Practical magic blogger party

I just had to share this idea by

Justina & Anna

create something magical & blog it

by the 25th of Sep'2010

link to blog ;0)

OOOooo now what to conjure up!

Blessed be )O(

Love & light

Trace

oxo

Grimms fairy tale doll...THIRD QUARTERLY CHALLENGE

ADO third quarterly Challenge

'Grimms'

Our Lady's Child

My first armature doll completed...yay! ;0)

Our laddy's child ate sugar cakes, and drank sweet milk

"Dear child, I am about to make a long journey, 
so take into thy keeping the keys 
of the thirteen doors of heaven. 
Twelve of these thou mayest open, 
and behold the glory which is within them, 
but the thirteenth, to which this little key belongs, 
is forbidden to thee. 
Beware of opening it, or thou wilt bring misery on thyself." 
The young girl began to examine the
dwellings of the kingdom of heaven. 
Each day she opened one of them, until she
had made the round of the twelve.

The forbidden door alone remained unopened, 

and she felt a great desire to 

know what could be hidden behind it, 

and said to the angels, 

"I will not quite open it, 

and I will not go inside it, 

but I will unlock it so that we can 

just see a little through the opening." 

"Oh, no," said the little angels

*

she opened the door...

 touching the light a little with her finger, 

and her finger became quite golden.

'thou art no longer worthy to be in heaven'
said Mary the angel after asking girl 
if she opened the door 
and the girl replying a steadfst no.
*

Then the girl fell into a deep sleep, 

and when she awoke she lay on the earth below, 

and in the midst of a wilderness. 

In old hollow tree, 
this was to be her dwelling place. 
Into this she crept when night came, 
and here she slept. 
Here,too, she found a shelter from storm and rain.
Roots and wild berries were her only food
In the autumn she picked up the fallen nuts and leaves, 
and carried them into the hole.

One day, when the trees were once more clothed in fresh green, 
the King of the country was hunting in the forest, 
and followed a roe, 
and as it had fled into the thicket which 
shut in this bit of the forest, 
he got off his horse, tore the bushes asunder,
 and cut himself a path with his sword. 

When he had at last forced his way through, 
he saw a wonderfully beautiful 
maiden sitting under the tree; 
and
she sat there and was entirely covered 
with her golden hair down to her very feet. 
He stood still and looked at her full of surprise, 
then he spoke to her and said, 
"Who art thou? Why art thou sitting here in the wilderness?" 
But she gave no answer, for she could not open her mouth. 
The King continued, 
"Wilt thou go with me to my castle?" 
Then she just nodded her head a little. 
TheKing took her in his arms, carried her to his horse, 
and rode home with her, 
and when he reached the royal castle 
he caused her to be dressed in beautiful garments, 
and gave her all things in abundance. 

There is more to the story but I like it as it is ;-)

The whole story can be read by clicking this link

As the young girl did not have a name I decided to call her 'Apollonia'

Apollonia is made via wire frame, foil, florist tape, paperclay & acrylics

Love & light

Trace

oxo

My first armature doll in progress...

Paperclay sculpt

Florist tape over foil armature

Foil over wire

Wire framework

Love & light

Trace

oxo

The sketchbook Project 2011 pages

The Sketchbook Project 2011

Theme: I'm sorry I forgot you......

Just a quick update...

First two sets of double pages

I'm sorry I forgot you...sunshine behind ones eyes

Love & light

Trace

oxo

ADO travelling doll project is drawing to an end...

'Team Muñeca'

Hi everyone

Well its the last round of the

Travelling doll project by the girls other at ADO

Luna is making her way home to Martha after some rather exciting travels I must say,

Selene now has arrived home...yay! I am overwhelmed...

thank you Martha & Raedell for all your hard work & wonderful creativity,

I adore her!! ((hugs)) mwah x :-D

The Dolls :

Selene

Luna

Victoria

Have journals in which each artist wrote/created a story follow up from the creators...

please pop over to Travelling doll projects ADO blog for more coverage ...

OOOoooo adorable Luna!

A sneak peek at journal pages I created for Luna's travel here in the UK...

lots of tea! Hee hee

Magical Selene arrives home :-D

How special is she..

