it's been while

It's been a pretty hectic family summer but I've managed to fit some work in here and there ; )

Here are some new pieces from my etsy shop...

You can find me at www.inpansgarden.esty.com or at the link on the side of this blog. I also have a facebook page http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/In-Pans-Garden/258973040793480

a glorious day to be in the studio

lots to do and what a beautiful day to do it on....



Happy Summer!

The solstice fire burning in my new firepit. Happy summer everyone!!! )o(

the spirit of independance

I took a trip to the coast last week to see an art exhibition that my friend was involved in and I saw this old woman walking incredibly slowly down the street. A couple walking the opposite way leant over to me as they past and said "she never accepts any help you know". I watched her for a while and felt such a surge of admiration for this independant and determined spirit.

If you look very closely you can see that the bar on the bottom of her wheeled shopping bag is almost worn through. How many times has she made that journey down the street I wonder.....

Jack-in-the-Green

My family and I went to the Jack-in-the-Green festival in Hastings this weekend. A lively, colourful May Day celebration that takes place over the whole of the bank holiday weekend, to welcome the start of summer. It doesn't feel very summery here at the moment but the sun came out at least!

May 1st has long been an important part of the annual Calendar. It is the start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere and as such has always been a day for celebration: the Celts celebrated May Day as Beltane; The Romans dedicated the day to the Goddess Flora and would go to the woods to cut a tree and decorate it with ribbons and flowers. This is the origin of the May Pole. The Victorians replaced the Lord and Lady of the May with the May Pole, to create something prettier and less bawdy.

In the 16th and 17th centuries people would celebrate by making garlands of flowers to celebrate May Day, which became more and more elaborate. In the late 18th century it became a competition between Works Guilds, and the garlands soon became so big they covered a man from head to foot. These became known as "Jack in the Green". Here, Jack is paraded through the streets of Hastings, accompanied by attendants, here known as Bogies, who are completely disguised in green rags, vegetation, and face paint. The attendants play music, dance and sing as they guide Jack through the streets. Then after each Morris Troupe has danced, he is "slane" atop the hill in the ruins of Hastings castle to welcome the spirit of summer.

This particular parade has been taking place in Hastings since 1983, revived by Mad Jacks Morris Dancers. There are many other festivals around England that also celebrate this tradition; Whitsable, Rochester and Ilfracombe in Devon to name a few and "Jack" also features in the Pagan Pride festival in London at the end of May.

Lots of dancing, drumming and beer! What better way is there to celebrate?

 

Beltane

Happy May Day! I love this time of year! I find the run up to Beltane and the summer solstice a really inspiring time. It seems to be the time I get the most done. It was this time last year I felt inspired to start my jewellery business and Etsy shop and I am delighted to say it has been going from strength to strength ever since. The influence of Pan at this time even inspired my choice of company name!

It feels as though life really has gained momentum over the last year, albeit slowly. As my daughter gets older and my health and fitness return, I'm finding things are getting easier. I can't believe she is 2 next week! Winter was hard this year, I felt like I was wading through treacle for most of it. Everything was an effort. But now the days are longer, the nights are lighter and the sun is shining. Well sometimes at least...

The summer promises to be full of new ventures, both work and home and I can't wait to get stuck in. I have 2 shops that will soon be stocking my jewellery which I'm thrilled about. Lots to look forward to!

Here's to the Bel fires burning bright,

here's to the Horned God in all his might;

here's to creative and inspiring ideas,

here's to chasing away winter fears.

my visitor

Last week I had a visitor to my studio and a very handsome fellow he was too. This morning he was back, sunbathing on my roof. I think he lives near by and seems very comfortable in my garden, but I'm not sure what he thinks of my work....

things are starting to happen...

the days are getting longer, sun is shining, the buds are opening;

things are looking up!

beautiful things...

