Blessings on the Wind

I love the creative energy of a "workshop" so when friends

encouraged me to offer one on making Prayer Flags I

jumped right in.

We began by discussing the use of prayer flags and the traditional meanings behind the earliest ones.  (A beginners intro here) I made worksheets guiding us to think about the way we might take these traditional symbols and colors and "modernize" them for personal meaning.  It is important to know that the flags are meant to be infused (if that can be said) with intentions and blessings which then are spread over the land as they blow in the wind.  This project is as much about thoughts and prayers as it is arts and crafts.

We began by making print blocks from foam and stamping them on to the fabric.

Everyone designed a block but we shared or used parts of each others when the symbols worked.

These are just a few flags laid out to dry.

 Flags were also stamped, lettered, stenciled, painted on
and designed with any tool or color that added to the
intention it was designed for.  I loved how everyone
added their own touches and shared their thoughts.

As the flags dried we cut our ribbons and talked about where our flags were going to hang.  Everyone, surprisingly, were making their flags for a specific place and/or a particular person.  Carefully the gals pinned the fabric to the ribbons and the sewing began.

Pretty soon we were admiring the results and getting anxious to put our blessings in the wind.

I don't have any workshops currently scheduled but if you have a group that is interested just contact me and we can set something up.  Five is the max to fit into my studio but larger venues will work if you see this as applicable to something you want to do.  After all, spreading more blessings across this country of ours would be a good thing, no?

Intentionally ColorFull,

Cindy