Weapons of mass-confusion

♫ Dreamtale – Dreamtime

I was doing a bit of cleaning in my hall today and "came across" my interesting collection of arms – or I could say, I picked them up and moved them out of the way while dusting, but the sad truth is they've been lingering in my hall for looong, and I don't really know where to put them. I don't have any equipment to hang them on my walls, and I could barely even decide which wall. But they're cool nevertheless!

I cannot remember where I bought this coat of arms – somewhere abroad for sure. Some photos might reveal where exactly, but I'm quite sure such photos would still be on paper as it certainly dates back to 2005 or earlier, and I didn't have a digital camera back then. Too bad the shaft of the polearm extends so far that I cannot even place this on some surface to lean on something!

This is the oldest of these pieces! My very first sword, or not a sword but a dragon-shaped dagger! I'm quite sure I bought it in Greece ten years ago. I can imagine what was going on in my mind when I saw it, something like "omg-RPG-dragons-OMG-Middle-Ages-IWANTTHAT-dragons!!!" And yeah, I bought it, and I almost got to be a bit embarrassed because of it on my way back. At the airport, our luggage was X-rayed, and for some reason the monitors were turned so that while I was waiting for my stuff to go through the machine, I could also see what the inspectors were watching. And they stopped the steady flow of luggage when they suddenly saw a very suspicious black object in one bag... It actually looked quite cool, since it was turned so that its nice silhouette was what they saw. The inspectors pondered over this suspicious object for quite a while, and it was quite obvious whose bag it was that caused the stop... Yet in the end, they just let it pass, not even wanting to open the bag and see it. (Naturally it was going to the hold, so it was not like I was going to stab someone in the cabin.)

I didn't buy this one myself, but my mother brought it to me from Turkey. In case some conservative souvenir  vendor was confused seeing a girl buying a dragon dagger, I can only wonder what someone else thought of a middle-aged woman purchasing this... Or then they just thought she's going to give it to her son. I consider this my pirate sword since it's the closest to a cutlass that I have!

And yes, both swords can be removed from their sheaths, yet naturally they're not particularly sharp. The very tips of the blade could do some harm, though. I gotta be careful with myself. :x

And finally, a mystery (plastic) dagger – I don't know what it is! I don't know whose it is! Somehow it has just appeared in my apartment! It's plastic indeed, with a slightly bent blade, and I think it may have been a part of something (maybe a decorative coat of arms) since it doesn't have a rear. I guess I could use it as a bookmark since it's that much smaller than the others too. But seriously – I'm sure I haven't bought it, and no one has really given it to me either. It might have belonged to my brother (or that's what I suspect) but still, a mystery!

Now if I could only figure out where to store these weapons. I wouldn't like to hide them in a box, but I don't really have any showcase for them either!

The most honest cookie jar

♫ Battlelore – Buccaneers Inn

What a lazy blogger I've been. I suppose I've tried to be less lazy in real life (with little success).

A few weeks ago a friend of mine had a housewarming party. It wasn't particularly easy to come up with something nice to give to him; one one hand we'd been hinted that something edible would be nice, but on the other hand I also wanted to give something that'd last a bit longer. And this guy has a very elegant taste when it comes to décor, so I wanted to give something that'd look like "him".

The result: I purchased a glass jar, baked some white chocolate chip cookies and designed a sketchy blotchy poison bottle label. This was pretty much a sequel to the project I showed in the previous post. I used the same sticker paper too. The nasty thing, of course, is the fact that with the home-printed label (on a matte paper) the jar can only be washed very, very carefully on the inside. However, my friend got a spare label to stick wherever he wishes. :D

The poison label was also an efficient way to imply that everyone was eating cookies baked by me at their own risk. Cannot say they wouldn't have been properly warned!

My personal alchemy lab

♫ Sabaton – The Hammer Has Fallen

There are a hundred things I could do, should do, or would do (if) and I'm not sure if I'm good at prioritizing my projects, but when I suddenly got a strong urge to make custom labels for my spice jars, I just... well, put everything else off. Okay not really, but at least I completed this project rather fast.

