Paper & Cardboard

Remember the Upcycled Denim Challenge I took part? Well, I liked participating to it so much I decided to participate also to this months challenge, which is all about upcycling paper! There's three reasons to this:
- These challenges  give me a lot of inspiration and ideas
- I hope that small competitions like this help to raise the avareness of all the beautiful things that can be made by upcycling
- Um, well, even as a professional craft instructor I need sometimes a deadline for my personal projects so that they get finished...
 
For this challenge, as for the previous one, I wanted to create articles for daily use. In our house, we're always short of storage and small furniture pieces that we can move easily to a new home, as we've been moving quite a many times! This is why I created a storage tray that can also be used as a small shelf, a foldable bowl, and a storage stool.

My main materials were recycled cardboard and recycled wallpapers rather than just paper, however, papergoods were okay and I was inspirad about these materials so I just went for it. I love crafting with cardboard, because it's so sturdy that you can really make a lo of things out of it. The flat cardboard used cardboard made out of recycled paper.
 
I was also inspired of geometric shapes, hexagon in particular. Here we go!
 
 
First of all, here's the foldable storage bowl, it unfolds flat by deattaching the string.I find it's a perfect center piece for a table as it's quite big, roughly 50 cm wide! This one took my a lot of time, just for figuring out the folding system.

 And here's the storage tray... 

...that also works as a shelf. I'm thinking to add some compartiments to it, so that I can store even more things when it's on the wall. This is maybe my favourite design out if these, and I'm thinking to make a bunch of these and to hang them all together. If you want to, I can show you step-to-step photos to make this, I took some.

And here's the stool, it's made out of old fabric spools I got at a local fabric store. It's covered also with recycled wall paper, all different. It's also great for to store all my craft papers, because I can have a different paper quality inside every spool. It's actually so sturdy one can sit on it, but I'm thinking to use it as a bedside table.

With the leftover materiel, I made also this pen cup and hair elastic covers, just for the fun of it. 

Hope you liked my creations! Ask me if you want to know more of them!

Osallistuin taas Jake & Maya collectionin upcycling- haasteeseen. Tämän kuun haasteena oli paperi. Itse käytin kierrätettyä pahvia ja tapettia, ja tällaisia sain aikaiseksi. Käykää katsomassa kaikki muutkin mahtavat jutut Jake&Mayan blogista!

Zero waste / Re:shape 2013

 

I went to see this exhibition a couple of weeks ago in my home town Lahti, but forgot completely to blog about it. But no worries, you still have changes to see it, either in Lahti or in Helsinki - in Recycling Factory!

The exhibition, organized by students of clothing design, consisted of two parts: some students had been working with the idea of zero waste and some with the idea of recycling. They got two jackets from a local thrift store and their mission was to combine them to create a really fashionable, modern jacket. Here's a little sneak peak of the jackets, they were really inspiring. I just loved the idea of this exhibition. Have you seen some inspiring exhibitions lately?  

 

Kävin katsomassa tämän näyttelyn muutama viikko sitten Lahdessa, vaikka unohdinkin siitä postata. Ei kuitenkaan hätää, sen voi vielä käydä katsomassa, tai sitten tulla Kierrätystehtaalle katsomaan se! 

Muotsikan vaatesuunnittelun opiskelijoiden näyttely koostui kahdesta osasta: toiset olivat työskennelleet zero waste- vaatteiden kanssa, toiset kierrätysmateriaalin. Opiskelijat saivat kaksi kierrätettyä takkia, joista heidän piti muokata yksi moderni ja makee takki. Tässä pieni otos näyttelyn annista, joka oli tosi inspiroivaa. Näyttelyn idea oli niin mahtava. Oletteko nähneet viime aikoina mitään hyviä näyttelyitä?

coming soon: Kierrätystehdas 2013

Just a quick reminder to everybody in Helsinki: In two short weeks it's time for the Recycling Factory 2013! Last year yours truly was in charge of the woodwork workshop, this time something new. We'll see there!

Lyhyt muistutus helsinkiläisille: vajaan kahden viikon päästä on uuden Kierrätystehtaan aika, joten varatkaahan päivät kalentereihinne! Viime vuonna allekirjoittanut vastasi nikkarointipajasta, tänä vuonna luvassa jotain muuta. Nähdään siellä!

Easy idea : 3D collage

Just a quick idea for this week: if you like doing collage, try sometimes doing it on a three dimensional objec. I did this workshop one time with a group and everybody loved it, because it's an easy technique but a new approach. I got this big metal jars from a local market, they're used to storage cucumbers! So this is also an upcycling project - from a tin can to a personalized storage bin. Simply cut, glue, let try a bit and seal. What could be more easy?
 

