beauty

Have you ever noticed that it's impossible to feel ugly when it's snowing?

Everything is made new by snow and it's impossible to not feel like you are as well. And here's the secret: it's true.

The snow really does make everything beautiful, it makes you beautiful, it makes the bare trees beautiful, the city and country alike beautiful. So, even if you're a sceptic it must be admitted that snow is a form of magic.

I, like so many girls, have trouble with my self image, it's so easy to be filled with self loathing because one's arms aren't skinny, or legs are too short, or skin not clear, or what ever it is that makes us look into the mirror and want to cry. It's so hard to fight off the lies that say we need to be a certain size and shape to be beautiful. But still we must fight, we must because if we don't we are letting ourselves down. We are cheating ourselves of the freedom and self respect we deserve.

But as I said, it's not easy. So here's my challenge to myself and anyone who wishes to join in (and I hope you do). Next time it's snowing put on a warm hat and a big sweater and go outside. Wander under a street light, or lay back in the snow bank, catch the little ice crystals on your tongue, feel them brush against your cheeks and stick in your eye lashes. Laugh or sing into the stillness and know. Know that you're beautiful.

And if there is no snow where you are, or won't be for a long time, then go outside and watch the sunset, it has the same effect. Watch the trees catch the low golden light, feel it's warmth upon your face, dance as it sinks past sight, and know. Know that you're beautiful. Because all girls are.

With all my heart,

Clara

Winner!

Dear Readers,
I am terribly sorry for how pathetic this post is I will try to come back and do it justly as soon as the computers at my parents decide to work for me. As for now this will have to do, as I do not want to keep the seven lovelies who entered the give away in suspense. So around noon today I put those seven names into a bowl and had my sister draw one and the winner is...

Olivia!

Congratulations! So my dear I already have your address, so no worries there, your little parcel will be on it's way to you shortly. Thank you so much all of you for your recommendations (I just got The Sea-Wolf from the Library today) I can hardly wait to dig into them all. Again, I really wish I could send all of you a little something, even though you all can't have the actual package, so if you would like to receive a little hand drawn post card by yours truly, just email me your address at thewoodbetweenworlds@gmail.com and I will send a little note of thanks your way!

Love, love, Clara

It's the last day to enter the give away! So comment quick! I'll be back tomorrow to announce the winner.

love, Clara

Give Away!

(tags for my shop! more on these to come...)

I've wanted to do this for a long time and now I'm finally going to! So in honor of you, my wonderful one hundred followers and the fact that today is my two year blogivercery I'm having a give away! You have one week to enter, so next Monday I will collect all of the entrees, place them in a box, and draw out one of your names. All you have to do is recommend something to me, it could be a recipe, a song, a book or author, a website, anything.

I can't say exactly what all the package will consist of, but it will contain these lovely wristlets, an old book, perhaps a pattern or two, and what ever else I fancy to drop in there within the next week. I'm so excited! What I would really like to do is give everyone that enters something. So I was thinking I could mail you all postcards that I've drawn! But then I thought people might be uncomfortable with that, with me collecting a whole bunch of addresses, but I'm going to offer it anyway. So, if you would like to get at least a postcard in the mail you can email me at thewoodbetweenworlds@gmail.com with your address and I'll get it in the mail as soon as possible!

So I really hope you all enter and have fun thinking of things to recommend! I can't wait to read them all (oh and I got the idea from Emily at The Black Apple, she did it for one of her give aways). Oh and spread the word too! The more people that enter the better!

with old ink and lace,

Clara

PS: oops! I had posted the wrong email address! if you emailed me please try again!

I'm still alive!