These are a few of the lovely pieces that I have purchased lately, both from bloggers & etsy shops. There are so many talented people out there & I love the fact we have the oportunity to purchase pieces from all over the world.

a wonderful cloth by Jude at SpiritCloth

http://spiritcloth.typepad.com/spirit_cloth/

mother goddess by http://www.etsy.com/shop/gislebertus

a native fabric pendant and some lovely scents all the way from Alaska - http://www.etsy.com/shop/SalmonberryDreams & http://www.etsy.com/shop/SalmonberryOrigins

I was also lucky enough to win this print from a wonderful blogger named Lucinda http://whisperingearth.wordpress.com/

thank you all x

a Valentine message

Valentine's day is the day when we are "encouraged" to show our love for the people in our lives. I am very lucky to be in a loving relationship but we have never really celebrated Valentine's day, tending to concentrate more on celebrating our anniversary instead, we feel its more personal. I feel it is so important to show others how we feel about about them, especially our feelings of love, not just today but always. Life is too short for others not to know you care.

That being said, I think today should be as much about self love as it is about love for others. I believe to truly commit to loving someone else you must first learn to love yourself. Many say it is possible to love others and not yourself, but then your whole life becomes about them and making them happy. You could be in danger of losing sight of yourself and what makes you happy.

This year I want to work on finding new ways to try and connect with myself and get to the root of what makes me happy, what makes me tick.  There are a couple of people who's guidance I have found really helpful in this area. An inspirational soul I have the pleasure of being in contact with is Flora Peterson (aka Charming Pixie Flora on youtube) She, and fellow youtuber Joanna Devoe (aka MajorArcanaTV) recommend an effective way to boost self love and self esteem is through daily affirmations. This is actually easier than it sounds. Some people will get up in the morning and declare loudly to the world, "I am Amazing!" and others, like myself, may prefer to write it somewhere they can see it throughout the day, as a gentle reminder. I use a different, encouraging phrase or word every day to make you feel good about yourself. Try it, it works.

http://www.youtube.com/user/CharmingPixieFlora#p/u/3/o6v_6s3rPFU

http://www.youtube.com/user/MajorArcanaTV?ob=video-mustangbase#p/u/14/Sk39Cq3PKWY

Flora also talks about the use of prayer beads or Mala beads as a way of concentrating your mind on a particular phrase or affirmation, for daily meditation. I have always wanted to be able to meditate but I find it so hard to shut off from everything, especially my own mind, so I am interested to try this. So, in the spirit of self love and the endless pursuit of happiness I have made myself some Mala beads to hopefully help me to focus my mind on my affirmations. I am so blessed to have other people in my life who love me so it can't be that hard right? These are not traditional Buddhist or Tibetan Mala, although there are 108 on the string. For me, they are more an aid to concentration. There are many sites online that can explain how these beads should be set out depending on your spiritual path.

I hope everyone experiences love today, from others and from themselves, and long may it continue.

After all, a wise man once said "all you need is love" x.

emerging from the dark

Happy new year and a blessed Imbolc!

I'm not really sure where the last 3 months has gone. I sit down at the computer intending to write a blog entry and for some reason something else takes over, I get distracted and never get round to it. I started this blog, like most people do, with the best intentions but somehow things get in the way. Wasn't John Lennon who said "life is what happens when you're busy making other plans"? Well that definately rings true for me!

Christmas was a family affair. My daughter is now 21 months old so she's becoming more aware of everything. It was a delight to watch her struggle with wrapping paper and hand out presents to everyone, including the cats. Christmas becomes more about the children as we get older, as it should be but I hope I never lose my childlike enthusiasm for the season. I still have my rituals, putting up the tree listening to Miles Davis, hanging stockings, wrapping presents whilst watching The Box of Delights or Holiday Inn, Watching The snowman on christmas eve and lighting the fire on christmas morning.

I find winter difficult. I suffer from SAD (seasonal affective disorder) and I find I have very little energy when its cold and dark. Added to the fact the days are so short here during the winter, I never really feel stable. I often feel a bit like a ship lost at sea, never really sure which direction to head in, bobbing around all over the place. We have had strange few months in the uk too. The weather has, as always, been predicably erratic; veering wildly from balmy, sunny and down-right spring like to flash rain storms, hail and ground frost. Then Imbolc arrived to herald the start of spring and it snowed for 2 days! Colds and flu have been rampant; I don't know anyone that hasn't suffered from some ailment or other. My family have had the flu, then a cold, cough and residual symptoms for about the last 2 months and I have to say its wearing thin. I guess the silver lining is that this is the time of the year when you feel least like doing anything so its the perfect time to get ill. (I have to put a positive spin on it or its just depressing!)

