Southern Gypsy Style Dining

Every now and then when the southern afternoons here in Virginia are not so hot, we like to dine outside al fresco or as I call it .."Gypsy Style ". I bring out the old bed sheets, candelabras and glass bottles or vases found at local yard sales and of course my huge candle stash ... one can never can have too many candles you know .Then we bring our supper outside,sit, eat and enjoy each others company .When evening falls we clear the table and light the candles then lay old blankets and pillows on the ground and out comes the wine for me and rum and coke for my husband. Tori will have either grape juice or sparkling cider in a grown up wine glass ..she calls this "kid wine". As for Tristan, well now since he will be joining us for out door dining and drinks he will have his usual drink of choice which is a very fine warm milk cocktail ..stirred not shaken as it brusies the milk (lol!)

We try to do this as often as we can and it does not take much to do... in fact both my tables you see are make shift .One is an old storage tote and left over piece of plywood for the top and the other is an old card table just dressed in old sheets, lace curtains and linens . They do not have to match and candles of any type with old wine bottles , fresh or fake flowers make the scene because as the evening comes the soft light of the candles falls upon every thing bringing a glow of enchantment to all objects it touches. You can even hang christmas lights in the trees for a fairy light effect ;)

Be creative and use what you have, example being in one of the pictures if you look carefully you can see I have hung two lantern like obejcts in the trees which I made out of Tristans formula cans(he-he ). I just cut diamonds shapes all around the cans and hung them with string then added candles in side and ta-da... lanterns for the evening!

I do recomend having at least one evening a year dining outside gypsy style. Be creative ,there isn't a right or wrong way to do it .. it is fun, relaxing ,romantic (ooh-la-la) ...and whether you have children or not it is a wonderful and magical way to spend the evening and make some good memories.

Magic in the Air

With Summer now upon us the fire flies again began to light the evening skys like green fairy lights that dance and play in the cool mountain breezes around here. It is a very magical and dreamy time of year and it does inspire me so. I conjour images of Gypsy's with thier Caravans camped down for the night and gather round the fire side to play music, and share stories under the star filled sky. It also reminds me of a scene straight out of " Midsummer Night's Dream " or visions of Southern Ladies sitting on the porch drinking afternoon tea with the scent of Magnolias in the air . With all the atmosphere of these summer nights, it inspired me to create the latest doll "Magic Tea Gypsy Cat " now on ebay . But the inspiration did not stop there as I got a little bit of time to take some magical picture of my babies .Tori with her fairy wings and Tristan like a little wood elf resting under a hill of ivy. Though we were just playing dress up that day I was very pleased and suprised at how they came out . I hope you enjoy them !

Nina.

Meet The New Addition!

On May 19th 2010 at approximately 5:17 am "Tristan Nicholas Alberto Terry" came into this world two weeks early, weighing 7 pounds 7 ounces ,19 inches long. He was born within an hour of my contractions starting and boy let me tell you there was no time for an epidural or meds of any kind. It was a hard yet surprisingly fast labor but with that came a few little problems that made us have to wait to bring out little bundle of joy home until Sunday the 23rd :(

At first it was the a fast breathing rate that made them concerned to where they had to tube feed him for a day or so until it regulated . Then on the second day he developed Jaundice which he had to under go treatment of being placed under Bili-lights ...sorta like tanning bed for a few more days. On Sunday the 23rd when the doctor signed the release forms I was so relieved that finally we could go home and start adjusting to life at home with a new one.. and oh what and adjustment it has been when you have to start over again taking care of a newborn . It's like being a first time mom again because Tori is 8 now and all that I remember of newborns and babies in general has flown out the door.. I guess it was replaced by perfumes and doll making ha-ha!

But instincts kicked in and I did find my groove after week so I am getting back into the swing of things ,thank goodness! Tori is adjusting well and is quit the helper ,though I can't help but notice she is a bit disappointed that the baby is not as much fun as she thought .. I think she expected that he would come out ready to play instead of eat, sleep and poop! The proud daddy .. what can I say he is just the best . He is there for me when I, Tori or the baby needs anything , he is my right hand and keeps me in check with reminding me about little things when my mind goes to mush from lack of sleep... thank goodness for my hubby my hero to the rescue :)

I am preparing for my mom , my aunt and uncle and two nieces to come for a visit this weekend and I am so excited and looking forward to it so very much ...I am just over the moon about it! It is though a visit of happy and sad emotions as Mom and Dad had planned earlier this year to come up here together and see the baby when born. Although Dad did not make it to see his new grandson in person I know he will be here in spirit and a little part of him will always be with Tristan as we gave him a second middle name of "Alberto" to honor him. I know Dad would have loved that .

Well, here are a few pics I took in the hospital and at home of my baby boy that I thought I would share with you . I will eventually get back to my normal doll blogging soon and in fact had a gypsy cat doll I finished the day before I went into labor that I plan on listing on Tuesday so do look for that soon ....so until next time !

~Nina.

