Happy Birch Month, Full Moon Dates, and Celtic Tree Supplies!

Well, it's been a busy couple of months, you may have noticed, I've been scarce on my blog since November, that's when our holiday sales picked up and Dan and I were super busy in the studio making gifts to put under trees all over the world this holiday season!  we were busy little elves!  Now I have a minute to breathe, and welcome in the Celtic Birch month!

Now that we all have New Years coming up we soon move into a peaceful quiet January, even now we begin to contemplate the mysteries of the beautiful birch tree.  For those of you who were waiting to begin the Celtic Tree Calendar Online Series, now is a great time to start.  The Birch month began on Dec. 24 and will last until The Birch month falls between December 24 – January 20 and brings new beginnings from the ashes of the previous year. Birch is the first tree in the Ogham, a tree of new beginnings and new perspectives.

Birch Month Sale!

We are having a sale in our Voice of the Trees Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/VoiceOfTheTrees to celebrate the Celtic Birch Month!  Right now everything with the Birch Card image on it is marked down 10-15% off, including the Birch class!  Now that the holidays are done, I'll be adding some new Birch items over the next several days too, ornaments, garden flags, etc. so watch for that.  

www.etsy.com/shop/VoiceOfTheTrees

Celtic Tree Supplies; What to Find This Time of Year

If you're celebrating the Birch Month, start checking the clearance racks for cool candles covered in birch bark, and birch ornaments, they make great additions to you birch magic this month.  I found some beautiful birch bark candles at Bed, Bath, & Beyond, but I know there are other places that carry them too.  Also, FYI, if you can't find birch anywhere else, popsicle sticks and toothpicks are both made from birch wood! 

You might find some cool additions to use for the Holly month on clearance right now too.  Watch for Holly Berry scented candles, and holly shaped candles too.  (As a matter of fact look for lots of great candles on clearance ) You also may consider looking through your holiday decor to see if there is anything you want to save aside so you can easily find it during the holly month, July 8-Aug 4. I have a cool Holly Fairy I'm keeping out of my giant box of ornaments and giving her a new home in my magical cabinet so she'll be handy next July when I do my holly magic. 

Right now, she's on my Wheel of the Year altar, but I won't pack her up with the holiday stuff, she'll wait in my magical cabinet to come out and summon up some holly magic in July for the Celtic Holly Month!

For people who don't have oak trees locally, watch for oak and acorn ornaments also.  You may want to consider finding an appropriate stag (deer with antlers) this time of year to keep on hand for the oak month June 10-July 7.  Last year I found a really cool candle holder that looks like a stag horn on clearance in the Christmas section, and I have a giant bowl with two elegant stag heads on it that we used for our oak ritual at Pathways this year that was also an "After-Christmas" find.

These were all finds on the "Christmas Clearance" rack, they stay out all year! 

 I know the Hazel month is a long way off, but I always gather my hazel nuts now for future magical workings during the hazel month, Aug 5-Sept.1.  If you're lucky enough to live near local hazel trees, you'll know that hazel nuts are beginning to ripen during their month in late August.  I don't know where to find hazel trees near my home, so I can't usually find those whole hazel nuts in the shell anywhere during the hazel month because that's when they are still being harvested.  Right now is the best time to find whole hazel nuts in the shell locally.  We always have a big basket of nuts and a nutcracker for Yule, I've saved out a handful of hazel nuts to put on my altar during the hazel month in August.  I plan to string nine hazel nuts on a cord, as per the tradition for working with the hazel tree devas and for house protection, and keep a few extra for other talismans.  Those are just a few ideas on where to keep an eye out for Celtic tree magic supplies that you can easily find this time of year.

Magical supplies for the Celtic Hazel Month in August found right in my own bowl of nuts, in my house of nuts!