I've been gone so long! Oddly enough things are settling down into a bit of a routine, and I should be back for good in time, believe me I didn't want it to be like this. But good has come from it of course, I mean projects that are actually getting FINISHED(oh my goodness! who even knew that was possible!). Having my own place is doing wonders, and I'm thinking there actually is something to the whole less distractions = greater productivity thing. The whole reason I've been so absent is because there is no internet at my apartment and the only time I get near it is when I visit my parents, and then I'm generally so overwhelmed by everything I've missed (you guys for instance) that I run out of time to actually acknowledge that I've been here, checked up on you lovelies, jumped for joy over your comments, and kicked myself for leaving free (healthy)food and the internet. But I will be back. I will get a laptop. I will end up with internet at the apartment. I will show you the apartment and all that I've been doing there. And I will be back! Gahh! There's so much I wish I could tell you and show you right now but my Dad has already been waiting a long time to take me grocery shopping. So I have to go... so farewell my darlings... I will be back...

love, Clara

PS: 100 followers! thank you thank you thank you! and I've been so terrible and neglectful too. but there will be a give away to celebrate, soon!! ( know you must be getting so tired to reading that, I'm really sorry!)

(oh, photo is by me)

what I want to do now

• watch Romeo and Juliet
• bake a tart
• go some where all by myself and breathe
• knit socks
• lay outside and stare at the stars
• quote poetry
• write out dreamy rambling stories
• embroider an amazing picture (though I certainly don't have the skills for that)
• draw
• walk through Creamer's Field
• have a bonfire with my friends
• just think
• read Peter Pan again (it's been way too long)

But it's late, and there's so much to do...and I'm tired... I hate how much I say that. Because it's become so meaningless, and just a dumb excuse. When will I not be tired and have nothing to do? Probably never. So I need to just DO something! Actually I have been doing several of these things, I just haven't managed to post about them. Sorry. I know I keep saying this, but life really is crazy. As I'm sure it is for everyone. But I'm moving out this weekend and working every day through it all, so it's gonna be interesting. haha, well I'll tell you all how it goes. Thank you so much for bearing with me. Love you all!

~Clara

PS: What do you want to do right now?

Photo can be found here

swan lake

I want to see it live so badly. I've heard it's too long but I don't see how it could be, it's dancing, it's love, it's beauty, it's tragedy. There's no way it can be anything but perfect.

is there anything you've been desperate to see or feel lately?

Summer has been freedom. Late nights, spontaneous hikes and camping, planning, collecting, observing, day dreaming, praying, cooking, brainstorming, deciding, thrifting, swimming in lakes and a hot spring, boat rides and tubing, and making things. Also lots and lots of journaling (I hate how most of the words I use when writing about journals aren't technically words!), I've never journaled this much before in the summer. It's been wonderful though, full of good things. I'm allowing my summer list to carry over into fall, so that way I can still accomplish a few of the many things that never happened. Thank you so so much for all of the birthday wishes! You all are to wonderful for words. Life is still hectic, but I'm going to make myself post at least once a week regardless, so I won't disappear!

So until I'm back (which is hopefully sooner than a week),

Clara

A long time wish has come true! For my birthday my dad and mom got me a typewriter! Oh yes, and this was the big 18, which is (in America) the step into "adulthood" (kind of, you don't really get to do anything exciting though, can just vote and get drafted into the army). Anyway, about my typewriter, it's an old one. Solid metal, with a fabric ribbon which still has ink in it, none of the keys stick (shockingly), and the only problems it has is that the ribbon doesn't move on it's own and the caps lock doesn't work. Both of those are fine with me though, I just love that I can type little notes and letters on it!

Not to mention how nice it is to see it sitting on my desk when ever I'm in my room. There will be more on what I've aquired lately later, I just thought this deserved a post of it's own, and you all deserved a post sooner as well. I just can't get over how wonderful you all are.
The end of summer is going wonderfully, I've been getting out alot, and making sure I enjoy every minute of it. Life is good.

Love, Clara

hot spell

Summer should be coming to a close here, but the weather seems to be having other ideas these past few days. I step out of the doors from work and feel like I'm hitting a wall of heat.
I apologize again for being so absent, but most of all for not responding to your comments. However, I must tell you that the rest of this month will probably stay the same way. It's crazy beyond crazy right, what with turning 18, work, the fair, getting my shop going, three other birthdays, an anniversary, and quite possibly getting an apartment with one of my friends.

I hope things will become steady eventually though, I'll keep posting, but everything else might end up going out the window. We'll see.

