Winter window

Here is my winter window. ...Though I wish I could wash it away soon. It seems that this year the winter is never going to end here in Munich. I remember last years we were drinking beer outside in sunshine already in the end of February. Although I know even worse from my youth years from the northern Finland (we had sometimes snow in shadowed corners still even in the beginning on June!), I never learned to like the coldness. Yuk!

Hopefully the last glimpse to my winter window.

Made to order

Last time in Tonhalle night market a fellow flea market seller loved my leather stuff. She got already a black leather bracelet but also ordered made to order a brown bracelet with a white feather and a pair of brown leather feather earrings. So here they are. ...Can't wait to bring them to her next Saturday.

...Why not. Brown works as well!

RokRokInc.

www.facebook.com/rokrokinc

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Rock bars in Munich

Yesterday we went to check out the new Strom bar here in Munich. It is the substitute for the closed rock bar 59:1. We paid the 6 euros ticket but the place was so packed that after one beer we left. The place looked ok for live gigs. After leaving Strom we just popped in to the nearest rock bar Substanz that is also one of my favorites. So here some tips for rockers visiting Munich.

In Substanz. I wore the leather feather earrings again.

STROM is the new and hip alternative party night and concert venue after the good old 59:1 was closed. Though I don't like the venue itself too much. I would go there only for gigs. www.strom-muenchen.com

SUBSTANZ is a small and cozy indie rock bar located near to the Strom at Poccistrasse U-bahn station. It has live music and varying club nights to offer. Recently I was there for indie pop night and yesterday they had a soulful-funky-rock'n'roll disco, and for my taste the music was brilliant! Hits from the 50's - 60's and of course some soulful masterpieces from the 70's - 80's. Usually something going on also on Sundays. Just check out the calender: www.substanz-club.de.

FLEX is the next rock bar along the way from Poccistrasse towards city center. It is more like hard rock style but I like it just as much. They also have varying nights and live DJ's. Having different club nights it is the custom around here. And I do think it is a great idea to have some variety in the program. Check from the Events which club night it is: www.flex-muenchen.de. (The homepage is so crappy that I wasn't sure what kind of a place this Flex is but it is worth visiting I assure.) The special thing in this bar is that you throw dice with your bartender, if you win you get a discount.

ATOMIC CAFE in the city center is so not rock but a good indie venue. Live concerts and weekend dancing nights. I was there at least on a indie rock and 60's twist and shout style nights. Once the dj was getting so exited from his own set that he just had to make some splits and other crazy moves on the dance floor. And when you leave you can buy some crisps or candies to go from the cloakroom. www.atomic.de

SCHWARZER HAHN reminds me of the good old bars back home in Helsinki. You just go in, order a beer, sit down and chat with your friends as they play good music from the list. Sometimes also live DJs. Very simple and no indie, just rock. Their specialty is the 'bloody mary + pepper' like shot called Volcano if I remember right. www.schwarzer-hahn.com

SEHNSUCHT in Maxvorstadt (U-bahn Universität) is such a charming bar but gets way too packed during weekend nights. I would recomment to visit there a bit earlier and then continue to the next bar. Sehnsucht has really a cool and well finished interior. I like it! The specialty are the bras hanging above the bar. If you give yours to the collection you'll get a Jägermeister for free. Worth the deal?
www.bar-sehnsucht.de

TUMULT is also located in Maxvorstadt. It is maybe my favorite at least if I happen to be there on the night of rockabilly, psychobilly and Ska ('Rock this town' on Fridays). It is a small cellar bar with a bit raw and kind of half way through made interior. Live deejays. Also the punk night is good! www.tumult-in-muenchen.de

FEIERWERK is a perfect venue for live gigs at least to my taste. It has several different small locations around the same backyard. It is a bit outskirts from the city but easy to reach with U-bahn (Heimeranplatz) and a quick walk. I like most the tiny punkish venue Sunny Red. The homepage is a bit complicated but you can check from the 'Partys and Konzerte' what is going on and in the right corner of the square they tell in which venue it is. www.feierwerk.de

BACKSTAGE is a huge (...well, it is in here) bar complex near to the S-bahn stop Hirschgarten. The complex just stands there in the middle of nowhere with bright lights like in Mad Max. The venue has several halls with different music but it doesn't offer so much for the true rockers unless there is a concert you want to see. And if there is, then it is actually a nice location. www.backstage.eu

Bag of (s)crap

So this is part of what I saved from Helsinki flea markets. At the moment it is just a bag of scrap but let's see what I will make of it. With a time they will surely find a new home and get a better life!

Treasures from Helsinki flea markets.

Andrea

"Leather is such a great material. It goes well
with every style and is perfect for every occasion."

LEATHER!

Oh yes! I do agree with Andrea completely. I just love leather. ...Though preferably the recycled one. But anyway, leather is sooo versatile. It makes a casual outfit more chic and too fancy outfit more down to earth. And depending on the style and color it is so rock, so hippie, so country, so hipster, so yesterday and so today! The possibilities are endless.

