My life as a perpeetum mobile

I promised you the whole story, but as I can't summarise anything properly, I'll concentrate on the visual side. So that you'd have a clue about what my life actually is, I'm going to tell a few basics about.. me. You're privileged, because I haven't, for example, written about my residential situation on my Finnish blog. At least not as precisely as on this one.

Kamppi (a commercial centre), Helsinki

- Studying at upper secondary school is (supposed to be) my main "job".

- I'm sort of trapped between two cities and two apartments: Hämeenlinna (100kms from Helsinki), where I study and do the most of my handcrafts, and Helsinki (the capital city of Finland), where I spend about every other weekend getting inspired and relaxed.

- Helsinki is the place I'm heading to as soon as I finish the school (which happens in February) and where I'll start my University studies and hopefully continue what I'm doing right now in a small business premises, and such and such and such - I have loads of plans I'm going to realise, but it would be too soon to manifest them yet.

MONDAY

Kalevankatu, the street on which Sis. Deli is located

After a 6-hour schoolday I got on a bus and ended up in Helsinki, where I supplied a jewel order and right after that had a rendez-vous with the nicest founder of a fresh eco-café (Sis. Deli) I've ever met! She gave me very good advice about being a coffee-shop owner and being an owner of a small business overall. The place looked lovely in the middle of the hectic city centre and I could really sense she was dedicated to what she's doing.

After the meeting I got a lift to my little studio, where I spent the rest of the night (from 7 P.M. to 11 P.M.) starring a document film about me and my career-choosing.

Marleena

 

we held a glogg-tasting in the middle of the hard work

Mirei

TUESDAY

I had a meeting with a life insurance company representative at 8:30. We discussed everythinghing but life insurance stuff, and after chatting about 1½ hours I continued my journey to the eastern city centre, where the film crew was editing monday's material.

It turned out the shootings hadn't quite pulled off, so we had to do it all over again on tuesday. No biggies, because the crew was awesome and we had a productive day. We drove to Hämeenlinna, I was more relaxed and smily and we had fun.

Tytti, Marika

Mirei, Marika

Marika, Mirei, Tytti, Oona

Hopefully the why not -attitude shows on the document aswell. I'll post it here even though the most of you won't understand a word - I guess you're from other parts of the world than Finland, am I right? If not, please continue reading my blog HERE, because it's embarassing to know Finnish people witness my bad english!

That's it. About 36 hours of my life. I can't complain, it's great, such as almost everything I get to do. It's surprising how comfortable I feel being in an uncertain professional and economical situation, but somehow I feel at home. That's inspiring, and that's the way I like it.

xoxo,

Essi

PS. As I wrote: I can't summarise anything properly...

Once upon a time in Helsinki

I went, I came and I cold-sweatted in front of the camera. Extremely interesting meetings, document shootings and adventures in only 24 hrs! Effective and educational in many ways.

  

 

this is how glad and energetic a filmed person can look.. notice the time!

The whole story about my one-night-trip to Helsinki coming tomorrow. An inclusive entry full of photos introducing a real day of an entrepreneur, or how should I call myself. Even if I were going through the most hectic time of my life, I'm happy, happy - happy. I hope you're feeling the same way about your life (without the hecticness).

xoxo, Essi

Two out of four

Get Printed is finally done, sent forwards and arriving to the webstore in two weeks!

Here's some more concrete demonstrations of the prints and how they will appear on the shirts. These two represent the more graphic side (simple colours and focus on the lines and shapes), the two others are richer on colors. The final look of the shirts is going to be much cooler than these examples made by me and Paint (again..), but at least you'll have a clue of what to expect.

 

I had a dilemma with this dreadlock-girl. First I wanted her to have something pink beside her head, some kind of aura, but at the last moment I decided to let the idea go. So, there won't be any pink horns-a-like or other stuff-o disturbing her - only the vinyls and witty self respect. The text says: "je m'aime / et quoi que tu dises je sais que / tu m'aimes aussi", which means: "I love me / and no matter what you say, I know / you love me too." You should all stick to this kind of an attitude!

That's all for now. There are about 30 Spit It Out -jewels waiting to be finished, so I should probably go and get some jewellery done! Before that, in a few minutes, actually, I get to design a small winter-collection of beanies, mittens and mufflers with a handcraft enthousiast. I'm interested to see with what kind of a consensus we'll end up.

Write you later alligatorz,

Essi

PS! P-pas can be spotted at Futuuri2009-exhibition on 5.-6.11. (thu-fri) which takes place at the culture centre Verkatehdas in Hämeenlinna. The entrance is free, and there will be lectures and information about education, being an entrepreneur and all kinds of stuff about the future we youngs have ahead us. By the way, Pete Parkkonen (an Idols winner of.. last year?) is coming too ;)

PS. What do you think about these two prints? Thumbs up or double-up?

It almost worked...

