Photography Concept and Styling - SUNSHINE

I feel everybody is talking about it. It is very fashionable. Have you heard the thing called breaking out of your comfort zone? Well, I have and I did. I decided to make my Photography Concept and Styling post as a video. I made it in one day about one word - sunshine.  I've asked people to give me a word/words that I can use in this post series. This time I got this word from lovely talent Michele Michael from Elephant Ceramics. Thank you Michele!
 

I have had one picture in my head when I've been thinking this word and it has been a picture of fabric in the wind. I don't know why. I made this video yesterday. Showing the video that I produced in so little time isn't easy. But going with the flow and being able to just let it go while you could still continue...well, that is the biggest barrier to conquer. Deadlines comes and goes and so should you also make and then just let it be. It might sound a little bit weird but in reality when you do a lot of creative work you can't get stuck with every one of them.

One thing more about this work. I think it was great word to work with. Not the easiest one but the best one if you like natural light like I do. I love it. It makes you smile and it makes beautiful lightning in photographs and why not in video also. Great inspiration.

This post is one of the Photography Concept and Styling post series that I began to make this year in March. It will be posted once in the month. So if you want to see other posts you find them here. 

You can also leave a comment or e-mail me a word or two if you are interested about this kind of making photography and art. I don't promise I use every word I get in my posts but I'm very happy if you want to participate. You are mentioned when I use your word and before I do, I let you know. 

My e-mail: sendtogretchen(at)gmail(dot)com

I hope you got some inspiration and decided to make something in a way you would never ever absolutely do! I wouldn't make a video without screenplay and some kind of storyboard - but I just did.

xo

Kreetta

DIY Banana Chandelier - African Party Decoration

It is beautiful Sunday evening and for that reason I'm going to show you today DIY banana chandelier. You read right. 

Truly very easy DIY. You can also eat - well almost all - your chandelier and you can always build it again. You can try different fruits. Reason why I used bananas was because we had African Party and bananas don't get spoiled when you hang them to be a decoration. No waste - I tried to think. Here it is! What do you think?
 

I think you can see quite clearly how I have done it. 

You only need: 
An old lamp shade, cut a way the old fabric or paper that is on it. String - enough strong. Fruits, decide how many. Strong metal wire to hang it up. I used green garden metal wire. You can decorate it more or you can make it with selection of fruits. You can always add more threads, ribbons, paint the lamp shade or other decoration. There are so many ways to do it. I wanted to do very simple and funny one.

Things to remember. Fruits are quite heavy when there are lot of them. Remember also do the balancing right with your chandelier. I bought quite same sized bananas. People was quite amazed with this little creature. Great wow party thing! 

 

In a good party there have to be a treasure hunt for children and of course adults could also take a part. Do you know Finnish board game called African Star, The Star of Africa or Diamond Hunt? It has many names in English but in Finland it is only called Afrikan Tähti. It is a huge classic in our country and I hope you have seen it or maybe even played it. I have always liked Afrikan Tähti so it was wonderful I could make outdoor game of it. 

First I made a map. Here comes another DIY! I just used old wooden board that I have painted with chalk board paint. Then I drew a map of Africa. I also had plastic fruits as a decoration as I used those also in my head piece.

I also painted paper bags that had pictures like Afrikan Tähti tokens that you can find from the cities when you are trying to find African Star. There are horseshoes, robber, gemstones and of course African star - first bag from the upper left. A lot of glitter! ...and some nice surprises in the bags.

These we hid on the yard. It was so fun when kids started to hunt treasures and couple of adults also. The little boy who found the Afrikan Tähti had been so full of joy and excitement. I didn't see him but I can imagine.

Following pics tells a little bit more about our party. We were lucky to have a warm and beautiful summer evening.

We made fried bananans and meat with jollof rice. Delicious.

We had also a band playing in our party. Sounds so cool. The band is us. The people who lives in our house. 4 families - how cool is that?! Not too serious. Main point of the band is that everybody is having fun!

xo

Kreetta

Slow living - natural dyeing vol. 2

Hurraa!(hooray)

i got this old pot from our neighbour when we had flea market on our yard

I made it! I made my first natural dye. I dyed cotton fabric that I bought from one lovely shop that sells old things and there I found this -not used- cotton fabric.

wet fabric

My mordant was rhubarb leaves. I took few rhubarb leaves from our garden. I boiled them with the small piece of fabric about 3 hours. I dried the fabric.

 

My coloring material was peelings and stone of one avocado. I dug them from our food waste. Avocado peelings with fabric went to the pot and with quite low simmering I kept them there for about 3 hours. I left them there over night. And I got some color! Yay!  

dried fabric. would you know that this color is from avocado?

