Stepping Out

Y Tylwyth Teg (The Fair Family)

Anglesey is steeped in history, myth and magic. Keen to find out more, I have been reading 'Rumours and Oddities from North Wales' a selection of folklore, myths and ghost stories by Meirion and Wayne Evans.

In Wales, the Fae Folk are known as Y Tylwyth Teg (The Fair Family) and can appear as small as a rose petal, large as an adult or anywhere in between. According to Anglesey legend, a woman living in the Holy Land (Holyhead) during the time of Jesus Christ was ashamed that she had twenty children. One day, when Christ approached her house she decided to pretend she only had ten children and hid half of her children away. The hidden children disappeared and are said to have become the ancestors of the Tylwyth Teg.

Reading this folklore, you can imagine how happy I was to find the above picture sitting on my door step this morning. A house warming gift from the lovely Ruthie.

Thank you Ruthie xx

Sunshine, Good Fortune and New Beginnings

Today, it feels like my birthday. The sun is shining, my garden is blooming and the postman loves me. Or at least it feels that way with all of the wonderful mail I have received the past couple of days, and not a red letter amongst it!


A month ago, I signed up to Nicola's Flickr group Spring inspired 'Clasheen Crafty Swap'. It is a really nice swap group and has been so much fun taking part. Not only do we make our swap partner a gift, but we send recipes, craft tips, tea, coffee, sweets and a small gift. It is so much fun making up the hampers to send, and waiting excitedly to receive my own mystery parcel. You can see some of the other swap parcels by visiting the link above. Thank you Nicola for organising this seasonal event. I have really enjoyed it.

A few weeks ago Lisa Achison of 'A Touch of Glass Designs' showed some interest in buying one of my scarves. I love Lisa's work so quickly seized the opportunity to suggest a trade instead of a sale.

The two pictures that you can see show the front and reverse of each bead. I was only expecting one bead so you can imagine how blessed I am feeling right now to have received two beautiful beads. Lisa's work is very inspired by nature, right down to the curves, colours and themes she uses. One bead, has a tree and full moon on it and a real leaf electrofoiled onto the back. I can't describe how exquisite her work is. Quite extraordinary. Thank you Lisa, your work is unique.

Yesterday, this beautiful card with Momo Luna's art print on it arrived. Momo is an amazing artist who works the patterns of the natural world into her art. She has some wonderful organic patterns. If you do not know Momo already, please pay her a visit. Thank you Momo.
I also wanted to show you some of the books I have been collecting. So much inspiration here! The Jenny Dean book of natural dye techniques that you can see on the bottom left hand side of the picture is a bargain at £3.60. If you have any interest in eco dye snap this book up while you can. What I really like about this book is that Jenny gives a colour chart of each dye she uses and the variations depending upon which mordant was used. It is laid out in such a user friendly fashion that I think it will be my constant companion this summer.

I won't have much time for blogging for a while. I am in the process of trying to find a new place to live which is that little bit harder as i am planning on leaving England to begin a new rural life in Wales. Exciting. I will also be meeting up with Susan 'Artsparker' while she is visiting relatives in England.

So, not much time for the computer or crafts for the immediate future, but know that I am happy, and thankful and will visit you all soon. Until then, enjoy the sunshine xx

Bluebell Woods

This picture of nuno felted bluebell woods is my February submission for 'The Festival of The Trees'. For those of you that are unfamiliar with 'The Festival of the Trees', the festival is a monthly wordpress magazine celebrating trees. I find the festival very educational and inspirational. Each month there are articles written by aborealists, ecologists, botanists, professional photographer's, artists, poets and creative writers. Sometimes there is a theme underneath the broader canopy of trees, but mostly, anything tree like is accepted.

This months deadline is 26/2/10 and March edition of the festival will be released on the 1st March. Why not join in the fun?

I am also submitting this picture to 'Ideas of Inspiration' which is a collaboration of artists who respond to a theme prompt twice a month. Right now, the theme is 'B'.

