2009/11/28

Harder better faster -- better



 

I'm attending to an art course dealing with human and real models. It's all very new to me, because I'm no artist. I'm anyways interested in this project - I rarely participate in anything this.. artistic. Of course I work with P-pas prints and outlook and stuff, but this kind of a more traditional art has been out of my league. I once tried to draw, it was year ago, but I couldn't find that my thing that would have kept me expressing myself. Maybe I'll get excited and continue sketching and designing.
I'd like to adopt a more graphic style when it comes to drawing. It's easy to work with pencils and pencil shading, but plain lines are more challenging. I fancy pop-art and minimalism, so I'm going to turn these two pictures above into pop-arty drawings à la style below. It's easy to manipulate photos in the computer, but we'll see if I manage to get some coolness done with my bare hands and black marker pens.


 

I usually don't play with my photos this much. There's just been something really temptating with pastels and fresh colours. Anyways I always wear black, white and grey. Occasionally brown, too. How boring (or normal..) can a design-entrepreneur look?

Have a nice weekend!
xoxo, Essi


PS. Follow me via bloglovin'

2009/11/25

A promise is promise



I made some food yesterday, because I had promised my mom and grand-mother to do that. About six hours before the dinner I started to think about the menu. I don't do fast food or other simple shiet when it comes to real dinner, so after a while of thinking I came up with Italian foods like these:

Starter

Parma ham and cantaloupe
figs, crostinis, honey-almond-brie
&
coil-salt,
honey
and 
a bit of truffle oil


Main course

risotto in white wine
with
mushrooms,
bacon
and 
sun-dried tomatos


Dessert

Cheese cake
with
fresh vanilla
and 
hints of orange&lemon juice and peels
accompagned with
orange&lemon sauce

Mm-yeah. It was okay.

Tomorrow I'm going to be interviewed on a local newspaper, which is great. I might get to Finland's biggest newspaper aswell, but it's still uncertain. But what is certain, P-pas will be seen on a popular Finnish women's magazine (free advertising space, niiice! - even though it's just a small-ish note) in a few weeks.

What else? ! Jingle Bell Rock -jewel collection has come out. Check it out here and tune in Xmas spirit! Whoa.

xo,
Essi

2009/11/20

The horror dawg

I didn't work much yesterday. The main reason was my mental coma, but an otrher factror also affected me: my hunnybunny Toto, who had a small surprise under his bandana scarf. The dog was wearing the scarf to cover  two operation cuts from the day before yesterday (Toto had two sebaceous glands removed from the neck area), but it turned out the Bandana didn't protect them too well. When I had a look under the scarf, an unpleasant suprise hit me.



The 15-cm-long seaming had partly teared so that the freshly-stitched skin opened up nicely. I told myself not to take it too seriously, because the cut hap opened only 2-3 cm. I just shivered a bit and tried to fix the damage. Bandaid-coverage seemed like a good idea, but when Toto decided to scratch the itchy cut on the back of his neck, I had to face the the most unpleasant surprise ever.


the cut before the actual tearing

The teared cut had doubled its size. There was a wide, bright pink hole on the neck, which caused a slight panic among me and my mother. I screamed and laughed (in shock) and almost cried and ran around the house and tried to figure out what to do with the monster dog from hell. Toto really looked like a killer dog from a B-class horror movie. He shook his head, which only made the open cut look worse and more.. wide.
Thank God we got to the vet nearly immediately. It was 9 PM when all of this happened, so reaching an available veterinarian wasn't the easiest task on Earth. But luckily Toto was tacked and closed up in only 30 minutes from the big horror scenario. No great damage caused - aside the traumatising effect on me and my mom.




Pinkie-boy recovering and having a good night's sleep

Besides this drama, I have some exciting P-pas news:  I decided to let the Vintage market go, because more is less and P-pas is better off without second hand. I do use second hand and other recycled materials on Stay Tuned -clothes anyway!

- Essi

2009/11/19

Inspirations



As every person, every object has its history. In this case every one of these pieces have an interesting story to tell, because they belonged to my artistic grand parents. Now it's time for them to find new home, because both of my grand parents have passed away. It's a shame I didn't get to know then too well, it would have been interesting to talk about ethetics, art life (the circles are very small in Finland so almost everyone knows everyone) and.. just about whatever. They would have had amazing stories to share, but it's too late now.



I don't feel like I've followed the footsteps of my family. Of course I'm related to normal people aswell, but there are many persons working with art or design. I'd like to be as talented as my cousins (other is magazine photographer, other a graphic designer who's worked for Marimekko, for example) or my grandmother, who was really dedicated to graphic drawing and painting.


Outi Heiskanen, a graphic designer

Instead of being really productive on fine arts, I feel I'm more a.. visual person. I like to see, observe, visualize, but the executing isn't my thing. Or at least not as much as organizing and doing ten thing at the same time. I enjoy hussling and planning more than concentrating on one thing. I like the big picture.



