Blogs to follow

I enjoy reading blogs its like having a huge amount of free magazines and autobiographies to read. I learn, laugh, cry, along with the blogger.

Some of my favourite blogs at the moment are as follows:

Minerva Levinston: a digital artist. using a variety of media combined with digital edits to create some amazing images. She has free downloadables for people to print and use in their art journals and scrapbooks. Like me she is participating in the Documented Life Project, and that is where i discovered her blog. Like me she loves her coffee!! A very creative person with an interesting blog, please follow her blog you won't regret it.

This is CorpGoth: I really enjoy this blog as this lady works and is a Goth, like me she is in the big bad world of professional work places, and can find a happy medium between her self expression and her job. She posts some great pix of her fashion and she provides a glimpse into her life. Fun and interesting read.

Confessions of an Australian Goth: This lady blogs about her fashion style, her pets, her life. She is another great creative person who shows the world that us Goths are creative, good people!

More Nail Polish: this blogger lives in Canberra, she has the most amazing finger nails I have ever seen! She blogs about nail polish (obviously) and she does the most artistic manicures that have to be seen to be believed! She also reviews nail polish and publishes DIY so you can also try out the manicure styles she uses. I find her blog posts informative and entertaining, and the manicures are amazing!

Deep Midnight Perfume OIls: this lovely talented lady creates the most divine fragrances and sells them on etsy. She has a blog where she interviews other artists, helps to promote the work of others, and also talks about her perfume inspiration.

Do you have favourite blogs I should read? Please let me know by putting the links in the comments!

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About Me: I work full time, I am also studying for a therapist qualification in Naturopathy specialising in Herbalism, I have a small craft 'business', I am co-admin of an auction page on facebook to help other small hobby businesses, i maintain my own 'store' facebook page, I blog at least once a week and I maintain a facebook page created to support small home businesses and hobby sellers 

............................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... 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

EmpressBat's most loved Apothecaries

Dear Batlings,

Currently as i am feeling most unwell, my mind turns to all the delights that make me feel happy. .which brings me to thinking of some of the beautiful hand crafted wonders made by some of my favourite etsy artisans. Please do not start singing "these are a few of my fav-our-ite thiiings" .. Spare me from "the sound of music"... Please. Its not that i intensely dislike the musical based on the vonn trapp family's exploits, but im not in the mood for a singalong....

Anyway, where was i... Ah yes, a few of my favourite etsy artisans...

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>