Or too fast. :> The final stages, i.e. printing, cutting and sticking the labels to the jars were carried out late in the evening, and the kitchen was quite dark too when I eyed the line of my new custom jars in my cupboard and happily closed the cupboard door. And now the daylight (and especially the photos) reveal the ugly truth: I cannot cut anything even if my life depended on it. Seriously, I've never been too handy with scissors, and even though most lines have been cut with a paper knife and a ruler, the results are not too good on average. But I blame it on my desk lamp which recently resigned office.

I would have wanted to create labels which seem very old and probably bear resemblance to poison bottles and such, preferably printed on a brown paper... But since my spice jars are genuine Ikea products and don't look old, antique, vintage or whatever, I decided to go for a less extreme style. As you can see, the background isn't pure white (but I've failed to cut off the extra white paper here and there!). I looked up some instructions on how to use all those spices on the internet and put a brief description in the labels simply because I need some guidance. I am not the worst cook, but experimenting with spices isn't my area of expertise. However, I also wanted to add some useless information as well, such as the Latin names and some labels even got a suggestion for medicinal uses. (And in case you understand Finnish, don't try to use those tips! :D They may be accurate (or pure superstition) but I wouldn't really try to pour parsley tea into my eyes.) I guess pirates need medicinal herbs though...

I drew more or less accurate pictures of most spices, yet spice blends got a picture of a random spice bottle and cardamom had to settle for a pastry since cardamom seeds look too strange and I've never used it for anything but baking.

And I should have taken all the photos from this angle so that you wouldn't have seen all that salt on my shelf. Oops, I've forgotten to clean it. :x Maybe one day I can replace those Ikea jars with something resembling old apothecary jars and bottles and create labels which seem more mysterious. However, I think those are better than the masking tape strips which marked the jars before. So long!

P.S: I was positively surprised to find matte sticker paper which was very affordable too. I bought a variety which hadn't been die-cut into smaller labels of a certain size because I want to be able to use it for versatile projects. However, the backing paper was a pain to remove!

P.P.S: What is your favorite spice and why? I love the scent of cinnamon, cardamom and curry. I know cinnamon isn't particularly healthy (at least not the cheap type) but if I buy vanilla ice cream, I eat it with cinnamon (doesn't happen too often though). I would like to use (mild) curry more, but I am still not too good at experimenting. Oh, and one of my favorites: lemon pepper! It goes with almost anything. :D (Not really, but I love it anyway.) I love the scent and flavor of lemons, though I don't really eat the actual fruits.

A heart of glass

When it comes to decorating my home, I'm the type who keeps saying "well, whenever I have an apartment of my own..." and well, maybe part of that sentence is true too – some of my ideas cannot be carried out in a rented flat, and if I was about to buy a house, I would buy one with enough space for everything I really need, now I've had to make a lot of compromises (thank you, pole).

I have quite a small dining table, a square one in shape, and I had been looking for a tablecloth for it for ages. Seriously – it's almost impossible to find square tablecloths! Sure, I could have gone to a fabric store and maybe pay someone for seaming it, but I cannot say I feel particularly at home in the middle of huge spools of fabric.

In the sales after Christmas, I came across a black tablecloth which was still a rectangle, but so cheap I figured I could try what it would look like folded on my small table. If one side of the table wasn't against a wall, I wouldn't have done that, but since it is (and won't be moved anywhere as long as I'm living in this apartment), I gave it a try, and it didn't turn out so bad. I also purchased some cheap brown place mats, but I doubt I'll be keeping them on the table all the time since they are so big and the table surface so small. However, I figured they would be less troublesome than having to wash and iron the big tablecloth all the time. :>

Like I probably said at some point, I knew I wouldn't be getting any presents for Christmas as we don't do that anymore, but nevertheless, I managed to grab a bit of this and that with me – items that others didn't need and thought I might. That's how I got the red Mariskooli bowl. I really like the color and wanted to place it on the table with the black cloth. And well, I'm not too fond of the brand Marimekko, but when it comes to Finnish glass design... Yeah, I really like it, I even wanted to become a glassblower ten years ago.

