a little bit of art - getting away from my travels for a moment

taking a break from my travel tales until Monday... or maybe Tuesday..

as I mentioned before i have been taking part in an art challenge ... so I though I would share some of my creations from this week just gone...first of all I have my altered photo. It took me ages to do the stamping.

the next day we had to create something using only crayons. I was hesitant at first but when the internet was down and I had nothing to do except housework, I thought what the heck..I will just draw a body like I did when I was in primary school, using the sausage method.. where you draw the limbs like sausages... I am not that happy with the face.. not at all... but it's there in my journal now so no changing it. I could pick it to bits but I will try not to...I think it is me with a basket of vegies and a wand..

it's not perfect but it was fun doing it once i got started.....


then we had to create something from a favourite artist who inspired us. I chose Colette, a bird in the hand. Her art work really touches something in my soul. I am never disappointed when I visit her blog to see what she has created that day. She is the sweetest soul. Her artwork inspires me so much. But it is really difficult to create something similar... it is her work, not mine. her style... I love it but simply cannot capture the essence that she does. Colette created a house a few days ago, so I took this inspiration and created a church...

oh and tomorrow? we have to share out art work.. and have to create something to give away.. so make sure you come by on Sunday to see what I create to give away!!

January 6 & 7.. oops a day ahead of myself.. I thought it was Dromana, but we are in the Dandenongs..oh and an art challenge if you are interested..

the next few days we spent in the Dandenong area. Dandenong itself was a big disappointment. It was an industrial town and I started to get a little melancholy.. it was then I realized that I was taking on the energies of the people who lived there.. so all I could do was protect myself and give thanks that I didn't live there... but when we went riding up into the ranges the whole energy changed. It was gorgeous from the magick shop in Belgrave to the tea-shop in Emerald but specially magickal was William Ricketts sanctuary... acres of pure creative magick. All created by a man who I believe could be a mentor in spirit. I felt his presence as i walked...
I knew a kindred spirit had led me here when the first thing I layed eyes on was this:

He was a man who knew his purpose in life and set out to achieve it, an eccentric, a white Australian. a man who travelled the world, met with yogis and lived among the aboriginals.. treating them as brothers and being accepted as one of them. He was an artist. A sculptor. A philosopher... a very talented man, using stone and wood to create marvellous statues and then donating the whole area to the Victorian government so that future generations could enjoy.

I wanted to cry with gratitude as i entered the sanctuary, not having even known about it until an hour before, I realised that I had been led here.

there was a little bark hut theatre where they showed a movie on William Ricketts himself. His words seeped into my soul..... next to the theatre was a Sacred space where he had placed this statue.

the mountain ash trees took my breath away. They welcomed me. I felt surrounded with pure love. I felt their souls, their spirits enveloping me in protection. It was then that I knew that the Mountain Ash is my totem tree. The mountain ash is actually a species of eucalypt. Stately, tall trees. The world's tallest flowering plant. Beautiful bark. Divine, ancient aura. want to know more? Mountain Ash
I felt his presence as i walked around at the sanctuary. Or was it my imagination? But when I am on the right spiritual path, I get short of breath, very excited inside. But I am always scared of this slipping through my fingers, of 'not getting it'. I need to learn patience. to have faith. to believe that all will be revealed when I am ready. Because it will... each time I came across a carving or statue I was well, speechless...from the Earth Mother:

to the Aboriginal angel

and into the grotto.

Where I stood in reverence, in prayer, in meditation for this gorgeous sacred space. in thanks for my belonging....

well that is it for those two days.. I hope it wasn't too long and I hope my trip and reflections are not boring you.. but as I write here, I also copy it into my Soul Art Journal.. trying to journal my blog this year, so it is not lost to cyber space.

now to the challenge. I read about a daily challenge on Krissie's blog this weeks list at Winterwood ... MistyMawn (Misty Mawn), suggests some little tasks to do each day and I have decided to have a go...

