Visual Sentiments

and the winner is...

2010-10-07T12:31:00.000-07:00

The winner of our earrings giveaway is:
#22 Katie!!

Congratulations and thanks to everyone that entered!

We have a new Giveaway coming soon!

New Jewerly and a New Giveaway! (CLOSED)

2010-09-21T12:35:00.000-07:00

Lots of New Earrings Listed in the Shop recently!

For my second giveaway this month, one winner will get their choice of ANY pair from the 'earrings' section of my shop.
Here's How To Enter:
+ Blog about our shop, tweet about you favorite item, face-book it, etc.. spread the word about our shop in some way. You must include a direct link to our shop or one of our listings.

**That is a mandatory first entry.**

For extra entries you can:
+ tweet up to once a day
+ add our shop to your etsy favorites
+ follow our blog

Please leave a separate comment for each entry, and don't forget to leave your email address!

Giveaway will end on Sunday October 3rd at midnight EST,and will be announced here and notified by e-mail.

Good Luck and Thank you!!

September Giveaway #1! (CLOSED)

2010-08-30T08:10:00.000-07:00

It's time for September's Giveaway! and this will be the
first of two this month!

One lucky person will win this beautiful locket:

Here's How To Enter:

+ Blog about our shop, tweet about you favorite item, face-book it, etc.. spread the word about our shop in some way.

That is a mandatory first entry.

For extra entries you can:
+ tweet up to once a day
+ add our shop to your etsy favorites
+ follow our blog

Please leave a separate comment for each entry, and don't forget to leave your email address!

Giveaway will end on Wednesday September 15th at midnight EST,and will be announced here and notified by e-mail.

Good Luck and Thank you!!

Shop Update! 8/26/10

2010-08-26T07:25:00.000-07:00

Necklaces

Vintage Floral Necklace

Owl Necklace

Deep Amethyst Necklace

Bunny Frame Necklace

Whimsical Unicorn Necklace

Rings

Turquoise Flower Ring

Choose Your Own Color, Flower Ring

Earrings

Turquoise and Antique Brass Leaf Earrings

Aquamarine and Amethyst Earrings

and the winner is...

2010-08-26T07:11:00.000-07:00

The Winner of our August Giveaway is:
#16 Faerie Moon Creations
Who Said:

Congratulations!! and thank you
to everyone who participated :)
A New Giveaway will be up soon!

Shop Update! 8/9/10

2010-08-09T12:23:00.000-07:00

New Items in the shop!

Lockets:

Necklaces

August Giveaway! (CLOSED)

2010-07-31T12:17:00.000-07:00

It's time for August's Giveaway!
One Lucky Winner will receive this beautiful little Necklace:

Crystal Rain - Brass Bird Necklace, 18 Inch Chain

Here's How To Enter:

+ Blog about our shop, tweet about you favorite item, face-book it, etc..just spread the word about our shop in some way.

That is a mandatory first entry.

For extra entries you can:
+ tweet up to once a day
+ add our shop to your etsy favorites
+ follow our blog

Please leave a separate comment for each entry, and don't forget to leave your email address!

Giveaway will end on Sunday August 22nd at midnight EST,

and will be announced here and notified by e-mail.

Good Luck and Thank you!!

July's Giveaway Winner

2010-07-31T12:16:00.000-07:00

The Winner of out July Giveaway is:
#93 Grace Who Said:

Congratulations!! and thank you to everyone who participated and left such great feedback. It was so helpful and we really do appreciate it!

Shop Update: New Items!

2010-07-25T14:40:00.000-07:00

Lockets

Necklaces

Earrings

Shop Update: New Jewerly Added

2010-07-19T19:10:00.000-07:00

Hand Painted Porcelain(one of a kind designs)

Butterfly and Locket Charm Necklace

Flight Necklace

Fantasy Inspired Jewels

Anastasia - Vintage Amethyst Necklace

Snow White Inspired Locket Brooch

Shop Update: Lost of New Jewerly Designs Just Added!

2010-07-14T17:13:00.000-07:00

Charm Necklaces

Hand Painted Porcelain

Antique Brass Pendants and Lockets

Alice in Wonderland
Brooches

...and more coming soon!!

Giveaway! (CLOSED)

2010-07-06T19:10:00.000-07:00

As a way to help promote our new etsy shop, we're offering a giveaway!

One winner will get to select any item they would like from our shop.

Here's How To Enter:
This giveaway is about helping to spread the word about VisualSentiments, so that's what we're asking you to do.

+ Blog about our shop, tweet about it, face-book it, just help to spread the word about our shop in some way.

That is a mandatory first entry.

