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Doing something good can be so simple sometimes: I contributed one of my photographs to the Radio FM4 calendar 2022 – every calendar sold supports the FM4’s "Licht ins Dunkel" project and benefits women and children affected by violence.
I wish you all the best for 2022, lots of health and happiness!
A week ago I was travelling for the first time after two years. I was just arriving at the airport in Vienna and was waiting for my connection flight to Klagenfurt when I decided to visit the book shop at the gate in hope of finding a lovely magazine until boarding. In front of the shop there was a display with postcards when I remembered that I still need a birthday card for one of my friends. While looking for the right card, a special one in the lower third of the display immediately caught my attention: it was my own!
Although the collaboration with Pickmotion already happened two years ago, it still fills me with joy and happiness whenever I spot my card somewhere in a shop. It is really lovely to see my work out there, waiting for others to get discovered and bringing joy to the recipients.
In case I have ever sent you a card and you were wondering why you get the same motif again and again, that’s because I always buy my own card as an act of gratitude whenever I see it somewhere.
New collaboration
In July Eszter from Pickmotion contacted me for a new collaboration and I was really excited about the offer that my pictures could be part of their new product line, a photo calendar series for 2022.
Although we all might have a digital calendar these days, there is no comparison to a traditional paper calendar. There are two different versions of the calendar available – a wall calendar and a monthly planner – and there are different themes like mountains, coast & sea, magical world, travel, botanicals, city spotlights etc. You can find two of my pictures in the botanical series.
Wall calendar
The wall calendar comes in a great size of 30x40cm and features 12 botanical motifs – one for each month. The motifs represent the diversity and beauty of nature. Pickmotion picked the designs by searching for great, minimalistic photographs on Instagram. The calendar is printed on thick and matte high-quality paper. In case you like the motifs you can cut them out afterwards and frame them or use them as wrapping paper.
The wall calendar makes a great gift and/or is a wonderful decoration item for your home.
My pictures represent the months October and December. We have a huge print of the fern photograph in our living room and I am happy that my pictures will be soon on your walls too and accompany you during two months.
Monthly planner
The monthly planner is a great aid especially for those who like to plan and organize the next year. The pictures are printed in square-format so there is enough space for all your appointments and notes. There are three columns for each month which you can use individually for your needs: you can share the calendar with your family and fill in all important tasks of each person or you can use the calendar just for yourself dividing the columns e.g. in birthdays, self-care and work appointments or travel, friends, and social media postings – as you can see there are unlimited possibilities to make the calendar your own.
The design of the calendar with the square-shaped pictures and motivational quotes on the photographs reminds me of the traditional Pickmotion postcards – so if you like the cards, you will definitely like the calendar too.
The calendars are available in German and designed for Austria and Germany (due to the mentioned holidays on the calendar). You can buy them in selected shops as well as in online shops such as Amazon (wall calendar / planner) or Rivashop (wall calendar / planner).
I wish is was in Finland. That’s a thought that regularly pops up in my mind. Diving into another world or country can be so easy if you have a little bit of imagination. Especially if you can’t travel due to a pandemic or due to time, health or money issues, a little bit of creativity can lead to a great exploration and discovery too.
One week ago I took some days off to discover the most Finnish places in Vienna. To prepare, I did a lot of research using Google and asking friends for recommendations to find the right places for my intended mission. So this was the first time travelling to “Finland” without using a Finnair plane to get there – just a few hours bus ride within my home country was necessary to find what I was looking for: a little bit of Finland in the middle of Vienna.
So here are my favourite spots in town that you should definitely check out too.