My newest leather investments are
white pants and army green jacket.

A FEW TIPS FOR BUYING RECYCLED LEATHER

1. Buy a leather jacket or pants from a second hand store. You might want to find the biggest one so you have more material left for other crafting ideas. I would go for men's XL jackets. 
2.  Check that the piece of clothing is real leather before buying. Usually real leather clothes have the label "real leather" somewhere.
3. Check how thick the material is and if it is in a good condition. Think if the thickness works well with your ideas. Is it too soft? Is it too hard? How does the back side look like?
4. If possible check if the leather has a lining attached to it so that you can not get it out. Mostly the lining is attached only from the stitches and that's good.
5. Don't pay too much even if everything is ok.

Leather earrings

From my enthusiasm you maybe can already guess that I love to work with leather. I could start the instructions from the easiest one: the leather earrings.

I like my leather feathers quite big, black
and only the other side cut.

LEATHER FEATHER EARRINGS NEED A GOOD PAIR OF SCISSORS

For leather earrings you need leather, marker, cardboard, scissors, needle, (spray paint), pliers and earring hooks.

1. Make a shape mold from cardboard. Take the cardboard from old cards/flyers.
   You can print out mine and use it as a model.
2. Draw the feather on the back side of the leather with a thin marker.
   Remember to draw the second earring other way around.
3. Cut the lines. Make sure you have sharp scissors.
4. Cut about 3 mm slices from the outer edge to the middle. Direct the cuts slightly upwards.
   (You can also cut the both sides but in that case don't cut the slices quite until the middle. Leave at least 1 cm beam in the middle to keep the feather in one piece.)
5. You can spray a thin layer of spray paint to the back side. It helps the feather to stay flat.
6. Make a hole for the hook into the "stalk" with a thick needle.
7. Attach the earring hook.  
8. Take one more look and cleanup the edges, also the back side.

Leather earrings by RokRokInc.

FEATHER MODEL

Baby blanket

My friend got a baby a while ago and I promised to make a baby blanket for the little fellow. I ordered Finnish Novita yarn (Polku) for the blanket but I ran out of the wool. But when I visited Helsinki last week I went to take a look in Novita LankaDeli shop and I found it! It was a seasonal color so it was already in clearance sale but I got lucky and found some of that yarn.

FROM THIS CASE I HAVE A COUPLE OF TIPS:

1. The Finnish traditional Novita yarn is truly a good yarn. It has good quality, mostly ok prices and great vary in seasonal colors. You can find more about Novita in English in Pinterest. You can browse the yarn options (Langat) in the web shop (which is unfortunately only in Finnish but does it really matter so much...?)
2. Novitas web shop ordering works only inside Finland. But you can order Novita yarn abroad via email. Just contact in English paivi.keppo@novita.fi. They send first an invoice and after paying (international IBAN banking numbers worked just fine) they dispatched my purchase the very next day. Totally reliable!
3. Novita LankaDeli shop (Malminrinne 1, Helsinki) is a great place to see and feel all the Novita yarns in a cozy atmosphere. It's like a candy shop!
4. You can find easy knitting designs free online in many different languages in Garnstudio. 

The baby blanket is still a work in process
but I will get it ready this week.

The design I chose for the baby blanket was this:

• In English: Garnstudio Drops designs: baby blanket
• Auf Deutsch: Garnstudio Drops Design: Baby Decke
• Suomeksi: Garnstudion Drops mallit: vauvan peitto

...Though of course I had to chance it a bit. My squares are smaller and I attached them together with slip stitches.

Maija

Maija is a teacher so the pencil earrings are perfectly appropriate.
Though otherwise she refuses to be too appropriate or
ever to become 'the conservative and boring teacher'.
"Even though life and work are not about just having fun
you have to remember to play and be creative every day."

Pencil earrings

Pencil earrings bring color to everyday life.

 MAKING PENCIL EARRINGS IS AS SIMPLE AS IT SEEMS

 

For Pencil earrings you need pencils, a small saw, a crafting drill, screw hooks, glue,
sandpaper, pencil sharpener, crafting pliers and earring hooks.

 

1. Saw the pencils into pieces with a mini saw.
   Remember to leave enough length for sharpening the tip.
2. Sand the other tip with a sandpaper.
3. Drill about 1 cm hole into the sanded tip, in the middle of the color material.
4. Put just a little glue into your screw hook and screw it in.
5. Sharpen the other tip with a pencil sharpener.
6. Attach the earring hooks and that's it! 

NOTICE: Screw hooks in earrings are ideally as small as possible. But normally I use maximum the size 3mm x 8mm. Then you can use the drill pit size 2 - 2,5 mm depending a bit on the screw hook and target material.

Pencil earrings by RokRokInc.

Flea markets in Helsinki vol.1

About a week ago I visited Helsinki to various reasons but one of them was to seek new materials for RokRokInc. jewelry from my favorite flea market shops. Most of them are located near to our previous home in Vallila quarter which in my opinion has a great possibility become the new interesting and hip area in Helsinki. ...Oh well, maybe in ten years time. So anyway, with my friend Terhi we hit the "half a day Vallila flea market route".

