Tending the Secret Garden

Okay, so I haven't been in the secret garden in any physical sense lately, because it has been so cold and wet! (Spring, where did you go?)  But I have definitely been tending my metaphorical secret garden, nurturing myself with art and escaping into fantasy novels and just enjoying the 'being'. I have been pruning that in my life which no longer serves me, or that doesn't make me feel good. I have been planting seeds of creativity and watching them blossom and grow. My garden feels wild and abundant and I am enjoying all the fruits of my labour....

I have been struck down with some nasty bug, which has confined me to the couch, pretty much, but I am grateful, for it has forced me to ignore the chores that are beckoning, and to just quiet my mind and spend some quality time with myself.  I treated myself to this little water colour set yesterday, and I'm so happy I did! The little brush fills up with water, so it's totally portable, and I can paint now wherever I am. It's like I have been possessed (in a good way), and I can't stop drawing and painting! I am in love...

I have taken out my journals, which I have neglected for a while, and unleashed my new found muse upon them. This is purely play, my friends, and I find myself creating mandalas, and losing (finding) myself in them. Now that I think of it, the dreamcatcher from last week got me thinking about circles...perhaps that is why I have mandalas bursting from me! If you don't know much about the magic of mandalas, I suggest you read this description

They are traditionally used for meditation and healing, and I really urge you to have a go and see where they may take you. Carl Jung believed that they accessed deeper levels of our consciousness, and are used for healing.

To make one, just begin with a 'seed'...or a little circle in the middle of your page. Now here comes the fun part - just make a mark around your seed. It can be anything. The whole point is not to think too much. Perhaps an S shape, or a C, or a diamond...you get the idea. After a while, you will find that the mandala will 'tell' you what mark to make next. That's the magic of them...you are getting out of your head (ego) and drawing from a deeper place (your authentic self, or soul). I love to put on some chill out music to draw, but everyone is different, and what is right for me, may not be right for you. I love mandalas because, truly, there are no mistakes, and every one is different.

"What you are is God's gift to you; what you do with yourself is your gift to God" - Danish proverb

Still scared to draw? Just place your hand on a piece of blank paper and trace around it with a black sharpie pen. This was a lot of fun, inspired by a gorgeous vintage palm reading poster I found in a shop (and which both my daughter and I are coveting!) I had a little giggle to myself when I realised that I had drawn another mandala inside the palm...I love this!

Remember the dreamcatcher swap I did last week? Well, I posted mine off, and received the one my swap partner made me yesterday! Her name is Nola, and she is such a sweetheart...she doesn't have a blog, but judging by her beautiful handiwork, perhaps she should! I love that it has a little bell attached, and a clay heart dangling down. It is hanging above my bed, to capture my sweet dreams...thankyou Nola x

Before I crawl back to my couch, I wanted to let you all know that I am having trouble again with Blogger, and I have tried to leave comments on some of your blogs, but am unable to...grrrr...so please don't think I have forgotten you - I love peeking in to see what you have all been up to. I hope this is fixed soon...

"The time will come...when, with elation, you will greet yourself arriving at your own door, in your own mirror, and each will smile at the other's welcome."

To Catch a Dream

Yesterday was such a beautiful day that I decided the time was right to make my dreamcatcher. So I gathered a basket of bits and pieces and took a blanket out in the sunshine.

I had been down the garden path the day before and found a beautiful vine wrapped around a tree. It was perfect for making my circle; I just twisted it into the size I wanted. Next I collected some feathers, some beads and a ball of string. Just a little note to self for next time - make sure the beads have holes big enough for the string to pass through!

I began by making a little hoop in the top of the string to hang the dreamcatcher. I threaded a couple of beads on and then tied the end to the top of the hoop, leaving enough string to hang it by. To start, you just hold the string and place it loosely over the top of the hoop. Move the string around to the back of the hoop (forming a hole) and pull the string back through the hole you just made.

Pull each stitch taught but not too tight or it will warp the hoop of the dreamcatcher. The same stitch is repeated around the hoop, spacing the stitches evenly (approximately 10 stitches around the hoop).

The last stitch of the first round should be placed a couple of centimetres away from the hanging loop. On the next round of the circle, place the string around the centre of each stitch from the previous round (rather than around the hoop). Now, don't stress at this point. As you can see with mine, my 'spider web' pattern isn't perfect where I've missed the loops, but I kind of think it adds to the organic look of it, and I'm not fussed by it being perfect.

As you pull each stitch tight, a diamond shape will begin to form, and it will begin to look like a spider web. Once you have been around a few times, you can thread a bead onto the string, and just continue stitching. keep going, until you have a little hole in the centre of your dreamcatcher (to let the bad dreams through!) You can just finish it here with a couple of stitches through the same loop to form a knot.

With the left over string, just attach a couple of feathers and perhaps some beads and knot. I wrapped the string around the top of the feathers to neaten it up.

I also embellished my dreamcatcher with some crystals. Turquoise to dispel negativity and to open the heart chakra, and the powerful crystal quartz, for balance, protection and harmony, and particularly useful in dream work. These I just wrapped tightly with wire to attach to my dreamcatcher. Then I threaded some beads and crystals onto some leather and looped these around the bottom of the hoop to hang next to the feathers.