Wednesday we had to take a photo and alter it.. I took a photo of a rose that is blooming in my garden. The Queen Elizabeth rose, a favourite of my dads.... and I played around with it on my photo editor and came up with this:

.. I have also started a page in my journal, using the rose but it is not quite finished..will show when it is done. Hope you have fun with this challenge, I find it gives me focus.

next time we will certainly be off to Heronswood at Dromana and across the sea!

new moon in Woodford ~ wise woman & a soul painting...

today is New Moon at 10.13am precisely...a gorgeous drizzly raining spring day... just like a New Moon should be... still, waiting, until She bursts forth into her waxing period to Full Moon

a time for letting go of destructive habits.... as I sat last night in Sacred Space, I pondered how I could let go of this anger, frustration and doubting my search.... and this came to me:
the doubt and questioning of my spiritual journey and beliefs is actually my ego sabotaging me and putting the doubts and fears there... it is important for me to cleanse & rid myself of these negative feelings and thoughts or else, i won't move forward through it. Look upon it as a test, a challenge. Continue to meditate, journal and spend time with your wise women friends. Even if it becomes tiresome and difficult and you begin to doubt yourself.. KEEP GOING !! When you feel or see these thoughts coming, stop and turn them away - journal them away... you are away of them now and it will be easier.
so today, I will sit with a cup of tea and do a letting go ritual..

a few months ago, I did a workshop called 'Paint your canvas' - I went along not really knowing what to expect. Not having done art in my life, I was a little nervous... but the teacher was wonderful. We meditated, we chanted and we played... and over the weeks, a painting emerged on my canvas. I would dream of it and was instructed on what to do as i dreamed.. to put netting on her cloak, to make her dress a vibrant red, to use an old button as a clasp.... I had seen this woman, many, many times but could not get her out in anyway. It is a painting of myself or my Guardian in a past life...... Yesterday at our wise woman gathering, I saw her in meditation.. sitting quietly... gathering mistletoe berries.... she is guiding me to peacefullness..
After this painting was done, was the time my yearning for connection, my desire to visit Cornwall started to diminish.......

Once a fortnight, I go to a gathering of women, there are only five of us and we work through Women who run with the Wolves.. yesterday we made a dream catcher and once it is cleansed and smudged, I am going to hang it on my door at Beltane. I used ivy & string and spun a web while we chatted about our journeys. I weaved shells and sticks that I had gathered and a feather that I found once while walking. I think gatherings like this are truly missed by women of our time.. once upon a time we sat around fires in circles, sharing our knowledge... I am blessed that this circle has come to me at this time. I have yearned for it for so long.

my monthly get-away & sharing some journalling....

remember when I went to the sea-side in January... and I decided to make the effort to go to the beach once a month? Well.. it's actually happening.. I have booked us into a little seaside shack for the weekend.. down the coast at Sussex Inlet... right on the water.. and we are leaving this afternoon..... I cannot wait. Sussex Inlet must be my favourite sea-side village... it is like you step back in time...sometimes, I go early in the morning to see the sunrise above the sea, maybe I do a little yoga.. but I am always alone, no one else there and it is perfect... we can walk for miles along the shore..climbing over rocks to the shell graveyard, where there are absolutely millions of shells to be picked up. And large stones too.... I can go knee deep into rock pools whose floors are covered in sea glass and sometimes I lie down and peer into the water, watching the underwater world go about its daily business.....it is a little bit of escapism

the other day, when I was carrying on a treat about why I blog.... Krissie suggested that I journal my blog... she had found it on a challenge site journal your blog .. I think Krissie is Queen of he Challenges... she always finds the most amazing things to do ! so i played for a bit over the past few days and it felt good to do ~ I had forgotten how soothing it is to sit among bits and pieces and create something for fun... I always tend to try to create a 'masterpiece' and end up doing nothing, the inner critic *sigh*... ... I have this brand new journal, with one entry from the beginning of January... I have been in a real creative slump lately .... I write so much on my blog, about my home and life, so to actually journal it and create around the post, really helps me to focus....so i am going to regularly do this in my journal... here is my first entry:

Krissie also takes part in a weekly challenge called Gothic Arches and I thought I would play around with the theme this week, which was 'old schooldays' - a perfect theme for my journal.. I could create something around my own school days ... I had an old report card of mine that was sitting around uselessly, getting more dog-eared by the minute, so i used that as a background.. once upon a time, i would not have done this.. thinking I must preserve all my papers... but really, who wants them... I have my mums too... sitting in a box, disintegrating - I used an old photo of my first day at school.... and at first, I didn't like what I had created... but I am actually quite liking it now....my Gothic Arch old schooldays....

I have decided to allow anonymous comments again as I received a delightful email from a 'lurker' who can't comment now.... her words really touched me alot and I think sometimes, comments are just as important as the actual posts ~ you just never know when a comment may help another reader.... thankyou to 'pt' .. you can comment again....

the full moon came and went yesterday... I don't think I have seen a full moon for 3 months or more.. it is always raining... I have my crystals waiting to sit out in a full moon bathe.. but it looks like they will be waiting for another month.......

so off to the sea-side it is....

Angel of the Ritual

When people think of angels, they think flowing robes and halos. But in the Bible, they also look like ordinary people. Why not today?
JOAN WESTER ANDERSON, In the Arms of Angels

about a year or so ago, about the time I completed my first reiki level, I started to draw.... I would be sitting meditating or pondering and I would 'feel' beings around me....and I knew I had to draw them. Then it stopped... the urgent need to get these beings down... then after Daisy died, I felt an angel, I could see it in my minds eye... and I started to draw, oil pastels and chalks flying madly across the page... closed the book and promptly forgot about it. ... until last Monday... when I was doing the usual Monday madness of cleaning my bathrooms, stripping the sheets and vacuuming... and I suddenly remembered the angel drawing I had done.... I turned the vacuum off and raced to find that drawing ..... and there she was.... my Angel of the Ritual.... the one who had stopped to speak to me when I was in the 'cave' - the one who told me that we all search.... the one with the azure blue eyes ringed with gold..


it is not an exact likeness....she wasn't dressed in red, nor was her heart visible... the green 'wings' could be the Eucalypt trees behind her.... but the eyes and hair are the same...some things you just can't explain... . I am actually going to finish it now, making it into a collage of sorts.. and hang it in my sacred space.

I ... believe that angels, or something like them, sometimes live among us, hidden within our fellow human beings.
JOHN PERRY BARLOW, The Death of Cynthia Horner

faery magick, food for thought and me, a divine co-creator

I am working through alot of stuff right now, with my books, affirmations and element essences and like Solstice dreamer says - sitting on the edge of a change.... sometimes, this change feels a little daunting.....
one of my books - 'White Magic by Lucy Cavendish', mentions time being linear and puts forth the theory that all of our lives - past, present and future are being lived concurrently.. I will post more abou this in another post, once I have digested what she says. Her theory explains the feeling that I have sometimes, of living in the past.. a knowing that I cannot put my finger on..... being somewhere else while being in the present - it is sometimes called day dreaming....

it is coming up to the dark of the moon and I am doing wonderfully. I still have niggles of melancholy but I remember to whisper to myself - 'be gentle with yourself'. I am pampering myself alot and really going inward, reflecting, taking time to be still in my soul - I also read these words of Daisy's, at the Dark of the Moon:
"There are days when I can feel slightly down, and a little bit grumpy, this usually makes me realise I have been overdoing things 'burning the candle at both ends' as my Mother would say. I try to find extra bliss in all the small things that make my day enjoyable. Silly little things like the feel of my old straw hat on head when I am gardening, the blackbird that is not frightened of me and sits near my feet if I am quiet with a worm in his beak. The sun shimmering through the silver birch leaves, and later at twilight sitting out in the garden as the stars switch on in the sky and the tiny bats come out from the derelict barn down the lane and dart hither and thither. Or on colder evenings sitting in my living room with the rich smell of incense burning, candles flickering glad to be inside. At the moment my most blissful moments are waking just as the first note of the dawn chorus rings out and lying in bed listening as more and more birds join in then turning over and going back to sleep. Some mornings I even get up for a cup of herbal tea and listen to them before returning to bed." *she was indeed a wise woman*

.... I wanted to create something to honour Daisy this dark moon and I remembered her telling me what she did for her faery friends, so I copied it out and created a whimsical painting around it.....

