Valentine Sentiments from Your Bloody Heart

Valentines Day will be here in just a few short weeks and I hate to pass up on an opportunity to have a little twisted fun. I'm sure you must know someone who would appreciate one of these sweet sentiments from your bloody, cold heart.

Skulls & Kisses Valentine Gift from DemBones

Spooky Valentines Day Matches from HereForeverMore

Bat Valentines Day Card from Isabelle Mouton

Friendly Valentine Skeleton Embroidered Patch from FeverDreamBoutique

My Spooky Valentine Button from SpookyBoutique

Eternal Sweet Reaper Enamel Pin from SabreToothDream

I need handfuls of all of these items to hand out on Valentines Day! Let the ordering begin. Don't be left out this year. Sometimes you have to go after what you want.

Whimspookal Illustrations

Maja Lindberg started out in ceramics and eventually found her niche as an illustrator. Her palette is soft and her images are dreamy, and occasionally, a bit of spookiness creeps in. Those of course are my favorite illustrations. Her shop is called Majali Design and Illustration.

The Magician and His Crows

Dragonride

The Babysitter

Under the Cherry Tree: Winter

Little Red Riding Hood

Three Grumpy Owls

I like Lindberg's dreamlike world. You should know that she has written and illustrated a few children's books. Check out her website for more information about those.

Darling, Black Glass Beads to Wear to a Funeral

I hate when I find that I haven't a proper thing to wear when attending a funeral or perhaps just mourning for someone or something. I really need to have a few items on hand that are ready to go for such occasions and recently I've felt the need for some black glass beads to wear round my neck or maybe a brooch for my jacket. I like glass beads because they have a nice weight to them and they hang really well.

I'm thinking you might also want something for a proper mourning so, let me show you what I've found. You can usually find some fairly inexpensive vintage pieces.

Vintage Black Glass Drop Necklace from DuplexLA

Repurposed Black Glass Buttons and Beads Necklace from roundtwojewelry

Black Cat Glass Cameo Necklace from WhispertotheMoon

French Jet Black Glass Tassel Brooch from GemmaRedmondVintage

Vintage Black Glass Bouquet Brooch from boogiebee

Vintage Black Glass Bead Collar from dpalma10

Vintage Black Glass Mourning Necklace from toforema0

Don't wait to long to order. Some of these items are on eBay and you'll be sad you missed out on top of being sad because you're mourning someone or something...

Decadent Jewels To Sink Your Teeth Into

I don't usually wear gold jewelry, but I might make an exception for these pieces by Opal Magic Studio. Margaret Mosquera says she is inspired by the "bizarre, mysterious, weird and unusual things in nature."  I imagine her pieces are worn by the vampire queens of the world. They're stunning and if it takes me becoming a vampire to wear gold, well, let me tilt my head a little to the left.

Vampire Necklace

Snake Pendant with White Opal

Cicada Pendant and Earring Set

Snake Earrings

Dragon Necklace

Octopus with Pearls Necklace

Of course, vampires wear gold jewelry to remind them of the sun, but you knew that.

Joyfully, Creepy Mictlanis

I love art that grows out of the Mexican Day of the Dead festival. It's always so joyful even when it's being creepy. Angélica García Mendoza is a plastics artist who also creates paper maché spookiness that has a similar gleeful style. Her line of Mictlanis (little monsters) are super cute. The shop is called Arte Topalli Tienda.

Creepy Monster Killer

Happy Devil

Pumpkin Monster

Bat Cat

Little Monster

Blue Vampire

García has other paper maché and wood art in her shop that you might enjoy. Shop away!

Dark, Ethereal Art Dolls

Athena Papouli muses that her dolls are "feelings, ideas, that is why the figures are elongated, airy, like smoke, or with skirts like clouds, weightless." Her art dolls represent some of those dark, scary feelings inside us all. I'm bewitched by them. Her shop is Madamoiselles Bleues.

The Cocoon Breaking

Acherontia

Virginia the Ghost

Maura the Psychopomp

Rhea the Forest Spirit

Damien the Stray Cat

Papouli's sculptures are what I hope I'll look like as a ghost.

Stuff of the Dead

Every once in awhile I step away from artist created works and just want some good old spooky mass-produced stuff. I like to sprinkle tchotchkes amongst the art. One of the stores I like to browse through is Stuff of the Dead. They stock everything from clothing to household items. This is what I'm eyeing.

Mystic Eye Ouija Boots

Ouija Board Pillow Case

Grim Reaper Varsity Jacket

Bat Mary Janes

Voodoo Papa Legba Stretched Canvas Print

Frankenstein High Tops

Jack-O-Lantern Watch

You should always mix your highbrow with a bit of lowbrow.

The Samhain Society

I'd like to introduce you to a growing group of Halloween bloggers called The Samhain Society. The society began last summer when a few Halloween bloggers started talking about the need to learn, support, and raise the visibility of spooky bloggers. The group was founded by Miranda Enzor of  Spooky Little Halloween. Miranda is one of the hardest working bloggers I know. I really don't know how she gets it all done, and if you haven't visited her blog, well, I won't be insulted if you jump over there to check it out.

The society has grown to 18 members and includes written and video bloggers. All of us create Halloween-themed blogs year round. I almost hate to call them "Halloween" themed because many of the blogs go far beyond celebrating that one special night.

I hope that you'll take some time today or this week to check out all of our member blogs. You'll find the permanent links on the right hand side of this blog for easy access anytime, but I'm guessing that they'll soon be permanent bookmarks for you.

Here's a list of our member blogs:

All Hallows Haunts

All Hallows Geeks

A Vintage Halloween

Batty Wampus

Bunch of Hocus Pocus

Midnight Spookshow

Mr. & Mrs. Halloween

Odd Things I've Seen

Shivers of Delight (That's me!)

Spirits and Spellbooks

Spooky Little Halloween

The Haunted Housewife

The Midnight Jamboree

The Necro Nomnomnomicon

The Spooky Vegan

Things To Do In Salem

This is a "by invitation" group of bloggers, but if you're a spooky blogger and would like to be a member search for The Samhain Society on Facebook and ask to join!

Understated Dark Jewelry for Everyday

Sometimes you don't want all the bling, but you still want to honor your dark side. Most of the jewelry I show on Shivers is bold and not for everyone. I'm always on the look out for quieter pieces that I can wear to work and won't scream "WITCH!" or "crazy."

Some of us work in more conservative offices and that's why I love the jewelry that Michelle Chang is creating. It's elegant and understated. For years I wore her tiny skull ring on my pinkie until it slipped off one day while I was shopping. I still miss it and am thinking of purchasing a new one. Come shopping with me! (pieces are much, much tinier that they appear)

Mini Mismatched Snake Stud Earrings

Crescent Moon with Five Diamonds Necklace

Baby Skull Ring

Baby Skull Bangle

Bat Necklace

Tiny Spider Dangle Necklace

Baby Skull Eternity Ring

Most of Chang's pieces come in stirling silver and 14K gold. You can also get most of them with or without diamonds. She offers many more pieces so take a look in the shop. I can vouch that the quality is very good and you'll want to wear her pieces on a daily basis.