Hotel Rathaus Wein & Design Wien
Finding a Finnish themed accommodation was the most difficult part of the whole journey. Now you might think that Hotel Rathaus Wein & Design doesn’t sound too Finnish, but they are offering a hotel room in cooperation with the Scandinavian Design House and the Hästens Store Vienna. The junior suite is located on the fourth floor and offers a wonderful view over the city. But not the view, the interior was the main reason why we chose to stay there: The room was filled with beautiful furniture and decorations from prestigious Scandinavian designers like Swedese, &tradition, Montana, Design Letters, Skagerak or Hay. When you get it down right, Finland is not part of Scandinavia, but we were really happy to find some Finnish design items from Iittala and Marimekko in the room too. The highlight of the stay was without doubt the wonderful Hästens bed, a handcrafted luxury bed from Sweden, which I would love to own in silver beige too. The hotel room felt more like a small apartment and reminded me of the beautiful Airbnb accommodations in Finland.
It would also like to mention the friendly hotel staff and the great location of the hotel close to the Finnshop which leads me to our second spot.
Lange Gasse 13
1080 Wien
Update: The cooperation with the Scandinavian Design House has unfortunately ended. The junior suite no longer has Scandinavian-style furnishings.
Finnshop
Finnshop is the main address if you want to own a piece of Finland and make your home a little bit more beautiful. It’s definitely a paradise not only for Finland-, but also for design lovers. In three rooms you can find the newest collections of well-known design brands like Marimekko, Aarikka or Iittala in addition to design classics like the Alvar Aalto vase or the Marimekko unikko series.
If you have ever been to Finland, you might have noticed that you can find design everywhere – even in the most isolated Mökki somewhere in the deep forest. Design is so much more than just a pretty object in Finland, it’s an important essence and a way of living. Since many Finnish designers are inspired by nature, especially by the forest and the archipelago, you can recognize a lot of forms and shapes from nature in their designs – and I feel a little bit more connected to my favourite country through these pieces, even at home in Austria. I will never get tired of the joyful and colorful Marimekko designs or the timeless Iittala Kastehelmi collection. It’s always a pleasure to visit the Finnshop and get a bit carried away by the beautiful items you can find there. Also if you are a Moomin lover and a fan of the Moomin themed Arabia mugs you can find a lovely variety to add to your collection. For those with a sweet tooth you can also buy some Finnish sweets like Fazer chocolate or my favourite Geisha bar there.
I can also highly recommend checking out their online shop where you can find even more clothing, jewelry and home items etc. If you are looking for inspiration or just want to learn some Finnish words, check out their Instagram account which is one of my personal favourite accounts from Austria.
Siebensterngasse 17
1070 Wien
Café Ihana
After spending countless time in the Finnshop we got a little bit hungry and there is definitely no better place for a Finland-inspired trip than visting Café Ihana. “Ihana” already says it all – the Finnish word means “wonderful” and there is no better way to describe this place.
If you want to feel Scandi vibes and get the feeling of being in a “kahvila” in Finland while smelling freshly brewed coffee and warm korvapuustit (cinnamon rolls) you are at the right spot. The coffee place is a small and very cozy gem with a wonderful selection of coffee, wine and bites. The different versions of “smörrebröds“ with ham, cheese, salmon, roast beef or shrimps are beautifully decorated and taste delicious. If you would like to try something really traditional you have to order a “Karjalanpiirakka”, a Karelian pasty – if you wish with “munavoi” (egg butter). After a few smörrebröds it’s time to eat something sweet: We ordered cinnamon rolls and a blueberry cake while getting a little bit sentimental as we could listen to some Finnish conversations.
If I would live in Vienna, Café Ihana would definitely be my go-to-place and I can’t wait to go there again.
Kleine Pfarrgasse 3/1
1020 Wien
My top 3 shops:
1. Finnshop
2. Scandinavian Design House
3. & Other Stories (for Scandinavian-inspired clothing)
My top 3 food locations:
1. Café Ihana
2. Das Tortenstudio (for vegan korvapuustit)
3. Julius Meindl am Graben (for buying some Fazer sweets)
My top 3 Finnish activities in Vienna:
1. Go for a walk e.g. in the Augarten park to get some forest vibes
2. Look out for some cool thrift shops and try to find some design classics
3. Eat some fresh berries or peas as a tasty Finnish summer snack
If you still have some other Finnish tips for me – e.g. for the whole Austrian area, I would be happy if you could write them in the comments.
