Monarch Fairy

This little butterfly fairy has fluttered in to remind you to smile and have a bright day.

She is one of a kind, a mixed media art doll made from a primitive doll form, polymer clay, beads, a glass turquoise scarab, wire, feathers, and the wings are glazed paper.

I started this doll as a studio cleaning project. I would clean for a while, then take a break and add something new to her that I uncovered during my cleaning. She truly helped me get clean and organized. Maybe she will do the same for you!

Monarch doll is 9" tall (feathers to toe)and 5" wide.
She is in my Etsy shop.

Sock Monkey Wedding Cake Topper

Here's a fun family gone bananas on this wedding cake topper!
I love the flower girl and the little two year old ring bearer. Aren't their colors fun too? I'll be sending this one off tomorrow.

Happy Earth Day!

I almost didn't get a post done for Earth Day, but I'm sneaking it in last minute since baby G just went to bed.

I watched Oprah today and she said there is a trash heap the size of Texas floating in the Pacific ocean. It is mostly made of plastic. Plastic bags, bottles, nets, containers of all shapes and sizes, toys, you get the picture. The animals are eating it, getting stuck in it, and it is giving the whales breast cancer.

I would love to find a way to help get it cleaned up. Right now there are a few little things I do that I want to share with you because we can all do them.

My daughter has food allergies, so she must take her lunch to school every day.

I send her lunch in a nice reusable lunch bag that is going on it's second year.

I use Tupperware containers and a thermos for everything in her lunch box. I have been phasing out plastic baggies, and due to my recent purchase of reusable snack and sandwich bags from Mamamade on Etsy (snack bag pictured at top; she is sold out but takes custom orders), I will now be able to end the use of plastic baggies in our home completely!

When I do use plastic bags I wash them out and reuse them several times for food. When they are too beat up for food I clean them again to use in my art studio.

I also send metal silverware in the lunchbox, not plastic disposable stuff. I have a few forks and spoons that I don't care about, and they are the official school lunch utensils.

We don't buy paper napkins or paper towels. I have a stack of rags and a stack of kitchen washcloths and towels that serve as napkins and paper towels.

I always put reusable shopping bags in my car for grocery shopping. I put them back in my car immediately after unloading the groceries so they will be there the next time I need them.

I also use those shopping bags for art supply shopping and all of my other errands. It just takes practice to get into the habit of having them with you every time.


There are some very cool bags called "Chico" bags (above) that I love to give gifts in. They are light weight nylon and they fold into a little attached pocket and they have a clip so you can put them on your purse strap or key ring. I keep one in my purse so I always have a little back up bag in case I forget my shoppers.

I heard that Ireland started charging 33 cents for plastic bags in grocery stores and the use of plastic bags dropped by 94%... wow! We need to do that here.

I also use Craigslist to buy just about everything I can. I get all my baby stuff on there, and I sell things I'm finished with. I also get free shipping supplies from people on Craigslist and on Freecycle, another cool reuse site where everything is FREE!

I hope you get some inspiration from this. It's easy to take a few steps toward a greener tomorrow!

Giveaway Winners

Thanks to all of the guests who stopped by for the mermaid tea party. I enjoyed reading your kind comments and I had such a nice time visiting everyone's blog!


Now for the winners! I selected two winners with the help of Random.org and their true random number generator.

The winner of a love blossom magnet, handmade by me is...
Ann-Denise from "Whim & Fancy Designs"


The winner of my little Mermonkey ornament is Lulu from "Coastal Sisters", congrats Lulu!

Mermaid Tea Party & a Giveaway

Today is the day, it's the mermaid tea party!
A lovely event hosted by Lisa Kettell of Faerie Enchantment. Be sure to stop in and visit her today, and see the list of mermaids participating in this day of salty escapades and swimmingly sweet giveaways!

The merfolk have been abuzz with chatter and excitement, and there is even a rumor going around that the handsome and charming Frog Prince may make an appearance!

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Guests were greeted at the door by Flippy Frog offering a tray of the finest caviar and tobiko served with clam crackers. Mmmmmmmmmm. Thank you Flippy.




A Hawaiian mermaid did the hula while playing the ukulele, she was a sight to see!

Lokelani has been waiting for this day for months. Now that she has all of the merfolk together she is ready to deliver her call to action.

