Travel Log 4-15: Witches in Ficntion #3 (or more Grannyisms)

Magaly over at Pagan Culture is being kind enough to host this little get together, so here is my contribution to Witches in Fiction.
   My Favorite Non Alive Person (or A Tribute to Granny Weatherwax).

Granny Weatherwax ( captured here by Paul Kidby the official Discworld portraitist check out his site at http://www.paulkidby.net)

Here is my Bit 'o Granny Wisdom for today:
  From Witches Abroad
You can't go around building a better world for people. Only people can build a better world for people. Otherwise it's just a cage.

   This one reminds me that I need to think carefully about my motives when I am doing a working for someone else. Just because I can do something, doesn't always mean I should. One thing that Granny has mastered is that magic doesn't just go 'poof' and make everything better. People, working their butts off, make things better. No spell I do will ever on its own be enough to enact change. I have to act and follow it up to really make change.

Travel log 4-14: Witches in Fiction #2 (or my Grannyisms)

Magaly over at Pagan Culture is being kind enough to host this little get together, so here is my contribution to Witches in Fiction.
   My Favorite Non Alive Person (or A Tribute to Granny Weatherwax).

Granny Weatherwax ( captured here by Paul Kidby the official Discworld portraitist check out his site at http://www.paulkidby.net)

Here is my Bit of Granny wisdom for today:
   from Lords and Ladies:
"Blessings be upon this house," said Granny Weatherwax. In much the same tone of voice have people said, 'Eat hot lead, Kincaid.'

      This little tidbit is pretty self explanatory (kinda). It reminds me as a witch that my intent is 1000% more important than my actual words. It doesn't matter if my words are perfect, or if I wrote an inspired couplet. What I mean in my own mind is the most important part. Just as a blessing can be a curse, so the reverse is true if my intent is not clear in my own mind.

Travel Log 4-13: Witches in Fiction (or my Grannyisms)

Magaly over at Pagan Culture is being kind enough to host this little get together, so here is my contribution to Witches in Fiction.
   My Favorite Non Alive Person (or A Tribute to Granny Weatherwax).

     As many of you know, I have a very distinct connection to the Discworld book series by Sir Terry Pratchett. I love them so much that I have been known to talk about them for hours at a time without noticing that the poor person I was talking to has sidled out of the room and found something better to do.
   One of the reasons that I love the series so much is that these books brought me into contact with my personal witchy hero-

Granny Weatherwax ( captured here by Paul Kidby the official Discworld portraitist check out his site at http://www.paulkidby.net)
   Every day for this party I'll be picking a favorite Weatherwax quote and then tell you how it effects me and what kind of witch I am becoming.

So today here's my quote:
     From Witches Abroad
Granny Weatherwax, who had walked nightly without fear in the bandit-haunted forests of the mountains all her life in the certain knowledge that the darkness held nothing more terrible than she was...

This is a quote that goes through my mind fairly regularly actually. Ever since I was a kid I've been very good at hiding what was really going on in my head, and as such got myself into situations that were dangerous, or just plain dumb, and refused to show how nervous/worried they made me. I think it's because I wasn't just a tomboy, I couldn't be the token girl. I had to be better or at least as good as they were at everything so I definitely couldn't be chicken.
    That's a trait that has kinda persisted through the years. I have a really hard time asking for, and accepting help or comfort, even when I really need it. As a witch, and a pagan, that is not a great trait. Ego (false ego) does not a well focused witch make. Little fears and niggling doubts can really mess up a casting, and not being secure in yourself can lead to more harm than good. So when I repeat this quote to myself in my head, I'm really reminding myself that in truth I am a bit of a witchy bad ass (and funnily enough that's the name of the town that Granny is witch to, lol) and that even if the abyss is staring back at me I'm still staring at it first.

Travel Log 4-12: Children's Tv Tuesday

 Here's the next installment of my series examining children's programing from the perspective an adult held hostage and forced to watch it.
 This week we'll be tackling a relative newcomer onto the small human entertainment stage...
    Dino Dan from NickJr.

   This is a very informative show about , dun dun dun...dinosaurs! This not at all strange little boy sees dinosaurs all over the place in his town, his school, and even in his house. What an imagination! He goes on dino adventures, performs dino experiments, and has a whole range of dino tracking and observing gear (all helpfully identified with dino in front of their name). He has a dino cam that he videotapes these encounters and his friends and family join in constantly but Dan is the only one to ever see the dino's and his evidence always somehow disappears before others see it.
    Now here's my big question on dear little Dino Dan. Is this kid insane and everyone just humors him, or is this just supposed to be a really really good imagination? I mean this show tends to blur the lines between what is in this kids imagination, and what someone just barely misses seeing. Considering some of these dino's are bigger than his house I would love to know how no one else sees or hears them. I would assume these things are just in his imagination , but they are constantly interacting with the environment around them and leaving things like BIG DENTS AND HOLES in things, so I just don't know.
    I'm kinda glad that my guys only mildly like Dan as this show kinda drives me nuts. I keep swinging wildly between thinking that someone should really get this kid help because his delusions/obsession has gotten waaaaay out of hand and thinking that everyone else in the town are idiots for not seeing the T-Rex that's as big as a school bus. Children's programming should not be this stressful...

Travel Log 4-11:The Thrifty Witch Rides again!

  I posted this once, but didn't really like the results so I pulled the old post down and redid it so here's the new one. The spring cleaning fever got me and I have just had to be productive!
So here it is-

  Thrifty Scrying mirror How To

Step 1: Get yourself a cheap picture frame with a glass front. I got this one at the 99cent store,

and originally was going to put the prints you see in them (awesome Witchen Kitsch prints I won in Brigid Ashwoods Halloween art contest) but they didn't fit, so I came up with this quick idea to use the frames instead. Take the backing and glass out of the frame and wash the glass.
Step 2:  Now pick how you want to decorate your glass. you can paint it or you can do like I did and pick some graphics to print out and then modge podge them to the glass. Remember, whichever medium you choose that the design needs to be on the inside of the glass facing out, so make sure to lift up the glass and periodically and check how it looks. Once you're done painting or decoupaging then set the glass aside to dry.
Step 3: Now take the frame and start painting (or if you're decoupage crazy then pick some more graphics and start decoupaging the heck out of it). I chose to paint mine and since I like red and black, I went with a black base coat and then dry brushed some red over it for a nice streaky look.

(pardon the blurry photo's, I am not a great photographer, lol)
 Set the frame aside to dry.
Step 4: Now take the backing of the photo frame (the bit with the hingy thing on it) and pick a paer that you like, preferably in black if you're planning on using this for sure as a scrying mirror (silver or gold that reflects would work as well, but hey, I like black). I used black tissue paper because I thought the crinkles added a nice depth. You'll want to modge podge the paper onto the backing and then I did a top coat of modge podge to make it glossy (if you do this make sure that it is dry all the way before you assemble the whole thing or it can get messy- I learned the hard way).

Step 5: Now reassemble the whole thing and you're done!

  This is a great craft that took only about $2 and can be multipurposed (the best crafts are the ones that can be used for multiple things, lol). It can either be a really special picture frame or it can be a scrying mirror, or just about anything your imagination can come up with!
   I'm thinking about setting up an altar just out of the things that I find and make and see if I can get a full 'traditional' setup and how cheap I can get it, just out of curiosity, lol.
Hope you enjoy this little spark of inspiration I had!