Last year I took part in a photo competition of the Museum Joanneum. I am happy to announce that my picture has been selected as a “special Kunsthaus photo” and has been printed in the new architecture book - available in German and English.
Find out more about the publication:
Imagine a morning on a warm summer day. The first rays of light hit the bedroom and you are excited what the new day will bring. You just put on some clothes, take your keys, walk out the door to cross the street, walk through that little park with the statue in golden sandals. Just a little uphill walk and you are there: in the middle of the forest. Silence welcomes you, the fresh nordic breeze and the rustling leaves are your companions. Here and there you can hear a bird chirping a lovely melody from afar. While you walk on this little path covered with needles, the sun gently shines through the trees on your face and a squirrel crosses your path, not too shy, wondering where you might go.
You walk to this wooden bench on the little rock where you have a wonderful view over the lake with the island. Once you reach this place you lay down on the bench and slowly the stress of the last weeks starts to fall off your shoulders. A big smile overcomes you because you are happy where you are right now: it’s just you and the Finnish forest and it feels amazing.
For weeks, ok to be honest for months, me and my heart are ready to depart. To Finland. It has been a long year and also this one seems to turn out not very promising to be able to leave soon. But little wonders can also happen at home: In March I was chosen to be an ambassador for the Finnish brand Hetkinen.
Hetkinen is a Turku based company that manufactures natural cosmetics and minimalist interiors. Most of their products look like the Finnish forest and also smell like it.
Hetkinen is a Finnish word, “hetki” means moment. The brand’s name should be interpreted in this way that you should take a moment for yourself, you should stop for a while and calm down - with the help of Hetkinen products. Similar to my holiday memories in the beginning of this post, the products create a feeling of a relaxing forest walk which suits body and soul – just that you are at home or in your office. Hetkinen’s mission is to bring people closer to nature in their busy everyday lives.
To me the forest has always been a place to escape. A place to recover. A place of joy.
It’s great to see that there is a brand that drives inspiration from the Finnish forests too and dedicates their time to mindfully develop natural products by using purest essential oils that both smell and do good.
Their product line is made of 100% natural ingredients – no artificial smells or substances like parabens or polyethylenes are used – and it’s fully vegan.
You can find essentials of pine in many of their products, a very common tree variety in Finland with a sustainable population; they use spruce resin which has been collected from Kuusamo, all kind of berries like rowan berry, crowberry, cranberry or juniper which can be found in the Finnish forest. Everything is made in harmony with nature.
Even the product packaging is worth mentioning: it is beautifully designed and plastic-free.
Most of their products come in wooden jars from Finnish pine heart wood. No chemicals are used in the process as the tree is naturally antibacterial. During a virtual company tour we found out that Kari, who is a carpenter, is creating these beautiful jars. Each jar is unique because no tree is like the other. Once the products are consumed, you can reuse the jars as little storage boxes or recycle them (e.g. compost them or take them to a wood recycling centre).
In the last three months I learned a lot about the forest – now I can distinguish all kind of tree species – about Hetkinen and their product line which is growing every time whenever I take a look at their website.
The candles
Candles are the first things that come to my mind when thinking of creating a beautiful moment for myself.
I really like to use them all around the year, for example while eating dinner to make the moment a little bit more special and hygge.
Hetkinen offers a great selection of veggie candles. You can separate them in two sections: The traditional veggie candles and the happiness candles.
The traditional veggie candles smell for example like spruce resin or smoke sauna. If you don’t have a fireplace, use one of the candles because the wooden wick creates a crackling and relaxing sound. Hetkinen also offers a candle refill set: you get all components to create your own candle except of the jar which we all have plenty at home. It was really easy and fun to do; the active candle making process didn’t take longer than three minutes.
