Embracing Hygge: The Art of Cozy Living for a Happier Life

In the hustle and bustle of modern life, finding moments of tranquility and contentment has become a precious pursuit. Enter "hygge," a Danish concept that transcends the ordinary to create a sanctuary of comfort and joy. In this post, we'll delve into the roots of hygge, its essential elements, and practical tips on how to infuse your life with the warmth and coziness that define this Scandinavian lifestyle.

Defining Hygge

Hygge (pronounced hoo-ga) is a Danish term that encapsulates a feeling of coziness, contentment, and well-being. Originating from Old Norse, it evolved into a fundamental aspect of Danish culture. Understanding its roots helps us appreciate the depth of its meaning, moving beyond a mere trend to a way of life.

Hygge is not just about aesthetics; it's a mindset that embraces simplicity and connection. It's finding joy in the ordinary, whether it's a shared meal with loved ones or the warmth of a flickering candle. Hygge encourages us to be present and appreciate the beauty in life's small moments.

The Hygge Home

Creating a Cozy Space: Transforming your living space into a hygge haven involves thoughtful design choices. Soft blankets, plush cushions, and warm lighting contribute to the cozy ambiance.

The Role of Nature: Nature is a crucial element in the hygge lifestyle. Whether it's incorporating natural materials into your decor or bringing in houseplants, the connection to the outdoors is integral to creating a harmonious and cozy home.

Mindful Living: Hygge living goes beyond the physical; it's a mindset that emphasizes mindfulness and gratitude. We'll discuss practical tips for incorporating mindfulness into daily life, fostering a deeper appreciation for the present moment.

Hygge in Different Seasons

Winter Hygge: Winter is a season that naturally aligns with hygge. Creating a cozy atmosphere during the colder months, incorporating winter activities and embracing the magic of snow-covered landscapes.

Summer Hygge: Hygge isn't confined to winter; it's a mindset that can be embraced year-round. Think of ways of how to infuse the warmth of hygge into the summer months, whether through outdoor gatherings, nature walks, or simply appreciating the simplicity of the season.

Hygge Around the World

While Hygge has its roots in Denmark, similar concepts are found across the globe. In Scotland we can find the term Coorie, showcasing the universality of seeking comfort and joy in everyday moments.

In a world that often feels chaotic and fast-paced, hygge serves as a gentle guide to a more intentional and fulfilling life. By understanding its roots, embracing its principles in our homes and relationships, and adopting a mindset of mindfulness and simplicity, we can create a haven of comfort that nourishes the soul. The journey into hygge is an invitation to savor the beauty of life's simple pleasures and find contentment in the present moment.

Talk to you later!

How I´m planning my year as a creative business

Hi there! I hope you had a wonderful break over the festive period but now is time to get back to the day to day routine and work. I have always enjoyed seeing how other creatives plan the year ahead for success. What tools they use and all that is it involves.

So I thought I would share with you what I´ll be using this year to keep myself on track to achieve my goals.

The first thing I did was a brain dump, of all the things I wanted to do, create and be involved with. Get a notebook and a pen, write everything that come to mind down.

I bought myself a planner that would help me with that, the Livvit Planner. I really like that it comes with ¨Instrctutions¨, to guide you and follow to make the best used of the planner.

I thought this will help with the overwhelm of Where do I start? Right?

Also, I bought the book The Bullet Journal Method. But not create those beautiful spreads you see on the internet, you know I´m a bit of minimalist. But to get the behind the scenes of methodology #I´m geeky like that!#.

Being able to organized aspect of your business, as well as your day to day life applying the same principals is a great thing. The focus is on making sure you are targeting the right things based on your life goals.

So far the story behind it is very interesting, I´ll tell you how it goes!

I´ll be doing business coaching as well with my mentor Amanda Creek from Amanda Creek Creative (link to Amanda´s page). I started working with her last year and it was amazing the results that achieved.

I achieved the clarity and direction I much need it. She is amazing and such a sweetheart! 100% recommended!

Amanda recommended Trello an App that can help you organized and plan better all those ideas swirling around your head. So I´m giving it a try with all the ideas I had from my brain dump.

