Wordless Wednesday~ Snow Day

Becoming.

Night surrounds me, folding me into her ink-black sky.
Soft, yet unyielding, she is strewn with stars and dripping with dreams
I drink her magic and lick my lips to get every drop of her.
She whispers ancient words full of secrets which I already know;
Memories of a thousand lives that go on forever.
And I remember them, each one.
Small pieces of them, like threads torn from a tapestry, still live in me
Pulsating with my blood, strong and bold.
Wrapped into my soul, quiet and delicate.
My soul- which has loved children innumerable
And given itself to my beloved countless times-
Feels immense in the vastness of Night and I stretch across that ink-black sky,
Unraveling, no longer afraid, knowing All and Nothing,
until I am one with Night herself.

~Shannon Lovorn 2012

  image courtesy of the Pagan Radio Network

Painting...

I have been painting as long as I can remember. 

I have given many as gifts. 

 I painted many pieces of furniture and walls for customers- 

 it seems a past life when I was a muralist and furniture refinisher. 

I have never sold a painting on a canvas, however. 

Never just painted a blank square of canvas, just to paint. 

It is with excitement (and a small case of nerves) that I offer this mermaid up to the public on Ebay. 

I have started the bidding extremely low for a painting that took hours to complete. 

But I really want this beauty to find a home. 

 And I do have plans for more paintings (if this one goes well)! 

Please do stop be here and give her a look. 

Perhaps she would lovely hanging on your wall. 

I have been away for so long...

Here are a few new pieces that are available in my shop.

I'll be back very soon with more news and updates...

Give-away Winner!

Thanks so much to everyone who entered my give-away.
I was overwhelmed with the participation!

The winner is: Ginger!

Please stay tuned to my Etsy shop as I will be listing new things very often!
You may even find the perfect gift for someone on your Holiday shopping list.

And ...
Happy Halloween!!!

Give-Away Time!

I have been thinking about doing a give-away for ages now.
I even held a poll on my Facebook fan page.


I met a milestone on Etsy last week that I am very excited about...

I had my 400th sale!!

It's time to give my lovely friends some goodies!! ♥

I could not decide what to give away, so you are getting a goody bag of 3 of my creations!
Keep them for yourself, give them as holiday presents, it's up to you!


In the goody bag:
* A carnelian nugget necklace
that has been wrapped in copper wire and hangs from a copper chain.
* An adjustable copper ring with purple and hot pink beads wrapped into it.
* A copper spiral barrette or shawl pin.

Here's what you need to do:
* Become a follower of my blog.
*Visit my Etsy Shop, and tell me what your favorite piece is.

For extra entries:
* Add my Etsy shop to your favorites.
*Become a fan on Facebook.
* Leave a comment on my Facebook page telling me what your favorite item in my shop is.
*Tweet, blog, Facebook this give-away and post a link to it here.

Be sure to leave a separate comment for each step that you do!
The give-away ends Saturday, October 29 at midnight.
I will announce the winner on Sunday, October 30.


Good Luck!!

Family Time...

As summer winds down and school nears, our family found time to have one more summer adventure together in Northern Michigan.
I am so in love with the state that we live in! I am lucky enough to have been raised here and I love the history and folklore that is Michigan's story.

Woodlands, lighthouses, canoeing adventures, fishing, beach-combing, and swimming...this made up our adventure this year. Oh! And wild blackberries right beside our campsite.

Wandering Thoughts of Summer...

I have long been absent from blogland. It was not without want to be here. I have had so many things going on in my life... who doesn't these days? Summer is such a busy time of year!
I must admit that I really, really dislike summer.
I was made for cooler weather.

Autumn is sheer perfection, in my book, and I cannot wait for it to be here!

In the summer I come to a halt. It is far too hot and humid for me!
My garden suffers horribly because of my distaste for humidity.
Although I did manage to grow some beauties this year...


I wondered why my son always had a yellow nose until I saw him sniffing my lilies.

Aren't my Hollyhocks gorgeous?! They look like crepe paper flowers!


I found a collection of hands on one of my treasure hunts. This one is an antique mold from a rubber glove factory.
You can see here how well some of them fit into my show displays.
I think they look very gypsy-ish.

Riding life's roller coaster is amazing and exhausting, isn't it?
There are so many things that have happened lately that really make me appreciate my life and the wonderful people in it.
In the midst of all the government and economical hardships, I have come to realize that my job is to not only care for the people that I love, but to do it in the most self sufficient way that I can.
We need to get back to our roots.
We need to make things from scratch and get our hands dirty.
Bake our own bread and mend our clothes.

I have always been very frugal. It is almost a game with me to see how little I can spend on things. I have been putting that to good use lately.
I have lots of experiments going on around the house right now.
Making my own wine and building an outdoor adobe oven are on my to do list.
----------------------------------------------
I am in the midst of art show season. I have a small break until September and then I have 2 weekends in a row with shows.
I have revamped my booth a little this year and am happy with the results.


This was my great-grandmother's dress. It is amazing!
I have lots of new goodies in my shop.

Here are a few new goodies...




I have many new things to list and a whole heap of new ideas swimming around in my head.
I have big plans coming up and will be sure to check in more often.

See ya again real soon!!

The Butterfly Effect...

Hello friends! I'm just stopping in quickly today to tell you about an amazing project that I have discovered this morning.

