Inspiration

Family Christmas traditions

December 8, 2021

Photography – Bobby Bense

Creative Direction/Editing – Helen Janneson Bense

Location – Fremantle

Creating DIY Christmas Gifts and Keepsakes with the instax mini Link – instax mini 11 Oh Snap! Instant Photo kit | instax mini Link Printer | instax mini Film

I’m keeping family traditions alive this Christmas and creating new ones as well. I come from a Finnish background where we celebrate a little differently. Firstly, and most importantly, we bake a lot, especially in the month preceding Christmas. Instead of 25th December, we celebrate on Christmas Eve. Now that we are in sunny Western Australia, we have new traditions like spending the day at the beach and enjoying a completely plant based, low waste Christmas. This year we are focusing on giving moments, memories and experiences to friends and family. We’ve been having so much fun creating DIY gifts from the heart using our instax mini Link Printer.

I’ve been teaching my children all of my favourite childhood recipes that my mum taught me. Our absolute favourite Christmas cookies that make the whole kitchen smell like home, are Piparkakku. They are a ‘melt in your mouth’ ginger and cinnamon cookie that remind me of my parents. It’s been such a long time since we’ve seen family and every reminder right now makes our hearts sing. We had such a wonderful, creative time making our loved ones some Christmas cookie gift baskets. Everything from the basket itself was handmade, topped with a little keepsake instant photo – a reminder of those precious moments together.

Adding prints onto our cookie baskets gave us the idea to create Christmas gift boxes and cards sourcing reusable items we had around our home. We found some brown packing paper, boxes, cotton string, dried flowers, recycled card and began crafting away. Each gift box and card was made extra special, personalised with an instant photo memory that we printed out using the instax mini Link Printer.

This time of year brings on so much emotion for me. Christmas together with my whole family is a treasured memory, and sadly something that has become much harder over the past 2 years. While I long to see my family across the globe reunited, I’m grateful for the memories. I’m grateful to have my husband and children to celebrate with, and create some new traditions that will someday be passed down to our grandchildren.

No matter how you celebrate, I’m wishing you all the most wonderful holiday season, full of joy, connection and love.

With love and gratitude,

Helen xx

Beach Wedding Inspiration

May 11, 2021

Photography – Bobby Bense

Model/Styling/Editing – Helen Janneson Bense

Location – City Beach, Western Australia

Set up and styling – Pretty Willow

Flowers – Lush Floral Design

Dresses – Rue De Seine Bridal

Jewelry – Heather Gardner | Ananda Soul

Shop my favourite bridal styles

Throwing it back with this blog post to a simpler pre-covid time, reminiscing about this wedding scene of my dreams. This was a passion project of mine, born from a creative vision I had one afternoon. A spark was lit and I knew I had to follow this impulse. This shoot ended up being such a leap of faith as we juggled bad weather and travel schedules to make it happen. At the last opportunity we dove heart first even amidst a storm and 90% chance of rain forecast for the day. It was a miracle that it only rained once, thankfully only between outfit changes.

We were so blessed with beautiful sunshine, beautiful light and a magical sunset. As soon as we packed up the rain came once more.

It was such a joy working with the ultra talented Pretty Willow and Lush Floral design who created a scene more extraordinary that I could have imagined. If you’re looking for some extra talented, ultra committed Perth creatives for your wedding, then look no further.

With love and gratitude, Helen xx

Mother’s Day Love Note

May 3, 2021

“It’s an innate knowing that I am worth it all, worthy of being seen and heard for who I am“.

Photography – Bobby Bense

Editing – Helen Janneson Bense

Location – Busselton, Western Australia

Outfits – Available HERE 20% off site wide until May 9th 11.59pm AEST

Happy Mother’s Day to all you amazing mamas. You are always enough. I see you, I hear you, and I send you all my love.

This Mother’s Day I’ll be cherishing my family, my children, and myself. One of the greatest lessons I’ve learnt as a mother is to ensure my love cup is full. Overflowing if possible. This means different things for everyone. For me, it means following my passions and balancing this with family time. It means meditating every day and healing trauma. It means eating healthy, thinking mindfully, and spreading love to all those around me. Including myself. It’s moving at my own pace, spending time in nature. It’s connecting with the ocean, the trees, the animals, walking barefoot in the sand, and feeling the elements upon me every single day.

It’s saying “I love you” in the mirror and being kind to myself when I’m judging my thoughts and actions harshly. It’s carving out time to follow my joy, while I take care of nourishing my home and family. It’s an innate knowing that I am worth it all, worthy of being seen and heard for who I am. It’s showing compassion to myself in times of struggle. Giving my wounded inner child the tender love she needs. Walking a path of courage, brave to share my sensitive and vulnerable soul with the world, knowing it can break my heart. And allowing my heart to be broken, so I can feel all of the love pour in as well. This is my greatest strength, that builds the ultimate resilience in me. It is my safe place where I belong to myself. It’s where I heal. It’s where I know without a doubt I am enough.

Let this Mother’s Day be a reminder for self care, and to begin the journey discovering what that may look like for you. We all have different needs, and taking the time to find them is part of the self love healing journey. Tell me, what sets your soul on fire?

