Charming

A personal charm, yellow deerskin leather stuffed with corresponding herbs and oils and tied closed with wool and adorned with bells and a protective green glass eye bead. Alligator paw from Conjured Cardea.

I've been a busy bee in my hive, churning away at new things. One of my favorite folk magic tasks is charm making. Such potent magic in a little package. It will always be one of my favorites, calculating corresponding numbers, shapes, colors, ingredients, textures, materials, it's wonderful. I've got several new charms in the shop and more on the way.

Something new I've decided to do for the shop is create all my oils to order. This means that when you purchase an oil I'll make it fresh just for you. It allows me to create more blends of oils without worrying where to store them all and it provides you with a fresher product. It is certainly more time consuming but I believe it is worth it. This will also carry over to my Waters as well. Powders and incenses are still made in batches.

Iron Nail Protection Charm

Rabbit Luck Charm

Safe Children Charm

Benevolent Banishment Powder

Artemis Sacred Deity Oil

So the shop has reopened and I've got lots of new items plus many new ones on the horizon. I'm always looking for suggestions for new products so let me know if you have any ideas! Check the shop for the rest! Remember, the coupon code "August2012" gets you 15% off! If you want to keep up with my day to day muttering, "like" my Facebook page. In the next few days I'll be hosting a giveaway through my Facebook page, check it out!

A few new things, a few old things

Just a reminder that my shop is open and running! All orders will receive free charcoal tablets with orders over $15 (before shipping). Here's a few new things and a few old things.

Blue Eye Notebook


Custom Amulet Pouches


The Hare Notebook

Altar Wash

Direction

Some of the door charms and necklaces that didn't find homes at the festival. Maybe you could take them home?

So while my computer is on the fritz I've had the time to work on some personal and one of a kind projects of mine as well as contemplate the direction of the shop. While I do enjoy crafting supply for the discerning witch I enjoy doing the one of a kind items more so this leaves me with a dilemma.

My current sales venue (Etsy) is flooded with Pagan suppliers so much so that none of us really stand out anymore, with the exception of a few Witches who do things differently and better (You know who I'm talking about). I've decided to no longer expand my botanica and I won't be creating new incenses or oils for the time being in an effort to focus on a more specialized set of products. I will keep my favorite of the botanica products such as my inks, a few incenses and powders but most of my current stock will be discontinued (more than likely this means a sale so keep an eye out!).

With this change I will bring about more of a focused idea with my art and ritual supplies. More charms and ritual jewelry, more block prints and artwork, more embroidered tarot bags, more leather and woodwork, more one of a kind pieces crafted by me. Once my shop reopens, which I hope will be soon, these changes will begin.

Customs

Here's a small collection of customer orders I've created this past year. I've made a TON of custom spell candles but I didn't photograph all of them. I love making special one of a kind items for people, I hope to do more this year!

Luck Magic
A page trade I did with Danni over at The Whimsical Cottage. These are the ones I sent her, Ganesha and Cernunnos.
A spirit necklace.
Leather Aegishjalmur.
Some custom candles.
An owl doll.
Luck Amulet and some Red Hot Luck Oil for a customer.
The Rabbit Moon Tarot Bag. Tawny colored rabbit fur, pale pink muslin hand dyed with hibiscus flowers, and lined in gray felt. Accent in brass, quartz crystal, and vintage shell and vintage brass stamped leaves, as well as an eye milagros. To keep my Art Nouveau Tarot Deck in.
Another custom Tarot Bag for a friend.
Some more beautiful candles and a custom Atropa Belladonna wooden needle case.

Coldness, newness

It's cold. Bitter windy winter cold. The Old Woman is here and she dusted the Earth with a fine covering of snow today, like powdered sugar on frozen pastry. Her sharp bitterness has not deterred my creation and I'm working on many beautiful one of a kind and special items for you.

A few new items have arrived in the shop, new oils and new incenses, as well as a one of a kind Smudge Fan.
Temple Incense
Pythia Oracle Incense
Sacred Blessing Oil
Red Hot Luck Oil
Blood Shaman Smudge Fan

As a gift to my lovely customers, I'm including a little sample of my Divination Oil with every purchase while supplies last. Thank you for being wonderful and amazing!