With this fake place setting, I'm showing off some tableware I have. To be honest, I wouldn't have enough similar plates or most pieces to serve a dinner for four, but I've managed with what I have. I haven't bought any dishes by myself (except for some glasses for alcohol) but received them as gifts – and mostly before I moved away from home. I didn't ask for any certain series, but I've got Aino Aalto glasses and Teema plates and bowls – both by Iittala, like that Mariskooli. Teema may not be my favorite series of them all, but I do think it's practical and versatile. And naturally, all those products are very high quality.

I own way too many mugs considering how little I need them – I don't drink coffee (at least not at home) or tea or barely anything else warm either, so I only need glasses. Of course I occasionally serve coffee or tea to my guests, but hardly no more than three cups max. Most of my mugs are Teema as well, but I have a pair of Taika mugs which I think I got as a high school graduation present. If I ever drink anything hot, that's what I use! I also think Taika design is very beautiful in black and white.

I also own some pints, wine and other glasses, but they are not by any too fancy brands. But seriously, I have a thing about Finnish glass design, and I'm particularly fond of clear glass. I really love the series Ultima Thule! My parents own quite a lot of such glasses, and I think they've even said they have more than they need and I might get some. Oh yes please – I only need a place where I could store them...

Anyway, I think my kitchen seems a bit more cosy with the tablecloth, it brings some softness (and style) to my boring and not-so-pretty kitchen which dates back to the late 60s (I think). I also have an interesting curtain there – yes, only one curtain. I'm not sure if the curtain itself is pretty like that, but I really do love the newspaper print!

I guess I still have some ideas for my kitchen décor, will be posting photos if I carry out those plans! So long!

If I had some wishes...

♫ Axxis, Lakonia – Take My Hand

Some people have posted some Christmas wishlists in their blogs, so well, I thought I could make one too. I'm not sure why, maybe in order to tell myself what I'm truly dreaming of, matter-wise... 

The thing is, I could say I'm not getting Christmas presents. Or maybe one or two, but it's not like I would be asking for anything. Then again, I'm only giving one or two presents too. This, because we have made an agreement with the family not to buy any presents. Our Christmas celebrations consist of food and peace (and some drinks) and more food... And it's completely alright. I cannot say I ever really needed everything I used to get. Well, fortunately most of the things I ever got were at least nice or useful. But still, most people don't really need so much matter. It was always a pain to come up with something for cousins and aunts, and parents of course... Not to mention my brother.

I barely get any presents for any other reason either, let alone without a reason, but I really don't mind. Giving presents is nice, but mostly just when you really find something the recipient will truly appreciate. But this said, whenever I want something special, I'll have to purchase it for myself.

Now that I'm making a wish list, I decided to include only such things that I could accommodate at the moment – only realistic wishes, excluding fancy furniture, ponies, pirate ships, climbing frames (yeah, for myself), puppies, TVs, gaming consoles and such things.

An Ikea shelf, one that could be attached to a wall. This goes hand in hand with my next wish, because I would need some extra surfaces near my desk. Ever since my hobbies started taking up a lot of space, I couldn't place any more pieces of furniture on the floor, so I have to climb higher. I would put this above my desk. The shelf is quite massive indeed, and I haven't decided whether I want the dark one or the grey brown – would have to see them live to decide which suits my current furniture color better.

Recently I figured life would be easier with a printer of my own. I've never had one. I would need to print occasional Important Documents and every now and then some graphic proofs, which means I would need a color printer. And I don't know, probably a laser one, since I'm afraid I wouldn't use an inkjet printer enough so that the ink cartridges wouldn't dry out... If you have a good printer, I'm willing to hear some recommendations! 

