Happy Monday the 13th!!

It's Monday yet again peoples. I hope that you had an awesome weekend....one spent having some fun adventures (ones that you can talk about and even some that so need to stay put in the weekend and NEVER be talked about..bahaha) OR just resting. So happy that you came to sit under the Old Southern ooaks today....luv your visits.

I  F I N A L L Y finished with Sabrina's eyes....all the layers and layers of paint and clearcoat. I do think they turned out so good and l@@k so pretty. I really like making eyes this way but for future reference if you ever follow along and try some of the things I do....DO NOT....make the well to deep. Takes F O R E V E R to fill in. I know, I know, I stated in past post that I was patient and (STOP LAUGHING) I am but goodness it took two days to fill those greens in. ^_^

In between waiting on each layer to dry (Did I mention that it took a long long time? hehe) I worked on her steampunk jewelry pieces. Love steampunk!!!

 Thinking I might actually like a pair of the earrings for myself. Bahaha!!

 Close up of her necklace. I even put a lobster clasp on it. Well...she might want to take it off AND if she does then ya better.....RUN!!!!

This piece is going on her hat....in the front and center. I'm going to attach a small green potion bottle that's filled with dragon teeth dust. It's really beach sand.  What did ya think it was peoples? Like I would give away my dragon teeth dust...ppplease. Her steampunk spy glass I'm currently working on is also going to be attached to her hat on the chain as well. Her goggles will be going on top too. I got the spyglass and her goggles sculpted yesterday and baked last night and plan on working on them as soon as I'm finished with this post. 

Remember this is a WIP image....they will look good once completed....I hope!!! I'm ready to get this piece completed because I already have a few others "flying" around in my head wanting to get out. BAHAHA!! Did ya catch that funny there? Flying...witches. Ok ok I know I'm weird but ya gotta luv me, ri iight??

Until next time....Hugs,

Regi

Decorations going up...slowly!!

Good Morning Peoples!! Welcome to the old Southern Ooaks tree. So happy you took some TIME to come and sit for a spell.

I spent yesterday putting up some of our Halloween decor. Normally by now I have all of them up but since this mummy (yeppers, spelled correctly because with the way this kidney infection is effecting me I feel like one) is having to move slowly and rest a good bit then it might take until the weekend to get them all up. I thought I might share what I do have so far though....since you did come to visit. ^_^

Love my "Happy Hauntings" banner. I made this one last year and I'm hoping it will last for a long time. If I can keep Piwacket from trying to attack it perhaps I can. Bahaha!! It's printed on cardstock and was so simple to make. If you would like to make one for yourself  here's the link I found it at.  Have FUN!!    The bow in the middle I made from ribbon from the Dollar Tree (gotta luv Dollar Tree) and a piece of orange burlap I already had. There's a pesty old crow in the middle and thankfully he can't yell CAW CAW CAW either. I'm sure Piwacket would enjoy it though...and eating him. Ewwww!!!  Can ya imagine the mess and all the feathers. Hmmm, I could use some feathers. Nahhh...glad it's not real. The skull was one my sister left when she moved and I'm sure it was totally by accident that it did get left behind and being the good sister that I am AND if she ask for it back then I will take it to her.........on my next visit which will be AFTER Halloween which means I can and am gonna use it this year. BAHAHAHA!!!  You can put a candle on the inside and I plan on doing just that and lighting him up at night and turning all the lights out and just staring at him. Yeah, yeah...I'm weird like that.  Like I stated earlier, I haven't finished yet and that's why the three candle holders are empty. I need to make a Dollar Tree run and by some black and orange votive candles to go in them. (along with a few other items. Rubbing hands together and doing an evil laugh)

I love using my ooaks in my decorating so when something doesn't sell it so doesn't break my heart at all. Although, my witch with her skellie candelabra has been spoken for but not going out until closer to Christmas so she is very happy to join her other quirky characters this year as part of the decorations. I plan on removing the items on the very top and having an assortment of crows sitting up there and I want to move all my teapot collection and put different glass containers there with all the creepily, spooktacular items there that we all love at Halloween. Like perhaps Fur of werewolf or Arsenic-Poison or Bat droppings (everyone needs some good tasty bat droppings) and even some dried bat ears (YUM). The crystal decatur is going to have red juice in it and a tag that states "Vampire Blood". Again....still decorating!! Come back to visit and I'll share some of the labels with you and a great recipe for Transylvania Dirt". Don't know what that is? It's ok....just come back to visit and find out. ^_^

Love Halloween cause you can just let the cobwebs run WILD. hehe 

This lil guy has a very special place in my heart. He's dressed in the very first Trick or Treat costume the Chazman wore. I so enjoyed making it and still love to see it. So can't believe he was ever this small though. 

Had to show a close up of this part of the phone table. I keep my cat teapot out all year but love adding it in with the Halloween decorations. (it's circa 1920)

The corner on the other side of the sideboard. I plan on putting another huge web ummm I mean I plan on not clearing the cobwebs away here either. Bahaha!! One of my witches along with some Halloween signs I have made over the years. Still decorating and I know I have a few more signs to hang. If I can just remember where I put them. 