For extra entries you can:
+ tweet up to once a day
+ add our shop to your etsy favorites
+ follow our blog
+ tell us what item you would select if you won!
+ we would also love to hear some feedback about our shop in general: what do you like? what don't you like? it's all helpful!

Please leave a separate comment for each entry, and don't forget to leave your email address!

Giveaway will end on Tuesday July 27th at midnight EST,

and will be announced here and notified by e-mail.

Good Luck and Thank you!!

Wishing Stars Necklace

2010-07-06T09:56:00.000-07:00

make a wish...

Beautiful dainty antiqued brass chain adorned with 7 little lucky stars. This whimsical necklace is perfect to wear everyday and also great for laying with shorter necklaces.

Necklace measures 32 inches long, there is no clasp
as it will easily fit over you head.

The Old Woman In The Wood

2010-06-13T11:22:00.000-07:00

Illustration by Arthur Rackham
Grimm's Fairy Tales: The Old Woman In The Wood (1920)
PLOT SUMMARY:
A poor servant-girl was once traveling with the family with which she
was in service, through a great forest, and when they were in the
midst of it, robbers came out of the thicket, and murdered all they
found. All perished together except the girl, who had jumped out of
the carriage in a fright, and hidden herself behind a tree. When the
robbers had gone away with their booty, she came out and beheld the
great disaster. Then she began to weep bitterly, and said, "What can
a poor girl like me do now? I do not know how to get out of the
forest, no human being lives in it, so I must certainly starve."

She walked about and looked for a road, but could find none. When it
was evening she seated herself under a tree, gave herself into God's
keeping, and resolved to sit waiting there and not go away, let
happen what might. When she had sat there for a while, a white dove
came flying to her with a little golden key in its beak. It put the
little key in her hand, and said, "Do you see that great tree,
therein is a little lock, open it with the tiny key, and you will
find food enough, and suffer no more hunger."
Click Here To Continue Reading

Peter Pan in Kensington Garden

2010-06-12T11:50:00.000-07:00

Looking very undancey indeedIllustration by Arthur Rackham

The Fairies have their tiffs with the birdsIllustration by Arthur Rackham
Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens was originally part of an earlier work, The Little White Bird by J.M. Barrie. The Peter Pan chapters were extracted and published as a separate work in 1906. The color plates to Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens by Arthur Rackham made the book immediately popular, and drew attention to Rackham, who was not well-known before then.

Plot Summary:
Peter is a seven-day-old infant who, "like all infants", used to be part bird. Peter has complete faith in his flying abilities, so, upon hearing a discussion of his adult life, he is able to escape out of the window of his London home and return to Kensington Gardens. Upon returning to the Gardens, Peter is shocked to learn from the crow Solomon Caw that he is not still a bird, but more like a human - Solomon says he is crossed between them as a "Betwixt-and-Between". Unfortunately, Peter now knows he cannot fly, so he is stranded in Kensington Gardens. At first, Peter can only get around on foot, but he commissions the building of a child-sized thrush's nest that he can use as a boat to navigate the Gardens by way of the Serpentine River.

Click Here To Continue Reading

3 Pendants

2010-06-11T14:21:00.000-07:00

Just finished 3 pendants that are now ready to ship out
to their new owner!

From left to right:
Fairy Dance, Queen Mab, Pandora

Cat-Skin

2010-06-11T13:10:00.000-07:00

Illustration by Arthur Rackham
Grimm's Fairy Tales: Cat-Skin
There was once a king, whose queen had hair of the purest gold, and was so beautiful that her match was not to be met with on the whole face of the earth. But this beautiful queen fell ill, and when she felt that her end drew near she called the king to her and said, ’Promise me that you will never marry again, unless you meet with a wife who is as beautiful as I am, and who has golden hair like mine.’ Then when the king in his grief promised all she asked, she shut her eyes and died. But the king was not to be comforted, and for a long time never thought of taking another wife. At last, however, his wise men said, ’this will not do; the king must marry again, that we may have a queen.’ So messengers were sent far and wide, to seek for a bride as beautiful as the late queen. But there was no princess in the world so beautiful; and if there had been, still there was not one to be found who had golden hair. So the messengers came home, and had had all their trouble for nothing.

