Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Tell Me Your Opinions
Hello my darlings! As you guys know, I run a shop called Pagan Fancies on Etsy. I'd like to get the word out a little more about my shop, so I've been considering doing a giveaway. How would you guys feel about something like that? Would y'all be interested in a little giveaway for a necklace or maybe a keychain? Let me know your opinions, so that way I can get it all planned out!
Sunday, January 8, 2012
I've Been Tagged!
I've been tagged in this new game by Rachel over at What a Witch Has to Say. Click here to find out what all's going on! Here's the rules to this game:
Rules:
1. Post these rules.
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself.
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post.
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
5. Go to their blog and tell them that you have tagged them.
6. No stuff in the tagging section about ‘you are tagged if you are reading this.’ blah blah blah, you legitimately have to tag 11 people!
So here we go!
My 11 random things about me:
1. I have a passion for pit bulls, and am a pit advocate.
2. I am enchanted with the idea of a vegetarian lifestyle, but love the taste of beef so much I don't think I cold change.
3. I am an active Johnny Depp fan, and try to find older movies of his that I haven't seen before.
4. I am learning to love sewing! I've always loved the idea of sewing, just have always been terrified of sewing machines until I found my miniature sewing machine.
5. I have a huge passion for super fast cars, like drag racing and such; despite the fact that they are not good for our planet.
6. I have a major black thumb, and I constantly fight against that, and am always trying to grow herbs and other plants.
7. When I graduated high school, Mom asked me what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, and I promptly told her I was going to be a beach bum living on the beach in Hawaii.
8. I have not had a romantic relationship last longer than 4 months.
9. I am currently in the process of doing dreadlocks in my hair.
10. I hate cleaning, and I usually only cook for other people. If I need to eat, popping something in the microwave works just fine.
11. I have recently learned that I love to make jewelry!
The 11 questions I need to answer:
1. What is your favorite family activity? I love when we have family game night, playing dominoes or cards. It seems to make us all feel very connected.
2. What is your least favorite holiday? Yule, and I don't really know why ... there's just something about the holiday that makes me cranky.
3. Where was your favorite family vacation that everyone enjoyed? I've not been on very many family vacations with my mom, little brother, and dad, but of the two that I remember, the one that everyone actually enjoyed was our trip to Ruidoso, NM. We stopped through Roswell which was really cool, and I loved all the small shops and such in Ruidoso. The other one we went to Colorado, which was absolutely beautiful, but it was marred by the fact that Dad kept getting lost and screaming at everyone to shut the eff up.
4. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? Um ... I'm not sure on this one ... Maybe Australia?
5. If you were able to do one extreme thing what would it be? I started to learn to surf in Hawaii when I was 9, and now that I'm older, that would be one thing I would love to do, just once.
6. If you won the lottery and had multi-millions, would you continue to work? Yep, but only because I get bored when I have nothing to do, and because I love my job as a nail technician/manicurist.
7. If money were no object, where would you take your significant other? Well, I don't have a significant other, but like all females I have planned out my honeymoon, and I can't decide if I would like to go to Jamaica, Australia, or Paris.
8. If you could go back and re-do one action in your life, would you? Nope. There was a time when I thought I had a few things I would change, but as I've aged, I've realized that every action, every situation I found myself in, made me who I am today, and I wouldn't change anything.
9. What ancient, man-made structure would you like to visit? Um ... Stonehenge. I can't remember if it is man-made or not, but that's what I want to see!
10. Who is your favorite author? There's this awesome blogger called Willow Silverhorse (oh wait that's me!) lol JK! In all honesty, I don't have a favorite author. There are too many good ones to choose just one!
11. Which do you prefer, werewolves or vampires (not a Jacob vs. Edward question)? I like both werewolves and vampires, but I think my favorite would be vampires.
Okay, there's my answers :D
Now here's the questions for my tagged friends:
1. What is one hairstyle you've always wanted to try but have stopped yourself for one reason or another, be it a different hair color, extensions, whatever?
2. What is your ideal pet, whether real, or mythical?
3. What is your favorite kind of foreign food?
4. What is your favorite herb?
5. Have you ever played a musical instrument of any kind (and that includes playing jugs, spoons, chimes, etc.)?
6. Do you have a book of shadows, and if so, what is it, such as spiral bound notebook, 3-ring binder, leather bound, etc.?
