A Fanciful Twist

Witches

I think it's time to fully jump into Halloween mode.

I mean fully - witches, ghosts, goblins.

The whole enchilada.

Yes?

Also...

I am sooo excited!

My paper spider web tutorial is the craft of the day over in...

The home section of The Huffington Post.

Fun!

It reminds me, must make more spider webs myself, as they are sooo fun and easy!!!

Here is the tutorial.

Also...

I am feeling extraordinarily Witchy...

Like my hat?

:)

I wonder why my cackle runneth over?

Must be the witches.

All frocked up, right in the nick of time!!

They are ready to party.

Well, technically, witches hang out all year in my world.

But, we can pretend they just flew in, no?

Mathilde is keeping them company on the wall, whilst searching for a new home...

As they get cozy in their cottage abode.

I love those witches.

For some reason, they give me some sort of mom comfort.

(my sis made the flag banners, love em!)

I think we really need some new fantastical witch tale movies.

Don't you?

I loved that one with Angelica Houston, The Witches.

And of course, Practical Magic and Hocus Pocus.

I need a new one.

Pronto!

A&E has a great Ancient Mysteries - Witches episode you can Netflix.

Oooooooo!!!

Also, we are literally, down to the wire for me to ship out Halloween cards and labels.

If I pop Spell and Potion labels in the mail in the next couple days I can get them to you for Halloween.

I am getting that question a lot.

I think we have a couple days wiggle room.

So, if you want some, here they are ;)

Bwahahahaha!!

Party in 5 days, fainting...!

I have nary and idea of what I am going to whip up.

I know, last minute Laree.

Not to be confused with Larry.

Off I go for now.

Must make some party plans on the double!!

Eeeeeks!

 

 

ps:  I was watering in the garden this morning, when a butterfly swooped around, flailed and landed on this flower - taking it's last breath...sigh...

Tattered beauty.

Is it just me, or can you see the butterfly ghost looming?

 

pss:  New Bat For Lashes album out today.  I got mine last night on Itunes.

 

Autumn Magic + a Giveaway

It's time to spook things up a bit, me thinks...

Halloween looms near.

Crispy nights, and apple cinnamon delights.

Masked faces guide us through starlit sky.

Glittered goblins and sparkly skulls.

Spooky tales at midnight.

Pumpkins here and pumpkins there, all sizes and shapes, we don't care.

A taste of magic in the air.

A shadow here, a creek there.

Late night strolls, darkest skies and weeping trees.

How I love this time of year.

The spirit of Halloween is short as short can be here.

Maybe only one day long you see, warm skies and summer lingers...

In this curious desert land.

But if you stay up late enough, you feel the cool send shivers up your spine by night.

And then you know, you know, the time is very near.

A chill, a fire, a dance around the cauldron.

What with real witch tales in our family, and my grandma's endless true scary stories, my mind is full with memories of spooks and phantoms a plenty.

Tales so scary, we would sit around a giant wooden table by night, and my Nana would scare me so much I could not move.

My breath would have shivers.

Tales of great great grandmother's almost being buried alive.

Witches casting spells.

Hauntings way up in the double door attic.

Old ladies trying to strangle you by night.

And spells, oh spells so many.

More family tales here.

I remember when I was in elementary school, I found out about

La Llorona. 

(pronounced yorona)

Oh, we would spook ourselves into oblivion with that fascinating tale.

Was she stealing children, or howling in the night?

We didn't know.

But in our youngest heart of believing hearts, we felt her.

We knew she was there.

Young imaginations running wild.

Appropriately so...

Kim of Gerushia's New World is offering a 4 print set for giveaway.

How wonderful, wow, how kind!

But guess what? 

One of the characters in each piece....

...La Llorona...

Oh, fascinating!

And the prints together paint a wonderful tale, of your own mind's making...

Simply leave a comment to enter.

If you'd like, feel free to share a spooky tale of your own.

Absolutely perfect, especially for this time of year.

When youthful imaginations come out to play extra much.

Kim also has a piece available from her -

Alice Through the Looking Glass show...

Mi Corazon Por Alicia, original, available here.

Take a peek.

 

Time to set that Autumn Magic free!!!

Oooooooo, I feel it, I feel it!!!

I am getting soooo excited, are you?

I get frantic during the last handful of days before Halloween and parties.

A good frantic.

Must absorb!

Looove, V

 

 

 

Let's Make Sparkly Bug Jewelry!

Seems like a perfect time for making easy sparkly fabulous insect jewelry.

As you know, I love sparkling up plastic bugs.

I made this bracelet last year with tips, which you can see here...

You can get plastic bugs anywhere during the Halloween season it seems.

I got a bag full for $3.99 at my local drugstore called Walgreens.

I was looking at them, thinking to myself, I really need some insect earrings...

I got together some wire, pliers, ear wires and of course, bugs.

I used an ice pick to test poking a hole through the plastic bug.

It worked, and the hole self heals, so you don't end up with a big hole at all.

The wire pushed through easily, so I went ahead with bug earring concocting.

At this point you make a decision.

Either you can put in your ear wires now, or after you glitter.

I chose to do this after glittering.

But next time I might do it before, so I don't have to work through the glitter.

There are two ways you can glitter your bugs.

Paint them with white craft glue and sprinkle glitter, then let dry.

Or, you can do what I do.

