Tag Archives: creation

February 11, 2026 · 3:44 pm

The Mourning Tide Update

Merry meet all,

I am so thrilled that Twisted Dreams Press is publishing my novel, The Mourning Tide, in October. October is already my most fave magical month of the year and now I have one more reason to love that magical month of death made beautiful.

I came up with the idea for the novel via a flash of inspiration years ago. I’m so happy it’s being published now. I could not get an agent for the book, but it is still being published and I am over the moon happy. Twisted Dreams Press is an indie publisher. 

Everyone loves a good ghost story. My novel The Mourning Tide rejects all tropes and exhausted expectations and old ideas of ghost stories. Yes ok the idea of a woman all alone in a haunted house has probably been done before. In my story, Rosemary Bell has to heal her own broken, grieving heart while dodging danger and a creepy house that disturbs and unsettles the reader. I created a ghost trapped in his own cursed darkness, and may enslave a hapless soul or two into the ghost’s seaweed mired darkness for eternity. That and a town that tries its very best to reject a dark, cursed secret they will do anything to keep hidden. They ostracize anyone steers from their oppresive sense of normal. That outcast happens to be Rosemary. It’s Jonathan Fraser, the ghost who motivates Rosemary to save him and heal her own heart. 

Haunted Woods in the bog – Pleasant Bay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The small town of Windswept Bay, (town name changed for the story), is a character of the story on its own. The icy ocean waves, creaking trees, haunted woods and the endless misty fog may give an unwary reader the chills. I love my story and I hope new readers will love it too. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The story is based on an actual historical event that happened decades ago yet has left a lasting impact on the residents of the town of Pleasant Bay. Two campers forgot to put out their campfire. Since Pleasant Bay has a milion trees and it was hot summer, the fire spread like crazy. A young woman did drown in her efforts to escape the fire. I researched that in the Nova Scotia Public Archives. Pleasant Bay is the town I used for the story. It’s stunningly beautiful there. My grandfather was born there, Alfred Timmons, and the two room schoolhouse that my mother attended when she was young is still there. The village has never changed, it’s as if time stands still. There is a Buddhist colony there, but I love the wild, untamed beauty of the cliffs, trees and the restless ocean. It’s paradise for sure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope to visit Pleasant Bay soon, maybe in late spring. That will really help me perhaps get inspired to write a new horror story. I haven’t been there in years and I do look forward to visiting there again. Pleasant Bay is 450 kilometres from Halifax. But the long drive is sure worth it. Moose, eagles, coyotes, foxes, bobcats, bears, rabbits, and pheasants roam there freely. The nature and wildlife are sure to capture your imagination. I very much look forward to editing my novel with the team at Twisted Dreams Press! I can’t wait to hold the author copy in my hands. It’s been ten years in the creation of this story. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just wish my grandparents were still alive to see the book and hold it in their hands. Maybe they are watching over me and are proud of me. I certainly hope so. I’m dedicating the book to them. The photos that you see in this post were taken in Pleasant Bay. For me, the most worrisome part of visiting there is not the blind spots on the winding road through the mountains, being swept out to sea, being attacked by a bear or eaten alive by mosquitoes- it’s the moose. They are very imposing and huge and smelly and just … huge… especially the bull moose, who climb over a guardrail as if it is not even there, roam the woods and roads at night and could kill you if they wanted to. 

Blessed Be, Spiderwitch

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January 9, 2026 · 11:29 pm

A Victorian Nightgown

Merry meet all,

Today I want to share with you how I sewed a Victorian nightgown. 

I bought a pdf pattern from Stella Pattern on Etsy. I usually use a regular tissue pattern, but this time I bought a pdf pattern. I knew I could never get the pattern I wanted from McCalls or Vogue patterns, certainly not a Victorian nightgown pattern. I downloaded the files and read them carefully. I wish the seller told me how much fabric I required for the pattern. That would have been helpful. Here is the link for the pattern I bought on Etsy – 

https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/1831703923/victorian-nightgown-sewing-pattern?ref=yr_purchases

The construction of the Victorian nightgown had some unforeseen challenges.  I bought 4.5 meters of yellow eyelet cotton, 100% cotton, on sale. 

