An artist with some gothic touch: Veera Pitkänen

I was on an over-night trip to see some art in a little town one hour drive away. There I saw this wonderful artist's works. Her name is Veera Pitkänen and she has quite a gothic feel in her paintings. I could not copy any pictures of her work, so you'll just have to go and check them via links!

http://www.veerapitkanen.com/veerapitkanen.com/index.html

http://www.veerapitkanen.com/veerapitkanen.com/Gallery.html#26

Goth Mary Poppins' Creative Goth Summer Weeks: 10th task

It is time for Goth Mary Poppins' Creative Goth Summer Weeks again!

Today: Something handmade that you wear above your neck.

As stated earlier, I am not usually doing that much crafty things and todays task was hard to come by with something that I allready own, since I am off tomorrow to a little trip and have no time to figure out something cool and gothy for the occasion.

A real gothic flower

This is a handmade (by somebody) and I bought it from a flea market. I actually molded it by myself too, but that only meant that I cut off a hideous bow tie the skull had. The bow tie was some plain blue fabric with white squares and it clashed really hard with the red of the skull. I have no idea why the maker had put it there but removing it made the hole hair clip much better.

Even though I have not manufactured this floral decoration, it is not hard to figure out how it was made. There is an ordinary fake daisy from some nifty gifty shop, the beam is cut of and the hairclip is glued at the back. There is also a part of a little plastic skeleton, I guess from some halloween season sale and the skull has been cut in half. Then the front of the skull is glued to the flower. I guess they used glue gun, or what ever it is called that makes hot glue people use at wood work at elementary school.

I do actually have something that one would wear above neck, but I have not yet figured out what exactly I ought to do with it. There is no other possibilty than to let it be for the time being. Also, my camera is charging the battery and I just remembered it and have no pics of that hair decoration thingy. it is also a find from the same flea market but it needs much more molding than the skull with an ugly bow tie.

How to fix a too short sleeve.

I believe many people besides me has had this annoying situation. One has found a beautiful coat at the second hand shop or the local charity shop, or got a used item from a friend. The coat fits otherwise perfectly, BUT the sleeves are tiny bit too short. There is also no way to extend the original fabric.

I once found a leather jacket for 5 euros and its sleeves were about 4 cm too short, leaving my wrist totally exposed to this cold climate. So, I decided to make arm warmers that could be used with that particular coat but also with other occasions too. I did not have a sewing machine so they really are totally handmade. At that time I was more active about LARPing, and that’s why the stitching is made so “rough”. It was perfect for a little Celtic fantasy game I attended.

Basically I just went and bought the fake fur, I asked for a kind I could work by hands and I already had that white fabric. Then I just made two tubes, inside white and outside black fake fur, that came just a bit over from the ends of the tubes.

They are very nice, one can just make them as tiny as possible and put the on, sleeve insidethe tube, or if it is the coat, then tube is under the sleeve, fur side to the skin and the part that comes out of the sleeve is just turned over and there is a nice little fur collar, warming one’s fingers. One tube can be also used as a muff. That fake fur is not that thick, so One can attach some lovely gothic jewellery to them. Like if it is a muff, then at the middle some huge golden or sivery symbol.

Close-up of the stitching.

Goth Mary Poppins' Creative Goth Summer Weeks: 9th task

I might be a day or two late, but luckily it is weekend. :)

Today's task is "Classical goth patterns: roses keys spidewhs wingsebs, crosses/ank etc"

The three most classical goth jewellery I have at the moment.

At left a christmas present from my father, though I chose it my self at the jewellery shop.

This is the first necklace I bought from a "real goth shop".

There is no goth without an Ankh!

Liebster Award

Lovely Goth Mary Poppins gave me a Liebster Award and I am a bit stunned and flattered. I have been in Blogger just a couple of months and have not encountered these awards or chain mails or anything else that is social. ;)


The Rules:
Each person must post 11 things about themselves.
Answer the questions the tagger has set for you.
Create 11 questions the tagger has set for you.
Choose 11 people and link back to them.
No tag backs.




