the wheel of the year

"Every year at this time, I slap myself in the head and think, "Doh!  Why didn't I pot those bulbs that I wanted to have blooming in the dark cold winter?"  The reason of course is that I am the Queen of Procrastination and one basically Very Lazy Person.  And in spite of that handicap, I've managed to identify and begin to overcome some of my fears.  In 2014, I want to deal with my fear of fire issues and learn how to use a torch (for soldering) and a kiln (for metal clay charms and beads)."  

This was the post that I started to write a few days after Christmas.  I never finished it because I was feeling a bit under the weather and despite dosing myself with vitamin C and various herbal concoctions, I managed to develop a serious case of pneumonia.  Breath is so fundamental to being alive that I really freak out when it's a struggle to get oxygen.  All creative endeavors were left to fend for themselves during the last four weeks, but I'm starting to feel almost human again and this afternoon took photos of an ambitious piece I finished just before the holidays.

The amulet pouch is made of a vintage piece of Hmong applique.  I sewed it into a pocket with a little piece of velcro to close it and hung it on a beaded necklace.  I started with one strand, but it looked too unbalanced, so I added strands until it felt right.  Labor intensive.

I spent a lot of time with my maternal grandmother when I was growing up.  She truly believed that "idle hands are the devil's workshop", so from the time I could hold a large, blunt-tipped needle, I was given handiwork to keep me out of trouble.  My favorite things to make were "pockets" out of sewing scraps with the pick of my grandmother's button box as closures and embellished with my own crude embroidered flowers.  I was thinking of those days when I was making this piece.

May the New Year bring us all good health and peace ...