Here is a list of the Celtic Tree Calendar Dates and Full Moons for 2013

for easy reference:

Beth (beeth) / Birch Month Dec 24-Jan 20, Dec. 28

Luis(lweesh) / Rowan Month Jan 21-Feb.17-  Full moon, Jan. 27

Nuin (nee-uhn) /Ash Month Feb 18-March 17 -  Full moon, Feb. 25

Fearn(fair-n) / Alder Month March 18- April 14-  Full moon, March 27

Saille(shail-uh) / Willow Month April 15-May 12-  Full moon, April 23

Huath(hoo-ah) / Hawthorn Month May 13-June 9-  Full moon, May 25

Duir doo-er) /Oak Month June 10-July 7-  Full moon, June 23

Tinne(chin-yuh) / Holly Month July 8-Aug 4-  Full moon, July 22

Coll (cull) / Hazel Month Aug 5-Sept.1-  Full moon, Aug. 21

Muin(muhn) / Vine Month Sept 2-Sept. 29-  Full moon, Sept. 19

Gort / Ivy Month Sept 30- Oct. 27-  Full moon, Oct. 19

Ngtal (nyeh-dl / Broom/ Reed Month Oct. 28- Nov. 24-  Full moon, Nov. 17

Ruis(roo-ish) / Elder Month Nov.25- Dec.22-  Full moon, Dec. 17

Brightest Blessings!

Holly and Ivy Like, Share and Win Giveaway!

We're having a contest from now until Cyber Monday at midnight, some lucky winnter drawn at random will win these beautiful Holly & Ivy ornaments from Voice of the Trees! Click here to enter the contest!

The http://www.facebook.com/voiceofthetrees "Like & Share to Win" promotion! You could win this beautiful set of two ornaments! Simply "like" Voice of the Trees fan page and then publicly share this photo in our "LIKE & SHARE TO WIN" photo album to your FB wall and post that you've shared it in the photo's comments. You may enter as many times as you want, each "share" counts as an entry. A winner will be chosen on midnight CST October 15, 2012. (See promotion terms & conditions for full details.)

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Voice of the Trees - Like & Share to Win Promotion Terms

1. The promotion is open to people 18 years or over.

2. The Voice of the Trees "Share to Win" promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook.

3. Facebook has no association or jurisdiction over the Voice of the Trees promotion.

4. No purchase is necessary

5. To participate in the promotion, entrants must first "like" the Voice of the Trees fan page and then *publicly* share the specified photo from the Voice of the Trees fan page "Like & Share to Win" photo album to their own Facebook profile. To be eligible in the promotion, the winner must still remain a fan of the Voice of the Trees FB page and the Facebook photo public share must still be present and viewable at the time of the selection of a winner.

6. The selection of the "Like & Share to Win" promo shall be made at midnight US Central Time,  November 26, 2012 and will be announced on the Voice of the Trees FB fan page wall November 26, 2012.

7. Any entry that is lost, incomplete, fraudulent, inappropriate or offensive, or which otherwise does not comply with these rules, will be disqualified and removed from the promotion.

8. Mickie Mueller Studio reserves the right to delete or take down any posts, links or content deemed inappropriate at any time – no correspondence will be entered into on this matter.

9. The winner must allow Voice of the Trees to name them on our Facebook page.

10. The winner of the promotion will be required to supply Mickie Mueller Studio with their full name, date of birth, details and postal address to be sent privately.

11. All entrants agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this promotion.

A Mystery Box From A Magical Monk!

Over the weekend a box arrived at my door, a brown box all taped up and when I opened it, I found wonderful surprises inside sent for MK Beckly of Magical Monk Bags! What a glorious way to brighten up the weekend!

Some of the pretties! 

The first thing I pulled out was a gorgeous handmade embroidered bag with a beautiful Triquetra on it and pretty flowering ivy intertwined.  This is a really wonderful bag, the photos just don't tell the story because when you hold it you feel the quality, love and magic that makes it really special!  It's made from tan and purple fabric, and looks just divine! I read in her Etsy shop that her bags are inspired by the same ones used by Thai monks, hence the name Magical Monk Bags.  The strap is super clever, it can be used on the shoulder or across your chest (which I love) and the strap is wide enough that if it's full of books it distributes the weight and won't dig into your shoulder.  I'm really excited, I'm going to carry it to my next Celtic Tree Class at Pathways in St. Louis tomorrow. 

