This is Eerika's Typepad Profile.
Join Typepad and start following Eerika's activity
Eerika
at home
I'm a toy making elf. :)
Interests: art, theater, toys, dolls, movies, reading, drawing, sewing
Recent Activity
Avon, we haven't made the big move yet. We're hoping we'll get our visas sorted and be able to move to Toronto in the beginning of next year.
We did move from our big apartment that we sold into a little rental in the city centre, and we'll be living here until The Big Move. :)
Love, love, love
Valentine's Day, or "Friends' Day" (Ystävänpäivä) as it's called here, is about celebrating love in all its forms, and I would like to shower all of you who've shown love to the Rag Pets and me with as much love as I can muster! You are all the reason I work on the Rag Pets and share them an...
Hi Nakudoll!
I'm currently working on getting the pattern for my crochet critters proofread and fixed so that it'll make sense to others, and not just me. I hope to make it available soon. :)
Pigeons and catching up
Oh my, it has been a great long while since I last updated, hasn't it! I had been meaning to make a few blog posts last month, but then I ended up spending most of it languishing in bed, sick with the influenza and unable to do anything more taxing than coughing a lot and running a fever, so now ...
Lumi, yes I'd love to meet up in Toronto! This will be my first time visiting Toronto and what with us moving there next year, it'd be super to meet Toronto locals.
Is it OK for me to send you an e-mail, so we can sort out when and where to meet?
Restless feet
Oh my, it really has been a very long, long while since I last updated here! And it's not that I've been too busy to whip up an update, but that there hasn't been all that much to write about, really. Our Big Move is still plodding in place, as everything moving forward hinges on us getting our ...
Hi Margie!
Thank you for the information! :)
We will still be in Toronto on the 19th, and the Crown Flora Holiday Market sounds lovely! I'll do my best to pop by there, especially since it looks to be in the same area we'll be staying at.
I'm already planning on visiting the City Of Craft craft show, and the Union Station Holiday Market too. :)
Restless feet
Oh my, it really has been a very long, long while since I last updated here! And it's not that I've been too busy to whip up an update, but that there hasn't been all that much to write about, really. Our Big Move is still plodding in place, as everything moving forward hinges on us getting our ...
HI Sharon! I sent you an e-mail asking for your address, but as it's looking like it hasn't reached you, you can just e-mail me (kitty@ragpets.com) directly with it. :)
And the winner is...
...lucky number 111, Sharon! Yay! I'm sure Lumi will really enjoy relaxing and playing with you and your kids. It was so lovely to read about all of your favourite holiday things, and I got a lot of great new ideas for what to do during the Christmas season too! Thank you so much for taking p...
Nini, I'd love, love, love to have you here for a Rag Pet tea party! :D
Childhood inspiration
I'd like to share something from my childhood that's inspired me in making soft toys. "Emilia ja kolme pikkuista tätiä" (Emilia and the three little ladies) by Camilla Mickwitz was one of my favourite books when I was little, and well, I still like it a whole lot! It's the story of three little ...
Thank you so much for such a wonderful giveaway!
I love, love, love snow! It makes these dark and dreary winter months so much nicer and the world really does seem like a winter wonderland when everything is lovely and white and glittery.
I also like to go skating and sledding, and to build snowmen and all of that is pretty impossible without snow.
Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway Day...
It's Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway day! And, partly because I am a poor planner and partly because it's in honor of our first snow and Violet's first real "Snow Day"...I'm giving away a "Let it Snow" banner... This bunting is made of burlap, cotton fabric, and felt in blues and whites. There is a bu...
Karen, I haven't encountered a problem with corners being too bulky regardless of the weight of the fabric I'm using, and I've done this with everything from upholstery weight fabric to super delicate silk and everything in between.
Of course, if the fabric you're using is really, very thick and stiff, the seam allowances will make the corner stand out more/bumpy, but that will happen no matter what way you're making corners, because thick material means thick seam allowances and there's no two ways about it.
License to sew
In primary school in textiles class we were all given these rather spiffy "Sewing machine driver's licenses" when we had learned how to operate a sewing machine properly. I had of course learned how to work a sewing machine a few years before this, as my grandmother taught me how to sew when I...
Holly, I learned to sketch neatly when I was in school. If I made clear, neat sketches, I could cut out a step of the design process.
I haven't thought about making Rag Pet fabric before, but I sure am planning on it now! :)
Something different
I have something new planned, something a bit different. I've been wanting to make better use of my various Rag Pet drawings and designs, and to do something different Rag Pet related outside of the soft toys. One of the ideas I had was to make Rag Pet themed tote bags, or "Rag Bags" as I'm ...
Katarina, thank you! I was so pleased when I came up with the idea for this year's Halloween Rag Pet. :)
Adrian, it's so sad that Sandy not only wrecked a whole big stretch of geography, but that it also put a damper (literally!) on a celebration that usually brightens the gloomy Autumn season.
I think you're right about Sophie's leg! :D
Nini, I'm working on a photo of my outfit now. :)
Horrifically happy Halloween!
It's Halloween again, and time for all things frightening, horrible and spooky! Halloween is one of my favourite holidays, I love to dress up and I love all the candy and other yummies involved too. I threw a Halloween party last Saturday, and we all dressed up, ate much too much, listened to spo...
Oh my! Congratulations on your anniversary! 7 years is a long, long time.