The happiness candles are the fancier candles for design lovers: they come in round or tree shapes, have a cotton wick and a pine root holder as a design element. The round/globe version is available in three different sizes.
The scents
Every day you can find me near the pine forest scent diffuser trying to inhale the great scent when leaving the room. My room already turned into a Finnish forest thanks to this beautifully looking and smelling diffuser. It has a neutral and most important natural scent of pine needles which calms me down and makes me feel relaxed. There are also a few other scent options: “Finnish sisu” which empowers your senses with menthol and black pepper, the spicy “shinrin yoku” which means “forest bathing” and the festive “happy holidays” scent with cinnamon for a cosy atmosphere.
If you want to take the forest everywhere you go, I can recommend checking out the perfume section where you can find two fragrances called “forest riot” and “bark bout”.
The creams (& the lip balms)
On my desk next to me you can find a staple of beautiful boxes of pine heart wood. I immediately think of trees and the forest while looking at them. What I love about the body butter, the resin salve and the hand balm is that these are solid products – they are waterless and very sufficient – you just need a very small amount of the product.
Buy less, but better is another aim of the brand which they want to state with their product line.
All Hetkinen products are manufactured in their own company in Turku. It’s amazing how a small team with less than ten persons can design products from pure and minimal ingredients, bearing in mind the safety of the product for the user and nature.
If you would like to create a Hetkinen moment for yourself, please check out their website:
My top 3 Hetkinen interiors:
1. Pine forest scent diffuser
2. DIY/ refill candle
3. Happiness globe candle
My top 3 Hetkinen natural cosmetics:
1. Spruce resin salve
2. Pine lip balm
3. Pine peppermint salt soap
My top 3 songs:
1. “Time to Escape” by Idiomatic
2. “ASAP” by Milow
3. “Ready to Depart” by Idiomatic
One city I always like to visit in Austria is Graz. It’s a beautiful city with many sights to discover; it has a great size, not too small and not too big. In my case many memories are connected to Graz. The first things that come to my mind are my study exchange year, my first-time employment, my first boyfriend and the many concerts I have attended there.
It always feels familiar to come back and enjoy the city anew. Since my stays are limited for a few hours, I like to combine my activities, like going for a walk, doing some shopping and/or visiting the sights. Luckily the shops and the must-see sights in the city center are easy to reach. No matter where you go you will always see the clock tower (or “Grazer Uhrturm” how we call it) on the hill. In the middle of the Herrengasse you will find the Landhaus courtyard which is definitely worth taking a break at to enjoy the beautiful Renaissance surroundings. The modern art museum (“Kunsthaus Graz”) is one of the most spectacular buildings of the city that also offers a glazed viewing platform called the “Needle”.
In case you would like to take some pictures of Graz I would recommend exploring the city in the early morning. During these times there are just a few people on the streets, you are in no rush and you can take a closer look at the old houses with their red-tiled roofs and beautiful facades.
This year’s fall vacation took us to Vienna, to be precise to the 25hours hotel at MuseumsQuartier. I have been there two years ago with my sister and was really fascinated by our hotel room and the personal touch of the hotel. I am not a huge fan of staying in hotels, but the 25hours hotel is an exception: the rooms make you feel like home, they are beautifully equipped and have a breathtaking view. We even had a small cooking place, a refrigerator and a dishwasher this time. If you don’t want to cook for yourself you can use the room service – especially during Corona times it is a great and safe alternative instead of going out for dinner. We ordered pizza from the Italian restaurant Ribelli which is located on the ground floor of the hotel and spent a lovely evening in our room. We did not have too much luck with the weather – it was raining most of the time during our stay. Nevertheless we explored the neighborhood and visited Spittelberg on the day we travelled back home.
