Why do we carve in birch tree?

Let me take you back in time, when The Stories were born. This one comes from The First Nation folklore.

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It was a hot day, and Old-man was trying to sleep, but the heat made him sick. He wandered to a hilltop for air; but there was no air. Then he went down to the river and found no relief. He travelled to the timberlands, and there the heat was great, although he found plenty of shade. The travelling made him warmer, of course, but he wouldn't stay still.

"By and by he called to the winds to blow, and they commenced. First they didn't blow very hard, because they were afraid they might make Old-man angry, but he kept crying:

"'Blow harder -- harder -- harder! Blow worse than ever you blew before, and send this heat away from the world.'

"So, of course, the winds did blow harder -- harder than they ever had blown before.

"'Bend and break, Fir-Tree!' cried Old-man, and the Fir-Tree did bend and break. 'Bend and break, Pine-Tree!' and the Pine-Tree did bend and break. 'Bend and break, Spruce-Tree!' and the Spruce-Tree did bend and break. 'Bend and break, O Birch-Tree!' and the Birch-Tree did bend, but it wouldn't break -- no, sir! -- it wouldn't break!

"'Ho! Birch-Tree, won't you mind me? Bend and break! I tell you,' but all the Birch-Tree would do was to bend.

"It bent to the ground; it bent double to please Old-man, but it would not break.

"'Blow harder, wind!' cried Old-man, 'blow harder and break the Birch-Tree.' The wind tried to blow harder, but it couldn't, and that made the thing worse, because Old-man was so angry he went crazy. 'Break! I tell you -- break!' screamed Old-man to the Birch-Tree.

"'I won't break,' replied the Birch; 'I shall never break for any wind. I will bend, but I shall never, never break.'

"'You won't, hey?' cried Old-man, and he rushed at the Birch-Tree with his hunting-knife. He grabbed the top of the Birch because it was touching the ground, and began slashing the bark of the Birch-Tree with the knife. All up and down the trunk of the tree Old-man slashed, until the Birch was covered with the knife slashes.

"'There! that is for not minding me. That will do you good! As long as time lasts you shall always look like that, Birch-Tree; always be marked as one who will not mind its maker. Yes, and all the Birch-Trees in the world shall have the same marks forever.' They do, too. You have seen them and have wondered why the Birch-Tree is so queerly marked. Now you know.

Source: Frank Linderman's 1915 collection Indian Why Stories.

Birthday gift from me to you <3 a little warmth and light for you in the middle of winter

I collected a few photos - some of them are intentionally blurry.

When I choose a wallpaper for myself, I know that it must be more subdued, otherwise photo and icons will cause great chaos. Some of them are for your mobile phone, some for desktop.

Well, guys… it's my birthday present. My 'thank you'. It's a small thing, but wallpaper is something you look at every day, so it's actually a kind of a big thing :)

Love you. Aga Kundelek.

PS. To you, if you are still reading: I have soundtrack to these pictures. Enjoy, stay kundelkiem. Love A.

How Polar Night and Day influence our creativity and why hedgehog is attending the Wooden Party

Feels Like North has a lot familiar with animals by sending money for these creatures in need.

And you know - the name Feels Like North itself says a lot of common with everything that is connected with the far far far far North Pole. That means night and day, tons of snow and changing the internal clock.

Do we work more during Polar Day? It is reasonable for one to assume. NO ONE SLEEPS, EVERYONE WORKS 24/h, let’s catch the sun as long as it wants to stay with us.

And during the Polar Night? DONT WAKE ME UP TILL SUMMER.

But it is not like that. It all lies in the small but essential detail: Feels LIKE North. So we don’t drown into cosy yet impermeable darkness. Al well as we don’t fight with the windows curtains all night long during summer.

We adjust.

Our senses adjust.

Feels Like North as a company follow the natural rhythm.

It is easier to weave jewellery in the full sun. On the other hand, for Konrad, work in the workshop brings more happiness while done in the Polar Night.

Different perspectives, the same pattern - adjust and listen to your motivation, listen to yourself. Not every moment will be perfect to create.

We are not hedgehogs - we don’t push it to the extreme. Why? Because we are not the North. We are Feels Like North - a slight variation of polar life.

But hedgehog, which by the way, is called Jarzabek (polish name diminution for ash tree), he knows how to party. However, he does not share our make-it-an easy-version mood. He wants to party every day, trying to grip our summer awakening to the stars.

Being hedgehog as an employee would be an exciting plot in functioning Feels Like North. You would have to wait for your order… till the shift in our rhythm of life.

New Collection of Lapland Earrings is HERE!

