Works in Progress

I have been working to finish my cloak and a new skirt, the one I mentioned in a previous post. Here are a couple of photos of the new portion of the cloak hood and the "hippy" patch on the skirt. I think they are both going to turn out well. But I may have made the skirt too long, with all teh weight I have lost it is not coming up as high as it would have before. So it may go up for sale, don't know yet.

Faery House

Last weekend, Sophie and I built a faery house in the yard. She worked really hard on it and I think it turned out real well, considering we only used a recycled bird feeder for a base and everything else, except the doll house chair and clock were from nature.

She thought of all the ideas her self and selected the materials from our garden with little input from me. The table is a pumpkin stem from last year's jack o lantern, and the bed is a piece of bark covered in dandelion fluff with a dandelion flower for a pillow and peony petals for a blanket. I think it is just beautiful and I wanted to share it.

Mama~Made Gifts

I thought I would share the details of those cute little dolly outfits that I made for Sophie.


First there is the red velveteen party dress with a white fabric rose on back. This was re purposed from a lovely long skirt that would not fit me, so I was able to use the button and tab closure on the back of the dress.

The floral velveteen is a little cloak with a butterfly button and loop closure.


Then the thing she has wanted forever, SHOES! These little gems were super simple to knit up. I added a simple crocheted flower to each side to dress them up.






Here we have a knitted hat that didn't quite turn out the way I meant for it to, but it works just the same.

The pink sweater is re purposed from an old wool cardigan and even includes one of the yarn covered buttons for added interest.

The skirt is made of baby blue jeans with embroidered designs already on the legs. The same way I made the other pair of jeans for Jane last year.

All in all, I am pretty proud of the job I did on these tiny little outfits, and the smile on Sophie's face when she saw them warmed my heart.

Birthday Works in Progress

Sophie's 6th birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks and I decided since she has been playing fervently with her doll Jane, that I would make the doll some new clothes.

I am currently working on a knitted hat for her, and have some fabric cut out to make a cloak similar to the one in the photo, and also a dress. And perhaps a sweater made from this old pink wool one.

Budding Author

This morning Sophie became inspired by a mechanical parrot to write a story and make a book.

"All About Polly" is the story of her like of the parrot.



She wrote it on index cards.......





illustrated it herself........

















and stapled it together. What a beautiful, creative process we were privileged to witness this morning.

Blogland Catch Up

It's been a while since I posted so I
thought I would just play a little catch
up today.


First up is an interesting pentagram shaped tomato. It was the best tasting one that I got out of my garden...umm, I wonder why that is.


These are some of the bracelets that I made out of recycled belts from the thrift store. They are so boho and fun. I am putting some of them up for sale. Let me know if you are interested. The two on the left top I made for me though.

As the wheel turns.....this is the sunset on my sun wheel that I made from honeysuckle vine last year, what a lovely sight this was.

This morning I was greeted by my two sweeties enjoying some alone time together, while they let me sleep in. A great two-fer that was, Sophie and her dad got to catch up and enjoy each other's company and I got to sleep in for the first time this week!

Last but not least, I started on fall classes this past Monday. A full class load; art appreciation, algebra, world literature, Spanish and world history. So far it looks like all the classes are going to be very interesting with interesting and entertaining professors.

Glitterized!

What happens when you leave the room while a four year old and her six year old cousin are "doing crafts"?



See photos~





The table~~~~~~~





The chair~~~~~~~



The floor~~~~~~~

The sparkly feet~~~~~~~

The deceptively innocent looking culprits~~~~~~~~~

My house now looks as if several hundred sparkiling faeres were having a party, or a war, or something! :)

Eggs, eggs, eggs

Today while we were gone to the flea market, Emily helped Sophie and her cousin Becca to dye eggs for Easter. They had a really good time using only regular old food coloring. The eggs turned out beautifully.
Happy Easter and Happy Spring!

Late but Sweet Valentines

Sophie and I enjoyed making valentines for everyone in the family. Due to the FLU, we were unable to deliver those that we made for our friends, but I am sure they understood. :)

There of course, had to be lots of "sprinkles" i.e glitter, and so the whole kitchen, table, floor, us and even the dog, looked as if we had been sprinkled with faery dust. What a fun time we had. Hope everyone got a lot of love this Valentine's Day.

Noisy Sun Shakers

With only a couple of paper plates, some beans and markers and glue. We created these fun Noisy Sun Shakers to help us make some noise and encourage the sun to rise anew on Solstice Morn. Sophie has a lot of fun and so did I. We can't wait for the sunrise tomorrow. Happy Solstice!

Rainy Morning Crafting

We have had rain for nearly a week now, with no signs of letting up. Looks like we are going to have a wet Yuletide as well. So, Sophie and I spent yesterday's long, rainy morning making some lovely holiday ornaments for our tree. She is a very good crafter, and though being four, she lost interest and I had to finish up some of them. She had her own ideas about how things should look and was very proud of her finished items. She is very excited to hang them on the tree. We just

The Night and the Sun

This activity goes along with Starhawk's story, "The Rebirth of the Sun." We create ctand-up paper figures of Night cradling the Sun within the circle of her arms, and the Sun, refreshed and reborn for the coming year.

