A Fountain Pen and Pretty Paper

"The sounds of pages turning was the sound of magic. The dry liquid feel of the paper under the fingertips was what magic felt like."
Author: Emma Donoghue, 'Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins'

it's like having your own library, a library lined with shelves upon shelves filled with your memories.

it's like having your own poem, poems that when glued together become a treasury of sort, a treasury filled with your hopes.

it's like having pretty lined paper that can only be found in the diary hidden under your pillow, a diary filled with your dreams.

the library. the poem. the diary. the memories. the hopes. the dreams.

it is here, here where you keep your magic.

Magic Always Trumps Facts and Fiction

the facts

a rainbow consists of a variety of colours that create a spectrum through reflection, refraction, dispersion and water droplets.  these documented studies have shown that with these 4 requirements there are numerous conditions that go in the designing of the prism like arc seen in the sky.  two of these studies include the sizing of tears which when larger generate vivid hues; and as with the horizon borderline reds/yellows can be seen and the range of blue/green pigments are found when higher in the sky.  

the fiction

folklore does tell us of finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, so if you do happen to find yourself bathed within the crescent of unbelievable colours please do share your riches with me. 

the magic

but more importantly it is with your own eyes that you find the true beauty of a rainbow. 

* please note:

the bits and pieces of information provided above came from a variety of resources which were re-written only to fit this blog posting. 

The Best Rules to Follow

"There is no law stronger than that of magic. - Kian'

Author: Kialin Gow,
'Bitter Frost'

Needing an Umbrella

"Raindrops and like Fairy Whispers."

Author: Unknown

A Sparkly Rolling Pin

"Just roll me in fairy dust and call me a unicorn"

Author: Lita Burke,
'Ephraim's Curious Device'

all eyes on the future

waiting for the future

for you to imagine

the dream that takes you away

to the illusionist and the 'abracadabra-ist'

beliefs of astonishment and awe-struck hope

to drifting away from reality

for the seer of tomorrow

coming with the fluttering of eyelashes

breathing to the top of your head and soles of your feet

to forget clutter that has ahold

for dreams to become faerie tales

whereas the future is found

No Contract, No Wand

You really do have to wonder what the world has come to that when two people who want to have an agreement must first read the fine print to make sure that all of the 't's are crossed and the 'i's are dotted? 

The Contract..

The Who? 

The knotted. The married. The unified. The merged.

The What? 

The promise. The handshake. The pen to paper. The pact. The bond.

The Court? 

The thing. The place. The podium. The box. The oath.

The Brehon? 

The judge. The person. The decision maker. The peer.

The Decision? 

The answer. The outcome. The ruling. The verdict. The solution. 

The Contract of Yesterday.. 

The gentleman's agreement. The promise. The covenant.

The Contract of Today..

The triplicate. The firm. The compulsory. 

On frilly note paper..

This is the message that the nursery received from one of the Mistress Sanna's that found a forever home away from the cold cold ocean. We always love to have updated and shared notes and even photos too...

"Hello My sweet caretaker,

Thank you so much for helping me come into this world of 2014. I find these fancy letter writers very interesting!! Michelle types for me, But I picked out everything, I wanted your letter to be extra special.

Michelle says you would like to see my room, and know if I am happy. Yes, my sweet friend, I am very happy here. They let me stay up as late as I want. I have my own t.v. And I have made new animal friends that play with me and sleep with me, and we even go on adventures together!!

