceful, relaxing, glittering, tasty and all in all Wonderful Christmas time where ever you are my friend! <3

Merry Christmas! Hyvää Joulua! God Jul!

Sannu

The CNS Advent Calendar

The Creative Night Shift proudly presents 24 steps to bohemian Finnish Christmas starting from 1.12. There will be new post every day at 7 a.m. local time (GMT+2). There are plenty of DIY and craft projects coming (16) plus some baking ideas and lifestyle. Because it is about Christmas spirit and because this is the Creative Night Shift -blog, projects are low cost. I won't list any pricey gift shopping ideas to this calendar. This blog will stay as a place for those who want to concentrate making and feeling Christmas. 

In many projects materials can be found from thrift stores and one's own cupboards. We will use wallpaper left overs, driftwood and water balloons. Basic cardboard paper goes to many forms. Techniques used are from paper cutting to quilting and painting. Also I have payed attention that projects are relatively simple and won't take days to make. Some you can make in an hour some might take a day or two. I have included many Christmas crafts that are traditional here in Finland. The most traditional crafts seem to make the most modern decor. 

A blog advent calendar has long been my dream. This year it was the time to challenge myself. I love Christmas and all small crafts that belong to this season. Sweet gingerbreads, Christmas radio, cosy  winter days, apartment buildings decorated with various colorful fairylights, old glittery glass ornaments, paper crafts and hyacinths make the Christmas look, sound and smell like it should on my opinion. Great thing about Christmas is that some parts of it you can store in a box and take that box from storage and bring in all the memories in a form of decor and Christmas tree ornaments. I remember when I have made or bought the ornaments. I can recall how me and my friend visited the Christmas department at high school years: Decorations were quite expensive and we bought one or two glass baubles per year. I can also remember how I found a hand painted Santa figurine from a thrift store bag full of plastic baubles. Electric Christmas chandeliers have always belonged to Christmas since childhood and when the first ones appear to window sills it begins to feel that the best season is coming.

To embrace this atmosphere I have created this advent calendar. I really hope it inspires to make small Christmas projects and spreads good Christmas spirit. You can follow the calendar from this blog thecreativenightshift.blogspot.com, from instagram: sannu_cns and twitter: sannufromthecns.  On social media I will use hashtag #thecnsadventcalendar and you can use it too to share your projects and Christmas preparations.

After ten nights it will start! the Creative Night Shift Advent Calendar! Until that lets enjoy these last days of November :)

Sannu

Small Everyday Luxuries

What makes life luxurious? Some might think it is provocative to ask this in the middle of a busy week. I think an ordinary Tuesday is best day to talk about luxuries in life. List few first things that come to your mind when you think about luxury. What did you come up with? Are luxuries something we dream of or something we already have and get to enjoy every now and then? For example I dream of travelling more and having a slightly bigger apartment. Those two things are luxurious in my mind. But then when I come home on a rainy day, switch warm woolen socks to my feet and make a cup of tea I feel I already have the biggest luxuries in life.

Seven years ago I moved to Lapland from Southern Finland. I felt that getting to walk all distances between home, university, hobbies and shops was luxurious after spending hours and hours in public transport during the years in southern cities. Some people live and work hard to get a long vacation to far away land once a year. Some put their money to concerts, confectionery, books and home decor every month/week. I guess for most of us everyday life is what covers 90% of our being. It depends on a person how necessary it is to have small moments of joy everyday or if it is more important to pack all life's luxury to grand events 1-3 times per year. For me everyday life is what counts. I cannot wait that wonderful things will happen to me on next summer holiday. I measure quality of life with how great the mundane days feel and how much I get to do things I enjoy on a daily basis. For me this sort of approach has helped a lot. I have got goals in life and big dreams but I also try to create every morning worth waking up.

Last week I went for basic grocery shopping. I saw that there were lots of fruits in great offer. I bought a basket full of fruits which felt so luxurious because usually I buy few bananas and maybe pack of grapes or oranges. The idea of getting to eat more fruits than usual and putting these beautiful colors to my kitchen table made me glad. Next morning when I woke up I thought about my fruit selection. This little luxury had a price tag under 7€ and now almost a week later I still have some fruits left. It was not about the money it was about letting myself to be silly. Also the luxury was more than few extra plums and pineapple. It was a whole picture that came to my mind. Usually this kind of fruit amount belongs to hotel breakfast, old painting or Christmas celebration. I thought about vitamins I am going to absorb to myself before gloomy Autumn days.