Now the king had a daughter, who was just as beautiful as her mother, and had the same golden hair. And when she was grown up, the king looked at her and saw that she was just like this late queen: then he said to his courtiers, ’May I not marry my daughter? She is the very image of my dead wife: unless I have her, I shall not find any bride upon the whole earth, and you say there must be a queen.’ When the courtiers heard this they were shocked, and said, ’Heaven forbid that a father should marry his daughter! Out of so great a sin no good can come.’ And his daughter was also shocked, but hoped the king would soon give up such thoughts; so she said to him, ’Before I marry anyone I must have three dresses: one must be of gold, like the sun; another must be of shining silver, like the moon; and a third must be dazzling as the stars: besides this, I want a mantle of a thousand different kinds of fur put together, to which every beast in the kingdom must give a part of his skin.’ And thus she though he would think of the matter no more. But the king made the most skilful workmen in his kingdom weave the three dresses: one golden, like the sun; another silvery, like the moon; and a third sparkling, like the stars: and his hunters were told to hunt out all the beasts in his kingdom, and to take the finest fur out of their skins: and thus a mantle of a thousand furs was made.

Click Here To Continue Reading

When all were ready, the king sent them to her; but she got up in the night when all were asleep, and took three of her trinkets, a golden ring, a golden necklace, and a golden brooch, and packed the three dresses–of the sun, the moon, and the stars–up in a nutshell, and wrapped herself up in the mantle made of all sorts of fur, and besmeared her face and hands with soot. Then she threw herself upon Heaven for help in her need, and went away, and journeyed on the whole night, till at last she came to a large wood. As she was very tired, she sat herself down in the hollow of a tree and soon fell asleep: and there she slept on till it was midday.

Now as the king to whom the wood belonged was hunting in it, his dogs came to the tree, and began to snuff about, and run round and round, and bark. ’Look sharp!’ said the king to the huntsmen, ’and see what sort of game lies there.’ And the huntsmen went up to the tree, and when they came back again said, ’In the hollow tree there lies a most wonderful beast, such as we never saw before; its skin seems to be of a thousand kinds of fur, but there it lies fast asleep.’ ’See,’ said the king, ’if you can catch it alive, and we will take it with us.’ So the huntsmen took it up, and the maiden awoke and was greatly frightened, and said, ’I am a poor child that has neither father nor mother left; have pity on me and take me with you.’ Then they said, ’Yes, Miss Cat-skin, you will do for the kitchen; you can sweep up the ashes, and do things of that sort.’ So they put her into the coach, and took her home to the king’s palace. Then they showed her a little corner under the staircase, where no light of day ever peeped in, and said, ’Cat-skin, you may lie and sleep there.’ And she was sent into the kitchen, and made to fetch wood and water, to blow the fire, pluck the poultry, pick the herbs, sift the ashes, and do all the dirty work.

Thus Cat-skin lived for a long time very sorrowfully. ’Ah! pretty princess!’ thought she, ’what will now become of thee?’ But it happened one day that a feast was to be held in the king’s castle, so she said to the cook, ’May I go up a little while and see what is going on? I will take care and stand behind the door.’ And the cook said, ’Yes, you may go, but be back again in half an hour’s time, to rake out the ashes.’ Then she took her little lamp, and went into her cabin, and took off the fur skin, and washed the soot from off her face and hands, so that her beauty shone forth like the sun from behind the clouds. She next opened her nutshell, and brought out of it the dress that shone like the sun, and so went to the feast. Everyone made way for her, for nobody knew her, and they thought she could be no less than a king’s daughter. But the king came up to her, and held out his hand and danced with her; and he thought in his heart, ’I never saw any one half so beautiful.’

When the dance was at an end she curtsied; and when the king looked round for her, she was gone, no one knew wither. The guards that stood at the castle gate were called in: but they had seen no one. The truth was, that she had run into her little cabin, pulled off her dress, blackened her face and hands, put on the fur-skin cloak, and was Cat- skin again. When she went into the kitchen to her work, and began to rake the ashes, the cook said, ’Let that alone till the morning, and heat the king’s soup; I should like to run up now and give a peep: but take care you don’t let a hair fall into it, or you will run a chance of never eating again.’

As soon as the cook went away, Cat-skin heated the king’s soup, and toasted a slice of bread first, as nicely as ever she could; and when it was ready, she went and looked in the cabin for her little golden ring, and put it into the dish in which the soup was. When the dance was over, the king ordered his soup to be brought in; and it pleased him so well, that he thought he had never tasted any so good before. At the bottom he saw a gold ring lying; and as he could not make out how it had got there, he ordered the cook to be sent for. The cook was frightened when he heard the order, and said to Cat-skin, ’You must have let a hair fall into the soup; if it be so, you will have a good beating.’ Then he went before the king, and he asked him who had cooked the soup. ’I did,’ answered the cook. But the king said, ’That is not true; it was better done than you could do it.’ Then he answered, ’To tell the truth I did not cook it, but Cat-skin did.’ ’Then let Cat-skin come up,’ said the king: and when she came he said to her, ’Who are you?’ ’I am a poor child,’ said she, ’that has lost both father and mother.’ ’How came you in my palace?’ asked he. ’I am good for nothing,’ said she, ’but to be scullion-girl, and to have boots and shoes thrown at my head.’ ’But how did you get the ring that was in the soup?’ asked the king. Then she would not own that she knew anything about the ring; so the king sent her away again about her business.

