Lughnasadh Beads - Wheel of the Year

In the above picture are the eight beads I have made that correspond to the eight sabbats in the Wheel of the Year. For me in the southern hemisphere it is now Lughnasadh or Lammas. Both have the meaning of celebrating the beginning of the harvest season but where Lammas translates to Loaf Mass with its Christian roots, Lughnasadh is also in celebration of the Celtic God Lugh. You can read more about this HERE.

The colours for Lughnasadh, and Lammas, are browns, dark gold and red. So to make these beads I used copper coloured pearl beads to represent the dark gold colour, the spacer beads are mixed quartz bringing in the brown for this, and instead of using red I went with orange beads and mixed in some pale green beads to give a more transitioning to autumn feel for these. In total there are 45 beads, not including the mixed quartz spacer beads.

Litha Beads - Wheel of the Year

Pictured are the eight seasonal beads I made for each turn of the Wheel of the Year. As it is now Christmas here in the southern hemisphere, which actually means midsummer, we are now in Litha. So as the weather gets warmer we are preparing for family get togethers in the warmth of the outdoors. For this season of Litha I made a set of beads, seen below, you can also read more about this HERE.

As the traditional colours for Litha include golds, oranges, yellows, blues and greens, I decided to focus on the warmer colours of gold and yellow for this, due to wanting a more warmer look, and also because that is all my bead collection would allow for. So to make this I used a total of 45 beads in gold, yellow and pink, because why not pink. I also used a number of mixed quartz stones as spacer beads.

Beltane Beads - Wheel of the Year

Above are pictured all eight seasonal beads I made, one for each turn of the Wheel of the Year. Here in the southern hemisphere we are now entering Beltane, the gateway to summer and summers here where I live tend to get very hot. Pictured below are the beads I made for Beltane,you can read more about this HERE.

The traditional colours for Beltane are rainbow colours with an emphasis on purples, yellows, reds, green and whites. In making these Beltane beads I decided to limit the colours I used to white pearl beads, with pinks and blues along with pink spacer beads. If you notice, these Beltane beads are very similar to my Ostara beads but with darker pink and blue beads. This is partly due to my limited supply of beads, but I am happy with the result. In total I used 46 beads, not including the pink rhodonite stone spacer beads to create this.

Sailboat with bonus Sea Star #4

It has been a while since I have made one of these sailboats, in the past I have made a few of these sailboats, along with their accompanying sea stars, and this is yet another of those decorative art pieces. My previous sailboats in blue, green and orange can be seen here, here and here. This red/maroon coloured sailboat and sea star, or starfish, was yet another sailboat and sea star set I made as a gift.

I used the same pattern for this sailboat and sea star as I did for the previous three sailboats and stars I made. I also used all the same materials here as I did for the previous three sailboats and sea stars, with the exception of using a maroon colour material to highlight this set. I also used wooden skewers for the mast and boom, as I did with the previous sailboats I made. If you're interest about how this was put together you can read my previous sailboat posts for more information.

The full standing size of this sailboat is somewhere around 12 inches. It makes a cute and unique display piece, along with its matching sea star, and a lovely little gift set for someone who has an affinity for boat, sailing or just the ocean in general. And although made as a display piece, I happen to know these sailboats have experienced some playtime by little hands and have still held up, without getting too worn, which is good to know.

Ostara Beads - Wheel of the Year

These are the eight seasonal beads I made, one for each turn of the Wheel of the Year. Here in the southern hemisphere where I live we are experiencing Spring, although with the cold wet weather we had today it didn't much feel like it. Below are the beads for the Spring Equinox, you can read more about this HERE.

I made these Ostara seasonal beads using some pastel colours that represent this season, here I used pink, blue and pearl beads along with pink spacer beads. I used a total of 46 beads, not including the pink rhodonite stone spacer beads I used to create this.

Embroidered Star Sign Constellations - Gemini

This embroidered star sign constellation for Gemini was made as a gift. I purchased a packet to these mini framed cards that I thought perfect for this purpose. The actual framed card size is about 9.5cm by 9cm, and the inside window which has the silken navy blue material that I embroidered on with white is about 6cm by 4.5cm. I finished by stamping the word Gemini across the top of the card in blue ink using my alphabet stamps.

Ravenclaw Diadem #3 +pattern

I have actually made two previous versions of this Ravenclaw Diadem, one a simplified version in two colours similar to this one, and another that uses four colours to create a version with shadows and highlights. This Ravenclaw Diadem is very similar to the first simplified version I made, only it features a lacy design, keeping it simple while adding a little bit of charm. I also remade a matching pair of earrings to go with this new design.

The pattern for this Ravenclaw Diadem, including the earring, is below. Although I actually made the earrings and the diadem's gems on a round peg board, I have included it with the pattern below. This pattern is also a wallpaper, and I also have a simplified wallpaper below. To better view these just click on a picture to enlarge it. To download as a wallpaper, click on the picture you want and "Save Image As" to save to your computer or alternatively you can select "Set As Desktop Background"