Friday Finds: Cupcakes Aren't Always Cute

Cupcakes seem to be all the rage lately.  Little individualized cakes?  How can you go wrong?  But they aren't always sweet confections.

Vicious Cupcake No 9 Dr. Felix Goodewrench OoaK Sculpture

Let Them Eat Cupcakes Burlesque Pasties

Zombie Brain Cupcake All Natural Glycerin Soap

ErtheFae's Faerie Lore: Beware the Nuckelavee!

by AJ Reardon of ErtheFae's Meandering Thoughts

Thanks to the Victorians, most of us have this image of faeries as being tiny winged folk. We might also include elves, gnomes, and leprechauns under the heading of faerie. Perhaps we think only of Tinkerbell and Fairy Godmothers, and maybe the Evil Fairy who gets offended and curses the newborn princess.

But the truth is, the faerie lore of the British Isles is rich, bizarre, and full of creatures that are nothing like the flitting, sparkling spirits we imagine frolicking through the flowers. Today I'd like to tell you about one of my favorite faeries, which I consider to be the most gruesome example of how strange faerie lore can be. That's right, we're going to talk about the Nuckelavee.

Forget your mental image of faeries as small and beautiful. The Nuckelavee is huge and horrific. Similar to a centaur, as imagined by HP Lovecraft or Todd McFarlane, the beast looks like a giant horse, with a man's torso and head rising out of its back. Oh, and did I forget to mention that it appears to be flayed? Yes, just imagine that rising out of the sea, its skinless head lolling on its shoulders, its single red eye staring right at you.

In her “An Encyclopedia of Fairies”, Katherine Kerr describes the Nuckelavee as “One of the most repulsive creatures which the Scottish imagination has conceived; and the Scots are expert in horrors.”  When Froud and Lee included the Nuckelavee in their book “Faeries” (where I first learned of it), they clearly considered it too horrible to draw in full – the illustration instead shows only its arm, reaching towards a tiny, terrified pixie.

Thankfully, the Nuckelavee is a creature of the sea and cannot abide the touch of fresh water. If  you happen to be wandering the Scottish coastline at night and the fearsome Nuckelavee rises from the depths and pursues you across the countryside, you can rescue yourself by splashing into a loch or crossing a stream. Just watch out for waterhorses while you're there!

AJ Reardon has been fascinated by faerie lore ever since she received a copy of “Faeries” by Brian Froud and Alan Lee when she was 16. She doesn't actually believe in faeries, but maybe that's because she lives in Tucson, AZ which is not known for its abundance of The Good Neighbors. AJ uses her knowledge of fae and myths to inspire the jewelry that she makes and sells in her on-line shop, Erthe Fae Designs.

Thanks so much to AJ for starting off the guest blogger series with some really awesome faerie lore!  It's so obvious how much her love of fantasy informs her jewelry.  I love the tribal styles and particularly her intricate seed bead work!!  I'm really looking forward to hearing more faerie lore from AJ in future guest posts!  AJ & I are both part of the Fantasy Artists of Etsy Street Team. 

Next week's featured guest blogger is Rose from Recreational Art on Etsy and her blog of the same name.  She'll be talking about recycling, upcycling, and repurposing.  

Wordless Wednesday: After a Day Cleaning... the Pool

Make sure you come visit tomorrow when I have my very first guest blogger joining us!  AJ from Erthe Fae's Meandering Thoughts will talk about the dark side of faerie.

Simple Joy Sunday

It was a pretty quiet week around here, nothing too terribly exciting going on...

I did a couple more days of the 30 Days of Creativity project...  Bummed that I wasn't able to do the full month but am really glad that I did what I could.  The project has encouraged me to be creative on a daily basis even if it's not on a whole project.  I also think that I'll keep blogging about my creative/crafty projects as much as possible, too.  It's been fun sharing them.

I joined a new website called Crowdtap that will help me earn some money, influence brands, and (most importantly!!) raise donations for a charity I believe in: Susan G. Komen (committed to breast cancer research and awareness).  In order to help me raise funds for Komen, would you mind heading over to FilmFan & giving them a thumbs up?

I listed a couple new things in the shop this week: a beautiful new bridal piece and more herbal goodness.  I'll blog about the herbal goodness (my Warrior Salve, finally listed!!!) separately, but the bridal piece is something new for me since I haven't really focused on wedding jewelry.  I'm excited about it's addition.  It's a six strand pearl necklace with a vintage clasp and is very much a statement piece.

I'm very excited about the new weekly guest blogger series that I have lined up.  Some topics lined up already include: faerie lore, gardening, feminism, craft tutorials, jewelry, and upcycling.  Slots are scheduled through mid-August right now, so if you're interested in participating, there's still time to figure out what you'd like to do.


I experimented with making some solid perfume this week.  It was a really fun little project!  I'm going to try to get a couple scents listed in the apothecary this week.


For those of you in the States, have a very happy and safe 4th of July tomorrow!!

Hey, so I added this cool linky widget here to this post if you want to participate in sharing your simple joys.  Leave a comment & leave your linky.  I'd love to have you!