You may expect a lot of things here; from crafting experiences to corsets and rumblings about my everyday life, all of it showered with my interest for absinthe.
Today there is a new gadget on my blog; a little list of links that will take you to several websites with lots of info about Absinthe. Find it in the right column, under my shop gallery -->
I have had time only to peruse through them, but they are all filled with lots of questions and answers, as well as history bits and fun facts.
I have included too some links to online Absinthe merchants. Please take note of this disclaimer: the fact that I mention them does not imply that I endorse them. If you are interested in buying Absinthe and Absinthe accessories online, please be an informed customer, take your time and do your own research.
Since yesterday I was crafting labels for the new Absinthe bottles, I got creative and spent some time playing around with a new design for my wine bottles. Until now, they were just "Transilvania Merlot", printed in tea-stained paper with the silhouette of a bat underneath:
Cute, but kind of simple. Anyway, since the Vampire Wine has already been invented, I wanted my own private brand of Romania-inspired wine; hence, the Tepes Wine was borne:
I have always loved this portrait of Vlad Tepes, the original Dracula, and I think the color combination grabs the eye against the red color of the bottle. It will be up in my shop in a couple of days.
By the way, I would like to share with you a link to Free Label Maker; they have dozens of PDF labels for you to play with for your projects; no programs to download to make the labels and super easy to use! And free, of course!
I just can't get enough of them! This is a new model of bottle; it is made after the real Absinthe brand Red Tunel, and comes with its own elegant black gift bag. Will be up in my shop tomorrow!
And also 3 parchment posters with the Absinthe "holy trinity": wormwood, anise and fennel. For your library, botanical collection, or Absinthe collection. Already for sale!
Not only was I included in a delightful treasury by maxemilia; there is a new Absinthe fountain up for sale at my shop. As of now, I'm out of Absinthe sets, but I have ordered more supplies to make them again. Cheers!
We attended a 2-day blues concert for free, tasted Cajun food, walked up and down the French Quarter until our feet hurt, visited the cemeteries... Just wow!
Regarding the Absinthe culture of Nawlins and what I could discover...
I had hoped I could visit the Absinthe Museum of America,but much to my dismay, when we arrived the museum was closed. Not closed as in "we are done for today, please come back tomorrow", but close as in "we don't know if we will be opening again". So sad! We peeked though the windows, and actually could see some stuff, but for the most part everything was packed and the place full of boxes. Maybe they are moving elsewhere, or maybe they just closed. It was quite a bummer, because just some days before I had been reading online reviews of the place (some as new as of July 2010), and they pointed out they had a souvenir shop full of Absinthe memorabilia which I was hoping I could peruse. I didn't even took a picture of the place, it looked so abandoned that I couldn't bring myself to it.
We also saw the Old Absinthe House in Bourbon St. I wanted to taste some Absinthe over there, but my guide said that they actually did not serve real Absinthe; instead, they serve herb saint :( We finally did not go in.
I had also hoped I could buy some Absinthe. They have less alcohol restrictions over there than here in Virginia, and you can buy booze almost anywhere. Funny thing, we went into several shops and did not find Absinthe. However, we found an enchanting vintage-looking grocery shop in Royal St. that had some Pernod bottles; and another shop in Decatur St. that had a lot of variety; they even had Absinthe spoons, but everything was way too overpriced. However, it was a delight being able to look at the selections.
Regarding the dollhouse world...
We found a toy store in Jackson Square that had some dollhouses, as well as miniatures, but they were mostly from Reutter and there was nothing there that could not be found online. We also found a miniature shop for collectors in Royal St., but we did not go in.
Also, we visited the Beauregard-Keyes house in Chartres St., and the owner did have a beautiful and huge dollhouse. The guide told us that it was fully furnished, but he did not open it for us (although I am sure it could be, for the position of the outside walls), but I looked through the open windows and could actually see some of the furniture. I took some pics:
Regarding the vampire world...
We walked through the Garden District, where the former house of Ann Rice was, but we did not see it. It was out of our route, and the blues concert was about to begin. But we visited Lafayette cemetery (where Lestat was said to wander) and St. Louis cemetery N.1. (where voodoo priestess Marie Laveau is interred). I deeply enjoyed Lafayette, but I found St. Louis very care-forgotten and practically in ruins.
We also found a "Boutique Du Vampyre" in Toulouse St. They had t-shirts, period clothing (both costumes and quality material), some jewelry and other curios. They even had a station to make you some customized fangs! So fun!
But now back to every day reality! I am already working on some new Absinthe fountains for the shop, and I'll have to order more supplies for Absinthe sets. They are becoming popular!
Oh, how I wish it was evening already so I could have a glass of Absinthe!
The first fountain has been listed in my shop! I am waiting on the arrival of some bottles, and then the Absinthe sets will be available again. Hopefully sometime next week :)
Remember some posts ago, when I talked about the Absinthe fountain that I purchased for my real size house? Contar gave me an idea that I desperately wanted to try: to make an absinthe fountain in miniature.
I spent some days thinking about the design, and today it all came together. Since my fountain is completely made of glass, and I can't blow glass from scratch, I took as inspiration the Bonnecaze and Cie N. 2 fountain:
And voila! The miniature absinthe fountain became a reality:
Can you see it on the table, next to the Absinthe set?
This design is definitely going to be on my shop. I hope I will be listing the first absinthe fountain in miniature in a couple of days. Stay tuned!
Today there is a new gadget on my blog; a little list of links that will take you to several websites with lots of info about Absinthe. Find it in the right column, under my shop gallery -->
