NEW YEAR BLESSINGS!

GETTING ARTSY delayed and other issues

Merry Meet, everyone!

This post is a bit of a catch-up.

Things have been really crazy here and I've done absolutely no crafting. No Yule decorating, Zip.

Depressing, eh?

What has happened is:

We negotiated a loan with the bank which took 30 days longer than it should have
Broke ground for and built the shell for my new office/ art studio
Fed the construction crew all but 3 days out of 22

In the middle of everything, I came down with a horrid sinus/ ear infection that lasted SIX WEEKS and left me with vertigo the last week and a half. I still have nausea issues from time to time but this is my first week back to work since Nov. 3rd.

My computer crashed on October 25th - just prior to all of the above. I had to get a Windows 8.1 system. So I'm finding a lot of my programs are not compatible, trying to learn the new system and get caught up on work. LOL

So now that I'm healthy, I've decided to just enjoy the holiday season, try to get some immediate business caught up and prepare for a SUCCESSFUL 2015.

Please come back January 12th when the first blog post of 2015 will kick off our new year.

Many Blessings!
Rain

GETTING ARTSY Part 3

Following my research last week, I've begun gathering some of the supplies I will use in the deck. I want to find a box or basket to keep everything in specifically for this project. I have a Sterilite tub with all Halloween embellishments/ ribbons in that I still need to pull out. While I'm not seeing much chance for play this week, I am going to try. I only have a 4 day work week so we'll see how this goes.

Here are some close-ups:

Michaels had ALL Halloween crafting supplies 50% off last week. I snagged this package of acetate frames. I believe there were 6 in the package. Though I know I'll have to cut them down, that also lends potential to getting 2 cards out of each sheet.

The cat/ bat/ pumpkin/ spooky stencils came with my Close To My Heart order last week. And that JoLee's embellishment is one of my favorites to play with. When I'm doing stuff for 'public', I don't hide who I am but I do downplay the aspects some. I don't appreciate other religions getting in my face and I try not to do the same. 

So while this is NOT the post I had planned for this week, you do have a glimpse at some of the things I'll be playing with. 

Creative Blessings!

~Rain

GETTING ARTSY Part 2

After this post, I'll be sharing the Altered Playing Card Challenge (APCC) on Mondays. But I wanted to bring you up to speed on the project.

When I first started this project I knew there would be a recurring theme but wasn't sure what that common thread would be. After seeing Claudine's first challenge I knew I wanted to do a 'educational' deck on the Practice.

While enjoying some unexpected downtime at my favorite coffee house yesterday I did some research. I used the following books as my benchmark:

SEASONS OF WITCHERY By Ellen Dugan
EVERYDAY WITCH BOOK OF RITUALS By Deborah Blake
EVERYDAY WITCH - A TO Z By Deborah Blake

The Deck will include the following cards:
13 Esbat
12 New Moons
8 Sabbats
4 Elements
3 Maiden/ Mother/ Crone
1 Each:
   Altar
   Besom
   Candle
   Cauldron
   Challice
   Familiars
   Libra (my sign)
   Numbers
   Passing
   Power of 3
   Rede
   Wheel
 
As I made my notes about associative colors, stones, tools, etc. some things began clicking with me - confirming this is the project I was meant to take on at this point. Perfect as I approach the New Year. Can you believe Samhain is one month away? I'll be talking more about my celebration in the coming weeks.

Creative Blessings!
~ Rain

GETTING ARTSTY

I thought I'd spend some time catching you up on my latest artistic project - well the one I can talk about anyway.  This is a 52 card deck that I've gessoed the faces on in preparation for an Altered Playing Card Challenge at Claudine's Art Corner.

I also gessoed the back with a homemade mixture of white gesso and black acrylic paint. I'm very OCD in that I can not begin a project until I know where I'm going and have all the pieces in place. So although we were only asked to gesso the one side during the first week in prep for the artsy stuff to come, I decided taking care of the backs BEFORE the embellishments were put in place on the front would be easier. As you can tell by the card on the left, this was probably a wise decision. 

Next, I've taken an extra card from the deck (this one had a torn corner so I swapped it out for a joker) and trimmed 1/4" off on all four sides to help create a template so I could do this:

I'm using a gold metallic paint pen and going around the outside edge of all the cards. For the final step, I will stencil a gold pentagram in the center of each one. THEN I can flip them over and get caught up on the challenges. 

Tomorrow I'll talk about the common thread that will tie this deck together when all the cards are finished. 

Creative Blessings

~ Rain

MABON

As I write this, there are three hours and nineteen minutes left of summer. I am so ready for fall.  Autumn is my favorite time of year. Mabon - the second harvest - is right on time. For the past couple of weeks I've been picking the last of the tomatoes - all green. Most are Celebrity Girl... the perfect size for slicing and putting into pint jars.

Thanks to simple canning, I'll be enjoying fried green tomatoes through to the next complete turn of the wheel.

I figure I have one more picking this week then the vines will be pulled and added to the compost pile to begin their own cycle of life.

There are some changes in the works here in our little haven. I keep hoping to be blogging more regular then life throws me something. But I am determined that with Samhain just around the corner, things will be different because of the changes.

Blessings
~Rain

DEBORAH BLAKE Does it again- Wickedly Dangerous

You know I can't help but promote the talented Miss Deborah Blake. She's at it again with her newest fiction - Wickedly Dangerous.

ENTER TO WIN
One of 20 FREE Copies to be given away between July 30th & August 19th.
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/102347-wickedly-dangerous