Embroidered Offering - Balance

The wheel of the year keeps turning, so that all thing remain in balance! I recently took an Oath in my spiritual path, and promised an offering. My oath was very much based on the theme of balance, so I thought my offering ought to be too!

It was a smallish piece, just one hoop's worth of stitching. I started out by divvying up the linen into quarters. I've learned that pencil lines wear off rather quickly, so I used regular sewing thread to baste in marker lines.

I did trees for the four seasons. (This is a favorite of mine!) complete with an appropriate amount of foliage - from little buds to nothing! 

 Next, faces! I had never done faces in stitchery before, if is a very interesting challenge. I have a masculine and feminine face, and I tried to make one old and one young. (They both look a bit old, hazards of hard shadows.) I'm fairly happy with how they turned out, but most importantly, the camera thought it was a person!

The final touches were some weather. Sunshine for the spring and summer, rain and snow for the fall and winter. All the things in their own time. Everything in balance.

We had a good bonfire for midsummer, and offerings were made. Welcome to the warm times! But, the days are now getting shorter, good news to keep us from getting too hot. Also good news for us travelers - I'm writing this in Iceland, the sun only set for about 3 hours last night, and it never got dark. I'm loving it in many ways, but sleep is also good! Here's to Balance!

Autumn's Offerings - Thor and Sif

NOTE - This article was written, and should have published back in September. It seems it got lost in the ones and zeros...

At the time of balance of the year, I look to nature to see the importance of balance in our lives. In this harvest season it's easy to look to the bountiful fields and the food on our tables as proof of the benefits of balance.

In the Norse tradition Thor is, besides being a mighty warrior, the Lord of Storms. By his presence or absence we get rain and fair weather. Thus, he would be praised for both bringing rain and snow, and for sunny days. Sif, his wife, is a goddess of the fields. Her golden hair (get it right Marvel!) is representative of ripened grains.

Their relationship is a thing of Balance. If there is not enough rain the grain will not grow, if there is too much it rots in the fields. Throughout the winter the soil rests to prepare for the next growing season. Their partnership has space. This is the lesson of the Autumn Equinox,  establish balance in order to create fruitfulness.

As for the making, I placed my ring on the top half of a rectangle of linen, and started stitching! The clouds slowly filled in with undulating waves. I added falling rain drops near the end, and the last touch - a bolt of lightening from the God of Thunder.

The bottom ring I filled with the plants of the fields - vetch, bindweed, grasses, and most importantly golden ripening grain! That space of overlap is the Venn Diagram of the season - rain on the fields.

We gathered for a large feast, think early Thanksgiving, to share in the fruits of the second harvest. This piece was an offering to the Patrons of the rite - Thor and Sif. That is to say, it went up in flames. We got a good omen, and had a fantastic night of food and fellowship. Sacred stitchery has become one of my favorite things!

What are you thankful for? How do you bring balance into your life?

Finds - Summer Solstice

 Once again the wheel has turned and we are at the longest day of the year! The sun is lingering far into the evening, and the summer heat is starting to linger. One of the joys of Colorado is that the shade is still cool, and the nights chill everything nicely.

Painting by PamelaJonesArtStudio.

 Get the house decorated up for the summer with a colorful wreath from WillowgaleDesigns

 Get gussied up for a warm evening party with this classic print dress from CruelCandy

Liven up an outfit with a touch of spring meadows, this lovely pendent by MaggieJonesEnamels

If you're feeling Crafty, make your own solstice time yarn from the hand-dyed roving by TheCritterRanch. Remember, it's cooler to spin the wool than to have a pile of it in your lap while knitting!

Or, for an even more hot-weather-friendly craft, try this summer time cross-stitch pattern by ColorfulCrossStitch.

Whether you plan to drum down the sun around a mighty bonfire, or just toast the longest day of the year with a cold drink, enjoy your Solstice!

Finds - Green Awakening

I don't often find myself wishing that time moved faster, but an unseasonably warm winter has made me crave the warm wet blooming of spring. Let's get green!

A fabulous bloom with the green remains of an ancient tree! Made by Dreamspell.

Brilliant take on a mug, this handle wraps all the way around! Hand-thrown and finished by MudonMyMind.

Spectacular specimens of green from the animal kingdom, an unexpected touch of spring! From RealButterflyGifts.

Delicate greens that remind me of a small bud pushing out from the earth, and fluffy merino. This win-win hand-spun by SpunbySuzanne

 

This glorious tree from PaperMoth could be fresh spring buds, redolent summer shade, or the first hint of autumn. It is a "Welcome Change" indeed!