When one is both daydreamer and realist it makes a good combination. Daydreamer sees the small pleasures of life and knows how to create la la land around everyday activities. Realist part keeps track on resources (money, time..) that frame the possibilities. Daydreamer doesn't become discouraged by the facts but creative. It is different to build a status than to construct the best life for yourself. For me it is important to live in beautiful environment, read lots of books, take part to cultural happenings, eat well, meet people, craft and keep fit. If I would choose differently what I just mentioned could come up with a high price tag. Price tag so high I could not afford it. But instead of that I have decorated my 38 square meter manor with furniture finds from thrift stores and garbage. I have developed my skills to make these finds look classy. I enjoy being at home, reading and watching movies. I try to see close instead of planning trips to far away places to hunt for experiences. It is wonderful how many happenings and activities there are almost every week now that it is Autumn; I have spotted many local culture, science and sports happenings and some of them actually cost nothing. 

Sometimes small everyday luxuries are hiding behind routine. Like those warm woolen socks that I mentioned in the beginning. Those socks are nothing per se but combined to arriving home after rainy day and making hot tea they form a luxurious moment. Even though same things repeat every day they are not always luxuries. Maybe the secret is that sometimes we notice the small things. Grandeur experiences are easy to point but subtle hues need special senses. Here are some luxurious everyday moments I have been able to spot past weeks:

-Fruits on sale.

-Outdoor movies.

-Planning projects and posts for Autumn season.

-Jazzklubi -program on radio.

-Long walks.

-Open lectures with interesting topics.

-Finding good stuff from garbage and getting great ideas to use it.

-Art exhibitions.

-New monthly BuJo spread.

-Reading all night when I get to sleep long next morning.

-Collecting nature materials before snow.

-Good sandwich and watching a movie. 

-Getting inspired in Pinterest.

-Flow when sewing.

-Cooking all day with no hurry.

-Fresh flowers on vase.

-Pint of coffee.

What kind of small everyday luxuries have you experienced? 

This week's DIY day will be on Friday, until that have a great week!

Sannu

August Notes: Books and Lifestyle

Happy weekend! Sometimes your adulthood fails you and you come back home from grocery shopping with a package of pretty macarons and not that much else. Luxury lies in small details and for me colorful sweet macarons are this weekend's one detail. I started this day with a walk to the forest. Today it is Finnish Nature day and there are celebrations and happenings all over Finland. I had planned to participate one but had to cancel because of shoulder ache (still recovering from my quilting marathon :P). Well, one weekend will go with lower pace. I have several BBC Proms concerts waiting, excellent books and small DIY projects. 

Today I also made a huge discovery. Life without garlic and cumin is not life at all. I have been making experiments with my diet to find out what is it that does not suit me. Seems dairy and wheat are two things for me to avoid. I have also been cooking with less spices and garlic. As a result I had a total lack of inspiration what comes planning dishes and eating in general. I have always loved eating, it is one of my dearest hobbies, laugh. So it was unusual that I had what would I eat problems. Today I almost emptied my spice cabinet when cooking. I also put garlic with heavy hand. I prepared shakshuka inspired pulled oats and felt instantly the power of good taste! Eyes opened and feeling great I had to go and google the health benefits of garlic and the spices I used. I found out that the spices are proven to have many health benefits. For example this article lists health benefits of cumin. Maybe it is that you crave what you need? Because spices taste wonderful we are meant to eat them? What about macarons then, I craved for those too.. This theory surely needs further investigation, maybe in a form of second package of macarons.

This is the third post where I share with you what I have read lately. This series is still looking for it's form. I like to combine reading list with general thoughts I have had lately. In last two posts I have also written about my BuJo. In my plans monthly Notes post could include all these. I pondered long before stepping into writing about books. I thought that it might be too much. But then, I like to read and this is a lifestyle blog. I also enjoy reading other people's reading lists so why wouldn't I share mine. Those interested can check it, others can skip. Simple as that. Reading more has been one of my goals since May (2017). Writing about reading motivates to read more because I want to be able to post reading list every month. Otherwise I might be just reading about reading and collecting enormous list of must reads. You get this problem? When one book recommendation leads you to other and you end up with about 100 must reads. 

In the picture you can see two beautiful old books, that I have not read. Bronte's Jane Eyre and Steinbeck's Cannery Row. I have bought Jane Eyre years ago and tried to finish it many times. Steinbeck was a found from thrift store's free to take box some weeks ago. I will read both one day. Especially I feel embarrassed about the Jane Eyre, I should have read it. If you have't read it we should form a reading circle because that way I would get the needed pressure to finish it.