Even though it might seem that P-pas is just a label among others, it's 100% about esthetics. Everything I and my partners do to make P-pas better and better could be described as art. Art of daydreaming (because I don't sleep at nights, ''ha ha''..), art of creating, art of carrying through. I could do a posting about how a print collection is born, but there's no brief versions to describe the process. It's about loads of planning about

a) themes
b) shapes
c) colours
d) materials
e) quantity
f) quality (which is always excellent, obviously)

and much more. It's exciting, frightening and inspiring. Exciting, because it feels wonderful to give talented designers a chance to show their abilities - there will be an amazing collection designed by Maria Niemi round New Year! Frightening, because as a 18-year-old student/entrepreneur I can't afford too many bad choices on things that could cost me a fortune. And inspiring, because everything P-pas does is so goddamn cool you can't not get exhilarated about all the ideas and visions and creativity.

That's all I have to say.
xo, Essi

2009/11/17

Visual shit





Some psychedelic-like snapshots of framed Get Decorated -photos. They look really cool on size A4!

Check out the latest Get Printed arrivals: the eco-bags!


Now I'm off to sauna instead of going to sleep. I must tidy the whole bathroom, it's been awhile since I've last done that. It's also been awhile since I've done my homework. And since I've really slept. Darn.

xo,
- Essi

2009/11/16

Wnb fashion blogger

I've finally done it! I'm ready to reveal my face - which is quite a logical choice. I should be regarded as a sort of fashionist-trendsetter because P-pas is a real label, so there's no reason for me to hide. This (business, life, style, lifestyle-blog) is my thing and I'm proud of it, goddamnit! Don't you agree that these clothes are great? Not weird, not tacky. Just chill, good looking garments. That's all you need to have a fresh, everlasting style. Of course there are many opinios about clothes, but I, for example, think that P-pas' men's XL-clothes are unbeatable as dresses!

Here's what I've worn during this weekend:




night out: white flood with black leggings and basic leather boots

I'm planning to launch a bunch of XL-size clothes for the next collection. Not only will there be big shirts, P-pas will sell customized dresses! You get the idea from these pictures, but P-pas offers it more chicly: loose clothes with feminine cut. Both in hoodies and tees. I'm so excited, because there's never enough "easy dresses" to wear. These one's are all about being easy! And stylish, naturally. I'm hoping to get the next Get Printed -collection out during this year, but it depends on P-pas' economical situation. So, let's all buy our clothes and jewels and Xmas presents from P-pas and wait for the next arrivals to come! Controversial, funny and fresh prints ahead.

xo, Essi

PS. I prefer the green version of me. It compensates the skin tone. Green + red = normal, you know.

2009/11/13

P-pas feat. e-stil goes geography!



Sorry about the webcam-quality but I couldn't resist!

2009/11/11

P-pas goes public!


These past few days have been so enjoyable! I feel like a parrot repeating this one statement again, again and again, only changing the word order and using some synonyms. But I truly adore everything that has even slightly something to do with P-pas, no matter if it's about tax issues or negociating about potential co-operation with interesting people. I learn new, constantly, which lifts my spirit even higher than it has been the day before.


dorky me and my second-business-partner Eeva

Of course, besides the constant learning process, new experiences and media publicity have an effect on my enthousiasm. A lot. I've been interviewed, written about, some have heard my nasal voice on the radio.. I will be interviewed and P-pas will get to a magazine or two and it feels GREAT. It feel great that I have the chance to spread Pourquoi pas -attitude Finland-wide, and hopefully Europe-wide as soon as my (and your!) european fellows get to know P-pas better.



But what has made my past days so special is yesterday's P-pas photoshooting for Get Printed. I managed to get these two gorgeous classmates to do some posing in front of my Canon, and the result was beautiful. No thanks to me, but to them. Now Get Printed has "its proper faces", if you know what I mean. It was a pleasure to shoot these two who had no problems posing and looking good. In only one day I could capture every Get Printed -garment on photo and add them to the webstore. It might not sound like much, but try to do everything from the very start: make up, scene settings, the photographing itself, choosing the coolest pics, editing them, changing their size and finally adding them on the Internet. Time-taking but rewarding!



- - - - - -

I've received some comments about P-pas' clothe sizes. Unfortunately nearly every women's shirt is really slim, so if you're size M, you should choose a L and so on. I regard myself as S and I prefer size M on bamboo-clothes (S looks fine but as I said, it is slim) and even L on other tees and tops. The L because my waist is quite.. large-ish.




There will be more big sizes on the next Get Printed -collection, but for now the you'll have to order men's shirts - which isn't a bad choise at all. Especially the bamboo-shirts look great and pretty slim on women! And in the future the most of the big sizes will mostly be men's models, because there aren't XL-sizes for women on the models P-pas uses. But ain't it so that men's shirts look great both on curvy and petite women?

