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