My first collection was shy.

Or rather - I was shy. Uncertain. Opening the door to the unknown, and knowing that I will be judged by people I try to make happy. Not an easy-peasy thing for beginners, but it is exactly like that every time. You cannot skip rough feedback.

This will build your future.

I am so proud that I found the courage inside of me and that I allowed myself to dream and plan the new collection. Earrings get bigger, brighter, just like a statement: I am aware of my beauty, I am aware of the beauty of Nature.

I hope you can see it in these photos.

With love,

Agnes

Making of: Postcards

I took my favorite photos on the day of the biggest snow storm I have ever experienced. I wandered around the deserted streets of the city and documented the madness of this land. People living in Skelleftea say that in my pictures you can see their city. The city in which they were born and grew up in, but through a perspective they have never seen before, full of love, yet completely different than the traditional one.

Making of: Big Cup Of Lapland Joy

Summer. We leave our duties behind for a moment and we run upstream. Cold water from the stream arouses the feeling of being here and now. Our most traditional products are just a tribute to such moments – cutting off from our hectic lives and simply being. 

Coffee drank in this particular moment tastes twice as good. Outdoor coffee is traditionally served here in wooden mugs carved from birch. We changed the form a bit, adding a modern look to this traditional one.

I never wanted to have a company. But Lapland changed everything.

Watch a video about my way up here, my journey of learning a new language and building a company. It was never easy, but damn… it was worth it.

Video: Sven Burman for Visit Skellefteå

They won a company from the municipality: "We have not think we would have a chance"

Text and photos: Magnus Lindkvist for Megafonen

Agnieszka and Konrad Boeske have an office in The Great North and thrive in the town of Skellefteå. "The atmosphere is fantastic", says Konrad. A year and a half ago, they moved to Skellefteå from a Polish city – Poznań; and now, they have recently won a limited company from the municipality.

When Konrad Boeske was researching where he could do his master's in wood technology, he and his wife Agnieszka looked at universities all over the world. Among others, there were a couple of alternatives in Switzerland and Canada, but they decided to give Skellefteå a chance.

“I've always been interested in Scandinavia and one of the world's best wood technology programs is based here. However, they only take in 4-5 people each year so I wasn't sure it would be me”, says Konrad. Another aspect that the couple took into consideration was whether the new hometown would be a good environment for startups in the IT industry, as Agnieszka previously worked with such. “

We had never heard of Skellefteå, but when we looked up the city we saw, among other things, that The Great North existed and that in fact there were many startups, including several gaming companies”, says Agnieszka.

After Konrad was admitted to the University, they moved to Skellefteå at the end of summer 2017. “When we got here, we didn't really know what to expect and after our first walk around town we wondered what we had given up on. All the streets were empty and it felt completely deserted - in hindsight though, we understood that it felt this way just because it was raining,” says Konrad and smiles.

Winning a company

Now, 1.5 years later, they have fallen in love with Skellefteå.

“We come from a city with a population close to 700,000 and we were afraid it would feel like it’s too small here, but in fact everything we need is here. The wood industry, the arena for startups, shops, cinemas and restaurants. And the best thing is - it only takes 10 minutes to get wherever we want,” says Agnieszka. At the end of last year, they heard about the Vinn et AB competition, which Skellefteå’s municipality organizes together with the business community in Skellefteå. It is a competition that has existed since 2014, in which the winner receives SEK 50,000 in share capital to start a company, as well as some advice from about ten companies that also act as a jury.

”We’ve had a certain idea for some time, that we just sketched out a little, but when we heard about the competition we wrote it down and submitted it. In total, there were 30 submissions so naturally we didn't think we would have a chance,” says Agnieszka.

However, it turned out that the jury liked the idea and their win was announced at the Alvargalan. 

“They saw the potential of the idea and our drive, and they just believed that our product would have a growing target group,” says Konrad.

Scandinavian Design

The company they now started goes by the name Feels Like North and produces handcraft with Scandinavian design, which is connected to the Lapland region. “What sets us apart from the already existing companies is that we will have completely animal-free products. There is a lot of skin, reindeer horns and fur used in the classic design in this area, but not everyone wants to keep dead animals at home,” says Agnieszka, who believes that this target group of people is growing.

“And it will only get bigger and bigger as the awareness of animal suffering grows.”

They will not primarily try to sell the products locally, in northern Sweden, but aim at Europe and North America. “Scandinavian design is hugely popular in, among other places, Poland - where we come from, but also in the rest of the world. If we succeed in reaching these places, we’ll have a large market, ”says Konrad. Their product portfolio will consist partly of handmade wood products made by Konrad, and partly of mass-produced items.

