tattoo empek empek

I know I said I was going to give you pictures of the bayou i.e. from the Louisiana part of our trip but my computer has somehow strangely eternally erased some of them (without even asking me first, hmpf!) so here's a picture of me in capri pants instead.

(I ran two softwares to try and fin the missing 50-something ones and the formatted memory card found 21 of them but the rest remain strangely swallowed by the bits and bytes of my computer, it's all very what the fucketi-fuck and highly annoying.)

Some of you followed the capri discussion on my Facebook page; I overcame my fear of buying trousers online and ordered these baby blue ones. And when they arrived I was all "oh, they're kind of…hot" (in a disappointed tone) when what I was actually after was not skin tight but rather a bit more casual and nerdier pants. I can't even wear these with normal underwear as it will show trough but have to go get some of those t-shirt bra goes panties versions. Well what was I expecting ordering bengaline pants from Pinup Girls clothing, duh, of coures they'de be sassy! But they are kind of nice, or even great after all; I love the colour! And they feel pretty good on. Plus these will even make me slim down HAHA since I have to suck in that post-pregnancy-belly-which-would-be-OK-were-I-actually-post-pregnant-and-not-just-squichier-than-before belly of mine in order not to give too many associations to baby blue sausage. And I pose in a favorable angle.

You have no idea how many posts of mine remain unpublished.
I have megabytes after megabytes of photos that were meant for posts that I never have had the time to post about. Something else came up instead, I wasn't able to produce text or could choose pictures, others just lingered on my to-blog list until they felt out-of date (like, say, photos from my trip to Oslo january 2010...).

This was for a post about lashes at a time I was still blonde.


And this one about nails.


The point here was the blue hair flower and the fact that I wore blue shoes.

And lots of other things and happenings and themes...







But Goddamit! I have at least two hundred (some relatively crappy and some less crappy) pictures of baby lambs - lambs that already are sort of big by now and out on the fields for the rest of the summer - but there is so going to be a lamb post still, at some point!



(I also have about twice as many pictures of ice and snow and stuff in the habour so there will be such a post too, weather anyone really wants to see it or not.)

Yesterday we were fortunate enough to get some sun which I enjoyed with a small Sunday stroll outside. I noticed that the constant rains of last week which I - thank you very much - got to experience rather well and in detail in the harbor did bring a lot of good with them as most of the snow has melted by now. And it seems life has conquered after all (well yeah pretty much like every year) as, behold:

Our very first flowers are blooming!

And all you central Europeans and other lucky bastards that have been able to sit outside in parks and plain cardigans for a couple of months already can stop rolling your eyes, this is a big thing over here!


I would've tried to snap a more photographically correct picture of the crocus but I had such a terrible hangover headache that I could not keep my head down for more than a couple of seconds at the time.


Also, filled the home with fresh flowers and new plants for the balcony. This means tipped over vases, water on the piano and puke with flowers bits in it as my cats, Lulu in particular, can be real assholes when it comes to plants, but I still keep trying. And it will at least look nice a little while.


Busted!


Busted again!


Well these ones were at least speared over the night, so far so good...

I received a wonderfully sweet little present some time ago – a vintage cameo brooch from Agatha. Thank you ♥

We’re on the winning side now – they day is longer than the night and we are going towards lighter all the time!
It's such a great feeling to notice that it is light already around five when I get up for the morning shift! No sunshine, but a light sky and lots of bird song. The huge moon still hangs around until about seven. And the evenings are still rather dark.


So the swallow reflector brooch I got from my mother still comes in handy! It works with a magnet so you do not have to make a hole in your jacket in order to wear it.


Also, you have time until tomorrow night to vote for your favorite styling! I'll head over to the studio tomorrow, me and the other stylist will hang around in the background of the show, which will air live at 18:30.

You can still help me win you know, so if you haven't voted yet - do it! if you have, thank you, and please go again:)
Find my styling here. Vote by clicking the green Tykkään-button.

And...
Last but not least the nice ladies of Vivien of Holloway are once more offering all you readers of The Freelancer's Fashion Blog 10% off your onlone purchase. THe code is VOH_F4shionF4b and it's valid until June 30th. Happy shopping ♥

My red shoes, some vintage bags and petticoats sharing space on my clothes rack.
(And something else I like very much in the background :)

While the kids have their chocolate calendars I made Eddi and advent calendar out of twenty four envelopes hanging on strings, with a surprise in it for every day. Because everyone thinks it's fun to open stuff!

Last week I wrote about what I wear around the house or on days that I am not particularly "going anywhere". My knitted and stretchy skirt and dresses yes, but there is an even more comfy version that I often do when going to work or going out to the countryside. More practical, but still nice;I like to layer a lot of whatever nice and soft, those items that I have but not get to wear too much otherwise.