The waste of dyeing I threw to compost. There's nothing poisonous or chemicals so it is possible to do so.

I think you should understand something about chemistry when you are doing this natural dyeing but I don't understand so much, that's a pity. But I'll learn by doing, don't I? If you have a clue to why to use certain mordant with certain fabric and certain color source, please tell me. I've been reading India Flint's book but already forgot some information - I had to return it back to the library...maybe I have to buy one.

It takes time but I love it! And what should I do now with that colored piece of fabric? It will be totally great photo prop, I can already say...

xo
Kreetta

Well, What Kind Of Photographer Are You?

I try to find beauty all the time. I admit that I love beautiful things and I like to photograph beautiful images. I even try to find beauty in things and matters that aren't beautiful at all like trash, broken things, ugly font, run-down houses - what ever my object is I try to make it beautiful. But why? 

food waste

I like also surreal. I guess I try to make things to look like they were straight from a fairy tale or from imagination. I love fairy tales or tales in general. It might be that tradition of photography honors ducumentary approach more than play with imagination. But they both - document and fiction - can be art. Why I don't make document photography? I have made some and going to make more but you know also in that I try to make reality to look surreal - unreal and beautiful. Why?

The question is why? I've been thinking this matter lately quite a lot. I feel I don't want to do empty photography without content. The answer is I see my photography as a way to give a birth to emotion and experience. Emotions and feelings are the best what we humans have. Can you think a life without feelings and emotions? What kind of life it would be?

Some of us - photographers - run to the fields of war or place where have happened something unnatural or extreamly awful. We show to people the horrors, weird things, real things, ordinary, our own visions, so many important issues and things. I believe we are also working for ourselves by choosing our objects that will be in our focus. We tell our own story every time when we push the button. Objective truth doesn't exist.

I admire people who wants to risk their own lives to show the hunger, war and all the horrors that exists on our Mother Earth. I have to admit that I've questioned myself why I'm not there - making important reportage in crise areas? The simple answer is I couldn't survive with it. I wouldn't survive and I couldn't face the life as such. I would dive too deep to seas of desperate thoughts and it would paralyze me. Me - who almost cry when I see people running marathon's last meters with very last of their power before they cross the finishing line? Why I still feel that with given talent you have to do something that really matters? 

next to our bedroom's window

 
But there are other ways to make a difference. You can choose your way. I want to fight for better life and environment - for everybody. I do it my own way showing things that I respect, talking about things what I feel we should remember and maybe even change our actions. I really hope that with my body of work I also can make a difference. Somewhere deep inside I hope my blog will grow and someday I really can affect to people how they see the world and what kind of consumption they support. Or maybe I make a exhibition about it. Consumption is a big key to everything if you think it more clearly.

But still I think you and I need some relief of reality, of course! We need positive impact to keep us on the right path. It is just how it goes - not everything should be so damn serious! Life is right now and right here so let's use it as good as we can but not forgetting everything else.

What kind of thoughts you have? I like to hear.

Have a beautiful week my reader and thanks for reading my thoughts.

xo
Kreetta

Trip To Our Moms

totally in love with rasberries at juha's mom 
photo © my husband

delicious sauerkraut workshop in the kitchen of my mom

book reproduction at my mom's living room for inspiration

is there a place where i wouldn't go to flea market? old finnish chocolate box by hellas and lace tutorial book 
Look at that collar!

another flea find - a book by famous finnish writer - beautiful graphic design

living room table at my mom's home - we read books from her bookcase

this is a beautiful place of my sister's family
you can stay a night at vierastalo raska 

wow! very old-fashioned shop - called rauta ja talous

an old thermometer at the bus station - huittinen

a view from the bus window

we went to forest - huge stone in luvia

gardening beauty by mother-in-law

Thank you Moms!

It is sometimes hard to find time to visit all the beloved ones. But when you do - it's worth it. And if you keep your eyes open you can see so much beauty around you.

xo
Kreetta

My Impulsive Tart - Recipe By Green Kitchen Stories

Usually I don't post on Tuesdays but now I do. Today I saw a Facebook status by Green Kitchen Stories. It was  about Wild Berry Tart.  The tart looked so tempting that I decided to make one. I didn't go to forest - to that I was way too lazy but in the garden we have redcurrants and gooseberries so that direction I went. Here's a result. Because of my berries were quite sour - my tart needs sweet ice cream. I didn't use lemon and I used melissa instead of mint. Of course I had to make a pic of it.

