This has been a very difficult winter for me. Difficult for my heart and also, it seems, difficult for my body. My work station in my office is not ergonomic and it appears that it is responsible for acute neck strain and subsequently migraines. I’ve had headaches varying from mild to severe migraine unceasingly for over 3 weeks. I finally took a few days off from work and did nothing. Nothing. Slept. Hung out on the couch. A little reading. Nothing much else. Friday I went to my acupuncturist and by yesterday, Sunday, I had some relief. Hours of relief. Woke up for the first time in days and days without a headache. *ahhhhhhhh*

Trying to work out a better arrangement at work. My monitor is simply too high and it forces me to stretch my neck and head back. Not Good. It might take a day or three to figure out the best way to set this up. Already I can feel my neck starting to freeze up again. And while that doesn’t make me happy, I know there is a solution and that this is temporary. THAT part makes me happy.

This weekend I raised my face to the sun and enjoyed watching the birds in the garden. So did Miss Mitty. We always have one glorious week in February where the sun shines and the rains stop and blossoms make everyone happy to be outside.

What that relief meant for me yesterday was that I got to work on some more of my little cuties, bead dangles. I’ve been working back and forth on charm necklaces in a silver/black/blue/iris set and a gold/russet/black set. One for dark moons and midnight and the other for autumn and Samhain. I plan on making at least one more in misty fae blues and greens and silvers for fae and spring work and perhaps use that for full moons too.

On Friday I showed my Wheel of the Year project to a friend who is teaching an Outer Grove at the moment. And she wants me to come in and speak to the students about using art as a vehicle for figuring out what your own personal correspondences are. I’m so honored! Evidentyly there is lots of moaning about writing their books of shadows when they want to use the computer. She wants them to see that BoS’s don’t even have to be on paper. I’ve attended her Outer Grove myself and one of the assignments is for each student to determine their correspondences for seasons, plants, animals, gems, colors, etc…

I will be bringing in my necklaces too. The bags I make for my tarot card decks (they are legion) match the theme and/or feel of the decks.

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Any time that I get intrigued and eventually very excited about a new medium to express myself artistically, I spend a lot of time online doing research and cruising around looking for the artists who have said medium down. Folks whose work inspires me pushes me to perfect the craft myself. Sometimes I discover it isn’t my thing but I still have great appreciation for the work, quite often even more appreciation since I have tried what looks easy and turns out is not. Well in theory it is. But to do it and to create real artistic beauty are not always one and the same thing. For children this is so, but rarely for us adults. The only thing that changes that, in my opinion, is intent.

So I can make Sacred Crap and have it be beautiful simply because I made it with magickal or spiritual intent. This turned out to be the case when I got all dreamy and googley over polymer clay. There are some folks out there making the most amazing stuff out of p.c. You would never even know some of it was clay. Continue reading →

Took lots of pictures last night as well as made more dangles. Here are a few to maybe tempt you. And yes, the stones and charms I’m using have magickal intention behind them. Pearls, moonstones, amethyst, garnet, labradorite, shell, pentagrams, moons, stars, totem animals. Maybe not any specific magick but perhaps something that just reminds me of who I am and what matters. Which is strong magick in and of itself.

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