Autumnal Equinox 2008

Autumnal Equinox 2008

AUTUMNAL EQUINOX (Mabon)

September 22

First day of Libra, waning moon

THEMES: Thanks & Balance

Ahh… the long days of Summer are slowly leaving us. The Autumnal Equinox is, like the Vernal (or Spring) Equinox, a time of balance. Both dark and light - day and nite - are equal. Preparing to move into a phase of darkness, we now reap what we've sown and use that to sustain us thru the dark times.

Have you worked hard this summer? Played hard this summer? Worked hard at playing this summer? If so, congratulate yourselves and give thanks. Make a list of all that you are thankful for, focusing on your own personal strengths. So often at Thanksgiving we are so busy thanking others that we forget to honor ourselves and the beautiful bodies that support us. How are we feeling physically, emotionally and spiritually?

Not only are the dark and light at balance today, but it is also the first day of Libra – the ultimate sign of balance. The scales. Are you giving too much of yourself emotionally or have you been withdrawn and guarded? Selfish or overly nurturing? Fasting or binging? Don't judge yourself, just assess and make some changes.

Remember Vernal Equinox (March 21^st)? At that time we planted seeds for ideas and projects to manifest throughout the spring and summer, to harvest in the fall. Well harvest time is here. Do you remember what your seeds were? Did you water & support their growth and manifestation? Personally I'm completely focused on supporting one of the seeds that I planted… the one to grow a baby and start a family. My partner and I conceived in between Vernal Equinox and Summer Solstice and are happily focused on the exciting and amazing growth of our unborn child.

Here is something I received from www.Tut.com this past Monday, the day of the Harvest moon. I find it valuable and a great exercise to do at this time of the year.

What happens when someone worries? Basically, they think of 100 reasons why something might go wrong. And all of those thoughts then struggle to become things, sometimes overriding their more constructive thoughts. It's like a train wreck. Ain't pretty. But that's the power of worry.

Now, let's say you want something fantastic to manifest in your life. Hypothetically, let's say you want a magical life and perfect mate. (I know you.) Have you sat down yet and listed 100 reasons why it might come to you easily, fast, and harmoniously? I think you should. Today works, The Universe

Traditionally this is a big-feast sort of Sabbat. Eat, drink and relax. Thank the Earth for her bounty. Give thanks for all the gifts you've received this year and for all the supportive friends and family that surround you (they are a gift).

probation

So, I've decided to put my photographer on probation. She has 1 month to get it together and provide me with better images for my Etsy site. Right now the photos are basic, you see the jewelry and focus points of each piece, but the lighting is inconsistent and the photos are just damn boring. They don't speak, don't give you a real taste of the personality of either the designer (me) or of the individual piece itself.

Now I just need to come up with some creative display and background ideas for her... She can figure out her camera settings and the appropriate lighting. If anyone has suggestions, please share!

Ok. Off to work on the rag quilt for my brother....

softcards.... halloweenie style!

Ok, so I started these cards a while ago then got involved in some other projects. (life, quilt, jewelry, etc). Finally I have completed them. It took some thinking and pacing around Swains (art supply store) to come up with the perfect paper for the signature page. In the past I've hand embroidered a custom message, but that isn't always practical.

My apologies for the crappy pictures - my photographer sucks, but she's cheap. Eventually I'll figure out the perfect lighting and angle for my jewelry and softcards and all the things I post to Etsy. Right now these will have to make do. They certainly get the image across clearly... but it seems to me that the photos could be much better and that makes a difference when you're trying to sell something on Etsy by photos and words only.

Anyways, here they are!

onyx. garnet. labradorite. beautiful.

So I've had these gorgeous faceted onyx teardrop points for a while now, but I've not found the perfect design for them. Usually things look either too busy or too simple. On a delicate silver chain is nice, but soooo boring. Then I thought silk thread with a few little silver accents might work nicely. Here is one with black silk and one with midnight blue silk.


