Win a Whimsy Wednesday

For someone who was up-n-at-em before 3AM, it sure took me a long time to post this week's give-away! I was waiting for good photo daylight, and with heavy cloud cover, and snow falling now, it's as bright as it's gonna get and these photos will have to do.

This week's whimsy is a book cord, a spirit cord for marking pages in a book, spun in a sacred manner, this time with PEACE in my heart. I've been using these cords for years to mark pages, especially in my Book of Mirrors (journal, if you prefer) and my Book of Shadows (my book of spirit, rite and ritual). 

This cord is strung with a little green faerie of peace.

To enter this week's give-away, leave a comment to this post ... any comment really, yet I'd love to hear what plans of Peace you have for "next year."

(And Win a Whimsy will become a monthly give-away.)

Have a safe and happy flip of the calendar!

☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮

Congratulations Autumn Knitter - you won

the Peace Faerie!

Thanks to you all for sharing your beautiful and playful

selves with all of us here ... 

as for your inspirations of peace ... just dream it, do it

and make it manifest!

Blessings to you today and every day!

☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮

Sacred Space & Gratitude

Today the boy left the hut for a while, leaving me golden quiet time in which to make sweet space for sacred works of the conscious variety. I threw cards and did a couple readings. I spun several spirit chokers and made a couple book cords. 

Later we tackled errands together. A trip to the package store for a bottle of bubbly and a few other non-essentials ... the hardware store ... the grocer ... and the local health food store ...

It was in the health food store that I ran into my friend Laura who very recently started a blog, Purple Rose Musings (you should check it out) and I thought to myself (who else would I think to?) ... holy blog  Batman! I started blogging four years ago yesterday ... December 29, 2004 was my virgin blog post. 

So now, for you kind reader, I make sacred space, I light a candle, I burn a leaf of white sage and I say THANK YOU!

Thank you for caring and sharing. Thank you visiting and returning. Thank you for playing my silly games. Thank you for following me from ByRegion to Myspace to Blogspot. Thank you for your support and comments whether it's just for today or for the duration. Thank you for being a friend, be it the kind I know and see or the kind I've not yet met. 

THANK YOU!

Balm & Dog Love

More headway in re-organizing my dispensary was made today. This is a big task in a small space and it may take me more time and patience than I'm prepared for ... but I'll cross these bridges as I come to them. Or blow them up. Whatever feels right in the moment.  I did get another small batch of balm made, this time calendula with lanolin, and essential oils of patchouli, carrot seed and clary sage. This is my favored face blend, especially in this dry season of winter.

I made Halley open her own package ...

... and she was so proud!

Click on the pics to get your own Woof Purr Creations dog or cat toy!

Nothing Too Tangible

I didn't really make anything too tangible today. I made time for some writing. I made time to do a reading for myself. I made some time to crochet. I made time for football and just some good idle relaxing. Then dinner time came and the boy made a salad.

I made a ham and cheese "pizza."

And I enjoyed it with a fine home brew, which was made months ago, but enjoyed today.

Now I'll make time to watch a movie.

Art, Pizza, Wassail, Headway ...

I made Lots today. It's the new moon, I know it. I swell in the darkness. I made plans and projections. I made pizza for supper. I made a nice wassail to sip into the evening.  I completed a number of small art projects, of which just two may be seen here ...

That's what I made today. Ashe. Ashe.

I made chewy-tug-fetch toys for my sweet Halley. I made four of them actually, out of an old fleece pullover that I picked up at Goodwill at least two years ago. It was pristine when I purchased it and was still in good condition, despite some ingrained stains, but I don’t wear it anymore because I just get way too fiery warm in it! I made these toys even as I wait for the tug-o-war braid with the tennis ball that I purchased from Woof Purr Creations. Actually, I ordered two. Halley LOVEs them!

I used up the last of my 2007 stash of comfrey leaf oil by mixing it with a bit of chickweed oil and making a few jars of a nice soothing, cooling, healing balm. Calendula is next! (I really should post this on When Weeds Whisper, huh?)

I made progress on my projects for the Suzi Blue class that I’m taking, part of which involved prepping these lovely scraps of handmade recycled paper that I purchased from Claudia’s Creations. These will be embellished with little goddesses and at least one will be part of a card. 

