FREEDOM FASHION: CLASSIC GREY SHIRT

  A long-sleeved t-shirt is the root and stem of my Freedom Collection. The beginning and end. This look goes anywhere and anytime. It is as classic as it gets:

Women of all ages look good in this type of basic grey shirt. As a matter of fact, I dare say it makes one look more youthful in a mature age (I´m not there yet, but will keep it in mind for the decades to come =). Adding more jewelry makes it more feminine, but for now I need to settle for only little; my one-year-old loves everything shiny and dangling.

My favorite shirts are well fitting, but not tight as a sausage peel. Nobody should (try) hide inside a gigantic tent, but be proud of themselves just as they are. No weight issue, disability, or deformation etc. makes a person less worthy. It is how you treat yourself and others that counts! 

Free, young, and happy! That´s the spirit!

  If kept well, this shirt will follow me for years and years (and it even has extra room in case I happened to get fat...!).

HEATHERS

   Heather is pretty much the only flower that can stand the cold of these Samhain days. Therefore it is the natural choice for my pots outside.

These flower pots, three altogether, align the pathway to our yard. I love to cheer myself up (and hopefully others too) every time I come and go from the house. It is like the first, and last, impression of my home.

These fake little pumpkins have been my staple decor for ridiculously long. The only problem is that birds think they´re edible and go peck on them. So each year I have to discard some because of their bad condition. =)

I´m so happy about my recent discovery: every season is totally enjoyable, as long as the sun is shining! I´ve always strongly disliked winter, especially during Samhain, because it has seemed only murky, damp, and rainy to me. But as I can see in these pictures, it is not like that all the time, and beauty and happiness lies in this sabbat too.

The beauty in heather looks very different from a distance than up close.

  Beautiful Samhain to all!

TOP QUALITY INGREDIENTS

My neighbor is a farmer who grows organic vegetables. I can´t believe I have such a neighbor! I mean, how lucky can I be? It is awesome to get the freshest possible ingredients straight from the field. Before I did not even understand what "fresh" truly means. Now I do. It is this:

This is what I´m made of these days. I turn them into salads and stews, and steam, wok, shread, and mash them.

Beautiful yellow onions.

Beets.

Parsnip and carrots.

Kohlrabi.

  All these babies were grown 100-300 meters away from my house! Almost in my backyard, literally. It´s so great that I can just walk up to the farmer´s house and back. That´s all the transportation needed. How green is that? 

  A note on our tapwater is in place. Since we live in the (almost rural) countryside, we have our own water well. It is pure ground water, to which nothing is added. My sister always strokes her hair after washing it at our place, praising how good and soft it feels.

  I´m so happy and appreciative of these basic values being in order!  =)

SAMHAIN FASHION: THE 1800´S

  Black is the color in my Samhain palette. Nature turns colorless, black and grey, now as it falls into it´s annual winter sleep. Everything looks dead.
  Enevitably it brings to mind my friends and family members, who have passed away. I start looking back in time, and end up where my Grandpa´s parents were born, the late 19th century. That´s the oldest generation of my family I ever got to know.

  In the honor of my great-grandparents, I designed and made this outfit:

Black velour tunic with off-white cotton lace trim. Pants are plain black fleece. This is both comfortable and warm. I suppose people in the 1800´s did not have the luxury of comfiness in their winter clothes.

The sketch, the design. I just love these Bratz figures!  =)  It is always amazing to see the garment come together, and often even exceeding my own expectations. The doll here always looks so exaggeratedly gorgeous, that I myself am a bland comparison!  =(

The collar adds a needed uplift to my otherwise flat chest.  =) 

I tend to love classic styles, and bringing them to our time is not always so easy. This look was particularly challenging to keep sophisticated and fancy, but still casual enough for everyday wear. Stripping all excess did the trick here. The lace trim is actually the only, but very powerful, catch.

This jewelry I have had for years, and it all fits more than perfectly to this look. The makeup is all grey and black in the eyes. On the cheeks and lips I added a thin layer of deep red.

  Nothing ever stays the same. Evolution and progress are important. But it is also healthy to know where we come from, and accept and respect our past. We are the result of our forefathers. In good and bad. Now it´s our time to make our decisions. In good and bad.
  My dearest Grandfather used to always teach me that "as long as you do your best, it´s enough". Very wise words.

STAPLE BREAKFAST (FOR WEIGHTLOSS)

  As I like to explore different ways of eating, so do my breakfasts change. This Samhain I´m eating pretty much the same thing each morning. This plan comes straight from my heart. I remember eating this already as a teenager:

Muesli, a fruit, and a pint of green tea.

