Potion bottles everywhere!!

Whooo Whoooo Whooo are youuuuu? Me? I'm a night owl....hehe...or at least last night I was. I just could NOT sleep. I think I was too tired to sleep if that makes any sense at all. I have been so busy getting everything ready for our yard sale this weekend that I'm past "POOPED".  Now that's not always a bad thing when it comes to me because that's when my muse does most of her whisperings. Hmmmm...come to think about it I wonder now if that happens because I'm too tired or if she is making me too tired. Either way...it works out good for my creative side.

I'm going to put some of my jewelry pieces in the yard sale. They probably won't sell but I can at least try and perhaps get some exposure of my art. Last night (or *ahem* early this morning) I sat up making some of my beach themed necklaces and some potion bottle necklaces. HEY...the Halloween muse is flying rampant around here. ^_^

I made two of these cute 18" silver chained (with a 3" adaptor) with a Tibetan silver fish charm, glass beads and beach sand filled vials. (sand from Orange Beach this time) I also put two shiny lil shells inside the vial.

I also made two of my turtle necklaces using 18" bronze chains with 3" adaptors, glass vial filled with Orange Beach sand and two tiny lil shells along with one of my turquoise stone turtle beads and two Swarovski crystals.

I only made one of each of the potion bottle necklaces. They are all on 18" silver chains with 3" adaptors to make them a longer length if desired. Each also has it's own magic wand. (made from clay and washed with acrylic paints and adorned with silver wire)

It's hard to see the tiny labels on the glass vials but you can see them in person....honest!! This one is holding "Unicorn Horn". Well of course it's not really a unicorn's horn but tiny little shells that look like they could be from a unicorn. I mean....have you ever been able to capture one yourself. :P  The topper for the bottle I used a small Swarovski crystal, a faux diamond spacer and a glitter bead. The vial and wand are hanging from a Tibetan charm holder.

This is the "Mummy Dust" potion. Noooo, I did not go and dig up any mummies to get this...geez!!!! hehe  It's filled with MICA powder and looks so shiny and DUSTY!! For the vial topper I used a tiny glass bead, a black glass bead and a jasper natural stone bead.

"Faerie Dust"....everyone needs faerie dust, ri iight?? The glass vial is filled with green glitter and on the topper I used a small Swarovski crystal, a faux diamond spacer and a large Swarovski crystal.

This little vial is filled with "Dragon's Breath" and ya better believe I had a VERY hard time chasing that dragon just waiting for him to cough so I could capture it. OMGOSH...my imagination is running WILD!!
On the topper I used a tiny cat's eye bead, a round rhyolite natural stone bead and another cat's eye bead.

Now hopefully I will have a jewelry fanatic come shopping tomorrow and just have to have ALL of these. I would be happy with several folks buying at least one though to be honest. If you live in my area, please come by and see what treasures are awaiting you. I'm sure you can find one or two things you just can't live without. ^_^

Until next time.......Hugs,
Regi

Double...Double..Mix a batch!!!

Bella is so busy collecting her unique ingredients for her special potions. Not every lil witch has the ability to mix some of the ones that she does much less be able to find that "special" ingredient that makes it work so well. Her great grandmahmah was one of the special mixers as well so she learned from the best and even inherited her ancient scrolls, spellbooks, wand and her faithful old spell table. The spell table was grown by her grandmahmah with love and care and is attached directly to her most powerful spellbook. The wand was carved from the same tree....an Apple Wood tree....the tree of love. Since this ancient being (the tree) is one with Bella, all of her spells are spun with love directly from her heart.

Some of Bella's spells use very unique ingredients as I have already mentioned. Take her spell that will give you luscious, long, flowing locks that never need to be curled and always look amazing...she uses a pinch of "Mermaid Hair". The mermaids freely give her a lock or two every 100 years so that she can make this special potion. If you are wanting to have a bond that is true to that one special someone in your life, Bella will make you a potion using her Unicorn Horn. She loves to ride through the forest, holding tightly to the horse's mane and feel the wind blowing her dreadlocks back and away from her face. Before you ask...no unicorns are ever harmed in collecting their horns. Every 50 years they shed the old horn for a newer and more majestic one to take its place. Perhaps you need some extra strength and healing to mend a broken heart. Bella uses her Mummy Dust for this special potion. The ancient ones were so careful in preparing their dead that they actually are immortal but they do need to have their wrappings changed every 500 years or so and Bella does that for them. In return they let her have the old wrappings that supply...YES YES...the dust.
Bella's spells do come from the heart but that doesn't mean they are all warm and fuzzy. If you have someone that is being bullied and need them protected then a potion from Dragon's Breath is what you need. Bella has to be very careful when collecting this one as she wouldn't want to scare the sleeping dragon. You see, she collects his breath from his snores and he is none the wiser.

Outside of Bella's cottage in the forest lives a tribe of faeries. Protectors of the woods and all the small creatures that dwell there. One day a large dragonfly had been injured and even with all of Bella's knowledge and love, she could not save the lil creature. The faeries saw that she tried so hard and was so sad that it broke even their tough hearts. The queen of the fae hovered over to Bella with two gifts....the dragonflies wings and a bottle of faerie dust. Bella looked surprised at the gifts and asked the queen what she was suppose to do with them. She didn't have any spells that called for either. The queen said that because of Bella's strong bond with the Apple Wood, the forest and all that live within its boundaries that they wanted to gift her with the ability to fly. The fae queen spoke a magical enchantment and the wings suddenly appeared on Bella's back. The faerie dust was for Bella to use every time she wanted to take flight and soar with all the creatures of the air. The faeries all sang a song that told of tales that every good deed will be returned times two to those that gift others with love, kindness and a good deed done.