7. What is your favorite spell, if any?
8. The most positive memorable moment of your life, thus far?
9. What is your favorite movie of all time?
10. Do you have a favorite Pagan/Wiccan/Witchy book? If so, what is it?
11. Do you have, or have you ever made, a witches' bottle?
And now the bloggers I have tagged:
Magaly Guerrero of Pagan Culture
Sarita Rucker of A College Girl's Days
Aurora Brierley of The Witch Inside
Dragonfly of Witchery Grove
Serenity Raven of The Domestic Pagan
Aine of The Deepest Well
Deb at Charmed I'm Sure
Domestic Witch of Domestic Witch
Ellie of The Forgotten Muse
Mrs. B of Confessions of a Pagan Soccer Mom
Dana Wright of On The Broomstick
Thanks in advance to everyone who plays! I'd love to see what you guys say, so if you wouldn't mind leaving me a link to your response that would be super!
Rules:
1. Post these rules.
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself.
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post.
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
5. Go to their blog and tell them that you have tagged them.
6. No stuff in the tagging section about ‘you are tagged if you are reading this.’ blah blah blah, you legitimately have to tag 11 people!
So here we go!
My 11 random things about me:
1. I have a passion for pit bulls, and am a pit advocate.
2. I am enchanted with the idea of a vegetarian lifestyle, but love the taste of beef so much I don't think I cold change.
3. I am an active Johnny Depp fan, and try to find older movies of his that I haven't seen before.
4. I am learning to love sewing! I've always loved the idea of sewing, just have always been terrified of sewing machines until I found my miniature sewing machine.
5. I have a huge passion for super fast cars, like drag racing and such; despite the fact that they are not good for our planet.
6. I have a major black thumb, and I constantly fight against that, and am always trying to grow herbs and other plants.
7. When I graduated high school, Mom asked me what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, and I promptly told her I was going to be a beach bum living on the beach in Hawaii.
8. I have not had a romantic relationship last longer than 4 months.
9. I am currently in the process of doing dreadlocks in my hair.
10. I hate cleaning, and I usually only cook for other people. If I need to eat, popping something in the microwave works just fine.
11. I have recently learned that I love to make jewelry!
The 11 questions I need to answer:
1. What is your favorite family activity? I love when we have family game night, playing dominoes or cards. It seems to make us all feel very connected.
2. What is your least favorite holiday? Yule, and I don't really know why ... there's just something about the holiday that makes me cranky.
3. Where was your favorite family vacation that everyone enjoyed? I've not been on very many family vacations with my mom, little brother, and dad, but of the two that I remember, the one that everyone actually enjoyed was our trip to Ruidoso, NM. We stopped through Roswell which was really cool, and I loved all the small shops and such in Ruidoso. The other one we went to Colorado, which was absolutely beautiful, but it was marred by the fact that Dad kept getting lost and screaming at everyone to shut the eff up.
4. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? Um ... I'm not sure on this one ... Maybe Australia?
5. If you were able to do one extreme thing what would it be? I started to learn to surf in Hawaii when I was 9, and now that I'm older, that would be one thing I would love to do, just once.
6. If you won the lottery and had multi-millions, would you continue to work? Yep, but only because I get bored when I have nothing to do, and because I love my job as a nail technician/manicurist.
7. If money were no object, where would you take your significant other? Well, I don't have a significant other, but like all females I have planned out my honeymoon, and I can't decide if I would like to go to Jamaica, Australia, or Paris.
8. If you could go back and re-do one action in your life, would you? Nope. There was a time when I thought I had a few things I would change, but as I've aged, I've realized that every action, every situation I found myself in, made me who I am today, and I wouldn't change anything.
9. What ancient, man-made structure would you like to visit? Um ... Stonehenge. I can't remember if it is man-made or not, but that's what I want to see!
10. Who is your favorite author? There's this awesome blogger called Willow Silverhorse (oh wait that's me!) lol JK! In all honesty, I don't have a favorite author. There are too many good ones to choose just one!
11. Which do you prefer, werewolves or vampires (not a Jacob vs. Edward question)? I like both werewolves and vampires, but I think my favorite would be vampires.
Okay, there's my answers :D
Now here's the questions for my tagged friends:
1. What is one hairstyle you've always wanted to try but have stopped yourself for one reason or another, be it a different hair color, extensions, whatever?
2. What is your ideal pet, whether real, or mythical?
3. What is your favorite kind of foreign food?
4. What is your favorite herb?
5. Have you ever played a musical instrument of any kind (and that includes playing jugs, spoons, chimes, etc.)?
6. Do you have a book of shadows, and if so, what is it, such as spiral bound notebook, 3-ring binder, leather bound, etc.?