I downloaded a pattern size, which turned out to be the wrong size. I used size 14, when I should have used a 16 or 18. Our bodies change as we age. I needed to make adjustments to the pattern. The pattern consisted of two long front and back pieces, the neckline facing, sleeves and sleeve flounce and hem flounce. I cut out the pattern at the library and that was not a good thing. It was not till I did a fitting that I realized the body of the nightgown would be too tight on me. Okay I altered the armholes after checking that out in a vogue sewing book. I cut into the armhole seam, basted the sleeve in and then basted the sleeve in twice, and then decided how much more I needed to cut into the armholes. I did not trim the seam, but I did cut into the seam and clipped the seam to make the armhole have more room to fit my arm. That would make the whole nightgown more roomy and comfortable for me, which a nightgown should be. I may need to alter the neckline facing. 

I cut out the flounce for the sleeves twice. The second time I cut out the sleeve flounce correctly. The pattern says to cut out on a fold. I am so happy that I cut it out again -which is why it is a good idea to always have more fabric. It is easier to make something larger, rather than smaller. The sleeve flounce needs to have that fullness. 

So once that was done, and I was happy with how the nightgown felt on me, I permanently set in the sleeves. When you are constructing the nightgown or any other sewing project, that is the best time to make the alterations. Not when you are done sewing, because you are not truly done. I got distracted when I cut out the front and back pattern pieces, and ended up having to sew the front piece center section together, which was supposed to open on a fold. Oops! I made a very slim seam allowance and with the arms not fitting earlier, I was glad I did. That meant more room for me. 

The fabric is very delicate. I stitched slowly and carefully. I know sewing machines can sew fast, but I chose sewing carefully. The end result is the nightgown looks great. 

I decided that the best way for me to know the front from the back was the slim seam allowance in the center front pattern piece. The back center section has a slightly wider seam allowance. 

I sewed the neckline facing, and I set in the sleeves and I sewed the flounce. The flounce intimidated me. I had to figure out how to sew the two big sections together. There was a front and a back, but by the time I figured out how to sew the front and back together, and stay stitch and hem the flounce,  I could no longer figure out back from front. I pinned the flounce right sides together. I stitched the flounce to the nightgown hem and pressed it. I clipped the seam allowance, pressed the seam allowance and checked the flounce and the hem. There were two spots where the fabric was caught in the flounce or a hole in the seam, but I quickly fixed those issues. 

The eyelet cotton was very easy to work with. I stitched a zigzag stitch into the center back seam allowances and the arm and arm flounce pieces. The eyelet cotton  material is very light and delicate. I did not want it to fray or unravel. I did my best to whip stitch the seam allowance for the arms. The zig zag stitch was a huge challenge, because the seam allowances are narrow and the fabric is fragile, but I managed. I snipped the stray threads.

Next, I want to line the nightgown. I have to mimic the nightgown pattern, but I will manage. I always wash the fabric first to eliminate the formaldehyde preservatives the stores use on the fabric to extend the fabric shelf life in the store. I will then cut out the pattern, except I am not making another flounce, neckline stitch or sleeves. I just don’t want the nightgown to be so see through. 

I bought white thread to correspond with the white lining material, which I also bought on sale at Fabricville. The eyelet cotton was 66.67% off, so instead of paying $90 for the fabric (unreal!), I paid $40. That and the threads and the lining material, this took 3 days to sew and cost me $50! It is sewn correctly and neatly and will always just fit me. The zig zag stitch ensures it won’t unravel or fray too much. I set in the sleeves three times before I was happy with the fit. 

I washed and dried the fabric. They put formaldehyde in the fabric to give it a longer shelf life in the fabric store. Now I just have to make sure the fabric is on the grain and start cutting! 

Once I am done sewing the lining together, I have to sew it to the nightgown. The pattern is always sewn right sides together. I have two meters of fabric, so the lining will be easy to do. I just have to keep in mind the alteration I did to the nightgown and do that to the lining or just add an extra inch to the whole pattern. I am sure it will be lovely. 

Today I tried – tried being the key word there, to make a lining. I seam ripped the neckline facing. I sewed the neckline again and this time I did it correctly. The nightgown is now done. I will check tomorrow for any small touch ups that need to be done, but it is complete and correct. I think the victorian nightgown looks great. It fits true to me. It is just beautiful.  

Does this inspire you to sew your own nightgown? I hope so.

Blessings, Spiderwitch )O(

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January 31, 2025 · 11:09 am

What I learned about publishing my novel )O(

 

Greetings darklings:

Today’s post is going to be about what I learned about the writing/ publishing world in the last year. I have learned a great deal and I am happy I get to share that with you, dear readers. I know a lot more now than I did before. Writing is creation. Publishing is a business. 