Well...that's all I have so far and probably not going to do anything today as I kinda over did it yesterday. I am planning on starting the steampunk witch bust though as I'm sitting here in my work area enjoying the nice Fall like weather we are having. It won't last long but HEY...here in the South when the humidity is low...we enjoy for as long as we can.  

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

Regi

Zombie time starting soon..MUAHAHAHAHA!!

Well...I guess there really is no need for me to apologize for letting so much time slip by yet AGAIN between postings. I think everyone has figured out by now that the time in Regiville passes by a tad bit different than else where...hehehe!!

I have been working on a group of my traditional lil mummy candy containers for the Chazman's classmates for next month. (Halloween is only 34 days away..WOOT WOOT) If you are new to visiting under the old Southern ooak tree then click HERE to see a "HOW TO" on making some mummies of your own.  As well as working on these lil guys I am also working on my Tooth Faery helpers for the Angel program...as well as ribbon barrettes and pins. Busy, Busy, BUSY I am!!!  I promise some WIP photos of these projects soon. I also have a few more witches planned for my 2013 Witch series that I needed to get started on too. One of my sweet friends and ooaks collectors stopped by yesterday and adopted Bella, the dragonfly witch ooaks. I was sooo excited!! I so love making my ooaks but really love when others love them too.

I have to put my muse aside for a few days as I am starting one of two deep cleans that will take me through Thursday...I think...probably...hopefully before then. (I clean beach houses and condos...so love my job) I'm sure that by the time I finish with these I am going to feel like part of the Zombie apocalypse...MUHAHAHA

Until next time..........munch, munch ummm I mean HUGS,
Regi

Newest Lil witch....Tabitha

It's so hard finding a quiet spot to just sit and read. I mean, every good witch has to have time to learn her spells and it sure can't be done with a bunch of jibbering, jabbering adolescents around. Tabitha just happens to be one of those adolescents but one that is wise beyond her years. She loves to study and learn new spells and she finally found a nice quiet place up in the attic to do just that. All she has to do is use her wand, say her incantation "Let light rise out of darkness" and "POOF" her skellieabra is all aglow.

Tabitha is the newest lil witch in my 2013 Halloween witch series. She has a strong wire armature that was wrapped in wool yarn. Her face, torso, hands, feet and boots were hand sculpted using clay. (No molds are ever used in my character sculpts) Her face, eyes and boots were hand painted using acrylic paints. Her bustier and boots were washed with acrylic paints to give it that vintage look. Her hair is dyed wool yarn and is curled to look like dreadlocks. (All the fashionable witches are wearing their hair like that this year. ^_^)
Her costume was hand sewn using some of my vintage fabrics and tulle. Her witch's hat was made from felt and adorned with some of the tulle and fabric same as her dress. Tabitha sits on a wooden base that was painted black and a piece of tulle with felt pumpkins attached as the rug. Her skellieabra, wand and books were all handmade from clay as well. She sits right at 6 inches from the bottom of her base to the tip of her hat.

I enjoy designing and making my little whimsical characters. I always show you a few WIP photos as a tease when I'm working on one and thought I would show you a few more as Tabitha started to come to life.

Tabitha can be found in my Etsy shop and I promise she will make a wonderful new addition to your home. She has already promised me to be a very good lil witch!!

My muse has already started whispering about more ooaks to add to this series but I told her she just had to shhhhhhush for now. I'm going to be spending the rest of the week getting everything cleaned, organized and set up for our yard sale this weekend. WOW....have we ever collected a lot of junk ummmm I mean treasures..hehe!! I may make a few necklaces after dinnertime for the next few nights (I just have to stay busy busy ya know) some of my beach sand ones and I"m thinking about making a few magic wand and potion bottle ones too. What do YOU think?

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

Hey...what's that up in the sky?

Ohhhhh...we are so blessed this morning to have a cool 74 temp with a light breeze and the sun shining down BRIGHTLY. (I had almost forgotten what it felt like..hehe) It seems that others were enjoying our beautiful weather this morning as well. On the way to take the Chazman to school we looked up in the sky and saw our local aeronaut, Tommy Rachel, flying around in his aerostat....better known as a hot air balloon. It was the one called "Blue Angel" and it is a real beauty. There is just something about looking up into a bright blue sky and seeing one lone balloon floating along. It definitely gave the Chazman and I a smile for the day!!!

I have plans to finish Bella today. I did get her painted yesterday as well as wrapped in her under clothing. Her fabric for her costume and hat were all picked out too. It always takes me some time to get the painting done as I like to let each section dry completely before starting onto the next especially when I am washing the paints down to give them an aged look. (like with her boots and bustier.) I also used real thread for her boot laces and bustier. That takes time and patience. Lots and lots of patience. I think I get more glue on me than I do the sculpt...HAHA!!

I love making the costumes for my ooaks and getting to use some of my vintage fabrics. Her skirt is going to be the piece with the pretty embroidery and her petticoat the orange tulle. I'm going to make her some puff off the shoulder sleeves with the shiny black fabric. Of course her witch's hat will be made from felt (with shiny glitter flakes) and some of the orange tulle, ribbon and the black star button.