Sketch Night on black construction paper. This figure is exaggerated in arm length, as they will be joined in a circle. Cut out and lay flat.

Draw Night's face with a white crayon: downcast eyes, the suggestion of a nose, and flowing hair. You might decorate the arms as sleeves, and add bracelets and a necklace. Bring the arms together into an embracing circle, and fasten with tape on the back. We like to cut out a crown and tape it on.

Cut out the Sun from a sheet of sun-colored paper, with a diameter of about fourinches. Draw on a sleeping face. Tuck the Sun within Night's arms. This make s alovely addition to the season altar.

Yule Smudge Sticks

I made a lot of these last solstice and gave them as gifts to friends and family. They were easy to do and turned out beautifully. We are using them this year to smduge the house for the holidays. They give a clean, refreshing scent to the air.

Gather and use your own smudge stick

Winter is often a cruel time for the trees; harsh weather causes many of them to fall or snap their limbs and send them crashing to the earth. If your yard, a neighbor's yard, or a nearby natural area has any fallen cedar branches, you may want to try this special way to bring the magic of the living green home with you and keep these valuables from going to waste. Smudge sticks are easy to make and satisfying to look at, and the purifying smoke will make a meaningful addition to your Yule celebrations.

Native Americans have known for centuries that cedar, as well as sage, has special purifying properties, especially psychospiritually; if the atmosphere in your home is tense or unhappy, a quick go round with a burning smudge is one way to clean things out and restore a feeling of harmony. Native people harvest the herbs and branches ceremonially and prepare the smudge bundles with ritual. Cedar and sage are also burned in bulk in large abalone shells, with feathers used to direct the smoke.

If you want to make smudges but your cedar trees are all intact, you could see if any judicious pruning is needed; it doesn't take much to make a smudge stick. If you do this, you may want to leave a special gift to thank the tree. (Check a field guide to make sure its cedar you are taking)

To make your own homemade smudges, find several pieces of cedar branch that are green, full, and well leafed, about a foot long. Cut longer ones to this measure. Arrange the branches in a bundles with the tips all facing the same way; these bundles should be about two or three inches thick at their widest point. Then wind the cedar bundles firmly with thin cotton string (embroidery floss works well) starting at the bottom and working up to the tips, then winding back down again so that the thread crisscrosses. Look at the smudges commercially available to see how much string to use. You can sing a special song while you do this, if you like:

All around, all around

Peaceful, peaceful

All around, all around

Peaceful, peaceful

Spirit of the cedar

Calling me, calling me

Spirit of the cedar

Blessing me, blessing me

All around, all around

Peaceful, peaceful

When you have wound the string up and back down, knot it at the bottom and cut off the uneven ends of the branches an inch or so below the knot to make a uniform length. Allow these smudges to dry before lighting. (This can take a good long time)

To use your smudge, light the tip with a match and let it flame fro a moment, then blow out the flame and allow it to continue smoking for as long as you like. Enjoy!

Fall/Winter Handcrafts

With the ~slightly~ cooler temps and the shortening days, my thoughts turn inward and of course they turn to handcrafts. Here are a few that I have planned for this fall.

First is en embroidery project of Alice and the Cheshire cat for Sophie's room.








Then I am going to finally begin working on the Baby Clothes Memory quilt for Sophie. It is made out of some of her most special baby clothes, I will cut into squares and then add fabric as a border and backing. Its going to be CUTE!










Here are some of the "magic" wands that I am working on, need to finish them. They are going on my Etsy shop soon, along with more hippie skirts.

















And I plan to learn to knit socks this year. Using the four needle method. It should be interesting. I have visions of whipping some up for everyone in the family, cozy wool socks for winter. Uuummm.

I am sure that more ideas and plans will be added to this list in the near future. Its shaping up to be a busy fall.

Another Cloak Update

Here is the last update before I finish ~crossing fingers~ this week. This is a photo of a beaded goddess and some herbs. There is a pentacle to the right of the goddess, and the bead butterfly is left above the herbs. I am so anxious to finish it that I have worked on it til my fingers hurt and my eyes have gone blurry. So i am off to bed, to begin again tomorrow.

Storytellers & Craftshare Saturday

We are a part of a pagan group for children, called Storytellers & Craftshare. We meet once a month on Saturday to share a story related to the season or holiday and then create a craft that goes along with it. Sometimes we go on field trips together. Last year we went to the local zoo, to an exotic animal petting zoo & pony rides, and to a working farm where we picked our pumpkins and went on a hayride and much more. Sophie has such a good time when we go. Astarte is the coordinator and she is fabulous with children! She is an amazing woman who really cares about the kids and works well with them. They all love her too. This is Sophie with the harvest basket that she and Astare made. It now lives on our seasons altar. What a fun afternoon.