Jumping on the Moore Bandwagon

It's seems that everyone and her sister is on a Teesha Moore kick lately, myself included. It simply can't be helped!

Completely inspired by craftylittlemonkey's tutorial on craftster this is what I made yesterday...

I really love the texture of it and will defo be making some more of these.

In other news, we had a great time camping at Sharbot Lake Provincial Park. It's a beautiful park although the sites are a bit small and you can hear the truck traffic from the very near highway. We saw loads of frogs and toads and the fishing was great :)

In the middle of everything.

I've got a load of things on the go at the moment but nothing is finished and pretty just yet. One of the things that I am working on is a second wee house. I'm thinking that this one might end up as a House of Mundane Magic. We'll see where it takes me. Here are a few 'in progress' shots...

It's got a fair way to go but it's getting close to the fun part... filling it up with goodies. There are a number of things that did not get included in the last house so I'm excited to see if they will fit in here. If not I've got two more houses that are quite large to work on after this... those ideas will fit in somewhere.

In other news, we went herb shopping today and are planning a rather large herb garden. By "we" I mean I say "Oooh! Wouldn't it be lovely to have a huge patch of silvery wormwood over there!" and the husband is stuck doing most of the work because of his much greener thumbs :)

Soapwort Floor Wash

I decided to try my hand at making a magic floorwash using soapwort. Here goes...

I grabbed some soapwort growing in the ditch across the road and gave them a quick rinse.

I filled up a big pot with water.

Tore the leaves, stems and roots into smaller bits and tossed them in the pot.

I brought the whole she-bang to a boil...

Then boiled it some more.

After about 10 minutes I took out some of the liquid.

Not very bubbly. Wonder what would happen if I gave it a shake...

Lovely foamy bubbles!

I strained the liquid into a bucket and added some water.

Just look at that!

At this point I added some essential oils to my floor wash (grapefruit, gerainium, sage and a drop or two of ylang ylang to encourage a happy household)...

which made all of the bubbles disappear but smelled an absolute treat.

Next time I will add herbs to the pot  instead of using oils and hopefully keep that fantastic foam for just a little longer. The few minutes it took to prepare the wash was a nice way to focus on the magic at hand so I just might add this to my cleansing routine. If you want to give this a try, keep in mind that this is a very gentle cleanser, as a magical wash I think it will work very well, but for dirt and grime it's not exactly the bees knees.

FYI soapwort roots and stems can be dried for later use.

Spooky Words for Halloweeny Inspiration

I have Halloween on the brain even more than usual at the moment. I've signed up for the Vintage Halloween swap on craftster.org and my mind is racing with all the crafting possibilities.

To get the juices flowing I typed up a list of Halloween-ish words on an old Underwood typewriter I bought last month. You can download the page and use it in your own crafting if you like.

*sigh* Nothing quite compares to old type.

Herbs, Magic and Wildcrafting

I think I've made a nice start to the Knickertwist's wildcrafting section. I haven't really bothered with the medicinal uses of these herbs, focusing mainly on the folklore and magical properties. So far I've got Chicory, Dandelion, Goldenrod, Soapwort, Queen Anne's Lace, and Yarrow, with plans to add more as time goes on.

The internet can be a good resource but there is a lot of silly misinformation out there. It's sort of like that telephone game where people repeat things and the message gets all messed up. If you are interested in herbs and herbalism consider investing in some great books. These books are my absolute favourite herbal resources:

Culpeper's Complete Herbal, published 1653, by Nicholas Culpeper,

A Modern Herbal, published 1931, by Mrs. M. Grieve,

Rodale's Illustrated Encycopedia of Herbs, published 1987

Magically speaking the most popular and useful book on herbs is probably Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs by Scott Cunningham.

Enjoy and be safe!

Wildcrafting ~ Queen Anne's Lace

I've just finished my page on Queen Anne's Lace... the original carrot!

What a surprisingly fascinating plant.

The most popular story surrounding this plant is that it is named after Queen Anne who pricked her finger while making some fine lace, staining the white with a tiny drop of red blood. Very often a purple or red 'drop' representing the blood on the lace can be seen in the centre of the flower.

Also known as 'Wild Carrot', this plant was gathered by Scottish women on the Sunday preceding St. Michael's Day... Carrot Sunday. The women would sing special songs or 'runes' while gathering....