Thank you all so much for being so wonderful and sweet, you all mean so much to me even though I'm so bad at showing it. I hope you're all enjoying your summers (or winter I suppose) to their fullest!

with love from my dizzy little world,

Clara

PS: all images from here

Naturalist

Things have been so busy here, I apologize for my absence. It's been much too long I know. I've been frantically working on the goods for my shop along with the fact that I finally got a job (Yay!). So the only time I usually get a chance to use the computer is at night when I rarely have the energy to blog. But I'm working on a solution to that. However, I thought you might enjoy seeing some of the pieces of magic I've collected over the summer. This butterfly I found blowing down the sidewalk outside the library.

I save the small, soft, feathers I find in our yard.

My dad found this little egg shell outside and brought it in for me.

Rocks from Clam Gulch and Homer.

My sister found me this bird's nest, it had fallen out of the tree during a storm.

It's not much, but I do find comfort and inspiration in surrounding myself with little these little pieces of wonder. Feeling like Julian from Elizabeth Enright's Gone Away Lake, one of the best children's books to read in the summer I think, and the sequel is just as good. They're full of that wonderful summery nostalgic feel, where you just want to sit on a porch drink ice cold lemonade and watch the fire flies.

I hope you're all enjoying the summer (or winter, which ever you're in) I can hardly believe it's already August! July just went by so fast. And thank you all for you're votes on the skirt, it's tied right now, so if you haven't voted please do, I'm going to close it on Saturday, so hurry!

I won't make any false promises about posting. I will try to post again soon, but you never know how things will go, especially when they just seem to get busier and busier. So we'll just have to see how things go.

with feathers and butterfly dust,

Clara

help me!

1.

So, here's a bit of what I've been sewing. A skirt, and it's my first one hundred percent, people sized, handsewn project. Also, it will most likely be in my shop that should be opening in about a month if all goes as planned. It isn't quite done though, because I'm having trouble choosing which buttons to use. They are all vintage buttons and full of character. I just need help knowing what kind of character this skirt wants! So if you could just vote that would be great.

2.

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5.

6.

7.

Thank you very much for your votes! All are needed and all count!

With tiny stiches and wrinkled cotton,

Clara

Awards!

Hello everyone, I hope you're all doing good! I'm a little bit sick over here, which means lots of tea and hours to just read, sew, knit, and that I will actually post. Anyway, I have to awards (woohoo!) that I've been hanging on to for much to long. So here we go!

Thank you Clare for this wonderful award! Sorry it's taken me this long to post it.

I'm going to pass this award on to the dear Melee who always leaves wonderful, fun, comments!

Now, for this fantastic award from Tywo (thank you so much!) is a bit more involved. I have to state seven things I love. So number one is:

1. Life

What I mean by life is not my life (though my life is good), what I mean is what life is. The life that starts the moment a child is conceived. I love how we breathe and move and can make our own choices. Life is so precious, it's one of the only things, when you think about it, that we really have, that's only ours.
I also love the life that is in animals and growing things.
That too is something to marvel over.

2. My Family
I am so blessed to have such a wonderful, caring family. And while I often feel like I just need out, I love them. So, so, much.

3. Reading
Just about anything! However, this summer I've mostly stuck with fantasy and poetry. Both of those are the kind of writing I can always fall back to and be at home. Where I understand and feel understood.
Do you know what I mean by that? What kind of writing makes you feel that way?
However, I did just read Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood and that was wonderful. It left me in this great summer in the south sort of mood. Lots of fun.


4. God
If this list were in order he would be first. It's not religion. It's a relationship, a dance, a poem, a song. And I owe him everything.


5. The Earth
Oh, the wonder of it! I just LOVE the earth, it's so vast and beautiful, so raw and perfect and imperfect all that the same time.

6. Making things

Now of course you already know this. But I couldn't very well leave it out either, for I'm happiest when making something.

7.Romance

I am such a hopeless romantic, though you already know that too!

So I pass this award on to the wonderful Sarah, Francesca, Ellie Grace, and Sara. Hope everyone has a wonderful afternoon, night or whatever your at right now!

with ice tea and tissues,

Clara

PS: all the photos can be found here

Update! So sorry, some how my settings got switched around so now you can comment! Thank you so much for letting me know Melee! Love, Clara