First off, you need a manuscript, a typed or handwritten copy of a novel, novella or short story. Nothing gets published without that. That means that you have to persevere and actually write something. You have to write a lot and make mistakes and learn and be brave enough to spill your soul, blood, heart and tears onto the page. Do not edit it until you write the whole thing. Once you have, then you can take some space from it. That could be a night, weeks, months. Then you go back to it and cast as cold an eye on it as you can. You have to have some distance from your story because now you have to edit it and here is the real test. But if you do complete a whole novel or novella, congrats. You have achieved something where most other people would have quit. 

Now, once you have achieved objectivity to your story, you have to be cruel to it. In other words, you have to edit and make changes and gnash your teeth and now make it marketable. And the only way you do that is to edit it until it gleams and you have checked not just your spelling and grammar but that there are no repeat scenes, no two characters sounding the same or doing something that would not make sense. Your plot is tight, your pacing is brisk and you have checked and rechecked the dialogue of your characters. I recommend looking at your characters hard and making sure that you captured their ‘voice’. They can’t all sound the same and they have to talk the way that they would if this story were true. I took every single character’s lines of dialogue and put it all in different documents. Then I read each line of their dialogue for the characters in my novel The Cult of the Spider People. By the time I was done with editing their dialogue, no two characters talked the same and truly sounded unique. It was a lot more effort but it was worth it. 

Also, check the tone of your novel and make sure it is consistent. Sometimes a novel or a few scenes need a complete rewrite. These days, editors, agents, publishers and readers have seen and read everything. You have to be truly unique and persevere in this field. Publishing is a business. Remember that. But the more unique you are, the better. Write the story that not only you could write but that you would want to read. Polish, polish, polish your writing. Make sure your character’s eyes don’t change colour for no reason at a later scene in the story. Their actions must make sense. 

It does not matter if you write romance or horror or westerns, editing has to be done. By the time my manuscript for The Cult of the Spider People was published, there was not much editing the editor needed to do. I had done all the hard work already. We just made a few changes. Editing and revising is a lot of work but it is a necessary evil. 

So let’s say your novel/ novella or short story is accepted for publication. There is traditional publishing and there is indie publishing. Personally I recommend that you try for trad publishing. It opens a lot more doors for you. Congrats! You have gotten this far and still have a long way to go.

This is what I learned the hard way:

Indie publishers tell you they will get your book into bookstores but only if the bookstore managers go through Ingram to acquire the books. It is in my contract that my books would be in bookstores worldwide. However, that never happened. Bookstores are reluctant to take in books that are self-published. If you still want to go that route, you have to do it through consignment which is a whole other ball game, so to speak. Make sure that you have a legit publishing contract and that you have a thorough understanding of the terms in the contract. Yes you can get a lawyer to read through the contract with you if this is your first or second contract. 

Indie publishing means self-publishing. I was fortunate that the publisher never expected a payment from me. But do not be too difficult for a publisher to deal with. The publishing world is small and everyone knows each other. Be professional. You do not want to earn a bad reputation of being too aggressive or hard to deal with. Everyone is dedicated to books being made, and no one will want to deal with that. That goes for whether you are indie publishing your book or trad, be nice to everyone. The editor lives in North Carolina. That state was affected by a huge natural disaster when my book was ready to go print. The publisher stepped up to the ‘helm’. Be understanding that these things happen. It is beyond anyone’s control. 

I was lucky. The person in charge of creating the cover art of my book truly had the gift. Wow. She did a beautiful job for my book cover. I am very grateful. That leads to my next point. Be grateful for the contract you get. It is a mixture of perseverance and good luck that you get a contract, so be happy with it. It’s not just talent or who you know in the publishing world. If you follow what I am sharing here, it may just happen. 

Publishing a book and everything included with it takes time. Be patient. It will happen and you just have to wait. While you are waiting, and it looks like they forgot you but they didn’t, write something else. Work on your blog, practice your writing, and try to improve it always. I still take workshops and read and read. I read a lot. 

Be open to the changes. The editor Stephanie Ellis who helped me shape my book The Cult of the Spider People completely rewrote my book. The manuscript will be changed anyway so be open to it. Don’t refuse any changes. They are trying to improve your book to make it better and that can only happen if you are not a stick in the mud. Be more like putty or clay, something they can mold. They want your story to shine and make sales and that can only happen if you leave the diva attitude at home- in your drawer. Improve your writing all the time!