I don't know whether to laugh or cry. I had worked with this P-pas -print of my own, drawed lines and sized fonts and made sketches after sketches, when I came to realize the result was AWFUL. HORRIBLE. TERRIBLE!

a) the text was partly crooked
b) the text was partly sprawled
c) the text was mainly ugly

The sketches were pretty cool with all the stabilo lines and the pencil blurrs, but after all the hard work i couldn't come up with anything better to do with the phunking print than this masterpiece:

GLORY TO PAINT! © me

Thank God my reliable graphic designer helped me out, and P-pas is getting a really cool "pourquoi pas" -print coming on November. Bright colours on dark clothes and hoodies and bags. And stuff.

xoxo, Essi,

who's glad no one's perfect

P-pas in a cardboard box (..?)

I feel such a question mark at the moment! 

Probably because of the prolonged day at the printing hall (or how do you call it, the place where clothes get printed). I was supposed to stay there for an hour, but it took two and a half to negociate all the tiniest details and colour shades. Before that the shirt stock had to be checked, and the current situation specified Get Printed's shirt selection. Most of them are basic garments but their cut, fabric and colours coupled with fresh prints make fantastic results! Plus, the clothes are ethically and ecologially, prints locally made - quality ahead!

Here are the most common Get Printed shirts:

Bamboo T-shirts (coming white and black; S, M, L, XL) 

  Vintage-style T-shirts (vintage denim, bottle green,

graphite, vintage brown, burgundy; XS, S, M, L, XL)

 

Mèlange T-shirts (grey, charcoal and black; XS, S, M, L, XL)

Also raglan-cuts, tank tops, long-sleeved T-shirts, hoodies and bags coming up! About the prices: T-shirts and tops are between 28-35€, long-sleeved T-shirts 30-35€, hoodies 45-60€ and bags 15-18€. First collection will be available in only.. two weeks?! Yeah, that's it.

The Sounds puts it: "No one sleeps when I'm awake", but I could do my own version: "Everyone sleeps when I'm awake". Why is it so hard to stop fussying and just go - to - bed?

xo, Essi

Let the flash light sing

I finally made it! Here are some samples of Stay Tuned and Get Jeweled in action!

upcoming material: two black'n'white shirts, size XS/S.

 

 

 Poplishious (press the link!)

 

 Reddy Roo and Africa's Stars

 

 All 'bout Shoulders and Huh huh

Poptop and Purple? -earrings

 

Blackie and Shell-ish -necklaces

More photos to be found at Facebook (press the link)!

xoxo,

Essi

Ta daa!

Because of some technical problems I wasn't able to post anything here yesterday. But, as I promised, here's the

STYLE IT YOURSELF ! (press the link)

And now I'm off to Helsinki city to have a rendez-vous with Picasso and other nice people. Ain't that nice? I think it is.

- Essi

Brisk and bright small hours

 Some new pics and collections have appeared to Get Decorated!

 

 Streets: Bucarest

  

  By night

There's quite a lot going on with P-pas! Tomorrow (actually, today) a Style It Yourself shirt collection from Get Printed will be launched. On friday I'm having a meeting with a group of media students to discuss a document project we're having during the next four weeks. On saturday P-pas is doing a casual photo-shooting with a model to give the garments and jewels a more concrete face. On sunday the pics will be released on P-pas' blog! Besides all this there will be some everyday life stuff aswell, such as coocking, educating oneself on cultural matters and  enjoying the free time from studying. With good company and some sparkling wine, I hope.

 

 © Mitro Leijona

Why not (go to sleep now)?

 - Essi

Pre-Xmas and panic

Aloha from autumn holidays! Instead of feelin' and chillin', P-pas is working hard and getting things done. Luckily there has been time for relaxing: I spent the weekend getting inspired by Helsinki and some of the funniest people on earth. Friends are definitely a great source of inspiration and joy in life, don't ever forget that.

  

feminine in a modern way

Almost every Christmas bazaar table in Helsinki has been sold/rented out at least a half a year ago - when this baby called P-pas wasn't even born yet! In spite of being late and totally retarded anyway, I decided to grab the phone and try my best to get P-pas somewhere.

     After a few "no" it came to mind: We Got Beef at Iso-Roobertinkatu in the pure centre of Helsinki's night life. Luckily the application for Christmas sales hasn't even started there yet, so P-pas has all the chances to end up in one of the most interesting places to shop for Xmas-presents and other fancy things. No need to wander around boring market places with pot stands and wool socks when you can head straight to Iso-Roba and enjoy the fresh, new design it has to offer.

     I truly hope to see P-pas there on December!

port wine and erotism

Get Jeweled is also preparing for the holy Christmas. There's quite a few jingle bell earrings waiting to be launched, but we'll have to wait till the whole Jingle Bell Rock -collection is ready - get set - go. There will be necklaces and bracelets aswell - any Xmas party fanatic or Tinkerbell-alike should be able to find something suitable for their winter and holiday clothing.