Mostly comfy tops or thermals, my print tees and shirts, stockings, a lot of socks and leg warmers, the more the better, a bit boho but even more hobo (you know, in a good way :)

The colder it gets, the more I just layer, my favourite for the time being the a pair of funny black puffy knee-lengh trousers that combined with grey knitted knee socks, my vintage collar knit and old work wear boots (I have a bunch of those as I get new ones every year in the harbour) make me look like it's the thirties and I'm gong skiing (that some of you on my facebook page wondered about yesterday).

But mostly it's just a long cardi, tights and a pair of ridiculously small shorts (as I never get to wear such around town).

Everything in the pictures is old, except for my motorcycle print shirt which is new from Morgan's & Philips.

I almost had this song destroyed for me once. Although I have turned it into a laugh instead.

Some years ago I was, how should I put it, occasionally seeing (if even that) the Big Artist for a while.
Once he called and said he'd come over and asked me if I had a printer at home. I wasn't thrilled, but fine, come on then. When he came he had a guitar with him (I wondered why) and asked to use my internet and print something. And then. He had printed out the chords and lyrics to Lonesome Town and started singing it, slowly, playing on his guitar, not good, not that bad but bad enough for it to be embarrassing; trying to get the chords right, out of rhythm, correcting himself. I was concentrating on my cigarette and then trying to focus on something outside my window, wondering what the hell was going on and how to get rid of him. I'm telling you, it was no romantic serenading, just awkward. He sang that poor song twice. Then I think I told him I had to be somewhere else.

...one can't always succeed.
But that was a damn shame on those fine molds.

(In my defense however, if such a one would be needed, I did manage to produce a lot of other nice not only eatable but rather delicious things during the same cooking sessions as the black rolls above. And I should have seen it coming; cleaning the house while cooking and baking and doing the hair and make up at the same time has to result in at least one minor fail I guess.

Ironically, and by coincidence -of course- on the same night, Fiona brought me this fifties vintage housewife come-in-handy-booklet on how to manage the chores of the house lightly. Just in case, might come in handy in the future then ;)

Most of this is vintage and this is pretty much what I looked like every day last week on my way from and to work, as I tend to go for some kind of a uniform during busy weeks. Wore different shoes when raining though. And put the lipstick on afterwards.

1) The give-away from Island Filigree has ended and the two lucky winners are: Anaïs, who will get the pendant, and Mae, who will receive the earrrings!

2) I have no idea why it is so hard for me to actually get the things out there, but by now I have collected two ikea-bags full of items I will sell and donate away. The ones in the first category will end up on my sales blog, including the following almost unused items: a bullet bra, girdle and waist cincher, all one size too big for me, all from What Katie Did. I will try and goddamit post them on the blog next week so in case you're interested stay tuned!

3 ) and oh yeah, almost forgot, we Itty-Bitties now have a blog; catch up with burlesque news, shows and updates here: ittybittytease.blogspot.com! Our site is finally also up and running, version 1.0 at least.

I have a whole lot of things to blog about but that would require a) time b) my camera and c) another environment than the one I am in now. I have none of those available right now as I have been stuck here in the harbour, pretty much for days, all of the time. I'll spend this Sunday with Beirut in between the boats so I'll share a little bit of that then:

I love Balkan influences in music (and Balkan music itself of course) and songs in minor key sung by sad men. Beirut is pretty much all that and a whole lot more too, and also a essential part of my Soft Sunday List.

The internet tells me Zach Condon, the man behind the band, was born as late as 1986 (and thus was only twenty when then first album Gulag Orkestar came out)! I get stressed by facts like that for some reason. It's strange -and stupid- but sometimes it feels like the whole world out there is just getting younger while I'm getting old (although I actually keep on forgetting my age only to remember I am not even thirty yet). You know, people born in the nineties are already grown up. But why not, although terrified by how fast time goes I, in soem ways, like the thought of getting older. It makes me feel calm for some reason.

Wooh! Now I'm off to throw a burlesque workshop and it's hot in this wig I tell you! And tomorrow morning we are off to Berlin!
Ta-ta ♥

Strawberry-cherry-rasberry milkshake and cat playing hide-and-seek.

...as much as I would love to blog about all the things that come into my mind I never quite make it, many are the posts that remain just a sentence on some paper somewhere or as a note on one a stickie of mine (great application if you ask me). There's also a whole lot of great blogs out there too that I quite can't keep up with. Too many blogs, too little time, but what can you do when you have a hectic lifestyle (and sometimes even leave the internet, heh).

Every now and then you all suggest I should follow your bogs but I don't, that would be too many, although I check in on a lot of you every now and then, mostly trough comments. I only follow the first one I ever stumbled upon in the beginning of the internet (well, not quite the beginning, but beginning of blogging; when blogging was rather new over here :) -which I can't stand anymore but can't keep away from either- and some of my friend's, like Ina and Fiona. (Rather unlogic perhaps, since I know what they are up to anyway :)

But anyway, I had a few points here*; one; in between posts I blabber about a lot of unimportant and important stuff over at The Freelancer's Fashion Blog's Facebook page , a little less on Twitter and answer whatever, almost, you ask on Formspring. And two; I only add people I know on my personal facebook, however, sometimes readers of mine add me too. And I can't really say no then :) But you really really have to send me a message to go with the add, otherwise I don't know who you are, or why you add me, ok?

