Spring Tidings

Happy blissful Spring!!!  The ice has melted and the snowdrops are blooming.  We had a walk yesterday and I gathered rocks to paint and turn into rune stones and talismans.  Ginny (our ginger cat) ventured outside for the first time in months.  Life is sweet. I am working on many dream catchers and have taught two dream catcher workshops this month. We even created ritual space for the second one, chanted and smudged the dream catchers with cedar.  It was a beautiful blessing ceremony.
Here are a few photo's to express my feeling of spring in the air and the projects I am working on.

 Mama and baby Harry.  Harry loved his walk in nature.  We saw the waterfalls which have finally thawed.  We heard birdsong and saw many birds.  Spring is here!!

 Rocks that we gathered on a walk which I plan to turn into miniature works of art and rune stones.

working on a mixed media painting based on my drawing of the creature who creates the constellations.  Some of my artwork and dream catchers can be seen in the background.

Winter Sky

The snow falls heavily, coating everything in silvery white sparkles.  I feel like I am inside a snowglobe, filled with icing sugar and silver glittery stars.  It's quite magical.  And it fits in nicely with this beautiful treasury featuring one of my photographs.  So I would like to take a moment to post my favourite items from the treasury on etsy.com by Ludmila from Amay Art, simply called "Winter Sky."http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTkxMjg4NzJ8MjcyMTQ1MzU4OQ/winter-sky?index=1&ref=pr_favetreasuries
The third photo is my own.

These pictures represent my day today.  I am working on many projects, but the one I am most excited about involves the crafting of birds nests.  The garden twine was a Yule gift from my mum, and I am hoping to somehow incorporate it into the designs for the nests. 

The second photo is a bit eerie, as I had just changed the sheets and laid out the green quilt which was handmade by my almost mother-in-law when we got a phone message saying she is in the hospital. The next photo was a reminder to count my blessings and stay focused on the positive. It was such a beautiful feeling to write in the snow and to take photographs.  The last three photographs deal specifically with my etsy shops. I left many of my smaller dream catchers and birds nests in the branches of trees around town.  If you are fortunate enough to find them, by all means keep them if you feel so inclined, or gift them to a friend, or leave them for the trees.  But please share, share, share.  Tell others about The Acorn Cabinet and Where The Bracken Grows.  I would be so very happy to get this business going..full speed ahead so that I can remain home with my son.  These photo's represent my day.  And what about yours?

Winter Magic

This is the magical view outside my window.  I feel so very blessed to witness the beauty of winter.  Sometimes I feel so very isolated during the winter months, but I am reminded that it is the time of the year when the goddess slumbers and we must look within and find our dreams. I have many ideas and lots of creative energy, perhaps more so during the winter months as there are less distractions.  In the summer months I am constantly distracted by something I wish to see in nature, such as a butterfly or a leaf, or a wild animal.  When it is so very cold outside, I prefer to hibernate with my hot cup of tea or stew, a nice roaring fire and focus on listening to my own inner being.  However, it is important to look up from time to time, otherwise I would have missed the beautiful scene I have just revealed in these photographs.

Dream of a Wishing Tree

I have this dream from time to time.  In the dream I am walking across the heath and through the woodland, in the New Forest.  There is an ancient ash tree next to a stream where a house once stood.  Bits of pottery and glass bottles can be dug up round here, little treasures containing memories of the people who once lived here.  The tree has colourful ribbons dangling from its branches and stones laid out in a spiral round the roots.  Sometimes a brown pony drinks from the stream or a crow hops on one leg as if dancing for the spirit of the tree.  It is an ancient, wise, and kind tree.  I often sit with my back against the sturdy trunk and feel a presence... a wise, peaceful kind of presence.  The leaves dance in the wind almost sounding like a song.  This is a wishing tree.

It is more than a dream, it is a memory.  I have walked here.  I have communed with the tree spirit.  This is my sacred place, my spiritual home.  This is where I belong and where I yearn to be. My dreams of this place are always so real, so that I feel upon waking that I was actually home.  One day I will return and I will bring my son with me.  We will sit under the great ash tree, my dear friend, and he will pass on some of his wisdom, his earth wisdom to my son.

copyright 2010 Cait Gemmell art

website- www.caitgemmell.com

Sacred Talisman's

I' ve been busy with my precious newborn son, Harold Hugh, but have still managed to spend time in nature creating new treasures.  I have been working on some tribal talismans at the moment, using sacred hag stones, found animal bones, recycled suede, reclaimed silk ribbons, glass beads, etc.  Alan is working on birch bark bookmarks and we are also making bark treasure pouches/medicine bags/talisman bags.