Treasuries and finished projects

I completed the Lady Death shadow box.  I decided to build it around the idea of Lady Death giving a grand ball.  The inside of the box shows bits of her house like ribcage wall vases, skull goblets, black velvet curtains with death masks hanging from them and the grand ball room filled with dancers.  The other side shows Lady Death all dressed in her best finnery ready to welcome her guests.  Someday I would  love to buy one of these houses from http://www.victoriandollhouse.etsy.com/:  and create a whole house for Lady Death.

Here's a few photos of the finished shadow box:

Seems like many on Etsy  have gotten the whole Fall/Halloween fever already I've been in four treasuries in the past five days and I made one as well.  Check out some of the amazing talent featured:

Cawfinns

Halloween Houses Spooooooky and fun

Ghostly

Our House in the middle of our street

And the one that I created featuring all Etsy Dark Team members, The Spider's Touch

New Projects and Keeping Busy

I've been keeping myself extremely busy, I listed four new items last week.  Including these shadow boxes

Vampire Tea Party

Haunted House and Graveyard

That mantle clock shadow box came out even better than I had hoped.  I've always been charmed by tiny bits of art so I loved the chance to create that little vignette.  For this week I have four projects that I've half started.  I'm working on two totally new projects they will be flat pieces perfect for table decor or even Halloween centerpiece type decorating.  One of the new pieces is a hinged shadow box with a Lady Death goes to the Ball theme.  I was rereading Peter S. Beagle's "Come Lady Death" and I just had to try and capture that mood.  Here's a sneak peak at Lady Death: 

Hopefully I will have that projected completed and listed this week.

  

Sunday Sunday...

You wouldn't know it by the weather but all other indications say that fall is here. The last of the kids will be back in school soon; all the stores have back to school sales going on, school supplies are in the seasonal section of many stores. It's a time of change and fresh starts. Even though I've been out of school for years I still get anxious this time of year, I like I should be doing something, getting ready for something. I still miss the unblemished surface of new notebooks, of fresh pens and newly sharpened pencils. Which is the only thing about school I miss the rest of it was just the kind of hell that only freaks without a buffer crowd of fellow freaks can know. And yet I’m still nostalgic, still yearning for that chance at a fresh start.

In the meantime I’ve been keeping myself busy trying (without success) to forget certain life things. I’ve made a couple of new pieces and relisted some older pieces that I made some changes to. One of the new pieces is a coffin shadow box called Monsters in Love. I wanted to do something for Mary Shelley’s birthday so I did a piece using a quote from Frankenstein and a picture from the movie of Frankenstein and his bride. I mixed in a lot of nuts and bolts and some washers. I’m happy with the way it turned out. Here’s a pic:

I also made a new mini shrine. This one is about the Arachnid Goddess she who both creates and destroys she is the weaver and mistress of all our fates:

I went to a new thrift store today. I found some small ceramic dolls that I can do something with, a rather rustic compartment shadow box and a small mantle clock that I have a new idea for. I also found a book by Clarice Lispector, The Passion According to G.H. I’m excited I’ve wanted to read her work for a long time and haven’t gotten my hands on any of her books. Thankfully I always have reading and creating to do!

Heat Wave

Summer was slow coming to Southern California this year (WOO HOO) but now it’s here with a vengeance. The past few days temperatures have hit over the 100’s in many places. Which means I’m not a happy crafter my work space is outside, it’s under a patio cover but it’s still miserably hot out there kind of hard to concentrate on creating. I did manage to finish one new project. It’s a wooden tomb shadow box. I decided to do the story of a vampire queen living in her castle enjoying the blood of those who wander into her woods and ruling the demons around her. I enjoyed creating the story as much as the piece I might even turn it into a short story. I haven’t written fiction in years.

Despite all this heat I keep thinking about Fall and Halloween. I’ve been playing with some vintage photos on the computer and creating some Halloween/witch themed pictures from them. I’m not sure how I want to use them but I’d like to do something. If nothing else maybe I can use them for my Halloween cards this year.

Guess I should quit trying to avoid the heat and get to work. Here are a few pictures of the completed project and for the background story check out the Etsy posting: vampire queen story

I really do like Halloween!