I think Bella is a pretty lil witch and something I haven't posted any pics of yet are her wings. Yes...she is going to have wings since she is one of my batty witches. The wings are the real dragonfly wings I found a few weeks ago. I sealed them and added a bit of green glitter faerie dust to them.

Here'e a close up of the potion/ingredient bottle Bella will be holding. She keeps this one just for herself so that she can sprinkle a bit on her wings when she needs to take flight. I mean, sometimes, a girl just doesn't want to carry a broom around.

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

WIP photos on some of the 2013 Halloween ooaks.

It's Saturday and we aren't cleaning today...soooo that means treasure hunting time if the rain holds off. I did want to POP in and show ya'll some WIP photos of some of the props for two of the ooaks in the 2013 Halloween series.

The two books in the upper left corner are going with one sculpt while

the rest of these are going with another. 

 Tiny scrolls in the front. Unicorn horns and two tiny glass vials. The one with the

twisted topper will hold the horns. The other one has a band of what looks like

dragon skin around it and that will hold dragon's breath.

I love making little spell books. I'm hoping to cover this one with tissue

paper to make it look like an old leather covered book.

 Close up of the witches little wooden work bench.

Hat head!! I mean every witch needs some place

to hang her hat.

Hope everyone has an AWEsome Saturday. Go out and have an adventure...make some memories. It will help your muse to sing loudly too.

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

Regi

Halloween..Halloween..it's looking like Halloween ^_^

Well...I didn't get not one of my project done that I told you about in my last post. You never know how the weekends are going to go around here. Any one else have that issue? Calling it an issue and not a problem because...well...it's not a problem that I don't get to play in my studio when other things take priority. The Chazman wasn't feeling well AT ALL this weekend.....so he wanted to do a lot of cuddling on the couch. That was fine with me because (looking around to see if he is in ear shot ummmm I mean vision shot) he thinks he is getting to big to sit with mommie these days. I didn't like that he wasn't feeling well but I did enjoy the cuddling time.

I'm very proud of my young man. He wasn't feeling a whole lot better this morning BUT he went to school like a trooper without any complaining. Except that he said he wished that he had an on and off switch for his nose. Poor baby....bad cold!!!

When I came home from walking him to school I decided that I was going to put up some of the Halloween decorations. I actually ended up making some and sitting and remembering some of my old ones that I have made over the years.

Happy Halloween greetings......as you walk in our front door. This is one of my had to sit down and remember some past Halloween memories....AHHH!!  I made this wreath the month before the Chazman was born. It's held up rather well for nine years (almost 10). The BooBears (that's what I call these) are made from cardboard that I reinforced by coating the backs in glue, letting it dry and then running them gentle over a candle flame. Then buffed them down and painted the front with acrylics. Here they are up close:

Witchie Poo Bear...she needs a bit of work or perhaps a new hat...LOL!! I just don't have the heart to do it since this is a keepsake.

Skellie Bear

Batty Bear

Boo BooBear

I didn't do a whole lot of decorating to the front porch (or my B&B as some call it..hehe) but I did put my candy cauldron and one of my ooaks witchie poo on a table by the front door.

The wall in our eating area I normally have my vintage signs hanging on...and my tea pot set out. I decided that I was going to add to some of my tins or even make a few new ones.

Welcome to the Witch Tea Party!! There are the witch sisters. They are some of my ooaks that I did several and I do mean SEVERAL years ago. The Harvest moon sign is one of my vintage tins and I thought with it being a moon that it would still fit in with the Halloween theme. I had found this cute paper image some time back (and of course my feeble mind can't remember where) and thought it would look cute flying across the moon.

My other tins didn't quiet fit the theme so I started making some to fill in the spaces on the wall. Here they are:

Simple but cute...ri iight? I had fun with this one. It's hard to see in the photo but I added some German glass to the charming witch's hat and to the face and neck of her cat. Then I made a charm with a cat and crystals.

The cute, adorable little witch sitting on the top is one that I won (last year I think...that feeble mind thingy again...sorry) from my very talented friend, Wendy, over at BLISS ANGELS. YOU have got to go and check out her blog....AWESOME!!!

Notice this is different than pic..I finished it after I took the pic..hehe

Here's another image I found some time ago AND don't even ask me from where because I just can't remember. (shaking head and wanting to cry) My memory is getting sooo soooo bad people...what were we talking about? Ohhh, yes the tea party. I added a good bit to the original image.

Now...before you say it, I know that this isn't a sign..it's a wreath. HA!! I wanted to do something a bit different to just add somethin somethin!! One of my black vellum butterflies and a vintage paper doll. Isn't she a doll ummm I mean pretty. I added to her cape a ribbon and a small matching piece of ribbon to her hat. I'm really thinking of making a felt mask to put in her hand and perhaps do a real broom to cover the paper one. I LOVE THIS!!!

Now I have more to do and will show you more pics as I go...that is if you want to see. I hope you do. I love when you come and visit with me here at the old Southern Ooaks tree. 

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

Regi