[one fine land]

Yesterday I was thinking about how wonderful it is to have the Internet. I'm so grateful that I can keep in touch with my family so easily. I can chat with them online, hear their news instantly and don't have to wait for snail mail. It is also wonderful to stay in touch with Finland by reading Finnish news, watching Finnish TV and even just enjoying photos of Finland. I follow ourfinland (the first five photos in this blog post are from ourfinland) and livelovehelsinki (the last two photos), for instance, on Instagram. It's amazing how just seeing some photos of Finland can ease that homesickness sometimes. Mind you, if I lived in Finland again, I would miss Canada just as much. Joy of dual home countries.

ps. Almost forgot about Finnish music! So many good ones but recently I discovered Selja Sini. Lovely music!

[stitchin' time!]

Check out this cute needle-craft kit gift I'm working on for our daughter. So far: embroidery hoop, fabric, embroidery needles, stitch ripper, cute buttons, pins and super cute dachshund embroidery floss holders.

The plain dachshund ones are from SMALL GOOD THINGS. The real looking ones I made myself using a photo I found via Google image search. I printed both on cardstock, then glued scrapbook paper on the back. I wrote the floss number at the back as sometimes you need a particular color for a certain pattern.

Still need to figure out a cute container for the kit. I might add more things to the kit too: cute sewing scissors, felt...

I hope she'll get excited about making things.

Here are some ideas what to make with this kind of kit:

A felt pincushion - pattern and instructions.

A felt owl - pattern from Typing With Tea/Etsy

More ideas: my E M B R O I D E R Y Pinterest board.

[Igor Siwanowicz]

Male diving beetle's front leg. Suction cups so that he can attach himself to a slippery female during mating.

Moth antenna detail.

Front leg of whirligig beetle.

I'm a huge fan of Igor Siwanowicz's work. Check out his latest microscopic photos. Nature is so amazing, that's all I can say. So beautifully designed with perfect details. 

[beyond awesome! love it!]

[two more cards]

Two more ideas for Valentine's Day cards. Both ideas are from Pinterest, I just had to make them "my style". This one is for our daughter who is very CU  + TE.

My husband is a denturist, so of course I had to make this one for him.

[Sheldon card]

Big Bang Theory is one of my favorite shows and Sheldon is one of my favorite TV characters. So of course I loved this saying I saw on Pinterest and had to make a card with it. Spread some love, people. Spread some love.

[so cool! literally. :)]

Wow! I'm so impressed with the Harbin Ice Festival! They really know how to make the most of winter in China! Sure would be awesome to see this in real life one day.

More pictures of Harbin Ice Festival.