After a time there was another feast, and Cat-skin asked the cook to let her go up and see it as before. ’Yes,’ said he, ’but come again in half an hour, and cook the king the soup that he likes so much.’ Then she ran to her little cabin, washed herself quickly, and took her dress out which was silvery as the moon, and put it on; and when she went in, looking like a king’s daughter, the king went up to her, and rejoiced at seeing her again, and when the dance began he danced with her. After the dance was at an end she managed to slip out, so slyly that the king did not see where she was gone; but she sprang into her little cabin, and made herself into Cat-skin again, and went into the kitchen to cook the soup. Whilst the cook was above stairs, she got the golden necklace and dropped it into the soup; then it was brought to the king, who ate it, and it pleased him as well as before; so he sent for the cook, who was again forced to tell him that Cat-skin had cooked it. Cat-skin was brought again before the king, but she still told him that she was only fit to have boots and shoes thrown at her head.

But when the king had ordered a feast to be got ready for the third time, it happened just the same as before. ’You must be a witch, Cat- skin,’ said the cook; ’for you always put something into your soup, so that it pleases the king better than mine.’ However, he let her go up as before. Then she put on her dress which sparkled like the stars, and went into the ball-room in it; and the king danced with her again, and thought she had never looked so beautiful as she did then. So whilst he was dancing with her, he put a gold ring on her finger without her seeing it, and ordered that the dance should be kept up a long time. When it was at an end, he would have held her fast by the hand, but she slipped away, and sprang so quickly through the crowd that he lost sight of her: and she ran as fast as she could into her little cabin under the stairs. But this time she kept away too long, and stayed beyond the half-hour; so she had not time to take off her fine dress, and threw her fur mantle over it, and in her haste did not blacken herself all over with soot, but left one of her fingers white.

Then she ran into the kitchen, and cooked the king’s soup; and as soon as the cook was gone, she put the golden brooch into the dish. When the king got to the bottom, he ordered Cat-skin to be called once more, and soon saw the white finger, and the ring that he had put on it whilst they were dancing: so he seized her hand, and kept fast hold of it, and when she wanted to loose herself and spring away, the fur cloak fell off a little on one side, and the starry dress sparkled underneath it.

Then he got hold of the fur and tore it off, and her golden hair and beautiful form were seen, and she could no longer hide herself: so she washed the soot and ashes from her face, and showed herself to be the most beautiful princess upon the face of the earth. But the king said, ’You are my beloved bride, and we will never more be parted from each other.’ And the wedding feast was held, and a merry day it was, as ever was heard of or seen in that country, or indeed in any other.

Maid Maleen

2010-06-10T23:28:00.000-07:00

Illustration by Arthur Rackham
Maid Maleen, a princess, and a prince fell in love, but her father refused his suit. When Maid Maleen said she would marry no other, the king had her and her servants locked up in tower, with food that would be enough to feed them for seven years.

After seven years, the food ran out. However, no one came to release or deliver more food to the princess and her servants. They then decided to escape from the tower, with a knife that they had. What they found was that the king was gone and the kingdom no longer existed. Without knowing where to go, they finally arrived at the country of Maleen's lover, and sought work in the royal kitchen.

The prince had been betrothed by his father to another princess. This princess, lacking of confidence in herself, did not think that she would be good enough for the prince. She would not leave her room and let him see her. On her wedding day, not wishing to be seen, the princess sent Maid Maleen in her place.

At the wedding, the prince put a golden necklace around Maid Maleen's neck as a proof for the marriage. At night, the prince went to the wedding chamber where the princess was waiting. He did not see the golden necklace around her neck. Immediately, he knew that the princess was not the one he was married to. Meanwhile, the princess had sent out an assassin to kill Maid Maleen. The prince, who left the wedding chamber to look for his true bride, was guided by the shine of the golden necklace and came in time to save her. With the golden necklace as the proof of marriage, they were married and lived happily ever after.

via Wikipedia

Click here to read the annotated version of the
fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm.

Queen Mab

2010-06-10T11:59:00.000-07:00

Illustration by Arthur Rackham for 'Peter Pan in Kensington Garden'
Queen of the Fairies in English tradition.