I have been religiously doing my pages in my journal every morning - it is delicious. I get up early and go into my sacred space and sit, looking out the window while I write my thoughts down...and sometimes, I get flashes of creativity bursting forth - like these words this morning:

walking along the bush track
Tiny little flannel flowers,
whispers, laughter, a movement.

sitting, chin cupped in my hands
watching silently, a world
that I always knew was there
play with us! have fun! be joyful!

and then
get your head out of the clouds, don't be silly
make believe won't get you far in life

in a flash, my insight was gone
to be rediscovered as I become a child once more.

today I am off with my grandson, Thomas for an Artists date. We are packing picnic lunch, pencils, art books and our creative selves and going to The Everglades - a garden not far from my home... where we are going to wander for awhile, have lunch and create.... memories and art.

*~* I hope your day is filled with butterflies, magick, colour & fripperies! ~*~

piecing together the past

I was very close to my Pa, we had a real 'connected-ness'. I know I was his favourite grandchild. I wish he were still alive today, I am searching my memory of things he said about England.... but it is vague. There is so much I would ask him.... I would say 'Pa, what are the Tregilgas 'ways'..what is it that I do, that remind you of them?', "why did you give me a teaspoon of Cornwalls Malt extract every morning?", ' why did you have Pick-me-up sauce on the table every dinner time' and "pa, where do I get my love for Cornish pasties from?". I have lots to learn about Cornwall. how I wish my Pa was here to help me - even though he was born in Plymouth, Devon... he was a Cornish man - he was quite short, had very olive skin, people would often remark how unlike the usual 'english rose complexion' he was. Lucky for him, coming to Australia, with our hot, hot sun and high skin cancer risk... he would go as 'brown as a berry' in summer time.. I am lucky to have inherited his skin (and his shortness in height). He was wiry, or stocky in stature, much like a 'true cornish man', I am told. It seems that my mum takes after him - as my son said the other day: "Nan is a tough old chook". Yes, she is.. last night I went to visit her and here she is, sitting up in her chair, eating her dinner. She is in quite abit of pain which is to be expected but she is looking so much better. Her colour is really good and she looks alot younger. I said a big thankyou to the angels and faeries last night. Now all she needs to do is rest and mend.
This afternoon I have my first 'class' in the workshop - The Artists Way. I am looking forward to it actually.. it may just help me to get into the creating mindset again. During winter i tend to snuggle and read - spring and summer are the seasons when my creative spirit comes out to play. I am still reading Labyrinth and Daisy was indeed correct when she said it is a page turner. I sit engrossed for hours, reading. I just wish now, that I had taken alot more notice when I studied History in High School..

* above is the Brighid 'bride' doll that I made Ninnie to celebrate the sabbat of Imbolc...using vintage tuille for her dress, vintage tatted lace for her veil and a macadamia nut wrapped in a piece of vintage voile...to be hung at Imbolc to invite Brighid into the home which will bring blessings for the coming year. Of course Imbolc for Ninnie is not until February so there was plenty of time for the birdies to deliver the package!*
Ninnie has received the parcel - the birdies are flew all the way across the ocean right to Ninnie's door.. they said she enjoyed the chocolate very much. .. it is such fun thinking of bits to put in these sabbat packages

*~* I hope your day is filled with butterflies, magick, colour & fripperies! ~*~

the last of the book!

the last few pages of Daisy's altered book... then it will be on its way to Sweetpea next week sometime. onto the next page which is Mabon...

