FREEDOM FASHION: BLACK & WHITE STRIPED TUNIC

  Time to push the boundaries and make the most modern outfit yet for my Freedom Collection.

White stripes on black. On one hand a classic print, but on the other hand a modern pattern to use it in. This is a timeless look that would suit women of all ages. I can easily picture it on a ten-year-old and on an eighty-year-old (considering her posture was still relatively normal). I do not yet have age crisis, but I notice liking age-neutral pieces of clothing. Beauty and style are not dependent on age you see!

At home I can walk around without leggings with the tunic (especially on this hot balcony on a sunny day), but everywhere else I go, I pull a pair on for sure. =)

Silvery aromatherapy earrings keep the look modern, and when essential orange oil is added, they keep me smiling! (Speaking of smiling, I can see my teeth look quite bright and white in this picture. I want to believe it is due to my healthy diet, avoiding just for the very reason, red wine, black tea, cola, coffee, and tobacco too. Last winter I had my teeth checked for laser whitening, but they sent me straight home saying if they did anything to my teeth at all, they´d end up looking ridiculously white. Yes, it must be my diet... Another good reason to eat healthy!  =)

PERFECT BELTANE EARRINGS

  These cute aromatherapy earrings capture the essence of my Beltane:

Sweet pink roses combined with essential geranium oil.

  I choose essential geranium oil as the scent for Beltane. It is rose-like, but much cheaper than authentic essential rose oil. And to be honest, I´m not sure which has a nicer scent, they´re both mesmerizing.

  I am often asked which essential oil is good in general. I would say they´re all wellness-promoting, so no matter which one you choose, you can´t go wrong. Essential oils do have healing properties, but besides them, you can also go by your nose. Choose the one(s) you like. That´s what I did with geranium oil, and got a bunch of wellbeing as a side effect.  =)

P.S I made two extra pairs of these earrings, which are now available on my shop Nelland Boutique for 20eur (free shipping & handling worldwide).  

WELCOME BELTANE!

  Yes, it is finally here, the very beginning of summer! The signs are all over by now:

Black crows are flying around in pairs.

The most obvious sign is the farmers beginning their annual field work. Here is white cabbage on the way.

Willow has outgrown it´s kittens.

Birch pollen is abundant and everywhere!

Even lady bugs are out and about. I have a love/hate relationship with these creatures. They are adorably pretty, but unfortunately I have had quite a few of them actually biting me over the years. I have not even taken them in to my hand or anything, they´ve just come out of the blue and bitten me! No fair...

Out of the barren ground they rise. Coltsfoot is like a miniature sun itself.

As a smart girl, my two-year-old points her finger at the fresh wild sprouts and says "food, food, food"!

From now on life can be nothing but sweet...

  Yes, the time has come to turn the wheel of the year to Beltane. Yipee!

FREEDOM FASHION: GREY WATERFALL SHIRT

  It was time to make a bit darker shirt to my casual, classic, comfortable, yet modern Freedom Collection (free from work, peer pressure, and excess hassle).

Still digging the basic greys and blue jeans. But this shirt introduces the waterfall neckline to the collection.

Only little, and very natural makeup is worn with Freedom clothes. The earrings are my own aromatherapy ones again, what else?! It seems I can´t do without essential oils anymore.

The back is simple. Freedom collection is the most simple and modern of all my collections. So modern in fact, that I´m wearing store-bought jeans even.  =)

It all started with this fabric. I had no plans to make this shirt overall, but when I saw this soft, well draping, beautiful grey knit in the fabric store, it hit me instantly. I "needed" to make this.

  Hail freedom!

MY GARDEROBE: THE OSTARA COLLECTION

  Time to summarize my Ostara outfits, all proudly designed and made in Nelland by me.  =)

Modern SpongeBob SquarePants. As you can see by the creases, these clothes are made for the real world use, not just for showcasing.

Inspired by Sarah Kay.

The bunny.

A tiny detail: the bunny and I now have similar earrings.  =)

Willow catkin- tunic.

These earrings are also aromatherapy ones, but I have only made this kind  for this outfit. They pair so nicely with the necklace.

The wicked witch of the East.

  Now I´m all set for the many Ostaras yet to come (although perfecting of the outfits will continue...  =).

HEALTHY PASTA BOLOGNESE

  Pasta Bolognese is always in place, year round. This time I made it low in fat and semi-raw, meaning that the pasta and TVP (textured soy protein) are cooked, but the tomato sauce itself is all raw. A nice and healthy combo, keeping in mind that the swimsuit season is approaching...

Brewer´s yeast on top adds a nice, cheesy, flavor without all the fat.

The recipe:

Cook pasta.

Soak TVP in some water, season with soy sauce.

Tomato sauce (yields 1-2):
9 cherry tomatoes
1/2 red bell pepper
3 sun dried tomatoes, soaked
black pepper
sea salt
piece of garlic (adjust to taste)
two pinches of paprika powder

+ Blend all with a hand blender (such as Bamix), until broken down into small pieces, but not all smooth. Done!

Quick, easy, cheap, and will not make you fat. Can it get any better than that?!

BAG-IN-A-BAG

  I have always searched for the perfect bag. Tried backpacks, totes, big handbags, small handbags, but never yet been fully satisfied.

  In my frustration I came up with an idea worth giving a try for: a bag-in-a-bag.

When I step out of the house, I´ll be carrying one bag.

And when I get to my car, I take the small bag out and place the big one in the trunk. The small one comes in the car with me.