Still on a positive note, I am hoping for a creative year. I have spent a long time dwelling on the things I haven't had the time or energy to do this winter and now it is time to bring them to fruition. As we pass Imbolc and the days become visibly longer and lighter, we need to focus on getting rid of the things in our lives that drag us down and replace them with positive thoughts and inspiration. Time to spring clean and move on.

So I will be attemping to get my rear in gear and stop procrastinating. Easier said than done but as they say "a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step..."

Best wishes x

Hawthorn Brandy pt2

Infused for 2 weeks, strained and bottled. I placed muslin round the top of the jar so I could strain it into a jug. This is easier than putting the muslin over the jug, less chance of spilling. Then I poured the strained liquid into a sterilised bottle. Don't forget to label it!

Now all you need is somewhere warm to drink it....

Happy Autumn!

from my workshop....

I'm working on some new ideas at the moment and getting ready for a couple of fairs I'm doing in November. Its difficult to get a quantity of stock together when the majority of your pieces are one offs, but although most of the pendants I make are all individual, I still find I can do several at a time. It is, however, by no means a production line.

Latest work

Silver feathers - I have a couple of these on the go at the moment but they are quite time consuming so I'm not sure how many I'll get done. I use naturally molted feathers so I'm always on the lookout when I go for a walk. Its not as easy as you might think to find the right one....

Gingko leaves - I collected these on my walk round Regents Park. I love the shape of them and their gently ribbed, textured surface. They translate beautifully into silver.

Commissions - Recently a friend asked me to turn this celtic hare design, from his company website, into a pendant for his wife's birthday. It turned out really well and as a result I am working on some more celtic designs of my own. I love the depth and freeflowing spiral designs of celtic artwork so it should be fun. 

I love this process, coming up with new ideas and designs and making them reality. The problem I have is restricting myself to one idea at a time. But then again, where's the fun in that... 

pink yarrow & pink hair

well the weather has changed again and it now officially feels like autumn. There's a chill in the air and it doesn't feel wrong to go out wearing a scarf. After a week of very little sleep (4am starts most days, thanks to my daughter) I felt the need to have some me time so I headed up to London for a mooch round Camden Lock market and then joined a herbalist I know who had organised a walk round regents park, to see what is still around at this time of year.

As you can see it was quite a grey day but was nice to be at the market as it opened. Not many people about apart from the stall holders, eating their bacon sandwiches and discussing the day before the hordes of tourists arrive. The smells of fresh coffee and ethnic food filled the air and people huddled round radios and tiny tvs, checking up the on the rugby. We lost, 'nuf said. There are some fantastic characters in Camden, one in particular who caused quite a stir as she motored down the main street at top speed!

On our walk we discovered most plants have gone over by now, but we found the usual plantain, nettles, elder and hawthorn, and mugwort, which even though it has long finished flowering the smell from the drying flower heads is still incredible! We found some beautiful deep pink yarrow and an abundance of sage, rosemary and lavender in one of the large flower beds. Everything is slowing down for approaching winter, putting all the goodness and energy down into its roots for next season. Its a great time to collect roots such as dandelion and plantain. The berries are now passed here too but there is still time to collect them if you can find them. Thanks to Klara http://www.klararosendahl.com/ for an informative (if a bit chilly!) stroll.

Its important that we mark the passing seasons and take stock of what is happening in nature. We have had some very strange seasons this year and as the climate changes dramatically so do the seasons, the weather and the way nature reacts to them. It is all too easy these days to complain about the cold, the rain and the apparent lack of sun but we should appreciate these things and their roll in the cycle of life. After all if things didn't happen this way we would be in a very different situation. Take the opportunity to stop and look at the trees and plants around you and notice what they are doing to prepare for the coming season, where they are directing their energies. We could learn valuable lessons from them.

Didn't get much done on Sunday as my daughter decided to wake me at 3.30am again but at least we got to watch the sunrise. And she did, with Daddy's help, buy me some gorgeous flowers to say sorry.....