WILD PEONIES, A PRINT, ONLINE SHOP UPDATE

Some snowflakes are floating in sunshine and the lake was a little bit frozen from the shore this morning. Waking up with candle light, pouring an extra cup of tea, watching as jackdaws visit the rowan tree, berry by berry. Welcome winter!

Wild Peonies, for the arriving dim times, to brighten up a little. An A3-sized poster available now in my small online shop.

Pink, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, small details collected from my late summer walks on my soft watercolour paper.

I Dream, a few detail photos added.

The shop is updated with more posters and books, for the winter's sake. The first ten orderers receive an extra winter greeting card as a thank you for the coming celebrations.

  ♥  ♥  ♥

I´m over the Moon because of this week's newspaper article about the book that has a cover with my illustration. So rarely the book cover illustrator is mentioned, but this time the work was seen. And liked. Thank you!

Red-cheeked winter greetings!

…………………

Kauniita sanoja Helsingin Sanomissa Marja-Leena Mikkolan Helmenkantaja-kirjasta ja sen kannesta. Hurjasti kiitos!

DANDELION FIELDS COLLECTION

The end of August brings new winds. Layers of wool, hot cups in hands, some slight oranges, yellows and reds here and there in trees. Moments to light a candle in darkening evenings, to embrace the calmness of the nights. 

Dandelion Fields Collection, a stationary collection published by Chronicle Books, is to celebrate the autumn and colder air. To remember the dearest and to write a few warming thoughts down on flower fielded lines.

The Notebook Collection consists of three different Notebooks with hand drawn lines.

Foiled covers, sewn with a thread. The three Notebooks are tied together with a turquoise thread.

The Notecards come in a box with envelopes. Sixteen cards, four different kinds, blank inside. 

Ready to be sent with some warm whispers to someone far.

The Box of Labels, to decorate and label jars, parcels, books, notebooks, those boxes on your shelf that are filled with sewings, summer memories and all the baking ingredients and the things you were not sure about.

This sketchbook belongs to me.

Edit: Those of you who want to buy the items in Euros, please find them through Book Depository. All the items are also available through Amazon.

Dandelion Wishes Journal (pictured in the first photo up right) is also still available.

Hopefully you enjoy this small Dandelion Fields Collection with my illustrations!

Warming Wednesday whispers ♥

NUMBERS: THREE, MELODY OF THE RAIN

The spring rain arrived. The frozen lake became a huge mirror with a layer of water on the ice. Little streams here and there, puddles. First snowdrops. 

On Friday my small company turned three years old. Thank you everyone for your words, commissions, orders, greetings. The third year brought so many new ideas, lovely people, exhibitions, so kind words. A humble curtsey! Numbers: Two and Numbers: One. 

Sunday, radio plays mellow songs and rattles once in a while in the middle. The eagerness of springtime and all the plants to arrive one by one.

Have a sweet start for the new week!

TIPTOEING

The spring is on its tiptoes. Full moon. Ice crackling under steps. The city filled with daffodils.

Castles, knights, towers, a forest dressing room and more tiptoeing for a brochure for the magical ballet Raymonda in a huge opera house Teatro alla Scala in Milano. 

Did you ever dance ballet? For a while I was a little ballerina in a sea turquoise dress. Still when I can smell one specific soap, my ballet teacher comes to my mind and my posture gets a little bit straighter. Her red long hair while dancing, were wild.

Blue-skied greetings!

I DREAM

I dream. I think that dreams take us further, they make us to do and feel. Dreams comfort us. Dreams make us happy and to understand our life. They reflect our lives. Dreams can be small or big. I can dream of a cup of tea or of a neighbourhood without sad faces. Dreams are moments, they come and go. We try to reach them. They lead us. 

Dreams can be of a better tomorrow or a longer health. Still they don´t need to change anything. We can dream that this moment continues. We should have the same rights and possibilities to dream of the same things, we should be equal when dreaming and trying to fulfil them.

Even though I do not sign any specific religion or ideology, I think that I have a dream is one of the most beautiful sentences that we have on this earth. 

I Dream poster in the small online shop.

I Have A Dream was originally the title of a public speech by American activist Martin Luther King, Jr to call for an end to racism in the United States. 

The sun shines. Late afternoon coffee break on my balcony wrapped in a big woollen blanket, warmed by the sun. The freezing evening is already crawling in and the first daffodils should be taken in for the night.

Happy dreaming!

CARDAMOM COFFEE, MELODIES OF THE WIND

On a cloudy day. Feeling like it would already be an evening. A smile comes back from these greetings from Paris. Also the sunshine, if imagined enough. Outside the strong rushes of an autumn wind. Time to find some wool around.

Hot water boiling. Grinding cardamom seeds. A dash of cinnamon. Another one of vanilla. Coffee time. A very early one. Wondering how long I am able to keep those jars untouched. Till the next coffee time?

Oh, the weekend. A light(house) ship, beautiful melodies (a small moment to be back in the treasure island), guiding hands (while writing sms´s in street lights), the longest breakfast (feeling like abroad), walking, admiring houses and boats (especially the lighthouse one and another called Elvira Inga), a small food market, the deepest nap on the way back, in train. Sunshine at home.

Afternoon greetings.

YELLOW ON ITS WAY

Hello dear all of you,

It was one more weekend of summer, bicycling up and down, around lakes and to a touching outdoor movie under dark blue sky with starlight on a hill of pastel colored wooden houses. Dark nights feel like a soft cotton cover around, it makes everything comfortable and silent after the summer light. Everything goes to sleep again. This morning the wind was very cold. A few leaves of the birch tree nearby have turned to yellow. Bye bye color green, it has been wonderful to have you around!

Last spring while I was waiting the first rain to arrive, my brushes were painting portraits, bonfire, handwriting and driftwood. There were "dark" and "fire" to be followed, I thought of nightly lakes. It all became album art for Holmes.

How was your weekend? Have a comfortable new week of August!