If Jane Eyre has been left unfinished same thing has happened to a few number of books. Around Easter I had Kerouac's On the Road and Woolf's Orlando from the library. I already had read 100 pages or so from the Kerouac but never finished. I knew that both are excellent books so I decided to keep them on my must read list and come back later. This month I read both. As for other reads falling to the classics category I have a Simone de Beauvoir project going. No matter how challenging it will be I am determined to read de Beauvoir's The Second Sex this year. Now I am in the halfway as I finished the first part. Trying to constantly become a more enlightened person I continued with the company of feminist literature and read Roxane Gay's Bad Feminist that has been translated into Finnish this year. Two Finnish books are also on my list this month because I have shamefully neglected great Finnish authors. To my knowledge Marja-Liisa Vartio's and Heidi Köngäs' books have not been translated to other languages (correct me if this is false) but for those who can read in Finnish I recommend their work. 

Jack Kerouac: On the Road (1957)

This beat classic is not one of the easiest books to read but as soon as got into the rhythm it carried away. The reading experience is like being on a hectic road trip through the late forties US.  It describes the rough bohemian life of the beat generation and criticizes capitalist way of life. I liked the philosophical side and thoughts about life. 

Virginia Woolf: Orlando (1928)

Ever since I read Woolf's Room of One's Own (1929) I have had all her works on my must read list. Like with ROO I used post-its between pages when reading because I wanted to remember all intelligent thoughts. Orlando is so timeless read it could have been written this year. The story of Orlando goes from the Elizabethan time to 1928. There are wonderful notions about the essence of time and how such abstract thing can be measured. In the middle of the story Orlando changes sex from man to woman which gives Woolf a chance to discuss the different roles men and women are forced to have in society.

Simone de Beauvoir: The Second Sex Part 1. (1949)

This summer it was time to take this massive work from the bookshelf and read it. Part one was over 400 pages and the next part is over 600 pages. It is a classic that has come in front of me many times when reading other works. I was positively surprised about the writing style. Even though this is a serious work I got to laugh often because de Beauvoir really knows how to place her words. Or maybe I just have a very weird sense of humor, who knows. 

Roxane Gay: Bad Feminist (2014, Finnish translation 2017)

This was quick read that I finished on a bus trip to southern Finland. Roxane Gay views popular culture phenomenons from Girls to Django with critical eye. Gay also reveals personal experiences and evaluates her own consumption of culture and attitudes.

Marja-Liisa Vartio: Kaikki naiset näkevät unia (1960)

Mrs. Pyy is a housewife that sees her life pass through her. She wants to be something else than just an ordinary housewife. She goes for course to paint porcelain, supports artists and decorates her home with her best taste. She is suffocated by the atmosphere where neighbors and dinner party guests grade one's life choices, appearances and surroundings. Even though written in 1960 this novel gets the feelings of a woman who is looking for more than the life is offering to her. Theme that is still current.

Heidi Köngäs: Hertta (2015)

Hertta Kuusinen is a historical person who lived 1904-1974. She was a communist politician who worked as MP from 1945 to 1972 (more info in Finnish here). Heidi Köngäs' novel is about the relationship between Hertta and other communist party politician Yrjö Leino. It opens the time's political environment before and during the second world war when communism was seen as a threat. Because of her political connections and opinions Hertta spends several years imprisonment. Through the difficult years her love for Leino and dream of communism carries her.  

Have you been reading lately? What is on your list of must reads?

Sannu

Welcome to the Quilter's Residence!

I have finally completed the quilting project that I started in Easter holidays! It has not been a full time job for me so that is why it took so long. I have made smaller DIY projects and furniture makeovers every now and then (plus of course a lot more that is not related with crafts or DIY). During the July heat I made very little progress until the end of the month when I decided it was time to get this done before it is covered in dust. I had fun making this quilt and it has been a combination of two techniques that were new to me and I wanted to give a try. It had enough challenge although making 54 similar blocks begun to feel like routine sewing. Friendship braid was great way to use all leftovers and super easy to make. It is like making one corner of a log cabin. I had to be creative with corners as even the leftovers begun run off and I used small squares instead to make moving birds. After all solving problems and finding out new solutions is what makes every quilt so special. If I would have made this 100% according to the plan it might not be as beautiful and interesting as this is.

