Rag Pets – Handmade soft toys from Helsinki, Finland

Happy Pigeon Day!

Today is a most pigeon-tastic day, for it is Pigeon Appreciation Day!
I've spent the day appreciating these brilliant birds... well, I've actually spent most of today working on a pigeon-themed rag-cat, but since my rag-dressmaking ended up being more frustrating than productive I decided that I best just stick to the appreciating of pigeons bit. So poor Livia (named after Columba Livia, the latin name for Feral Rock Pigeons, which is what most common city pigeons are) is still without a dress.

My regard for pigeons doesn't maybe burn as bright as famed scientist and pigeon fancier Nikola Tesla's, but I still rather went on and on and on about how really wonderful pigeons are in my Pigeon Appreciation Day post last year, so I won't get into how graceful and talented pigeons are at flying or their accomplishments as messengers both during war and peace, again. What I will do instead is wish all pigeons and appreciators of these awesome avifauna a very pigeon-full Pigeon Appreciation Day! :)

It's May Day's (or Vappu as it's known over here) eve today! Usually this holiday is a rowdy celebration of noise and colour and the streets fill with boisterous revellers. For us, it's a much more quiet celebration: we stay in and eat lots of goodies and maybe watch a movie or two. No balloons or silly hats involved this year, just sima (mead) and munkki (doughnuts) and PJs in front of the telly. Previous years I've tried decorating with balloons and streamers, but the cat has opinions about these, very pointy, sharp opinions, and it's not really worth the hassle. :)
Tomorrow, on May Day proper, I'll most likely head off to the tearoom to help with switching over to summer things (things at the tearoom change with the seasons, and winter season comes to an end as May begins) and cleaning, doing my best to void the worst of the folks carousing about, not being too keen on the more exuberant celebrations myself. Sima and munkki may very well still be had, and I may even dig out a silly hat to wear.

By the by, there are appropriately balloon-themed rag-bags in the shop, for carrying your bottles of sima, tippaleipä (a special May Day funnel cake) and silly hats about as you make merry on May Day.

I wish you all a very joyous May Day! :)

Hi! Hello!

It's been a very, very long time since I last updated! I guess I inadvertently ended up taking a little Rag Pet hiatus, doing other things instead for a bit. I think the hiatus was a good thing though, even if it was unplanned, it gave me a chance to concentrate on being creative outside of the Rag Pets and to recharge my rag-batteries, as it were.

One of the things I did was take a class in soft toy making last weekend. Although for me it was maybe more about just crafting with others, than anything else. Usually I putter about my workroom all by myself, so it's easy to forget how much fun it is to make things with other people present too.
During last weekend's course, I made an elephant and new crafting friends.

I'm very much an introvert, so being around people isn't something I need, or at times even want, but despite this I do like crafting with others. It's an opportunity to share ideas and knowledge and to be inspired by others, and of course, it's always nice to simply make things.

While being social can sometimes be a bit of a chore for me, getting to share the wonder of making soft toys with fellow crafters really fanned my crafting fire and I'm going to channel some of that crafty energy to getting back to all things Rag Pets. :)

Happy Hinamatsuri!

Today is Hinamatsuri, the Festival of Dolls, or Girls' Day as it's also known.

I spent the day helping out at the tearoom at our Hinamatsuri tea gathering -after we'd first shovelled a few snow drifts out of the way so we could actually get to the tearoom! It snowed a whole lot last night, making what was looking very promisingly like Spring take several steps back into Winter again. Hinamatsuri is, in addition to being a celebration of dolls and girls, a herald of Spring, even if the weather may think otherwise. :) Regardless of the snow, we had a nice little celebration of all things girly, where we hopefully managed to at least evoke the feeling of spring even as Winter very much held on outside.

Now I'm home, rolled up in my blanket and spending time with my cat BooBoo and a nice cuppa and some biscuits. I'm thinking of maybe getting my dolls out and fussing with their outfits a bit later, but right now, I'm more than content to just camp out in my blanket fort enjoying my tea and to wish all of you girls and dolls and everyone else too a very happy Hinamatsuri! :)

Rag-bag!

I mentioned making rag-bags a while back, and now, here's the first one of them!

This particular one features an appliqued grey wool rag cat with little buttons for eyes and an embroidered nose, wearing a pink plaid cotton dress and holding a happy yellow balloon that has an embroidered string.
The bag is cotton and about 36cm wide and 41cm tall.