Whether you read bones, stones, and end trails, or the more standard cards, palms, runes, tea, or pendulum, you need to connect yourself with the divine. In addition to always burning incense, anoint yourself or your divinatory set with this oil to open the doors and allow spirits to aid you in your augury.

Flow and the Giveaway.

As an artist first and a Witch second the ebbs and flows of my "muses" wane and sway with the calling of the deities and spirits. Lately I've been nothing but output; creating every spare moment I get. The cooling of the Earth and harvest does this to me and I don't think I'm alone in that sentiment. Sometimes I have a drought, usually in the summer. My spirits are quiet and nothing gets done and I wallow in my brains silence. I welcome the deluge of inspiration come the cooler months.

My altar space is currently full of experiments and successes. Chalks, brews, salts, tinctures, oils, amulets, teas. Medicinal and magical. Here are a few of the things you might have already seen, I have many more things headed your way.

Mystic Eye Bag

Hickory Snake Nut Amulet

Corvus Ritual Mask (sold)

Barn Owl Ritual Mask (sold)

Indigo Sigil Chalk

Hamsa Tarot Pouch

To celebrate my 100th sale in my shop and to say thanks for all the wonderful comments and kindness I've got another little giveaway for you.



The Acorn Amulet. To give honor to Dryads, Cernunnos, Pan, The Green Man, Artemis, or a Druidic Path. Holds aspects of fertility and protection. Strung with black leather cord in two widths. Measures about 12 inches long.

To enter, please leave a comment in this post. The winner will be picked on Tuesday September 21st at 5pm est. Reblogging or posting about this gets extra entries. Enjoy!

Giveaway

So as a thank you to all my readers, as quiet as some of you may be, and in honor of the upcoming spirit season (I've got it on the brain really bad!) I have a small giveaway for you! A red wool spirit necklace.

Featured here is a rustic and simple necklace that will protect you during spirit travel and connect you to your spirits. It will aid you in opening those cosmic doors. Red wool is adorned with a carved wooden skull bead and an old iron key. Red thread has long been an aid in capturing negative spirits, protection, or as a spirit line. Anoint the old iron key with your favorite psychopomp oil and cleanse this piece often to remove anything unwanted picked up during travel. Wear during ritual or everyday. This necklace is about 18 inches (45-46 cm) long.

To enter my giveaway, please leave a comment in this post. The winner will be chosen on Saturday August 14th at 5pm so get your comments in before then! If you reblog this post once please link to it in your comment and you will get one additional entry, reblogged twice you get two additional entries, you get the idea :) Have fun and thanks again!

Sacred Psychopomp

Sacred Psychopomp Necklace in Corvus

It's finally finished and I love it. For the spirit walkers and in honor of our favorite psychopomps, ravens and crows. For followers of the Morrigan, devotees to Odin and Huginn and Muninn, and worshipers of the Underworld and our dark goddesses.

Available in the Shop.

A few works in progress...

Sacred Psychopomp Necklace in Corvus.

Blue Hamsa Pendant

Crossroads Key Pendant in Persephone

Crossroads Key Pendant in Trickster

I had the itch lately to create some jewelry pieces for the shop. I scoured my collections of saved and found items, vintage jewelry and findings, and purchased a few things at antique stores. In addition to the the other items the shop currently carries I've wanted to do a little more art and handcrafted items. I am an artist first and a Witch second so having both these aspects flit about in my brain provides nearly boundless creativity. Nearly.

The piece at the top has been the most time consuming as the Raven skull was carved by me out of salvaged Poplar wood. I searched for a large enough branch of Yew since it would have been more appropriate but the only Yew trees I know of are in graveyards by large public roads. I already look daft stuffing my purse full of small branches and dirt while dumping whiskey on the ground so attempting to lug a large five foot branch out of the cemetery and into the car is pushing the boundaries of the public ignoring me. Someday, someday.

A reminder, I will be on vacation from June 12-19 so the shop will be closed during that time. I will return with bountiful goodies pillaged from the sea and hopefully a not too sunburned rear.