7. What is your favorite spell, if any?
8. The most positive memorable moment of your life, thus far?
9. What is your favorite movie of all time?
10. Do you have a favorite Pagan/Wiccan/Witchy book? If so, what is it?
11. Do you have, or have you ever made, a witches' bottle?
And now the bloggers I have tagged:
Magaly Guerrero of Pagan Culture
Sarita Rucker of A College Girl's Days
Aurora Brierley of The Witch Inside
Dragonfly of Witchery Grove
Serenity Raven of The Domestic Pagan
Aine of The Deepest Well
Deb at Charmed I'm Sure
Domestic Witch of Domestic Witch
Ellie of The Forgotten Muse
Mrs. B of Confessions of a Pagan Soccer Mom
Dana Wright of On The Broomstick
Thanks in advance to everyone who plays! I'd love to see what you guys say, so if you wouldn't mind leaving me a link to your response that would be super!
Friday, January 6, 2012
Follow Me Fridays
I've entered into the Follow Me Fridays deal over at The Domestic Pagan. I should have posted last Friday, but I think I decided to join in on it last Friday and had the best intentions to do a post and well ... as the Christians say "The road to hell is paved with good intention."
The question this week is: If you could have magickal ability like any witch from a movie or tv show, who would it be, and why?
And my answer is Sally from Practical Magic, not because she cast an awesome love spell to bring that really hunky detective to her, but because she has the power to do, and be, whatever she wants! We all have that power, just not in the Hollywood sense. I would love to have it in the Hollywood sense. Being able to light a candle without a match or lighter would be lots of fun, and if she wanted to, I'm sure she could probably clean the house with her magick! Not to mention that AMAZING herb garden and sunroom! Ugh I would kill to have that lol!
If you'd like to follow the other blogs doing this blog hop, click here! That will take you to the original post for today from The Domestic Pagan, and a list of the other blogs participating in this!
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Crafts As a Form of Magick
Hello my beautiful readers! I've been working on all kinds of crafts. I'm loving my jewelry making, it's so therapeutic. I come from a family where I would show everyone something expensive I wanted, and the answer was always "We can make that instead of spending that much money it on!" When I was a kid, I took that for granted. As a cocky youth, I figured it was just because we were cheap and couldn't afford it, and we couldn't be as "cool" as the people that did buy it. Now that I'm older and understand how things work, I realize that was a horrid way of looking at things. Sometime in my teens, I realized how wonderful it was to have a family that could make things, instead of just running to the store and buying them.
However, even the cocky youth attitude didn't count for Gram. She made almost anything you could think of: soap, book bags, over night bags, jeans, shirts, she helped with making cowboy boots (which my granddad hand makes in his shop at the house), all sorts of foods, and anything under the sun! The reason the cocky youth attitude didn't count towards Gram was because that was our way of bonding. When I would spend my vacations with her, we always had some sort of craft going on. Whether we were restoring something we'd found discarded, picking out "retro" western shirts I couldn't live without, painting wall paper, sewing, embroidering, soap making, or whatever, I always looked forward to when we would start doing something crafty. There's something to be said about looking at a finished product and thinking "Holy crap, I made that!!!" The pride that comes with it is almost addicting!
Today, crafts are my therapy, and my way of finding myself. Anything that you put energy into, such as the energy of gathering your supplies, cutting, sewing, mixing, pouring, whatever, adds a bit of personal magick to everything. Anything that you've put that much energy into will always hold a piece of you, and a piece of whatever intention you had when you made it. Whether you're making jewelry to sell, or a mojo bag for yourself, everything that you put intent in, can be considered magick. Consider, while you're making that necklace to sell on your Etsy store, putting the intent for it to sell quickly, or for it to bring happiness to it's new owner. These are all just little bits of magick that you can infuse into your crafts. While it's little bits of magick, it is powerful magick nonetheless.
However, even the cocky youth attitude didn't count for Gram. She made almost anything you could think of: soap, book bags, over night bags, jeans, shirts, she helped with making cowboy boots (which my granddad hand makes in his shop at the house), all sorts of foods, and anything under the sun! The reason the cocky youth attitude didn't count towards Gram was because that was our way of bonding. When I would spend my vacations with her, we always had some sort of craft going on. Whether we were restoring something we'd found discarded, picking out "retro" western shirts I couldn't live without, painting wall paper, sewing, embroidering, soap making, or whatever, I always looked forward to when we would start doing something crafty. There's something to be said about looking at a finished product and thinking "Holy crap, I made that!!!" The pride that comes with it is almost addicting!
