Crow/Raven Pattern for Felt, Clay, or Fabric

 

 

Crow and Sunflower by Silver RavenWolf.

by Silver RavenWolf 2018

Crow/Raven Pattern – 6 Projects!

Intelligent, clever…the purveyor of power within to conquer any goal, to dispel any block…genius, guardian of mystery…keeper of the magick.

Raven.

Crow.

Successful hunting.

Personal transformation.

Good Luck.

Wealth.

Protection.

Bringing and delivering messages.

Learning to control, understand, and acknowledge our shadow selves.

The gathering of the group mind.

Crow.

Raven.

Power.

For two years I kept hearing this strange sound, like someone stepping on a rubber duckie, as I worked outdoors on our property.  I knew it was birdsong, but I could not find the source.  I would sit silently for hours by my bird feeders, attempting to ascertain who was making that odd noise!  I observed several birds — the Woodpecker, the Titmouse, Catbird, Finch, Chickadee, Cardinal, Bluejay, and several others.  None of them made that strange and interesting sound.  I finally sat down and went through the http://pa.audubon.org/birds website and listened to all the native Pennsylvania bird calls to discover the owner of the rubber duckie music!

To my amazement?  It was the Fish Crow!  I’d never known there was such a bird!  Of course I knew about crows — but, a Fish Crow?  How interesting!

This past winter, several of these birds roost in the woods just past the property line, and I can hear them late at night, as they find safety from the owls in the trees.  These birds remind me of the group mind, protection for the home, and the sharing of information within a community.

The Dreaming Bird pattern for this month focuses on the raven/crow – genus Corvus, which includes rooks, crows, ravens, and jackdaws.  A bit difficult to tell apart, the raven is usually larger than the crow.  A crow’s tail is shaped like a fan and a raven’s tail is designed like a wedge – the tail on this month’s pattern is easily adjusted to call either energy to you.  Crows “caw” – ravens “croak”.  Crows travel in groups, where ravens often move in pairs.  Crows are fearless defenders of their young.  These birds will “mop up the magickal floor” after a mess, making them the perfect totem animal if you are going through a difficult time – their protective, powerful transformation energy flows readily for those who need courage, creative thinking, and strength. For more information about the structure of a crow vs raven, you can visit  https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-exact-difference-between-the-raven-and-crow

This month I took a minimalist approach to our pattern, providing a versatile design that can be used with a variety of mediums.  I created crows/ravens out of the following:

Felt – Bird on a stick, a bookmark, an altar cloth, and a brooch.
Muslin – 3-dimensional prim bird (sewn, painted)
Clay – bookmark and car visor guardian
Black Cotton – as a focus on a quilt

The following pictures show the different ways I used the pattern.  Herbal formulas and enchanted washes varied with the purpose of the bird, although I used the Universal Fluid Condenser on all the birds (see my book The Witching Hour for instructions on making the fluid condenser).  I also created enchanted washes from steeped herbs and spring water.  Once cool, I used these washes on both cloth and clay.  Washes are a great substitute if you can’t add the herbs directly to your project.  The downside of this type of dressing lies in the speedy dissipation of the wash — which rubs off or disperses quickly, losing magickal moxie in about 30 days unless the cloth was soaked from front to back in the wash (which isn’t always possible).

The primary formula for this month’s Crow/Raven is The Messenger recipe, comprised primarily of Mercury oriented herbals:

Bergamot
Fennel
Dill
Horehound
Lemongrass
Lavender
Mandrake
Spearmint

Should you wish to speak to the dead, add myrrh and dirt from a beloved ancestor’s grave.  You might also choose to add found feathers to your sachet or herbal bag, as well as the astrological planetary glyph for Mercury.

I’ve provided the pattern in three sizes — I used the largest for the felt bird shown in the photograph at the beginning of this article.

Here is the brooch pin made out of felt, the bookmark also in felt, and the car visor clip constructed from clay and painted clothespins.

From left to right — car visor created out of clay with clothespins glued to back, brooch pin made of felt with sewn-in pin back and bookmark made of felt, heavy stabilizer, and black elastic.

Prim Raven is constructed out of muslin, soft-sculptured with needle and thread for wings and tail, painted, sanded, and then grunged with cinnamon and nutmeg.

I added painted clothespins to the prim raven so I could hang him on a decorative tree branch in a floral display.

Using cotton fabric, I created an applique for a late summer themed quilt.

 

Here the pattern was used to create a success altar cloth — made from felt and Perle embroidery thread.

Stitch pinback to your felt bird to create a unique brooch.

Roll clay to 1/8 inch thick and use a sharp knife to cut out your raven.  Smooth edges.  Add additional indentations using clay tools.  Bake as indicated by type of clay used.

