Flea-market haul

I like crafting and DIY a lot. And the local flea-markets and secondhand stores are a treasure trove for finding inspiration for new projects. I do not go as often as I would like, mostly to protect my wallet from bleeding too much.

Now there is one place in particular here that has very nice prices and also stocks a separate handicrafts department. I went there yesterday because I got a tipoff that there was an old guitar there for sale. I found the guitar, an old Landola (which is a local Finnish brand). It lacked strings and the screws were very worn, but that is easy to fix. The most worrisome part is that the neck is slightly loose from the body, probably because of someone putting metal strings on it instead of nylon. I bought it anyway (and managed to negotiate the price). I intend to restore it as I know a carpenter who will be able to help. Then hopefully I will have a very good quality second guitar that I can bring with me on trips or for work.

As I happened to be in this particular flea-market, I decided to go to the craft department, and lo and behold did I find nice things there. At the end of my visit I came away with a large cookie-pillow for making bobbin lace. I have been thinking of buying one but around here they are very expensive. So finding one for a miniscule prize was a real stoke of luck. I will change out the fabric on it and redo some of the padding, as it is a little too soft for my liking. Then I'll just have to find bobbins somewhere, as I won't get far with the two pairs I have.

I also found a very nice 20 cm wide, cream colored bobbin lace. It was in two pieces but together they measure about 3 meters. I paid 5 euros for it, and I'm fairly certain that had I found it at a normal store the price would have been 20-30 euros per meter. I felt amazingly lucky. Now the lace seems old and has some discoloring, so I am debating with myself whether I might be able to gently wash and dye it. Anyhow, it will certainly feature in some future project.

I found a small handbook on traditional wood carving. This will be a gift for the aforementioned carpenter. Lastly, but maybe what I prized most, was a leaflet with diagrams and models for embroidering monograms. It featured many different styles, and gives ideas for arranging letters, and embellishment around monograms. I have been looking for something similar for a while. And it will be a joy to dig into this one.

That is all for this time. Have a nice day!

~Stella

December haul: Something to start the new year

Yule has gone by and the holiday sales are on in stores. I tend to go shopping at the time around new year as prices are lower and I usually have more time to spend shopping. This time I got my hands on some makeup, jewelry and stationery. 

Makeup products

One of the local makeup stores has recently started stocking NYX makeup. I have previously tried their liquid lipsticks and I quite liked them. So I went in to look at them. I ended up buying a couple of lipsticks, some lipliners (actually eyeliners, but they will work just fine on lips as well for my purposes), a liquid eyeliner and a eye makeup base.. In a jewlry store I found the nail stencils which I'll be trying out. 

Bats!

I got the ring from the same jewelry store as the nail stencils. The bat necklace and earrings I got in the mail. I ordered them some time back and they are absolutely lovely. The only thing wrong with them was that the earring hooks were on the wrong way, but that was easily fixed.

Stationery.

I also went shopping for some stationery. So I got a new bullet journal, some cute sticky notes with birds on them and some scrap-booking paper. The "Your[sic] one in a melon" (which is horribly misspelled) contains some bigger sticky notes and weekly to do-lists. The smaller pads with owls and lemons also contains different sized sticky notes. I use these quite a lot ans since they were on sale I grabbed a couple.

Lastly I went shopping for some hiking gear. I got a new meal trey set: cup, bowl (both foldable), spork, cutting board, lunch box and a shaker for spices. I also got a few pairs of woolen hiking socks and a tarp. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of these but I will put them to use during spring.

With that I will now sit down with a nice cup of tea and start my new bullet journal for 2018. I wish you all a happy new year! May it be blessed and fulfulling!

