Roses In December

Indeed, there are a few roses lingering in my garden, beneath rain-soaked leaves and despite the chilly fog.

These however, are safe and snug in my shop.

Mauve Roses Gray Pearls Earrings

Pale Mauve Pink Chiffon Rose Hair Clip

Raspberry and Lime Roses Earrings

Raspberry Pink Chiffon Rose Hair Clip

Bouquet of Roses

New offerings from Mermaiden Creations. I have finally finished enough rose hair clips to list a lovely bouquet. I didn't realize how time consuming this method of crafting the blossoms would be, but the results are quite worth it in my humble opinion!
I imagine creating a beautiful rose garden in a gorgeous up-do, choosing several blooms (even in different colors) to tuck in amongst your locks.
Of course, a sexy sweep on the side also works for me ;]

Pure White Rose Clip

Aqua Blue Rose Clip

Absinthe Green Rose Clip

Pale Blue Rose Clip

Bouquet of Red Roses Hair Clips

Stuff It

I mean a stocking, of course ;]

Look at all these wonderful wee pressies that are each $13 and under- perfect for tucking into a curly-toed sock! All available, ready to ship at MermaidenCreations on Etsy.

Poison Apple Green Glass Earrings

Swept Away Feather Pendant

Crescent Moon Stamped Necklace

Cobalt Blue Moondrops Earrings

Fairy Tale Secrets To Adorn You

I love really old objects, bits and baubs, relics from past times filled with mystery. The hands that touched them, the secrets they hold.
Keys have their own curiosity, and antique ones have it exponentially. I have the most wonderful stash of skeleton keys from the late Victorian era, anywhere from 1890-1910. They are worn and nicked, tarnished and crusty, even after being cleaned. What treasures!

Fairy Tale Secrets Victorian Skeleton Key Necklace by Mermaiden Creations

Elements for a mysterious fairy tale, not quite sure of the ending. Silk roses, a fair auburn-tressed maiden, sparkling jewels, a very old key, and a skull.

Lady of Lilies

The Calla Lily, by Albert E.S. Smythe When the lofty peerless lily, Silver-browed and chastely chilly, Hides the dream on which she museth What a world the poet loseth! Lady of Lilies Witch Hat She is queenly on her stem,

Though she wear no diadem, And she knows she is a queen, Self-contained, self-ruled, serene; No supremacy requiring, No predominance desiring,

Owning such estate of beauty Reverence becomes a duty. Thus there dwells the stainless form Even fancy fails to warm With the dainty blossom-hues

Morning freshens with her dews.  photographs courtesy of Peter Ferioli

Lucky Ladies, Winning Women

Delighted to announce that a random number generator has named Annette from The Ward House as the *winner* of my Halloween Party Giveaway!
Congrats to you, my dear- your vintage mermaid will be on her way to you as fast as the waves can carry her.

Well, I was so pleased with all the lovely comments left on my party post that I decided to throw a couple more ornaments into the pointy hat and make it a magical THREE winners :D

Winner number 2 is Gypsy Moon Art Studios! She will be receiving this Leonardo DaVinci renaissance woman ornament:

Winner number 3 is Carousel Dreams! She will be receiving this Wizard of Oz ornament:

Welcome Witches

Well come indeed! Delighted you could stop by for a spell. I was up rather late last night, summoning a fine creation whilst the wee ones in my house were all abed. So today brings a very gentle, subdued, and small-scale celebration in anticipation of the arrival of Hallowe'en - certainly the most wonderful time of the year.

Be sure to stop by the spectacular festivities going on at A Fanciful Twist, hostess extraordinare and mistress of this grand blog party extravaganza. There's a long list of revelers there for you to party into the wee hours with!

I set a little table in the garden, and wondered who would come at the call of the invitation I whispered on the wind. Small ears, tiny feet, my guests sat themselves and relaxed in the mellow Autumn light.

I did specify one detail about my guests' attire. I insisted on a pink and black theme. A favorite combination of mine which each visitor adapted to their personal style.
Except for Pirouetta there- she had the audacity to copy my outfit almost exactly. I suppose I should feel complimented, but the stripes are my signature- and her pink velvet is prettier than mine!
I told her so and I think I hurt her feelings :(

But there was tea to be shared, and memories to be spoken of. Of past times and other places.

Skully Madame spun Victorian yarns about her days amongst the living, and held the rapt attention of her little rosy-faced audience.


Varali wove mysterious tales about faraway lands and brave deeds.

We sat, rapt, until it was time for farewells at the bottom of our cups. A lovely gathering altogether, but alas a milliner witch's work is never done...

So without further ado may I present for your ensorcelled pleasure, the final design of 2010, Dance With Persephone. One of a kind millinery masterpiece available from Mermaiden Creations.

Before you bid adieu and your broomstick take up, I invite you to participate in my Giveaway, a chance to be the winner of this handmade soldered ornament bearing the image of a bare vintage mermaid, Parisian style, pale glass and glimmer.

 How to enter? Just follow my blog and leave a comment (please say something nice, ok?). For another entry, give me a shout out somewhere, somehow. I'm not picky, and I trust you. Do make sure your blog profile has an email address associated with it, because I appreciate people who make my life easier. Winner to be announced on 10/23.
Bonne Chance! And thanks for stopping by.

