How to plant a Fairy garden!

It's that time of year again! It's time to garden again. It was so hot today but there I was in my big black gardening hat pulling weeds and digging in the dirt. There is just something so satisfying about digging in the dirt with your bare hands! I started with the weeding and had to move around a few flowers and transplant some runaway Bee Balm to some containers in my backyard. 

After all the weeding was finished I sent a message to a good friend who is a gardening expert about what plants I should plant in my tiny front garden and she responded with "why not plant a fairy garden there?" Of course! Why not plant a fairy garden?! And off I went to the local nursery to purchase lots of purple flowers. 

 

Believe it or not, I had this little ceramic cottage and gnome at home already. They were both thrift store finds from a while ago. The cottage reminded me of Hagrid's cottage when I bought it. All I had to add was the flowers. I am really happy about how it turned out. So happy that I think I should plan another fairy garden in the back yard! And wouldn't it be fun to do a haunted fairy house next time? Hmmm...

Happy World Goth Day!

I spent World Goth Day (eve) the same way I have for the past three years. We are lucky enough in Toronto to have an annual event hosted by Liisa Ladouceur every year. We spend the evening watching beautiful Gothic movies on the big screen at The Royal Cinema in TO. This year's movie selection was Interview With The Vampire. What a treat it was to see this movie once again on the big screen! Every time I watch this movie I feel like doing a marathon reading all those vampire books again. If only I had more hours in the day to read everything I wanted to. Sigh.

It's funny how seeing a movie like Interview With The Vampire, which I have seen about a 1000 times before, can look so different in large scale on the big screen. You notice all the little details of the costumes and set design that you might have missed before. This movie has spectacular costumes. All the lace and silk is so beautiful on Louie and Lestat! 

Mmmm... Antonio. 

Of course since this was a special outing I donned my best Vampire outfit for the occasion. Yes, Vampires do go to the movies! Here's proof. 

I would like to say a special thanks to Liisa Ladouceur for organizing this fun event every year. She is a very talented writer of both the Encyclopedia Gothica and How to Kill a Vampire. She debuted a short film she made on the 40 years of Goth Fashion last night as well. I'm sure it will be released very soon. Here is the teaser for it. She even put together some Vampire Hunter kits for the evening!

Happy World Goth Day! 

How much does social media influence you?

While reading through the blogs I follow I came across an interesting post by Diary of a Sewing Fanatic. She posed the question "Does social media affect what you sew?" The reader responses were really interesting to read through. I follow a lot of sewing blogs regularly but I'm not usually influenced by them because my personal style is so different from the norm. Even though I might not wear what everyone else is making I still enjoy reading through the sewing blogs. I can appreciate their style even though it's different from my own. And they usually have sewing tips that are good to know.

This also got me thinking that I would really love to hear from other Gothic Bloggers how they think about how social media influences them. So I'm posing my own question to you! "How does social media influence you?"  What blogs do you follow regularly? Who's style influences you the most? Are you inspired by Pinterest or maybe someone on YouTube? Are there blogs you follow on a regular basis even though their taste is completely different from your own? Are you influenced to try out a different style that you ordinarily wouldn't wear because it looks great on a another blogger? 

Here are just a few of my favourite social media haunts lately: 

Pinterest- This is the black hole of the Internet. I can spend loads of time on there everyday pinning away! My latest obsession is Dark Mori , Strega Fashion, and Witch Fashion and Boho/Witchy Decor 

YouTube- I follow mostly Tarot readers, Pagans, Mystics, and Occult podcasts on YouTube. Joey Morris and Rune Soup are some of my favourites. As for gothic youtubers, I love The Goblin Queen  (who is also mystical and a tarot reader) and Black Friday because she is cute and funny. 

Instagram- My good friend Madame Absinthe has a new Instagram account. She really is that fashionable and beautiful all the time. 

Blogs- you will find a list of blogs below that I follow regularly. Bloggers do influence me in some ways. But I think we all influence each other. The way we all get excited when the Halloween displays show up in August is just one way. I love that time of year!

So please tell me how social media influences you?

*image above is from Pinterest 

Are you a Witch?

So it happened yet again. I met a new girl at work just a few days ago. The first thing she said to me was "Hello". The second thing was "Are you a Witch?". Considering I have been asked this question over and over again my entire life, I just naturally answer yes now. I was not wearing my pentagram necklace that day so I asked her "what makes you ask that?" She answered "your eyes". Technically she is right, I identify as Pagan so I do consider myself a witch. But my coworker who was standing nearby was shocked at her question. She thought it was incredibly rude to just blurt out a question like that. Basically she was asking a very personal question. I normally wouldn't have thought twice about her asking that, but my coworkers reaction to the question made me think it over a little more closely. 

You see, I have been asked that question so many times over my life that I have started to think it's normal. I do realize that the way I dress has a huge effect on people, however in this case it really was a form of discrimination. I have naturally red hair and green eyes. Throughout history redheads with green eyes were thought to be either witches or vampires or both. If I were born 200 years ago I might have been burned at the stake for having red hair. Considering it is 2016 now, it's downright shocking how many people still think that way. Not only have I been asked multiple times if I'm a witch but I can also remember one guy many years ago asking me if I was a Vampire. He said this with a completely straight face. He was serious. As a child, my best friend growing up was terrified of Vampires. She slept with a crucifix above her bed. She actually confessed to me one night at a sleep over that she was worried I was a Vampire and that the crucifix would keep her safe. We were 10 years old! 

So when this new girl blurted out "Are you a Witch?" It didn't shock me. I'm used to it! Unfortunately for her, she had a disaster of a first day at work. She went on to insult at least three other people that day. This is definitely a no-no on your first day at work so she didn't last long at all. In my case, I think she was just excited because she had a pentagram tattoo that she flashed at me also. This meant she was interested in learning the craft. She was definitely a beginner so I gave her a few suggestions of books to read to get her started. 

Did this situation bring back long lost childhood memories that I buried long ago? Yes it did. But! The biggest difference now is that I am comfortable in my own skin. I am proud to be a redhead with green eyes. There aren't that many of us. It means I have Scottish or Irish heritage and that's all. Now that I am older, I own it, I put on my witch hat proudly. Go ahead and ask me if I'm a witch. You might be surprised at the answer! 

*images above were found on Pinterest.