...a bottle of Kraken rum. Yeah, I have a thing for rum bottles, ones which are piratey in some way... And I've been drooling over the Kraken bottle for quite a while. Unfortunately, the product is not available in Finland, so I'm in trouble. Even though I'm a rum drinker, I'm not even so interested in the contents, just the fancy bottle design and the label! My rum bottle collection will never be complete without this one. :(

Of course I need to wish for something even more vain than a bottle of rum – a pair of shoes by Zign. The brand is from Berlin, maybe that's why I fancy these shoes? Who knows, maybe I'll consider...

So yeah dear Santa, you know I've been good, right? And one more thing, I wish I got a nice job. I wouldn't even have been this lazy if I had one. So yeah, dear Santa, I've been a very good girl, rrrright?

All images © their respective brands

Time stands still

♫ Heavy Metal Perse – Heavy Metal Perse

Ladies and gentlemen, I want to present my best flea market find EVER.

Coasters. Beer mats. Absolutely lovely! Six coasters and a stand, all for 4 €! Perfect for me.

Pocket watches. Wood, metal, cork. Signs of use. Perfect!

Right now I cannot think of anything better to host my glasses of Captain Morgan. Perfect!

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning

♫ Voyager – Times Like These

Well, everything happened quite fast, I went shopping on Ebay... Then one day maybe a week later a courier came rapping at my chamber door and brought these beautiful posters. Consequently, I went frame-shopping, which was slightly more difficult since our default frames are not really made to fit (supposedly) standard poster sizes measured in inches. Although I do find smaller top and bottom margins slightly awkward, it was the best compromise.

You can admire my furnishing solutions. :> No, not really. I'm not too fond of my bed, let alone the cover blanket. I would own a nightstand, but there are... reasons which prevent me from placing it next to my bed, which results in awkward piles of random stuff next to my bed – the modem for example, just because the only socket for it is right there.

The reason for these solutions is right in the foreground. The reason why I had to take the photo from this angle is the fact that the glass of the frames reflects quite a lot, which is probably very natural, of course a bit frustrating too. In many lighting conditions the darker poster is just a solid black box. :E

Welcome to the jungle // Monthly theme post

It's time to participate in Sophistiqué Noir's monthly theme campaign again. This time the theme is flowers!

At first I thought I wouldn't participate since a quick mental scan of my wardrobe implied I don't wear floral patterns or anything like that, but luckily, these theme posts are not necessarily about fashion, and although I've usually completed the challenges with clothes or accessories, I'm doing something different today.

I really had to think about the theme for a while though, at first I had a feeling that flowers barely touch me in any way... (Not saying I don't like them. I just don't have a green thumb or anything. You should see the poor DEAD cactus I have... My only plant. But it's dead, dead, dead.)

Then I actually paid some attention to the environment in which I'm living. I realized I'm surrounded by floral patterns, here and there in the decor in my apartment. A real garden, should I say, or no... These patterns don't make a coherent garden. I think I'm living in a wild jungle.

This is my wall. The biggest wall without windows or doors has such a lovely wallpaper. The opposite wall, which is smaller, has been painted brownish to match the general hue of that wallpaper. The other walls are white. I fell in love with the apartment instantly when I stepped inside for the first time since I love contrast walls and such, and have been wildly planning how to paint or paper walls in an apartment of my own, if I will ever buy one. Most rented flats are very boring, so I was delighted to find something this interesting. If I had got to choose a wallpaper by myself, I wouldn't probably have chosen such a pattern (though the hue is nice) but I'm happy with this one, it makes my apartment seem so cozy. Seriously, I haven't even put a single picture up on any of my walls because they aren't begging for something as much as blank white walls would be. Although this wall is empty of pictures, shelves and other such things, it looks so full. (And brown walls give me a false sense of being aboard a pirate ship.)