The first ever rag-bag is available in the Rag Pet Shop, for all your stuff carrying needs. :)

Love!

Without all of you, my dear, wonderful friends, life would be all the duller and decidedly humdrum.
So I wish you all a truly lovely and love-filled Valentine's Day!

Love,
me ♡

Stories from Kyoto

Once again, a word of warning: this post is very, very image heavy, so it'll take a while to load. Please have patience as it does so.
And again, if you want the whole story of my adventures, as this is only an abridged version, go to my Flickr and browse through all the photos in my Japan set.

Last I left off, we were on the train to Kyoto, where we arrived in the evening and tiredly hauled our bags to our ryokan. The ryokan, The Aoi-So Inn, is run by a wonderful old man, who spoke very good English and even a word or two of Finnish, and carried our big, very heavy bags up to our room on the second floor and then back down the stairs when we left!
Even though the common areas were without heating, and thus freezing in the winter time, and we had to pay for heating in our room and hot water in the shared facilities (again, with 100¥ coins that we'd begun to treasure like the most precious of precious things), it was a lovely, homey place to stay at. I really liked the worn-in, comfortable scruffiness of everything, and the feeling of lived in history.

Once we'd checked in to our accommodation, we headed off to the Funaoka Onsen (a sort of a spa) for a well needed soak to wash away the weariness and dust of travel.

After a thoroughly enjoyable bath, we had supper at Sarasa, a darling cafe near the onsen, where the food and drinks were delicious and the atmosphere comfortably bohemian.

On our first full day in Kyoto, we hopped onto a bus and went to the Sagawa art museum. It was... well, I've not words enough to describe how wonderful it was, how everything is utterly perfect and thought out to the last little detail and how completely striking it all was. We had a guided tour of the museum's tearooms, which were a treat for all the senses, and again, every element was so incredibly, thoroughly perfect.
The museum presents a truly stark face in the winter, especially on a grey day like the one when we were there. We were the only splash of colour in the austere landscape, with the pools and the sky and the buildings all only sporting various shades of grey. Apparently the look and feel of the whole museum, inside and out, changes with the seasons, being grey and stern in the winter and green and alive in the summer.
Photography wasn't allowed inside the museum or the tearooms, but then again, I'm not sure mere pictures would really do justice to it.

The next day we had plans to visit a few temples and shrines, but the day turned out to be dreary and rainy, so we simply puttered about the city instead.
First we visited the Kyoto Manga Museum (where, once again, photography wasn't allowed), browsed their literal walls of manga and their little Showa-era tin toy exhibition and then we went to what, in my opinion at least, is the happiest place on earth, Cat Cafe Nekokaigi!

At the Cat Cafe (which is exactly what it says it is), we petted many cats, had a cup of tea, were sat on by many cats and generally just cooed over the adorableness of all the kitties. :)
While there, my camera ran out of memory, so afterwards I went and bought a new memory card so I could keep on snapping photos! After the spot of impromptu shopping, we had way too much to eat at a conveyor belt sushi restaurant, and then headed back to our ryokan with our bellies full of yummy food and hearts full of happy memories.

The next day, me and Jenny headed to explore Gion, as Jenny had an appointment at a Geiko Henshin (a studio where they dress you up as a geisha and you can have your photo taken) there. After Jenny's geisha-experience, we did a bit of sightseeing and really hoped very hard that it wouldn't rain like it had during the night (it didn't).
The whole Gion area emanated history, with temples and shrines everywhere you turned.

Having spent the day on our feet sightseeing, we went to bathe and relax at the onsen and had dinner at Sarasa again in the evening.

The next day, which dawned sunny and bright after the past days had been rather grey, we visited the 2013 New Year's exhibition of modern paintings and chado (the art of tea) impliments at the Chado Research Center Galleries, and then we took a stroll through the Hoponji temple after that.

With a lot of the temples we saw, the dichotomy of a historic, grand (even the little tiny temples seemed grand) temple with the sleek, modern high rises surrounding it was always a bit jarring, or it was to me at least.

We spent the rest of the day doing a copious amount of shopping at the Shijo shopping district and eating an alarming amount of cake at an all-you-can-eat cake buffet, fittingly named "Sweet Paradise". Then we headed back to our ryokan to sleep, with the moon smiling down at us. :)

(You can just make out the smiling moon in the middle of the picture. In Japan when the moon isn't full, it smiles, where as here it's simply a crescent.)