Lokelani (lo-kay-lan-ee) is a Hawaiian mermaid activist. She started a group called MPETH (like "empath") which stands for

"Mer People for the Ethical Treatment of Humans".

Lokelani speaks out about speciesism, focusing on the poor treatment of humans, who are believed to be of low intelligence, and are known to be very gullible.

MPETH is particularly concerned with the sirens, a group of merbeauties who lure human sailors out to sea, often causing them to be lost or drown. The sirens' have been known to sink a ship, then loot the treasure for sport.

Lokelani holds a pearl of knowledge and hope. She implores all merpeople to end speciesism, and to work with her to build a bridge of trust between the mer people and humans.

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Well, now that that seriousness is over, how about a show and tell from Merinda, a sweet and silly little mermonkey who has quite a treasure to show off:


Merinda found a gorgeous and sizeable ruby in a shipwreck recently. As far as she knows no sirens were involved.

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And now for the grand finale:

The Frog Prince!


Everyone was concerned about the Frog Prince because he recently traveled to Anaheim, California to participate in the CHA show. That went quite well, however he was injured on his return home and had to undergo some surgery. Everyone is so glad to see him back in action. He's such a charmer, when FP enters a room, all eyes are on him.



Lokelani got his support for MPETH, and he has his own plan to consult with her and the merpeople about the humans' pollution of the freshwater (which of course ends up in the ocean). He is hoping they will be able to team up and find a way to implore the humans to stop polluting. Some of his people are being born with mutations now, such as two heads and no feet!!! It really is quite scary. But that is for another day.


So there is just one more item on the agenda.
You did hear me mention something about a giveaway, right?


Just leave me a comment here, and I will chose (by random number generator) one lucky winner to receive a love blossom magnet similar to this one:

But that's not all, there will be two winners.
This mermaid event would not be complete without a mermonkey giveaway, and this little mermonkey was created just for this purpose.



She is a mini mermonkey ornament, just 2.75" tall, with an armload of fantastic treasures to offer you. She has a beautiful amethyst, a piece of a Sunrise Shell from Kauai, and another favorite shell she found at her favorite beach.




This morning she has been frolicking with her best friend, Lola, who will be showing up in my etsy shop later today.

Leave me a comment to be included in the giveaways. You must sign up by Sunday April 19th (tomorrow) at midnight!
Winners will be posted on Monday by noon.

Thanks for visiting, I hope you had a lovely time!

Waxela (wa-shay-la)
aka SpiritMama

Mermaid Tea Party is Coming!

Guess what? A mermaid tea party! Doesn't that sound fun?

It's happening April 18th, hosted by Lisa Kettell of faerie enchantment.
I'm getting my merfolk lined up and ready, so stop in and see what we've cooked up on Saturday.

And guess what else? I'll be having a giveaway that day. I'm not telling what it will be yet, so swim by and see for yourself on Saturday.

Under the Sea Swap!!!

Zan Asha of "Wild at Heart Art" is hosting an art doll swap, with the theme "Under the Sea".
I just signed up, and I'm going to love this. The idea is to create a sea creature art doll, we will be given a partner who also will make a mer creature, then we will swap them. What fun!

Click the picture above to learn the details, you can get in on the fun too!

Chicago White Sox Sock Monkey

I did a custom order for this White Sox Monkey last week. I have a feeling this could be a whole new ballgame (giggle) in the sock monkey cake topper arena (hehe).




I really had fun with him, hubby helped me get the bat just right, and I'm thinking he's on his way to scoring some major league smiles!

Tiny Sock Monkey Tea Party

My studio is full of sock monkeys. I started out with one simple ornament, then he needed a friend, then the cake toppers emerged, and now mini monkeys are having a tea party on my studio table!

These three monkeys just love to play games. Today they are having a tea party. Suzie is playing the mom, isn't she proper with her tea and her legs crossed? (it's really hot chocolate) Bobby is the dad, he is trying to be so cool. Lucky little Jerry gets to be the birthday boy, and that's why he has the cupcake. Yum!


These little monkeys would be great in a dollhouse or on a shelf. There are three monkeys in three chairs, each monkey is attached to the chair, but not to the table.The table stands alone with two tea cups, also not attached.

Table 1" high; 1.25" diameter

the tallest monkey (birthday hat) is 2" including his chair