And this is my pendant lamp, the funny thing which was put in place probably four months after I had moved in. I didn't notice the lack of a lamp in summer (=it's never totally dark in Finland in the summer, not even in the middle of the night), but at some point in autumn it began to bother me... I wasn't quite sure what I wanted, so eventually I purchased a rice paper shade. I like its looks, but it's a bit impractical. I can only just walk under it without hitting my head in it (though depending on how my hair is, it'll touch it), but every now and then I manage to slam my hands at it when I'm stretching or something...

This is my carpet. I cannot remember if I've ever liked it, but I purchased it for my first apartment since I "needed a carpet, seriously". The pattern isn't too ugly, but not too pretty either. The carpet was cheap though (or then, probably free? I cannot remember for sure, I was purchasing furniture and the store couldn't deliver something on time, and I think I probably got the carpet for free then?). There are some details in the carpet which disturb me though, strange imperfections in the petals, or in the lines. Like the two bottom petals of the big red flower in the middle... I have been thinking of purchasing a new carpet ever since I moved, but I haven't yet found anything I want. And what is worst about this one... Once a hair, or a piece of dust falls on it, the carpet will swallow it for good! Seriously, it's a real pain to get all the hair and dust etc off it!

This is yet another detail in my decor which looked better in my old apartment. However, I'm still using the hanging storage pockets since they are practical. If there hadn't been something where to hang it already, I wouldn't probably have bothered to attach any nail or hook to the wall by myself. I don't like its looks so much anymore, but it's useful enough so it's hanging (on) there. In my old apartment I also had a strange "installation art piece" in one corner, which was basically a standing easel with that masque on top of it, and a small lamp attached to the frame of the easel. It looked fancy, at least compared with that masque hanging there with the storage pockets...

Last but not least, a flowery fan. You've probably seen it somewhere in my blog already. I rarely use it for its actual purpose. At the moment it's just sitting in my book shelf, folded, but if I figured out a nice way to put it somewhere, beautifully unfolded, I would do it. The bookshelf might still work, just have to try out something...

I'm extremely lazy when it comes to decorating my apartment. I have ideas, but I rarely realize them, and thus my apartment is probably a little wild without a coherent theme. At the moment I feel comfortable here at least, not constantly thinking that I'd be surrounded by ugliness. However, there's a lot to work on, I hope I can make some proper decor posts in the future, with some of my plans carried out. So long!

I raise my head and find my own way out of the dark

♫ Heavenly – Carpe diem

Oh well, I'm trying to move onto more positive things than the sorrow I described in my previous post. I have contradictory feelings on how I should actually spend the time while I'm alone – one voice in my head tells me to concentrate on grieving, while some voice of reason tells me I shouldn't do that. I feel like ignorance meant indifference, yet I know it won't do any good if I stop to mourn for too long.

I'll try to deal with as many events and topics which I've ignored lately in this blog post. A summary of what has happened during the past few weeks, then I can probably keep up with the things worth blogging about without stuffing them all into one single post.

First of all, All Hallows' Eve and All Saints' Day. I had the same idea for both parties I attended – an idea I had had for looong... Sugar skull make-up!

I don't have photos of my clothes, but they were quite simple. I wore the fishnet top which you can see in the photos, and a simple, short, strapless black sheath dress. Since I really liked this attire, I'll probably wear it again to some event, so maybe I'll also post it here eventually. If I just had the chance to take some photos with the daylight, but no, I'm in the office when the sun is up. I have some dresses to show off anyway!

Last night I went to see Stratovarius live. And I was surprised to see how "good" the photos taken with my cell phone can be. The concert was nice and long, a part of their tour to bid farewell to their drummer Jörg Michael. The headline of this post if a line from their song Darkest Hours. It's a good one, yet not my favourite, but I feel it suits my current mood.

Stratovarius – Darkest Hours

I also finished my Poe piece for the photo frames I bought recently. Inspired by The Raven, here's the result:

What else? Material needs I satisfied a while ago already, I guess. Many people know the Polish webstore Restyle, which sells funky gothic stuff cheap. I bought a few things too since the prices were so ridiculously low compared with what they would have been if I had bought them in Finland.