“To reach a large audience, we need both. The mass-produced part will consist of, for example, jewelry and photo posters. However, the common theme is always Lapland and Scandinavia,” says Agnieszka, who has a background in marketing and creative creation.

Living up here

The work on products and the online store is already in full swing, and they hope that the online store can be live within a few months.

“We have a very hard job ahead of us, but it feels inspiring and fun,” says Agnieszka, who has no plans whatsoever, to move out of Skellefteå.

“When we moved here, we thought we might want to move further south when the studies were over, but we see no reason for that now. The people here are so nice and everything that we need is here,  in Skellefteå.

Flag Product Sneak Peek!

We’ve been brainstorming what our flag product would be day after day. And here it is. The espresso wooden mug. Perfect for a morning coffee that brings back life into your body.

Mugs are available in 4 different color combinations. The black color is obtained by burning, so it’s 100% natural. We don’t use any chemical substances and what you get is a mug that will last years. And when you’re done with it, just put it in the ground so it can go back to the nature.

That’s the kind of magic we need in our lives. 

She left to start a new life, in Lapland

Come start over with me in #MySkellefteå

If I'm ever going to write a book about my life, don't be surprised if I mention the name Skellefteå a billion times.

Photos & text: Sven Burman for Visit Skellefteå. Here you can read the original article.

"There are a couple of words in Swedish that make me really happy when I hear them. Bastu (Sauna). Fika (Swedish coffee break) and ... panta (recycle cans). Panta mera."

We're both laughing hard, me and Agnes. This story is about her. About Agnieszka Boeske. She moved to Skellefteå just 1.5 years ago and she knows what it's like to start over.

We’re sitting together outside one of the small cottages in Bonnstan. So far, English has always been our common language, when we’ve run into each other. But today, as I’m making a video portrait of Agnes she is challenging herself to talk Swedish. A language she had never heard of one and a half years ago. As support she has brought a couple of notes in Swedish, just to feel a bit more comfortable, but before we had even started, those notes fall between two planks on the porch and disappear out of reach.
– Oooh, that will make this even harder, Agnes sighs. But just as quickly as the notes disappeared, Agnes is smiling again.

Agnes was born in Chodziez, Poland, and decided to move to Skellefteå, Sweden when her husband got a chance to study, one of just four students, at one of the most respected wood engineering master programs in the world.

– When you move, everything’s different, Agnes explains. A new language, a new job, you have no friends, and you need to start living day by day to make small achievements. It’s not easy, but very thrilling to just start over.

For me that passion right now is to learn about the arctic way of living and to find my own role in Skellefteå.

I have studied Albanian and Macedonian, Agnes says. That’s not something that is really requested in Skellefteå. But Agnes is an energetic and very social person with a lot of courage. She has had a couple of different jobs already, and now she’s actually starting up her own company. But we will come to that later.

Why Skellefteå?

– Of course I’m interested in knowing more about your relation to Skellefteå. That’s me asking Agnes a very open question.
– I always get that question, Agnes smiles.
– Why a city far up north, where there’s snow six months a year. Why not a city somewhere else in the world, where the sun always shines. It’s not super easy to answer that, but I think that Skellefteå challenged me. It got me questioning things in my life. Made me find myself after reducing all noise in life. I’ve never experienced so many new and unique things in such a short period of time before, and I just love the arctic lifestyle

– I’ve lived in Kosovo, Macedonia, Albania, Poland but I’ve never felt so at home as I do in Skellefteå. I have everything here that makes me happy, caring people, beautiful nature, and the entire Swedish Lapland within reach.
– Also, I think that I appreciate the warm summers more after a cold and snowy winter. If I ever write a book about my life, don’t be surprised if the name Skellefteå appears a billion times.    

Agnes eyes are constantly glowing. She looks passionate and full of life. I’m happy to see people like Agnes getting drawn to the place on earth that I take for granted.

– I could state in court that the most important thing in life is a passion for trying new things, Anges says.
– For me that passion makes me push harder. To wake up a bit earlier in the mornings ready for a new day. For me that passion, is right now, to learn about the Arctic way of living and to find my own role in Skellefteå.

Interior products with a touch of Swedish Lapland.

At the last minute, Agnes, together with her husband Konrad, applied to a Skellefteå based competition to win her own corporation. They didn’t expect anything, but they both got nominated and were finally announced the winners. So now they are now in the process of starting up their own business, ‘Feels Like North’.