The Magic Mirror

I made this nuno felt scarf in response to Theme Thursday's prompt of Mirror.  The scarf is made from Merino, Alpaca and silk.  The centre of the scarf is a grassy knoll with a tree on it.  Initially, the tree was to be reflected in a lake which would act as the mirror but as the piece evolved  it became night and day, making the mirror a magical one that transports you from the everyday world to the magical moonlit sky to step out beneath an enchanted tree.  

The Way Through The Woods

(Markable Witches - Rewards & Fairies)

They shut the road through the woods
Seventy years ago,
Weather and rain have undone it again,
And now you would never know
There was once a road through the woods
Before they planted the trees.
It is underneath the coppice and heath
And the thin anemones.
Only the keeper sees
That, where the ring-dove broods,
And the badgers roll at ease,
There was once a road through the woods.

Yet if you enter the woods
Of a summer evening late,
When the night air cools on the trout ringed pools
Where the otter whistles his mate,
(They fear not men in the woods,
Because they see so few.)
You will hear the beat of a horses feet,
And the swish of a skirt in the dew,
Steadily cantering through
The misty solitudes,
As though they perfectly knew
The old lost road through the woods...
But there is no road through the woods.

Rudyard Kipling

Tree Planting - The journey, a ritual, and a little bit of magic

This post is for me. Its personal, and sad, and maybe you'd rather not read it. But if you do, I really don't mind as long as you understand that this is something I need to air to myself and this is my forum to do so.

Tree planting

Today was tree planting day at the nature reserve. I've been looking forward to this day and planting our Hazel tree. I'd found this ritual on the web and wanted to use it to bless the tree, the site and my baby girls.

Tree Planting Ritual

Begin with the tree, the hole already dug, a pile of earth beside the
hole, and a bowl or watering can of water.

Stand facing East, and say:

"In recognition of the Earth my mother and of the sky my father, and of
my true source beyond all things, I ask that I may plant this tree, to
bring clear air to the blue sky, and rich soil to the dark earth.
May it grow tall and strong - its roots reaching deep into its home,
its leaves reaching ever higher towards the sun."

Hold your hands over the pile of earth and say:

"I ask that this earth might be blessed, and that it might feed and
nourish this young sapling well."

Pick up the tree and as you plant it, talk to the tree, either out loud or
silently, saying:

"May you grow fine and tall."

When it is planted, hold your hands over the water and say:

"May this water be blessed, may it refresh and sustain this young
sapling well."

Pour the water around the base of the tree, and then holding both arms
out towards the tree, say:

"In earth and water will you grow. In the air will your leaves speak as
you reach towards the fire of the sun. We respect and honour and
admire you, O tree, and all trees, for you represent both Peace and
Power though you are mighty you hurt no creature. Though you sustain
us with your breath, you will give up your life to house and warm and
teach us.

We give thanks for your blessing upon our lives and upon our lands.
May you fare well in this chosen place."

In reality it didn't happen this way. I woke up flustered and grew more anxious as we neared the site. I'm surprised I have any tears left to shed, I feel like I've irrigated the entire county and all of its neighbours these past few months.

We had told my 3 year old daughter that today we would be planting a tree. As we all know, the world revolves around every toddler so my daughter obviously understood that to mean that she would be doing the planting. She picked up our precious sapling and flung it around like a majorette twirls her mace before plonking it unceremoniously into the hole, upside down. I heard my intake of breath as my heart rested in my mouth and I gasped 'be gentle'. It all turned out all right in the end, the tree was planted. My daughter helped pack the earth around the roots with her hands, as she did on the days her sisters were buried. You've got to love that girl, I''m sure she was born a healer.

The 'rabbit guard' was placed on the tree. In my minds eye, I had thought of these guards as protection against deer. Do you know how happy I was to hear that it is there to protect against rabbits, although it is hares that are a real problem for the trees? An abundance of hares, how magical :)

The picture below was taken today. A wonderful view of the Cotswolds.