I am currently preparing to sprout seedlings inside, and already making my list of garden task. But I know that we need plenty of snowfall to keep all our plants from wilting away like last year! Are you preparing for spring? Or savoring the last snows of winter?

Etsy Finds - Mabon Harvest

Happy Equinox! Today and tomorrow the night and day are almost equal, and the sun is setting and rising at due East and West. It is the second harvest festival, a time to celebrate the abundance of the earth! Enjoy Apples and spices, grains and roots, vegetables of every type, and of course enjoy the cooler nights. Here's some finds to celebrate the harvest.

A lovely decorative piece from TheWhimsicalPixie11.

Embroidered alter cloth from SilveryMoonBeams

Delicate adornments from Thyme2Dream

Seasonal scented incense, perfect for rituals from OldWorldWitchery

A touch of the season for your home from TheShabbyWitch

A colorful treat for alter or house from AutumnSkyAdornments

May your season be full and productive! Remember, this is not just a time to harvest food, but a time to reap the benefits of all your hard work over the summer in any endeavor. What is your favorite thing about Fall?

Summertime Crafts

 I just completed a new set of alter clothes for my Grove, these ones are for summer! The springtime ones had flowers on them in bright colors, for these however I chose shades of green and tall stately trees.

 Ok, maybe not stately, they're a little psychedelic actually. The Water alter cloth is a nice teal with rain cloud and evergreen trees.














The Fire cloth is a bright chartreuse with some very Suessical trees under a blazing sun. It was surprisingly fun to sew these funky little trees!

 

 I also did some yard work today, with an ulterior motive naturally. The Ash in my yard sprouts dozens of suckers each spring, and it was time to clear them away! So I got out the clippers and went to work.

But you don't think I sent them straight to the compost did ya?

 I lay out all the supple branches, and picked out my favorite for a little decorative project. Add one roll of twine and some time on the front porch, force it around into a loop, and twist it tight!

Most Norse legends tell us that the World Tree Ygdrassil that holds up the realms and supports the sky is an Ash. So Ash is thought to have magical and healing properties!

Who says wreaths are just for Yule? I have a cheery solstice wreath for my door! What have you all been making?

Wheel of The Year

I started this project less than a year ago, and followed thru all the seasons, summer, fall, winter and spring. It is finally completed, with spreading trees and bright red letters for the high days.

Spring

Winter

Autumn

Summer

So then we are faced with the task of hanging this piece. I was hoping to place it directly on a piece of wood, but I couldn't find solid woods in a close enough size, only plywood. So I bought some square dowels and started cutting!

I used my "high-tech" staple gun to make a row of connectors at each joint. It was a little wiggly but sturdy enough for stretching fabric. The fabric actually stabilized it quite a bit.

I washed the cloth gently, and hung it to dry. Then I ironed it to as flat as a piece of lumpy embroidery can be. I taped everything in place at first to center it.

Now the great challenge, which side goes up? Also, how do I get those last few pencil marks off the linen ground? It was a very fulfilling project, and really did help me to be more in touch with the changing seasons. I'm already plotting a new project, to be started this midsummer. I'm thinking about doing herbs that are sacred to each high day, giving me a chance to learn more herbcraft too! This may become a yearly ritual for me, who knows how long it will last...

The Wheel Doesn't Always Turn One Way...

After a few weeks of very warm weather and a weekend of 80+ F degrees, it spent the last two days snowing. This is actually fairly normal for Colorado, skip Spring and go straight to Summer, then come back around to a little bit of Winter.
I know better than to trust an early season, so all the seeds I've planted are frost hardy. There's a reason we call them "Snow Peas" and Radishes hate warm weather. Of course the tulips didn't miss a beat. In fact the moisture was a huge boon to them! My table will have a fresh bouquet on it for at least two weeks from now.
I finally started on the fourth and final stage of my Wheel of the Year project. Spring will be a light colored tree with small buds and pink flowers. I'm looking forward to bringing the whole circle together, and already plotting a project for the coming trip around the sun. Nothing like crafting to make us enjoy every single season!
What does spring look like for you? I feel it's the season that people are most in touch with, we've kept so many of the old traditions celebrating fertility and rebirth (like spring cleaning, Easter, Earth Day and May Day) that even in modern society we all recognize the return of life. Be sure to get outside and watch some flowers blooming!

Happy Spring!

And what better way to spend the Equinox than to get ready to grow? I spent time yesterday getting my green house back into good shape, as soon as my seeds come up they will go out in the bright sunshine! And the beds I dug out last year to split the bulbs have neat rows of healthy vibrant tulips coming up, I think they are already thirsty because it's been so warm!
What are you doing to get ready for spring?