Go ahead and host a book launch in your own hometown. Promote and market your book like mad. Use ads or Amazon ads and anything you can think of to make sure the world knows that your book exists. Remember, the publishing team is still at your side to help you champion your book. 

If you get one book out, write your second one, and your third or your tenth book. Keep writing, keep improving yourself. Write what you would want to read. Be original. Keep trying. Mention the people who were helpful to you in your acknowledgements. Yes you can mention a concern to an editor. They are there to help you. You can take two months to three months to six months to write a book. Editors and publishers will wait. They will wait for a great book. There is no room for mediocre here. Be the best you can be. 

 

Blessings, Spiderwitch 

 

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June 11, 2024 · 2:36 pm

Monsters in the Modern World

Merry meet all,

Today’s post will be about monsters in the modern world. Or, rather, in our stories. We are all familiar with vampires, werewolves, and flesh-eating zombies. The most common tropes in horror movies and fiction have grown rather staid. Readers and audiences have seen everything under the pale blue moon. It is more important to reinvent horror tropes. In fact, it is not just necessary, it is absolutely vital. Creating your own monsters or breathing new life into the monsters that are too common today is the best way to get published. 

I created a new monster for my novella Cult of the Spider People. One way to reinvent a horror trope is to take something very mundane and make it weird. I know many people are scared of spiders but I made spiders my own way for my novella. I gave the spider creatures- the smaller ones – human head on their shoulders. See how I did that? Then once the mortal characters are held captive in the realm of Arachnall, they encounter more spider creatures that are part human, part spider but they are one hundred percent my own creation. 

Be original in your efforts and it will get noticed. We all know that Freddy Kreuger lurks in our nightmares and that other ominous serial killers lurk in shadowy alleys just waiting for an unwary prey. What if one of these monsters gave something instead of taking something away- what if someone was begging to die and was forced to be kept alive then they encounter one of those serial killers who grants them their wish? Or makes them omnipotent. 

Another suggestion is the current state of the world. War, genocide and environmental degradation are rich with material to fill the pages of a novel. The idea of nature turning on us while frightening is not new but maybe you could find a way to put your own spin on it. There are reference books that can help you figure out how to reinvent the horror tropes. 

One good book to refer to is The Horror Trope Thesaurus by Jennifer Hilt. Here is what Amazon had to say about this amazing book:

“Join me as we examine:

1). What is horror? What’s a trope? Some applicable definitions and examples. How to avoid stereotypes and cliches.
2). An extensive look at how the amnesia trope in horror.
3). Fifty plus trope entries with definitions and examples in current horror movies and series.
4). Practice using goal, motivation, and conflict in conjunction with tropes to create unique horror-centric characters. By analyzing tropes in various horror subgenres, you will learn how to identify tropes.

The horror genre is the study of our relationships with monsters. Personally, I can’t think of a better thing to study! Join me as we figure out what goes bump in the night.

From the USA Today Bestselling Author of The Trope Thesaurus comes a unique approach to crafting horror stories.

The Trope Thesaurus has over 200 Amazon reviews. Here is one sample review:

A Customer
Fuel for thought Jan 1, 2022
Forget everything you think you know about tropes. The author does a fantastic job of illustrating that not only do the obvious tropes exist in entertainment media, but if you dig deeper, you see a fast treasure trove of tropes bubbling beneath the surface.

She does a fantastic job of breaking down the bigger genres into their tropes, proving that, honestly, all genres share the same story beneath the trappings of the genre. It’s about characters and tropes and GMC.

With humor and a deft touch, she explains how to find tropes, twist them, wiggle them, jig them to work for you in a story, and, most importantly, that not all tropes are All Important. Many secondary tropes can do some heavy lifting, too, to create compelling stories that readers will lap up like sugar.

