December 16 - Once more Villa Cooper

 When I made the camera tour in Villa Cooper about a week ago, we didn't have much snow and it was early afternoon, so the lights in the garden didn't look like much to see either.

Now we have snow, and this Wednesday when we had our Christmas coffee and glögi party for the members, the place looked magic:

A last glimpse before saying goodbye for now!

December 14 - Knit knit knit

Now we have entered the wool room of Villa Cooper. As you can see, many of the members are knitters, and wool socks and stockings are one of our big hit articles especially for Christmas.

On this wall are the larger sizes, so the colours are more masculine.

Not just socks but also hats and beanies and scarfs, cowls and shawls are there. Mittens too, but my camera seems to have missed them.

December 13 - Kitchen

This is the kitchen of Villa Cooper, and kitchen things are displayed here. Handmade ceramics and hand painted china on these shelves.

A potholder tree!

A closet is filled with sauna things: washcloths and scrubbers, soap and soap trays, handwoven towels, sauna hats and anything you might need for a lovely bath.

December 12 - Toys in Villa Cooper

Christmas is a time for giving, and children receive the most gifts. The talented ladies and gentlemen of Villa Cooper have created unique toys for little ones.

One the shelves are many softies for babies.

The hobby horses or stick horses are a huge success among girls at any age. They have races and competitions, and the phenomenon has been internationally noticed as an example of girl power.

Rag dolls as a fundraiser for Unicef, and octopus softies for babies. These are also made for premature babies and donated to the hospitals.

Welcome again tomorrow to the next room.

Welcome to Villa Cooper

Some of you have been waiting for this Christmas tour.

The big dining room. This building is on the list of the museum authorities so the lights are about as they were when this was a family home. For a Sunday treat I give you a second picture, the Tiffany glass work and the elves on the right above the fireplace:

Christmas in Villa Cooper, part 2

Today we move on to the next room. Wool has taken over this space, where we usually see bags and clothing.

Mittens and scarves, beanies, caps and hats for every taste.

A whole tree hanging full of socks in every size and pattern. Hand knitted wool socks are a favourite product at this time of the year.

A group of tonttu elves is watching here too.

We move on to the kitchen. A modern wall decoration with straw, cloth, paint and dry roses.

Christmas stars made of wicker and red felted balls.

Handmade candles. The pastel shades are soy candles. You can wash the possible stains away with soap and water.

Red wreaths in the kitchen window.

A closet was filled with sauna products like these soaps in crocheted bags, and the hand woven towels.

The last room is the maid's room, usually our "wool room", but now showing the bags, clothes, baby things and toys.

The tour ends here, behind the windows of the kitchen and the maid's room. The shop is open on weekdays from 3 pm to 6 pm and on weekends from 10 am to 4 pm. All the handmade products are for sale, and the staff is our voluntary members who also work as guides for the Villa Cooper.

On the way back we walk past the swimming pool now filled with sand for safety reasons, so our  little guests can play there in the summer. The lanterns mark the edge  and show the way to the door.



      

When I came home, I had some special mail to be opened. This came form Paulette, my recycling blog friend from Canada:

Paulette is a specialist of wool appliqué, and she dyes the necessary shades herself. This cute cat elf will decorate my sewing corner tomorrow. As you see, still can't figure out why blogger sometimes tilts my portrait pictures like this. Just bend your right ear close to your right shoulder, and you will see the picture like it should be.

The other surprise was from my sweet blogging friend Melanie, whose parcels have been torturing my curiosity for weeks already. She promised I could open the one that jingles! Here it is:

                

A genuine British Christmas elf with her jingling shoes and hat, and with two red jingles in her hands. She is sitting on top of the new fireplace and watching over us. I think I need to start the Christmas cleaning now, before more guests arrive.

Thank you, talented ladies!

Christmas in Villa Cooper

Welcome to a tour in the Villa Cooper, my craft club's shop and architectural treasure in Järvenpää. I took the pictures yesterday in the afternoon, here are the entrance hall and office windows around 4 pm.

In the little entrance hall we must put those protective wax cloth things over our shoes to save the original wooden floors. Felted hearts and felted bullfinches have joined the tiny tonttu elves at the window and on the windowsill.

The table was set for Christmas in the biggest room. We'll see the other rooms next time.

The fireplaces are not used for heating for safety reasons.

Big tonttu elves.

Traditional Finnish himmeli decorations made of straw.

Handmade books and pottery.

A closer look at the dining table.

More ceramics and hand painted china.

 

A nativity scene and some blue lanterns for tealight candles.

Modern Christmas decorations.

Wreaths made of materials from the nature.

Angels by many designers.

Shiny hearts.

This was all for today, we'll visit the other rooms soon. I hope you enjoyed the tour.

New projects, and Swan Lake again

I have been busy sewing and hardly have had time to make pictures. On Sunday I needed to deliver my bits and pieces to Villa Cooper for the Christmas shop builders. Most of it was what was left from last year, but I made some coffee mug warmers as well. Some are for mugs like this, and the others are for takeaway paper mugs. I also made some angels, but they flew away before I had time to take a photo.

The opening will be on Saturday, and I will take you on tour again when I have a chance to visit the exhibition.

This is a busy time of the year for most of us, but guess what I have been doing? Taking new challenges! Mrs. Moen is asking people to make boobs (you read what I wrote; she used that word first!) for breast cancer patients. Not to wear, but to use in workshops to make art. Click on the link and read more. This is all happening in 2011 so you don't need to do anything just yet if you are busy right now. The instructions are very simple, and the fabric circles are easy to mail as a letter.

The other challenge will take some time this coming weekend. It is a Christmas Mystery for a quilting project, and I found it at Merete's blog. So far I have the instructions to pick my fabrics and to cut them. This is what I thought to use when she wrote about a pink and a golden yellow fabric and a black or grey background (Google translator calls the fabrics "drugs", but they are just cotton fabrics!).

I didn't cut any of them yet, because I think my pink is too pale and my grey is too grey, so I may need to change them. I like the the orange yellow with golden sparkles, but the other fabrics look too weak with it. This can become three cushion covers or a table runner, we'll see once we'll see how it looks like.

On Monday I took some more pictures of our little Swan Lake. New adult swans have joined the flock. There has been ice on the pond but it melted again. Today it is snowing quite heavily, and next week we are going to have real frost, colder than -10 C (+14F), so the swans and mallards need to fly South, at least as far as the coast.