11 things:

1. I am going to visit Warsaw, Poland in August and I am really excited about the trip even though it is merely a short weekend.

2. I have no musical talents what so ever. I do not understand anything more complicated than basic beat.

3. Even though I do not understand music, I love to listen to it and dance to it. I can feel it and it feels gooooood!

4. I guess I use a bit too much alcohol, but I consciously block the thought. I do not try to get drunk and when I do get drunk it is usually a student thing or a party weekend.

5. I am a vain person. My looks are more important to me than what I care to confess.

6. My mother is a writer and of coarse from time to time her writer-friends tend to ask from me when I am going to publish my first novel. It is a bit annoying, since I would never be as popular as my mother and my writing is so different from hers.

7. I have a sick sense of humour.

8. I love playing with words and hidden meanings.

9.  At spring I am supposed to have my baccalaureate, but I have no idea what I should make my research of.

10. My student organisation is making a pin up calendar and it has been really fun!

11. I do not really know that much people from the blogger community, so it is a bit hard to come up with 11 people to send this to.

Questions: 


1. Some story, that was embarrassing when happened, but later became funny. 
I work part time as a salesperson at a kiosk. It was supposed to be my day off, but I got called to work, since another salesperson was taken ill. I was needed immediately and I said “yeah, by subway I’ll be there in 20 minutes”. The problem was, I was not home and I was wearing a teeny-tiny black tulle skirt. I got a work blouse to lend, and everything was ok as long as I staid behind the counter. The action started 15 minutes before closing, because I had to come out and take the advertisers from outside and tidy up. So, I’m there in a miniskirt and high heels and some drunk comes in and is amazed. “Whoa, what a fairy, I wonder what’s under all that tulle!” he yelled and I quickly went to the backroom. Luckily he hiked off when I told him to.

2. Any weird fact about you.
My pinky toes have a hunchback. All the other toes are normal and slender, but in both feet the last little fellow looks like a Notre Dame’s bell ringer. They practically have no nails either.

3.  What did you wanted to be when you grow up?
Till the age of 7 I wanted to be a vampire. I have no idea why, but I have found a great pile of drawings I’ve made of vampires and their castles. I had designed my own castle and how I would décor it. All the vampires had long nails, black or dark red lips and split ends in their hair. I have no idea, why I felt that was so important, that all my drawings had many split-ended hairs. I guess those looked like snake’s tongue. When I was 7 years old, I found a book called “Witch’s handbook” and decided to become a witch instead. ;)

4. Best Christmas present ever?
Actually I dislike presents. I always have this fear the present is going to suck and one has to pretend it is nice so the giver is going to feel good, even though inside one is disappointed. I can’t really remember a “best Christmas present ever”.

5.  Funny local tradition that you and/or your family follows.
Instead of trick-or-treat at Halloween, in my home country children go for a stroll at Easter. They dress as Easter bunnies and witches (now you know why I like this tradition so much!) and they knock at doors and ask if they can wish well for the household / make a spell for good luck. Basically that means they have these wands of willow that are decorated with feathers and flowers made of silk paper (to symbolize spring) and they say a little poem about good luck and give the stick to the person whom they wished good luck for. In return the person gives candy and chocolate to little witches.

6. Worst song, that you secretly like.
I am probably going to be decapitated because of this confession, but I like Nicki Minaj’s and David Guetta’s “Turn me on”. It has a very steam punk music video.

7. Are you a morning bird or night owl?
I tend to stay up till late night, but not till the sunrise. It is quite hard, considering how at this time of year, the sun hardly goes down in my home town. Usually my lections start about ten or twelve, so I do not have anything to force me to rise up early.

8. Do you prefer boots or pointy heels?
Pointy heels are adorable! I have way too many high heeled shoes and I love them all, but I would love me a pair of good boots too. I have been searching for those for over a year now.