Spray paint your bug, and then sprinkle the glitter onto the wet spray paint.

It holds really well.

In fact, my insects from 3 years ago are still glittered using the spray paint technique.

I went outside to spray paint, as you must do this in a well ventilated area.

This time around, I also decided to gold leaf some cockroaches.

You can buy spray gold leaf adhesive (which is tackier), or you can use spray paint (clear or not), to stick the gold leaf on.

I just spray painted a little clear spray paint onto my plastic cockroaches, and gently pressed the gold leaf down.  Then I put them aside to dry while I worked on the other bugs. (gold leaf both sides)

I glittered up all sorts of spiders and such...

While they dried I went back to the gold leafed cockroaches.

I used a brush to carefully brush off the excess gold leaf...

Then I twisted the bugs a little to get a tinge of a crackle effect.

Now I was ready to go inside and make earrings.

I started by re-opening the ice pick holes I had made earlier, with a sturdy corsage pin.

Then I took my wire and looped it to create a space to hang the ear wire from.

I looped one end, and then put the straight end through the hole...

Then I took the straight end and twisted it around my looped wire a few times, then snipped it off.

Then I added my ear wires.

Oooooo, I love these.

They are so scrumptious on!!

You can do anything you want with your bugs of course.

Wear them, use them for decor....

Anything!

I am making a pair of mismatched bug earrings.

One long centipede, one short fly.

You can hot glue brooch backs onto them, for brooches.

You can glue them onto bracelets like I did last year.

Or just place them around the house for decor.

The uses are endless, and the insects are more than lovely all glittered up!

This is so much fun, and addicting!!!

I think a bug jacket or sweater would be so fabulous.

Just hot glue a bunch of these all over you.  Or all over a hat or head band.

I dare say, I think the cockroaches are going to be worn by me all the time.

Not just for Halloween.

They are so awesome in person.

Make some and see for yourself!

You will be so happy you did :)

Trust me.

 

Looove, V

 

 

ps:  I am shipping every 24 hours to make sure any Halloween orders arrive on time.

Potion label cutting a plenty!!

Lots of Halloween cards and labels here.....

Autumn Porch

It's time for the tricky autumn-summer dance here in the desert.

Summer veggies and flowers are still abundant in the garden.

Yet, the calendar says mid-October.

And so, you plunge into autumnifying your world...

For fear of losing a mere morsel of this glorious time of year.

Homegrown pumpkins & orange lights do the trick on one of our porches.

I can see the cottage in the close distance from this porch.

It is a short 33 steps away.

I collected a few apricot tree twigs to hang on the door.

Mixed in with some sparkly orange thingamabobs.

Miles agreed to a photo op.

I said, Miles, would you sit here so I could take your picture?

And he did, calm and casual.

Sauntered over, and let me take his pic.

Sat right where I pointed.

Whilst his big little brother Matty, ran away.

But after the pics, Matty came over for a jumping hug and kisses.

The pups like the pumpkins.

They enjoyed the pumpkin patch all summer, sniffing around a whole lot.

A couple of mice moved into the patch too, so that might have been the reason :)

Fancy camera will be gone for 3 weeks, if it can be fixed.

So, I am still here trying to take clear manual photos.

Tricky tricky!

(we are so spoiled by autofocus, haha!)

I am a huge ivy and fern fan.

I buy these little 4 inch, grocery store pots of ivy.

Then I break the ivy up into 3-4 pots at home.

Water, shade.

Upside down tomato cage, tie the stakes up top -

Makes a perfect cone trellis.

And before you know it, you have a pot full of ivy.

I took out my huge bins of Halloween decor.

But for this porch, I decided to just stay pumpkin simple.

What is wrong with me, I don't know :)

As the day light starts to fade, the candles and orange lights really begin to share some autumnal Halloween goodness.

Ah, there is the picture boy :)

He's so soft.

The sun is setting, and the glowing slowly begins...

And then, as it gets dark, you remember what a simple strand of orange lights can add.

Love those orange lights.

I get two little boxes at the drugstore every autumn.

And boy, what a difference they make.

I am finally feeling the Halloween magic peeking in a little.

It's so hard to plunge when it's so warm.

(I am loving the milder warm too, it's so nice to sit in and enjoy)

But like I said, evenings/mornings are getting really chilly.

And that changes the game.

Makes it more real.

This month passes like a snap for me, you?

I am watching scary movies and haunted tales.

Spooking myself for the tiny jaunt from the house out to the cottage, and back, at night.

Luckily, last night, Lovee went and got me.

(I was in there vegging and watching scariness on Netflix)

The orange lights on the house guided me back.

I ran in and locked the door.

Spooking myself to bits ;)

I am sooooo good at that, you?

And yet, I have some sick love for it.

Must have been all the scary movies my dad let us watch as kids.

 

Love, Vanessa

 

 

 

 

ps:  I found out over the last couple of months (up to days ago), that I have not been receiving e-mails every so often. 

Not all the time, just a couple here and there.

I am not sure why? I have contacted my e-mail provider.  Alas, if you have e-mailed me over the last 3 months and heard crickets, I probably did not get your e-mail.  I know, not good.  I am sorry, it was out of my control.

I deleted a ton of old mail, so hopefully that freed up lots of space, and will ensure that I no longer lose e-mails. 

This does not affect orders from my shop, as I access orders to my shop through my shop, and not through e-mail. 

♥