That's what I made today.

Win a Whimsy Wednesday

Over the next three weeks I will be concluding my weekly give-away. No worries, I'll continue Win a Whimsy, but on a monthly schedule, rather than weekly. More on that in 2009.

With the winter holidays culminating and a new calender year swiftly approaching ... with the daylight waxing and the moonlight waning ... and waxing again before the calendar flips ... I'm giving away PEACE. Energetically, this feels good and right.

One little ACEO print each week ... This week, Restoration ... next week, on Peace Day, (or New Year's Eve, if you prefer) Renewal ... followed by Regeneration on January 7, 2009. 

So today, leave a comment ... on PEACE - what it means to you in this moment and you'll be entered to win this week's whimsy, Restoration.

Congratulations Tammie Lee! For those of you who don't know this beautiful spirit and very talented photographer, please check out her blog, Spirithelpers and the her shop by the same name (especially if you need beautiful note cards for your "thank yous!").

Peace.

Cookies

I had a very full day today. It was filled with lots of household catching-up and amazing, motivating menopausal irritation. It was kinda funny, really. Well - to me it was. Hey, I enjoyed it - for the most part. In any event I finally made some cookies. Sweet little marmalade thumbprints and ...

... gingerbread goddess bosoms, with and without the nipples.

Speaking of goddesses, here's a little peak at my Venus of Willendorf still drying.

I'm lovin' her.

Meatloaf & Goddesses

Today I made meatloaf, roasted potatoes and simmered carrots. I made plans to bake cookies and make soap. I made time and sacred space for my Be.Divine workshop and played with clay and made little goddess fetishes and my own little Venus of Willendorf. I doodled more on those pages, this time with goddess figures featured.

That's what I made today.

Time, Cocoa & an Unexpected Gift

I made time to ice my back after shoveling ... and shoveling some more. 

I made hot cocoa to warm my iced back - the real deal ... organic cocoa, sugar, a pinch of salt, a splash of vanilla and milk.  I actually threw in a cinnamon stick to the brew as well.

I made a scarflette with a sweet wool and acrylic blend. This photo doesn't do it justice - not even a little. The colors are awesome. I made it for me, but after chatting on the phone with my mom (for an hour and forty minutes!), I find myself preparing it to be sent to her. I'll make another for me. (To my multi-media friends, that's gel medium on my shirt - Forever!)

That's what I made today. That, and Yuletide blessings.

Pages

Remember those pages that I ripped out of the book?

I've been doodling. It is wonderful meditation as well as a superb method for focusing intention for ... seasonal works. Peace!

Win a Whimsy Wednesday!

This week I'm putting up for grabs this little hand-drawn note card. 

Just leave a comment, any comment, and you're instantly included in a chance to win this sweet little seasonal whimsy. The winner will be drawn when I get around to it on Thursday morning.

Congratulations Jessica of MomShots.com - you won this week's Whimsy!

A Foundation

... to a new journal page and goddess honor ... 

A Sacrifice to the High Priestess

I cut into a book the other day. It was my first-ever act of literary desecration. I ripped out a couple pages of lovely yet cryptic Italian passages as well as some beautiful images of classical art. The act was remarkably cathartic and I feel that a goddess of destruction and creation has been unleashed.

Today the boy handed over an old hard-cover science fiction book that he likely picked up at the recycling center. I ripped out some pages and primed others together. The cover got it's first coat of black gesso primer. 

Ahh ... creation through destruction.

As I ripped and painted the pages I thought of my friend Sherrie who clings to a self-declared debilitating relationship with books ... I thought of my friend Annie who gives birth to them ... I thought of how I've never been able to dog-ear a page to mark my place ... I thought of the third card of the major arcana, number two,  The High Priestess, a card that I've held dear for (too) many years. A part of me flipped back to the earliest chapters memory and I smiled a giddy smile of recreation. 

Is this what goddess feels?

No wonder the sun rises each day. 

