Happy New Year 2010!!!

Here are some pictures of jewelry I made during the holidays. The first one has ceramic pieces by Mary Ann Carroll (pendant, beads and toggle), copper bead caps and amber nuggets.

Ceramic pieces from Chinook Jewelry, copper and brass findings, seed beads, champagne glass beads, crystals, blue lampwork beads with brown flowers from Jane Myrsky, desert canyon lampwork beads from Sue Beads and single bead in the dangle from Kelley's Bead Studio.

Ceramic pieces from Chinook Jewelry, copper findings, wood beads, snakeskin jasper, yellow turquoise, green garnet slices, root beer disc beads in the earrings from Sue Beads, crystals, single lampwork bead from Jerri's Glass Art Beads.

Ceramic pieces from Chinook Jewelry, copper and brass findings, imperial jasper.

Ceramic pieces from Chinook Jewelry, honey comb swirls lampwork beads from Kelley's Beads, tiger eye, crystals, brass and pewter findings.

.

I WISH YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010!

My best Christmas gift

Look what my husband gave me! I got a shiatsu back and shoulder massager with heat. It's absolutely fantastic!

Yesterday we bought new skiing equipment for Ronja. She's grown so much that she can't use her old skis anymore. We don't have this much snow in the South of Finland every winter and it's not always possible to ski here. Usually the girls get to ski when they're in Lappeenranta with their grandparents. There's always lots of snow in Lappeenranta.

We also went to a hockey game. I haven't been to one in over 10 years... It was Blues from Espoo against SaiPa from Lappeenranta. The game was 2 - 2 after the third period and ended 2 - 3 when SaiPa made a goal on overtime. That made my husband a happy man!

Our Christmas Tree

These are some of my favourite ornaments in our Christmas tree.

Thank you for the star LeAnn, it's lovely!

The most wonderful thing about the tree is the smell.

Santa brought presents on Christmas Eve. I'm not sure if the girls really believe in Santa anymore or not. We've had the same Santa for several years. He's really good with kids.

The best gift was Nintendo Wii. The girls have been playing sports games all Christmas.

What I enjoy most about Christmas is being at home, relaxing, doing as little as possible, just being together.

I've read a lot: "Double the Heat", "Skinwalker" by Faith Hunter, "Tasting Fear" by Shannon McKenna, "Luke" by Cheyenne McCray, "Night Life" and "Pure Blood" by Caitlin Kittredge and some others.

Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!

Sunny Saturday in Porvoo

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Fourth Sunday in Advent

We went to Porvoo yesterday. It was almost -20 C cold and sunny. Absolutely fantastic weather to be outdoors. I took some pretty pictures here in Espoo in Aurora Park and in Porvoo too. It was really great to visit with my parents and my grandmother. Today we went to the traditional Christmas fair in the Old Town. It wasn't cold today, but it was windy and it was snowing like crazy. That made the drive home really horrible because the visibility was terrible. Luckily we made it slowly but safely. I'll post some pictures later.

I hope you all had a good weekend!

Pictures © Porvoo City Tourist Office

Third Sunday in Advent

The gifts are wrapped. The Christmas cards are written and ready to be taken to the post office. I'm looking forward to us going to Porvoo next weekend to visit with my parents, my granny and my brother and his family.

Mirja is well again. Just a regular flu after all. It seems like we are all going to school or work tomorrow.

The weather forecast promises cold and snow for next week. Maybe it will finally start feeling like Christmas. Enjoy your week!

Pictures © Porvoo City Tourist Office

Christmas window

Mirja has been feverish for several days. We're not sure if it's H1N1 or not. So far there are no complications and hopefully there won't be any either.

I've cleaned out my jewelry boxes. I've taken apart a lot of old jewelry that I haven't worn for ages. I was embarrassed at how badly some of my first pieces were made. I guess you get more critical as your skills get better. I will probably have nightmares about some of the things I found...

The pictures are of the Christmas window at Stockmann in Helsinki. It's always a big event when it's revealed. One of the surest signs that it won't be long until Christmas.

Have a relaxing weekend!

St. Thomas Christmas Market

On Monday I went to the traditional St. Thomas Christmas Market in the Esplanade Park. I didn't buy anything but I really enjoyed looking. There were traditional wooden ornaments, candles, toys, ceramics, jewelry, jams, fish, knitted stuff, just about anything handmade.

Second Sunday in Advent and Independence Day

The weekend went by very quickly. Yesterday was all about football: Mirja had two games at a tournament (the girls won the first game 2-0 and lost the second 0-3) and Ronja had practice as usual. My husband is the coach for Ronja's team and he's helped a lot with Mirja's team too. Mirja has practice twice a week, Ronja three times a week and then there are games and tournaments in addition.

I finished "Divine Misdemeanors" by Laurell K. Hamilton on Friday. After that I couldn't decide what to read and I ended up rereading some of my favourite short stories instead. Today I picked up "Grave Secret" by Charlaine Harris.

December 6th is Finland's Independence Day. We celebrated by enjoying sauna, a good dinner and a couple of glasses of wine. We girls also watched the Independence Day Ball on telly.

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend!

Pictures © Porvoo City Tourist Office

A walk in Helsinki

I didn't have to pick up my younger daughter from school today because she went to a birthday party. I took the opportunity to go for a walk after work.

I've never tried photographing night scenes before and although these pictures aren't perfect I'm still quite pleased with them.

Decorated trees in the Esplanadi Park.

I think this ship is a restaurant. Below is the Helsinki Cathedral (Suurkirkko/Storkyrkan).