Alphabet challenge: crochet

Blog post brought to you by the letter C as part of my Alphabet blog challenge.

My Mother taught me how to crochet when i was about four years old, i remember making massive metres of chain out of yarn! As i got the hang of the whole crochet thing i started making clothes for my toys and granny squares for cushion covers. I enjoy crocheting and recently made myself a scarf, fingerless gloves, and matching beret out of dark sage green yarn. I don't usually bother with patterns and tend to make things up as i go along, or just use the pattern as a guide.

As well as making my own crochet pieces i like seeing the crochet made by others. There is an amazing textile artist on Etsy, ScarletRabbit, who makes the most delicate elegant fantastic crochet accessories, and i have become a fan of her work, having the honour of owning several of her fingerless gloves and wristlets, many which i have custom ordered.

Ruth, from the etsy store ScarletRabbit, is extremely talented and artistic, as well as crocheting, she draws in pen and ink, and also makes beautiful jewellery.

The fingerless gloves I have purchased from ScarletRabbit are delicate fine crochet created with 100% cotton yarn. The designs are unique, and the crochet is perfect; the lacey crochet design makes these fingerless gloves an absolute delight to see and to wear. I also have a delicate lace crochet and ribbon choker that i bought from ScarletRabbit!

My most recent purchase from ScarletRabbit was a custom order of a pair of purple fingerless gloves and a pair of emerald green. Absolutely beautifully made, they are gorgeous and so comfortable to wear! (see picture of them above)

If you appreciate elegant unique hand made crochet, please visit ScarletRabbit !

Alphabet Challenge: Beads Online

Today's blog post alphabet challenge is brought to you by the letter B....

I enjoy making jewellery, which means i need to find places to buy supplies like, chain, cameos, pendant bases, and beads.

Beads Online

There are a few stores i buy jewellery supplies from, but my favourite is the internet store Beads Online, and i am a frequent customer. Beads Online is a family owned and operated business based in Queensland, Australia, originally selling beads on ebay they ventured forth to creating their own website through which to sell their wares.

They offer flat rate postage to Australian addresses and free shipping to Australian addresses when the order is over $200, also posting to overseas addresses at rates according to parcel weight, dimensions and destination, anyone can shop at Beads Online!

Payment options for Australian customers are direct bank deposit, money orders or paypal, while paypal is the payment accepted for international orders.

Why i am a frequent customer

Beads Online has a huge variety of beads and findings and altered art images, the inventory refreshes regularly and i always find something new on offer there to inspire me. The prices are Fair and affordable, and there is a sale section where i have found many a beading bargain! Their turn around is fast, last week i placed an order, paid for the express post option, and recieved my order the next afternoon!

Beads Online is an Aladdin's cave of amazing supplies for jewellery making, with bargain prices, excellent customer service and The orders are all packaged well in bubble wrap and tissue paper and are always a treat to open.

Alphabet Blog Challenge: A is for.....

Quick recap, my next 26 blog posts will feature something starting with ... whatever letter of the aphabet im up to... See my intro post here for more information. Feel free to join me in this alphabet blog challenge!!

Alchemy

I like the sound of that word, it conjures up thoughts of dark dingy rooms in castles, full of potions and scientific tubes and beakers and other scientific or magical paraphenalia. Swirling symbols and velvet curtains on the walls and covering the windows, and large leather bound gilt edged tomes balanced precariously on tables and jewel encrusted chairs.

Enchantments and potions, precious metals and acid, books about earth, fire, wind, water ....

Earth, fire, wind, water: the elements that formed the base of the Alchemists world. More than wanting to transform base metals into gold, alchemists were the forerunners of the chemistry we know today. Historically alchemy was a sacred path of learning incorporating, mysticism, science, philosophy, and the constant path to unravelling the mysteries of the world.

The word Alchemy is thought to derive from the Ancient Greek word khymeia, with 'al' the definite article from Ancient Arabic. Al kymeia ~ alchemy... Get it???

Ancient Alchemists produced findings and invented laboratory items and procedures that are still in use today albeit in modern form.

PHOENIX BOTANICALS

Firstly let me introduce you to the beautiful creations made by the wonderful herbalist, Irina, from Phoenix Botanicals. My first purchase from this etsy store was in September 2011, i had been searching online for a multi use balm made from natural ingredients. This was when i first encountered the amazing Fairie Balm, created and bottled by Phoenix Botanicals.

Delicately scented by beautiful linden tree blossoms, and other natural ingredients, this balm truly is soothing absorbing quickly into the skin with no unwanted residue, and the scent is uplifting, and delightful. I first used it as a lip balm, and after finding how well it healed my dry lips and then prevented further dry sore lip issues, i started to also use it as a cuticle cream. I am so impressed that my cuticles are all nice, soft, and not all zombiefied any more that i immediately had to buy more of this magical balm!! It has become a makeup lace-pouch staple of mine. (yes batlings, my makeup bag is a lace drawstring pouch, im sure none of you are surprised..)

I use Faerie Balm as:

lip balm
cuticle cream
Fingernail treatment
Ends of hair preshampoo treatment
General moisturiser

Recently i was very fortunate indeed to win one of Phoenix Botanicals perfumes called Love Potion, i had seen Irina speak of it on her facebook page, and was so happy to win a bottle! It has a very intoxicating scent and is sublime.

DEEP MIDNIGHT PERFUMES

Speaking of perfumes, i have a neat segue to the second etsy artisan i wish to tell you all about. If you want a unique, carefully created, vegan fragrance, look no further than Cat's etsy store Deep Midnight Perfumes.

My usual purchase from the lovely Cat is her gothically glorious wonderful perfume oil Samhain Nights, blended in jojoba oil this perfume is fragrant and sweet, intoxicating frankinsence swept with the scent of a new season apple, this is another of my makeup pouch staples.