This book is going into my writer toolkit.” (Amazon.ca)

Here is the link to the book: https://www.amazon.ca/Horror-Trope-Thesaurus-Jennifer-Hilt/dp/B0BF336ZV8/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2HIFYCKOE345W&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.WWmWB5-vK26z4NNpXiXxoQDFUKR2LGRi4-PC38CZCM9i3rUPhueIxaifj38nKFc6s9kj5lgosq5M99taH1n7CjIjQF1o_7ztLmWAyaCBmAtGBobl27zYrUw00p5mQd7S_SzO9j4EEEXWpLRR7j1EOtZr-dJAioaEM9cWquhUFOqXSW3mWPNZ8uNT3fjmbTqm3TWwB_6Y0aFH0STLCdwmi-lStvfGcNS4QWtdGi_tCyTgFoTFDuZctwRwKIRIjdaTZN3reD0WZZ-IMv0YJ6lf0e9P812U2_aDiPHjJWZ7sxc.ySGBNZ-N9OZgU0mEH6TCdfuhDOO-binNLJb7l-DBl8k&dib_tag=se&keywords=horror+tropes&qid=1718126727&sprefix=horror+tropes%2Caps%2C108&sr=8-1

I am sure there are other reference books to use while brainstorming a new monster into your fiction. That book is just a start. It is hugely important to create your own tales that only you can tell. That is what makes your fiction stand out from the slush pile. 

The character from the movie Jurassic Park said that creation was an act of sheer will. Let your act of creation be uniquely yours! You may just see your book selling on Amazon and keeping readers awake late at night. 

Blessings, Spiderwitch 

#horror #horrortropes #horrormonsters #monsters #horrormovies #horrorstories #werewolves #vampires #zombies

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March 1, 2024 · 1:16 pm

Enchanted Costuming )O(

Merry meet all,

Beware the Ides of March!  Yes March is like an enigma, it is still winter but spring wants to have her way too. 

The besom I ordered from Etsy and that flew in from the Ukraine is truly magickal. The besom is still standing up on end perfectly straight. Wow. The besom named Raven is black and beautiful. Well it came from Russia, yeah so, it’s magickal. I love Raven. The besom is just made for this witch’s abode. 

I plan to start my seeds soon. I wanted to get soil today but the freezing cold temperature – minus 21 C% windchill, keeps me indoors. I may go out just to do laundry but that’s all. I guess I will head out tomorrow. It is too cold to leave the house today. 

I ordered the Tauriel Maxi Overdress in black this week. I can’t wait to get to wear it with everything I own almost. Black matches everything. I already can think of several dresses I can wear with the overdress. That’s why I don’t regret buying it. It is better than buying something and then discovering too late nothing matches. Here is the enchanting description of the overdress from Holy Clothing:

  1. “Named for the free-spirited elven warrior from The Hobbit, our Tauriel Overdress truly is a magical piece. There’s something really fantastic and awe-inspiring about this hooded overdress, from the falling vines of leaves to her mysterious oversized hood.
  2. This overdress is a single piece that is made up of a lace-up bodice, asymmetrical hem skirt, and a hood. It’s also an underbust design, which gives the wearer a lot of looks to play with when they’re deciding which pieces of their closet to add to the outfit they want to create.
  3. Tauriel isn’t just a fantasy dress for costume play or LARP. It’s so much more than that. It’s a dress that allows you to bring a spark of magic into your everyday life without being a huge statement piece. This is a dress with a subtle and lovely flare, and one that would look perfect while worn during a Sunday market excursion or donned for a day out in your nearest big city.
  4. Live magically. Live romantically.
  5. About this overdress:
  6. Metallic silver nature-inspired embroidery.
  7. Pockets for keeping your favorite shiny rocks safe.
  8. Brass eyelets.
  9. Bodice designed with two layers of rayon and interfacing.
  10. Crepe godets.
  11. Double layer of rayon for the hood.
  12. Exclusive HolyClothing design.
  13. Ethically handmade in India.” Credit to Holy Clothing. 

How can you turn that away? I can’t. I ordered it for a reason. I can’t wait for winter to end so I can strut my stuff. Here is a photo of the overdress  shown below. https://holyclothing.com/collections/overdresses I have included the link if you want to order one for yourself. 

I hope this inspires you to try enchanting your own style! Blessings Spiderwitch

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January 17, 2024 · 3:18 pm

My Dark Avenger- Dante the Doll

My new doll

Merry meet all,

I was gifted a new pair of winter boots. I am so happy and so are my feet. Living in Atlantic Canada, you need a comfortable truly insulating pair of winter boots.  I love them. I recently made myself a new doll. I made the doll, my dark avenger, because I am so tired of the pain and toxicity I encounter. It has been so bad it has changed me. But not for the worse, but rather for the better. It does no good to be naive but it doesn’t have to turn you into someone bitter or hateful, either. 