Today, crafts are my therapy, and my way of finding myself. Anything that you put energy into, such as the energy of gathering your supplies, cutting, sewing, mixing, pouring, whatever, adds a bit of personal magick to everything. Anything that you've put that much energy into will always hold a piece of you, and a piece of whatever intention you had when you made it. Whether you're making jewelry to sell, or a mojo bag for yourself, everything that you put intent in, can be considered magick. Consider, while you're making that necklace to sell on your Etsy store, putting the intent for it to sell quickly, or for it to bring happiness to it's new owner. These are all just little bits of magick that you can infuse into your crafts. While it's little bits of magick, it is powerful magick nonetheless.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
To My Texas Readers
If you're ever anywhere near Amarillo, there's a new group forming up there called Panhandle Pagan Community Alliance. Go to http:// www.panhandlepagans.org and check out some of the activities they have available this month! Remember this is a new group, newly forming, so there should be more great things to come!
Monday, January 2, 2012
Look What I Made!
Today was another crafty day. As part of my "finding me" journey, I've decided to try crafts that I've previously been scared of. Here is what I made today with a little help from my mom:
It's a pretty large reusable bag! I'm kinda proud of it although my sewing readers out there are probably laughing behind their hands at me for being so proud of making something so simple. Here's why it has taken me until I'm almost 24 to make something like this (with an abundance of sewing machines and fabric at my disposal mind you). I am friggin terrified of sewing machines! I know ... weird, but I am! I used to watch my grandma sew all the time and I always wanted to learn to sew with her. She tried so many times to help me learn, but my stitches come out looking like the path of a river because I'm always jerking my hand away, making sure I'm not gonna get it stuck in the damn sewing machine!
However, even though I am terrified of sewing machines, I'm actually pretty good at hand stitching (I even used to embroider when I was a teenager!) so I saw this idea at the store, picked out a bunch of awesome fabric (which btw I LOVE fabric, I'm just terrified of sewing machines, go figure), and started to leave the store. Then I got to thinking, shouldn't I start trying to get over that unnecessary fear of a sewing machine and start learning how to properly use one? I headed back to the sewing machine section (in our Walmart, the pickings are slim on machines), and found this awesome guy:
I thought to myself: "Hey, what a great way to get over my fear of sewing machines! A tiny, unimposing sewing machine that I can control myself!" This little guy is called a Stitch Sew Quick and is made by Singer (which you can clearly see in the picture). I remember Gram talking about how awesome Singer is so I thought hey why not?! It cost around $15 which was another plus because I really didn't want to spend what Walmart wanted for their other sewing machines which I figured would be tried once and then hidden in a closet or given to a friend or to Mom because of my fear of it!
Well, I brought it home, and I have to say the damn thing made me want a bigger machine! I miss Gram's machine where it was easier to put the little fabric foot thing down on the fabric, and I could control how the fabric was fed. With this guy, I have to lift the fabric foot by hand, while trying not to push the needle arm down, and get the fabric up under there, all without turning the damn thing on! Complicated pain in the behind. Then when I'm sewing with it, it tries to walk all over the table so I have to really focus on keeping it still, and I have to focus on feeding the fabric straight (and me and straight lines DO NOT GET ALONG!). Otherwise, it's actually a pretty nice machine. It stitches fairly slowly so I'm not terrified of the speed of it, my hand is nowhere near the needle while I'm feeding the fabric, and it's battery powered, and won't take up a whole crap ton of space in my tiny cabin.
All in all, I think it was worth my time. I'm just going to have to practice with it and get used to it. While I'm getting used to it, I'm thinking about making some more of these reusable bags (although those will probably be hand stitched) and selling them on the Etsy store if you guys would be interested in something like that. Anybody else out there terrified of sewing machines, or all in stitches when it comes to sewing at all?
It's a pretty large reusable bag! I'm kinda proud of it although my sewing readers out there are probably laughing behind their hands at me for being so proud of making something so simple. Here's why it has taken me until I'm almost 24 to make something like this (with an abundance of sewing machines and fabric at my disposal mind you). I am friggin terrified of sewing machines! I know ... weird, but I am! I used to watch my grandma sew all the time and I always wanted to learn to sew with her. She tried so many times to help me learn, but my stitches come out looking like the path of a river because I'm always jerking my hand away, making sure I'm not gonna get it stuck in the damn sewing machine!
