The Magician

It's been a while since I've purchased a new tarot deck, but I found the Paulina Tarot the other day while gallivanting online and it spoke to be right away (it said, "buy me"... lol)

With all the back-to-school craziness that's been going on here I haven't had a (quiet) chance to sit down and get to know my new deck yet, but today I found myself (in the middle of screaming kids and barking dogs) sitting down with my deck and doing a reading for myself. I did a very small, three card, spread (I didn't really have time, or room for any more) that actually turned into a five card spread with a bit of confirmation from my favorite pendulum (I honestly couldn't believe how clear the answers were coming through from the deck itself, but they were spot on!)

The last card I pulled was the Magician.. She arrived in all her Enchanted Glory to remind me of who and what I am - a Knowledgeable Witch with Friends in the Spirit Realm who are here to help me any time I so ask.

It's easy to forget that, and so today I've taken to placing reminders around myself - to finding a bit of quiet to ground and center myself, to connect once again with my Patron Goddess who shines the Light of Beauty and Grace upon me anytime I wish. Today is a day filled with Spirit for me and with this heat I swear I feel as if I'm in Hades... which is exactly where I want to be! Chatting with the Queen of the Underworld, Persephone, and Her Hand-maiden, Hecate... listening to the words of Ancient Wisdom.

Samhain is coming and it's time for my art to take a turn into the darkness of the macabre world. I have several projects I'm working on that are a bit darker in nature, but honestly all my Witch-crafts tend to come out on the Lighter Side.. Francesca once told me I was very much a Girly Fae and I guess that just comes out with everything I do - be it fashion, art or magic!

Until next time...

Magical Marketing...

I found these enchanting pens that I was able to have engraved.. aren't they so sweet! I guess I might be a bit partial to them, since they have my website link running down the side... I really like them a lot though! They are actually pretty big.. measuring 7 1/2" long, you can even use them as a real beasom to clear negative energy - the perfect little altar tool for the office!

So.. since it's almost Harvest Season and I need constant reasons to celebrate during the darker months, I'll be giving away an engraved witches broom pen with each order placed at one of my web shoppes for $50.00 or over. You may mix and match and order from me at any of the online sites I sell on (the links are on the right side bar...).

I've been contemplating opening up my own online store again. I sell a majority of my Magical Treasures on Etsy. I've really started listing a lot there over the past few months. For the most part, I've met the most wonderful people on the Etsy site, but there have been a few bad apples.. and it's starting to make me re-think things.

I'd like to be able to offer all my products in one place and I think to do that I may need my own online web shoppe.. then maybe I'll only sell one of a kind items on places like Etsy and ArtFire. I have such a mix over at eBay.. it just feels like a perpetual garage sale, even though I've started adding little stories to each of my second-hand item listings; just trying to give a little personality to my item listings... other wise there's nothing to make them stand out - it's just a pair of used shoes or a second-hand snow jacket.

I guess, since the Mercury Retrograde is coming I really shouldn't do anything major until it's over. So, I'll just continue as things were until it's over. Maybe by the end of the retrograde I'll have some more insight about the whole situation and I won't feel so 'off' any more! I think this weekend might be the perfect time to do some protection spells around the house, maybe even do a full house cleansing too- you can't be too careful before the retrogrades! If I come up with something I really like I'll let you guys know...

Until next time..

The Last Rose of Summer

My daughter and I have been spending lots of Mommy-and-Me time together since her brother started school on Monday. We've been making little projects everyday, little things to remember our last few days of Summer before they are all gone and Autumn arrives.

The last few days have been filled with soap. We bought some fun molds and since we don't have a microwave we're using a dedicated metal pot and clean wooden spoon. I found these Victorian Style Rose Soap Molds and knew I had to have them.. I love all things vintage, or all things that look vintage. We did a few different colors with a Shea Butter Soap base.. I have to admit, I didn't really 'get' that the white of the soap would effect the colors so much (talk about fibro-fog), but I think the lighter, pastel colors are very feminine and... I like them.

Finding a way to wrap the soaps presented a bit of a challenge. How do you wrap an oval soap? Well, so far we've tried regular plastic wrap and shrink wrap. The shrink wrap is great, but you really have to figure out the right amount of plastic to use before you start blowing heat at things - especially meltable things!