I made a little pocket from tuille and slipped in some of my sacred sage.. so that Daisy could use it at mabon to cleanse and protect her much loved Dene Cottage. On the right is a Mabon blessing.. I used some tigers eye crystal hanging from a red thread at the bottom of the page.
next we have Samhain.. or Halloween... rosemary is the herb and it is the time when the veil is thinnest... I wanted this to look dark and mysterious. I stuck black tissue all over.. then painted orange paint, here and there. Once that was dry, I painted it all over with beeswax. The photo of the fire is behind a veil of black tuille and a gazing ball I found in a garden magazine.. representing scrying.

and the last of the sabbat pages is Yule

first of all I painted a tree on the left then I used some gold paint to paint borders on both pages.. a Yule blessing which I love and some baubles and mistletoe..lots of glitter of course cause she was the glitter Queen. Poundland will miss Daisy alot !
the last page... I wanted to do something for Pixie... and I went out of my comfort zone and wrote haiku... I am not an expert on Haiku actually I know nothing much about it at all..

Under the haiku I was going to find a picture of Pixie.... but I will leave that for sweetpea to do.. and on the right some Daisy plastic paper.. a little box cut out to show the words... the end
and below is the back cover.

I found a vintage envelope and I am going to stick it on the back cover. My plan was to put little bits of interest into it as Treasures for *Daisy*... there are a few blank pages after Samhain, that I will paint pink *cause pink is sweetpeas favourite colour* and I will leave them for her to put her memories of Daisy, her mum... so there you go.. all finished. now I think I will make myself an altered book... not sure what theme..

Today I hope to do some work & creating in my soul journal/BoS... I have so many loose notes that I want to copy into and a few collage type things I want to create. So after my housekeeping is done, I will sit down and play. It is raining outside so no gardening today. I am also going to cook tonights dinner, this morning, a yummy soul nourishing beef casserole, as I am off to see Mum this afternoon and my dinner will be ready for when I come home.

*~* I hope your day is filled with butterflies, magick, colour & fripperies! ~*~

and reading on through the BoS

first of all, I thought I should point out that this altered Book of Shadows was started at the beginning of the year - Daisy & I had decided to make each other one.. I have nearly finished this.. just a few more things to stick in and once I have finished showing it here, it will be safely tucked into my birdie friends beak, on its way to SweetPea.

So, next in the book is the magick page ~

Daisy always stressed to me to be careful of 'black magic' on the internet.... I would find this 'spell' or that incantation and she would say to me that I should never trust things that I find on the internet.. she often said that I was too trusting, that there were alot of 'weirdos' out there ... so when I found these words in a vintage magazine, I just had to stick them in... and the little picture on the left is one that was in an old encylopedia - a little girl sitting with her *hare* gazing at faeryland - perfect, don't you think?

next we have Midsummer - often known for the madness of it all - the veil between worlds is thin and the fae are close to us at this time... I used mauve tissue on the left page and a gold pen to write.. then on the right hand side - I cut a window through many layers of pages and put some tuille over the opening..... to make it look like a veil.. then I used a dragonfly stamp and stamped madly all over the page.. a few glittery stickers and some gold glitter around the opening... then over the page:

I painted with shiny mauve paint and I pinned a faery.. so that when you actually look through the veil on the previous page, you can see the faery charm! the words I found somewhere and they reminded me of something that Daisy & I discussed often - our belief in faeries as young children......

then we have Lughnasadh or Lammas - the 'loaf-mass'. I painted the pages bright yellow as this is one of the colours for this 'sabbat' and found a black and white picture of an oak branch. I coloured those in with my water colours. On the right hand page, I wrote a 'herb gathering blessing' and then went into my garden and gathered some herbs.. and dried them. Once they dried - I tied them with ribbon and pinned them to the page.

and above is a close up of the words for the herb blessing...each time I started to create a new page, it became my favourite... there is quite a few more pages to come... hope you are enjoying them!

the full moon is coming up on July 30th - time to put your crystals out in the moonlight.. I usually put mine all on a large tray and put them to be charged ovrnight under the full moon. Yesterday, I spent a few hours in my garden, weeding and tidying up.... it was quite warm. One of those days that lull you into a false sense of spring...... my violets are blooming profusely and while i was in the garden, the perfume was heavenly.I saw a Robin redbreast!
tomorrow I am off to an angel course..yes, another course! We learn how to sing with the angels and how to imbue our crystals with angelic energies... oneday, I am sure I will find the exact right course or group that sits ok with me.

