Humming My Brave Little Song

head piece

talking stick

right now i am pretty convinced that life is ultra amazing.

you just gotta slow down once in a while and look around, watching intently, anticipating, to figure it out.

please excuse my 2 week silence here.  

i have been as busy as my honey bees at the first nectar flow preparing to host a magical gathering of my soul sisters, here at my hive, this coming weekend.  from near and far we are floating in on gossamer wings to gather, nourish, give, receive, be seen and hold each other.  we will do a little dancing, a little making, a little witchy brouhaha around the bonfire pyre.  for me it's an otherworldly dream come true.  and it's happening in this world.

pinch me.

2013 has already had its challenges my friends.  try as i might, determined as i was, to have a better than average 40th year, it almost slipped away from me by circumstances beyond my control.  but i just kept humming my brave little song.  and it got so much better you guys. it is better.  its always better...when you keep on the sunny side, always on the sunny side. 

so much is beyond our control and if you let other folks choices determine whether you grow bitter fruit or bitter root, you are handing them your power.  don't do it.  stay empowered.  be in acceptance.  try to get right-sized and find the gifts in the seemingly dismal.  they are there.  watch for signs.  there is a always a silver lining... eventually.

 this i do believe.

no, this is what i know.

there really are some big changes/shifts/transformations coming up around here. i admit it is not my strength to stick to a regular blogging schedule.  but i will let you know what's going on, in due time.   the shop, Smashing Rubbish, will still exist. but it is changing locations.  instead of in duvall, you will find SR a few miles north in monroe by the end of february.  the focus of this blog will begin to shift, little by little, to accommodate holding all the threads of my multi-passionate self. the SR shop, soon to be housed within M&M antiques, will still hold space here.  but so will my many other projects.  

all in equal measure.  

that's the hope anyhow.  

spring is coming soon so hang in there.  let your winter rest refuel and turbo boost you.  Imbolc has passed so we are ever closer to spring equinox and the flight of the honey bees. clear, cold, sunny, bright days like today in western WA rekindle my brave little song and a humming i go.

hum along now.

i hear that light deep inside you.

wild love,

jennette

*soul bone, susan wood

Fall Begins

{my sweet soul sister Latisha just reminded me about this post from 2 years ago.  i am immersed in projects right now and have not given much time to blogging.  i am reposting this old post to hold us all over and because it is relevant still now.  enjoy!}

Handful of Amaranth

It's the first day of Fall.  And as if right on cue, the weather has up and gone Autumnal on us.  I LOVE this time of year, anticipating Samhain (SAH-win), when the veil grows thinner between the worlds of the living and the dead.  And too, El Dia de los Muertos is coming, probably my most favorite seasonal celebration of all.

Autumnal Equinox marks a turning of the wheel.  It's our harvest celebration.  It's a time of balance between dark and light.  We are moving from light into darkness, from warmth into cold.  At this time of year, when we are gathering in the gifts of the Goddess, the fruit, nuts, grain, and vegetables that are ripe, we can also give something back, make offerings and express our thanks.  The Fall Equinox is our Thanksgiving!

The Autumn Equinox can be a time when we work in some way to restore balance.  Balance in nature, balance in life, balance in ourselves.  What do you do to find your equilibrium?  How do you create a sense of balance in your life?  Do you find balance hard to attain?  What tricks do you have up your sleeve to keep your life and self in a gentle flow of equilibrium, not veering off into one extreme or the other? 

I like to think in terms of equilibrium, rather than balance.  Balance seems more static and rigid to me whereas equilibrium seems to incorporate the flow that is essential to the teetering we find in the balancing.  Does that make sense?  Seeking my equilibrium is forgiving, allows me to teeter, provides a gentle sway instead of a demanding, equal opportunity balancing act that makes me feel like I haven't done enough, don't give enough, am not good enough.  For me, seeking my equilibrium, lets me love myself and be in love with my world.  What about you?

Right now our nature table is overflowing!  We use our nature table as our seasonal alter.  Having a seasonal alter is a great way to connect children to the turning of the wheel.  Children are natural collectors and its neat to have a spot for them to display their nature treasures after walks, hikes, or playing outdoors.  Our nature table is ever waxing and waning with all manner of fruit, nut, seed, leaf, plant, beach items, wood, dead bugs, antler, shell, moss, nest, etc.  What treasures from nature do you bring into your home and how do you honor them?  What other items do you add to make the alter special and seasonal?  We often make corn dolls, cinanimals, leaf chains, "nut gnomes," or mobiles around Autumn Equinox.