We wrapped up soap to send to Gramma and Great-Grammy and a few Aunties and a Nona too. We had a few bars left over, so those made it into our little Etsy Boutique.. I wonder how many mommies on there have their 5 year olds helping with production? My son actually told me he'd like to open his own store to earn money for more legos... wonder what sort of things he'll want to create?

Anyway.. I hope everyone is enjoying their last few days of Summer with or without your little ones~

Until Next Time...

Hubbard's Cupboard...

I came up with the concept of Fairytale Enchantments several years ago. I haven't really added many items to the product lines in a while, but as of late I've been a busy, busy witch and so I've been creating new products and adding them to my little Etsy Boutique...

The latest addition to my Hubbard's Cupboard All Natural Line of Pet Care Products is some absolutely divine (and very useful) Rosemary Flea Wash! I actually just brewed up a batch since my little puppy dog Rex has been super itchy and unable to get a good nights sleep, which in turn was making it difficult for me to sleep. So yesterday my daughter and I gave Rex a good washing and finished his bath off with a bit of the Rosemary Flea Wash.

He was so happy! He was jumping up and down trying to kiss me on the nose (which is the usual spot for giving kissies.. ) I was very glad that the rinse helped bring him relief so quickly and that everyone was able to get a good nights sleep once again~ There's nothing like having a 120 pound dog in your face at 3 in the morning!

So.. Yesterday was a long day~ physically and emotionally. It was back to school day for my oldest, so we were all up early to drive him the 20 miles (one way) to his private school. He was really happy to go to school until he realized that his teacher from last year would not be back. She moved to Africa at the end of the last school year. We told him many times that she would not be coming back, but he has autism and sometimes I'm not sure how much he really understands from us... yesterday was a perfect example. I've told him about 20 times that his teacher wasn't coming back and yet he was in tears yesterday after he got to school and finally understood what my words could not prepare him for. Thankfully I know he's safe where he is and that the school is equipped to help him deal with his overwhelming emotions.. I'm so thankful for his private school and the wonderful caring staff that is there for all the exceptional children that attend there....

Today my daughter and I are taking it easy.. things will be difficult for the nest few weeks of adjusting to school. I'm trying to rest as much as I can to prepare myself for the evenings, when emotions run high and I have to keep my cool. We get a few weeks to adjust to one new schedule and then the other little one goes back to school... we'll just keep taking things one moment at a time and dealing with the situation that is at hand, not worrying about what's to come, but being happy and content with whatever we can now. Sure things won't always be wonderful 100% of the time, but I really feel not making a big deal out of things helps to diffuse the tough situations... 'cuz really they're not so tough, it's just a moment in time and it will pass just as quickly as it came.

The Creative Muse and Online Selling...

I'm having so much fun putting together new items for my little Etsy Boutique!

I thought I'd take a little break and and post the latest product as well as a few updates...

I've been selling on eBay for a long time. At one point I was basically selling anything I could get my hands on - Bath & Body Products, Baby Clothes, Old Books & Movies. Then I started selling other people's stuff - jewelry, purses, clothes (one time I had someone bring me a pair of old fluffy bunny slippers.. used - can you say, 'ewwww, gross!')

Well, a few months ago I decided that I didn't want to do that any more. I didn't want to be at a perpetual online garage sale anymore. So, slowly I've been listing the last little bits of my former inventory as well as allowing some old listings to stay up until they sell.. but usually I've just been pulling all the old 'stuff' and donating it to places like the local library and woman's shelter. I feel good knowing that some of the things I had here will benefit someone else, or bring enjoyment to someone else... at no cost to them! My family is not in a place financially right now where we can donate money, but we can donate items.. and so that's what we've been doing, as often as well can... and it feels really good!

Not selling my old items, or even someone else's old items, has given me the free-time I desperately needed to start being creative again. One of my favorite parts of being a witch is all the stuff! All the tools and treasures, all the herbs and gemstones, all the oils and incense and all the... s p e l l s!

I love the stuff of Witchcraft.. although it is not necessary in the least, it is by far, my most favorite part.. and I've been having a wonderful time brewing and blending and.... bewitching these past few weeks. I've been really using the vibrant, radiant energy of Summer to be the creative person I love to be.. I feel a bit sad that soon it will be coming to an end (...but we've got a ritual all planned out for that and we're not going to dwell on the future right now... we're going to stay in the present!)