I also just want to say that I am so blessed to have so many of you commenting.. it touches my heart and I am very grateful that you take time to do so. .. I feel so loved and cherished and yes, I feel I am wrapped in a cocoon of love . xoxo

*~* I hope your day is filled with butterflies, magick, colour & fripperies! ~*~

Daisy's altered Book of Shadows *3*

a little more on the Book of Shadows... a page of herbs and spells. I have an old book that I found at a garage sale, about herbs, so I cut a page from that and stuck it on the left hand page...then I put a transfer over it to make it look kind of mediaeval...


and on the right hand side - I printed out a spell for herbs. I then made holes in the side, tied ribbon through and then rubbed watercolour chalk all over it, with the intent of making it look old...then we have the next Sabbat - Beltane

I wanted to make it look like Spring so I painted the pages green and found some yellow Daisies in an old gardening magazine, plus some of my own dried flowers, some fabric flowers and stickers. I made a Beltane wreath on the right hand page and as you can see, the words Blessed Beltane on the left. Also an australian floral stamp.... and on to the moon.


I definitely wanted to include the moon in the book as that is something that Daisy and I discussed nearly every day....I had this old photo, don't know who it is but it reminded me of Daisy and I - if we had been friends when we were little.... and I loved the saying underneath.. it was perfect! I painted glue all over the page and stuck blue tissue paper over it.. then made a moon from cardboard, painted it with beeswax and stuck it on.. then I painted glue all over and sprinkled glitter all over it as Daisy was THE GLITTER QUEEN.. she loved it. If you look closely you will see tiny star brads holding the pages together plus a 'diamante' just near the moon....and lastly for this trip through the book.... we have Cornwall . . . . .

and of course I had to include Cornwall - being the home of Daisy's soul.... a place that she loved and shared with me through photos, emails and even helping to trace my roots. She understood my yearning to visit oneday. I was flicking through a magazine once a year or so ago and came across an article about Cornwall - i loved it so i tore it out and put it into my 'must keep for some reason' box and this book was the reason. On the right, I roughly painted a colour that to me looked like and old page and hand wrote the words: " I found myself falling deeply in love with this strange land ~ Britain's most western outpost. Where Holy wells hide under the fuschia hedges and stone circles litter the empty moors" - don't you think that perfectly describes Daisy's love for Cornwall. They are words that make my soul gasp. On the left I ripped out a section of the coast of Cornwall making it look rugged and I made a pocket out of it..sticking down the side and the bottom so I could tuck into it :

a little story that I found in an old encyclopedia plus an old postcard that I found in my friends antique store

so that is the trip today. I am also delighted to say that Daisy's daughter has said she would love to have this book after I have finished sharing it... that just makes my heart so happy - to think that it will be treasured by someone so closely connected to my soul twin.

no snow but in the minus numbers today again... so cold. I am desperate to get into my garden but it is just not pleasant so I guess I will have to compromise and go to our local craft shop and buy some supplies..like I need them. But a girl has to do what a girl has to do....