The next morning, we got up very early to put on our kimonos and head back to the Chado Research Center to spend the day at the Midorikai school, attending their lectures and practice. It was a super opportunity to get to do so, and a humbling one at that too. I felt like, even after studying chado for nearly four years now, I still don't know anything at all -but in a good sense. It was good to realise that there is so very much to learn yet, that what I know now is just a little snowflake on the tip of an iceberg and that the learning never stops.
In the evening we packed our bags, having to sit on them to get them to close, and then went out to have our last supper at a little local eatery.

We had Okonomiyaki, as that was what we had as our first meal in Japan, and it seemed fitting that it should also be what we had last. Then we said our goodbyes to Aliisa and headed back to the inn for one more night.

It snowed during our last night in Japan, and while it was only a light dusting visible in places that went undisturbed and that melted almost as soon as it fell, it was like Kyoto wanted to show us this just before we left. :)

With our bags stuffed full, and our hearts already aching to come back we left Kyoto early in the morning and sat for two hours in an airport taxi as it drove through majestic mountains and equally imposing cities to Kansai airport, where we boarded a plane, said our farewells to Japan and flew back home through fluffy clouds to Finland.

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I already miss Japan something awful, and I started to long to back the moment our plane took off from Kansai.

The parts in between

Again, a word of warning to those with slower connections: this is a post filled with lots and lots of photos, so it will most likely take a fair while to load.

In my last travel diary entry I'd just gotten to the end of our 3rd day in Japan (or 2nd day in Tokyo).
On our 4th day, we grabbed some ekiben (train station packed lunch) and hopped onto the train leaving Tokyo behind for the day and headed off to Kakegawa and Shizuoka to meet my friend Lisa.

On the way from Tokyo to Kakegawa, Mt. Fuji put in an appearance. It's hard to tell from the picture how very impressive and striking Fuji-san really is, even when seen through the windows of a train.

Kakegawa welcomed us with clear blue skies and it was all a nice change from the 24/7 hustle and bustle of Tokyo, with it's small, quiet streets and nary anyone else in sight. It was great to get to see such a different side of Japan, after our introduction to it had been amongst the throngs of people and ever present buzz of Tokyo.

While there, Lisa took us to visit Kakegawa castle, and it's tearoom.
Kakegawa castle was small, very charming and cozy, but still rather grand, what with being a castle and all. The wonderfully enthusiastic elderly gentleman who acted as a guide of the castle showed us photos of the castle and its grounds through the seasons, so we could see what the area will look like come spring and everything is in bloom and not hibernating like it all was as we were there during winter.

The view from the very top of the castle was awesome, and showed how in Japan, mountains really are everywhere! It was also a great contrast from the impressive and pretty intimidating view of Tokyo we got from the top of Tokyo Tower.

After touring the castle, we paid a visit to the tearoom situated on its grounds. I, Jenny and Aliisa all practice chadô (the art of tea, Aliisa is actually currently studying chadô in Kyoto), so it was really super for us to get to see another tearoom asides from the one we have here in Helsinki.

After having some tea and simply stopping and enjoying the moment for a while, we took a little walk around the castle and it's environs.

...and that's where the battery of my camera ran out.

I was so upset that I couldn't take photos in Shizuoka, where we went after Kakegawa. Shizuoka is a lovely city that has the feel of a small town, even though it's the capital of its prefecture. Then again, I think every place will feel smaller after Tokyo.
The best thing about Shizuoka couldn't be captured on camera though: that the streets smelled wonderfully of roasted tea. The Shizuoka area is famous for its green tea, apparently to the extent that the city is permeated with the smell of it! After sniffing about the streets, we went to a lovely little teashop & cafe that served super yummy "chaffels", tea waffles, a speciality of the shop and Shizuoka.

Afterwards we parted company with Aliisa, as she had to get back to Kyoto earlier for school, and I and Jenny returned to Tokyo for one more day, before we too would make our way to Kyoto. To cap off our tea-filled day, we had a nice cuppa at the ryokan before bed. :)

On our last day in Tokyo, we ended up spending quite a lot of time having a tiff with the coin lockers in Shibuya train station (they would only accept 100¥ coins, which we were very short on at the time) where we left our luggage for the day and then getting a little lost in Shinjuku, looking for shops we wanted to visit.
After we were done with shopping and getting lost, we returned to Shibuya, collected our bags from the accursed coin lockers and headed off into the sunset... or Kyoto, as it happened. :)

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Next up in my Japan travel diary, Kyoto! :)

Tokyo tales

Just a word of warning before I start: this will be very image heavy, so please have patience as it all loads.