Is not all Work Work over here! I wanted as well to keep my creative learning journey going not only through books but also through courses.

To exercise my creative side and expand my skills I chose two books. The first one is 365 Days of Drawing from Lorna Scobie.

I´m loving all the different section and exercises in the book, color theory, relaxation.

Another book that I´ll be using is one that I bought in Victoria & Albert Museum from Pen and Hu.

The authors made, what I see as watercolor clouds, and you need to doodle things from it. It reminded me of looking at the clouds to tell what shape they are. So I´m pretty sure is going to be fun to draw what I see!

I really enjoy online learning is very convenient and I can learn around my schedule. Skillshare is a great online platform that can help you to do that. They have lots of courses to you choose from a wide range of topics.

Other Apps I use on my that can help you in general as well are:

• Planoly

• Slack

• ColorStory

• A Design Kit

Hopefully, this behind the scene to my planning process can help you in some way to plan your year!

Until next time! Cheers!

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How to incorporate hand-drawn illustrations into your brand

Today I wanted to share with you an answer to a question that I get asked frequently:

How can I incorporate your hand-drawn illustrations into my business? or

How can I incorporate those hand-drawn elements into either my website, social media and all that good stuff?

So let's dig in!

The first place where you can incorporate those hand-drawn illustrations is in quotes. For example, on social media, you have a lot of people that use inspirational quotes as part of the message that they want to get out there.

You can have beautifully drawn frames to put your quotes in. And that will give you a distinctive character to the quote, which is not the simple white background, or a solid color background.

So it's kind of giving a more memorable element to your quote, that is going to match your brand.

On Pinterest

If you're on Pinterest and it's your main channel of putting content out into the world, you can do beautiful templates for all your motivational quotes.

For example, if you are a self-care coach or a life coach you can have beautiful templates to put those quotes in with, either in some nice rounded frames or square frames that are hand-illustrated.

Another great way to present that would be, let's say a floral wreath or let's say a sea-themed wreath and things like that, depending on the vibe of your brand.

You should use that template every time you upload one of your pins with a motivational quote, so you can get a consistency, first of all.

And also, with time, you get recognition. 'Cause people are going to recognize your brand or your pins because of those elements.

Those elements are going to make it more distinguishable, and people are going to remember that. That's one of the great things that you can do with hand-drawn illustrations.

Another thing that you can do, for example, now that we're talking about Pinterest, on your website, you can have a custom Pin It button instead of the default one.

For example, If you are a food blogger and you have a specific ingredient that you love as a food blogger or that is very common in your recipes.

Take chocolate for example if you talk about chocolate desserts, chocolate recipes, or how to cook with chocolate.

It would be great to have a chocolate bar illustrated as your Pin It button.

First of all, people are going to remember you, 'cause it's going to be visually attractive and it's going to have that Wow effect.

That is going to be something a really distinguishable element for your brand, and it's something that people are going to see as, very whimsy, very fun.

You're going to evoke a lot of feelings through that illustrated details.

The buttons don't have to be very elaborate, especially because of the size and resolution that you're going to need for that. But I think this is also, that's a really great thing to add.

On your Website

You can use hand-drawn illustrations for images if you have different categories or topics within your website.

You can use images as icons or clickable icons, throughout your website.

So there' is another great use for illustrations and you're incorporating another element that represents your brand and people are going to remember that.

There is a lot of flexibility in terms of the things that you can use to your advantage to extend your brand out

Give your customers that unique experience when they visit your website.

Last but not least are logos. Logos, of course, is one of the major visible pieces of your brand.

You can play a lot with the different ideas that you want to reflect.

And a hand-drawn logo is going to give, again, that special character, personality, and it's going to be more distinctive.

'Cause it's going to be custom to you, unique to you and your brand.

So there you have it a few answers to your questions, on how to incorporate or add hand-illustrated elements into your website.

Once you have it on your website you can also use the same elements for other social media platform.

on instagram

Also, you can transfer those elements, especially into Instagram. Now with Instagram Stories, you can use those elements with a specific template for your post.

Or the new feature Instagram Highlights, and other things like that. I'll be happy to answer any of the questions that you might have!

Until next time!