Lunch at Ulriksdal's

Most of the time it is so easy to grab a piece of bread and a big cup of tea at the home office for lunch, but yesterday we thought to have a proper one - in my favorite place Ulriksdals trädgård. My daughter was at home with an ear infection, and it didn't take much persuasion to make her excited about the idea - she loves flowers as much as I do! So off we went - 3 women with different kinds of goals - one wanted to take nice photos (a fraction of which are shown here), one wanted to have nice vegetarian food, and one - nice pancakes :).

 Like always - the selection was mouth-watering, and you keep on eating and eating until you simple CANNOT anymore. Red cabbage salad, apple salad, sweet corn salad, hummus, Greek veggie pie, Stuffed tomatoes with goat cheese, Lentil soup with sweet potato...to mention some. YUM-YUM!

On the way out you are welcome to purchase some lovely flowers, or just pure feel the positive energy from the colourful, BEAUTIFUL settings - talk about a perfect source of inspiration, as well as a great break for your eyes from computer work. 

Fair Trade Felt Slippers - Reilun kaupan huopatossut

Fair Trade Felt Slippers - Reilun kaupan huopatossut

You know sometimes you hear something, like a story going around, and can't resist checking out whether it is true? This happened to me last spring. We all know (perhaps not :), but I am determined to spread the word) the wonderful felt products coming from Nepal. Well - last spring my dear friend told a story, or a legend - whatever you like to call it - that it was actually a Finnish lady who has brought the currently used felting technique to Nepal.

Fair Trade Felt Slippers - Reilun kaupan huopatossut

Nepal has been always famous for its traditional felt carpets. But already 10 years ago, perhaps even earlier, we started seeing other products, as well, coming out of Nepal - jewelry, for instance, made of felt pom-poms.

Fair Trade Felt Slippers - Reilun kaupan huopatossut

Well, me being me, I had to find out, and started asking about the rumour. Found out that yes, there has been a missionary worker from Finland in Nepal for decades, and yes, her sister has been teaching felting in the Association for Craft Producers (ACP). After emailing, googling and few phone calls - found her, and her name is Tupu Mentu.

Fair Trade Felt Slippers - Reilun kaupan huopatossut

For sure - it might be there has been number of others after Tupu Mentu in Nepal teaching the right felting techniques. But still...those of you who have been to Thamel in Kathmandu know that this is BIG in Nepal. Finally in the beginning of this year I get the honor to meet Tupu in Ateneum Café in Helsinki.  And we talk for hours - with this wonderful, humble lady, still teaching felting in Finland. And I am sitting there and thinking - this is pure surreal :)!

Fair Trade Felt Slippers - Reilun kaupan huopatossut

Fair Trade Felt Slippers - Reilun kaupan huopatossut

The images you see here are the felt slipper models she has used herself. One pair of them - the one marked -42- is her mothers. The slippers you see are made by ACP, and the model is the same she taught them. You see that funny 'Robin Hood' tail? It's there because the hole is cut to the slipper afterwards when the model is taken out from the slipper. Imagine the work that goes into making these slippers by hand! Making any kinds of felt slippers or boots always requires a fair amount of working by hand, but making these - no machines are used.

When Tupu was in Nepal, there were no slipper models available. ACP's handyman came up with the idea to mould models with concrete to plastic shoes found in the bazaar! That worked. It was also very humid during summer time, and drying of the thick felt products was a challenge. But they managed and after that ACP has got the whole process going keeping the good quality (quality-checked by Tupu a couple weeks back :)) for almost 20 years already. Talk about determination - and a superior product!

* * *
If you are interested in buying the product seen in the pictures, and not visiting Kathmandu anytime soon, the fair trade slippers are sold HERE in 8 different colors. Be sure to pick a size 1-2 bigger than your normal shoe size!

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Huopatossut, nepalilaiset tossut, huopa, reilu kauppa, huovutus, nepalilainen huovutus

Cinnamon rolls!

I am always amazed by trends that just come out of nowhere and just - well, make me do stuff, like buy things. Take cinnamon rolls=kanelbullar=KORVAPUUSTIT (sorry - the only right word to be used for this specific item). We moved to Sweden 3 years back (was it really that long ago??). Then was mudcake (kladdkaka här i Sverige) a must. It was served in all the cafes, and we were wondering, which joint offers the best ones.

Kladdkaka by kaikkiaitinireseptit

Kladdkaka by kaikkiaitinireseptit

Then - it was the carrot cake - morotskaka. Unfortunately (and fortunately) I was pregnant and on maternity leave during this trend, and I can almost say that at LEAST 3 kg - okay, 5 - came from carrot cake. We were selecting the coffee places based on the quality of their carrot cake!! And I got quite good at making my own - you know, how it always crashes in the middle, and then you need to put tons of icing on top to hide it (downside - less icing, when the cake itself got better!)