Now that I've finally sorted though all the photos from my adventures in Japan (you can see them all on my Flickr), I thought it time to share some stories of my travels.
It's incredibly hard to pick what to write here, because I've so many wonderful memories of my trip and I don't really want to leave anything out, but I also realise that were I to tell every single story, it'd take for ever and ever! So, what follows is an abridged version of it all, and if you're interested in reading more, just click into my Flickr, I've tried to type everything out under the photos there.

We, that is I and my traveling companion Jenny, left Finland behind on the evening of the 7th, and landed in Japan the morning of the 8th, after a very long flight that was much too slow for how excited we were to finally arrive. Still feeling mussed and muddled from the flight, we none the less managed to get our Rail Passes (which were the best thing ever!) and hop on the train from Kansai Airport to Shin-Osaka, where we met up with our gracious guide and friend Aliisa and had a quick bite to eat before we headed off to Tokyo.

We spent four wonderful, busy days in Tokyo, enjoying nice weather and having a really super time in the bustling city... although the great city doesn't look quite as crowded and hectic in my photos, because we arrived in Japan outside of any tourist seasons and just as work and schools had started back up again after the holidays.

While in Tokyo, we stayed at a great ryokan (a traditional Japanese inn) that was at the end of a little street lined with vending machines near the Shin-Okubo station. We slept three a-breast on futons that we'd roll out in the evening and then roll up in the morning and put the table back in their place for the day. We had our own bathroom and toilet, and even a telly to watch completely mystifying Japanese television programs on.

I got over any jet lag and sleep rhythm weirdness pretty quickly, since flying towards Japan allowed us to fall asleep (or as asleep as it is possible to get on a plane) in the evening and wake up in the morning, making zipping through so many time zones seem more natural. We still tended to get up early in the morning, so as to make the most of our time and get lots done during the day.

On our first full day in Tokyo, we hopped onto the Ghibli-bus and went to the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka.

Unfortunately photography wasn't allowed inside the museum, which was a real shame because it was absolutely brilliant inside! Every little thing was delightful and perfectly thought out, and it was a really super place to visit. They even had a special exhibition of illustrations from Andrew Lang's fairytale books, which was super awesome for a fairytale fan like me.

After a super enjoyable day at Ghibli, we hopped back onto the Ghibli-bus and headed back into the city to explore Shibuya, Shinjuku and Harajuku, and to shop a bit while there too! We did a whole lot of shopping and eating in Tokyo; I don't think I've ever in my life shopped so much and eaten so well as I did while in Japan! :)

On our second day in Tokyo, we met up with Tomomi, a friend of Jenny's, and then we went to Tokyo Tower.

To me, Tokyo Tower is the landmark of Tokyo, much like Effel Tower is for Paris or Big Ben is for London. It's been in many of the anime series, drama series and movies I've seen, and so it was really great to get to see it in person.

The view from the top of the tower was really phenomenal! You could see all of Tokyo spread out under you feet, and see how breathtakingly vast the city really is.

After spending the morning admiring the views from Tokyo Tower, we then headed off to Heaven, or Nippori's Textile Town as most other people know it as. :)

We only managed to really visit one shop while there, but then again, that shop was Tomato, a huge 5-story store that sells pretty much every kind of fabric you can think of, in addition to sewing notions and other such bits and bobs. We spent the rest of the day there, along with a good bit of our money as well. :)

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I'll be splitting my travel diary into a few parts, since obviously it's quite impossible to scrunch everything into one post and still keep it at a reasonable length. Next up, I think I'll chronicle our visit to Kakegawa and Shizuoka and most likely my deep and abiding love of Japanese public transport. :)

Tadaima!

I'm home!

I fell in love with Japan as I set foot there, and I started to miss Japan the moment the plane's wheels lifted off the tarmac today.

I just got back home, unpacked my bags, sat on the sofa with the cat and now I'm doing my best to stay awake at least until 9 pm so I can start to get my sleep rhythm somewhere near to normal. So far I'm struggling a bit with this, as my eyes are drooping shut despite my best efforts to keep them open.

I'm making a start on sorting through all the many, many, many pictures I took and I'm planning my posts about the trip, but as I'm losing the battle over sleep, I think I'll hold off doing anything much until I'm more alert. :)

Any way, I am home now, safe and sound, and I have many a picture and story to share with you all.