Cleft fruitful, fruitful, fruitful,
Joy of carrots surpassing upon me,

Michael the brave endowing me,
Bride the fair be aiding me.

Forked roots were highly prized and considered very lucky.

The wild carrots were washed and tied in bundles with three-ply red string, then kept in sand until St. Michael's feast day (September 29th). On that day the carrots are given with wishes of plenty, prosperity and fertility and were highly prized as gifts.

Magically speaking, Queen Anne's Lace was predominantly used in fertility and virility spells and rituals.

You might also be interested to know ....

~ The leaves contain porphyrins, which stimulate the pituitary gland and lead to the release of increased levels of sex hormones.

~ The seeds have been used as a 'morning after' treatment to prevent pregnancy.

~ Considered an excellent cleansing herb for the body.

*DO NOT HARVEST THIS PLANT UNLESS 100% CERTAIN OF IT'S IDENTITY. IT IS OFTEN CONFUSED WITH POISON HEMLOCK WHICH IS DEADLY. • DO NOT USE THIS PLANT IF PREGNANT OR TRYING TO BECOME PREGNANT

Wildcrafting

I've been a busy bee lately, staying up far past my bedtime to work on my knickertwists.com site. I really like how it is coming along but I'm a bit concerned that the witchery part is is dire need of some attention.

While walking to our mailbox I often admire the wildflowers that grow along the side of the road. I'm sure most people over look these beauties, which is an absolute shame.

That's Queen Ann's Lace, Soapwort, Yarrow, Goldenrod and Chicory.

And so, I'm working on a section dedicated to those pretty weeds and the magic that can be performed with them. Sure, exotic herbs and spices are dandy, but let's not overlook those bits of magic mother nature leaves on our doorsteps.

For you...

because I appreciate every kind word and sweet comment.
Make your own Fairy Godmother and Free Mess Making Images

Thanks for being nice :)

xoxo

And another....

Holy smokes I'm a chatty thing today!

Here's another winged gal... this one is a Harvest Faerie. Overall size 7.25" x 5"

The harvest faerie is a rather rare sight. They flutter about, busy as can be, ensuring that everything runs smoothly as autumn approaches. They are especially fond of large piles of leaves and tangles of squash vines. Although usually quite focused on her tasks, when the wind blows freshly raked leaves you can bet that a harvest faerie and the wind have decided to partake in some mischief.

Paper, paint, ribbon, buttons, findings, beads, lace, found feather in a vintage Italian frame.

I have one last framed faerie godmother in the works and I can't wait to see her finished. Hopefully she cooperates and will turn out as lovely as she is in my head :)

A quick fairy godmother post....

It's sort of amazing how many flying things are yellow, black and white. Bees, wasps, butterflies, birds... 

Ava, is their godmother (specializing in bees and wasps). She makes sure to keep them busy and fluttering about. While the workers are away she gossips with the Queen's while eating jam covered bread crumbs, and sipping on tea.

Beans & Burns

It really does amaze me that you stick a seed in the ground and in no time at all you've got dinner!

I think that I've mentioned before that we aren't so much into ritual, preferring to quietly celebrate our mish mash of pagan ways, so these wee pickings right around Lammas were a perfect reminder of the arrival of the harvests. Can you believe that these were planted less than 3 months ago?

We made a trip over to Presquile Provincial Park for a hike along their new wetland boardwalk. I was disappointed that I didn't see any frogs but there were some fantastic dragon flies with striped wings that dashed about everywhere. The trail also leads through some woods which are of the frightening storybook variety and filled with inspiring things like this fallen tree which I am certain is actually a portal into another realm :)

Another day trip over to Sandbanks Provincial park rounded out the weekend. We picnicked on the beach an swam in the lake and had a pretty nice day. On the way home however I realized I had enjoyed the sun a bit too much and have turned a lovely shade of magenta. I think it will have to be an inside day today.

Fairy Magic

While wandering up and down the aisles at my local grocery store I saw a stock boy cleaning up a smashed apple sauce container. I thought about how lowly that job is, admiring how he went about his work with quiet diligence, and quickly hid a fairy journal on one of the shelves behind him. I never imagined that he'd actually be the one to find it, or that he would care much if he did. And then...

"Hey! Look what I found!" I heard a boy exclaim. And there they were, three aisles away, two 16 year old stock boys huddled together looking very intently at something very little :)

How lovely is that and how lucky am I to have witnessed it?