I glued a painted clothespin using E6000 Glue to the back of the bird fashioned from clay.

I picked up all the supplies for this month’s projects at a craft store using only sale and deeply discounted items.  Cost is always an issue for magickal crafters and I wanted to show projects completed using what I could find — a tribute to the raven who always discovers wonderful shiny things!

The bookmark was my favorite application of the pattern.  I used 1/4 inch wide black elastic.  Wrap the elastic around the book size you like best as your measurement.  Cut out two birds from black felt (front and back).  Cut out a smaller rendition of the bird from heavy Pellon stabilizer.  Sew ends of elastic together, then stitch onto the stabilizer.  You can write your magickal charm right on the stabilizer with indelible ink pen.  Sprinkle with herbs.  Spray with universal fluid condenser.  Allow to dry.  Lay the stabilizer on one bird piece, sandwich with the other felt bird piece.  I stitched by bird together using Perle embroidery thread, then I added the chakra wheels with additional felt pieces.

I hope you enjoyed the various uses for your Raven/Crow pattern!  Be sure to visit me at http://www.whispermagick.com!  Don’t miss visiting with me at The Crystal Fox in Maryland on April 22nd, 2018!

 

 

 

Bluebird of Happiness Free Pattern by Silver RavenWolf

Bluebird of Happiness – Dreaming Bird Series

By Silver RavenWolf

Happiness, pleasure, delight — these amazing birds of super blue carry the spirit of grace and joy where ever they go!  Prosperity, good health, personal fulfillment and the gift of beauty and appreciation are all a part of the Bluebird’s spiritual pattern.  To see or dream of this bird in any form indicates that all these wonderful energies are on their way to you!  Placing the Bluebird image in your home in the East window at dawn on a waxing moon sets the stage to bring good fortune and happiness your way and encourages those energies to continuously flow into the family unit.  Give your Bluebird of Happiness an offering of birdseed and water on the first day of each month to encourage you to remember to be appreciative of nature’s beauty!

February’s Dreaming Bird embellishment choices draw in the joy and whimsy of creation!

Feel free to add brightly colored feathers, glittery sequins, and shiny beads to your Bluebird of Happiness!

Construction Supplies

For this month’s project I used the following supplies:

Various colors of blue felt
Perle Embroidery Thread
Needles – one for embroidery and one for beading
Sequins
Glass Beads
Colored Feathers
Sharp Scissors
Freezer Paper – to transfer your pattern easily to the felt – trace the pattern on the non-wax side of the paper.  Cut out the pattern from the freezer paper.  Use a warm iron to lightly affix the wax side of the pattern to the felt.  Cut your shape out of the felt with sharp scissors.
Glue Gun
A small amount of polyester or all cotton stuffing
Bamboo skewer – if you want to add your dreaming bird to a potted plant
Pipe cleaner – wrapped around the bamboo skewer to make the leg

Magickal Items to Stuff Inside the Bird – I chose gemstones and herbs that have a general correspondence to family happiness, wishes, and good fortune for the household.

Blue Lace Agate gemstones – for laughter and happiness
A shiny penny (for good fortune)

Herbal Mix Includes:
Blue Lotus Petals
Basil
Buckthorn
Hawthorne
Linden
Chamomile
Orange Peels
Sunflower Seeds
Dandelion Root
Your Good Fortune Petition – I drew mine on a small, circular piece of paper that I stuffed inside the bird.

You can put this herbal mix together yourself or you can purchase the BlueBird of Happiness Herbal offering in my store at http://www.whispermagick.com.  Your herbs are sold with colorful cardstock label, a cotton conjuring bag and 4 BlueBird of Happiness soy candles.

Would you like a different magickal formula?  You might enjoy my new book, The Witching Hour! available at Llewellyn World Wide, Amazon, or your favorite magickal shoppe!

Here is the pattern for BlueBird of Happiness!

 

Remember to cut two of each bird pattern piece.  If you don’t want the beak separate, just extend your pattern.

I stitched the lines on the tail first to hold the two tail pieces together, then glued the tail as one piece onto the inside of one of the body pieces.  When I put dolls and spirit animals together I always contemplate the easiest way to put all the pieces together — sort of like a 3-D puzzle!

To keep the wings aligned on both sides of the bird I cut the wing out of the body pattern.  This way, I just pin the wing over the hole and remove the pattern.

BlueBird of Happiness will make a great Valentine’s Day gift in itself, or use as an embellishment on a present for a special loved one.

I hope you enjoyed February’s Dreaming Bird!  Next month?  Crow/Raven!

In service

Silver