  This is a super easy and quick breakfast, that requires minimum preparation.
  The muesli is organic and store bought, so I don´t need to work on it at all.
  The fruit varies depending on what´s in season. This week (as I have tested this plan) I have eaten either one apple, two tangerines, or strawberry puré (berries from my freezer, mixed with honey and psyllium to make raw "jam"). 
  Green tea is on my menu because I like a warm drink, and green doesn´t stain teeth as much as black does. Usually I have the tea plain, but on the morning of snapping this picture I felt like adding soymilk to it. I listen to my body and eat intuitively. As much as feels good. I reckon that as long as I´m craving healthy foods, my body most likely needs the nutrients. So I go for it.

Grain is the center of my meals now. Fruit and veg are side dishes. I like rather dry grain products, such as this muesli or bread, more than porridge or cooked whole grains. I feel more peaceful. But I need to gulp down 1/2 liter of beverage with them to avoid heartburn.  =)

  A week ago I set out to lose the extra two kilos I gained during Mabon. I gave myself this Samhain (about six weeks) to get rid of it. Now one is gone already! Looks like my plan is working (although I have cheated and eaten more goodies than the plan includes...  =).

FREEDOM FASHION: BEANIE AND GLOVES

  It is freaking freezing outside! We even got first snow yesterday. So I really need these:

Fleece to the rescue (again =)!  A pretty basic beanie and gloves to keep me warm. I prefer fleece over knit because it stops the wind from blowing through my head, you know, from one ear in and the other one out... Black is always stylish, and crap won´t show so easily in the gloves. Practicality is the key to easiness.

Couldn´t resist adding some detail. These buttons are from my old stash. They give the gloves a nice finished appearance.

Same with the beanie. This is nifty because metal is rarely seen in hats. I simply hand-sew this chain (from a craft store) onto the edge of the beanie. It is super simple, but looks interesting.

The recipe for the gloves:

a hand
a piece of paper
a pencil
30cm fleece
thread

+  Place your hand, fingers spread, on the paper. With the pencil, draw the outline of your wrist, palm, and fingers onto the paper. Add 1cm seam allowance all around. Cut out.
  Place the pattern on a double layered piece of fleece. Cut around the edges of the pattern. Repeat to make a glove for your other hand too (if you have it).
  Stitch close to the edge with a sewing machine. Cut a few openings to the seam allowance between the fingers at the lowest point. Turn right side out, slip them on, and feel the comfort.

  Nothing beats a custom fit in gloves!

 P.S. You can find a very similar pattern for the beanie here.

EATING PLAN FOR SAMHAIN

  Eating raw foods during Mabon left me craving for grains, and with two kilos extra weight. Time to fix it.
  Like this:

Breakfast:
1/2 liter green tea (w/ soymilk)
1 dl muesli w/ soymilk
1 fruit/ 2dl berries

Quick and easy breakfast. Organic muesli from the box, green tea with soymilk, and a peeled and chopped organic apple. Looks like a little, but to my surprise is quite enough. When eating raw foods I felt like I had to chow down massive amounts to feel satisfied. I believe the magic is in the grains. I have always loved them.

Lunch:
1/2 liter water
1 home made whole grain bun
veggies w/ beans (prepared low fat)

Total freedom as how and what to prepare, as long as the method is low in fat. This is my Greek salad with chickpeas.

Dinner:
1/2 liter herbal infusion w/ soymilk
1 home made, whole grain, semi-sweet cardamom bun

My cardamom buns are in reality more like bread buns. I use the same recipe, but use soymilk instead of water, vegan margarine instead of olive oil, and add some sugar and spices to the dough. As you can see, these babies are very fibrous. I make them with 100% whole grain flour.

Supper/dessert:
one more bun w/ little vegan margarine and jam
or
3 pcs. store-bought chocolate coated marshmallows (pathetic, but my weakness... =)

  The idea is to eat however much I want, but the closer I stay to these guidelines, the faster I get results. Two kilos extra weight is not that much, but quickly two become three, then four, and five kilos is a lot of weight to shed. So I rather take this easy way around it, by just nipping the two.

BEAUTIFUL NATURE

  Nature´s beauty is my inspiration to everything, the ground force so to speak. Today I was in bliss because of all of this I saw literally in our back yard:

  And to think I was only on our daily, routine, walk with my one-year-old. I´m still speachless. The beauty was overwhelming. Go nature!

PURE HOME- FASHION: MABON DRESS

  Recently I realised that in fact it does not matter which season it is, as long as the sun is shining. Meaning that all days are enjoyable and beautiful, as long as it is sunny. Be it in Samhain or Litha, sunlight makes my day!