I certainly lost myself in the creating, and the repetitive nature of looping the string was quite meditative, and as I spun my web, I couldn't help but ponder the cleverness of spiders who do this naturally. I was lucky enough to see a spider's web in the garden yesterday, and I marvelled at the intricacy of the delicate home he had spun.

I hope you are inspired to make a dreamcatcher of your own. Sweet dreams...I wish we could all have a sleepover and make dreamcatchers together - how fun that would be!

Some me time

It is school holidays here, and I have just returned from the little beach house. The weather wasn't very kind, but we had a lovely time nevertheless. The beach was magnificent as always...long walks with the wind in my hair and the roar of the ocean in my ears. Just beautiful...

The rain did keep me indoors for a time, but it was the perfect excuse to curl up in bed with a novel and the sound of the rain falling on my little tin roof - cosy indeed, with Pip curled up at the end of the bed. I managed to escape for a few precious hours into the realms of imagination, between the pages of a library book - my idea of bliss.

My little bedroom at the beach house is a tiny room at the top of the stairs, with a peaked roof and a little window which looks out at the inlet...we are near farmland, and from my little hideaway you can hear the cows and the sheep in the meadows...a very comforting sound, and the perfect place to spend a rainy day.

I am home again now, and need to get busy in the studio. I have decided to take part in a swap with some lovely ladies on facebook...we each must make our version of a dreamcatcher and we have been given the name of a partner to swap with. A little while back I made a dreamcatcher and it was a lot of fun, so I'm looking forward to making another. Do you remember this one?

I will be sure to take a photo to share when I have finished my dreamcatcher.

Wishing everyone a wonderful week...and remember to 'sprinkle a little magic everyday'.

Dragonfly

✿ "Once, in a little pond, in the muddy water under the lily pads, there lived a little water beetle in a community of water beetles. Once in a while, sadness would come to the community when one of their fellow beetles would climb the stem of a lily pad and would never be seen again. They knew when this happened; their friend was dead, gone forever.

✿ Then, one day, one little water beetle felt an irresistible urge to climb up that stem. However, she was determined that she would not leave forever. She would come back and tell her friends what she had found at the top. When she reached the top and climbed out of the water onto the surface of the lily pad, she was so tired, and the sun felt so warm, that she decided she must take a nap.

✿ As she slept, her body changed and when she woke up, she had turned into a beautiful blue-tailed dragonfly with broad wings and a slender body designed for flying. So fly she did! And, as she soared she saw the beauty of whole new world and a far superior way of life to what she had never known existed.

✿ Then she remembered her beetle friends and how they were thinking by now she was dead. She wanted to go back to tell them, and explain to them that she was now more alive than she had ever been before. Her life had been fulfilled rather than ended. But her new body would not go down into the water. She could not get back to tell her friends the good news.

✿ Then she understood that their time would come, when they, too, would know what she knew. So, she raised her wings and flew off into her joyous new life!"

~ Anonymous ~

Magic in the Air

It seems there is a bit of Practical Magic floating about the blogosphere, but because I have been somewhat absent here lately, I didn't arrive in time to participate, but thought I would get into the witchy mood by posting some of my older photos. I had such fun doing this photo shoot. I hope you enjoy it too...if you want to see what everyone else has in store, you can pop on over to Anna at Frosted Petunias for a list of all the participants. Should be a hoot.

It seems that I have been enamoured with all things magical lately, and have been indulging is some magical fiction. The trilogy of books by Nora Roberts called "The Three Sisters Island trilogy" was a wonderful read. Pure escapism about three witches and how their lives are entwined forever. If you enjoy a bit of witchcraft, fantasy and a love-story rolled into one, then these are the books for you.

I have also been busy reconnecting with some old friends, one of whom happens to be a witch herself. I have introduced you before, I am sure, to my dear friend Wendy. She is wild and beautiful, and oh so talented, and the hours just fly when we get together...she hypnotises with her unique voice.

I always try to bring a little magic into everyday...the possibilities are endless...

Have a magical day everyone...

Gypsy Dreams

Today, the gorgeous Celia over at Adventures of the Striped Stockings is having her first ever 'Gypsy Dreams' party. You must go over and check out all the party goers, I am sure it will be loads of fun. I hope to visit everyone over the next few days - life around here has been kind of full on - both my girls share September birthdays, and this year, Georgia turned 18, so I have been busy organising her party.

I was hoping to have something super special for you all, but alas, it was not to be, so I dug up this photo I did a couple of months back, which I felt fit the gypsy theme...

Enjoy the party everyone, and I shall leave you with one of my favourite people...

Springtime Blossoms

Spring is finally here...how I love this time of the year, when new buds appear on the trees, blossom scents the air, and the days begin to get a little bit longer.

A little painting by me...

It's time for lovely walks in nature, picnics by the river, reading a book which captivates me in the warm sunshine, flicking through magazines for inspiration, picking armfuls of flowers and foliage to bring inside, drives in the countryside with the wind in my hair, listening to old songs blaring through the speakers, and just enjoying getting outside again.

It's time for new beginnings...time to shrug off the heaviness of winter and rejoice in the newness of spring! A time of transformation and renewal. A time to leave the cocoon and unfurl my wings.

I am ready to fly...

Unfinished butterfly...

(I actually did finish sewing this butterfly, but gave it to my sister for her birthday, and silly me forgot to take a photo - woops - but it was so fun and easy, and I thought I would share anyway)