Full of love and inspiration,
Essi

PS. I decided to change P-pas-news' look totally. I'm really happy with the result, I hope you dig it too!

2009/11/10

Like a rollercoaster ride

Guys, if I told you everything that's happened in these few days, you wouldn't believe me! Not that there would be any lottery wins or stuff like that, but I've just been.. active. Not only with P-pas but socially and.. well, yeah, workaholically. Here are the most important details from the past week end and today.



I and a friend of mine (with whom I also have a small business - I'm a sort of double-entrepreneur) won this distinction of the best business consept during the exhibition. I was so touched I almost cried. When you've worked really hard for something, a simple thank you  is enough to save your day. And when you're called in front of everyone to shake hands with bank directors and other professionals saying "you have potential", it's amazing. It gives you so much energy and belief in yourself. Even though the distinction wasn't given to P-pas but to this other label we've created, e-stil, I felt it was a prize for P-pas aswell.




Get printed found its way to the webstore! Check it out HERE! The photos might not be the best quality, but I'm throwing a photoshooting tomorrow  and adding them  here and there to give you the idea of how the clothes look on real people. I can tell they look fine on me! I love every one of these shirts but if I had to choose my favorite, it would be either the white flood or the black why not. The bamboo feels luxurious on skin and looks great! But the combed cotton shirts are comfortable and really stylish aswell, such as the dark grey why not!



I'm throwing two P-pas TRYOUT -evenings this week, but I guess you who read this english blog aren't able to come. But if you're planning to visit Helsinki anytime soon, book a flight for saturday and visit me at evening! Post a comment here or join P-pas' Facebook group for more information.

To finish I want to share with you two designed match boxes that I keep in my living room. Has anyone of you heard of The Moomins? Here's some samples of their creator's, Tove Jansson's, drawings:




Nighty night!
xo, Essi

2009/11/06

I should get some sleep

I've been busy and lazy and I still am, actually, so I'm going to post you a link to my finnish blog, where you can admire the few photos I've posted. Try to figure out what's been up!




Jingle Bell Rock

No, no, just kidding. Well, I do recommend you to go HERE to see more photos, because these few are quite random just by themselves.
 

Je m'aime / et quoi que tu dises je sais que / tu m'aimes aussi

Today was the first day of two-day-lasting education and future -exhibiton, where I'm presenting P-pas. I had the table full of clothes and jewellery, but not many had bought cash with them - end of the story. Better luck tomorrow, hopefully. I have loads of shirts that deserve to be worn and almost as much jewels that go to waste in the drawer! But the biggest waste is if the Get Printed -perfectnesses don't find their matches (meaning people to wear them).

     Luckily P-pas sells to the entire EU-area. This means that you, my european friend, can do some serious Get Prined shopping (for you and only you or to someone to whom you'd like to give stylish quality for Xmas present, for example) in only a few days!


I was also shooted on the local news. I yelled at the microphone and made funny faces, but that's allright. Someone has to be the stupid looking, ain't it so?

Now I'm off to craft some geography-themed necklaces for tomorrow. Flags and stuff. I don't even like geography, I suck at it! But the colours and shapes are so nice looking..



"Take it easy", says my cockerspaniel Toto - who, in fact, tends to stress more than me. At the moment I have no energy to really stress about anything, even though it might hit me with a heavy hammer on the forehead some day soon. When I realise everything's going deeply wrong and I'm no good to anyone. Why do I have to be so comicly melodramatic when writing in english?

Sleepy greetings,
Essi

2009/11/02

IT, IT, IT...

I tried to reach a more graphic, yet simple look for this blog. Did I succeed? I'm still working on this, but I'd really appreciate if you'd give me some feedback! You can compare the present situation to this (press the link).

- Essi

2009/11/01

The story of how a jingle bell -necklace is born


Once upon a time.. or something.

In the beginning there's some random pieces that turn out to be very important in the big picture.






Then there's these other things, such as the jewel part itself (the tinker bells, whoa!) and its attachement rings.

 

After having a) finished the chain and b) collected all the material needed, the real work starts.



 

The bells are attached with special rings with a little help from jewel nippers.



And finally the 15-20 min work provides the artisan with a result like this:


Hot or not?

The photo isn't the best possible, sorry about that. I should've posed with some dramatic make-up on ang high heels stuffed in the picture (because high heels are so artistic), but for some reason I don't feel comfortable doing that kind of stuff. That's maybe because the half of my family knows about this blog... And no, we don't do posing together. But who knows, maybe I'll try something new for a change and post a self-taken picture of my face someday!

Jingle Bell Rock -jewel collection will be launched next weekend! Before that P-pas is attending the Futuuri2009 -exhibition next thursday-friday here in Hämeenlinna - who knows if there'll be any jingle bells left after the first day anyway!

 xo,
- Essi

since 09.09.09

Where are you from? 13.10.09 -->

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