  I made a dress for those sunny and brilliant days of Mabon. It is featured at PaganPages.Org, but there was a mishap with publishing, and two (of the best?) photos are missing. Here they are:

A sneak peek of the dress.

Fully enjoying fall colors! Beautiful!

  After all it does not matter what you wear, as long as you feel good in it. And I do feel good in my newest home dress! Go check it out!

MABON FASHION: 50´S CHEERLEADER

  Yipee, I´ve finally made it! I´ve yearned to make this outfit for two years already, and now it is completed at last.

A subtle version of the classic cheerleading look. Schools start in the fall, and although I´m way past my high school years, I want to pay tribute to the institution by carrying on one of the most enjoyable of it´s traditions. To me the idea of cheerleading is wholly positive and energetic, and I want to share that with the people I meet. 

When designing, I decided to keep the colors very down to earth, so the outfit would remain wearable, and not turn into a costume. I often love such classic looks, that I need to tone down the ideas in my head big time, to make them work in real life.  =)  Here I chose beige as the main color of the tunic, deep red to accentuate it with, and darker brown for the pants. I always like to keep the top lighter than the bottom, so the natural focus is closer to the face.

I´m forever in love with this tunic pattern I drew myself once. I combined  a regular t-shirt and a mini skirt patterns. It simply works.  The pants are actually red-on-brown pin-striped, and remind me a bit of punk era. But the colors matched the top so well, that I wanted this particular fabric. And the stripes add a point of interest in this otherwise quite simplified look.

Apart from the design I drew, I did not feel the need to add the red stripes to the edge of the short sleeves. I always let the sketch lead the way, but make creative choises as I go. It is always different to see the garment in full size. Only then can I see what each piece really appears like, and how to make it "perfect" (I don´t actually believe in perfect beauty, because the old saying is right: Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder).

My initials are enough detail. I was tempted to add some numbers to the sleeves, and writing in the back, but nah, this is a modern version of the good old look. Streamlined and funky.

  Funny thing is that I´m no sports fan, yet I love this sporty look. I don´t do, or even watch, any sports myself, nor have I ever done cheerleading. But this look brings to mind the "good old days" after WW2, when culture was all about uplifting people´s spirit. Making life happy and enjoyable again. Values still needed even in our time. Hail positivity!

THE IMPOSSIBLE BIRTHDAY CAKE

  Take a regular birthday cake. Now remove all dairy, wheat, eggs, and most of the sugar. Impossible? What is left is what I served at our son´s 9th birthday party. No kidding. Sounds totally uninviting and lame, but here is what I conjured up:

A mint cake from heaven! Naturally gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, cholesterol-free, and low in added sugar. Yet delicious, believe it or not!

Creamy, lucious, whipped "cream" came straight out of the box. Luckily there are good alternatives to dairy these days!

A carb-free alternative for decoration is lemon balm. I chopped it finely and sprinkled over the whole cake. It gave a mild, citrus-like twist, which went nicely with the minty filling inside.

And happy birthday to me too! I turned 36 years young today. I definitely have no age crisis, but I´m glad forty is the new twenty nowadays!  =)  Just take a look at Mimi Kirk!

  The recipe:

 sponge cake:
1 1/2 dl sugar
2-4 dl naturally gluten-free flour (the amount depends on the brand used)
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla sugar
2 dl soymilk
1 dl vegan margarine

+ Whip together the sugar and margarine. Mix the dry ingredients together, add to the margarine mixture. Add the milk. Pour in to a baking sheet covered pie tin, and bake in an oven at 200 Celsius for 15-20 min.

filling:
2 bananas
1 very ripe pear
4 drops of essential peppermint oil

+ Mix all in a food processor. Spread over the sponge cake (once it is cooled down).

topping:
1 package of vegan whipped cream (I used Alpro Airy & Creamy)
1 tsp vanilla sugar
10 drops of liquid stevia sweetener

+ Mix all and whip up until stiff enough for spreading.

Decorate with finely chopped lemon balm, dark cocoa powder, or shredded dark chocolate (sweetened with stevia for the least carbs).

  The reason I tried to reduce sugar in this recipe is that my diabetic son could get as big a chunk of this cake as possible, without getting immense amounts of carbs. After all, there were also lollipops, pizza, popcorn, cookies, and gummy bears on the menu...  =)
  I try to keep my boy´s life as "normal" as possible, despite his restrictive food allergies and now diabetes. I need to remind myself, and teach him, that we eat to live, not vice versa (which is what media seems to teach us in order to sell more).