I love my doll and I have named him Dante. He is all black with two buttons for eyes and a black button for the nose. He has a red mouth, a grey and red cape, and I stuffed with specific herbs. The herbs are meant to protect me. The herbs are sage, wormwood, nettle, pine needles, High John the Conqueror, mandrake, oak bark and Devil’s Claw Root. I stirred the herbs in a bowl with a wooden spoon, empowering the herbs with protective energy to protect me. He smells good! His hair is made from purple yarn. Dante is a dashing little fellow. I created him with care. Dante sports a necklace of skulls and pentacles and he bears a protection rune on the front, on his chest. I want to add horns and a tail to Dante too. 

I just love how Dante turned out. He looks great and he makes me feel good each time I hold him or look at him. Dante will always watch over me and guard me. That is the intention I put into him. I found a pattern to make a poppet doll and just enlarged the pattern. Then I sewed him together with care and love. I like to take pride in the things I do. They turn out better and last longer. My other doll, Minerva will get to know Dante too. 

I am tired of the pain and hate and toxicity. I received a flash of inspiration and next thing I knew, since I am happiest when I am creative, I was sewing myself a doll. I am tired of being a sponge for all that. No one needs that. Ever since Covid, everything has gone to pot. I hope the world gets better. The doll will now protect me. He is my little friend who will make sure no one ever hurts me again. This does not mean I won’t have my moments or that I won’t ever encounter anything negative ever again, like I am not a god. I am human but it sure feels good now to have Dante around. 

Penny is a sweet munchkin. She probably tries to protect me too. She is always available for a cuddle, whether I am happy or sad. So let’s love our little avengers- dolls, cats or a dog, whatever you have near you that loves you. We know the world could use a lot more love. Let’s choose love!

Imbolc approaches! 

Blessings, Spiderwitch 

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October 25, 2023 · 11:53 am

A Dark Inspiration

Merry meet all,

This post will focus on Samhain and my dyeing fabric project using acorns. Are you all excited? I am.

I foraged for a very big mullein stalk yesterday morning. The stalk was about six feet in length. I plan to use the mullein stalk to make hag tapers or torches with. I hope and hope the weather on October 31st will cooperate. I want to have the traditional bonfire. I always have my traditional bonfire. I will  prepare the mullein pieces, cut to size in a double boiler pot with melted beeswax. I will add herbs and oils. I want the beeswax to look black so I will add charcoal. An additive to make beeswax black can affect the way it burns. The charcoal is purely for aesthetic purposes. The popular herbs for Samhain can be used to enhance the beeswax and hag tapers. I would use aromatic herbs like sage, rosemary, wormwood, mugwort and rose. I can’t wait to make the hag tapers.

I’m making the dye bath with the acorns I foraged for earlier. I have treated the muslin cloth in a pot of water with the powdered album. I use the album to make the fabric take to the dye. I used a very large stainless steel pot and added the acorns. I have to ensure the water covers the acorns. I will continue to simmer the acorns for till late tonight and let the acorns soak in the water all night until about midday tomorrow. The longer that the acorns steep, hopefully the darker the color will be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I will strain the acorns and pour the dye bath back into the pot. The acorn dye bath has steeped overnight and I’m boiling it on the stove again. The dye has become a lovely dark brown colour. I know the dye will be three times lighter when rinsed and dried. That’s why I am steeping the acorns for so long, to achieve the darkest color possible. I will attempt to dye the fabric tonight and I may do a test patch too. I am excited to see how this turns out. The tannins in the acorns are what make the dye possible. Acorns are rich in tannins. It makes me feel so witchy, stirring a pot of acorns! The scent from the acorns is musky and earthy. 

Now I have to prepare for Samhain! I am sure I am not the only one. I pureed the pumpkin to brew pumpkin bread, perhaps some barmbrack bread and pumpkin soup. I may even try making powdered pumpkin and use my dehydrator. I want to harvest dandelion roots and dry them in my dehydrator. 

Fall is the season of abundance! I am sure the book I am binding will be beautiful. Last night, I worked on it some more. I watched a few videos about people who know how to bind books professionally. They sure knew their stuff. Some of it was a little over the top. I am binding the book to create a book for my horror poetry. I want to write another poetry book. I have a pdf of the Writing in the dark poetry workbook. I am not writing my rough drafts of the poems in that book. Of course the first poem I will put in the book will be the one I wrote and had published, about the cemetery, Encounter with Death. I want to stain the pages with coffee or tea and maybe other herbal infusions. Or dilute essential oils and add that to the pages. I want herbs to have a big role in the creation of this book. The acorns are already adding that energy. I did make three pages of paper. I added a few herbs to the pages too. I will tea stain those pages and add them to the front and back of the book. The covers and spine are cut to size. I cut a small rectangle on the back book cover so I can emboss that section. 

