Bridget's Mantle

For February I chose to represent Bridget's Mantle.  I wasn't going to use this Goddess, since She featured in last year's February project, but here She is anyway!  Since Her mantle is an important part of both Her Christian and Pagan mythology I chose to just render it.  I used some of the batik fabrics left over from last year's projects.  I even left the inner lining fabric out on Imbolc Eve to be blessed by Her!  The beads I used are almost all glass, except for the peridot chips on the front, and the metal knot bead that is used for the clasp.  I used some branched fringe (one of my first attempts!) on the front  and I was happy with the way it looked.  The design on the back depicts a manzanita (Arctostaphylos spp.) branch with flowers.  Many manzanitas bloom at this time of year and I associate their honey-scented white to pink blossoms with Bridget.  This one probably won't work as a pendant, but it might work on an altar!

2011 Bookmark Challenge

From March 17 - April 28, you can join in the Needle & Thread: Stitching for Literacy challenge and stitch a bookmark that will be donated to a library or school during Children's Book Week. Read the details here to find out where to submit your bookmarks.

I thought this was pretty cool! I have bunches of patterns for stitched bookmarks. I'm going to dig some out this weekend and stitch a couple. I haven't done any cross stitch for so long I'm afraid I might have forgotten how!

Woden in Winter

This year I've decided to create smallish (probably no more than about 3"x3") little beaded things that can be made into pendants if I so desire.  That's kind of vague, I know, but I think I'll really enjoy this kind of loose format.  The theme of these objects will be to represent a goddess or god from some belief system (probably mostly Celtic and Germanic Pagan, but certainly not limited to such!)  Sometimes the representations will be more literal than others (an actual figure) but sometimes not.  I'll just have to see where the shiny beads inspire me to go!

So, for January I've chosen to represent Woden (called Odin in Scandinavia) I used a small (about 2 1/2" long) piece of an ash tree (Fraxinus latifolia) as a base for my image. I was inspired by the rather rough unhewn types of images the Northern European tribes were supposed to have used to represent their gods. Woden's shamanic aspects are emphasized here with his fringed cloak and ornaments. I also made a sort of hood on the upper part of the figure. The cloak is peyote stitched from size 11 seed beads and the stones I used are black onyx, larvikite, and labradorite.