Insects...

I assume this must be a gothic thing, because not everyone shares the same passion for them. Although they have always been an interesting source of creative inspiration, specially in fashion.
I am talking about insects.
I find them incredibly unique, special, interesting and some of them even absolutely beautiful.

My main favourites are spiders (you should already know if you follow me ;), butterflies, ladybirds (or ladybugs as known across the Atlantic) and beetles. But, since a beautiful fluffy bee died in my house a couple of years ago, I include bees as well.



Spiders are my main passion because of their incredibly vintage inspired shape (very feminine with their tiny waist, big rounded bum and slender and incredibly long legs), because of this, I think that's why they have that characteristic very unique to them, sexy way of moving, in a very silent way, to the dark corners of my rooms. (My house is infested with them, good proof that I have a very good central heating system).







Beetles are my other favourite because of the stunning metallic shades of their shells. Incredibly shinny, the colours really gets your attention, including the black ones too.
It has always been associated with old egyptian religion, being their most important religious symbol. Every single different one represents a different thing.



Ladybirds are just cute. That shiny, vibrant scarlet red colour just pops out from the green grass like a gem, and the english name is so adorable. A lady-bird....how cute.
This very cute coloured beetles are an omen of good luck.

Bees are fantastic, I hadn't noticed them till I came to England. In spain, they are long and slender. In Britain, however, it is a different story. They are beautifully rounded, big, noisy due to those powerful big wings and so so fluffly! One fell on her back inside my house. (No idea how it came in, I usually leave the windows close to avoid flies from coming in, hate them...). I didn't touch her. The next morning I picked her up. It was like touching a piece of fur. Those bright yellow and black "hairs" were, very long, so soft and fluffy and so dry!
I should had kept it in a jar. Never mind... They are such an inspiration that I made a couple of brooches, like the spider ones, remember?
I-ll post the pictures as soon as I can.

New spiders!

My spider-brooches were the stars of the show. Every single one I did, it sold. I have expanded my colour scheme (you'll be glad to hear) and I am hoping to experiment with more colorful schemes as well as keep improving my techniques, so watch this space...
You can find more pictures on my website: http://www.theblackwardrobe.com/category/accessories

"Gothic Britain", part3 - Spiders

My apologies for not having updated the blog for sooooo long. Well, I just hope there will still be any readers out there...

Well, I have a couple of very interesting pictures from Liverpool. Although they are very old pictures (from the summer) I thought that I should still show them.

As everyone knows, Liverpool is the city of culture, this year, so lots of different shows and attractions have been held over there, specially in the summer. Two of them were of a very arachnic nature!

My most prefered one is this beautiful massive! cobweb, as you can see on the first picture. It glows beautifully in the dark and the spider (which is on the center of it) changes its colours while glowing at the same time.

The second arachnic attraction was a very impressive yellow robot-spider that was as high as a hole building. This godzilla-like spider, was driven by a group of men on the top of the head. It walked down the main streets of Liverpool and then it dissappeared inside the Mersey tunnel. No-one has ever seen it again....

Spider brooches

More spider brooches! I've been doing fimo spider brooches for my Black Widow collection. I like to decorate them with crystals (swarovski, mainly). However, the last time I was in Spain, I bought some gorgeous crystals and they're impossible to find! As you can see, they are massive (over 3cms long and wide) and they shine like mirrors, specially the grey colour.
If anyone has any ideas where to find them, please, let me know.

Pictures of Black Widows

The black widow fascinates me so much. That black skin - adorned by that dramatic deep red mark-is so deeply shinny and silky it screams to be touched like a piece of silk.... But that´s the trick of the spider, she makes you believe what it is not.


On the third picture you can admire how a wimpy male is going to be eaten. Poor thing...so skinny...but its destiny is been traced by the black widow!

spider brooches

Do you remember my fimo spiders? Well, I made some more but with crystals on them. This time I applied them before putting the spider inside the oven and they obviously melted (as I would had predicted) but they did it in such a beautiful way! They look like little P.V.C. buttons. I will definitely carry on with more experiments and I will start selling them online, this summer.

Fimo Spiders!!!!!!

I´ve always dreamed of brooched spiders! I´ve tried to made some with fimo, it´s easier to use than what it seams (it´s like working with plasticine......) Here are the results of my first attempt. More will come soon..........with shiny black beads on!