I get immense satisfaction from pressing a sharp crease, and from ironing in general. There's just something about making wrinkly fabric smooth or smooth fabric pleated that gratifies me no end. :)
Thank you so much for such a generous giveaway!
(I hope my comment didn't get posted twice, the comment box had a wibble when I tried to post earlier.)
a give-away
Well, the animals are now fully armed (though not dangerous in the least little bit) and they have their tails and buttons attached in the appropriate places too. So to celebrate the start of my 7th year of blogging I'm going to give one of them away. To enter just leave a comment below. A...
You've managed to capture the feeling of the season so very beautifully in your photos! Makes me wish we would have had a proper Summer here to feel nostalgic about now that Autumn is knocking on our door.
Town and Country
We've been here and there. Ramblers and loungers. A nice mix for me. A little bit of home and a little bit of away for a day. Then home by dinner. Late-summer sunlight. Fields and furrows. Gray layers of light over fuzzy blue hills. Cold mornings and cold...
Ruth, I'm glad that at least somewhere summer was summery! The Autumn is turning out to be a colder, darker version of summer over here, although the leaves are starting to turn now, so it's not as dreary anymore as we wait for what I hope will be a lovely & colourful "ruska".
Thank you for the birthday wishes! :)
Christina, I hope your vegetables' confidence won't be dashed and you'll get a nice, warm and sunny summer over there.
Nini, I'd love to come by for a visit, your photos make everything there look so magical and beautiful, and it'd be lovely to get even a glimpse of sunny summer still. If I wasn't saving up for Japan, I'd be over there in a heartbeat! :)
Thank you for the birthday wishes as well. :)
Hello again!
It's been a long time since my last post here, having been very busy with lots of non-Rag Pet related stuff to have time at home to do much more than sleep, let alone to spare a thought for my blog. During this busy time, among other things, I've been looking after a friend's kids, I helped out a...
That is a really lovely looking bathroom, and those rubber duckies are super cute!
Tiny bathroom
❤
Oh wow, it's really wonderful! I like the "twin-sofa" and the silhouette on the wall and the pretty floral wallpaper and well, everything! Lovely work. :)
Conjoined twins room.
I think it's finished! It turned out exactly like I imagined it! I love it.
Everything looks so idyllic, perfectly relaxed and nicely warm and summery. Thank you for sharing this lovely place with us all.
Dinner Picnic
Friday night at the river beach, Sauvie Island, 6/15/12.
Holly, all it takes is quite a lot of practice to get good at making clothes, especially in toy-size, but it's not rocket science and thank goodness not! I'm not very good at science in general ;)
Nini, I'm not looking forward to the video, because I get terrible stage fright and I'm not sure how my appearance (asides from my hands which already make a very prominent appearance putting Millie together) on it will go...
The example rag-cat
Even though the actual "making of" part of my "Making Of" series has come to an end, there is still a post or two yet to come on this subject. If you'd like to read the whole thing, just click the "Making Of"-tag there on the right. ☆ When we last left off, I had photographed my example rag-cat...
I love her knowing and shy expression, and the idea that she's made up of a mix of various leftover bits and pieces.
Old doll - new wig
I made this doll some years ago, never really got around to finishing her. She is a sort of mismatched, spare part doll - one arm is too light (it wasn't hers, originally - I don't think she ever did have a right arm of her own - bad planning when casting...) and I exerimented on some flowe...
She's absolutely lovely! I really like her neutral colours and the lace hem and the sweet little hears on her shoes.
I can see why you're having a hard time letting her go.
newbies
Remember that batch of new yarn that I was trying so hard to resist dipping into? Well, I didn't last long before casting on a bunny in that lovely creamy Shilasdair (I have a will of butter when it comes to yarn). And the Quince and Co organic linen was just crying out to be turned into a littl...
Oh my, they are so very beautiful!
I really like their monochromatic looks and marble eyes, and gosh that cameo is such a lovely touch! And of course, being a twin myself, anything twin-y always fascinates me.
Come and play with us
The ghost twins dresses are done, their hair combed... If you're interested in them - have a look in my etsy shop! They are waiting impatiently.... They are gone...
Happy New Year to you and yours as well. May 2012 be brilliant for you.
a new year
beginning the new year with very warm toes new slippers for christmas (thank you ray) and the last handmade thing completed in 2011 ( socks for me) I can't wait to get out on my snowshoes as soon as this nasty chest cold departs looking forward to all the wonder this year will gift to us all...
Very happy New Year to you too! I hope 2012 will be wonderful and filled with creativity for you.
happy new year
Just popping in to wish everyone a happy new year. I've been dipping into memories of 2011 by making a month-by-month mosaic of some of the things that made me happy ... Mosaic making to start the year has become something of a little tradition for me ... 2010 2009 2008 It'...
Warm, beautiful and happy holidays to you and yours as well.
from us to you
love the family of resurrection fern
Very merry Christmas, and super happy New Year too, to all of you as well!
Merry and Bright
We wish you a truly happy Christmas, filled with love, hope, warmth, good food, gentle times, and quiet joys. Thank you for being a such a sweet part of our days, and our lives. We love you guys. Love always, ...
Merry Christmas to you and yours as well.
That is an absolutely gorgeous ornament!
merry christmas
Wishing you a very happy Christmas with your family and friends, if you celebrate it. Thank you for reading this year and joining me on my adventures. Love, Melissa xxx
More...
Subscribe to Eerika’s Recent Activity