I have a tray to help keep my furniture in place. A wonderful magic pool that my fish friend takes me on rides in. Sometimes we dive deep in the pool! You should see duckies face! When we dive deep, sometimes we come up in other places too. Saturday, we ended up in France! They place special rocks and shells around my pool, so I can sit by the waters edge, and brush my hair out. I even have a seashell seat! They also gave me special bottle of grooming lotion. It helps me clean myself, and softens my fair. They called it 'essence of water dragon' And boy is it a big bottle!!! I think it may last me a lifetime! In my pictures, you can see my bed, it is a paua shell, lined with hand embroidered sheets and pillow, and beside me, a little table made from a flower, with a bell on it, that I rend if I need anything! And of course my TV! I never saw anything like it, but it is fun watching people do silly things on it. Thank you again for my new family. They pamper me, and make me feel special. As time goes on, we may go places together, and send you pictures if you like. That way you can see how things are going. Would you like that? I miss you my friend, and all the sweet babies in the nursery too. Before I left, they gave me a small sac of fairy dust so I could have something of them with me no matter where I go. Tell them that I sprinkled my whole room with it, so that every where I look I remember them, could you please? Oh goodness, I am going to get , what did Michelle call it? Homesick again if I am not careful!  :) No matter how much I love them, I love you just as much. Be good to yourself! E-hugs!!!!
-- Mistress Sanna"

The Thoughts and The Photos

For the week of October 27 -31, 2014

Authors this week include:

Lois Lowry, J. Maarten Froost, Jostein Gaarder, John Flanagan and Luna Lindsay.

The topics this week were all about how fairy tales will hold us all together no matter what life throws at us.

The full explanation about how a plane really stays afloat in the great sea of the clouds (and I always believed that aerodynamics had absolutely no place in this), how some people really try to debunk the fact that fairy tales are real, the truth of what defines a sword and finally a whole conversation about the more predominately known 6 courts of Fae (yes there was a graphic but then a full blog posting!!).

The week started with how the world itself can destroy itself (hmmm wonder if that word really words both ways?) but the truth about faeries tales will always remain the same.

I love the description of air travel. I know that ever since I was little and as we all did/do ask but how does the plane stay up in the sky (p.s. I still ask this question as I have NEVER been satisfied on the answer that I have been given). I truly believe that I know exactly how the magic works.

As I do not live in the world of 'truth', or at least the truth that is widely accepted and even acknowledged world wide...but I live in one that embraces wonderment, magic, fairy dust, shiny things, rocks (you always have to have rocks), and really just the whole enchantment that I choose to surround myself in. It really doesn't matter what other people think or for that matter, what they say. Once you can get yourself above all of that nonsense, life becomes a much happier place. A place that sometimes stays aloof and for many they never find that silly way for the rest of their lives. This life, this lifestyle, the need to question is one that people forget once they lose their childhood. One that when they believed in the magic of the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus and even the Easter Bunny. One that people strive to once again accept that life doesn't have to be this mechanical, law abiding (okay, well there are still some 'rules' that you have to keep applied to life), boring and disappointing....it doesn't take much to turn it off, to let your feelings replace that 'chip on your shoulder' and that staunch feeling in your belly that you must confirm to the rest of the worlds viewpoint. Who wants to live that way anyways?

The sword and the fairy wand reminds me of the laughter of seeing children playing, those that want/desire to be the hero and those that want to be locked away and rescued. Now, these roles are definitely not defined by gender even though throughout the evolution of life, these roles really have been predestined and even fated for young boys and girls. Is it possible that those that change this viewpoint are they the ones that continue to see the beautiful and sparkly side of life? If they are, I sure hope that their journey is never interrupted by the standards of others. And who knows perhaps swords really are fairy wands.

And as above, this weeks final quote and graphic...I really did go into great explanation of the different types of courts... lol

The Photo

What a wonderful time of year. The end of the harvest season. The time of celebration and the time of argh....the winter and snow is coming.

The wee birds have been busy feasting away on pre-purchased black oiled sunflower seeds and then the natural ones that have been dried from last seasons crop. I just love how a picked over sunflower looks just like a honey comb. It is quite funny how during the summer there is no one to be seen. We fill the bird feeders possibly once a month and yet now they are pretty well empty once a week. Having a natural treed lot (yes, even in a residential area) allows all types of birds to eat, groom and well just sing along in a protected and safe area.