Nacreous Alchemy had a good week it started off with an order for four pieces from a very nice customer and I was able to finish two new pieces as well.  One of them was transforming a traditional shabby chic shadow box into a far darker and less mainstream piece.  Those are my favorite kinds of projects starting out with one thing and making it over completely.  Here's the before and after:

I was at Michael's this weekend stocking up on supplies.  The girl who rang me up asked me if I really like Halloween. ;)  Even though the heat has finally decided to descend on us here in SoCal I'm already dreaming of fall and Halloween decor all over. 

Trip Highlights and Family Visit

I came back from my trip up North last Sunday to a house filled with family and friends celebrating a visit from my cousin and his family from New York.  So this past week has been busy.  I discovered a new tea room where we brought my cousins daughter and my Mom's god daughter.   They had a whole section of hats that you could try on we all had a blast slipping into different personas with each hat.   We had dinner out for my Mom's birthday at her favorite restaurant, Spaghetti Factory.  The decor in that place is amazing all the old velvet sofas, dark wood and gorgeous Victorian lamp shades. 

My trip up North was wonderful; the drive there was mostly uneventful. Upon approaching the Grapevine just as the sun was rising the mountains looked like a watercolor painting with varying shades of gray and lavender it was all just a bit soft and blurry. And while passing one of the many cow pastures I saw four black cows walking in line nose to tail with each cow just a bit smaller than the next. They were like a kids toy their sizing was so perfect. The best part of the trip was getting there and seeing the boy.  While there we did some site seeing. We went to Folsom prison and got scolded by a guard for taking pictures. In the town of Folsom we went to an old catholic church and cemetery and I got some great graveyard pictures. I can't wait to do some photo manipulation on them. I also got some nice shots of the American River. We went to downtown Sacramento to look at the beautiful Victorian houses and I found my dream home there.  Although there were so many beautiful houses there I could have had a dozen dream homes.  Leaving was difficult I miss the boy like crazy but it's time to get my creative groove going and gear up for what I hope will be my busy season. :) 

Tower in the old part of the prison

One of the gravestones from 1878

The American River

My Dream House

Inspiration

It's been a little over a month since I've visited my blog, just spent the afternoon catching up on all the blogs I follow which is rather inspiring. I love reading about other people's creative process or what they may be feeling passionate about at the time whether it's their work, their thrift store finds or their favorite place to escape to. It reminds me not to get so stuck in the day to day boring aspects of life and to remember to seek out the small details that can transform my day.

If all goes well I’ll be taking a trip up North next week. I’m going to make it my goal to find new things to be inspired by, new ideas to come home and translate into my work. I do have some new areas I want to move in so hopefully I can combine the two ideas and broaden my work…

Speaking of things that inspire I ran accross this Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/UndeadEd

With such wonderful items as:http://www.etsy.com/listing/41690283/rottot-abigail-gustav

or

                            http://www.etsy.com/listing/40881849/rot-tot-tabatha-the-thumb-sucking-zombie

                                                  And this wonderful piece
                  http://www.etsy.com/listing/40406543/my-demon-pony-shaun-zombie-pony-ooak-my

His work is amazing and for further enjoyment you have to read his bio page!

                             

Pushing through the creativity abyss

Even though I've been uninspired I've made myself sit down to work on existing projects I've begun.  I actually started to get some of my creative groove back and I managed to finish one piece.  I have another one mostly done but I need to get some supplies to finish it up. 

I know that part of my problem is my heart is somewhere else these days, making it difficult to concentrate on my work.  I need to refocus and start putting my energy into creating rather than pining. 

Here's some pics of the completed project and of a wip.

So far I've painted the body and face and removed the hair and clothing.  I need to replace the hair but I want a different color and style so I need to find the right look and I need to either dye the clothing she came with or make a new outfit I'm trying to decide which will be easier. 

Bella Lili June giveaway

If you aren't following Bella Lili's blog check it out Bella Lili Blog she is running a contest right now and you can win a very cool necklace.  If you aren't familiar with her jewlery you need to check out her Etsy store she has some amazing pieces listed. http://www.etsy.com/shop/bellalili 