Mr & Mrs Creepy Pants

I got a nice chunky stack of photos in the mail today. Some of them are absolutely lovely and will make outstanding leprechauns and fairy godmothers. Some of the people are absolutely stunning though I usually avoid buying photos of people who are too pretty. I prefer people who look like high school weirdos living 100 years ago. I like people with a bit of something extraordinarily ordinary about them.

Here are two characters in the lot that sort of give me the creeps. Although I'm not entirely certain why, I'm thinking it's the direct 'look into the camera' eyes. Usually people will be looking dreamily into the distance not giving a hypnotic stare.

I'm probably wrong but I can't help but think that they must have been kinda pervy or murderous... I'm sure I'm wrong ;)

Well, click on the images for a nice fat full res version you can use in your own making. I don't think I'll be using these folks myself. Hmmm, unless I do a Victorian murder series... which actually doesn't sound like such an awful idea.

Apparently Blueberries Need Fairy Godmothers

This morning while mowing the lawn I saw the most perfect mushroom (which I mowed around much to my husband's dismay), a teeny weeny frog prince escaping the blades of my mighty mower, a beautiful golden feather and several loverly, fluttery butterflies. Then I heard a *clunk* and the mowing ceased.

The rest of the day was 'one of those days' until after dinner when I went to do some making. It seemed as though the planets aligned, the gods smiled and everything just fit into place for a short while. It's nice when that happens.

I'm so proud of this gal. I really and truly love her. I spent ages on her but she was worth it. I'm so pleased with the finishing touches that happened tonight.

She is a fairy godmother to blueberries. I don't know exactly why blueberries need fairy godmothers but there are loads of things I don't understand so I'll just go with it. Anyway, she comes out at night and shoos away critters that eat more than their fair share from the bushes... as critters often do. I understand that she also likes to chat with fireflies. Who doesn't?

The Clurichaun

One of the things I've been working on over the past day or so is this fellow. I've had it in my mind to make something for the wine cellar... a clurichaun!

The clurichaun is a cousin of the leprechaun. They are well dressed, always in green and red, and are never without drink. If you are very lucky, and treat them well, a clurichaun might just move in and take care of your wine cellar. Mistreat them however and you will find your wine spoiled and havoc run amok!

Butterfly wings and bees wax

Our house guests are gone and we now have a couple of weeks all to ourselves. The pull out bed has been tucked away and my craft room is now mine once more! Time to get on to the making.

I had about a dozen mini canvases laying about and it was about time to put them to use. The result are these sort of dreamy mini collages covered in beeswax. They have lovely things like lavender buds and four leaf clovers stuck in them. A couple even have real butterfly wings embedded in the wax.

Don't worry, I didn't go butterfly hunting for this project. The wings have been sitting in my stash for ages after finding them along a beach years ago.

Please don't let it be a dead cat!

It's a lovely drizzly day here today. A fog is hanging over the tree tops and everything looks dreamy and out of focus. Hang on a second. What's that down there? A black spot on the laneway at the bottom of the hill. It's not moving. Can't be an animal can it? Oh please don't let it be the neighbours cat!

We're expecting a full house this weekend so I've been cleaning, scrubbing, washing, and mopping all morning long. After a few hours of glimpsing the black spot on the laneway my curiosity got the better of me and I strolled down to investigate.

Thank the gods, it's a hive! Must have fallen out of that old maple tree. No bees or wasps flying about(though the mosquitos are out in full force). I was just thinking about hives last night and so I carefully gather it up and take it back to the house so I can dry it out and have my way with it.

What a beautiful thing.

Horseshoes & Pirates

My husband came home on Saturday with a lovely surprise. He'd gone to an auction and bid on a nice stack of old photos for me to play with. Some of them are from local photographers and it's fantastic to think that I've got some local history in my wee hands.

I'm in the process of scanning and cleaning up the dust and scratches in photoshop. This poor fellow had a scratched up eye (click to enlarge).

I like the aged look so I don't go over board with the 'fixing' but I do explore these people pretty closely. I was thinking about how intimate the process of fixing these photos is when I came across a lovely surprise. Check out the tie on that stuffy fellow above...

Horse shoes! How utterly awesome is that? I'm now madly in love with that old stranger :)

P.S. The pirate festival was a load of fun and we managed to pull costumes together, not only for ourselves but for our houseguests too! If anything, this encourages me to have more dress up clothes and costumes on hand at all times :)