Halloween Fun

Welcome! I thought it was appropriate to post a few Halloween treats since it's the 31st and Halloween is just a couple of months away. I'm getting ready for Glitterfest which is Oct. 2nd so I'm working on Halloween goodies along with Christmas of course too.
I like to use old anatomy illustrations combined with vintage ledger papers.

The Halloween Queen ornament has black rhinestones on it that really sparkle under low light.
I thought he looked nicer waving to you. ;)
And he is much friendlier with a top hat and glittery black band around it.
I went to a local nursery in San Diego over the weekend called Walter Andersen Nursery. It's so pretty, and has many unique flowers to choose from. I've never seen so many herbs in my life, and I chose a few like the one above called Wormwood, to dry for future Halloween ornaments. I also bought Transylvanian Sage, and Mugwort. I noticed that some came from an herb farm much closer to me called Pearson's Gardens. I need to go check them out.

Can you think of any other "Halloween" plants or herbs I should search for?
Here's a closer look at the wormwood. It's really a beautiful leaf, and I already dried and pressed a few of them. I'm addicted to finding, pressing and drying flowers right now. I even pulled off the road on a bike ride and picked some pretty flowers I had to try drying. Some work out, and some don't. I find the flowers with an open face work better, and ones with just leaves like herbs work out great.

I'm going to go to the grand opening of Roger's Garden's Halloween extravaganza on Thursday night. I'll be sure to bring my camera to share the fun with you!

Take care, Martha

Feeling Pressed

Hi there! I'm feeling pressed to make some pretty pressed flowers! I just got a microwave flower presser, and have been having fun with it. It's called Microfleur and works really well. You only have to wait about a minute for pressed flowers that would have normally taken a week to dry. Here's an ornament I just made with real pressed flowers inside.
I tried to make it look like a page from a vintage herbarium, so I took letters from an old plant book, and created the name of the plant. It's called Gypsophia, and it looks like baby's breath, but with pink flowers.

Here's a beautiful cone with a fairy on it, my friend Rosemary made.
I put some dried white hydrangea inside, and love the look. Do you like flowers and fairies too?

Take care,

Martha

Goodies to share with You

Hi and thanks for stopping in! Thanks to everyone who came out to my last craft show in Carlsbad, CA. I got to meet a blog buddy too! Many of you may know Karin over at Creative Chaos, but if you don't hop on over to her blog. She's the sweetest lady you'll ever meet, and I was very fortunate to do so!

I wanted to share with you a design I've been working on. It's the quote from C. S. Lewis "You don't have a soul, you are a soul. You have a body." Since the passing of my mom, it's words have renewed meaning to me. I wanted to create a piece that reflects this quote, so I came up with this beautiful vintage lady and used really muted colors that are faded.
I found a page from Rachel Ashwell's shabby chic book with the same colors and placed the ornament on it. It's embellished with a little bit of clear glitter too. You can check it out here at my website along with some other new designs I've been working on.
And here's the wonderful type face I used in the design. It's called "Handmade" by Eduardo Recife, and you can purchase it here. Oh I've got to share a couple more things with you too. Here's a beautiful tutorial on making dried flower bookmarks.

And finally, I've been watching Molly the barn owl on her own owl cam! She's a barn owl that has just had 4 babies, and I watch while creating. (WARNING: She is eating a rat right now, so you may want to skip watching especially in the morning! ) You can check Molly out here.

You take care, and again, thanks so much for visiting! ~Martha

Carlsbad Art in the Village

Hi there! I'm busily working on goodies for the sunday Art in the Village in Carlsbad, CA. I'll be there from 9-5, at booth #441. You can click on the map above to enlarge it and print it out. The video shows some of the sights of Carlsbad, a beautiful place I'm proud to call home. Hope you can come out and have some fun!

Take care,

Martha