   

Helppo idea: kolmiulotteinen kollaasi. Tehtiin näitä jättipurkkeja yhden ryhmän kanssa, ja se oli ihan menestys. Kollaasi on tekniikka kaikille tuttu, mutta lähestymistapa uusi kun se muutetaan kolmiulotteiseen muotoon. Näitä isoja kurkkupurkkejahan saa ihan marketeista kun pyytää, sillä ne on menossa metallikierrätykseen. Joten samalla tämä on "upcyclingia", roskasta käyttötavaraksi, eikö? Ja tosi helppoa: leikkaa, liimaa, anna kuivua hetki ja lakkaa. Eipä voi paljon helpommaksi tulla!

In top three

I just went to check Jake and Maya Collective Blog, and you can't imagine my surprise having found I reached the top three in The Upcycled Denim Challenge!

Such an honour. Congrats to Amie Scott who won with her fabulous deer head! And many thanks to Jake and Maya Collective for organizing this great challenge. Go to check all the other entries here and get inspired to upcycle denim!

Klikkailin äsken katsomaan Jake and Maya Collectiven blogia. Voitte uskoa yllätykseni, kun totesin päässeeni top kolmeen asti farkkumateriaalin kierrätyskisassa, josta kerroin täällä! En olisi todellakaan uskonut, mikä kunnia. Käykää katsomassa muut osallistujat ja innostukaa farkkujen kierrätyksestä, se on mahtava materiaali!

Visiting Piter

So, finally, a small urban guide to Saint Petersburg! I've been there three times now, but this was the first time we went there together with J-M. It's really a beautiful city, and there's a lot to see (it's also a HUGE city!). Unfortunately, we only had one full day to explore, but we managed to find some really cool things. I'll pass the cathedrals and the Hermitage and all the attractions, and concentrate to the things that might be a bit harder to find. We bought a Wallpaper City Guide to read more information about the city and we also searched for the addresses beforehand on the internet, from this helpful article for example.

Alright, here we go!

1. WALK AROUND. We did most of our sightseeing by foot. The metro is cheap and easy to take, but we found some of our favorite spots by just walking around. So my first advice: despite the (sometimes long) distances, just walk!

 

2. Taiga Space, Dvortsovaya nab. 20 / Тайга, Дворцовая наб., 20
Just a short walk from the Hermitage museum, and you'll find this creative space, as it's called. Basically, it's a collectivity of creative small businesses, such as guitar shop, book shop, coffee place, hostel, vintage store, etc. Maybe a little bit hard to find, but definetily worth visiting. Especially, because it might not exist forever - despite all the hard work the collectivity had put to the place, it might be sold or rented to someone else some day. 

Anyway, here's some snap photos from my favourite shops in this cool building:

 

 

8 STORE was maybe my favourite shop in Taiga. It sells beautiful objects from local designers. I got something from here for myself, try to guess what! (It was hard to choose, though!) I really loved the display in here, my pictures don't do justice to it.



 

Books & More is Taiga's book shop. Cool yet cozy vibe, lot of books about design, architecture, etc., good selection of note books and artist supplies- what else can we ask for?
 

We had  tasty (and very affordable!) lunch at Taiga's coffee shop, unfortunately I don't know if the coffee shop had a special name. Anyway, I recommend a stop here to have a cup of delicious traditional fruit juice, for example!
 

3. Mirakl, Moshkov Pereulok 4 /  МИРАКЛ, Мошков пер., 4
This is one of the places we just happened to find by walking past. I mean, having seen that lovely sign, don't you reall just have to go in and see what it's all about? We entered the courtyard and were invited inside to have a cup of coffee right away by a really nice lady. This coffee shop really feeled like a place where one could stay the whole afternoon just to read a good book and relax. Apparently, they have also music performances and other activities (I don't speak a word of russia so I'm not certain, but at least when we visited it seemed like there was a meeting of a board game club!)

4. Loft Space ETAGI, Ligovsky prospekt 74 /  ЭТАЖИ , Лиговский проспект, 74
This was the last place we visited in the evening, therefore the lack of light and the lack of better pics. Still, this was maybe my favourite place in the whole Piter (as the locals call the city). Etagi means floor levels and indeed it consists of five floors of coffee shops, exhibitions, gallery space and small shops. We ate delicious dinner at the Green Room Café and had a very interesting discussion with a very nice russian engineer who told us a lot about his life in Moscow and Saint Petersburg.