Trudi Sissons of Two Dresses Studio is collecting handmade butterflies for the Holocaust Museum in Houston Texas.
1,500,000 children perished during the Holocaust.
It is the intention of the museum to collect and exhibit 1,5000,000 handmade butterflies to remember those children.


Why butterflies??
The project is based on this poem by Auschwitz victim, Pavel Friedman...

Never Saw Another Butterfly
The last, the very last,

So richly, brightly, dazzlingly yellow
Perhaps if the sun’s tears would sing
against a white stone....

Such, such a yellow
Is carried lightly ’way up high.
It went away I’m sure
because it wished
to kiss the world good-bye.

For seven weeks I’ve lived in here
Penned up inside this ghetto.
But I have found what I love here.
The dandelions call to me
And the white chestnut branches in the court.

Only I never saw another butterfly.
That butterfly was the last one.
Butterflies don’t live in here, in the ghetto.

Written by Pavel Friedman, June 4, 1942

Born in Prague on Jan. 7, 1921.
Deported to the Terezin Concentration Camp on April 26, 1942.
Died in Aushchwitz on Sept. 29, 1944.
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For more information on this project, visit Trudi's blog.

I am thinking this would be a lovely project for my Girl Scouts.

Hope you will join us!

The Greening and Cookie Madness..

Hello there! I have been a busy girl lately. I have found my way out of the mile-high stacks of Girl Scout cookies that completely engulfed my house. My days have been filled with sorting, counting, and organizing!

I had a good helper, although she wasn't very good at counting- she really just wanted to have herself a cookie snack.

In the midst of the cookie madness, I have managed to squeak out a few new designs.
I love these new earring creations!




These green ones are my new favorite! They look so old and mysterious!


This beautiful matching necklace and earrings are created with vintage carved bone beads.
The necklace features an old locket.


These designs are now available in my shop.
More new designs are on their way soon!

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Spring is very, VERY slowly headed my way.
Here in Michigan, it takes a little longer for Mother Earth to shake the Winter from her hair.
The cold sinks deeper into her bones and it is harder for her to stretch her limbs and awaken.
The wind is still bitter and the air still crisp,
but...
there are signs of green just beginning to show.


Tiny green sprouts are emerging from a blanket of last fall's brown leaves.


The greening has not yet made a huge impact on the landscape. This field remains unplowed, but in a few months it will be taller than myself with green cornstalks.




We have discovered a fox's den. Soon this will be hidden among the knee deep grasses, but we shall keep a watchful eye to see if any new pups appear.

Arriving home a few days ago, I was greeted with an extra sweet surprise. A package was waiting for me from my dear friend Julie of MermaidenCreations. She makes the most magical soldered jewelry featuring feathers, snakeskin, even Waterhouse paintings (not to mention her witch hats-yes, I will own one someday!)
Last summer I had found this beautiful yellow butterfly wing and mailed it to her for her secret stash.
(Doesn't everyone have a stash of wings, bones, and other treasured oddities?)
Well, she created a pendant from my butterfly wing and sent it to me!
Isn't she sweet?
It is like having my own little piece of Spring to wear and I simply adore it!

I promise not to stay away too long, and will post some pictures of my creations in the works very soon!

Awaiting Spring

Well, the wheel of time is turning away. Turning the hours into days and the days into weeks. I started the year well enough, with new and creative ideas and projects brewing. But then a curious thing happened. I got caught up in meetings, household chores, deadlines to meet, and the general mundane tasks of a hectic life. And I have lost track of the time.

But, with the new season coming there is new hope! I shall slow down. I shall get more sleep and take better care of my body in order to be my best! I have big plans for the coming year, and aim to share those plans here with you.

As a much needed day out, my family and I went to our favorite museum- The Grand Rapids Public Museum. We are members here and go quite often. The Bodies exhibit was visiting and I planned to take pictures and share them with you. Alas, picture taking is not allowed in the exhibit, and so I have none to share . I will say that if you have the opportunity to visit the Bodies exhibit near you, you should go! It was truly amazing!

The Victorian Carousel is so beautiful and the kids love to ride it. I think my husband does too, he always insists on riding with my son.

They have a beautiful section that replicates the city streets in Victorian times. We could wander there all day. I love visiting all the little shops to see how different things were.

I love these boots! They also have a whole wall of interesting hats from around the world.

A huge whale skeleton hangs from the cieling. My husband and I were here late on evening for a laser light show in the planetarium and they had a wedding set up on this lower floor. It was so beautiful looking out on the river with lights twinkling everywhere. There is something almost comforting about being amongst all these old artifacts and pieces of history.

My favorite section is the natural history and taxidermy section. The kids love to look at all the animals and birds. My husband and I usually find a seat in this section and let the kids wander, it is so fun to see them excited about learning.

I have also started a Daisy Girl Scout Troop at my daughter's school. After asking at the Council about a troop for my daughter to join, they said they had nothing for her, unless I wanted to start a troop. My mom was my troop leader when I was a girl, and I figured it was my duty to pass that on. So I jumped in! We are having a great time!

I am looking very forward to spring arriving. I think that a bit of my frustation was cabin fever. I can't wait to dig in my garden and to smell and feel the dirt. I have big plans for my garden this year! I think I will mostly concentrate on greenery. Ferns, Ivies, trailing tendrils. I have a vision in my head of a cool, lush, green surrounding and I am prepared to work for it! We still have several inches of snow, but I can see the grass peeking out here and there. I do know one other creature who is looking forward to spring- my sweet girl, Jezebel. She is definitely a warm weather dog!