C is for.....

C is for one of my favourite plants and essential oils - Chamomile. There are two plants used in making an oil, German Chamomile which has a beautiful blue colour, and Roman Chamomile which has a heavenly fruity, apple-like fragrance. It has been used throughout the ages as it soothes the mind and eases anxiety, tension, anger and fear. It has an analgesic action on the body and helps dull muscular pain and eases the menstrual cycle so is useful for PMT and the menapause. It helps to stimulate the production of white blood cells which help to fight infection and when blended with Lavender fabulous for insomnia. It also soothes burns and blisters, ulcers and boils and could be helpful for acne, psoriasis, very sensative skins and for allergic conditions generally. It is also a very good skin cleanser! I could go on and on about this amazing oil but shall stop there incase I bore you all!



For my tag I painted the background with mowed lawn distress ink and covered it with some scrim. Then I assembled a chamomile plant by cutting out the white daisy flower and shading slightly with pale blue watercolour. The center is  made from yellow 'flower soft' the and the leaves were die cut from the Tim Holtz festive garland as they were just the right shape. I used some old lace from my collection then filled a little vial with brown ink and added a label. The C has been painted green then overstamped with writing and shone with glossy accents. The aged paper at the bottom I copied from Culpepers's Herbal under the 'Camomile' heading - it reads:

'It is well known every where, that it is but lost time and labour to describe it.

The bathing with a decoction of camomile taketh away weariness, easeth pains to what part of the body soever they be applied.'

Nicholas Culpeper was a famous apothecary who was born in 1616 and firmly believed in helping as many people as he could and often gave his services for free. His beautiful catalogue of herbs is a joy for lovers of fine books.

Now I haven't even begun on the making of a Chamomile Lawn! I have a small one in my herb garden which is one of my most favourite places to sit and heavenly to walk on, but I shall stop there and hope you all manage to at least smell a chamomile plant this year!