I LOVE my new Triquetra with Ivy Messenger bag!  To read more about Magical Monk Bags and see some of her other beautiful designs click here!

MK has a really talented group of family and friends who are fellow Etsy sellers, and I found some of their lovely wares in the package as well.  There were some beautiful lip balms and a tin of hand balm from In Lulu's Garden.  They are all natural aromatherapy lip balm!  I shared the lip balm with my family, each of my daughters got on, and even Dan chose one to keep next to the bed.  We all had a tough time choosing a favorite, they all smelled wonderful, and they are really top quality!  I love mine it's called "Happy Place!" I could have the same lip balm as Lady Gaga, or Gwen Stefani, Lulu's Garden had her items included in gift bags at the MTV Music awards!  The hand balm will really be nice in the cold months ahead, my hands get so dry in the winter, but now they won't and it smells so good, it just makes me feel happy inside! 

All these awesome lip balms!  I'm tellin you, they are a nice as they look, I really love them!  See all her flavors, click here!

This will keep my hands working hard to make pretties for you all winter!  For more info click here!

I had actually been eying the teas and beautiful decorative tea balls in the Amitea shop, so you can imagine my delight when I found all this yummy tea and a beautiful tea ball with a Tree Goddess on it in that magical box! I have already tried a few, I'm actually sipping the English Rose right now.  I wish my blog had smell-o-vison!  Or taste-o-vision!  Amitea also has a shop called NEWtiques where she makes gorgeous up cycled items.  What a classy and crafty lady!

Holy Cats!  That's a lot of tea!  Let me grap my tea cup...now, where to begin?!  Check out all her handcrafted luxury tea and these really cool tea balls, click here!

Last but certainly not least were two oh-so-decadent offerings from Twinkleberry Cottage, another Etsy seller that I've had my eye on!  First of all, when I opened the Snow Queen Body Frosting...Oh wow, it's just beautiful to look at.

Isn't it gorgeous?!

 It's like whipped up pearlescent heaven!  I took a whiff and immediately smoothed some on, oh, it feels as nice as it looks, and smells just like a winter fairy has blessed you with some very special magic just for you!  Her Avalon body butter is equally luscious, the scent is clean and crisp. 

These have already become two of my favorite scents right from the realm of the fae!  Visit her cottage here!

I feel really blessed to have such a sweet and thoughtful friend, and all of these lovely treasures will definitely help to keep the winter blues away in the months to come!  I've included links to these wonderful shops so that if you want to try some of these for yourself or pick up some very special gifts for friends or family this holiday season.  Everything that was in my box was far superior to anything I can get at my local "Corperatemart." When you buy from an Etsy seller or any small business handmade item, you are getting top quality goods made with love instead of chemicals and you're supporting someones dream!  You know where it came from, and the energy is wonderful, you can't get that at any big chain store! 

A beautiful handmade card by Owl & Elk Arts by Cheryl, I'll include a link for this when I find it.  It's a beautiful card, so delicate and clearly made with love!

Bright Blessings!

Llewellyns Spell-A-Day, Doorway Spell

When I got the list of days that I was contracted to write spells for for the 2012 Spell-A Day Almanac, one of the days I received was today, election day.  So I thought about it long and hard, the fact that it's a day when we all get to cast our intentions into the wind, our hopes for the future, and I used that as inspiration for the Door Spell.  You can see the entire spell here and work it today if you like. Click here.

Click here for the full Doorway Spell from the 2012 Witches' Spell-A-Day Almanac

This spell was originally designed to begin before you leave the house and be completed when you return, but if you're reading this from work or on your smart phone or iPad while waiting in line to vote, you can alter the spell slightly and just decide what you want to manifest in the world now and do the spell in it's entirety this evening, placing the candle near your front door.  I'm a firm believer in reading spells and making them your own, I do it all the time and you can too.  The key symbol in this spell represents your ownership of your own destiny, the color of the red candle your will power in action.  No red candle? Don't worry, remember you can always substitute a white candle for any color candle.  When you etch the key into the candle remember, it's just the symbol of a key, it doesn't have to be artistic to be powerful.

