SAMHAIN GREETINGS

Having shown more "traditional" Hallowe'en projects for the past month or more on the actual day I thought I would be a little perverse and instead of more of the same go for the older, more PAGAN celebration of SAMHAIN.

 SAMHAIN

When the year is turning to harvest

and the wind invites you to ride

light fires on every hilltop

and greet those beloved who died

 Samhain marked the end of the harvest, the end of the "lighter" half of the year and the beginning of the "darker" half. It shares some elements with the festival of the dead in that it was believed that the border between this world and the otherworld became thin on Samhain thus allowing the dead to reach back through the veil that seperated them from the living.

 Bonfires played a large part in the festivities; people and their livestock would often walk between two bonfies as a cleansing ritual, and the bones of slaughtered livestock were cast into its flames.

 I had great fun making these stitched pumpkins.......I drew them on coloured card and then stitched around them in a very random fashion, next I tore them out, this was again not a very precise thing, I liked the way some of the stitching came adrift giving a ragged appearance. I so enjoyed making these that more may well make another appearance later in the week!

This week sees the publication of the latest ART SPECIALLY magazine..............

 .......I have a project in it, here is a sneak peek!!! Been a while since I was last published so am chuffed to be so again!