Scribing

Eleggua Vintage Key Charm available in the Shop

So I've begun transcribing my Grimoire pages into it's new home in the Moleskine Sketchbook. My hand is wrecked from it. I never realized how much information I had accrued over these ten years and I'm learning more every day. I have a million pieces of paper everywhere and to compile all the information is a challenge! It's also interesting to see how my path has changed and evolved. Even my beliefs have changed, but with knowledge comes a different understanding of things.

My ritual structure was very strict before and I felt stifled by it. Now I just go with it, let the muses take me. I use different deities now but still all similar aspects which I find amusing. I'm always drawn towards aspects of the water and night, chaos and darkness. Nyx, Persephone, Hades, Hecate, Ochum and Yemanya just to name a few. I think it's the Cancer in me :).

Witches, what were your first tools of witchcraft? Please elaborate!

A couple business things, I created an Anathemum Facebook Page. Become a fan and get special promotions, announcements, and updates for the Shop!

Malachite Key Charm

Today I listed the Malachite Key Charm in the Shop. It's still snowing here and I wish it would just quit already. I want spring to be here! Sigh.

Snow!

So we had a ridiculous snowfall today! It's rare that here in Northern Virginia that we get such snow but this year has been a record! I don't know how people deal with this stuff all the time. It's lovely but such a hassle!


Other than eating ice cream, chocolate pudding, and having great spaghetti for dinner I've been doing something with those keys I got from the antique store the other day. I think I'm going to turn some of them into these beaded pendants. What do you think so far?

Etsy Update: Incense and Bags

Today I listed the Mystic Eye Pouch and a batch of Kyphi Incense in the Shop! I really love the design on the Kyphi tin I came up with. I find that selling incense with a container seems like a cool deal since I ALWAYS have an issue finding containers to put things in. This simplifies things :)

Since moving I have found nothing but positive things to say about this area. I live about 15 minutes from a historical college town full of antique stores, which I've been prodding through lately, hole in the wall shops, great little venues and restaurants, and a giant library to boot! There is this one very large antique store that has dissapointed me with it's service. The store is beautiful, clean, decent prices, and a great selection. The owners of this consignment based venue are very wary of any "young" person that ventures within the building possibly because of college students stealing in the past. This leads them to follow you around the store the entirety of your browsing. I like to touch, pick up, smell, and sort anything I want to buy and their presence makes me uncomfortable. And they've seen my pentacle so who knows what the lady blue-hairs think of me now! :D


On my most recent antique trip I picked up a lot of antique keys. While not skeleton keys, which are typically are more expensive, these keys are old with strange notches for the tumblers of locks. Some are very rusted and have wonderful personalities. My plans for these keys will take the shape of some sort of Hecate/Spiritual Gate/Knowledge Based etc charm which is still in the muddly puddles of my creative brain space and has yet to take true shape. Stay tuned for that. We are expected to get anywhere from 12in of snow to 40in of snow this weekend! I might have to go to work, or I might get to sit around the house watching tv and crafting which I'd much rather do that go to that "real" job any day!

I'd like to think that in these last two weeks of absence I've been pretty busy. I've got several WIP's lying around including several more trinket bags. The lack of sales in my Etsy shop has not deterred my progress at all, it has probably strengthened my resolve. I will try and generate more traffic to my site. Want to trade links, witchy friends? Let's do it.

More charms and uncreative titles.

It's been a long time, I know. But I'd quickly like to share some small things I've been up to. I'm tired so this will be short and quick.



These are some smudge sticks that just finished drying. They are made with Sage and Lavender and tied with purple cotton cord. The Lavender is from my own garden and I was nearly bitten by a large spider while harvesting some. I think it's Arachne telling me to keep up with my crafting!

Below are several more charms I've made similar to the one in my previous post. All of these are made with a mixture of bought and found, vintage and new beads and findings.


This one focuses on the Water element, being made with silver chain and several shell beads and freshwater pearls. The other beads are glass and amethyst stone chips and silver toned dangles to catch the light.


This one focuses on the Fire or Sun element and channeling masculine energy. It has amber colored glass, Red Jasper stone chips, and a mixture of brass and gold metals.



This one is my favorite and represents Persephone, Queen of the Underworld. The upper part is a wheat design with spring colored glass teardrop shaped beads, while the lower part represents the time during the year that Persephone spends in the Underworld with Hades. The red glass beads are shaped like Pomegranate seeds and I thought it appropriate to add them.