Silly Policy Nonsense

This blog is mine. I write it, I take the photos for it, I occasional promote my own work, my business, my studio and stores. I sometimes brag about and promote the works and efforts of others, yet I do not accept any form of cash or compensation for advertising, sponsorship or other mentions. The work or services that I may mention here on occasion that are not mine would be best described as the direct result of pleasure that I've experienced, be it a pure experience or one resulting from a product or service that I purchased. My blog, my experience ... no compensation, no persuasion, no claims of expertise.

Should I ever receive compensation in any form for any product or service that I mention here (on my blog) I will adhere to the rules and regulations (and persistent oppression) that apply to my personal blog, in that I will state clearly identify it as such, be it paid or sponsored content. And I suppose I should also mention that this blog that is mine, that I write, edit and so forth, does not contain any content that may present a conflict of interest.

Silly, eh? Yet, there it is. Compliance ... an often irritating, disempowering endeavor ... and - sadly - a "necessary" evil.

Fun

I didn't make these turkeys (did I?), but their parade through my little backyard just needed to be shared with you.

The boy made more progress on the kitchen project with another cabinet cleaned, repaired, prepped and ready for primer, plus a little plaster wall repair.

I made something with the left-over plaster ... You'll see ... eventually (as will I)!

I finally cut into an Italian art book that the boy salvaged from someplace or another. Understand that I had spent the night before dancing in my living room - with myself, with my dog and yeah - with my spouse too. So, dancing was Up for me and it's no surprise that these dancing beauties made their way in into an old art journal page ...

... remember this page? It's "better" now, isn't it? And funnier too!

Not only that, but tomorrow I'm meeting up with some Suzi Systers for the afternoon. Suzi Systers, you ask? These are women I've met through Suzi Blu and in the Be.Divine. art workshop that I'm taking with Suzi and 135 other goddess systers! Anyway ... all this feminine verve inspired this crazy little journal entry ...

Yeah ... goddesses DO just wanna have fun. Even when they don't look like they DO.

Fun!

This & That

The boy had made more frames from scrap stock and broken frames salvaged from the dump, so I continued the finishing. I'm finishing some up new-like and others I'm leaving distressed. I like distressed.

Then there's the bread dough ... rising.

And then the bread ... baked and waiting (and really yummy!).

The kitchen renovations take off ...

... and cabinet number one is fully prepped at day's end.

And now I sip some warming tea that's just perfect for this chill, damp day. You can see it here.

Tomorrow I should have some art journal fun to share. Emphasis on should.

Win a Whimsy Wednesday!

Merry wednesday everyone!

This week you play to win the final piece of peace. I have one remaining slice of the original doodle of a peace symbol that I cut up to make the six bookmarks. One for me. Five for you.

To enter to win this piece of peace, just pause here ... look around you and smile at someone ... anyone ...  and if no one is around you, then smile to yourself. For when you smile to yourself, you smile to the world.  When you're done smiling (for this moment), leave a comment to this post! 

Then smile some more.

Congratulations Lucas - for smiling - and for winning this week's whimsy!

And thanks to all who played and smiled as well!

Something to Sip On

Today I made something to sip on. 

This was a day that started out like so many others. Calm. Cool. Uneventful. Ya know? And yet, I found myself early-on feeling like a Bond martini.

And as a martini drinker I know how horrific that is.

But, I'm feeling better now. Thanks to time ... and a little something to sip on. And a little something to hold. And appreciate. And love. 

Ashe sweet friends. Tune in tomorrow for the final leg of the piece of peace give-away.

A New Friend

Today I made time with the books. I made time with the files. I also made time in my dispensary. And best of all, I made time for tea and conversation with a new friend. 

Life is sweet.

The Most of the First Snow

A late morning complete with coffee in bed. A nice walk with the dog in the falling snow. One of my Cheryl-neighbors (I have two) threw open her sash to holler out "Good morning!" Greetings were called back as the walk continued in the swirling flakes. A return to a warm little hut to work on the frames I had picked up at Goodwill, as well as the wee one's that the boy is making for me to finish.

A day of the football irony (I'm a Giant's fan). A nice dinner with Maple Ale. A very nice evening.

Coffee with Cream & Sugar

I usually drink it black, like the night sky ... like the space between the stars ... the mystery of Inanna.

Yet, the final cup this morning begged for light and sweetness. As it is, so shall it be.

Have a day of light and sweetness.