In the small bag I have everything I always need; cell phone, keys, wallet, some makeup, one cloth shopping bag, and some tissues. In the big bag I have stuff I don´t always need, but which is priceless to have with me; two more cloth shopping bags, allergy medicine, an extra diaper for my girl just in case, a flashlight, pen & paper, etc. 

The big bag is only 1/4 full when leaving the house, so it fits quite a lot of things still inside it when on the go. I have found myself throwing in it mail, smaller purchased stuff I do not want wrapped in plastic (I avoid plastic bags vigorously), water and other snacks, my gloves and hat once the car has warmed up (I also avoid inside heaters, I feel it´s a waste of electricity), and everything unimaginable. Very handy.

Keeping things simple. I used ordinary snap fasteners to close the bags with. They are quicker to open and close than a zipper. Speed is what I appreciate when digging in to answer the phone or grabbing my wallet.

  Dark grey and bright yellow are the key colors of my Ostara palette, that´s why I chose to use the combo here. These bags will now go with all of my Ostara outfits.
  The outer material is faux leather, originally meant for furniture. It is sturdy and stiff but easy to sew. The lining is 100% cotton. 

  This duo has made me feel quite efficient on the go. I´m very satisfied with how this bag-in-a-bag has worked in the real world. So glad I gave it a try!

OSTARA FASHION: MODERN SPONGEBOB

  SpongeBob SquarePants is our family´s all time favorite. Our son, now 9 1/2 years, fell in love with him as a two-year-old. Now our daughter, just recently turned two, has also learned to dig SpongeBob above all else. For us parents, he has rocked through all these years, and still continues to do so.
   In short: SpongeBob SquarePants rules!

  Ostara is the perfect playful time to honor Mr. SquarePants. I designed this modern-day outfit for myself, inspired by him.

Yellow, of course! Yellow and dark grey are the two main colors in my Ostara palette. This look is inspired by SpongeBob, not a direct copy of his image. Yin and Yang, style and costume-like, it´s all about balance. But fun it has got to be! The bright sunny yellow here does just that.

The fabric of the pants is repeated in the hairband, just to bring everything together. It´s a nifty little detail possible when making you own clothes, but not when store-bought. Makeup is almost nude, keeping the look young and fresh (Ostara is the time of childhood). I applied shimmery light yellow/golden eyeshadow on the inner 2/3 of the lids, and medium dark greyish brown on the outer 1/3. Beige blush on the cheeks, and yellow/golden gloss on the lips. A note on the necklace: originally I planned to dig up an old SpongeBob keyring I know we have somewhere, and turn it into a necklace for this outfit. It was meant to be the centerpiece, sort of "explaining" the whole idea in this look. But so far I have not yet found it! What a shame. I will have to get a new one if I don´t find it soon. But a SpongeBob necklace it will be!

The sleeves are this wide, making the shirt nice and comfortable. I like to wear essential orange oil on the earrings for this outfit. It is fresh and lifts up spirits (plus decreases anxiety, eases abdominal- and menstural pain, promotes good digestion and is relaxing). 

  Long live SpongeBob´s innocence, cheerfulness, enthusiasm, trust in others, positive mindset, and helpfulness. I have a lot to learn from him...

SATURDAY OTUTFIT FOR A GIRL

  After making myself the Sarah Kay- inspired outfit, I was still left with some strips and pieces of the fabrics. So I decided to make a similar outfit for my girl. Like mother like daughter, almost. =)

I call this "Saturday Outfit" because I think Saturday is the most relaxed and fun day of the week. A day when you´re supposed to laugh and play hard, chill out, and enjoy life to the fullest. Clothes can be more relaxed than on any other day, and the more colorful the merrier. This style does deliver: green stretchy shirt combined with baggy purple pants.

Yo-yos have become a favorite of mine. They are so comfortable for little kids to wear, and easy for mommy to make... =) These ones add color and texture to the subtle green shirt (which looks strangely grey in these pics).

More yo-yos on the flip side. The trick is that you can only see one set of yo-yos at a time, either on the front or the back. Enough is enough.

Funny thing is, that I used the same type of decoration in the previous Saturday Outfit I made last August (My girl has outgrown that, so I needed to make a new one.)

  This outfit has proven to be great in use. The model of the pants is actually meant for boys, but I think girls also deserve to wear comfortable, as well as pretty, clothes!

GREEN LEAF- AROMATHERAPY EARRINGS

  Lush green summer is ahead of us, and I have been preparing for it by making a brand new style of earrings.

Green lace leaves with clear glass beads as "dew drops". Totally down to earth and natural, a tree-hugger´s dream.  =) I have enjoyed wearing essential eucalyptus oil on them. It is refreshing and cleansing, and clears up sinuses (which is nice during this pollen season).

Although the earrings are quite big, they don´t pop out too much. As you can see, they go well with a no-makeup look too. Their subtle hue of green makes them blend in with our (humans´) natural coloring. And despite their size they are very lightweight, and thus easy to wear.

  I can´t wait for the real green leaves to arrive!

P.S.  I made a few extra pairs, which are available easily on Nelland Boutique. 20 euros/a pair (including a gift box + shipping & handling).

OSTARA FASHION: THE WICKED WITCH OF THE EAST

  Bunnies, pussy willows, eggs, and witches are all traditional themes of Ostara. So far I have covered the first three on the list, and now it is time for the fourth one to beautify my wardrobe:

See the whole story here on Nelland Living (my column at PaganPages.com).

Playing with clothes and apparel is so much fun!