The amazement of a day that has been ceremonially celebration from the very early of times, through to the abduction of symbolism and ritual practices through the power of religion (this is not an attack on the church, no matter what nature of belief that anyone holds dearly), to the adaptation of today's Mardi Gras, Trick and Treating, costumes and lively get-togethers. How time sure does go around and around. Perhaps not in the exact way but through the natural repetition and regurgitation of history.

And our final note for this week is the reminder that 'The Thought' will be back here on Monday, November 10...even wee faeries need some down time as well.

Can it be? Can it be? Can it be!!

Now as some of you know and some of you don't know this tad bit of information and please do keep it to yourself as the faeries for their own protection do not want this to get out, especially to other faeries but my goodness never, never, never, ever, to a human!

I am not quite sure what transpired so long ago as I have not heard many of the stories, the whispers or even been able to eavesdrop while the faeries are sleepy eyed and singing themselves to sleep with dreams of days gone by. But for sure, for sure...something did happen those many moons ago that brought us and the faeries to such a quiet and shussssh type of relationship. It does seem though that there really are very few of us that can see faeries. Actually be able to listen to the faeries as they sing their songs. And most of all to be able to dance away with them while they play in the flower garden.

So with that all be told....we now hope to remember, to dream, to hope that we may be one of those lucky few....that get to know the faeries.

As we all know there is a whole lot more to that realm that has the thinnest, shimmery and magical veil to it that has all kinds of wonderful things happen on the side that we cannot see. But once in awhile, not very often, but sometimes they like to just peek their toes through and their noses so they can see what all the noise is about on our side.

So if the mystery of the faeries is somewhat known to others, who just might know a wee bit more of the puzzle, who know just a wee bit more of the secret than to the best of my knowledge...and as you can tell...well...all in all...I really don't know too much at all!

Back to the original few sentences that this wee story relates to...I seem to be able to get easily distracted from the thought at hand...but then again....I think I am allowed to deviate a bit as with living in a nursery filled with faeries...well who wouldn't be absentminded, bewildered and well be completely stumped, perplexed and well be completely befuddled!

I have learnt (remember to shhhhhhussshhh this part of the story) that the faeries can actually wear the tiniest, of the weeniest, of the whittliest, of the teensy-weensiest, of the itty-bittiness, of the...well okay, you figured out that I was just trying to say that these aren't huge by any means. They wear cameras! Well, actually, I really don't know what they wear or if they are wearing anything at all for that matter. I just know that they are able to somehow share little glimpse of what they see and transfer it to an image that a human can see. Now, I don't know if that means that I am someone special, someone that is lucky, or just someone who stumbled upon, or just someone that yearns so much to be able to see these images or whatever it is called and known throughout the world of Fae!

Now these images can somehow (please do not ask me how, why or what as I truly do not know) be put onto a film that I can transfer into a picture that we, humans, can see them, view them and in most times just be in awe as you can now see what the faeries see!

Today, as the sun was still a wee bit warm in the early afternoon and there was no breeze to be had, mind you there were lots of Boreal Chickadees and the sometimes very pushy Grosbeaks swinging from the seed filled feeders and then on top of all of those birds chirping away that sometimes love to the start to dip and dive while trying to catch one of the faeries, just to play with them or so they say...there was a squirrel hiding in amongst the sunflowers that needed to be watched, and watched very carefully.

So instead of letting them hide within the tall grasses in the bushes where the squirrel could quickly spring to, so I decided I would just let them out to tip toe through the flower garden instead.

Now, all of a sudden I heard a full out flutter of wings and high pitched squeals and giggles...so off I run outside to see what all the commotion was about...but the faeries were just talking way too fast for me to even to try to figure out what on earth they were trying to tell me.

With all of this excitement going on...this is how I learned of their secret...(the one that I mentioned way up close the beginning of this story...but remember you have to shhhhhussssshhhh and not to breathe a word about this)...that they decided it was important enough that I needed to see what they had seen.

