Now blogging at finevanbrooklin.com

Dearest reader,

My blog has a new home at finevanbrooklin.com. All the archives of my old blogs can be found there as well. Please update your bookmarks and join me!

Hyvä lukijani,

Blogillani on uusi koti osoitteessa finevanbrooklin.com. Kaikki vanhojen blogien arkistot löytyvät sieltä myös. Päivitä kirjanmerkkisi ja tule mukaan!

Time for something new

Dear reader, please join me from now on at my new blog Finest Moments. Welcome along!

Shopgirl

Well! One week of having my own little pop up shop behind me and two more to go! Thanks so much to everyone who has come over so far, it has truly been a most exquisite pleasure!!!

I’ve enjoyed spending time at the Korjaamo culture center immensely. The place has undergone a major renovation during the summer months and has really broken out of its shell now. I really hope more and more people will soon find all that it has to offer. In addition to having a new art gallery (currently three different exhibitions), our pop up shop and a really nice and very reasonably priced bookshop with an amazing selection of cool postcards, notebooks, calendars etc, Korjaamo bar&kitchen also serves a tasty lunch on weekdays and a totally Berlin style huge brunch on weekends. There’s also a nice cafe and bar, theater, concert hall and the adorable tram museum… All under one roof! Think about it, where else can you get a glass of wine from the bar and then go wandering about in a gallery, browse through great books and maybe do some shopping as well? The atmosphere is very relaxed and in that sense really rather un-Finnish and I mean that in a good way. This weekend they even served free bubbly and fresh doughnuts at brunch just for the sake of it! Gros bisous! So do come over, eat, drink, shop and be merry :)!

Three Wishes necklace. Unique piece with silver, czech glass and a vintage chandelier crystal.

Sincerely Yours

Dear Blog,

I’m so sorry for the long silence. I feel bad for deserting you for such a long time, since you’re my oldest online friend. Rest assured that I’ve been thinking about you every day and have never ever really let you go.

Jubilee/burgundy ribbon

Dear bloggy, I’ve been so busy. My life has changed so much this year. I’m all over the place now with my Facebook page, Etsy shop and my new website where you’re also featured, naturally. I even have a video now, which I really think is so incredibly cool and quirky, even if I say it myself.

What’s more, I really am only doing my own thing these days, I quit that job I used to have, you know. I’m totally broke but I’m really just so relieved and happy, working away at my cozy atelier like crazy. Breathing free for the first time in what it seems like a lifetime. I have heaps of new stuff coming up but I’ve been so buried in the studio that I haven’t photographed anything yet, blah. But I’ll get to that soon as well.

And what’s more, I have a little special something coming up very soon. I’ll be showcasing my creations in a real life pop-up shop at Korjaamo, from September 13th until October 7th. This is a joint venture with two other sassy ladies, Fiona Timantti and Miia Magia. I really hope to see as many people there as possible, so I’ll be playing shopgirl quite a lot during those three and a half weeks. Once we get the shop rolling, I’ll do status updates on Facebook about when I’ll be there in case someone wants to come up and meet me in person. I love to meet new people who have found my work and enjoyed it!

I have to go now, but I promise I’ll do my very best to try and write more often. Thanks so much for always being there!

Sincerely Yours,

Fine van Brooklin

Jubilee

It took me a while to make up my mind on what to do with these vintage chandelier chrystals that I purchased from a funny little bric-a-brac shop (the owner prefers to call it an installation and to be honest that describes it even better) in Stockholm’s Old Town last year.

Jubilee pendant/green ribbon

The chrystals are obviously sensitive to rough wear so as much as I would have loved to see one as a bracelet, it was best to let that idea go. So, they turned into pendants and once again I got to use my beloved silk ribbons in positively regal colours, emerald green and fierce cobalt blue…

Jubilee pendant/blue ribbon

The stunning pearl drops add to the uniqueness of these pendants as naturally no two pearls are alike. I think I’ll make one more of these pieces once I receive new pearls and team that one up with a ruby red ribbon. We’ll see… :).

Jubilee pendant/blue ribbon

Cheers for the weekend, dearest readers!

