Halloween House!

Of course I have to dress up every year for Halloween as a witch (although my husband says I'm a witch year round (I rather embrace this statement). I thought I might add some pictures of my house because it's chock full of my spell books, potions and more during October!

Here I am with my fancy Etsy witch hat.  I bought this before I became crafty. 

The broom I hold is a handmade decoration I made this year.  It is a real branch (magical of course!) wrapped in Kraft and decked out with moss.  The broom rushes are made of blackish raffia wrapped around the stick in rusty wire and twine.  I only made 2 of these and they were such a pain, I doubt I'll ever make any more!  However, it turned out mighty cute. 

Here's a picture of my living room.  The pillow on the rocker was made by a very talented artisan Danielle Crane of  Sew Creepy Confections http://sewcreepy.blogspot.com/  I love her creepy portraits! 

Of course, I had to set up a spooky Halloween table.  Can you see my creepy chandelier in the upper left corner of the picture?  It's the centerpiece for my craft tent.  I love my little witch too, although my naughty cat Rudy knocked her over this year and broke her nose clean off!  I had to hot glue it back on and my daughter says she looks even scarier now. 

Here's a closeup of my table. 

Thanks for visiting my witchy halloween house!

Christmas Books

I've been in my studio working hard on Christmas Books for an upcoming craft show! It's crazy how my work changes.  I'm definitely into the moss this year.  The books are also getting much more detailed, which is fun.  Enjoy the photos!  All of these books are for sale at Grace's Place or Vineyard's Gourmet Chocolates or by contacting me through this blog. 

Fairy Hollow

I'm so excited to introduce my largest fairy creation thus far.  It's called Fairy Hollow!  Since I don't have any shows this month, Fairy Hollow will be going "on tour" to the local shops that sell Books Enchanted.  Right now you can see it at Grace's Place in Paw Paw. 

I was in such a hurry to pack it up for the show once I finished it, that I didn't get alot of good pics.  I figured I'd take some during the show but then my digital conked out.  I took the above pic w/ my horrible 3G iphone but at least it gives you a better idea of the vessel that contains the garden.  It's a vintage metal file drawer painted a bright yellow.  The moss sort of spills over the sides and the grass and plants surround fairy hollow along the back. 

Fairy Hollow has a cluster of fairy houses that surrond a rock paved town square. 

Here's a picture of the funky flowers that grow in fairy hollow, obviously, they are quite enchanted.

I'm annoyed this photo came out blurry, but its a photo of one of those rickety this way-that way signs.  It points the way to  Oz, Wonderland, Hobbiton, and the Dark Forest.  In the front of the pic you can see the moss covered wishing well that has a real working bucket. 

Kind of blurry again, but this is a photo of the fairy ruins and a pond surrounded by rocks and moss.  See the lily pads?

Here's a pic Jessica took at Grace's today that shows more detail.  This garden has been so hard to photograph because of the detail and the background foilage. 

A lovely light string dances above Fairy Hollow!  It's battery operated and can be turned on and off.  The battery pack is hiding within the garden by the "welcome" sign--it's covered in moss-but you can change the batteries whenever you like.

Many exciting discoveries await you in Fairy Hollow!  Many of the details are just too small to photograph.  I hope you get the chance to pop into one of the stores while it "tours"!  Fairy Hollow is available for purchase for $150. 

New Alice Book with cup and spoon

Here is a lovely, enchanted Alice book that I have just revamped.  It was an item that hadn't sold so I took a good look at it and decided it needed some changes (easily accomplished since I completed this book over a year ago and my techniques are always changing). 

I had a lovely old teacup and silver spoon I wanted to add to it.  The multi-color organza ribbons spill out of the cup and you can see the aged button sign that says "we're all mad here", along with some small paper flowers and the rabbit's watch.  Don't be late for tea!

The teacup is vintage and english. 

I've been playing around with different types of flowers lately.  These are fabric flowers I've embellished with buttons. 

Here are a couple more flowers made from vintage fabrics and buttons. 

The story pages are from a vintage Little Golden Book. 

This book is already spoken for! But thanks for letting me share it.  You are welcome to email me for a similar item. 

Fairy Table at Fancy Pants Theatre

I had so much fun at the Fancy Pant's Theatre's K-8 version of Midsummer Night's Dream (http://fancypantstheater.webs.com) last night at the Lotsa Little Things Fairy Table (http://lotsalittlethings.com).   What a talented group of kids and energetic adults.  This is a fun place to PLAY!  I love the way Janelle set up our table, it looked so pretty.  Once again, I took the photos from my horrible 3G iphone and you know how I feel about that.  I'll try to take some better ones tonight with my digital.  I believe I'll be taking my family to the show on Sunday!  

Harry Potter Spell Book Potions 101

The spellbooks have certainly become more detailed this year!  I've been wanting to try a Harry Potter themed book for awhile and finally got the chance to do it.  This particular book is for sale at Grace's Place in Paw Paw and comes with a magic wand!  Have you recieved your Hogwart's letter yet?

 This book comes with various potions and "specimans"

Love the Chinese Chomping Cabbage!

The book contains 4 potion recipes:  Polyjuice, Amortentia, Shrinking Potion, Growing Potion

Here's a view of the back of the book.

I love how this book aged, look at those pages!