*ps - thanks for the comments yesterday, I get myself into such a dither sometimes, worrying about 'what' I am..... I have an urge to constantly put myself into a box, to label myself.. knowing full well that I don't do well with rules.... I love when you take the time, to let me know that you have visited - that is what blogging friendships are all about xoxo*

*~* I hope your day is filled with butterflies, magick, colour & fripperies! ~*~

walking, reconnecting & thinking

yesterday I went for a walk to Katoomba which is a power spot of mine. I wanted to try and reconnect with Mother Earth... so I walked and I talked. I carried the twin crystal of which Daisy had the other twin. I saw a poor little birdie, dead on the footpath. Part of me wanted to pick the little thing up and take it home and give it a burial, the other part was scared of disease. To see the little bird, laying there, dead, on the path, made me realize that death happens every minute, somewhere. I wondered if that little birdie had friends who missed her and were grieving like I was. I found lots of holly trees and I noted that I must remember to ask permission if I could take some sprigs... and I walked - hands in pockets, head down...in the cold. I saw an old man walking towards me and thought to myself - if he looks at me, I will smile and say hello but he didn't. He looked the other way and then I thought to myself - 'what is it with the world? no-one communicates anymore, we are all strangers, worrying about ourselves.... why? Why, if we are all from the same spirit world, and all connected - why is there this total disconnection from everyone. like we are scared of each other'..... no answers, I know but .....

then I came around the corner back to where the Holly trees are and I reached to pick some and it prickled me! I had forgotten to ask permission - so silently, I asked if it would be ok to take some for my holly water and I was allowed to pick three sprigs - no prickles at all! I noted to myself that I must bring a crystal next walk and place it under the tree, in thanks. I have a large water bowl at my front door that I usually float flowers and candles in and I think I will put some sprigs of Holly in that, fill it with water and it can be my Holly water font! I noticed the bare trees and the gardens and made another note to self to remember to bring my camera next time...

above is the one and only photo that I took of my weekend away last week. It is a hotel in a little town called Dunedoo. This is the original building. Isn't it fantastic? Inside was the original old bar with mirrors and ornate carvings... if you look closely, my car is the jeep. Well, it is actually Joe's car. I took it because we travelled dirt roads in some places.

I must admit, I had a bad day yesterday - my grief came rushing back... I am not wanting to continually post about it but as it is really a part of me right now, I cannot deny it and with the dark of the moon as well.. gee .... I made myself some hot chocolate, a buttered crumpet and I sat and snuggled in front of the fire. it was just one of those days.

above is my spirit doll that was part of my homework for witches school. We had to create a representation of a Spirit Elemental, so I decided to make a faery angel....because the element of spirit encompasses all the other elements, I wanted to include something from each of them. For earth, I used a stick and an amethyst crystal in a wand. For Air - I used feathers, the dark feathers are some of the vintage ostrich feathers that I bought the other day at FrouFrou. Water, I used shells and I am still wondering what to use for the element of fire. Once i have finished the Spirit Elemental, I am to bless it under the moon and under the sun and ask it to lead me to my Spirit guides.

Tomorrow is my next witch school class, I am looking forward to that. I have done most of my homework * I wrote an invocation, will share that sometime soon.

It is the dark of the moon right now... that is why so many of us are feeling a sense of emptiness, alone-ness and melancholia - a time to nurture your soul. Don't forget to get those moonstones out - hold them close and imagine a giant full moon beam coming down and bathing your soul in moonlight. Rest at this time, drink lots of water and cultivate peace in your soul.

oh and don't forget ~ Friday 13th! Beware of all that stuff... black cats, walking under ladders.. well you know xo and tomorrow, New Moon!

*~* I hope your day is filled with butterflies, magick, colour & fripperies! ~*~

another little peek @ BOS and cleansing crystals

continuing on through the book of shadows ~

When I first ever saw this photo of Daisy, I knew immediately that I wanted to do something with it.... we both loved Wizard of Oz, so I glittered up her shoes with red glitter glue and made her a little, black tuille skirt. And of course the black cat - all witches have one, I am told.... Although I didn't know her when she was small, I am sure she was a wise little girl. On the right hand page - another piece of the mystical castle with collage words "she believed in magic" - and of course, she did ..... next is Imbolc....