Acorns collected in Chelan

One source of inspiration, information and guidance that I have used since August was quite small is the book Circle Round: Raising Children in Goddess Traditions by Starhawk, Diane Baker and Anne Hill.  This book (and music CD by the same name)is a must have if you have any interest whatsoever in seeking a more nature based lifestyle, spirituality, or mentality.  Don't let the title scare you- it doesn't have the power to convert you automatically to Paganism!  But it is chalk-full of information that will teach, inspire, and amaze you.  Its an easy to use book with activities, recipes, music, games and stories.  Oh, the stories!  I LOVE this book!  Check it out!

And it's mushroom hunting time!  Yay!  I have harvested chantrelles and angel wings in the past and can not wait to get out in the woods and do a little hunting and gathering.  Maybe this Sunday.  Fingers crossed!

I will leave off today with the lyrics from a song that I learned at RavenCroft when I was doing my apprenticeship there.  I cannot recall the exact name but we call it the Equinox song.  We sing it at both Autumnal and Spring Equinox:

Onward we go round the spiral

touching darkness

touching light

twice each turn we rest in balance

make choices on this night

make choices on this night

(repeat)

What choices have you been procrastinating on?

What decisions do you need to make?

Now is the time.

Good luck to you!

xox

Jennette



Magical Woodland Tree Topper

here is the magical woodland tree topper i finally made!

it was inspired by the two below that anthropologie offered last year.  they were both close to $400 a piece!!

yeah, crazy, right?!

anthropologie's teeming forest tree topper

anthropologie's mythic nest tree topper



my friend natasha found this crazy plastic piece of who-knows-what on the side of the road and thought it was the right shape for a tree topper!  smarty party!

this is what the base looks like, upright, with moss and twigs glued to the bottom.  i used a glue gun for the entire project, which is one of my favorite tools, but i am still finding hot glue strands/webs to pull off each day!  and i covered the bottom so that when this is up on the tree, you don't see plastic when looking up at it.

i had been collecting material all year, saving little bits of this and that, knowing that we would finally attempt this project, this season! 

before natasha had found this plastic piece i had begun to make a lot of tree topper bases out of strong cardboard and a cardboard toilet paper tube in the center.  i was envisioning the tube slipping nicely over the top of the tree and the lightweight base resting easily in the supporting branches near the top of the tree.

like this!  and even this odd plastic base is light enough for a small sturdy tree.

i still have several cardboard bases i will continue to work on but i think this one will be for my family. 

a few weeks ago i had the idea to add some silver glass glitter to some very small paper-wasp nests i had.  i was thinking ahead knowing i would want to attach one to my magical woodland winter scene.  i think it looks rather awesome!

and here too, i had glittered some pieces of the inside paper comb.

another tree top image.  it really looks like a fantastic woodland crown on the top of the tree!

once i started gluing down moss and lichen covered sticks to the top of the base, i had more place to attach other items too and it just became a big interwoven puzzle.  working from side to side and back and forth made it easy to see where places needing filling in or covered up.

the beeswax candles are not meant to be burned.  they are just for magical woodland effect!  a while ago i was working on a gnome house project. i had used the tiniest grapevine wreath i could find, smaller than the palm of my hand, and tied ribbon to it to make it hang like a chandelier from the gnome house ceiling.  then i used these beeswax birthday candles to make it look like the tiny wreath had candles sticking up out of it, burned the tips and used the hot wax to secure the candles in the wreath, and voila!, a gnome chandelier was born!

so the little vintage candle clips that are holding these tree topper candles are meant to hold real candles, from back in the day, when folks were brave and daring and put real candles on their tree!

on the tree topper, like i said, they are just for effect.  i am not brave or daring when it comes to combining fire and dead, dry evergreen foliage!

the little vintage glass baubles, balls, pine cones, and sprays are just old odds and ends i find here and there and all are attached with a little dab of hot glue.

there are mushrooms, a bird, a variety of dried plant material, and even millinery supplies tucked in there!

and there is even a stag to face toward the back side in case you can ever get a glimpse back there!

i will keep working on bases and hope to have many made, and for sale, in the shop by next season!  I know, a whole 'nother year from now!  perhaps i will be able to get a few more done but i think most folks already have their trees up and topped for this year!

what's on top of your tree?

making, sewing, designing, and styling,

xoxoxox

jennette