I made a wild decision when hanging the quilt. I put it to my sleeping space where I already have the last years quilt as a blanket. It surely will divide opinions but I think it looks great. Overall impression is artistic and super colorful. Warm quilts also create wanted coziness which is not bad for sleeping corner. My intention with this years quilt was to collect the essence of summer to one work so that it would warm also mentally when winter storms arrive (not soon I hope!). I named last year's quilt Southern Ocean (click to see more). This year's work is Spirit of 2017. I love to combine traditional patterns and ultra modern colors and fabric. I think this year's work has a hint of pop cultural hues and modern art inspiration bound with folklore patterns and symbolic like moving birds in the corners.

As I already told on Instagram the final part of making a quilt this big is always the most challenging. It is like a workout to manage huge work than weights a ton. Because I made patterns so petite it means that the seams took as much fabric as the right side. With patting and back  fabric it was a good weight lifting exercise to stitch. Now that the work is on the wall I begin to forget the difficulties and plan next project. My back still hurts from this one so it might be that I make something smaller like decorative pillows (that corner might need some quilted pillows don't you think :P) and return with my blanket projects next year, laugh. 

Have you been quilting or sewing lately? Or making other DIY projects? It would be nice to hear about You! I love to connect with DIYers, makers and people who love to read about these subjects!

Have a wonderful Thursday and Weekend my friend!

Sannu

Garbage Treasures: Trendy Magazine Stand

It is crazy how much good stuff goes to garbage! Great materials and quite often complete pieces of furniture that would need just a wash and few layers of paint. This magazine/book stand is one example. Or to be clear magazine/book stand is what I saw in this metallic piece, I have no idea what this has originally been. As I found this it had a little bit of rust and dirt and lacked the shelf boards. Otherwise it was in good condition, firm metal stand that could easily be transformed in to trendy home decor accessory. This stand is one of three items I found from the garbage a few weeks ago. I also had to leave lots of good stuff because I just don´t have space to all and I am already giving away some of my works. Also I am not a kind of decorator who puts all away and then starts all over again. I love to keep memories and build a layered home with elements from past and new founds. This small piece had power to change the whole furniture order in my living room area! I am quite lazy cleaner and only way to make a proper cleaning for every corner is to do it among the decorating process.

 As I said it was rusty and needed a good wash. After cleaning I used 3 in 1 metal lack in golden that goes against the rust plus gives a good firm paint cover. I applied two layers which made the look even and finished. After this I cut the shelf boards from left over board ( I have found the board from garbage as well some four years ago). I had to clean the boards too as they have been in storage for years and gotten spray paint dots and dust. So far I had used just half a can from 7€ paint.

I wanted to really transform the look and have a neatly finished and luxurious piece. One of my guilty pleasures is to buy interior magazines and books. I love to put piles of beautiful books with inspiring covers on every drawer and table. The stand would be perfect for the most beautiful books and magazines. Marble has been a trend for a while but still seems to get space in interior blogs and magazines. I thought marble looking sticky back plastic would look perfect. It was very easy to attach the marble to the shelves and the look changed completely. I used about half from a 17€ roll of sticky back plastic. Then I glued the shelves to the stand. Yet it needed stoppers so that the magazines won't slip away. I sawed the stoppers from wood and painted white. Now the look was complete! Cost of materials was about 15€ including plastic marble, paint, glue and white acrylic paint.

One of the luxuries of life is definitely clean and organized home. As it is me living in here it means that this state won't be long. Rainy days have allowed me to stay inside and finish my quilting project. I started the project on Easter and still it is in progress. Today I might get all the parts ready and attached to each other so the next step will be stitching the layers together. I will show pictures of that on social media and blog. What I can promise is that my quilt really puts colorful in to a new level! I have already shared photos from the mid part and the borders are at least as colorful :) It is wonderful to stay indoors sewing even though it means fabric dust spreading all over the house. Well, home is for living, right?

Have a great Thursday and Weekend Friends!

Sannu

How To Manage Creative Social Media Work

It is two different things to be creative and get that creativeness turn to something visual or touchable like texts, pictures, products and SoMe content. I have noticed that blogging is a constant learning process where you can get better and better at making, writing, connecting and marketing. Today I want to share you some of my thoughts from the the journey here. 

What are your specialties and what are you good at? Be bold and mark your territory!