9. What is your favourite snack?
At the moment, I like plums. At the shop they are juicy and ripe, so they are a perfect snack.

10. Alcohol: yes or no?
Yes. In my home country it is all most a tradition to be an alcoholic, but I do not consider myself to be one. I just love a glass of good wine with good supper. I do not like to get drunk. I just love dry white wine or a bottle of velvety red. Or a glass of bubbly, but no cider, ale, or long drink. Funny thing, in Finland we call long drink as "lonkero" which also means "tentacle".

11.  What was your last dream you can remember? 
 Last night in my dream I was hoovering, but the dust just came from the other end out and I was really distressed and desperate. That is a really lame dream, but got to be honest.


The questions:

1. If you were a household item, what would you be and why?
2. What you dislike in yourself the most?
3. What is your best feature?
4. If you were a supernatural creature, what would you be and why?
5. What would your dream holiday be like?
6. What sort of a relationship you have with your parents/family members, do you get along?
7. Do you have a birth mark, a tattoo or some other special feature in your body?
8. Tell a story of one of your scars or other injuries.
9. What is your favourite book and why?
10. Do you have some sort of a talent and what it is?
11. If you could choose a new name for yourself, what would it be and why?

Tags:


net

Kelsey

I'm sorry, but I just could not tag anyone I have not actually talked with, so the list is so patheticly short.

Goth Mary Poppins' Creative Goth Summer Weeks: 8th task

 Goth cuteness: bats, fluffy babyowls, black cats, feathers, tutus, pink and black, muffins, smiley skulls, stripes, ribboned spiders, Tim Burton characters etc.and their role in your DIY. You don't have anything with those patterns? Make one!

I haven't got anything DIY made at the moment since I have had a lot of work shifts this week. Nevertheless, I'd like to introduce to you a book that had a great influence to my life. It is written by Malcom Bird 1984 and I stumbled on it in a library when I was 7-year-old. The title is "The witch's hadbook" and I loved it! Because of that book I thought that when I was to grow up, I'd become a witch instead of a vampire. (gosh, what a cliché-baby-goth I was!) Here is a link to the maker og the book: http://www.malcolm-bird.co.uk/2.html

The cover, book in Finnish.

Anyways, it has many recipes and instructions for knitting. I have been thinking about making some skull and bat decorated winter outfits but it is sommer now. So here are some pics of the book I have (my lovely friend gave it to me as a birthday present, since the one that library had went missing a decade ago but not by me). Those are some recipe pages, which I have tried and they were delicious!

The title of a chapter 2. called 'The witch's kitchen'.

A recipe for cookies. Taste very good, I've tried!

Some spooky appetizers. I have tried the death caps, made of boiled egg and tomato.

Sophisticated decor with gothic touch

I had been dreaming of a rococo sofa or a divan. So, I started to wander around flea markets and charity shops. As a student I can hardly pay hundreds of euros for a piece of furniture. And finally I found something suitable from Salvation Army's shop!

Don't know about you others from other countries but in my home country it is not considered poor or sad to shop second hand clothes or furniture. If you think about antique, which is so highly valuated, that was once owned by somebody too.


 The sofa and a new coffee table are situated at the balcony/terrace depending on how one looks at it. The old sofa is still in the apartment so it would be way too crowded if I tried to fit the new things to the living room also.

The sofa cost 90 euros and the coffee table 40 euros. Having two strong workes to bring them to the apartment cost 20 euros so not bad, I say!

At the left corner of the picture is seen a part of the older coffee table, which is so hideous that one has to cover it with velvet. So sad, in so many levels.

Actually it is quite nice now to sit there and read a good book with a glass of iced campari. Though I must admit that the sofa is a bit scruffy. The fabric is at some parts very time-worn and as in the first pic of the sofa is seen, the seam at the middle part is coming out. Or something, I have no idea what people call that thingy that is holding the pillow in form.