Imbolc ~ House Cleaning Time

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On Sunday the songbirds came back. There is a gigantic rhododendron outside my bedroom window. In the summer, while laying in bed, I can look up and out the window and see the sun shining through the leaves, all golden sun and leaf green and sky blue.  The birds love this big old bushy tree but when winter comes they leave it behind for warmer climates.  Along with little plant shoots poking shyly out of the mulch and my mom forcing forsythia (which I used to think was called For Cynthia and so it has always been my first plant connection) in the house, their twittering in the rhody is one of first signs of spring.

My grandmother had a love of figurines and it passed to me.  We don’t have the same tastes but I have a few of hers.  One is the little black/tan/rust bunny below.

Those sheep? I agonized over the purchase of those sheep. I thought I was losing my mind wanting to buy expensive tea light holders that are SHEEP.  I mean that is just too twee for me but buy them I did. I’m attached to them.  While I haven’t run into more sheep I have found many bunnies. And they are calling to come out to help change the place over to spring. The big guy was my first bunny, I just couldn’t leave him.  He came with a big carrot candle. I stick with white.

I’ve had this overwhelming drive to cleanse my home. Compared to lots of folks I don’t have that many belongings but I feel the need to purge stuff. I’m trying to make sure I don’t get reckless and toss something I’m going to seriously regret but the more I let go of things, the lighter I feel. The tarot decks were the first stage.  I spent all day Sunday clearing out the east side of the studio.  Getting rid of massive amounts of photocopies from my early SCA research that I seriously don’t need any more. Now I have room for the blank wood boxes instead of piling them up on the floor.  Whew.

Only 2 small bookshelves but it took me all afternoon. I ran into a lot of dust and unfortunately some mold.  I definitely have a mold allergy because I’ve had vertigo for two days. Blurg.  It’s hard to have this overwhelming desire to clean and work and not being able to actually do so. The post Yule altar is still up but I’m getting there, the bunnies are out, it’s a start.

I can at least take some photos and sit on the couch for a minute or three…  The african violets agree and are blooming along with the Halloween cactus. Mine bloom at Halloween, not Christmas, go figure.  *cackle*  Boy do those windows need a cleaning.

Circle of Life Tarot ~ Contest

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I was recently going through my tarot decks and culling. I have a lot of tarot/oracle decks. I don’t do much divination, I really have these as artistic inspiration. I have decided to part with the Circle of Life Tarot (there are more coming over the following weeks) and thought the best way would be have a poll here and then pick a winner.

This deck has been opened and I did look at every card but I have not used the deck or imprinted with it.

Circle of Life tarot by Maria Distefano

After completing the poll below, post a comment to this post and I will do a random drawing on Saturday Feb 3rd at 6pm for the winner. I will announce the winner that day.

Drip Drip Drip

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Man, we got snowed in.  Hard to believe but it’s true. We got a whopping 8″ here and then .33″ of freezing rain, a sheet of solid, and I do mean solid, ice on everything.  Which might not be a big deal if you are a flatlander but Seattle is nothing but hills. And I do mean HILLS.  Treacherous.

Snow Fort

Bad phone photo before daylight, snow fort on the trudge to the bus. Had to turn around, the bus never came. I know, the street looks clear but this is on the level. To get to it the bus must navigate a very steep hill.

When the buses in downtown Seattle are stacked up and slipping and sliding and bending in two (they are, after all, articulated) because there is too much snow, you know we had a good one.

I’ve been working from home all but Tuesday this week which was between snow storms. Can you say Cabin Fever boys n’ girls? gah!  Finally got out to the store today plus a meeting. I’m sober and not at any imminent risk of relapse but I can sure get cranky pants when I get too much time between meetings.  Torture. For me and others I’m sure.

Now the grand thaw begins.  This can be worse than the snow as we get large areas of flooding in those valleys.  The side streets are tracks to bare pavement with humps, very tall humps, that scrape the undercarriage of your car as you navigate. The chains have completely torn up good streets with occassional series of severe potholes.

I got my meeting and the steady rain combined with the thaw, the drip drip drip will accompany me to sleep tonight.  Tomorrow I see my guy, Mr. Furnace, for gourmet tacos (we are taco afficianados) and then a roaring fire and some much needed cuddles since the snow has kept us apart.  Which isn’t the worst thing.  Absense DOES make the heart grow fonder when you’re kind of mooney over someone. Yeah, we are drips drips drips and I love every minute of it.

Snow Day

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I love working from home when it snows.  Sometimes I work harder at home than at the office but what I get is no commute and a walk in the neighborhood during daylight hours.  Nothing to say so I’ll let the images say it for me.