Before Luna's departure home...

Below are re-caps of dolls on their journey

'Team Muñeca'

Above: I gave victoria a light distressed wash, painted & gave her hair :-)

Then off she went to visit Martha ...

(Luna sits upon her moon throne awaiting clothing & tea!)

Above: Upon visit to Raedell, Luna has hair/pearl crown & a beautiful,

magical moon!

Humble beginnings of 'Luna' by Martha

Humble beginnings of 'Selene' Tracey-anne (moi)

Humble beginnings of 'Victoria' by Dellarae Dezines

This has been such an enjoyable experience, roll on 2011!! :-D

Love & light

Trace

OXO

Travelling art doll....ADO TDP Challenge

ADO Travelling art doll challenge

'Luna'

I can't believe this is our last round of the challenge,

it has passed sooooo quickly!

'Luna' was made by Martha, my part was to dress this magical lady

upon her visit to the UK.

It has been rather hot here in the UK and so decided muslin would be most suitable ...

'Luna' requested some loose head wear,

for her travel back to Martha

- although she loves the wind in her hair she wished to preserve her curls for her creator to see!

Luna has some company on her trip back home

'Frederick' the cat upon a stick!

She wanted a reminder of the smiles that greeted her while travelling..

a little something to cuddle up with and bring a few memories back of summer 2010...

It was a wonderful experience

I would like to thank the lovely ladies in my team:

Martha

Raedell

For ADO team making this possible...thank you, mwah oxoxo

Love & light

Trace

oxoxo

Are there fairy houses in Turkey...

Allow me to share with you...

The Cave Houses of Cappadocia

land of lost cities .......secrets inside every cave

Uchisar, Cappadocia, Turkey.

Also known as Kapadokya

Uchisar 'fairy houses'.

After the eruption of Mount Erciyes in 253 BC,

the lava formed soft rocks in the Cappadocia Region.

This was eroded by wind and water, leaving the hard cap rock on top of pillars, forming the present-day fairy chimneys. People of Cappadocia Region, realized that the soft rock could be carved out to form houses, churches, monasteries

 Traces of a mystifying pagan empire have been buried for thousands of years.

The first monasteries in the world were built here, with over 200 churches constructed in the area,

and the remains of an advanced civilization that mysteriously disappeared.

Cappadocia is 200 miles south of Ankara, the capital of the modern Republic of Turkey,

sitting in the center of the high dessert of central Anatolia.

This region has always held mystery — from supposed magnetic fields with healing powers that locals swear by,

to UFO sightings going back thousands of years.

Peeling back the layers of time on these cities of the underworld, this region is unlike any other on earth. 

Millstones weighing up to a ton were rolled in front of the entrances to shut off access into parts of the city.

Inside the rooms, just a few men could easily roll one of these millstones into place,

but from the other side, even an army couldn’t budge it.

 

fairy chimneys

The stark landscape covered with rough mountains is home to several small towns that are actually full of modern day troglodytes living in caves.

 There are hundreds of entire underground cities that span for miles, which were first carved out by the pagan Hittites over 3,000 years ago.

Over 200 cities have been found intact beneath Cappadocia.

Experts believe there are many more waiting to be discovered.

The Hittites were one of the most advanced empires of the ancient world, reigning from 1700 BC to 1190 BC,

and thought to be the first Cappadocians to live underground.

Their ancient writings refer to troubles from invaders they called the ‘Sea People.”

The Hittites appeared to have flourished in the region for over 500 years,

but in the 12th century BC, they mysteriously vanished.

The underground of Cappadocia was their last refuge.

Tree full of Evil eyes

The "evil eye" is also known as "Mal de ojo."

Mediterranean cultures and many others around the world experience the concept of the

"evil eye."

The symptoms are vomiting, diarrhea, constant crying. It usually affects infants and children. However, adult females can also be affected.

In many Latin American countries, as a preventive method to avoid the evil eye,

parents will tie a red ribbon around the child's wrist or ankle.

The evil eye is a look that is superstitiously believed by many cultures to be able to cause injury or bad luck on the person at whom it is directed for reasons of envy or dislike. The term also refers to the power attributed to certain persons, of inflicting injury or bad luck by such an envious or ill-wishing look.