Firstly, two pieces of bone shaped hairpins. See the product in the store here. The item description confused me a lot, as well as the photos. In the first product image the surface of the bones seems smoooooth, doesn't it? As you can see in my photo, it isn't, they're quite roughly painted. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but I actually expected the bones to be made of plastic and only the pin parts being metal (as described) but they're fully metal (makes sense). The "Clips are automatic" part confused me even more, and my idea of "automatic" clips would be something like this, not this. I may be totally wrong, but I'd think that those pins which close by themselves with their spring are automatic while those which you have to snap close are not. I find the clip type impractical and was somewhat disappointed with it.

Then I got a nice brooch with a rib-cage. I could also attach a chain to it to turn it into a necklace, but I kinda like it as a brooch too.

And more rib-cages! These are very, very heavy, to the point of stretching the earlobe downwards with their weight. They are pretty, yes, but I think the weight they put on ears has slightly unaesthetic effects. But I guess I'll live with it.

I also got a Star Gazer lipstick in the shade of dark berry, but haven't worn it much yet. I don't wear lipstick daily, I'm not used to it. A bit newer purchase is a pair of Tamaris boots which escaped my hands once, but with some insane luck, I found my size again (or to be precise, I might have survived with a size smaller, but they didn't have that size). Although their quality is only satisfactory, they're pretty and COMFORTABLE. I've never worn high heels which feel so good even after hours of standing! I didn't have any problems standing through the Strato concert with those.

I guess that could be it for now. I'm getting hungry and could concentrate on something else too. Either way, I guess I have something interesting coming up sooner or later. So long!

Hooray to the glory

♫ Real Life – Nowhere Girl

Not exactly sure about the glory part...

I've been quite silent as I've been both busy and well... occasionally unable to write too? Yeah well, I recently moved, and I still lack an internet connection of my own... Kind of. It's a complex story, and I think that anything that can possibly have gone wrong, has also gone wrong. And the secret is, although it's not illegal: I've been leeching on my neighbour's unsecured WLAN...

I would have so many things to write about! I cannot choose, and I don't want to put everything in one post either! While I still couldn't access the internet at all at home, I watched Dorian Gray, and I could write about that... I could show off my new apartment (will do, eventually) or what not. But I'll show a few nice things which I found at the summer sales.

Suomalainen Kirjakauppa (Finnish Bookstore) had some nice wooden boxes, or should I say – treasure chests. At least the bigger one is almost pirate-credible, isn't it? It may lack metallic frames, but it's pretty. Anyway, I bought those because I really needed some pretty storage boxes for my jewellery and other accessories.

In the same bookstore I found this book, which I had seen there earlier too, and well... I began to feel sorry for them as they hadn't yet got rid of the last piece. Then I just had to buy it, right..? It was a friendly favour, right? The book cost 12 € and it was actually quite interesting. The layout was quite nice with exciting details. The book introduced several famous pirate (captains), such as Blackbeard, Henry Morgan and Sam Bellamy. (The last one made me smile indeed – the man was better known as Black Sam, and well, my mother has a black, long-haired dachshund whose real name is Bellamy.) The book is, however, way too violent considering it was in the children's department. :O I mean, details of the real, violent ends those pirates faced... But I recommend it to all pirate fans. :D

Cheap lacy gloves are cheap lacy gloves, and I don't think I'm supposed to resist them. They're not too decorative, which is nice too.

This summer dress only cost 5 €. It's surprising that I like such a print, but well... There's something that really fascinates me. I cannot quite figure out what it is, but it gives me some deep feeling. And it's brownish, which is rare for me too.