– I’ve never had any plans to start my own business, Agnes tells me.
– I’ve never come up with that perfect business plan. But now, after one and a half years in Sweden, I feel so creative and inspired, so I just decided to go for it. Our plan is to create interior design products, such as espresso cups and reindeer horn-shaped lamps with everything being constructed by wood. Agnes is demonstrating with her hands to illustrate her ideas.

– Our products are inspired by Swedish Lapland. But since we have grown up with a different culture and background, we can look at traditional products with new eyes which results in unique products. We’re planning to travel around in Swedish Lapland to find more ideas and inspiration.

– Everything that we produce is built with resources and materials from the Skellefteå area. It feels good that we know who the owners and producers of the wood and wool are. It’s so nice that this small town can give us everything that we need to run our business.

When I and Agnes have talked for 45 minutes about her restart, I realised that I’m quite moved. I’m starting to consider what it would be like, to move to Poland just like that. But quickly realising that I’m not half as brave as Agnes was. And to be honest, I feel quite at home in Skellefteå.

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Photos & text: Sven Burman for Visit Skellefteå. Here you can read the original article.

Our story

Two years ago, we started life again. We left our home, work and people we’ve been closest to, packed only ourselves and our dog Bocca and drove north following the aurora trail.

At the moment, I am writing this while sitting in a little Red House in the midst of the forest and area where moose reside. We both gave our best to learn a new language as quick as possible, find a job, friends, and a house with the yard our pets deserve. Konrad studied wood technology while I was working at the time to support our family. It was hard, but most of all it was beautiful.

Somewhere between two summer days, the idea of Feels Like North began to sprout. I wrote ideas on scraps of paper and talked to Konrad at home. We decided to give it a try and so we sent our application for the competition organized by the commune and won it. We got great support from the jury and, above all, confirmation that it is a needed and a good idea. Subsequent awards and scholarships allowed us to run the workshop and equip the company. Our products are made here, where we live, and only with using local wood from the forest owner who knowingly takes care of it.

We will never be able to show the real immensity of the beauty that happened to us here. But we can try and spread knowledge about the region of Swedish Lapland, together build its brand, support foundations dealing with the protection of wild animals of the North, and build a bridge between tradition, modernity and its challenges.

You are wanted and very welcome in our world.

The biggest thing I learned from moving to the North, is that each of us sometimes really needs a change as rapid as this one. By profession, I’m a Balkan and economy specialist. I was a manager in the IT branch, but here I worked as a waitress and loved this job. Now, I am responsible for the business side of Feels Like North, as well as for our online presence. If you write to us, you’ll be talking to me. This year, I decided to fulfil my old dream and become a ballet dancer. 

I came here to study. Wood technology was something that always made my heart beat stronger. I worked as a restorer of antique pianos where I was taught by an old master. After moving here and falling completely and irrevocably in love with Lapland, I started to design and make lamps, furnitures and mugs for our own use. Now, I feel like it’s time to send a bit of this magic further, to new homes. I’m a pretty regular guy who plays the harmonica and skates.

Making of: Candle Holders

Despite the frost and winds, we do not know any place cozier than this. Layers of clothes and piles of books. A blanket thrown over the shoulders and the darkness surrounding everything. Darkness, which is velvet and so dense here, can be touched and felt. We do not want to get rid of this darkness.

We want to tame it. This project is probably the most intimate of all. This candlestick placed on a table together with a cup of coffee and a book, changes the mood of the whole scenery. It allows for experiencing life slowly. It is a tangible expression of what is here and now.

Making of: Earrings

While moving to a new country, a tiny apartment, you have to limit yourself. Few hangers, few shelves, your whole life. Scandinavian minimalism in practice. Learning that less is more. Life here taught me that you can find yourself in simplicity and fight for the freedom you’re longing for.

Earrings that I create, emanate this simplicity. They are natural, far from extravagance. They are comfortable, light and so soft. Like a fresh snow.

Making of: Vegan Reindeer Lamps

This was the first time we met a reindeer. We were going to the mountains on the Swedish-Norwegian border. He stood still and looked at us while our eyes glazed, and the sound of the heartbeat was louder than the steps on the gravel.

Reindeers though beautiful and tame, do not cling to people. It takes time to gain their trust. They always run away from us. We respect and admire their character which lies in the dormant ferocity and strength.

The antlers of these animals have been used as a decoration in the interiors of the houses in Lappeen for hundreds of years. It is a beautiful form, the curves of the horns are unique. Sculpting wooden antlers is a big challenge, nature really knew how to make everything complex. Months of trials and hundreds of projects later, we managed to find a solution that allows for the animal -friendly design in our homes.