The Journey


In March my baby girl was stillborn. Blindly groping around in the dark, asking for direction and place to rest our loved child, we stumbled across a green burial ground. We connected with a sensitive, healing soul who thoughtfully lined our baby's grave with twigs and flowers. If only she knew how much she touched our hearts and helped us heal.



In June, we returned for a visit. I had a kindred spirit visiting from Seattle. She has become part of family over the years so we brought here on route to the Rollright Stones. The sun was shining, the birds sang, butterflies and ladybirds blessed us with their presence and as we picnicked we felt peace in our hearts, beauty in our minds and daisy chains in our hair. It was a happy day.


We saw the plaque for the first time. I had struggled so much over choosing the right words. Many of you know that I believed I couldn't draw. During my initial period of grief this remained true in my heart. Again, this sensitive, healing lady offered her help and drew the template for Nina's plaque. I hope she knows how much she is appreciated.


On July 30th I went to hospital for tests. I was advised that the baby I was carrying was dead. It was so heartbreaking as i had a scan a few days earlier and the baby was so full of life, kicking around, moving so much. I think I'd managed to stay so strong up until this point. There had been tears, of course. But who is strong enough for this?

In September, we were ale to bury our second lost daughter. Once more, this wonderful healer and sensitive soul lined the grave with sunflower petals from her garden. This time, I made the felt myself from wool that I had dyed in blackberries. My daughter rescued a caterpillar that had fallen into the grave. Next, we placed earth gently around my baby's shroud and filled the grave up until it was full. This is something I hadn't felt able to do for Nina. It felt cleansing, a part of the ritual of healing. I've been such a mess these past months.


And a little bit of magic....


Earlier in the summer, Susan of Artspark Theatre sent me one of her travelling Alice's. We photographed Alice at the nature reserve back in June. It was the happy uplifting visit that we had to the burial ground. I'm thankful to Susan for lending us magic and bringing it to Nina.

I am blessed with a living daughter. Right now her favourite film is Princess Mononoke. A while ago, she asked me to felt her something from the film. I needle felted some tree sprites. Children of the ancient trees. To see these sprites is an indicator that the forest is healthy. Today we popped a tree baby on each of my babies graves.

In October it had been bulb planting day. We didn't make it ourselves, and once again, this magical lady to whom I have so much gratitude, planted wood anemone around my babies graves. I chose wood anemone after reading an Irish BTCV site page about how seeing wood anemone was a sign that there had once been a magnificent forest in that place. Wood anemone are now known as the ghosts of the forest.

The optimist in me hopes that if we retrace our steps and wind back time then the great forests will thrive again. With this in mind, we chose the wood anemone, and placed felt tree sprites around the graves knowing that the spirit of the forest will live again and this site will thrive.

Flight - When in Wales...

Butterflies, you've got to love them. There are four main stages before they are capable of 'FLIGHT'. Egg, Caterpillar, Chrysalis and Butterfly (aka Pili). Here are some pictures taken at Pili Palas earlier today.

Caterpillar

These caterpillars can be found all over Anglesey right now. They are really long (around 10cm) and live next to the Heather and Ragwort.

Chrysalis

Butterflies

Y Ddeilen Ffug - Indian Leaf - Kallima Inachus


Y Flamgoronog - Caroni Flambeau - Dryadula Phaetusa

Morpho Glas - Blue Morpho - Morpho Peleides

Y Mormon Mawr - Great Mormon - Papilio Memnon M

Ysbryd y Nos - White Tree Nymph - Idea Ieuconoe

Y Postmon - Postman - Heliconius Melpomene

Pala Esgyll Gwyrdd - Green-Banded Swallowtail - Papilio Palinurus

Gloyn Llygeidiog - Owl - Caligo Euroilochus &
Teigr Brown - Plain Tiger - Danaus Chrysippus


Pala Esgyll Gwyrdd - Green-Banded Swallowtail - Papilio Palinurus