Daisy thought it would be a good idea to start off with the sabbat, Imbolc.... on the left page is a pocket made from an old encyclopedia page about marsh flowers and tucked into the pocket, I placed a tag that could be used as a bookmark, I was also going to put a packet of seeds into the pocket. I painted the right hand page with white paint, leaving some words that actually made sense for the season.... then stamped 'spring is coming' on some old fabric... and next we have Spring Equinox ~

first of all I painted both pages pink and I made a fabric quiltie for the right hand page, using some vintage lace and flowers. On the left hand side, I copied a Spring Blessing onto some rice paper and glued it down one side......

and underneath ~ just a few pictures of spring...... and some words that I thought springtime would be for Daisy ~ butterflies * march hares * seeds of hope * violets so that is a little more of this altered Book of Shadows .

yesterday, I went out to lunch with Joe and after, I ended up going back to my favourite shop of the moment - Frou-Frou, (I must take some photos to share) and bought some wonderful vintage buttons, some old pearls and some real ostrich feathers! I also bought a wonderful old lantern to hang in my kitchen. I used some of the ostrich feathers on my Elemental spirit doll, which I might add is looking quite gorgeous.. i will share her when i have finished. It was a really chilly day - a cold that goes into your bones, it has been like this for a few weeks now... so I have had my fire burning constantly over the past few days - I love living where I do, here in the mountains, it is truly a special sacred place. at this time of year, when I go outside, I can smell the wood fire smoke... I love it, so comforting..not good for the environment I guess....but well, I need to keep warm.

a few of you have asked how to clean crystals. There are many ways and many opinions. You can run them under water but some crystals actually dissolve in water, you can put them out into the sunlight but some fade, some people even bury them into the ground, which works I guess, but good luck finding them again! I find the best, easiest and the one that suits my soul is to smudge with a herbal smudge stick or incense. All you need to do is hold the crystal and circle it with the incense, letting the smoke fully engulf the crystal. Imagine all the negative energies being drawn out and dissipating with the smoke. The moon is not used to cleanse crystals but to charge them and I will share what I know about that in a day or two.

Another thing too, I am thankful & blessed to have so many friends here.. the past weeks, i have realised just how many of you are my friends, thankyou xoox

oh and don't forget to comment on the post about the Imbolc giftie!

*~* I hope your day is filled with butterflies, magick, colour & fripperies! ~*~

an altered book of Shadows

I want to share something that is very special.

But first of all I need to point out that this isn't going to be a sad post - *Daisy* would not want us to be grieving forever - we need to fill our lives with butterflies, magick, colour (LisaOD) and fripparies(Daisy) and plus, I am trying hard to be happy & joyful....

This is a swap that *Daisy* and I were doing between us.. ... .... ages ago, we decided to make an altered book for each other. It was *Daisy*'s idea to make it a Book of Shadows ~ because our beliefs & life were so similar... my book for *Daisy* was almost finished..... we were going to send them at the same time so that they would cross paths mid-air to arrive, delivered by ravens at the very same time........

over the next few weeks - I will take you on a journey through my creation of the *altered* Book of Shadows...... to start of with is the front cover

* I found this picture of the garden in a magazine and it reminded me of Daisy's garden. I wanted to include Pixie and luckily, I found a photo in a cat food advertisement that looked alot like her... so I tucked her amongst the lavender and painted over her with a shiny paint... to make it look like she was beyond the veil.... *
next is the title page.....

* I stuck an old page from a magazine out and then cut a circle into it - behind it I put the book of shadows title.... then I proceeded to stick pages together.... I think about 6 or 7 at once, using brads and other fun stuff I found *

next is the page that I dedicated to her ..

using tie dyed paper and an old photo on the left and on the right I tore a piece from an old magazine that looked quite celtic looking, an old castle.. and I made a tag and wrote on it and attached it with a brad....

over the next weeks, I will take more photos - there are alot of pages that I want to share and I hope I don't bore you with it - but I am very proud of this work and it makes me sad that she didn't get to see it ~ I am sure she would have been delighted with it