I also bought some socks online the other day, and they were all very nice. Maybe I should take photos of them too... Although it's more tricky to take photos of socks. Naturally I should put them on first. Anyway, I shall keep going. I should have four days of work left before my summer vacation! Yay! And it's a Lumous weekend! I'll go there on Saturday and maybe even Sunday, but since I will obviously go to work on Monday, I really cannot party too hard on Sunday evening. Too bad. So long!

Yo, ho, haul together, hoist the colors high

♫ Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End Original Soundtrack –
I don't think now is the best time

I truly feel like writing about my love of pirates.

Sure my "feelings" are highly romanticized, but so are the legends and stories, I guess. :D But I'm not denying it, I am a romanticist.

I tend to say that if I cannot maintain myself as a graphic designer, I will become a pirate. At the moment I am, however, doing design for a living... Nevertheless, I'm always prepared to board.

I live in a piratey hole, I guess. That photo looks awkward, but yes, it's my front door. It looks like a warehouse door, I know. That why those friends who've never been here before have trouble finding the right door. Or not anymore, since I can tell them to look for the Jolly Roger. However, I pity every courier who has to come knocking on my door...
I have to thank my neighbourhood's kids for giving me the idea to make such a flag. Thanks to them, it suddenly felt like an obvious idea – though I wonder why I didn't come up with that earlier, given that I had spent years wondering how to block that window (it had a blank white curtain for three years) and also given that I've liked pirates for long...
And how did they do that? One afternoon, two small boys knocked on my door. I went to open, and they totally froze, not saying anything for a while, until the other one asked; "do you have a ring?" I was very, very dumbfounded, not understanding what on earth they were actually after. I tried to ask though, but they figured I couldn't answer their question in a satisfactory way, so they left without telling me what was going on. After that, they came to spy on me through my open window. Now I call them treasure hunters.

Despite my interest, I hadn't seen Pirates of the Caribbean movies until this week. Now I watched all of them, and now I feel all piratey. Yarr.

The movies were all entertaining and nice. However, such piratey language is occasionally a bit difficult to follow... :/ Audiovisually stunning, too. That's why I'm listening to the soundtrack now, and oh, the boats – what they looked like! And everything else too, but I was particularly fascinated by the Flying Dutchman. Oh so epic...

I feel like drawing piratey images again...

Pirates sure have made my life epic in other ways too. Roughly a year ago, a friend had a housewarming-costume-party, and I decided to dress up as a pirate. With my souvenir sword, my piratey pants from Baby, the stars shine bright brand's collection Alice and the Pirates... and a pirate map of the city, tied to a bottle of rum as a housewarming gift, I sailed there.

That map could have turned out much better, but I made it completely with Photoshop, thus, the lines are not nice, lively and delicate. I also made it quickly. (The "real" places would be these: Ocean of Näsi = Näsijärvi, Gulf of Dead Women = Naistenlahti, Unholy Sea = Pyhäjärvi, Mountains of the Cursed Bishop = Pispalanharju.)

However, I had fun while working on that map, and I thought, probably even told a friend, how awesome it would be to get to make some pirate illustrations as a real commission.

A month passed, and I was contacted by one editor of a newspaper in which I had worked during a few summers. She asked if I could make an illustration for a newspaper article dealing with pirates. The deadline was a bit tough – I got the commission on one Wednesday midday, while I was at work, and the illustration was to be in their hands by Friday morning. However, I couldn't possibly say no. I spent two evenings, after days at work, drawing like a madman, but I had great fun, and I delivered the illustration on time. (And I slept quite a little.)

But like I said, I cannot say no to a commission of my dreams. Unfortunately, for some copyright reasons, I'm only showing the image like that... As the article dealt with modern piracy, swords have been replaced with assault rifles and sailing ships with, eh, tankers? I don't know about these marine things much, and despite my love of pirates, I'm not particularly much in love with seas or ships.

An acquaintance said my life resembles a movie because it was so absurd how I got that commission.

By the way, if the skulls in the illustration and in my curtain seem somehow similar, well, I can say, they are – I used the illustration sketch when I was painting that fabric.