In addition to these places we also visited the well-known attractions and just wandered around. There was still such a lot of things I would have had wanted to see but I guess I have to wait for the next time! Hope this was helpfull or at least inspiring post, if you have some questions, don't hesitate to ask! Have a lovely week, I'm gonna show you later what I bought from this trip.
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Lyhyt matkapostaus Pietarista, jossa kävimme pääsiäisen aikoihin! Suosittelen käymään näissä paikoissa, jos haluatte Eremitaasin, katedraalien ja palatsien lisäksi nähdä jotain muutakin. Monet näistä luovista paikoista olivat ihan superinspiroivia, ja olisin voinut viettää paljon kauemminkin aikaa niitä koluamalla. Tuolta yhdestä designputiikista tarttuikin matkaan jotakin, arvaatteko mitä? Palaan asiaan vielä tällä viikolla, jos on jotakin kysyttävää tai kommentoitavaa niin siitä vaan! Toivottavasti tästä postauksesta oli jotakin innoketta, ja oikein mukavaa viikon alkua kaikille!

Easy idea - The burning house project

Hey all! I'm still working with the Peter post, so here's something else instead:

Do you want to participate into an interesting art project that doesn't take a lot of time? Here's one idea!

What would you save if your house was burning down? Some answers can be seen in The burning house project. Go to see what other people would save and submit your own answer. Here's mine. I did it already a while ago and now it's interesting to see what has changed. Not a lot, actually - only the wallet is a different one!

These kind of art projects are always interesting, because they're easy to complete, yet they really make you think about what's important in your life. It's also really interesting to read what other people have chosen as things to take with them.

Do you know any other art projects like similar to this? I'd love to hear of them!
 
Haluatko osallistua taideprojektiin, joka ei kuitenkaan veisi liikaa aikaa? Tässä on yksi hyvä vaihtoehto!

The burning house -projektin idena on jakaa kuva asioista, jotka ottaisit mukaan jos talosi syttyisi palamaan. Alla on minun listani, jonka tein jo aikaa sitten. Nyt on mielenkiintoista palata katsomaan, mikä on muuttunut. Ei itse asiassa kovin moni asia, vain lompakko on eri.

Tällaiset proggikset on aina kiinnostavia, koska ne on helppo toteuttaa, mutta silti ne saavat ajattelemaan sitä, mikä elämässä todella on sinulle tärkeää. On myös todella mielenkiintoista lukea, mitä muut ihmiset valitsisivat mukaansa.

Tiedätkö muita tämän tyylisiä projekteja? Olisi mahtavaa kuulla niistä!

"Name: Vivi

Age: 23

Location: Sometimes in Finland, sometimes in France

Occupation: Student of crafts & recreation

List:

• Letters, cards and photos from my love
• Handmade and gift jewellery in an handmade wooden box
• Wallet with all the important cards, tickets etc. inside
• Hard drive with all the photos and documents in it
• Cellphone
• A hat and the matching gloves that my boyfriend gave to me
• The boyfriend, who in this photo in present only in the photos. Or he’d more likely save me."

Happy Easter! + Easy idea

Hi all! We're back from St. Petersburg, but going through all the photos takes some time. So this time I'm only gonna wish you all Happy Easter with these photos, including something new in the series of an easy idea: finger printing!

 

See how my Easter plants have grown? I've already been eating the barley on my sandwiches.

 

I have no other Easter decorations but pussy willows. But I feel that sometimes it's not necessary to purchase or make all the decorations for all the festivities, sometimes you can go with a minimalistic + natural way. 

And now for the idea of this week: Finger printing. I know it's a little bit late to share Easter craft ideas, but this technique can be used on a variety of projects. The little chicks and the pussy willows have been created simply printing with finger tip on paper. This is an easy thing to do with children also. Just one tip: before printing your finger, print once on foam to leave all the extra paint on it. The egg card is simply decorated with fabric tape.

 

 

I'm going to spend the rest of my Easter holiday baking carrot cake and having coffee with friends. How was your Easter? Was it relaxing? Did you do smething special?

Oikein hyvää pääsiäistä kaikille näin viime tipassa! Koska pääsiäinen kului Pietarissa, tässä vain loppuun muutamia kuvia täältä kotoa. Meillä ei muita koristeita ole kuin pajunkissat, mutta joskus on mun mielestä hyvä mennä simppelillä ja luonnonmukaisella koristelulla.

Viikon ideana on sormenpääpainanta, josta esimerkkinä nämä tiput ja pajunkissat. Tämä idea tulee toki vähän myöhään pääsiäistä ajatellen, mutta sitä voi hyvin soveltaa vaikka mihin. Muista vain tupata sormi vaahtomuoviin tms. ennen paperille painantaa, niin extravärit jää siihen. Korteissa on koristeena myös kangasteippiä.

Täällä loppupääsiäinen tulee kulumaan porkkanakakkua leipoessa ja kavereilla kahvitellessa. Miten sun pääsiäinen meni? Oliko rentoa? Teitkö jotain erityistä?