JourneySeeds

::Flowers and Rose Breasted Grosbeak::

::Birthing You::

Sheila Kitzinger is a longtime proponent for Holistic Birthing.  I added the 'you' in there!  What is it you're birthing in your life right now?  May your day be filled with the gift of Love...

::Writing::

 
Another reason that I sell vintage tyepwriters!  This is a fabulous idea.  Funny coincidence...we were just talking about long bike trips and the plans about making them...

::Dreambirds::

Springtime childrens books. 

A Long Life...

 

My friend Maia from julia warr on Vimeo.

 
I am so inspired by....

birthday

stacy de la Rosa of Bella Wish created this word of the year necklace for me.  She is one of my Soulodge Sisters.

A gift from my husband...a birthday wish for me.

A new pantry shelf made for me for my birthday.  I'll fill it up with grains, beans, herbs...all those good things that nourish our bodies!

finished off with a heart!

I already had a shelf that held 15 jars quite nicely.  Inspired by Heather over at Wholefoodkitchen...we decided a nice big shelf would be wonderful.  This will work until the someday pantry is built.  That someday pantry will also do double duty as cold storage for the winters.  This is the panty in the new kitchen that is slowly coming together.

A tray perfect for a girl born under the Pisces Sun.


Flowers were brought to me all week long!

Red Rose and House Wine...


Rabbit door knob to be installed...


Dried roses in an old blue fiesta vase that emma found at the flea market a couple of years ago.  I love old dried flowers.  I like to watch them shrivel up and fade away.  Often I tie them into a bunch and hang then up somewhere...


Mushroom salt & pepper shakers...


Red tulips fading...

There was...
*building
*reading
*vintage hunting
*cooking
*pizza
*conversation
*wind & sun
*dog visiting
*pantry shelfing
*a christmas tree lit up
*carrot cake
*green candles
*Design Sponge Book
*gift giving
*spirit doll materials
*drift wood from the beach
*candles of blue
*love

simple gatherings

Oh my...Kinfolk arrived yesterday.  Simple gatherings with friends. 

Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.  ~Charles Mingus

Kinfolk is simply wonderful, delicious, lovely...it is how I want to live each moment.  If you haven't seen it...I don't say this often...you must have a peek.  Kinfolk can be found here.  To compliment this gorgeous work are beautiful films that Kinfolk has put together.  Below is just one of them.

Dutch Oven Bread from Kinfolk on Vimeo.

Thank you so much Kinfolk... 

Solstice

I can't hide it anymore.  Five weeks ago...this happened.

That's the last I saw her...

This is really the last time...for awhile...

Leaving for a gypsy life...a dancingnomad leaves home again.

That's it...and they were off.  Pat and Emma left for parts unknown five weeks ago now.  We shed tears at their leaving.  Goodbyes I am never good at.  So long to our one and only and her beloved Pat...well, that's never easy.  I have seen her off at airports for destinations to China, Belize, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Scotland..all over the east coast seeing so many friends.  Saying goodbye after a late night concert she gave...knowing she was so tired but, had a 4 hour drive back to Vermont on no sleep, up that long Rte. 91 north because she had to be a permaculture class in the morning.  I always worry.  She has often gone off solo to parts unknown.  She's driven up and down the east coast many times and when she finally went on her own...she did it marathon style all the way to guitar "camp".  She hardly bats an eye at trying something new. 

This trip somehow seems a right of passage...like so many others.  An unschooled child...no wait, an adult...says, lets go cross country!  She makes it happen.  A serendipitous way that the lovely vintage 1978 Scamp landed in her hands on her birthday...just up the road from us from a neighbor.  What?!  You "wished for a Scamp" for your birthday???!!!  And so it is...that she and Pat have been gone all this time, living like gypsys...landing in so many places...hitting snow storms in New Mexico, visiting an important spot in Roswell, Texas, Arizona...currently in California.  They slept for a week amongst the giant Sequoias and took in all of their wisdom energy.  Yesterday I heard from her and she was laughing...always laughing on the phone...shouting out things like, "hey, look, look, look at that Saguaro cactus!"...or, "look at the birds...you should see the sky mama!".  She doesn't know it but, tears pour down my face.  I'm so happy for her.  I am so happy that she gets to take these adventures and discover deep parts of herself to take on the journey that she lands in next.   They are on the edge of the Pacific Ocean now for a week.  They wake up and look out over the ocean. which is amazing for this east coast girl.  Elephant seals greet them in the morning.  Whales are out there for her to see...seals dance in the waves for her to laugh out loud at! I just love all of her stories...

This is the first time we've been without her here at Christmas. Today...it just feels strange.  Emma has one of the biggest Christmas spirits I know...she loves this time of year.  She makes gifts for all of her friends, bakes for the entire month, is always concocting some new amazing craft for the holiday.  It's not here this year.   Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled she's on an adventure of a lifetime.  It seems there is no definite plan of coming back...when that might be...it sounded like returning with the spring might be an option...

Pat and Emma on leaving day.  This reassures a mama's heart....I love how he looks at her. How does one come back to living a life after being on the road, sleeping in the woods, spending all your moments with your beloved, breathing in nature, meeting new friends...moving, adventuring...how does one do that?  I'll wait to see...

Protectress....

I created this spirit doll today...

She is made from a white birch that fell during the big snowstorm a few weeks ago.  She is dressed in vintage linens with an L embroidered on her back.  The feathers are Turkey, Pheasant and Owl given to me from my husband.  She carries rosehips and milkweed pods for nurturance and heart health.  Silk ribbons are held for humanity...and the community of women sisters that I travel with.  Aventurine gem is a her throat chakra tied with a gossamer thread for speaking the truth, finding one's voice, speaking up.  Aventurine shards are also hung from her belt and held in her hand...for heart protection, leading, self healing, pain relief, transformation, clairvoyance, intuition, self nurturing.  Mother Turtle is at her core chakra...holding all that is the world.  Octopus hangs near her feet for swimming through the deep tides of the emotinal depths of the soul's ocean.  A vintage handkerchief sit on her head...tied with glittery silver threads that call in light, winter, the north, the moon.  Her feet are wrapped in the seafoam of the ocean...watery, undulating, deep, welcoming and at times so unforgiving in her power.  The base wood is from a poplar tree. Spirit protectress...I made for Soulodge, which is a wonderful community of women sharing a journey together...Aho.

Wood Words with Josh Vogel

Often Etsy has inspiring videos on their blog for all of us sellers and buyers to be inspired by.  I wind up hitting repeat frequently.  I watch some of these videos with my family.  I find deep inspiration that comes from watching and hearing other artists.  This video with Josh Vogel is from Scout.  You will love it.

Josh Vogel from The Scout on Vimeo.

PoetryofObjects sells many things made from wood.  The feelings I have for the stories behind these objects is best described here by Josh.  When I travel about, looking for vintage treasures, I have a deep feeling for the workmanship that has gone into the creation of that object.  I think of the maker.  I think of the people that have used this object of beauty.  These words are worth returning to.  If you create anything...a family, a piece of art, craftwork, a styled setting with a story...you are embracing the brief moment in time of going backwards...and building your story into the very fabric of what you are creating.