However, even though I am terrified of sewing machines, I'm actually pretty good at hand stitching (I even used to embroider when I was a teenager!) so I saw this idea at the store, picked out a bunch of awesome fabric (which btw I LOVE fabric, I'm just terrified of sewing machines, go figure), and started to leave the store. Then I got to thinking, shouldn't I start trying to get over that unnecessary fear of a sewing machine and start learning how to properly use one? I headed back to the sewing machine section (in our Walmart, the pickings are slim on machines), and found this awesome guy:
I thought to myself: "Hey, what a great way to get over my fear of sewing machines! A tiny, unimposing sewing machine that I can control myself!" This little guy is called a Stitch Sew Quick and is made by Singer (which you can clearly see in the picture). I remember Gram talking about how awesome Singer is so I thought hey why not?! It cost around $15 which was another plus because I really didn't want to spend what Walmart wanted for their other sewing machines which I figured would be tried once and then hidden in a closet or given to a friend or to Mom because of my fear of it!
Well, I brought it home, and I have to say the damn thing made me want a bigger machine! I miss Gram's machine where it was easier to put the little fabric foot thing down on the fabric, and I could control how the fabric was fed. With this guy, I have to lift the fabric foot by hand, while trying not to push the needle arm down, and get the fabric up under there, all without turning the damn thing on! Complicated pain in the behind. Then when I'm sewing with it, it tries to walk all over the table so I have to really focus on keeping it still, and I have to focus on feeding the fabric straight (and me and straight lines DO NOT GET ALONG!). Otherwise, it's actually a pretty nice machine. It stitches fairly slowly so I'm not terrified of the speed of it, my hand is nowhere near the needle while I'm feeding the fabric, and it's battery powered, and won't take up a whole crap ton of space in my tiny cabin.
All in all, I think it was worth my time. I'm just going to have to practice with it and get used to it. While I'm getting used to it, I'm thinking about making some more of these reusable bags (although those will probably be hand stitched) and selling them on the Etsy store if you guys would be interested in something like that. Anybody else out there terrified of sewing machines, or all in stitches when it comes to sewing at all?
Rebuilding Your Magickal Library
A while back, I was dating a certain Christian that was actually a very wonderful guy. However, he had never seen my magickal library. When I moved in with him, and subsequently my sister lost her apartment, rather than having to have "the talk" with him, I decided I had learned what I was going to from the current books in my library and would just get different books, so I gave them away. About two weeks after that, I started looking for a couple of certain books and was like, oh yeah, I gave them away. Fortunately I had given them to a friend so normally it wouldn't have been a big deal to just borrow the ones I missed from her, however, she had promptly lost them as soon as she took them home, in the way that magick books do, they had in essence hid from her.
She was baffled, freaking out! She was so upset that she had lost my books! I looked at her and told her that they were her books, and that magick books just have a tendency of hiding until you need them. She nearly burst into tears because she knew I was looking for those certain books and she couldn't find them for me. It was almost like instead of me giving them to her, she was holding them for me! She never got the idea that magick books tend to hide until needed, and now she lives in Dallas about 4 or so hours away from me, and I have no clue if she took them with her or not.
I have been slowly refilling my library, replacing the books I missed, and adding in new ones that call out to me. The one I was most excited to get back was Cottage Witchery by Ellen Dugan. That one is my absolute favorite book, not because it is technically a magick book, but because it has awesome decoration ideas. I've also replaced The Way of the Green Witch, and have a couple of others on my Amazon wishlist to remind myself to replace them too. Slowly but surely my magickal library is coming together. And wouldn't you know, when I first moved into my tiny cabin, as I started unpacking, I found a couple of books from my personal magickal library. Stubborn little guys refused to be given away! Have any of you done this? Decided to give your books away, and then have some show back up, or decide you'd made a bad decision?
She was baffled, freaking out! She was so upset that she had lost my books! I looked at her and told her that they were her books, and that magick books just have a tendency of hiding until you need them. She nearly burst into tears because she knew I was looking for those certain books and she couldn't find them for me. It was almost like instead of me giving them to her, she was holding them for me! She never got the idea that magick books tend to hide until needed, and now she lives in Dallas about 4 or so hours away from me, and I have no clue if she took them with her or not.
I have been slowly refilling my library, replacing the books I missed, and adding in new ones that call out to me. The one I was most excited to get back was Cottage Witchery by Ellen Dugan. That one is my absolute favorite book, not because it is technically a magick book, but because it has awesome decoration ideas. I've also replaced The Way of the Green Witch, and have a couple of others on my Amazon wishlist to remind myself to replace them too. Slowly but surely my magickal library is coming together. And wouldn't you know, when I first moved into my tiny cabin, as I started unpacking, I found a couple of books from my personal magickal library. Stubborn little guys refused to be given away! Have any of you done this? Decided to give your books away, and then have some show back up, or decide you'd made a bad decision?
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