I love to find creative ways to present items in a aesthetically pleasing, and yet, still useful way... I love making magick pretty, when so many times it's not. I was never a real girly-girl, but I find that I am, at least when it comes to practicing magick. Sometimes I do use darker colors, but I still find most of my creations to be very lady like. My favorite design today has been these little Magick Herb 1oz. Spell Sacks - Just a little 'ol ounce of herbs, but dressed up in a bit of cute packaging to make you excited to use them when they show up at your door (well, you do have to place an order for them first..)

Speaking of orders... I got all my orders shipped out today! I had about 20 or so that needed to go out before noon. It took most of the morning, but I packed 'em all up and got them out in time to meet the Postman.. or I thought I was going to see the Postman, but when I went outside I found this instead....

Looks like Austin thinks the outgoing-mailbox is really a Kitty Bed.. He's so cute, I really don't care where he sits (which is probably a good attitude to have since he is always very curios

about something!)

Until Next Time...

Busy Witch

It's been so long since I've posted...

I've been a really (really) busy witch.. brewing and blending non stop for the past few weeks. A few of the new items have made it into my little Etsy Boutique (which is growing at a pretty steady rate) but I have so many more items to put the finishing touches on, take photos of and get on the site.

I've been having a really fun time with the whole process (that's the most important part to me..) and I really don't mind that every flat surface in my house is covered with something (well, maybe a little.. lol)

This weekend I will be doing 'clean up' - not in the sense of putting things away, just in the sense of finishing up all the little odds-n-ends and getting at least one flat surface cleaned off!

I've listed a few items for Mabon so far, but still have a few more to get up. I'm also hoping to get started on crafting a few new things for Samhain (that always takes a while.. best to get started now!)

Good thing the kids are so happy with their legos! I'm so proud of my son.. he's still only 6 and is putting together huge lego sets, with 700 pieces, all by himself in less than 2 days! I guess we'll be buying another set this weekend.. (now you know where all my Etsy money goes.. lol)

I'm so out of the blog loop.. hopefully I'll have some time tonight to catch up a bit more!

Freaky Friday...

I'm still trying to let everyone know about my blog name change - from Hocus Pocus to Enchanted Garden Studio. Hopefully after this months newsletter goes out there will be less confusion.

So.. this weekend started off a little unusual. Our little baby-puppy- dog (he's a 125 pound black lab who thinks he's a 4 pound cat) got out on Friday. We rescued him almost a year ago now and he's never tried to get out before.. but we have (what I thought) was a small hole in the fence, so Rex decided to go poking around to check things out - he's gotta keep the house safe, right? (so he was only trying to do his job!) He was only out front for about 3 minutes, until I noticed my shadow was missing (he follows me every where), but apparently that was long enough! I guess he got bit or stung by something and his poor ears swelled up.. I swear he looked like dumbo! He wouldn't let me take any pictures while holding his ears back (I think he knew he was going to make it on the blog!! LOL) but I did get a few (with his face hidden) where you can see the swelling.. poor baby! So he got lots of Benadryl and a visit from our Mobile Vet (which is such a cool service!!) and finally today his ears are looking back to normal again...

(you can sort of see the swelling in the picture below..)

So.. on to other things! I've been trying to add some items to my Etsy Boutique, if not everyday, then every few days. This month I actually had a new item to enter into my Street Team's Challenge... I was hoping I could bribe everyone to vote for me at the Roots & Shoots, Buds & Blooms Challenge for the Pagan's of Etsy Street Team Challenge this month. Please feel free to forward the link on to anyone you think you might be able to talk into voting for me (or just anyone really, I'm on the volunteer committee for the Street Team, so I just like to see participation for the group).

We watched the Nicolas Cage movie, Knowing, last night... I'm still not sure what to make of that whole thing. I'm the type of person that has to watch a movie at least 3 times before I start really getting into it and I just don't think I can watch that movie again.. it sort of gave me the creeps. I had to watch Tinker Bell just to go to sleep after Knowing was over!! Now Tinker Bell is a movie I can watch over-and-over-and-over.. It's so cute! I just checked Amazon this morning and found out they have a new Tinker Bell movie The Lost Treasure, so I'll be picking up a copy of that soon to check out and maybe I'll even let the kids watch it too.. lol.

Anyway.. I hope everyone had a Blessed Lughnasadh.. It's really a celebration that used to last all month and we'll be very happy to accommodate that in this house! We have many things to appreciate and be thankful for.. our harvest is much this year, so we have lots to honor the Gods for!