If you would like to know more about the hotel, please check my last blog post from May 2018:
I always get excited when I can explore places I haven’t visited before. When everything is new and is waiting to get discovered it is really easy to find great subjects to photograph. I get inspired by the unknown; it helps me to look differently and to find unusual perspectives.
Right now I am feeling a bit stuck because travelling is limited due to the current world and health situation. So I decided to explore Klagenfurt - a city very close to me.
I live close to Klagenfurt for already 20 years, but actually never took any pictures there – I guess this resonates with the thought that when something is near and could be seen every day, it is not that special or interesting to discover. You already know every corner and your eyes don’t look at the surroundings the same way as if it would be something completely new and exciting. You most probably associate the city with daily routines like going to work or visiting a doctor instead of focusing on the beauty the city has to offer. Without any doubt Klagenfurt is a lovely city which is wonderfully located and definitely worth a stroll. If you take a closer look you can find great architecture, a wonderful old town centre and lots of nature. I am already looking forward to my next stroll through this city.
I mostly get inspired by other artists. It’s wonderful to watch someone doing something creative; whether it is drawing, crafting, singing or manufacturing. There is nothing more beautiful than turning your own ideas into reality and bringing joy to others due to your pieces of art. I think it’s the passion of the creator that releases a powerful energy which makes you want to get creative too.
Last month I started to collaborate with Papurino, a design brand from Finland. Papurino is a small family business of three talented artists called Anna, Olli and Kaarlo who design and manufacture beautiful interior products using natural materials. It’s all in their hands: from sketching the idea to creating prototypes and finally releasing a fascinating visual product. It’s interesting to see how they work together as a collective, sharing their talents, bringing in their personal skills and helping each other to create beautiful products. Their passion of creating is part of their life: The whole family is involved in the business and not only the process of creating something new, but also how they incorporate all aspects of operating a business in their daily life feels inspiring to me.
I was really excited when Papurino asked me to become one of their brand representatives, because I already liked their products for a long time. The first thing I have ever spotted from Papurino was one of their city maps on Instragram. The city maps come in round or rectangular shape and are geometric minimal scenes from a city. They are available in black or natural wood, are lightweight and look like an abstract version of a city where you can spot your favourite streets, rivers and more. I guess everyone has a favourite city for various reasons and the map could be a beautiful reminder of your memories connected with this city. Maybe you met your love of your life on a street in this city, you found your dream job there, you bought your own home in this popular district, you like to travel there whenever possible, you just love the vibe of the city or maybe it reminds you of your lovely and carefree childhood and the great and funny times with your best friend. There are plenty of reasons to decide for a city map and there is also a huge variety of sizes available so it could always find a lovely place in your home.
As a photographer I also love their wooden magnetic poster hangers to showcase my photographs. They are light and stylish and make hanging up a picture or drawing very easy. Anna is also an illustrator and offers beautiful prints too – some of them are even printed on plywood.
Since I appreciate all things that are connected with nature I can also highly recommend their wooden ornaments which bring the spirit of nature to your home: Not only the animals of the forest, but also the more abstract shapes of nature like leaves or cones are a wonderful decoration all over the year. There are plenty of possibilities to use them and it’s nice to get creative with these pieces too.
Anna, Olli and Kaarlo not only offer wooden city maps, poster hangers or ornaments: From toys for children to clocks, textiles or jewellery you can find many unique and high quality products. It’s great to see how they develop their products and probably next time when you are visiting their store or webshop you will find another brand-new piece. If you want to make your home a little bit more beautiful, please check out Papurino!
I live for the beautiful moments in my life. In the past years I have experienced a number of wonderful surprises that I never expected to happen.