There are speculations that claim Socrates possessed the evil eye and that his disciples and admirers were fascinated by Socrates' insistently glaring eyes.

His followers were called Blepedaimones, which translates into "demon look,"

not because they were possessors and transmitters of the evil eye,

but because they were suspected of being under the hypnotic and dangerous spell of Socrates.

The spreading in the belief of the evil eye towards the east is believed to have been propagated by the Empire of Alexander the Great, which spread this and other Greek ideas across his empire.

Attempts to ward off the curse of the evil eye has resulted in a number of talismans in many cultures.

As a class, they are called "apotropaic"

(Greek for "prophylactic" or "protective," literally: "turns away")

talismans, meaning that they turn away or turn back harm.

A simple and instant way of protection in European Christian countries is to make the sign of the cross with your hand and point two fingers,

the index finger and the little finger,

towards the supposed source of influence or supposed victim as described in the first chapter of Bram Stokers novel Dracula published in 1897..

Disks or balls, consisting of concentric blue and white circles (usually, from inside to outside, dark blue, light blue, white, dark blue) representing an evil eye are common apotropaic talismans in the Middle East, found on the prows of Mediterranean boats and elsewhere; in some forms of the folklore, the staring eyes are supposed to bend the malicious gaze back to the sorcerer.

Known as nazar (Turkish: nazar boncuğu or nazarlık), this talisman is most frequently seen in Turkey, found in or on houses and vehicles or worn as beads.

A blue eye can also be found on some forms of the hamsa hand, an apotropaic hand-shaped amulet against the evil eye found in the Middle East. The word hamsa, also spelled khamsa and hamesh, means "five" referring to the fingers of the hand. In Jewish culture, the hamsa is called the Hand of Miriam; in some Muslim populated cultures, the Hand of Fatima. However, it is considered a superstition to practicing or religious Muslims that any symbol or object protects against the evil eye. In Islam, only God can protect against the evil eye.

Egypt

The Eye of Horus – Horus was an ancient Egyptian sky god in the form of a falcon. The right eye represents a peregrine falcon's eye and the markings around it, that includes the "teardrop" marking sometimes found below the eye. The right eye of Horus is said to ward off the evil eye in the ancient Egyptian culture. In modern Egypt, Islamic charms and amulets such as the hamsa are used.

Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, its believed that anyone could give you the evil eye. Women occasionally spit to the ground when ever they admire a loved one in order not to give them the evil eye.

more on the Evil Eye

Göreme is probably the most famous town in Cappadocia.

Göreme became a monastic center between 300-1200 AD

and you can still tour some of the monastic caves and underground tunnels.

The Snake Church takes its name from the serpent that represents the dragon St. George 

is shown slaying in a painting on the left wall, 

and a striking fresco of Constantine the Great and his mother Helena,

both wearing haloes of sainthood, holding the True Cross.

For generations, villagers have guarded the secrets of Cappadocia’s underworld, 

but as the modern world rallies with the ancient one, their secrets are becoming revealed.

Ozkunak was a multi-leveled city — animals occupied the first level,

and the villagers took cover on the 2nd level, 20 feet (6 meters) beneath the ground.

Over 3,000 people could live in this massive complex for months at a time.

Goreme became a monastic center between 300 to1200 AD.

In the middle ages, it was very rare to find people who could read,

and the churches were normally used to teach Christianity to illiterate people.

Ancient frescoes within the churches preserve the stories of the world’s first monasteries.

The intricate frescoes were used like a text book,

telling stories of the bible and the life of Jesus from his birth to crucifixion in pictures.

Ozkunak was the only underground city that devised a telecommunication system.

The large chambers built to reverberate sound waves provided an echo,

and holes carved in walls could carry sound to other rooms and floors.

A person above could hear instructions given from below even when spoken at a whisper.

People still live in these ancient holes in the ground

and have turned some of them into hotels, apartments and shops.

Some people who live in the area have been known to begin working on creating a new room for their homes

(by scraping away portions of existing walls)

only to discover an adjoining cave that dates back to ancient times.

Love & light

Trace 

oxoxoxo