I also plan to include a photo of the headstone where I gathered the acorns by accident. I want to include a small note that I appreciate and respect the spirit for letting me gather the acorns. I’m putting the note in an envelope and storing at the front of the book. I thought of buying a taper logy set ( the decorative paper for making a junk journal) and dyeing the paper and adding it to the book. 

The fabric I’m binding the book with is muslin. I hope the colour will be a deep enough colour of brown for this to work. I want to attach a black velveteen strip to go over the front edges of the book. I also want to add 4 corner protectors. Most of the supplies are available at Michaels. I love that store. I want to also add an adhesive to the muslin once dyed to make the fabric stiffer and more durable. 

I considered making the paper for the book by hand. But I don’t have the fine art of making paper with a mold and deckle down enough. I plan to buy a pack of coloured paper at Staples and then tea staining it and trimming the outer front edges of the paper to add texture. I have a lot of plans with this project. Maybe this will finally make me write that book already! 

Golds, brown and black tones and shades will obviously work here. I originally wanted to use the davy board up. I had some remaining from my other project. I want to decorate the pages with crows, spiders and bats. This is supposed to be about horror after all. I will post more when the book is complete. I can’t wait and I can’t wait for Samhain. 

Blessed be, Spiderwitch

 

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January 15, 2023 · 4:14 pm

Seed starts

Merry meet all,

Today is rainy, snowy and very overcast. Snow lightly covers the ground. Raindrops splatter the windowpanes. It is a sleepy, stay home type of day. The next turn in the Wheel of the year is Imbolc. Before I get started, I just wanted to write here that I know I haven’t posted much. This week, I had to deal with an infected tooth and an abnormal amount of pain. I had to get that under control’s which involved freezing my tooth at the hospital, and a lot of painkillers and an antibiotic to clear up the infected tooth. I am feeling much better now. 

Imbolc is coming soon! My kitty Penny woke up from her long nap. I just gave her a cuddle. Imbolc is exciting to me because it is the first of the three Spring Sabbats. Imbolc is a time of renewed hope, purity and the return of the light. The cold remains but hope and new life stirs beneath the soil. I will post more here about Imbolc. I have a recipe on how to make Imbolc inspired cookies already. I can’t wait to try it!

Imbolc is the perfect time to read seed catalogues and to plan what you want to grow this spring. Or at least to think about which plants you want to start indoors. I plan to get the seed starting kit back from my Mom’s. I have to wait to get soil. Once I do, I plan to start seeds early. It’s my opinion that tomato plants take a long long time to grow, and I believe that they need to be started earlier in order to reach their maximum growth earlier in the year to bear fruit. This has been my observation.

Tomorrow I hope to get the Mastering Herbal Formulations book from the Herbal Academy in the mail. I can really get deep into the course once I have the workbook. I wish they did delivery on weekends but I guess USPS doesn’t work that way. I have read Unit 1 and I get most of the ideas. The calculations look complicated but not impossible. I really need to learn this stuff in order to sell my teas at the local farmers market. That is my goal and part of why I am studying at the Herbal Academy. I want to run a herbal business when I graduate. First, I have a lot to learn. I want to take my time and learn and then I will have a better chance of running my herbal business.

I had reservations about blending two or more herbs in a tincture and other preparations. The Mastering Herbal Formulations course will take away my reservations and give me a renewed confidence. I look forward to reading and learning more in Unit 2-3. The courses at the Herbal Academy are fascinating. I love everything I have learned so far. So to return to the topic of spring seed planting, I have a few new herb seed packets to try this spring. I have many packets of seeds. However, this spring, I have motherwort seeds and I can’t wait to start that from seed. There are too many for me to count here that I want to get started. That will have to be in a future post. 

If you ask me, time is speeding up. I can’t believe how fast time goes now. It seems like I was holding a bonfire in my back yard and now I want to pore over seed catalogues. Does anyone feel like time is speeding up? To what purpose? It’s hard to say. I will just ride the crest of this ‘wave’ as best I can. The possibility of the return of spring cheers me greatly. 

 

Blessings, Spiderwitch 

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