That's a wrap!

xo
Kreetta

Slow living - good food for everyone vol. 2

It is sometimes hard to decide what to eat. Expecially when you are travelling and trying to find a good restaurant a little bit too late - when you are already too hungry. You find yourself eating just something. Been there done that. But talking seriously, it is nowadays also a little bit difficult to decide where and what kind of food I should buy and why. There are so many point of views to consider. How to make a right decision? 

I guess you just have to start from somewhere. I've tried to remember few things when I go to grocery store. First of all I try to keep my shopping list seasonal. I don't try to buy strawberries in the middle of the winter. We have picked up our strawberries in summer - we have them in freezer for our winter mornings. But you know also freezing has it problems. It takes a lot of energy. So what is the final truth of this? Do you know? 

I also try to buy local food as much as I can find. In summer time it is much easier. You can grow your own vegetables. We don't have so much time or space to grow everything...but this summer I chose to grow salads. That is one thing I'm very happy about. But you do as you feel and you are comfortable with. I know not everybody like gardening or don't have place to grow. Then the market is great place to buy vegetables and fruits from local producers.

There is also lot to eat in our nature. Wild edibles have been coming to our kithens and even to fine dining restaurants. If you haven't tried foraging yet, I recommend. I blogged about it about year ago. Last year I also wrote another post about nettle.

The newest foraging experience is from beginning of June. I was in food photography workshop in Sweden. It was Aran Goyoaga's workshop and it was suberb! There we had beautiful days with good food and great people. One day we went to foraging with Ola Rudin from Saltimporten restaurant.

Ok, let's get back to garden. I bought a chili plant in spring and it is producing wonderfully. I'm also growing tomatoes and waiting them to turn red. It's not perfect - you know - this gardening of mine. Everything doesn't go like I have planned like tomatoes...they grow too slow...but still I really hope that they produce me new good seeds this year. But one thing is for sure. Every year you learn something new about gardening by doing it.

Respecting nature with right choises concerning about food is something I really hope we could all do. It's not so clear always what is right and what is wrong but you can always ask a friend or try to find the answer from internet or even read a book about it. Have to admit that I and maybe you too feel this question about food overwhelming time to time. But you know what? I think the good start is to learn more step by step and try to make a good habit of it.  What do you think? 

We had a great party at our house this weekend and if you haven't already seen, go here and see my party look! It was a fun evening!


And now I wish you a great beginning of the week!

xo
Kreetta

Is It Vintage - Swedish Green

These plates are designed by Arthur Percy, Sweden (1886-1976) Arthur Percy was a Swedish artist and ceramist. 1923 he was chosen to be  art director of Gefle porcelain factory. The factory existed 1910-1979 in Gävle.

As I'm on gluten free and dairy free diet and I love to eat Pavlova and I'm not the only one as you can see and you might find a recipe from here also. It's very simple. Sweet merinque and fresh berries with touch of melissa and sugar water. As you know you need only sugar and eggs to get the best merinque. Some almonds or pistachios goes well together with merinque. They roast nicely on top of the merinque. Heavenly taste.

I found these beautiful plates from Sweden. We made a one week long flea market and antique trip to Sweden two years ago. It was great fun and I have to admit I loved it! Beautiful country with many treasures. I guess these plates are quite common in Sweden but to me they are still treasures.

xo

Kreetta

DIY - lighting with wood and diamond touch

Dear reader, 

We have a new light in our bedroom. We made this light together. I found wood balls from shop that has a lot of old treasures. From there we also bought an old potato masher that my husband transformed to be a cover of the lamp holder. I love the feeling of wood and simplicity with beautiful shape of light. We have there also a diamond - a halogen bulb made by Eric Themer. I bought the bulb last winter...but it always takes some time to make things ready - or what do you think?

wood balls had a little bit too small holes so we drilled them a little bit bigger

that we could use them on power cord

product box design is beautiful

Have a creative beginning of the week!

xo

Kreetta

Slow living - good food for everyone vol. 1

I love food. I'm trying to be ecological and remember to eat more vegetables. Avoid food waste. Use organic products and support ecological farming. But nobody's perfect and I guess you know what I mean by that. But I'm sure little changes makes the world better place. I'm very happy to have a small garden in summer time and use herbs and salads from there. 

The leftovers of yesterday's new potatoes fried in a pan with sage and onion.

Fry fresh carrots in coconut oil with tarragon 5 minutes or more. A bit of salt. Very simple and sweet.

Lumikinkku. Ham, the organic product of the year 2013 in Finland. Delicious.

All salads and herbs are from my own garden.

Cherry tomatoes with greek basil, olive oil, salt and pepper makes the magic. 

Enjoy!



xo
Kreetta