NATURE´S BEAUTY

  Today I enjoyed life by hiking in the nearby forest. All alone, just me, in peace. So therapeutic, luxurious even.

All quiet. It is like the calm before storm, stillness before summer´s rush.

I feel so small in a forest. But it feels safe, knowing I´m part of a bigger whole, our planet.

This is the sun we got today. Getting d-vitamin from this is a joke. =)

Remnants from last summer, blueberries still hanging from the shrubs.

This little fellow was the only animal I saw on my trip. On a cloudy day like this, even birds don´t care to chirp.

    It is important to stroll in nature to feel the connection between us. It helps to tune in with what´s really going on in the world. Man-made reality, with it´s worries of money and relationships, lies within the reality of our planet. It is essential to keep the planet alive, so we can stay alive.

IMBOLC ART

  In my mind there´s a picture, an ideal vision, of each sabbat´s soul. I want to get them out of there, to make them visible for everyone. It´s nothing I could photograph, it´s more like a dreamy state of being.
  I decided to paint them. Here´s the first one, Imbolc:

Dreamy light blue with hints of pale pink in the top left corner, and minty green in the bottom right (the hints aren´t as visible here as in reality). Painted with watercolors.

Flat paintings are boring. I want my paintings to have more depth, and I don´t mean only with the colors. I mean actual 3D depth. I glued these paper snowflakes on my painting  to really make them pop.

On the bottom of the piece, I glued a little light turquoise glitter on top of the mint color, to accentuate the icy effect I was going after.

I added these tiny Swarowski glue-on crystals to make resemble both stars in the sky, which are still a very remarkable part of this darker side of the year, and little ice crystals.

To give even more depth, I chose to use these bigger Swarowskis as well. Now that´s 3D!

This type of frame doesn´t draw attention to itself, and showcases the piece separating it from it´s surrounding. This baby ended up in our entrance hall. It´s the best place because you see it when you come home, setting you right into the mood of current sabbat, and is the last thing you see when exiting.

  I´m pleased with how this piece turned out. It wasn´t said that would happend, since I haven´t done painting in two decades.
  Not only am I happy now, but also encouraged to paint more sabbats!

IMBOLC FASHION: LIGHT BLUE DRESS (PERFECTED)

  The curse of being a perfectionist is, that while generally pleased with how things lay in life, you constantly keep looking for ways to make everything even better.
  That´s what I did with this dress.

Originally I made this look last year. But now I´ve fallen in love with this dress pattern, and rank it way higher than the one I used last time, how could I resist? Luckily they still had the same exact fabric left at the store. =) The fabric is rather thick, so it doesn´t drape as well as most. But apparently in this particular shape it actually does the look right, resembling more of a cartoon caracter´s dress (like the one in a beautiful film Arrietty).

I simply love an hourglass figure on women, because it is the feature that separates us from men.(To be honest, I´m surprised mine recovered this well from two pregnancies with enormous stomach. I`m not one of those ladies who get a "cute little bump". Even my own mother felt bad for me, saying that a belly that big must hurt! But gladly it did not.) Sadly a show-off waistline has not been fashionable, in street wear at least, for over ten years. But who cares, I do what pleases my aesthetic eye! And that´s what  I encourage everyone to do. A great motto I learned long ago, that applies to so many things, is: "It´s not right, it´s not wrong. It´s different."

Can you guess where the colors of this look are drawn from? Yes, those beautiful sunny Imbolc days with baby blue sky and shimmering white snow covering the ground.

I like to match makeup with clothes. To this look I used baby blue eye shadow on the inner lid, and shimmering dark grey on the outer. Must be careful not to overdo with repeating the same color, and giving thought on the overall appearance staying sleek. Because the blue eye shadow is so dominant, I kept everything else nude. Beige blush and clear lipgloss.

   Music is an important factor for me when sewing and creating overall. While making this dress I listened happy Japanese anime music. I like all sorts of musical genres, variety is the key.

HEART OF IMBOLC

  After discovering the wheel-of-the-yeart over fifteen years ago, I have built a whole new lifestyle for myself based on the eight sabbats. The eight in turn are based on the ancient way of telling time, marking solstices and equinoxes, and the points in between marking the turn of the season (spring, summer, fall, winter).
  Nowadays I incorporate each sabbat into my calendar by celebrating them approximately six weeks in a row. This year it took until now to tune into Imbolc full speed.