I, myself, am at a loss for words, I have no clue how to even process what they showed me, or if I am even allowed to share with even you. After much discussion and trust me...with faeries...it may seem to you and me that this whole conversation was only a few seconds long, but this bit of chatter to a faeries took all afternoon, through tea time, through supper time and then all the way to the darkness of the evening... that they had finally decided that they could/should share what they knew with me!

What they told me, well the best way to describe it....is well just through the pictures that they shared with me...

I could see something but I wasn't quite sure what exactly it was that I was seeing. 

To me, this looked like perhaps we had a visiting stunning and beautiful wee pony.  

Even with this front view, I was still wondering if I should give my head a shake! 

 Things are a bit clearer but was I really seeing what I thought I was seeing?

And here she is! In all of her loveliness, grandeur and exquisiteness...

I do believe we have a unicorn here in amongst our nursery!

An Instant Connection?

It is always and amazing feeling when someone has gone through hundreds of pages and though thousands of listings...and here they stumble onto not one but two of your wee faerie items and picked them to be shared through a treasury of theirs!

I would like to thank Blue Rose Dreamer for featuring our wee Magical Faerie Door and Petra of the Northern Line of Faeries in their Magic Treasury.

On top of all of that....I have read her Handmade Artists profile and you know what....except for me not knowing what Downtown Abbey is...and that I have unfortunately never been to a Renaissance Faire before but have a dreamed of going to one, well for most of my life...I feel that we could just sit down for hours and well take about everything we have in common. And trust me it would take more than not just one cup of tea...but possibly even a few pots!!

Thank you so much Blue Rose Dreamer....

Please do drop by and check our her Magic Treasury...and well, now that you are there...do drop by her Handmade Artists Shop as well...and well...be prepared to be awed and be ready to fall in love!

Some People Really Are Just That Nice!

It sure is nice when you meet genuine people who like to share in making the world a more 'magical' place. I have been lucky enough to accidentally meet a wonderful woman by the name of Cathy, who has taken it upon herself to select a few precious items from her own collection of craft supplies to give to me to make my flower petal faeries. As she has asked for no monetary payment for all of these bags upon bags of flowers and ribbons, she did ask if I would make her a petal faerie. As her favourite colour is blue, I would like you all to meet Flutter. Thank you Cathy for helping me keep the 'magic' alive. 

Time for Expansion

Over the past few days the workshop has taken on some major transformations. The workshop has a new table, shelving units, a full wall and 7 hanging rods. It has been a lot of work with a lot of sorting out of little bags that I seems to have stuffed into every nook and cranny. Thankfully there is lots of hanging room and most of these 'lost' treasures are now out in the open and ready to be used.

I have placed another order for flower petals of the 'jewel' tone hues. They seem to be my favourite lately and it is fun playing with such an abundance of rainbow colours.

The new business cards, return address labels and stickers came in, along with the 4x4x4 corrugated cardboard shipping boxes (to keep the wee faeries safe while traveling).

The website is coming along wonderfully. My developer has worked in conjunction with my banner designer to come up with a superb looking site. There will be a Google map that will show all of the new homes my faeries travel to. The Flickr site is now up and running and each faerie has been named and has a little write up about her as well. The website will have two Flickr galleries attached to it.

I am hoping that my writer will have a draft ready by the end of the week detailing the story of the company. I am so excited and I can't wait to see it in print.

The Esty page is ready to have faeries added it to. I have worked out all of the shipping details and prices. I hope to have the site ready to open this week.

I have been updated Facebook (which automatically Tweets) little snippets of what I have been up to. This blog will be the space that completes the picture with all sites linking one another.

I am hoping to have my web designer update this blog as well with the new colour scheme, banner and logos :)

E-mail address: enchanted.pathways@amma-emm.com
Facebook: enchanted pathways (Fort Smith)
Etsy: enchanted pathways by Emmanuelle Nixon
Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/enchantedpathways/

I have 18 new little faeries that are waiting so patiently to have magic faerie dust sprinkled on them so they can be adopted into new homes. This is when the creativity and fun begins.