Oh! And here's another take on the rough garnet pendant. It really looks like both garnet and labradorite are in that stone, so I strung some faceted labradorite beads on light green silk and added the garnet. Gold accents, for some lift and life.

scary and sweet softcards

Darling Husband and I are already thinking about Halloween costumes, which makes me realize that it's also time to start thinking about All Things Halloween & Samhain. Ahhh.... my favorite time of the year. And a perfect time to start on a few softcards.

While I've made variations of embroidered notes over the past few years, I've settled on a basic design which is more like a traditional card. Except larger. And soft. Stiff felt, soft felt, scrap fabric, glue and embroidery thread all come together to make a darling and super special card.

Here are a few cards in progress:

my first foray into the world of quilting

Ever since I was a little girl (ok, littler than I am now) I've wanted to make a quilt. I had a lovely quilt that I slept with that had old fashioned ladies on it. No, not Sun Bonnet Sue - another more elegant lady with a parasol. Anyway, I adored that quilt. Still do, but it's only allowed out for special occasions because the cotton has worn away in spots exposing the batting. Recently I decided to check out a few books from the library on quilting and see how it's done.
Whoah.
There's much more math involved in quilting than I'm really comfortable with. Darling Husband has offered his logical, mathematical skills to help with the process - but I'm still intimidated. Well, I was intimidated. Now I'm excited about creating a real quilt after completing my first practice quilt.
Dear Delilahh is my craftiest friend. She taught me how to embroider a few years back and I'm addicted. Well, I mentioned the quilt desire to her and she offered to teach me. Of course she quilts. I should have known. Anyway, right after I returned the quiltmath books to the library Delilahh emailed me with images of rag quilts, explaining they were easy and the perfect starter quilt. I decided to make a baby rag quilt for my friend Viv who's having a boy in a few months.

Rag quilts are made with cotton fabrics, usually flannel because it's soft and frays really well. After about an hour in SAS Fabrics (amazing bargain buy by the pound fabric store in Lawndale, CA) I arrived at Delilahh's nest with a huge bag of fabric and a burning desire to quilt. She showed me how to fold and measure and cut the flannel and taught me how to use my rotary cutter safely. She showed me how to make the flannel sandwiches and how to attach them and assemble my quilt. Then we ate pizza, blended essential oils, cut hair and talked girl talk. With that bit of instruction I was on my own... And here's how it went!

Gobs of flannel, and choices... which ones for the baby boy?














Cut, cut, cut. The cutting went by quickly, probably because I had kitty-help.




















After all the squares were cut I assembled them into little sandwiches and sewed each sandwich together. On one special square I hand-embroidered the baby boys name.

The final layout. Darling Husband helped, thankfully.














The basic quilt. Note the exposed edges. I may be a messy sewer, but really it's supposed to look like this. All of these edges are then snipped into little fringes 1/4" apart. Then you wash the quilt a few times and those edges fray, giving it the ragged look. Hence the name rag quilt. :P Captain Henry really likes the quilt.














The final quilt, from the other side. Only the topside is frayed, the bottom is smooth. I like it.














After one washing. Nice fraying, but I will wash it a few more times. Hope the mom and little one enjoy the quilt as much as I enjoyed making it.

Raw garnets

On a recent trip downtown to the jewelry mart I found these amazing stones. They were hanging there with all the other semiprecious gemstone beads just screaming my name. I knew they were something special, although they really just looked like granite or something.


Turns out they are garnets. One of my favorites! Raw garnets, to be exact. You can see traces of deep red as well as some opalescent trails that remind me of labradorite.



The depth and rustic quality of the stone called for oxidized sterling silver, but I wanted to give the necklace a bit of softness and femininity so I added just a few round white freshwater pearls. With this stone you can really see the red garnet-ness!!

Garnets are known to enhance creativity and promote productivity. They are also said to bring about prosperity and happiness. Perfect!! I've been wearing this lovely necklace ever since I made it. Hopefully it will give me some inspiration and keep me on track with my newest project... a baby rag quilt!!!


Ok, off to buy some thread and then sew sew sew....