New Projects and Vague Ramblings

I’ve been neglecting my blog in favor of my paper journal. Not sure why I can’t do both at once since I use them so differently. But that’s me get started on one thing then jump to something else which explains the three projects I’ve had waiting to finish for at least a month now I keep bumping them for new ideas. And that also explains why I haven’t written any poetry or fiction in so long I put that aside when I started making these pieces. I need to learn to find the balance and not just keep jumping ahead to the next thing. I have finished a few projects. I did a wall art/shadow box piece featuring the parlor of a spiritualist. It’s a bit vintage gothic, a theme I’m heavily into right now. I love vintage photos and I recently downloaded Paint.net so I can start manipulating the photos I have. I’m trying to learn to layer photos. I also finished another wall art / shadow box piece that is themed The Wolf Man and the Gypsies. I wanted to capture that classic horror movie feel with the mix of vintage gypsy photos I found. The first version I finished and posted on Etsy but then I realized it wasn’t working for me. I redid the background of the collage and added some different elements to pull it together and like it a lot more now. Here’re a few photos.

I wish I could say that all this work is paying off in sales but sadly that’s not the case. I make these pieces because I love to do it and the ideas plague me till I do something about them but it’s a bit disheartening when I see the pile growing ever larger. But the ideas keep coming so I continue to create.

Cancelled trips and new projects

I was supposed to be going up North this weekend to visit the boy but apparently his original surgeon who fixed his broken ankle did quite a shoddy job and allowed him to start walking too soon and his hardware has broken and his ankle is busted again!  So now it will mean a halo around his ankle and 3 months no walking.  Hopefully I will get to go up there soon.  Looks like I'll be spending my Memorial Day with the family doing the BBQ thing.  Which is not a bad thing.  Mom and I grill up some very tasty veggies. :)

I have been busy working on new projects. I tried a mixed media collage for the first time I want to try more in that form. I went to the craft supply store today and bought gel medium to do the next one on a canvas. I also finished my first altered doll. It was fun and a learning experience. I painted the body with gesso and dyed the hair purple but to keep the color more intense I didn't rinse it out. Well of course once I let the hair down the body turned purple. So I had to sand the doll down, rinse out the hair and repaint the body. But I did it and now she is in a shadow box as a Demon Snake Charmer who ran away to join the freak show. And I completed another shadow box that was less about the goth and more personal I was inspired by one of my poems.  Here's some pictures of completed projects:

Lady Death

I posted a couple of new things including this little shrine to Lady Death. I was trying to capture that duality of death and life with the figure of death and skull next to the "blooming" rose and the back drop of a wild and lush garden.

I also got to explore a gorgeous garden this past weekend.  My cousins and I took our Moms for a picnic at http://www.rancholoscerritos.org/  We had an amazing time walking through the garden and taking pictures as well as the tour through the house.  Here are some of the flowers I took pictures of.

My beautiful family, Mom's in the middle. :)

Fortune Teller, Graveyard and New Projects

I'm working on a custom jewelery box this week. It's not my usual stuff as it's more punk than goth but it's a fun project. It feels weird not being crazed trying to get stuff done now that the show is over. I have some really cool ideas for new projects that I can't wait to get working on. I found these great frames that are shadowbox style at the thrift store. They have small items glued down and tagged kind of like specimens. I think I'm going to take a skeleton and break it down on one of them and keep the tags. Not sure what I'll be doing with the other one yet.



I have all kinds of new pieces to post to my shop in the next couple of weeks. Here are two that I posted this week.

Bats Day Black Market Review

I survived my first show! It was a mixed experience. I only sold a few items which was disappointing. But I had a lot of interest in my work many people stopped by more than once they were interested in how I made things, what made me start creating and everyone took cards a few people took several cards. I talked to a lot of people about doing costume mini shrines or shadow boxes. So I'm hoping that even though I didn't get many sales at the show that it will provide me with sales down the line.


I had a fantastic time there. I got to talk to a lot of interesting people the outfits that many people had were beyond fabulous. All the vendors were selling amazing things. It was a definite sensory overload walking through there, I wanted just about everything. I think I would do it again. I have a better idea of the types of items that sell. If I had more of the mini shrines and alters I would have sold more, those went right away and people seem to love the familiar like Poe and Bela Lugosi so it was a great way to market test my items.