At the top of this list you can find my trip to Lapland where we stayed in a glass igloo and had an amazing time driving a traditional wooden sled with huskies and keeping an eye out for the northern lights. By this time I could have never afforded such a trip myself; fortunately I was very lucky and won a photo competition so I was able to travel to my favourite destination for free. I remember me and my sister smiling the whole time during this trip and I am still so grateful for this experience. Another surprise which I will never forget was the possibility to take part in a meet & greet with my favourite band Hurts. I received a mail from Sony Music at the beginning of the New Year; I was so excited to finally meet Theo and Adam and love to think back to this amazing evening. Not only these big surprises, but also the little ones brought a lot of happiness into my life. It can be someone taking time or going an extra mile for you, a home-baked cake, tickets for a concert or just a smile from a stranger – especially in difficult times little surprises and unexpected beautiful moments can cheer you up a lot.
Another great surprise occurred in February this year. I received a collaboration request from the Berlin based company Pickmotion asking if I am interested in turning one of my pictures into a postcard. I couldn’t believe my luck - it was always one of my dreams to create my own postcard. I so love the idea that someone uses my card to write something nice to their partner, friend or colleague. I personally use Pickmotion cards already for years and admire the vintage look due to the Polaroid shape of the cards together with a cheerful or beautiful photograph a lot.
You can find my card in the New Years section, but it actually can be used all over the year for birthdays, as a reminder of beautiful memories or that great moments are just around the corner. The card is available in German and in two different English versions (one of them is glittery) and should be available all over Europe. In case you spot my card in a shop near to you I would appreciate it if you could let me know about it.
If you take a close look at the card you might find out how this motif is connected to one of my favourite moments I shared at the beginning of this post. The audio cassette is titled “wonderful life” – one of my favourite songs by Hurts. The picture does not only refer to this song, but is also a metaphor that life is actually beautiful and it’s in your hands how you want to create it.
Anyone who has visited Vienna in summer knows that the city is a tourist hotspot – that includes crowded places, lots of noise and hectic happenings. I was curious if I could find nevertheless a sense of romance in Vienna: I decided to go for a walk in the evening exploring the old town of Vienna. It was the perfect timing for my little walk because the last rays of light hit the historic buildings and the mild summer evening contributed to the romantic charm: I passed by art galleries, old book stores and beautiful inner courtyards. Surprisingly there were just a few people on the streets and I could actually enjoy the city and its treasures. A small guided tourist group came along my way and I listened to the interesting words of the guide about the narrow allays while walking to the St. Stephen’s Cathedral where a young woman sang French ballades with her band in front of the church. I spotted a Vespa in an inner courtyard and imagined how lovely it must be to explore the town this way. To sum it up, it was a really lovely evening and I was surprised that it was actually possible to find a little bit of silence and romance – even if there were many tourists around, I could still enjoy some quality time.
Every year I am eagerly waiting for my beautiful escape to Finland. I often get asked why I always travel to the same destination – it’s because I can’t imagine any better place for my holidays. This year I already went to Finland in June to get the chance to experience Midsummer, a celebration of the summer solstice. I can totally understand why Finns celebrate the endless and beautiful light of this season – together with the bright greens of the forests it’s breathtakingly beautiful and brightens your mood. Not just the city and its light spectacle were gems, but also this year’s accommodation: I found a beautiful, spacious apartment on Airbnb with so many details to discover. Every single room was gifted with a sense of beauty – an interior dream coming true! All in all my holidays were really nice and I am already daydreaming of my next visit which is hopefully soon to come.
Recently I visited Dresden due to a business trip. The weather forecast didn’t seem promising; it predicted rain all three days. And of course as forecasted it rained when I arrived and left. But there was one beautiful morning, the alarm clock rang at 5.50 am and I jumped out of bed, took my camera and decided to take a walk through the historic city of Dresden. I knew that I would be busy the whole day, so it was the only chance to actually enjoy the city and follow my passion for photography. I was really happy that I didn’t stay in bed because it was so rewarding: the beautiful morning light transformed the city into a beautiful and calm place. There was nearly no one on the street and I could savour the moment all by myself. I wish I would have had more time to see the newer part of the city too, but maybe there is a next time. I am ready for it.