O, then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you. 
She is the fairies’ midwife, and she comes 
In shape no bigger than an agate-stone 
On the fore-finger of an alderman, 
Drawn with a team of little atomies 
Athwart men’s noses as they lie asleep;

--Romeo and Juliet I.iv.

Mercutio's lenthy speech on Queen Mab portrays her as a tiny but regal figure, fearsom and wonderous at the same time. Her realm is the natural one, of spiders and plants and grubs, but with an unearthly air to them, manufacturing things from moonbeans.

Shelley also wrote a poem on Queen Mab, seeming to borrow from the themes of Shakespeare's play.

Queen Mab is thought to be a degenerated version of the Irish Queen Medb, from the Ulster Cycle. They share traits even aside from their names--both fierce queens of an otherworldly place (the Connacht of the Ulster Cycle is nothing if not fantastical), both incredibly independent, both incredibly sexual. Traditionally, Mab is said to have been married to Oberon, though Shakespeare, in A Midsummer Night's Dream changes her name to Titiana. Titiana's character may simply be a variation on Mab; like Medb and her husband Ailill, Titiana and Oberon battled over who was more powerful, comparing posessions and waging proxy wars.

Mab also appears in Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, in a no-less powerful form, again as the queen of fairies, who eventually welcome Peter Pan into their company.

via maryjones.us

Little Brother and Little Sister

2010-06-10T08:38:00.000-07:00

Illustration by Mabel Lucie Attwell
Grimms’ Fairy Tales: Little Brother and Little Sister
Little brother took his little sister by the hand and said, “Since our mother died we have had no happiness; our step-mother beats us every day, and if we come near her she kicks us away with her foot. Our meals are the hard crusts of bread that are left over; and the little dog under the table is better off, for she often throws it a nice bit. May Heaven pity us. If our mother only knew! Come, we will go forth together into the wide world.”

They walked the whole day over meadows, fields, and stony places; and when it rained the little sister said, “Heaven and our hearts are weeping together.” In the evening they came to a large forest, and they were so weary with sorrow and hunger and the long walk, that they lay down in a hollow tree and fell asleep.

Click Here To Continue Reading

Undine

2010-06-10T08:27:00.000-07:00

'Undine' (a novel concerning a water spirit who marries a Knight named Huldebrand in order to gain a soul) is one of the most beautiful fairy tales of the Romantic Age. It was written in 1811 by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué (1777-1843) and illustrated in 1909 by Arthur Rackham.

Goblin Market

2010-06-10T07:34:00.000-07:00

White and golden Lizzie stood...
Illustration by Arthur Rackham

'Goblin Market' by Christina Rossetti
MORNING and evening
Maids heard the goblins cry:
"Come buy our orchard fruits,
Come buy, come buy:
Apples and quinces,
Lemons and oranges,
Plump unpecked cherries-
Melons and raspberries,
Bloom-down-cheeked peaches,
Swart-headed mulberries,
Wild free-born cranberries,
Crab-apples, dewberries,
Pine-apples, blackberries,
Apricots, strawberries--
All ripe together
In summer weather--
Morns that pass by,
Fair eves that fly;
Come buy, come buy;
Our grapes fresh from the vine,
Pomegranates full and fine,
Dates and sharp bullaces,
Rare pears and greengages,
Damsons and bilberries,
Taste them and try:
Currants and gooseberries,
Bright-fire-like barberries,
Figs to fill your mouth,
Citrons from the South,
Sweet to tongue and sound to eye,
Come buy, come buy."

Click Here To Continue Reading

Comus

2010-06-10T07:04:00.000-07:00

Arthur Rackham’s (b. 1887-1939) influence in the history of illustration is undeniable. Many contemporary artists, illustrators, and filmmakers reveal obvious traces in their work of Rackham’s fantasy-driven style. Comus is a masque written by John Milton, the greatest English poet besides Shakespeare. Rackham may have felt an affinity to the great poet, as a fellow country-man. The masque is a semi-allegorical portrayal of sin, or temptation, in the character of Comus, and chastity or temperance, in the character of Lady. Despite Comus’s attempts to trick Lady into drinking a magical cup (representing sexual pleasure), Lady refuses to give in to the sinful Comus. Comus challenges Lady in various other ways, such as arguing that desire is natural to a human being, but Lady will not be seduced. The rest of the masque involves the Attendant Spirit, an angelic figure, who comes to rescue her.
via escapeintolife.com

The Dreamer of Dreams

2010-05-15T12:38:00.000-07:00

THE DREAMER OF DREAMS
BY THE QUEEN OF ROUMANIA
ILLUSTRATED BY EDMUND DULAC

Everything about her was white, glistening and shining.

And there, leaning against a moss-grown crumbling tree,
was a spirit-like being out of another world...