And now - it is cinnamon rolls. And why do I fall for these trends?? Really - I don't remember buying cinnamon rolls - well - EVER. Now when I drop into Gateau, it's not only the usual soya latte, but it is too often also the bullar in my paper bag! And talking about Gateau - their sourdough bread...almost as good as the one made by my brother-in-law, or my father-in-law. No, they don't have a competition, just happened to start almost simultaneously :).

But the cinnamon rolls...ahhh. Perhaps tomorrow?

***

minitrendi, hassu trendi, pitsiliina, korvapuusti, vanhanajan vakka

Maiti Nepal

I was in touch with my friends in Nepal again this week. Maiti Nepal touches the deep corners of my heart, and it is impossible to think of it really - ACTION is far more preferred.

Maiti Nepal was first introduced to me in 2009 by my Swedish teacher, my dear friend, who is in the board of Sweden Nepal Society. Having visited the country tens of times as a translator, as a tourist, as a friend and as a tourist guide, she was able to give insight to the faraway culture in a way that I don't think many can.

MAITI Nepal was born out of a crusade to protect Nepali girls and women from crimes like domestic violence, trafficking for flesh trade, child prostitution, child labor and various forms of exploitation and torture. A group of socially committed professionals like teachers, journalists and social workers together formed Maiti Nepal in 1993 to fight against all the social evils inflicted upon our female populace. Most of all, its special focus has always been on preventing trafficking for forced prostitution, rescuing flesh trade victims and rehabilitating them.  Maiti's focus has always been on prevention of girl trafficking, a burning issue for Nepal.

More than 17,000 women and girls from Nepal become sex slaves every year. Many end up in India, China or other Southeast Asian countries, and roughly half of them are children.  Anuradha Koirala -- the 2010 CNN Hero of the Year -- has been fighting to end this sex trafficking for nearly two decades. Since 1993, she and her organization, Maiti Nepal, have helped rescue and rehabilitate more than 12,000 women and girls.

Rehabilitation, although not literally possible especially with former prostitutes, is one major challenge they have accepted in their work. The practical steps would be to counsel them and provide non-formal education on health, laws, basic reading and writing. They are also trained to develop income-generation skills and provided Maiti's shelter until they are ready to stand on their feet. The campus is beautiful, and the wonderful people there would in my mind all deserve a trophy for their pure existence - both the workers, and the inhabitants.

Werannas Warehouse is participating in the funding of Maiti Nepal by reselling Lace flower blankets and cushion covers made by Maiti workshop. When visiting Nepal during the fall, I spent time in the workshop, as well as in Hospice to show the talented girls how to make crochet lace flowers.  They learned quickly, and the work is now supported by Mahaguthi, a local fair trade organization with good heart.

 I would love to tell you more about the visit, but I can't. I don't know how to describe the hope and the sorrow, the ice cold hands on a warm sunny day, the warm laughs and the eyes staring into the distance.

By purchasing one of these non-profit products from Werannas, you help Maiti Nepal to continue their invaluable work.

***
hyväntekeväisyys, sisustus, käsinvirkattu torkkupeitto, käsintehdyt sisustustekstiilit

Rustic loft interior

Loftenberg - two-level loft in Madrid, Spain

Going through my favorite blogs I ended up again in Loftenberg - ah, the beautiful lofts! Look at this one - all the elements are just right! 

 

And the bedroom:

And the other spaces:

Do I need to say more? It is just GEORGEOUS! So many interesting details - just absolutely LOVE it!

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olohuoneen sisustus, ullakon sisustus, makuuhuoneen sisustus, eläimen talja

Photo shoot - delicioso!

 I participated the photo shoot of Cottonhut fair trade felt products from Nepal - why do I want to blog about this? Just to post here the delicisious images - I don't know what it is about this color combination of blue, pink and dark grey - my eyes just LOVE it!

Formex spring 2012 Part II

Formex the second day - we were overly excited to go through the handicraft and kids sections to see what's new for the coming Spring/Fall 2012 season!! The color circus especially at the kids section was fantastic!! Rice won, of course :), but we also admired Teddy Kompaniet (the cuddlies are a MUST to our kids), Jabadabadoo and many many more. What was disappointing? Well - after the 3rd kid in the toddler age, I find it hard to get greatly enthusiastic about the wonderful things offered to the little ones the way I did before! That made me kind of sad - but then again, perhaps our little boy doesn't suffer too much even if mommy isn't getting to his room the newest cute little shelves and tents and all that...But these lovely colourful toys from Rice, which work perfectly as kids room decoration, got a smile on our faces:

Horseez...

And some dogs...

And mouse friends...

What really really made me happy was that many brands were introducing hand-made toys, fair trade products, as well as textiles made of organic cotton. I am not a very big fan of organic cotton - if I remember right, I told the reason already some time ago? Organic cotton needs to be hand-picked. It is not the nicest work, and in my mind it is just fine the cotton to be picked by machines. Fair-trade cotton? YES!!

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Lastenhuoneen sisustus, käsintehdyt lelut, sisustuksen trendit, sisustusmessut