~Stella

Killstar Haul and First Impressions

I have been ogling Killstar's items for a very long time and recently decided to order some items from them. I have been needing a new handbag and wallet for some time and some items from Killstar's fall collection just spoke strongly to me. Here are the items I ordered:

• Tryals cast-out vest top [link]
• Book of Spells handbag [link]
• Dee Ceased Book wallet [link]
• Book of Spells journal [link]
• Netflix socks [link]

So I placed my order on a Tuesday afternoon and the package arrived in less than a week, which was much faster than I had expected. The items arrived in a plastic bag (picture below), which always makes me a bit nervous about in which condition the items would be. I really like the look of the bag though, this Ouija-board style print. So I could not wait to get home and tear open the packaging to get to the items inside.

As I opened the bag and started pulling things out of it I must say that they were really nicely packaged. The wallet came in it's own box, which was slightly dented in one corner but this did not affect the wallet itself. Here is a picture of all the items I got and below will follow my first impressions of them:

• The Tryals Cast-Out vest is a knee length top. It has some (decorative) lacing in the back and text printed on both sides, from a pamphlet of 1693 about casting out witches and devils. I really like the soft cotton stretch fabric of the top. It feels super comfortable to wear and it is the right length for me. I got the size XXL based on the size chart on Killstar's page for this item, but I could probably have gotten away with ordering a size L. This kind of material stretches a lot and the armholes feel a bit too big. A size large would probably also fit more snugly around my bust. But in all I am really happy with this top. I got it because I liked how the cut of it looked and the text printed on it reminds me of all the prejudice that witches and other alternative people have faced in history and still face today.

• The Handbag then. I am positively surprised by the handbag. It has two main compartments, one of which contains a small, zippered pocket. Zippers are all silver and shiny.The lining is woven with the Killstar logo in the fabric and it is also anchored to the bottom of the bag, which is a marker of good quality. The bottom of the bag has four studs on it for the handbag to stand on and protect it from wear and tear. The handbag also came with a detachable shoulder strap. I have not tried that out yet, but I will in time. I am a little bit concerned about how well the edge paint on the vegan leather will hold up, but we shall see. In all I feel like this might be one f the better quality non-leather handbags that I have owned. 

• The Dee Ceased wallet with the text "Handbook for the recently deceased" on it. This feels like a robust wallet. It has the text and some gravestones printed on the front, and a small zippered pocket on the back. The zippers and corner details are in a dark silver grey finish. Once opened the wallet has space for 12 cards, with two bigger "pockets" for notes or receipts, and a zippered pocket for coins. I find that the wallet i also big enough to house a small notepad and a pen. As with all new wallets and card holders they need to be broken in. The card holders in this one are really tight so I will try to break it in really slowly. In contrast to the handbag, the wallet has barely any edge paint, and edges are instead turned in. The only place I can see edge paint on are the books bands on the spine. The wallet fits very snugly in the handbag so I might be using an other wallet in the handbag instead f this one.

• Book of Spells Journal: I was super surprised by the feel of the cover of this journal. It is not in any way velvet, but this kind of soft matte cover that feels velvety to the touch. I can't put words on the feeling properly, but it feels nice to the touch. The print is embossed. The inside of the journal is lined cream paper. It has a satin band to mark pages and a rubber band to use for keeping the journal closed.  The first thing I did with this was to write my name in it, and of course, the title will tell you what the contents will be.

• Netflix socks: These have the text "Netflix and don't touch me" on them, in bold letters. I got these because when I saw them they made me laugh remembering an episode that happened a few years back. I had just met this guy who seemed really nice and he asked weather we could have this "Netflix and chill"-evening. I wholeheartedly agreed as I thought "Oh yeah, watching Netflix and having a chill evening." Sometimes I take things a bit too literally... Anyway, you can imagine how surprised I was when he made a move on me in the middle of a Jessica Jones-episode. Therefore, I got these socks to remind myself of that time and to keep unwanted suitors away (secret: when I watch a movie or TV-series I really like, I don't want to be disturbed by anything).

So in all I am very happy with the things I got (although my bank account is bleeding). I will try to make reviews of at least the handbag and the wallet once they have seen some wear. In the meantime: Stay witchy!

~Stella