The Wheel of the Year Turns Again

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Making much progress on the Wheel of the Year project. This is one of the never ending projects. 4 years now I think. I work on it a bit, put it down, work on it, put it down. It finally told me that the segments were complete. I was doubtful as I was thinking “no more is better, more stuff more stuff” and this voice said  “no, plenty of stuff, you need white space for the eye to rest!”

Note: These photos don’t do it justice.  Made some progress leaning my camera as well so these are the last icky photos…

This piece will be almost 4′ across once complete.  It consists of 8 pie shaped pieces, each on representing a sacred time of the Celtic/pagan year.  Starting with Imbolg/Candlemas and moving towards Yule (Imbolg, Ostara, Beltaine, Litha, Lammas, Mabon, Samhain, and Yule) it is made from wool felt with beading, embroidery, and felt/and velvet applique.  Each piece has an animal and a plant associated with that time of the year, celebrating fertility, life,death, and rebirth.

I’ve finally got the pie pieces connected to each other and have the central motif of the sun and moon begun.  Each section will be separated by a green velvet ribbon.  It will be backed with green wool felt and have, in each corner, an embroidery of an element (earth, air, fire, water).  I’m really getting close to completion and once again I’m excited about it.

Gallery of past progress

 

Fires – A work in progress

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The burn is done.

I love the smell of burning wood, always have, always will.  It’s the smell of cozy on a cold day when you have a fire in the hearth. It’s the smell of your hair after a long weekend camping and telling stories around the campfire at night.  It snowed last night and more is coming and the house is cozy and warm and welcoming with soup and tea and yes, fire.  But burning wood is also the smell of pyrography!

I’ve really come to love combining pyrography and drawing.  I love embroidery but boy is it labor intensive and it can take a while before you see an end result (ask me about my never ending projects!).  With pyrography I get the same love of the creative process, the sketching and designing, the color planning, the execution but it takes so much less time for me to complete. And I love the results as much as I do those of stitch work.  They both feel great in the hands, during and after creation.

The Process

I loved it so much I bought a Dagger III Detail Master.  Oooh, tools boys ‘n girls, tools.  This is a professional wood burning tool with interchangeable points that can create a large variety of burn marks.  You can also adjust the heat settings.  The more I use it, the more comfortable I become with burn levels, different woods, and different techniques.

After much trial and error I use mostly Prismacolor colored pencils. I’ve tried other brands and, for paper, I think the Crayola pencils are surprising good for a fab price but they just aren’t so great on the wood.  I’ve tried dies (paper crafting) and paints (watercolor, acrylic) and stains (woodworking).  Nothing beats the colored pencils for achieving shading and color combinations that I can’t achieve with paints. The soft, waxy pencils allow the integrity of the wood to shine through in a way that paint just doesn’t. I like the natural non-toxic stains second best as they also allow the wood grain to show through but when I’m sitting on the couch watching re-runs of Firefly it can get a bit messy don’t you know.  And I simply I can’t layer them and create anything like the sunsets and depth of color that I get with pencils.  For me they are only good for color blocking.

Lastly I will varnish with a couple layers of non-toxic Modge Podge matte varnish. I love how it gives the final project a very low glow, it feels good to the hands, and doesn’t have a powerful odor, and cleans up with soap and water. I sand in between coats.  Again, I tried a few different varnishes before settling on this, even a soy based varnish that was basically useless.  I do have some nice beeswax rubs and know these work well on plain wood but have yet to test them on wood that has been colored with pencil. I worry about bleeding and should really do some testing soon.

The Project

I was commissioned over the holidays to make a box for the boss of a friend who is moving on to a new job. She gave me a price marker and some hints on things he likes.  Lucky Boss! and lucky me!  Since he loves the environment and nature, this made it very easy for me to come up with something.

This box is divided inside for playing cards but will also do quite nicely for office supplies like paper clips or personal bits and bobs and things.  And look grand on a desk or the like.

Mt. Rainier - You can see the sunrise that is the middle section of the vignette from Night to Day to Night around the sides of the box

Night to Day - The Brothers

Day to Night

Room for Sentiment

Stay tuned for the final reveal!

Welcome!

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I have reconnected with old friends through facebook and for me it has been very uplifting. I don’t friend just anyone, only those I know and with rare exception those I would like to know. But many of them I will never send to my old blog, it’s just too personal, something I feel safer revealing to strangers than friends. I want to share now. So long old blog, old pal of mine…

Welcome to a place where I will share some thoughts, some tutorials, some witchy goodness, and lots of creativity!  I’ve combed my old website, Stitch Witch Cottage, and brought the tutorials over and plan to add more and soon.  the Galleries are next.

I have projects galore to share. And joy! I have joy to share! So welcome and merry meet.  I hope you find joy in all you do and that you create things with love that bring joy to those around you.