The year is almost over so the 2012 Spell-A-Day is on sale right now for  $2.75, lots of excellent spells by  members of the Llewellyn family of authors, while your there the 2013 issue is out now so you can get a jump start on your magical year!

Think about the world you want to live in, what do you want to manifest?  Remember, you steer your life in the direction you're focusing one so keep aiming towards the door you really want!

While you're thinking of the future, don't forget to vote!

Brightest Blessings!

Like, Share, and Win Tote Bag With an Attitude!

We've made a tote bag from our most popular "Tree-Motivational" poster! You might win!

We're having a contest! Click here to enter the contest!

The http://www.facebook.com/voiceofthetrees "Like & Share to Win" promotion! You could win this fun tote bag with an attitude! Simply "like" Voice of the Trees fan page and then publicly share this photo in our "LIKE & SHARE TO WIN" photo album to your FB wall and post that you've shared it in the photo's comments. You may enter as many times as you want, each "share" counts as an entry. A winner will be chosen on midnight CST October 15, 2012. (See promotion terms & conditions for full details.)

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Voice of the Trees - Like & Share to Win Promotion Terms

1. The promotion is open to people 18 years or over.

2. The Voice of the Trees "Share to Win" promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook.

3. Facebook has no association or jurisdiction over the Voice of the Trees promotion.

4. No purchase is necessary

5. To participate in the promotion, entrants must first "like" the Voice of the Trees fan page and then *publicly* share the specified photo from the Voice of the Trees fan page "Like & Share to Win" photo album to their own Facebook profile. To be eligible in the promotion, the winner must still remain a fan of the Voice of the Trees FB page and the Facebook photo public share must still be present and viewable at the time of the selection of a winner.

6. The selection of the "Like & Share to Win" promo shall be made at midnight US Central Time,  October 15, 2012 and will be announced on the Voice of the Trees FB fan page wall October 15, 2012.

7. Any entry that is lost, incomplete, fraudulent, inappropriate or offensive, or which otherwise does not comply with these rules, will be disqualified and removed from the promotion.

8. Mickie Mueller Studio reserves the right to delete or take down any posts, links or content deemed inappropriate at any time – no correspondence will be entered into on this matter.

9. The winner must allow Voice of the Trees to name them on our Facebook page.

10. The winner of the promotion will be required to supply Mickie Mueller Studio with their full name, date of birth, details and postal address to be sent privately.

11. All entrants agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this promotion.

Making Magic With my Sacred Source Altar Set

As a designer of statuary for Sacred Source, one of the perks is that I get samples of the statuary pieces I design.  I was positively delighted when the box showed up on my doorstep!  I've been anxiously awaiting getting these cool pieces in my hands since the conceptual phase of this project and now...they're here!!

Here is a close up of the God and Goddess statue, I love the way the candles light them!  If you want this set for your very own, they're available at Sacred Source, click here for the set, they are also available individually.

Here's how designing for Sacred Source works.  First I come up with a concept and run it by the good folks at Sacred Source.  Then I actually draw out a detailed drawing of what the piece should look like when complete.  I actually render each statue from the front, both sides and back.  This can be a real challenge since I can only see it in my mind so making sure that what looks right from one angle will look the same from another angle and so on.  I often use a model and photograph them from all the angles so that I can be sure they will sort of match up.  Then  I send these renderings with any notes to Sacred Source and they are also forwarded on to SASO in India where the actual sculpting is done.  We usually do a little back and forth through emails to check the progress and then the finished piece is made into molds and cast into the beautiful statuary pieces!  It's a really exciting process to see my two dimensional drawings come to life and hold it in my hand.  The sculptors are really amazing and do a wonderful job, I'm so grateful for their time, energy and care and respect for my vision!

My altar all set up with seven pieces and more of my accouterments, I've used a 20" round table.

Finally using them on my altar, I felt like the process had come full circle to completion.  The energy of these pieces is wonderful, between the good people in India and Sacred Source, the good vibes that are put into them mesh perfectly with the art and intention that I add at the concept stage.  The altar was just humming with life!