Hands of Time

Naturally the hands of time are turning every second but there are moments when some turns are heavier than others.  I’m about to go through a major change in my life this week. My last day at work just and a leap into independence are just around the corner. Weird and COOL! New life, I salute you!

The below earrings feature a pair of vintage, sterling silver charms and added length and sparkle from rose quartz and swarovski crystals…

Hands of Time earrings

The bracelet is a slightly chunkier sibling to the Take it Easy bracelet from earlier days. Powdery rose elements soften the look and make a cool contrast to the smooth and shiny 10mm black onyxes.

Take it Easy in rose

Both items are available in my Etsy shop, welcome to take a look there. And remember also to put your thumb up for Fine van Brooklin on Facebook :). And a heartfelt thanks to everyone who has already done so! Cheerio!

Take it Easy in rose. Detail view of the extension chain.

Roulette

I’ve never been one to gamble but this chunky, chequered mother of pearl ball bead from Berlin reminds me of only one thing. The Roulette.

Roulette bracelet detail

Roulette bracelet

The same Berlin shop provided me with very shiny and sleek mother of pearl drops, perfect for long and lean earrings. The Roulette red pair “disappeared” srtaight from my work desk already before I had published a photo of them but the second pair, along with the Roulette bracelet is available straight from me or from my Etsy boutique.

Roulette red earrings

Roulette earrings

I’m still making another slightly different bracelet and one more pair of earrings for this series. I’ll get back to you on those as soon as I can. In the meantime, I hope you’re enjoying your Spring season, wherever you are :). Cheerio!

Fine van Brooklin goes Etsy

Well, it has been a whirlwind of a couple of weeks with absolutely everything but the conclusion is that I’m finally open for business also at Etsy. Welcome, welcome, welcome to my Etsy boutique here!

Voice of the River long necklace

Voice of the River long necklace

On top of everything, I found myself having the courage to do another thing I’ve been dreaming of. I jumped off a cliff quit my job. Curiouser and curiouser, said Alice…

Berlin

What can I say? I’ll try to come up with something.

Five intensive days in Berlin last week have left me awestruck. On top of it all, since we got back late Thursday evening I haven’t even left the apartment because I got ill almost straight away! So, I’ve just been dwelling in the memories and in my feverish dreams I’ve been walking the streets of Berlin over and over again.

I had my camera with me but I soon came to realize that somehow I just couldn’t bring myself to to take many photos (the few that I took with my phone are here). I was too busy just looking, seeing, sensing. So many layers of history and striking contrasts, so much creative energy, more amazing street art than I have ever seen in my entire life, one quirky detail after another and another and another. To photograph one thing and not another would have been an impossible choice for me, so I mostly let it be and just enjoyed with all my heart.

Cafés were always nice and also inexpensive. It was fun to have breakfast in a different café every morning.

I have to admit that I’m not a photographer at heart (sadly, frustratingly), it doesn’t come naturally to me to look at things from behind the lense, I’m too impatient for that. Luckily my hubby is my complete opposite in that sense. There’s already over 200 pictures in his fantastic Berlin Flickr gallery and probably more to come. I warmly recommend the slideshow.

Gorgeous Vietnamese restaurant in Mitte.

When it comes to jewellery materials, I made a few interesting finds. These Art Deco dress clips will make glorious necklaces once I tune them up a bit, since sadly they have lost  all their rhinestones. Here they are after a bubble bath, scrub and polish. The clips are covered in rust so I’ll remove them and turn these into pendants…

Berlin bead shops were expensive and focused on materials that I don’t use so much, but I found a few things, like mother of pearl and vibrant coloured cloisonne beads that I don’t like to order online (it’s much better to choose them by hand, in order to get the nicest ones).

There were just so many things and places that I had to leave behind for the lack of time. Can I just go back to Berlin? Like, immediately?

It’s about time

Vacation time! I’m super excited since I’ll be off to Berlin for the next few days.

I’ll leave you with a couple of Fine van Brooklin “classics” in the shape of Baroque Nouveau…

Baroque Nouveau necklace in black. Detail view here.

Baroque Nouveau earrings in black

Wishing you all a Happy Easter! See you after the holidays!

Elegante Welt magazine cover from 1924.