There are many fragrances that Cat creates that i really like and use when im not dabbing on the delicious Samhain Nights.

The perfumes from Cat that i most favour are:

Samhain nights
Wee green fae
Gwenhyfar
Boudica

Cat is a prolific creator of unique fragrance mixes, and im a total fan!!

For more information on all the SCENTsational perfumes Cat creates please have a look at her etsy store, Deep Midnight Perfumes, and her facebook page.

All of Cat's perfumes are Paraben Free, Phthalate Free, Cruelty Free, and most definitely Vegan.

............................................................................................................... Please visit me on etsy! www.etsy.com/shop/empressbat handcrafted gothic goodies at bargain prices. see me on etsy! www.etsy.com/shop/empressbat ...Please visit me on etsy! www.etsy.com/shop/empressbat handcrafted gothic goodies at bargain prices. see me on etsy! www.etsy.com/shop/empressbat

Support unique artists: say no to mass produced!!

Dear Batlings,

Today's missive may be nothing more than a feverish rant, but i do believe it has some merit: say no to mass produced tawdry trinkets, and start supporting the artisans who put heart and soul into producing beautiful hand crafted items! We will lose our artisans, the skills to create and the option to obtain unique work if we do not support the hand crafts industry!

Mass produced is cheap
everyone has one
plastic
poorly manufactured
Land fill
Lacking original thought
Heartless and soulless

Even those websites advertising themselves as places to buy and sell handmade goods have become prey to sellers offering mass produced, made in timbuctoo, plasticky rubbish!

Personally i love hand crafted things. Unique, quality made, creative items made by those whose joy of imagining and creating shines through the finished product.

I buy many hand crafted things from a variety of artisans from all over the world, and i am the proud owner of such a gorgeous selection of unique accessories as a result of this. I also make a lot of things myself, from jewelery, to clothes, to toys, to bags... I keep some things for myself, i give some away, i sell some.... Beautifully made handcrafted items are rich with the souls of their creators.

What happens if we stop supporting handcraft artists?
What happens if we want the world Andy Warhol sartired in his famous pop art?

Many artisans rely on the sales of their wares to purchase more raw materials to keep creating wonderous things. Others rely soley on sales to make a living and put food on the table and a roof over their heads. Nothing kills a muse of creativity faster than the stress of not being able to pay the bills!

There is a place for mass produced, yes indeed batlings, it has its place, but not at the expense and ultimate death of hand made quality!

Artisans! Stand up for your rights to be heard and to have a place in the merchandise of the 21st century! Support each other. Motivate each other.

Spread the word that not supporting artisans ultimately means that one day the world will be a sterile plastic environment where nobody recalls how to make anything anymore.

I would really like to hear other's views on this.

Please feel free to post your comments!

<end rant>

QLD Museum: MUMMY Secrets of the Tomb, brilliant exhibition!

The mysteries and science of ancient Egypt have long intrigued me, so im sure all you batlings out there will know how excited i was when i found out about an exhibition travelling from the British museum that featured the discovery information, artefacts and mummy of the ancient Egyptian Priest Nesperennub.

We booked ahead so we didn't have to line up on the day to book tickets... I'm not the most patient of goths and really have a string aversion to waiting in long non-moving lines. Tickets were nicely affordable at $21.45 each from Foxtix, and we could pay using Paypal which was convenient.

Prior to entering the exhibit room we were led into a small theatre where, upon donning '3d' glasses printed to resemble the Eye of Horus, we were transported into the world of the Historians and Scientists who had researched the mummy subsequent to it being purchased by the British museum. CT imaging was used to scan the mummy so as to avoid disrupting the wrappings and amulets of the preserved priest. The film took us through the CT scan process and explained the findings. It was a very interesting documentary that made a tasty precursor to the actual exhibition.

We then traversed into the exhibition, greeted with cabinets and shelves of all sorts of amazing original and some replica ancient Egyptian artefacts, we wandered through the exhibit enthralled. At the far end of the room the first mummy we encountered was that of a young female who was apparently a child singer in the court of an Egyptian noble who died at a young age. We also saw another mummy partially unwrapped and no longer sealed in decorated resin. In the last room of the exhibit rested the cartonnage mummy case with mummified body inside of the Priest Nesperenub.

This exhibit was educational, interesting, and a must see!

Im sick, did i catch a computer bug???

Hi dear Batlings

It is Saturday afternoon, i am writing this missive from bed, while draped in bedding (and a small dog), and sneezing repeatedly, my throat is swollen and feels like i have been swallowing coals, and i hurt all over. Flu? Headcold? Computer virus????

Ok yes i do know that computer viruses arent going to make me sneeze, but follow my logic for a minute... If you dare...

i have spent the last three days at a conference about cyber crime, computing, IT security, malware, viruses, software bugs... There were many many people there ... Some were coughing and / or sneezing.. And there were late nights of geeky hilarity...

a bunch of humans shoved together for a few days is bound to mean a sharing of ideas, jokes, ?.. and the inevitable head cold virus....

To sum up... I was at a conference that in part spoke of computer viruses, and i have come home with a nasty cold... Therefore i attest that i have succumbed to a computer virus.. And it is making me sneeze.

And in othere news... I will blog more later about some arty projects im working on, plus stay tuned to my blog about the Egyptian mummy exhibition i attended last weekend.

In the meantime could someone pass me a tissue...? Aaaaaccchhhhhoooooooooo

Goth N Gorgeous Team Flier with DISCOUNT coupon codes!

A few of the goth n gorgeous etsy team have wprked together to create a flier to advertise their etsy stores, the images may be downloaded and printed if you wish to see them in hard copy!
they are designed to be printed double sided and then folded in a trifold style.

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