  Imbolc, February 1st, is for me the actual beginning of the new year. It is the point in time between winter solstice and spring equinox, thus marking the beginning of spring. A funny thing is that once, after learning about the whee-of-the-year, I was talking with my grandpa and found out that he perceived time this exact same manner by solstices and equinoxes! Needless to say, he´d never googled about paganism... =)
  By now the days have grown lighter, and it is inevitable to feel the change and look forward. Nature has turned white and powdery by snow, and the sky is glowing again with pastel colors on sunny days. As if the year is in it´s baby state.

  This is the heart, the foundation, of my Imbolc spirit. An abundant source of inspiration. And the best part is that it´s all free of charge, right here, surrounding me in my daily life! No need to go far to experience something miraculous. The fairy tale is happening right here and now, and I´m part of it!

OSTARA EARRINGS

  These are the latest additions to the selection of my aromatherapy earrings. Designed and hand made by me, of pure wool, metal and glass, these earrings upgrade any look with a touch of sophistication. Pastel colors suit Ostara/spring perfectly, while white and blue suit any season.

  
  All available online on NellandBoutique, only 20 euro/pair (including shipping + handling worldwide).
  Needless to say, a pair of aromatherapy earrings make an excellent and unique gift idea!

BEAUTIFUL IMBOLC

    Snow has taken over, and I´m enjoying the beauty of white nature. I always say I don´t like winter, and I don´t, but it is the cold I dislike, not the scenery. Bright white nature, either with or without sunshine, is magical. I always try to repeat the season´s beauty inside our home too, so we keep tuned into the natural flow.

White tulips are a must (a confession: these are artifical ones I pull out of my stash each year. Pretty as they are, I´m not convinced that fresh, genuine flowers grown far away abroad, and which last only a few days, are an ecological choice...).

A non-floral arrangement on our kitchen table (I got the glass vase from my sister in 1999. True beauty endures, I try not to buy excess and stick with my classics). As the snowflakes rotate, they cast magical specs of light around the whole room.

Can you tell that snowflakes play a major role in my Imbolc decor...?  =)

Inside and outside are in tune.

The whole view from our kitchen window.

Our compost is still alive and kicking. We have had snow every day for about three weeks now, and I can´t even remember the last time it was sunny. It feels like a joke to read health experts say one should get at least 15 min. of sunshine a day! Sometimes it´s not a choice not to...

Instead we do at least an hour of fresh air a day. This pic is from a stroll we took the other day. I love how the birches look humble under the burden of heavy snow.

Our neighbor´s organic veggie field resting, waiting for spring.

After dark the magic continues, only different.

 

LAST MINUTE PRESENTS

  Last winter my son lost all but two pairs of his winter gloves. The same seems to continue this year, and I´m pretty upset about it truth be told. In the fall, when it begun to get cold, I bought him a pair of good quality gloves. He wore them twice, and on the third day he came home without them. He´d lost them already (I do not want to think anyone at school had stolen them...).

  This Christmas I´m happy to give him this gift, self made my mommy:
 

Four pairs of dark blue fleece mittens.

The fleece I use is thick, warm, and keeps the wind and snow out. As opposed to knitted mittens, fleece beats them clearly in wearability. And that´s what counts most in kids´ clothes.

In addition to being extremely great to wear, they´re also ridiculously easy to make. Simply draw the outline of your kid´s hand on paper, add 1/2 inch seam allowance (except to the tip of middle finger), and cut out of fleece. Then sew , right sides together, with a regular straight stitch as close to the edge as you can. Turn right side out and you´re done!

  In the fall and spring, when it´s still muddy and dirty, but chilly already, I like to place these fleece mittens inside the rubbery rain gloves to keep the little hands warm. After coming back inside it is so neat to pull the two gloves apart and they´ll dry easily and won´t stink at all!

TOAD TIME

  I love frogs and toads! For some odd reason I find them super sympathetic and cute. And now it is their time to find brides and grooms, so they are boldly on the move. How cool!

"What are you looking at?"

"Vogue!"

 

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!