This great idea came from facebook friend Jean Marie to use each elemental candle holder to hold the natural elements! Brilliant! I used a small candle holder in the air element to keep the cone incense from burning it, red candle for fire, spring water and a sea shell in the water element holder, and a small bit of wood sorrel planted in an empty tea light holder for the earth element. Click here for the individual elemental candle holders.

I wanted to show you the side view of the elements, how the design wraps around.
Click here for the individual elemental candle holders.

And you can even tell which element each one is from the back!

I like to design things that I would want to have in my own home, and I really think that the artisans at Sacred Source lived up to that.  This is honestly my dream altar set and I feel very fortunate to be able to see it come to life. I plan to use mine all the time, and I hope that others enjoy it too.  It's the kind of thing that could be a nice splurge as the entire set is priced similarly to  their larger statues.  It would be a lovely set for a coven to chip in on for their gatherings!  I also think someone on a budget could get them individually as each one is pretty affordable on their own.  Someone could pick up one piece a month and immerse themselves in the lessons of each element, God and Goddess and the synthesis of all together represented in the pentacle.  Then each one could be blessed and dedicated one at a time, under the full moon that month.  It could actually be a transformative process of bringing each piece into part of your spiritual practice and connecting with them magically!



The God and Goddess Statue from the back with a sun and moon on their cloaks.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!  I plan to write a blessing and dedication ritual for each piece, watch for that coming soon right here on my blog.

Bright Blessings!

Like, Share and Win Autumn Masque Garden Flag!

Visit our Etsy shop for all the details on this beautiful flag! Click here!

We're having a contest! Click here to enter the contest!

The http://www.facebook.com/mickiemuellerstudio "Like & Share to Win" promotion! You could win this beautiful Autumn Masque garden flag just in time for vamping up your Autumn décor! Simply "like" Mickie Mueller Fairies & Fantasy Art page and then publicly share this photo in our "LIKE & SHARE TO WIN" photo album to your FB wall and post that you've shared it in the photo's comments. You may enter as many times as you want, each "share" counts as an entry.  A winner will be chosen on midnight CST Sept 7th, 2012. (See promotion terms & conditions for full details.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mickie Mueller Studio - Like & Share to Win Promotion Terms

1. The promotion is open to people 18 years or over.

2. The Mickie Mueller Fairies & Fantasy Art "Share to Win" promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook.

3. Facebook has no association or jurisdiction over the The Mickie Mueller Fairies & Fantasy Art promotion.

4. No purchase is necessary

5. To participate in the promotion, entrants must first "like" the The Mickie Mueller Fairies & Fantasy Art fan page and then *publicly* share the specified photo from the The Mickie Mueller Fairies & Fantasy Art fan page "Like & Share to Win" photo album to their own Facebook profile. To be eligible in the promotion, the winner must still remain a fan of the Mickie Mueller Fairies & Fantasy Art FB page and the Facebook photo public share must still be present and viewable at the time of the selection of a winner.

6. The selection of the "Like & Share to Win" promo shall be made at midnight US Central Time, Friday Sept 7th, 2012 and will be announced on the The Mickie Mueller Fairies & Fantasy Art FB fan page wall Saturday Sept 7th 2012.

7. Any entry that is lost, incomplete, fraudulent, inappropriate or offensive, or which otherwise does not comply with these rules, will be disqualified and removed from the promotion.

8. Mickie Mueller Fairies & Fantasy Art reserve the right to delete or take down any posts, links or content deemed inappropriate at any time – no correspondence will be entered into on this matter.

9. The winner must allow Mickie Mueller Fairies & Fantasy Art to name them on our Facebook page.

10. The winner of the promotion will be required to supply Mickie Mueller Fairies & Fantasy Art with their full name, date of birth, details and postal address to be sent privately.

11. All entrants agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this promotion.

Update...and the Winner Is...

 I have an update on the contest 9/8/2012, we have a winner for the Autumn Blessings Garden Flag! The official winner of the Like, Share & Win contest for the Autumn Blessings Garden Flag is Christine McClure! Congratulations Christine! Private message me with your address so we can get this pretty flag in the mail for you!