General rantings and shop related updates

I have not written in my blog in awhile and figured I might take the time today to make a post. There are a lot of things on my mind and a lot of things that have been going on recently. For one, my shop has been invited to have a booth at the Rapture Party on Dec 10th at the Shredder in Boise. It always makes me happy to be thought of when people think of what vendors they wish to have at their event.
Been working on some mini book earrings and necklaces.

I have also been working on spirit vessels but I do not have pictures of those currently. I came to the realization that I make lots of items for my shop but almost never make anything for myself. Part of that is due to not having enough proper storage. Yet another reason I want a large wooden treasure chest is to help store some of those things I want to make and keep for my own use.
I have been painting a little, mostly for my shop sign which is not all that elaborate given the amount of time I was given but it will do. I am outlining a new painting I think I am going to do. Sometimes I like to jump right in and start painting, other times I like to do an outline and then mull it over in my mind for a few days before I actually pull out the paints. I think it is going to be a snowy scene. I am really excited for the snow to come this year. It has been so cold outside I think snowing would bring the temperature up a bit. It can be too cold to snow you know. I hope to go out and take photos of the town and untouched snow blanketed landscape once it actually snows and snows enough to stick.
As much as I am anticipating the snow, it is kind of sad that as soon as the weather gets cold I want to go out and wildcraft things that have gone to sleep for winter, or get inspired by gardens. I do dislike that I cannot have an in ground garden here. Container boxes is what I can do and that is about it. I have been seeing some really inspiring indoor gardens that I would do if I had the space and or if it would not make things feel very cluttered. If I can reorganize things in my house (which need organizing anyways) I may try out some of the indoor garden ideas I have seen. The main problem I am worried about is that what happens if the herb gets too big for the indoor container? having to keep transplanting to larger containers *may* not be possible. I will think over possible ideas for awhile and see if I don’t come up with a better idea.

Started writing a second story. I have not finished the first one but it really needs organizing which is a pain and I have been procrastinating it. I don’t want to get writers block so I have to keep up writing and am doing so with my second book. This one is based off of some of the ideas I had for the Funeral Home for the Strange and Deranged painting I did that was based off of a story idea I had long ago. I changed a few things but it won’t effect the painting at all, just the story. I have about 60 pgs written in the book so far. I may have to go back and revise some things to make it flow better but otherwise I am happy with the story so far.


I have most of my Christmas shopping done. This year, like most, I am buying and making presents. I have a few I need to ship out as soon as I get the last portion of one finished so I can ship them all out at once. Just making Christmas presents and making new shop products and preparing for a booth can be kind of crazy at times. Funny how it seems to always go the same way when preparing for a booth. I don’t mind one bit though really. I would rather be doing 12 things at once then having nothing to do and being bored as hell. In between all of this I had a wonderful day filled with divination, crafts, and tea with a friend. I got my snake bones back and made some spirit vessels with them today. Took awhile to get them cleaned but well worth it for the tiny little bones. I hope to find more bones in the future when I go out on my bone collecting and herb wild crafting adventures.

Sewing machine is kind of on the fritz right now so I haven’t really been able to sew much of anything. Was not fun having it stop working in the middle of a project I really wanted to get done and would rather not hand sew the rest of it.

I did have to take my products out of Alchemy Spa since they are going through some changes and I believe are going to be switching locations possibly. My products may be put back up at some point in the future but for now they will only be either at booths or online.
While picking up my products I also gave my brother an early Christmas present and got him his first piercing. He was quite happy about that :) Teenage boys are very hard to shop for in my experience.

I am not so into the Christian aspect or some of the rowdy people who come out during Christmas, but I do like the snow, and the holiday season, Yule celebrations, decorating, and presents. Oh and can’t forget good food and family surrounding you. I would attempt to make a wreath for my front door but sadly we aren’t allowed to put anything on our doors or windows. I do however have my tree up and decorated and it looks awesome. If I really want to I can always hang a wreath inside the house over the mantle.

Started watching Grimm and Once Upon a Time, two new series that came out on tv recently. So far I am really liking both. Watched some new movies too that I really enjoyed. I am just waiting for the second Sherlock Holmes to come out so I can watch that.