Somehow my interest in steampunk goes well with piracy. Both give me a lot of creative ideas, for designs, drawings, interior, clothes...

And somehow, pirates never fail to fascinate me. :D In 2008, my absolute favourite group in the Eurovision Song Contest was – surprisingly – a band of pirates!

Pirates can also seem credible in bright colors. I've never seen anything else but this video of this children's TV show:

I wonder if I've now said everything I've got to say about pirates – for now, I'm rather sure this won't be over. Oh but no, I almost forgot, I dressed up as one on Halloween too. Or to be precise, on All Saints' Day, when a friend had a costume party. That time I drew a map by hand, but unfortunately, I have no evidence of it anymore as I gave it to the party hostess. But it turned out much better, being hand-made. I am aware that Facebook is available in pirate English as well, but I don't use it, don't know why... Maybe I truly should? So long – and until the next time – yarr! Follow my blog with Bloglovin'

Doctor, doctor, give me the cure!

♫ Modern Talking – You can win if you want

Some time ago I came across an interesting post at The Steampunk Home, directing to an even more interesting post by Cathe Holden at Justsomethingimade.com.

Vintage apothecary labels! I found those rather brilliant. There's something very fancy about vintage graphic design, and I could have created something similar by myself, but well... Would have I done that? Hardly. Although I pretty much am a graphic designer, I'm either too busy or lazy to do something like that. So, how perfect that someone did it for me.

I didn't have more than one spare glass jar to decorate, and it probably looks a bit out of place all alone, but I guess it looks better than an empty glass jar would, holding my stationery.

Click here to view the original post! Ms. Holden had also made some awesome towels with those labels, but I don't think it'd turn out good if I tried... I'm not exactly friends with sewing needles.

(I am also aware that the label I put on the jar should be in a bottle instead. Too bad I didn't have any!)

Now that I'm talking about graphic design... I could tell a funny occurrence I had at work yesterday. Our client wanted to have a diploma template made – which I didn't find particularly difficult – but nevertheless, I was given the client's sample of a diploma, which had obviously been looked up using the Google image search. Well, nothing special about its looks – an official diploma written in English and such... Then I actually read the text, and much to my own amusement, found out the diploma was obviously the only one ever awarded by an accredited American university in parapsychology. I also found it slightly ironic that our client's field is somewhat related to rescue / first aid.
So long!

Silhouette Eye Candy

 ♫ Penicillin – Nightmare before Christmas

Guess what is truly amazing?

Finding a site you thought you'd lost. Tonight, I suddenly remembered seeing some lovely wall decoration somewhere, some time long ago... And after searching and searching for a while, I eventually found a link to the said Etsy shop. How rewarding!

Pillboxdesigns creates awesome vinyl wall art. Truly stunning, and pleases my graphical eye – I think I use simple silhouettes quite a lot in my own designs as well. At the moment I'm living in a crappy studio apartment with light bluish, slightly patterned wallpapers, so I don't think any of those wall arts would look good here. However, I wish my next apartment will have concrete walls or something, rather painted anyway, with only one colour. I could order and apply some stunning art to them then.

Bat Attack is a funny flock of bats! However, I'm more into birds, and I'd like to have a flock of ravens or crows instead. Carpe Noctem looks rather cool above one's bed. This Beetlejuice Quote looks typographically nice – I haven't seen the movie, though. I should probably watch it, and if it turned out good, I might want to purchase that one.

However, my ultimate favourite deserves to be shown with a picture (© Pillboxdesigns, naturally). So it's a Large pocket watch vinyl art with a clock kit, looking awesome and I must say, it's rather creative! Especially since it seems to function!

Speaking of apartments, my dear old mother just gave me a link on msn (she's communication savvy like that), directing me to a page displaying an apartment for sale. Oh dear mother, I'm too young to buy an apartment until I'm mentally past forty, and I truly pray it won't even happen... Not that I wouldn't like to have an apartment of my very own, but the thought of a mortgage is horrifying.
So long!