I also got to meet a few of the Etsy Dark Street Team members.  Kitcameo, kitcameo's shop, was there selling.  Her table was amazing.  I bought an adorable red bottle with a bat etched onto it.  Pillbox Designs, Pillbox Designs' Shop, were also there selling.  I love their vinyl wall graphics if I had made more sales I would have bought something from them as well.  I also got to meet the amazing artist behind EJPcreations, EJPcreations Shop.  She was wearing one of her fabulous necklaces that I recognized right away. :)

Here are a few vendors that I really liked:
Skele Clips
Gothic Beagle (The cutest dog clothing and accesories)
Ladanse Macabre designs (My parents treated me to a fabulous spider necklace from these guys)
Artistic Talent (This woman was amazing, she had her own photography, she does make-up and sculpture! I was completely impressed with her talents)
Creepy Dolls These dolls were definitely creepy but also gorgeous! My cousin bought a print from them of one of their dolls.  They were also proudly showing off their place in the Regretsy book. :)

If I had more time to walk around and really examine things I'm sure I would have collected  a ton more cards but I didn't want to leave my table for too long. Thankfully my best friend was there with me helping me out and giving me a chance to walk around.

Here are a few pics of my table:

Black Market Jitters

I've been running around the past week trying to get everything done and of course I still feel like I could do a hundred more things before I would be ready. This will be my first show I have no idea what to expect. I've had a positive response to my work online I hope I get the same response in person. I'm terrified I won't sell a thing but I'm also terrified I will sell everything long before the show ends because I have such a ridiculously small amount of items.


I'm looking forward to checking out the other vendors I'm sure there are going to be some amazing things there, can't wait for that part. :)

Bats Day Black Market

Come join me Saturday May 1st for the Black Market! It will feature over 50 vendors, from clothing, music, artwork, books, collectibles, and toys, to other original items. All with a dark flair.


The event will be at DoubleTree Guest Suites Anaheim, 2085 South Harbor Blvd, Anaheim CA, 92802 from 2-10pm. Hope to see you there I'll be vending as Nacreous Alchemy.

Black Market Preview

I've been working like crazy making new items for the Bats Day Black Market next weekend.  This will be my first show and I'm trying to make sure I have everything I need.  Here's a few pictures of some of the new items I'll be taking with me.

I snuck off and saw a few movies in the midst of all my crafting the best being Kick Ass, loved it! I also saw Clash of the Titans and I think it was just too hip and modern for me I much prefer the original. I will spend the rest of the week finishing up some projects and then show day Saturday. I also have to take some time to plan out an outfit too! Busy busy!!!

Alice and company

I finally finished the Alice in Wonderland shadow box!  Painting all those stripes nearly did me in.  This is another one that I'm saving for the Bats Day show.   Here are some pictures:

I've got a few new ideas brewing for shadow boxes.  I think the next one I'm going to start working on is going to be the parlor of a Victorian spiritualist.  I found a small plastic doll chair that if I cover in velvet will look perfect so I decided to build a theme around it. 

Also need to start working on an outfit for the Bats Day Black Market.  I want something fun, fabulous and just a bit over the top of my every day dressing.

Witches, Doll Parts, and Alice

I finished the shadow box about the Salem Witch Trials. This one actually came out better than I expected. I've been working on a small curio shelf filled with doll parts. (Funny, just as I finished typing that Doll Parts by Hole came on the radio.) I think I'll save that one for the show. I've wanted to do an Alice in Wonderland shadow box and then the Tim Burton movie came out and Alice stuff is everywhere but I already have the stuff so I think I may start that one next. I still haven't seen the Tim Burton movie, I have to go next week; I'll call it research. ;)

Broken bones, Bela Lugosi, and slacker assistants

Last week was just crazy. My boyfriend called me because he thought he had broken his ankle and needed me to take him to the emergency on Wednesday and yup, he broke it all right. They admitted him right away because he was going to need surgery. Two screws and a metal plate later he is unable to put any pressure at all on it for at least 6 weeks. Since we don’t live close to each other and his home isn’t situated for wheelchairs he is in an assisted living rehab place for the duration. I stayed with him until Sunday to get him settled and I will be going up there on weekends to see him.


Now that I’m back home I’m back to creating I’m so behind on items for Bat’s Days. I did finish this last week and posted it to Etsy today

I  had my assistant helping out today.  See how busy she was. ;)

I was going through Netflix watch instantly movies and I found this movie, Alice by Czech director Jan Svankmajer. I haven’t seen Tim Burton’s version yet but this one was surreal and dark. If you are a fan of all things Wonderland than I highly recommend it.

I’m working on a shadow box that is about the Salem Witch Trials. I’m almost done; hopefully I will be posting it this week.