Meet Bella!! She is one of my original clay sculpts with a strong wire armature underneath that has been wrapped in a strong wool yarn to serve as her underclothing. She stands at a tad bit over 9 1/2 inches tall from the bottom of her wooden base to the top of her dreadlocks. Her face, upper torso, hands, feet and boots were all hand sculpted without the use of any molds. Her eyes are hand painted using acrylic paints. Her boots and bustier were washed with black acrylic paints to give them a worn, old look. Her nails are painted black and sealed to give them that just polished look. Her wings are natural, real dragonfly wings that have been sealed and have a touch of faerie dust glitter added to them. Her dreadlocks were made from wool yarn. Her collar and sleeves were made from a vintage fabric taken from a old "simple little black dress". Her skirt was made from a vintage piece of hand embroidered fabric and her underskirt made from orange tulle. Bella is wearing a necklace made from two Swarovski crystals and a glass bead.

All of Bella's potion/ingredient vials were handmade by me. The unicorn horns are made from twisted clay and then detailed using acrylic paints. The mermaid hair is actually doll  hair, the dragon's breath is pulled cotton and the mummy's dust is sand from our beaches here in Gulf Shores. Her bottle of faerie dust she is holding is pretty pretty shiny shiny green glitter. Just love having an overactive imagination...hehe!!

Bella's witch hat was made from black felt, orange tulle, orange ribbon and a pretty little star button. It is permanently attached to the hat stand. Look closely and you can see where the old tree is growing out of the spellbook.

Side view so that you can see the beautiful dragonfly wings. (I so did not harm a dragonfly to get these...if you don't know already about how I obtained this treasure from mother nature then please click HERE)
I have used real wings in my sculpts before and they will hold up for many, many years since they are sealed. Just try and keep your fingers off as the oil from your hands could harm them. I know, I know..it's hard not to touch sometimes but JUST DO IT!! hehe

A close up of the back of the Apple Wood tree....see the little bookworm that helps keep the spellbooks in order? He also helps Bella find the spells, as there are so many!! The two little items leaning against the tree are some of her grandmahmah's ancient scrolls. (made from clay and that have a vellum paper glued on top to give it a real scroll look.)

Bella is available for adoption and can be found in my Etsy shop. She is a true one of a kind sculpt from my witch series. I would like to say that I will not be held responsible for any spells she may partake in while living with YOU!!!

Until next time.........Hugs,
Regi

Happy September 1st!!!

Can ya believe that it's already September? I'm so excited that it is because so many AWEsome things start happening. Hopefully....like cooler weather?? I say that as a question because, well, ya just never know if we are going to have any Fall like weather here BUT I can dream and keep my fingers crossed, eh? It's also the time that brings Halloween closer...like say in 60 days. So excited about that!!

If you have been visiting under the old oak tree then you know that I have been a bit under the weather .     I mean that literally and physically because I have NEVER seen as much rain as we have been getting here. Get it...under the weather.....rain....ok ok ya get it...hehe!!!  You also know that I'm working on some of my witch series sculpts and it is going a tad bit slowly. Slow is better than not at all so I'm working with that.

Here are some WIP photos of the prop parts of two pieces I'm working on.....just so ya know that I AM working here.

Tiny little potion/ingredient bottles. It's so hard to photo small things. Well, for me it is. I know some of YOU could do better but HEY...I try!!! The labels on the bottles going from left to right are "Unicorn Horn" "Mermaid Hair" "Mummy Dust" and "Dragons Breath".  The two bottles with the chains will be hanging from the little work station and the other two will be on top of it.

Here's the lil workstation. I made a cute little collar for the hat holder to wear. (still working on the felt witch's hat) See the little hook on the side? That's where the two bottles will hang. The scrolls added a tiny bit to the piece, I think and if you look real hard you can see the tiny snake peeking out in the back.

I know...I know...another photo of the workstation but I wanted you to see what it looked like if I added the wise old owl to it. I haven't fully decided if I'm going to use him for this piece yet. He was on the book but it turned out to be wayyyy to heavy, plus I just didn't like the way the book looked. That happens sometimes!! I also got the base painted but am not finished with it. I have to get a new ink cartridge so that I can print out a really cool floor piece. The base is one that I found at the flea market...it was blue and looks rather gothic now painted black.

Here are the books for the second sculpt. The red pumpkin book will be sitting on top of the skeleton book that will have the little black book (yes yes witches have little black books too but I sooo wouldn't want to be in it...Muuuhahahaha) sitting on top of it that is right now propping up a little spell book that the little witch that will be sitting on top of all of these will be holding. WHAT a mouth full!!! In the bottom of the picture, if ya look closely, you can see the magic wands I made. Two of them...one for each witch. This sculpt will be sitting on a small wooden base that I have painted black and am waiting to print off a really cool flooring for too.

Here is my favorite prop piece...the Skellieabra!! I think he turned out rather cool myself. I had so much fun making the dripping wax. Had to search for the old glue gun and YIKES...almost did the panic dance because I was out of glue sticks. There was one in it and turned out to be just enough. Thank you my sweet muse!! Once I dripped the hot glue on it and let it dry, I simply washed it with some red paint and "POOF" instant dripping wax. Yea me!!!!

Until next time..........Hugs,
Regi