Could you have imagined reading the past sentences ten years ago? You would have no idea what the F I'm babbling about.
That's a bit funny. There weren't even camera phones back then I think.

*) shameless purpousless marketing of self, obviously.

Today I started my much longed for week off after seven days of working. We went furniture shopping after work and I had some problems with what to wear, or rather how to find it as most of my clothes are still in suitcases (except for the really pretty ones; they were the first things I brought over and hung up :). Eddi was wondering why I cared about what to wear when going chair hunting but after a week in the harbour in these "babies" looking like this, I do care a lot.
Plus, you always get better service when you look at least slightly impressive.

Flat is developing, but it takes time and I am oh so impatient. I'll head over to my accountant and then the beauty salon to cool down a bit.

Safari dress - a great find from a charity shop a couple of years back
Shoes - a surprising bargain at Andiamo (or was even it K-Kenkä!) a couple of years back
Belt - my mom's old I think.

"The sun get's up at 03:55 and sets at 22:50. The day is 18 hours and 55 minutes."
( Helsinki forecast 25.6.2010 / Finnish Institute of Meteorology)

(Bedroom, still in progress.)

I've been away for a while, well, kind of; had a busy week behind me; working the early shift, having a record sleeve shot, living around boxes, running around picking up ordered house-stuff here and there. And I also smashed our work-van in an accident in the harbor. Chaotic. I am a very right here, right now person when it comes to some things, like home. I hate not to get the shelves up right away I cannot stand it when parts to whatever are missing. The wireless internet is not working fo some reason. It drives me crazy. Bazookas. But, things are starting to find their place now and I calm down.

Today it's midsummer and most people have fled town, heading out for the countryside to celebrate the light (and get totally drunk) like the tradition is. I'm staying in town alone however as I'll be working all holiday long. A lot of people get devastated when they here someone will have to work during midsummer as most places are closed, but - the harbor never closes. Its not that bad; I've worked many midsummers before. I'll just take it easy with some white at home and try to get rid of all the boxes, boxes, boxes tonight.

It's so light up here at this time of year; the nights around midsummer are pretty magic. It never gets darker than a pale shade of lavender, and that does not last for more than a few hours.

I've been getting up at five the sun is already shining brightly then. It feels as amazing each year, every morning - I always tend to forget that this is what it's like (and get as chocked every winter at how dark and cold it actually is…)

I remember those summer nights years back that were all spent out on town - eyes almost hurting when coming out of the nightclub into the bright late night, early morning. It always felt as strange. Sometimes I went straight to the morning shift from the bars, blinking my make up heavy lids to the strong morning sun at four thirty. (I could never pull that off nowadays). I've spent some June nights higher up in the country at festivals and such - the sun doesn't set there at all (as compensation to the almost total darkness that hangs over for the winter-half of the year.

This year however it's cloudy and raining so there will be no nice late evening sun to enjoy. I don't really mind, I keep the balcony door open and listen to the rain outside. I like it.

(But you know what I hate? It's getting darker now (since Monday), a few minutes per day. One won't really notice that until August or so though. But still. Depressing isn't it?)

Blooming.


Reading.


Eating.


Packing.

I love playing around with photo effects (especially at those moments when I should be working with something totally different or say, just be sleeping). Photoshop is a brilliant too if you know how to use it (can be devastating-or embarrassing- if you don't)*, and full of new things to find out all the time. Although I prefer to alter my images myself- for work, promo or just me- I still find interesting and fun to search for and try out online image generators; see how they might be built, how similar the transformed images turn out, and perhaps to copy the effects. At one point I was a bit fascinated with poladroid, and now the hipstamatic application that everyone's sporting (well, which is for iphones and not computers - yet ).

Tonight I got stuck on a japanese site transforming my pictures into very very old:


You can find and play with it here: labs.wanokoto.jp/olds




I think it only works properly on pc's though as I was not able to download the pics to my mac. I transformed a lot of pics for fun to see different results and on what kind of images the effect works on; it's easy as the site is rather fast.
The pictures featured above are screenshots.

(The images with the parasol are originally by S.Korhonen)

*)= Once a girl commented on a post of mine saying the picture was badly photoshopped so that my arm looked strange. I coulnd't get what the hell she was talking about** - that pic was straight out of the camera. And btw even if I often correct the levels and light, sometimes may blur away a messy flat in the background or add some colour filters for effects I do not change my limbs here on the blog :)

**)= You don't put me, bad and photoshop in the same sentence!
(Unless someone else fucked up a picture with me in it, of course:)

(I guess one could've seen it coming since I've been obsessed with the idea ever since this happened (<– click) even though I didn't quite go all cotton-candy-head.)

Now I'm off to a party in connection to the TV-show I participated in some time ago.
Have a nice weekend!