My work featured in a book!

I had a surprise today when I found one of my old creations featured in a book!

The book in question is "How to be a vampire", by Amy Gray.  I was perusing the book and was so surprised when I found one of my wedding ring pillows (the ones I used to sell on my shop on Etsy) in page 79:

See the red pillow with ribbons and black leaves? That's mine!

I have absolutely no idea how this picture of my pillow got to be in this book.  I searched the book for pic references, and it only states that all pics (with some exceptions that do not include mine) come from Shutterstock.  So I guess that my picture got stolen at some point.  Which totally sucks.  But oh well...

Here I include the original picture I took of the wedding ring pillow when I put it up for sale, and the modifications that I made so it would look better on the listing:

Original, taken outside on a bright morning

Modified picture that I put as main on the listing

As you can see, they match exactly.  

Well, it is still as surprise that my work was interesting enough to be added to a vampire guide.  I feel honored!! ♥♥

Introducing Kassandra, my vampire tenant

The long wait is finally over.  May I intruduce Kassandra, my lovely tenant?

Here she is, in her dollhouse parlor

Isn't she the most beautiful creature ever?  She finally allowed me to share some pics of her, so please enjoy:

Working in the study

Attending her witches' shop

Taking care of her daughter Perséfone.  Notice Perséfone's tiny teeth.

You can see some professionally taken pictures of her here.

I am very happy to finally introduce her to all of you.  I hope you find her as delightful as I do.

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Fantasy apart, she is the magnificient creation of Terri's Dolls.  I contacted her with some ideas in mind, and she has brought her to life just as I dreamed her.  It has been a looooong wait until my country's Customs has let her go (more than a month!), and I have been very anxious not only to have her safely at home, but also to enjoy her.  She is an absolute treasure that will be cherished forever. 

Penny Dreadful Magazines!

I don't know how I did not think about this before!  What better way to capture the gothic literature from Victorian times than penny dreadfuls!

When I searched "Penny Dreadful" the first thing that popped up were links for the famous HBO series.  I wonder how many people actually know that penny dreadfuls were British weekly publications that costed a penny, and that were supposed to be about gory and bloody events.  Probably the most known penny dreadful is "Sweeney Todd, or The String of Pearls".  My first penny dreadful was, obviously, "Varney the Vampire".  Did you know that Varney had more than 500 episodes the first time it was published?  Talk about telenovelas!

As predicted, my lovely tenant asked for some copies for herself.  She is very fond of Varney.  She insists the poor soul is just misunderstood.

In any case, they are available now for sale in my shop, so go take a look and buy some.  If you have a Victorian home they are definitely a must!

Nail design of the week: Perfect for Halloween!!

Finally Halloween it's here, and I can't wait to dress up and do my makeup!  My nails were done on Monday, and they will stay on until at least the weekend.  I saw this picture on Tumblr some years ago and fell in love with it:

If you are the original creator, let me know so I can credit you

It was strikingly beautiful and I have wanted to recreate this look for a long time.  I know there are many ways to do a blood manicure, but this is my favorite: as if you have dipped your nails on someone's blood.  I looked up some videos in YouTube for guidance, and followed this one to do my nails:

And this is the result:

I love them!!

These are the tools I used:

Unglax nail hardener as base coat

Nail polish Irresistible Cherry (#252) by Margaret Astor

Dotting tool

Seche Vite top coat
Naio coconut cuticle oil for the cuticles when everything is finished and dry

I love that they do not have to be exactly identical to be great, and the fact that they are all different is even more fun.  Some people that saw them thought they had been professionally done, and they all recognized the dripping blood, so I guess they are a sucess!

My, my, time flies!

It seems it was yesterday that I was beginning the lessons at high school! Today I have completed the first test, and we will be having finals by December. So much to do still!

But, for some fun stuff, I just wanted to point out this shop: Restyle. The lovely Lady of the Manners from Gothic Charm School draw my attention to them after they put up a give away contest for their line of purses. Oh, one of those purses had to be mine! Since I did not wait to win (or probably lose) the contest, I went ahead and bought one.

Since I did not have yet any stripy anything, I matched it up with a shirt - it is indeed a shirt, not a jacket.

I paid by PayPal, so no troubles there; except that the charge that PayPal charges sellers for their service they pass on to the customer (me, in this case) but since I had not bought from them before, I deemed it worth it just so there would be no hassles with credit cards and such. And it was just $2 anyway.

So, I chose the 4-day shipping option, and the purchase arrived today (in the time frame promised, but I am in Europe just like them). The order came in an envelope, both items inside plastic bags; there was nothing to be protected, so no issues with that. I am very happy with the purse. I just wanted a big purse to go to school so I did not have to use a backpack, which I don't like one bit. I love it! It's exactly as shown, and for my purposes big enough - I am used to small purses.

The shirt is of synthetic material, and does not have a tag with instructions for cleaning. I am guessing it would need cold wash and very soft ironing. It is not good by itself for winter, though - too thin. But I am sure it will be awesome with a black velvet jacket.

For the little money everything costs, I am happy with the articles. If you are on a budget there are lots of things you can buy without breaking the bank. Just do not expect an exceptional quality.

A very unusual but very cool bed...

I was just browsing through the new listings for dollhouses at Etsy, and I came upon this beauty from huesdesigns:

So unique and so well-thought! I love how it includes a bit of soil under the coffin! Many people have forgotten than, according to traditional vampire lore, vampires have to rest in the soil that created them to keep their powers- that means they had to have soil of the land in which they were born as vampires. Why did you think Dracula traveled with coffins full of dirt?

If my lady vampire wasn't used to luxurious beds and fabrics will very much like to have a bed like this one!

Crafting with my mom

It's been a while since my last post. My mom came to visit, and we've been very busy! Apart from all the stuff you do when you have a relative visiting, we have been crafting for our dollhouses. It's much more fun when we do it together!

Some posts ago, my friend and team colleague Hexotica suggested that I put a velvet cloak hanging from a hook. I am not very good at sewing, so I asked my mom to make the cloak for me. And here it is:

She says it looks like a ghost. Now that I see it on picture, it looks to me like the cloak of the Grim Reaper :D

The lady you can see in the frame is my grandma, when she was young.