Amulet Magazine

maybe you remember that back in november i mentioned i was invited to submit a piece of writing for a new online magazine...

well, this is it! 

Amulet is available now so don't linger here too long...

pop on over and see what all the hype is about.

you will be pleasantly stunned and completely thrilled.

guaranteed.

"Amulet is a vessel for simple connections.  It’s a field guide to not only wise living, but a place where we can boldly say: We are PeaceKeeper & WorldShaker.  We are Mother & Other.  We are what casts light and digs deep into the shadow of the soil.  Here is what we do.

We witness the seasons turn and the moon change shape and consciously take part in that dance. These have always been the ways of the woman, to time keep the seasons.

We honor the rhythm that rolls with the beats and meters of the Earth,+ beyond. These rhythms are meant to ease our worries, smooth our stress, and bring us back to what nourishes us: our connections to Earth, our family, our creatrix, our community."

my piece is a DIY project, Accessory as Medicine, Imbolc Foraging Pouch.  please do let me know what you think and if you decide to make one, send me a photo!

Make to Mend,

xoxxx

jennette

 (photos property of Amulet Magazine)

Permission Ship

permission ship

this is one of the metallic silver ships you may have seen floating in the air at my shop.  a whole fleet of silver and white ships hang from the ceiling along with various sized mirror balls, glitter stars and tissue paper orbs.  it's a magical scene and one many folks have voiced wishes to have above their beds to glimpse while drifting off to dream land.

recently my soulstorm posse was having a discussion concerning the need for space and time around making decisions/choices while diving head long into new projects, initiatives, and work.  following the energy, if you will, and examining which lines of energy to tug on each day, reel in, work on and cast back out.  the idea of "allowing" our intuition or gut feeling guide what pieces we pick up each day to work on, within the vast overflowing pile of life-as-we-know-it,came up in the form of a "permission slip" except that it came out as "permission ship." 

and it stuck.

when one of us in our sisterhood is having a rough time on the sea of life, our hulls depleted and not getting refilled to overflowing fast enough, and when our sails are stretched taut, close to snapping,  from the gale-force winds of responsibility we must attend in a day while fitting in our abundant hearts desires, we swiftly glide each other a permission ship.  we let one another know we are each others safe harbors.  we hold each others nets and baskets while what needs to spill washes full out to empty.  and all the while we do this space holding in loving awe and utter deep respect for each other, our womanhood, our powerful wild selves.

and we sail on.

not just drifting, untethered, forlorn with no destination.

we navigate full on with billowing wind in our rippling, outrageous sails, anchored only to the deep down profound truths of who we truly are, and buoyed by our pirate crew, the beacons, the luminaries, the stars, the treasures.

i am one blessed sea rover these days...

rolling in the deep aboard my permission ship.

if you need "permission," ahoy, just send up a smoke signal.

i will see your flare and i will skipper a permission ship your way.

you can count on me.

your ever loving and deep diving mate,

xxx

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