With love and gratitude, Helen xx

My Happy Place

January 13, 2018

Photography – Bobby Bense | Helen Janneson Bense

Model/Styling – Helen Janneson Bense

Location – North Beach, Western Australia

“Recognise the beauty that you are by immersing yourself in it”

First of all HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone and thanks for following along and being part of our tribe! We love you!

If you follow my instagram you’ll probably see a crazy amount of sunset imagery. Not only are sunsets beyond beautiful and so fun to take photos of, they provide me with the most ideal space and time to go within to my happy place. This is probably the most important reason I spend my days chasing sunsets. This particular one was simply breathtaking. The mood was so still with very little wind, with this incredibly iridescent turquoise water set against a candy coloured sky. There was lightning on the horizon and you could feel the tingling vibrations of a pending storm. Every cell in my body was alive. I felt like crying it was just so beautiful.

Most days you’ll find me spending quality time connecting with my family, immersed in the beauty of nature. It might be snorkelling in a turquoise lagoon, hiking beach cliffs, supping on a mountain lake, though more than often I’m simply watching the setting sun. There is nothing more enriching for me in this life than connection to myself, to my tribe, and to nature. We are one and the same. We spend so much of our time searching externally for comfort, to ease our pain and inner conflicts; trying to control the uncertainty of life whilst projecting our fears onto others. The more I observe and allow my feelings and thoughts to be, the more at ease I become. I find a sense of peace that brings more happiness into my life than any external pleasures and addictive behaviours possibly could. Putting myself in the presence of nature’s beauty provides me with an easier path to move deeper into this inner space. The place where I’m able to sit in the stillness and observe, and give my thoughts and feelings the acceptance they need. This is my meditative space where my inner state of peace bubbles into pure joy. This is my happy place. It’s when I’m connected to nature and realise I am nature. I feel as though I am the setting sun and the rising moon, and each wave that rolls in is like my precious breath that gives me life.

I hope you all have a happy place that brings you health, joy and connection. Wishing you all a wonderful, magic filled 2018!

With love and gratitude,

Helen xx

Island Style

September 22, 2017

Photography – Bobby Bense | Helen Janneson Bense

Model/styling – Helen Janneson Bense

Location – Grand Park Kodhipparu | Kanuhura – Maldives

Outfit Details

Jewelry – Indie and Harper

Necklaces – Gold Half moon | Gold White Pebble

Prairie skirt | Lace Top (similar)

Basket | Raffia sandals

Gypset One Piece

Alena One Piece

Caletta Bikini Top + Bottoms

Hope Ruffle Bikini

Lucinda Dress

Iris Dress (similar)

Lace Dress (similar lace dresses)

Let our light and truth be seen, let us celebrate our differences, and recognise we are all one. One heartbeat. One tribe. One Love.

Reflecting on the trip of a lifetime to the magical islands known as the Maldives. It’s total bucket list stuff and I’ll be sharing so much more of this journey with you in the coming weeks right here on the blog. For now here are some of my favourite island styles and golden sparkling jewels from the one and only Indie and Harper. Jewels for the gypset at heart, always seeking, exploring, adventuring and celebrating life and the beauty that is all around us. Let’s open our eyes and our hearts, and feel the joy and peace that is our birthright, as we step into this magical space. This space where it’s the simple view of a sunset, the warm ocean breeze, the sound of birds singing or our barefeet against the sand, that so effortlessly take us there.

With love and gratitude,

Helen xx

Sunset Dancer

December 7, 2016

Photography – Bobby Bense

Model/Styling – Helen Janneson Bense

Location – Perth, WA

Outfit Details

Necklace – Mandala Love

Bracelets/Cuffs – Embrace | Mandala Love | Mandala Love Bracelet

Singlet Top | Blouse | Shorts | Hat

“Feel by the Moon, Live by the Sun, Dance like a star” – Midsummer Star

This sunset was not like all the others. I was captivated by the iridescence and shimmering light bouncing off the sand and the sea, awakened by the vital force of the ripening moon, calmed by the gentle rhythm of the waves. It was absolutely magical!

These are those ‘me’ moments I cherish so much…when everything becomes so still, time slows down, and you can feel the space between breaths, where peace lingers, always inviting and welcoming you in. This is my meditative space, where I go when I visit the beach and immerse myself in nature. Sometimes I go deep to the space where creativity is born. Like a fire I am filled with an energy that builds as I create, fuelling my imagination and vision.

This time of year definitely calls for more meditation time. Time to nurture myself and take every opportunity to slow down, even if it’s only for a few minutes. I am so much clearer when I have rested and found a pace of breathing in and breathing out in my day. And so much more productive. I hope you all navigate this crazy season of fun and festivities with lots of self love and nurturing.

So much love and gratitude,

Helen xx

Helen Janneson Bense

Inspiration

Family Christmas traditions

December 8, 2021

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Beach Wedding Inspiration

May 11, 2021

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Mother’s Day Love Note

May 3, 2021

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My Happy Place

January 13, 2018

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Island Style

September 22, 2017

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Sunset Dancer

December 7, 2016

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