Tantalizing and Inviting

Just a tidbit, a bonbon, a dainty to sugar-coat your imagination...and an Invitation to visit here Saturday October 16th for the annual Fanciful Twist Halloween Party, hosted en masse by the magical Vanessa, and individually celebrated by Moi.

Please join me for the reveal of a new Witch Hat, and for a Giveaway, and some glimpses into a faery witchy teatime.

That is All for today. See you Saturday, pointy hats on.

Forgotten Beauty

I stepped into the garden, with the golden rays of Autumn illuminating petals and wings.

Dragonfly Wing Spirals Pendant

I considered the fragile, fleeting beauty of small worlds on the periphery of my vision.

Tattered Freedom Butterfly Wing Pendant

And I wondered at the eyes that seek beauty and the symbols that remind us...

The Eye of Beauty Stained Glass Pendant

To look for that which is lost or forgotten.

Gaze Into My Eyes Earrings

Mermaiden Creations on Etsy

Black as Midnight

"Black as Midnight, black as pitch, blacker than the foulest witch!"

This witch hat is far from foul, but I can never resist that line from Blix the goblin in the film Legend. Here is an ode to dark beauty, with layers of softness all in black. The rose was hand formed from georgette, working by candle to singe and curl the edges perfectly. Layers and layers of petals flanked by downy feathers and a sugar-spun swathe of delicate tulle cascading down to reach the midpoint of a witch's back.

What better way to highlight beautiful accessories than to combine them with their polar opposites? 

Moonlight spiderwebs...and crystal beetles...

...wicked elegance at Mermaiden Creations.

Ode to the Hedge Witch

The woodland witch, making her way through the forest and stopping to pick some berries and flowers, whistle at friend birds and bugs. She stretches in the delight of autumn and breathes in all its magic.

A hedge witch is often a solitary practitioner, perhaps inheriting traditions of the cunning folk, the wise women who weave the borders and jump the hedge between the mundane world and The Other. In tune with nature, midwifery and herb lore, silent listener and vessel of knowledge.

Here is a pointy hat fit for a walk in the wood. 

Autumn Blue Hedge Witch Hat at Mermaiden Creations.

Jade Blossom Rises

A witch hat that's been in the making for years...it's a legend. Jade Blossom has its origins in a vintage Chinese silk coat that I've been holding onto, hoping one day the spots that the dry cleaners couldn't get out would miraculously disappear. To my disappointment they remained, and its future became bound.

I took an afternoon to cut up the coat and arrange the hat pattern pieces just right; I wanted to be able to use the pocket and frog closures in the design. There just wasn't enough fabric for two brim pieces and I almost used the coat's lining for one- until I realized one of my favorite dupioni silks was the perfect compliment.

The embellishments took another afternoon- I swear, you'd think I was a florist with all the arranging I did. Finally, the white blossoming branches arch out of the pocket just so. The organza rose took so much more fabric than I anticipated, but it's ethereal and delicate atop a spray of iridescent sequin fronds.

I like to accent the back of some hats, and for this one I chose a cut out of vintage lace. It's a rose with subtle gold threading, and it's hand stitched to the brim.

There is a gentle, water garden feeling to Jade Blossom.

Autumn Revels is Revealed

A custom witch hat has taken to broom. Autumn Revels is a work in black velvet and smashing pumpkin hues; rust, copper, orange, bronze. Butterflies and bees and poppies. Fine vines winding and wrapping.

For every hat that finds a home, a piece of me goes with it. Be warned ;) For I sit, and sit, and sit with each one, fussing and adjusting, adding and removing. Until it is just right in its imperfection. For I know that somewhere there is a witch dreaming up her personality to me, projecting herself for me to conjure the threads of her special creation. And hey, if I don't hear you, you can always convo me at MermaidenCreations for a custom order!

Autumn is Nigh

Gentle autumn colors and textures, a longing for cooler days and harvest elixirs. Nostalgia grabs the wheel while we're doing errands and songs on the radio become anthems of rosewater and yearning.

This witch hat beckons to walks in vineyards and orchards, with its pantone fall palette on tapestry, adorned with roses and leaves. A unique boutique chapeau by Mermaiden Creations.

Golden Autumn Witch Hat

Vintage sentiments and fragments of lost memories in a romantic arrangement is feminine but definitely not frou-frou. Hand formed silk roses and antique trims in this any-occasion statement necklace.

Blushing Vintage Rose Couture Necklace

Fading, falling, frail, found.

Real Dragonfly Pendant

Following the Rabbit

So many versions of Alice and her wanderings, journeys light and dark. Symbols vary for each generation that her trip down the rabbit hole affects, but the wild and wonderful weird beauty remains a common thread.

Cheshire Cat eyes in the rose garden. A party hat for Alice, A Witch in Wonderland.

What doors does the Key to Love open?

 Wonderland Couture, Stripes and Roses Scarf.

Victorian romance abounds in Vintage Decolletage Statement Necklace, Wonderland garden party splendor and a fairy tale offering.