Gothic Pageant Doll "Night Queen" Ornament

"Night Queen" Gothic Pageant Doll Ornament,inspired by the following trip down memory lane.

I was born and raised in Texas and lived there all my life until I was 22, then I got married and moved to Virginia with my husband. I remember very well growing up that Texas Beauty Pageants were the biggest thing for teenage girls to be part of, and most of my friends did the pageant circuit thing ...of course that was not my cup of tea ...too foo foo (lol). I remember the crowns were enormous and what the girls had to go through to look perfect for competitions was rediculous...but to each their own.

My senior year in high school I was nominated to be Home Coming Queen. Of course I was not very excited about having to participate but when my mother bought me the perfect dress for the occassion, I soon changed my mind and could not wait to show it off! :) It was a drop dead gorgeous red velvet dress, with black venician applique around the botton of the dress and on the bodice . It came with a velvet diamond rhinestone choker ....and it was amazing !!!

Yeah... I will toot my own horn, I looked pretty darn hot in it ;) (lol)

Well of course the crown went to the popular girl who everyone can't stand but they act like they like her anyway because she is who she is ...(I think every school had one of those I believe.) Any way that night I did not win a crown but I walked away with such adoration of my dress and how nice I looked and... the shock to the rest of the girls that I wore red velvet when all they managed to were was boring blue and pink satin. The fact that I stood out and turned heads just by being me all dark and lovely was prize enough... I was on cloud 13 that night! I think back now and laugh how silly it was really, and yet had it been a different type of pageant say a like a "Miss Texas Gothic Pageant ".... I would have totally won it ;)

Ghost of Pearl Ornament

"The ghost of Pearl is often seen, in the old haunted mansion on Halloween! "

Ok, so another creation came out of Spring cleaning ! I took out my old linens and doilies that I have collected over the years , some from my grandmother who made so many of them for me and others from estate sales , and antique shops in Texas and Virginia. One particular piece caught my eye and the vision of an attic ghost came to mind. Later that night I sat down and began to work and make a ghost, but had no idea what to call it when I was done. Then as I started to add pearl accents to her robes, my daughter came into the room and said "Mama, she is pretty, she has a lot of pearls on her! " and so with that I named her "The Ghost of Pearl" .
Thanks to my little sweetie I think the name suits her just fine:)

Sachet Doll Ornament

I was in the mood to make sachets this weekend as I cleaned out closets and made room for spring clothes . I made a few for myself in simple lace gloves filled with dried flowers and lavender and then scented them with my perfume oils. My room smells divine ,very soothing to sleep in now ......ahhhh.

So, I had an extra sachet doll that I though would be fun to fancy up and give my gothic touch to, and there you have it, a new listing !

Once again mixing fragrance and art ;)

Witch Jar "Spells and Charms"

I was playing around with clay the other day and made a little book and stand just for fun . Not knowing what I was to do with it, I gave up and pulled all my tiny clay pieces into a glass jar for storage....then it hit me! As the book stand stood up in the jar among all the other pieces, I looked carefully for a while at it and then began to think of the idea as to how I could create a little scene inside a jar would that could be displayed on a shelf ....like little bottled moments and sceneries . So I began on my first jar which turned out quite nice, I am working on two more but not quite finished . I listed this one called "Spells and Charms"this morning. I can't wait to finish the rest:)

Nina.

"Midnight Serenade"

A new paper doll I created this past week now listed "Midnight Serende" I have been experimenting again with altered art and mixed media creations and have decided to bring back my jewelry boxes and shadow boxes back as well ...stay tuned for more creations!

Nina.

Snake Oil Medicine Doll Ornament

"I am the seller of snake liniments, and oils,
goods for all ailments,troubles and toils."

In the late 1800s there were snake-oil salesmen, led by Clark Stanley, the self-described "Rattlesnake King." Stanley made a fortune selling his pain liniment, reputedly made from oil extracted from snakes.His advertisments described his snake oil as "A wonderful pain destroying compound." It was "the strongest and best liniment known for the cure of all pain and lameness." To be "used external only," it treated "rheumatism, neuralgia, sciatica, lame back, lumbago, contracted muscles, toothache, sprains, swellings, etc." It also,the ad said "cures frost bites, chill blains, bruises, sore throat, and bites of animals, insects and reptiles," in fact being "good for every thing a liniment should be good for." Promising "immediate relief," being "Good for man and beast ,"it sold for fifty cents a bottle . In 1915, Stanley's concoction was examined and found to be of no value, in fact it was mostly made of mineral oil. The U.S. government shut him down for making false claims,and for this was fined $20.00 .

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These I adore.

This has a Dark Shadows/Jack the Riper feel to it I love. It speaks vampires, murder mystery foggy graveyards and dark romance.....so me;)

This one I adore, it seems to really capture how I feel sometimes, not really here or there,belonging to this world but connected to another. Pieces of my thoughts scattered here and there and of being pulled in every direction to where you feel like you may fall apart when all the while you just want to sit and enjoy the silence ...take in life. I am sure some of you know the feeling.

I found these while cleaning up my pictures that were saved on my computer and thought I would share two of my favorite internet pictures from a few years back. There were many on there that I love and use for my personal myspace page ,and these two are the ones that seem to speak to me more . One is from an old paperback mystery novel cover a friend found and sent to me... the other I have yet to find the artist who did this to see if I can get a print and frame if for my office . I will continue to search, maybe one day .

Nina.