New Name, New Blog look

Ok ,can't sleep , been up since 3:am not feeling the best as heartburn and the feeling of not being able to breath right has taken sleep from me:( But only a week or so now to go ...whoo hoo!!! I thought I would hop on the computer and do a bit of browsing and blogging .
I had mentioned before that I was to change the name of blog and art path eventually , this past week it came to me and here is the result of what I had in my head to evolve into... "Southern Gypsy Moon Art."
A name that suits who I am in still keeping in touch with my southern upbringing and love for all the south has to offer including a touch of the dark as I still tend to fancy a good ghost story, the supernatural and the unexplained .There is also now a bit more whimsy ,gypsy, and magick inspirations that will come out from now on in all my creations ....just can't help it ;)
The transition just started and I will be changing my ebay seller name as well . So for those who follow my blog I do hope it does not scare you off ;( I promise there still will be some creations and posts of interest here as I plan to be more active in my blogging.

Tonight I had a brain storm of new doll ideas so off I go to start some bodies I will regret the waking up so early by tomorrow afternoon .. uhgg!!
Well till next time !
~Nina

Purple Gypsy Moon Doll

Another one of latest creations now listed in Ebay, I call her " Purple Gypsy Moon " . She is up for bid with free shipping along with my "Midnight Gypsy Doll ".Drop by and see !

The Midnight Moon Gypsy Doll

So finally ,I decided to list one of my creations today that marks the new creative ways of my gypsy clouded mind. I have others in the works but this one seemed to capture a dark mystic feel to it that I thought I would list first to ease into the new transition. I call her " The Midnight Moon Gypsy" and she now listed on ebay ,do drop by and take a peek :)

Nina.

Baby, New Venture and Dad

Oh so so much has gone on in my 4 month disappearance. First off only 4 more weeks till baby is here may be sooner as things are reeeelly starting to progress that I am not sure if the June 2nd date that will be accurate at all. Energy is down and my super fast mode of whipping around house and going to town for shopping adventures is very limited :(.That reaaaaaally makes me frustrated when the most simple things like laundry,sweeping or picking up socks is so hard to do now . But being only 34 weeks if I do not take it easy and relax pre-term labor is in the cards for me and not something I want believe me, so fingers crossed I make it to at least 38 weeks!

With all the rest and time on my hands to do "non active" things it can drive one crazy so I turned to my art muse for creativeness..but sadly he has gone and no where to be found not sure if he will return and not sure if I want him too. My state of mind with this pregnancy has changed quite a bit to where my thoughts seem to stay in a lighter mode instead of dark and macabre. I became more drawn to the natural and earthy way of living . I have always loved my Hispanic roots of home remedies and medicines, gypsy cures,kitchen witch magic but lately it seems I more intrigued by them and feel comfortable in going that route when making any creations. A lot I have not listed because not sure what people will think or even buy because it is such a change for me. I did however give into a new venture and since I closed down VMB I have missed making soaps and perfumes. I missed it so much that in January I opened a little Etsy shop where I sell a new line of bath and body products centered around a gypsy theme of home made natural perfumes, soaps and salts, I call this venture "Midnight Gypsy Alchemy ". Very different from what I made at VMB with synthetics and artificial coloring and only 6 scents to where I can keep up with my orders very, very easily and not have to deal with wholesale, 3 websites,42 scents and working 7 days a week after my regular job !!.

So far it has been wonderful, laid back, easy to manage and I still get my perfume making fix now that I can tolerate smells again and still spend lots of time with my family . It will still be something that after the baby is born I can still fulfill orders with out pulling my hair out ! If you are interested I have made another blog for it "Musings from A Midnight Gypsy "which you can drop by and see what is going on with that as well . Truth be told I probably will start a new line of art work that matches this gypsy theme and change the name on this one, so if one day you drop in and see the blog name changed you will know what happened and I hope many will still follow even though the creations will not be as dark .

Another event that has kept me away and sadly I say that in March I lost my father in Texas , he was 65 years old ,not something we expected but with being on dialysis 3 times a day , diabetic , amputee and dealing with heart problems for so long as he did ...we did know eventually the day would come. I've been dealing with that and focusing on healing the pain for it is a long and hard process and does not help when you are thousands of miles away from your family . Perhaps that is another reason why I will not allow myself to go to that dark and macabre place when I feel the need to create. I do not want death and negative thinking in my life right now and keeping positive for my entire family and my baby is the main focus, as well as trying not to be selfish of still wanting him here or dwelling on why dad is gone but more on ..now dad is better, healed and free. I can't help but cry sometimes but it is short lived and a wave of happy emotions goes through me when I think about how he can go anywhere and not be stuck to that machine.. he is whole now, he is Albert once more .There still is a void in my life there always will be, but I try to fill that up with all the wonderful memories he left me and in that place he will forever be alive to me.

And so with all this, such as life and indeed it marches on . We grow , grieve for our losses, and await new beginnings with some wonderful some trying new life adventures. As new roads lay before us one knows not what will come our way but in the end despite everything we will have to go through ...have no regrets of taking the first step towards our unknown destined paths .

"Not all who wander are lost "

J.R.R Tolkien.