Well, have a lot I still need to get done. So I am going to end this blog for now. May have more to update on later.

Been busy

So many things going on in the past few months as well as the months to come.

I had to prepare for and run a booth for my shop, Lotus Moon Apothecary, at the Satin Dolls Fetish Ball. Which was really awesome aside from being super warm in there.
Lot of fun. I got to work with a friend who I hired to be my fortune teller for the night.
Same friend who is also helping teach me how to sew. Yes I finally know how to use my sewing machine for some things. First thing I was being taught was how to sew a corset. Fun times.

I also have shop space down at Alchemy Spa in Boise now. ^_^
Though you can still order anything I make online whether it is in Alchemy or not and it will be shipped to you. So don't forget to look my shop page up on Facebook to see all I have to offer.

I started going to a scrap booking class and soon a stamping class; because I thought it would be fun and broaden my knowledge with paper stuffs.  I am already learning some fun things and they give you the supplies for each project for free so its awesome.

one of the non paper projects we had to do was paint and decorate a tile in the Wizard of Oz theme. This was mine.

I did a lot more painting on the tile than most do in the class… but I can’t help it. I am a painter after all. I even cheated and painted on strips of paper for the sign and the tree on the far right. The trees with the raised look were painted, then I put glue and its going to sound funny but tissue paper to make the raised bark look before I painted over it. I like the way it came out. I was going for the wizard of oz forest scene.


This is an oil painting I am working on that I had to pause work on it to get some other things done. I am thinking of putting either a creepy house, a house and lighthouse, or a combination of the two to make two in one… Tossing around ideas.
This is what I have on it so far. Its loosely based off the Oregon coast.

I also got to work on making a new book of shadows. I decided that the cover would resemble my A Grave Night painting. It’s not finished yet, but its getting there. Looking better than I thought it would considering I had to downsize and free hand the same painting. Never been great at it so I guess I am improving my painting skills in that way.

It is a little farther along than in this picture, I basically just need to add the tombstones and the yellow to the lantern. All the pages are burnt and ready to be inserted as soon as I am finished painting.

I also finished the commissioned painting awhile ago but I haven’t gotten permission to post pictures of the painting yet. I will most likely be able to get some up around the beginning of September.

I have a vampire photo shoot coming up at the end of this month I am going to be in. There is still much to be done in prep for that shoot. I am sure the pictures will turn out wonderful though :)


I went over to see a friend on the 8th and we made a random spur of the moment trip to the forest. It was probably an hr or so drive out… a really bumpy but fun drive. My car sure couldn’t have made it that’s for sure.
It was gorgeous up there though! we got there around 4am or 4:30. I got to see all of Boise, Meridian, Nampa, Eagle lit up. The stars were amazing. I saw the milky way, the seven sisters, drako, more than 5 shooting stars, and a bunch of others. I wish my camera was powerful enough to get shots of the stars. I did get shots of the city though.

This is maybe 1/3rd of the city lights. I took tons of pictures of the city lights but I figured posting one should be enough.
Here are some other photos from that day once the sun came up.


View from the drive back down
 
Twilight over the city.

  

Little hobbit hut we found. I was really excited to find this… I think its awesome!

View from not far inside the forest. Being that this was a spur of the moment trip, neither of us thought to bring food… So we got hungry and had to leave before too much of the area was explored. I did however come back with quite a good yarrow harvest. I also got a couple of sunflowers.

I have been harvesting peppermint, mugwort, and a small bit of sage from my own garden.

I got to work on trying to organize my book I am writing a bit better. I am at a point where I need it clear and easy to find certain points. Its slow going but I am getting a lot done. I need to add certain things at certain points for the various events within the book. It did not matter if it was organized before but it does now so I am working on that. Hopefully before I get the writing kick again lol.

I am also working on a new skirt design with the new fabric I found. I have not made a skirt like this before. I saw one like it and have the basic understanding of how it is made so I am just kind of going with it. I will post pictures if it turns out at least wearable.