Social media and blogging

It is quite typical for a creative person to get many new ideas in every minute but the challenge is how to sort out the very best and get those ideas to reality. We are living in a fast paced era and reacting speed matters a lot. Speed and quality are in a constant battle with each other. I am a person who likes to do things properly, evaluate and develop to get the best possible result. Nowadays blogging and producing social media content has become as professional as editing a magazine. Even though these are coming closer to each other I would like to pic three factors that differ from traditional magazines: 1. Process of thinking or making is more visible. Blogging allows you to show and write about the making process in a different way. You don´t have to come out with a perfect result. Instead of that you can show how you came up with an idea, tested and tried and what you learned. 2. Speed. Have you noticed how bloggers and social media has talked about some phenomenon a long before it is on the print media or TV? It is easier to test a new thing on social media and see if people get interested. 3. Lots of people interacting and talking about the subject makes a rough diamond come to jewel.

The Idea

I am a DIY, crafts, home decor and recipe blogger so making and finishing material products are an essential part of my blogging, this way about 40% my work is very traditional. Still in the end all is about ideas and communicating them to others. I know this and yet this especially has been a thing to learn for me. How do I book my calendar for sketching, writing and editing so that I get ideas I want to share for people to read? Have you been in a situation when you come up with a great idea and it floats in your calendar's to do list for ages and then one day you notice that someone else has found the time to write about it before you did? You notice that all the novelty value has gone because you could not manage your creative work and act quick enough for some upcoming trend.  What is even worse is if you thought your idea was a bit silly, dumped it and then it comes a big hit. This is where we come back to the factors that make social media and blogging special; namely showing the process of thinking and interacting with others. People read weak signals and the ideas you get might not be unique in the sense that someone else might come up with the same idea and it comes a trend even though you would not participate in the process. But who would not want to be one of the first people to talk about a coming trend?

Booking time

Booking your great idea to your calendar is the first step to get it done. Remember also to estimate the amount of time you will need to get it done. I am usually too optimistic when I book my calendar. I might dream about doing a project in a day when it might take a week. Try to write down all the steps you have to go through before you have an actual finished post to show. Consider factors like weather or short time of daylight that might have an influence on taking photographs. Also buying or collecting equipment might take some time. Sometimes sketching the idea into a form that can be realized might take many work days.
A good idea is also to broke a bigger project into pieces and make long term plans to get a bigger entity done. This has worked for me. I have a long term plan to improve my blog with pages that work better, social media and create a contact page. I am also working on to make a a better professional brand. These are both things that take time and need developing. When I finally got my DIY page updated I was very pleased and step by step I am learning and making more improvements.
What comes to blogging and social media activity I think it is good to be brave and release beta versions and tell people about the process. This also the way to get in to the discussion early enough. You can always write more about that topic later as you evaluate it from a new perspective. On my opinion this is the way to keep social media and blogging fresh and new instead of old fashioned but safe.

Develop your skills and ideas

The ultimate best part of blogging has been to develop my skills and learn from other talented bloggers. Don't be afraid to think big and follow lots of people. By following many different accounts and blogs you will get your daily boost of motivation. I think it makes you pro if you have the courage to connect and interact globally with people from different countries and branches. This way you will learn from the best and find the weak signals. It is also a way to evolve your own ideas and inspire others.

Do your own thing is a good advice what comes to blogging in general and especially in content and communicating your personality. Still I believe that sometimes it is also good to compare your work to other's so you know what areas of your work you could develop. Here I think about the technical aspects like social media presence, info pages, blogging schedules and taking part to popular phenomenon and shared activities. During the past year or two I have read lots of blogging advice. Sometimes the rules of blogging, especially technical advice about picture quality or page design, can put you down.  And I have come up to that conclusion that I will blog, learn and improve things little by little. Still even if you got right sized margins it is content that matters. And you can set the future goals high while you continue to play at the meantime.

I am always trying to tell myself to be bold and not to be ashamed the creative work I have done. It is hard though but there is no sense to put a lot of effort to blog posts and projects that you are not brave enough to show to others. I would say if you have a need to create: write, photograph, draw, paint, make crafts, cook, bake, DIY, sing, what ever it is you have to do, do it. It is for people to decide if they are interested in what you are doing. It is not a worst case scenario to have more creativeness in the world. Forecast the weak signals and try things before they are big hit, no one will remember how you hyped a thing that never became a hit! they will remember how you were the first one to write about something that became a hit.

Are you a blogger or do you like to read blogs and get inspired? What are your experiences and advice for blogging and social media?

Have a wonderful week!

Sannu