Carnivale de Mystique

Last weekend I had a very fun birthday party with my parents and both of my sisters, Nancy and Barbara. It’s always great when the original family unit can get together! Mom made me a lovely card and dad drew one of his trademark mice on it. This mouse was stealing a piece of birthday cake : - )

Sunday, my sister Barbara and I went on a fun-filled jaunt out to some fantastic shops. First stop was Roger’s Gardens in Corona Del Mar where we entered the spooky world of the Carnivale de Mystique!

We were amazed by the darkly beautiful decorations and the gorgeous items for sale. We even got our fortune told by Zoltar! For just one dollar he very loudly told everyone in the room what was coming up in our future – LOL

We saw some really great black mosaic glass pieces ~ goblets and votive holders. I had to buy several to use in the studio for storing supplies, they were so reasonable! They will go nicely with my black amethyst glass collection. We also liked the spider webs that were made out of tiny silver beads.

There was a collection of weird freak show exhibits ~ mutant alien babies and the Wolf Boy which I managed to photograph.

We wound our way through several rooms full of fun treasures, including vintage-style paper art and antique-style Halloween creations. We ended our fun tour in the Cemetery area where there was Spanish moss hanging from the ceiling and the mood was appropriately somber.

Then it was on to the Christmas section of the Gardens (yes, Christmas already!!) where we were in search of Ashley Carter’s beautiful artwork.

We finally found her whimsical art around the corner near a large Santo wearing a crown, and we were not disappointed in the least as Ashley Carter’s art is absolutely gorgeous. Barbara especially liked the pieces done in the creams and whites ~ the wedding collection. They were so evocative of the Victorian era that we were in awe.

Barbara is a big time collector of Victorian furniture, fabrics and ephemera. She’s an absolute expert on the Gilded Age! She has an amazing collection of Victorian diecuts. We really enjoyed seeing Ashley’s collection ~ it was the highlight of the day.

Then we had lunch as a yummy place called the Bristol Farms Café, where Barbara had the Lobster Quesadilla with Mango Salsa and I had the Gold Coast Tuna Melt with Pesto Aioli. Mmmm – it was very good! We were too busy eating to take any pictures : - )

Finally, last stop was the amazing shop, Paris to the Moon and their sister shop, Paris Underground. We met Kerri Judd, the author of Crowns and Tiaras ~ she works at Paris to the Moon. We talked about her fabulous book and marveled over all the great pieces in the shop.

Kerri heard it was my birthday and she insisted on giving me one of the shop’s birthday crowns. I was instructed to wear it all day! Barbara bought me several birthday presents there, including a glittery hanging piece by Wendy Addison that I just love! Once I hang it up, I’ll grab a picture of it. Thanks Barb!

Right next door to Paris to the Moon is Paris Underground. It is the dark gothic sister shop to Paris to the Moon! Ah, such fun!

We enjoyed the creepy atmosphere there ~ they were playing scary movie soundtracks like the music from Psycho and the X-files. This is one must-see shop. I found a fun little present for my friend Tink ~ she will laugh when she sees this gothic little gem.
It was a really great day and we enjoyed every minute! Please click on my Flickr photos on the right to see more pictures of our adventure!