1. Löytöretki (Mäkelänkatu 56) is a selfservice flea market and has hardly ever anything good, too high prices and is messy. Still I check it just in case.
2. Emmaus (Mäkelänkatu 54) is one of my true favorites. It is clean, well organized and has quite good quality of items. They have a bit of clothes but mostly wares. They also have a sewing corner and an upcycling and vintage section.
3. Perintöpuoti (Mäkelänkatu 34) is small and a bit expensive. Good selection of books (in Finnish) and glass wares, also vintage pieces from some Finnish designer labels.
4. Samaria (Sturenkatu 37-41) is small, full and messy and feels a bit dirty. Mostly not well selected products. In addition the crumpy customer service drives you away pretty soon. But if you can take all that, you could find one or two interesting things with time and effort.
5. Vastuukirppis (Hämeentie 75) has somehow a comfortable feeling even though it is not a high quality flea market.
6. Metka (Hämeentie 78) is a self service flea market so you never know what you can find and for which prices. But it is big enough to have some variety. I love it because its customer service. The lady at the counter is always nice and smiling.
7. Fida, Sörnäinen (Hämeentie 31) is quite large and has a wide selection of both clothes and wares and even furniture. But sometimes I get there clammy service so it is not my favorite. Not the lowest prices.

Emmaus has seasonal sales and that makes it even better.

Perintöpuoti helps homeless animals.

If you like it messy, Vallilas Samaria shop is your choice.

After the hard days work a glass of sparkling wine.
The coasters in the new bar K*urvi in Kallio say:
"drink yourself funny", "Maybe one more?",
"Write here your excuses to drink one more".

And actually in Helsinki you can find a good variety of flea markets and flea market shops. Here you can find addresses of most of them: www.kirpputorihaku.com.
You can easily spend a day or two but still not have time for all of them. So here as a tip a couple of my other favorites:

1. Fida Lähetystori (Iso Roobertinkatu 24) has nothing special but still I like it. Sometimes too high prices.
2. Fida Lähetystori (Hämeentie 5 a) has well selected clothes, also vintage.
3. UFF (Fredrikinkatu 36) has mostly clothes, also vintage. It is clean and organized and has also fabrics like curtains.

...And everybody from Helsinki, feel free to share also your own tips here if you have some!

TonHalle

In Munich there are quite a lot of flea markets. So far, my favorites are the night markets where you can also just hang and not just shop.

TonHalle in the Kultfabrik at Ostbahnhof in Munich is maybe my favorite here. I just love the atmosphere: live music, beer and flea market. Quite a lot standard sellers, as myself, but also a good amount of changing sellers who want to combine emptying their closets and an evening out. The general quality of the stuff is good.

Customers are 30% treasure seekers and 70% young people, hipsters and style pioneers. Outside the flea market hall you can find plenty of different kinds of bars and clubs. ...Though not my choice for night out but a ok place for one more beer after the market.

Check it out @ www.nachtkonsum.com. I highly recommend!

So, that's where I was again yesterday since it is my number one choice for selling my jewelries. Here some highlights.

My creative and sewing enthusiast friend Inkeri.

Stylish and lovely Matea with puzzle earrings from last time.

And Matea with the new yellow Barbie sneaker earrings.

Here my other reviews of flea markets in Munich:

Diakonia Kaufhaus
Nachtkonsum Zündapphalle

Midnightbazar Postpalast

Midnightbazar Reithalle

Mädelsmarkt

Just a small flashback to my roots

And as a small flashback to my roots I would like to show this piece of music video that is made in my tiny crappy hometown Kemi (Finland) by boys from back there. The video is shoot in our old "livingroom" Bar Koodi. ...And I have to say the video is pretty damn realistic, haha.

Slap Betty: That's what I do

So, that is I guess enough about the introduction. Next time I will dive into the crafting part. And now I will get ready for the evening market here in Munich. Also bis bald! (Eng: See you soon!)

To begin with

So here is my freshly started blog. I will be filling it one by one with small crafting instructions, fleamarket reviews, my newest upcycling ideas/recycling findings and above all: photos of my wonderful customers wearing RokRokInc. jewelry as a part of their different lives.

To begin with I could introduce the ideology behind my crafts. To me a piece of recycled jewelry is never just a piece of jewelry. It brings with it flashbacks of feelings, emotions and scents. And not only the memories from your own past but also the mysteries of other people. Upcycled items and materials had their earlier life and have many stories to keep. Vie recycling what once was finished gets a second life and more soul as you'll bring it more crazy happenings to be kept in secret.

YOU CAN FIND THE UP TO DATE RokRokInc. UPCYCLED JEWELRIES AND ACCESSORIES:

• www.facebook.com/rokrokinc
• www.etsy.com/shop/rokrokinc

 Mix and match, get crazy, be fancy or have fun but always do it with a dash of rock attitude!