That's all about Christmas for now! Let's enjoy the blues of autumn and every single detail in life that makes this all worth livig for. For P-pas, the fuel of life is new ideas and courage to realise them. If you only knew what's coming up...

But hey. What do you think: What's the point? Why is this life so goddamn great?

Tell me, inspire me - inspire yourself.

- Essi

! PS. Find P-pas on Myspace and Facebook!

Glory to the Doers! (pt. 2)

It's time to reveal more facts about P-pas' doers! So, who's exactly behind these P-pas posters and what should be expected from her in the future? The key words are Get Printed. Let the interview tell you more.

Name: Maria Niemi. For some reason "tiger" has come a nickname of mine, and I tend to use that name in my work

Age: I think I will never grow up

Hometown: I live in Hämeenlinna at the moment, but I hope I will move to Lahti or Helsinki next year. I dream of living abroad.

Contact me: e-mail: dyeorbleach@hotmail.com

Three sources of inspiration: I've been inspired by stuff that most of the time is the opposite of beautiful. Bruises, scars, scratches etc. are very interesting. I'm also inspired by symmetry and simplicity. For example a circle is a very clear and beautiful shape. I don't know why, but I have this thing for old gentlemen. They inspire me year after year, and I get butterflies in my stomach everytime I meet one.

When I grow up I will be: a graphic designer or such, a journalist, an illustrator, or an unemployed artist

Often my work shows what I'm interested in at the moment. Usually they include some symbolism or maybe even a contention. Drawing and typography are my ways to interact with the world and the people around me. My work can be described as naive and childish, because I think it's the way to make things easier to approach. This can be seen for example in my t-shirt prints. The theme is violence and love (ah, what a cliché). The prints are quite simple and more cute than scary, even though they are about serious issues. It is important to talk about things, even if they are painful. That is why my work is what it is. I want to make people talk.

Winds of progress

P-pas has faced challenges and great opportunities in the past few days. Unfortunatly I can't tell anything precise before P-pas gets to know some facts and makes a few decisions. I can still give some hints: if everything goes as planned, P-pas is having its "real life" debut on November. The joy would last for two days, but it's still a great chance to let people really get to know P-pas, the items it sells and what's the most important: the pourquoi pas -attitude!

So, what's been up? First of all, designing and planning the future collections with other designers. Get Printed is going to be awesome: fresh, diverse, humorous and a little controversial. Comix has received new arrivals and Spit It Out is constantly spitting out new truths about life. There will be more photograph collections coming, and I'm already totally in love with two, both from young talented women (and no, neither one of them is me.)

Fall is always beautiful, and who knows if it will get even more stunning. The autumns colors are comforting, nostalgic and so inspiring. Back to Nature -collection combines laminated leaves with classical elements, and perfected with pretty stitches they create a pretty, personal and country-ish combination. The jewels are result of thorough handcraft, so it will take a while to be able to launch the whole collection. Why does man have only two hands and 24 hours in a day?

The coolest thing of all - for now - is P-pas posters! A graphical friend of mine (does it say someone's grapchical?) designed few posters for P-pas. They can be found in Helsinki and Hämeenlinna, and hopefully they will spread all over Finland and, eventually, Europe. If you're interested in helping (aka spamming) P-pas to conquer the world, just comment on this blog or send me e-mail to get further information - or just tell your friends about P-pas. Simple as that.

Have a jolly good weekend!

xoxo, Essi

Joy of photographs!

 

P-pas has temporarly concentrated on interior decoration instead of clothes and jewellery. Get Decorated has got started with different small collections or pairs of photographs.

 

Grey hair

The basic idea in these pieces of art/framed photographs/you name it is cool simplicity, interior decoration made easy and, obviously, esthetics. And it has to be said that these pieces are very affordable. Naturally P-pas can't compete against some of the cheapest markets, but as an independent and personal lifestyle-store the products are ment to be well priced quality.

 

 Signed

So far the photos are from my camera, but there will be two different collections from two different, young female photographers in the near future. They'll tell more about their visions on P-pas blog when it becomes current.

Plus, there's more Stay Tuned -material, shirts AND panties, coming from different designers! As well as jewellery, for example a massive speech bubble screaming "GODDAMNIT!" and at least three more earrings for Comix just in couple of days. Yay!

- Essi

BANG! Here comes the WEBSTORE!

Well, actually, it came when promised: the 1st October. This is only the start, there will be more and more items to shop, especially on Vintage Market and Get Decorated, where some cool, pretty and very affordable photography collections are being released next week! And much, much more to come.

Stay tuned with Stay Tuned! The most of the clothes are unique pieces, so get them before someone else does!

So, what ya waitin' for? Voìla the P-pas WEBSTORE!

 PS. P-pas delivers to any EU country!
- Essi