Hello lovelies! Seems like I have an adventure to tell! I was diggin up my grass to plant a new flower garden and came upon this enchanting little surprise! Do you believe in Pixies and dream about fairytales? I just might after seeing this! I call it Mortem Lectulo. In Latin this means death bed. I'll tell the story in a sec...
Today starts a new challenge at
Anything But Cute and the lovely sweet
Branka from Vintage Handmade is our hostess. Yippee! Our theme this month is one that many of you will enjoy:
FRIENDSHIP! Yeppers! Let's celebrate those near and dear besties! Branka described the challenge as so,"Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between two or more people. We want you to show us a mixed media creation that's inspired by friendship. You can create anything, from tags to art journal pages but make sure it's a mixed media piece. Let's celebrate friendship together!"
THE STORY OF MORTEM LECTULO
As I said my friend (Jazmin, my furry BFF or 15 years. She's a mixed breed little 8lb dog with a heart of gold!) and I were digging, she did most of the diggin, and we stumbled upon this little coffin. I couldn't wait to open it! Like Pandoras Box, I just had to! The outside was decorated with a green watchful eye and some intricate scrollwork. So cool! With baited breath I carefully opened the box. Trumpets sounded and a little pixie laugh was heard! Jaz and I looked at each other in wonder. The first thing I saw in the coffin was a little bottle with what looked like a note in it!
I was busy taking pictures of everything to share with you all and right when I opened the coffin it started raining! Coincidence? Maybe. Anyway, I brought the note inside and tried to decipher it. Here is what I think it says:
"My Dearest Daughter,
As a Pixie you may encounter other
creatures that aren't like us,
and wish you harm. As King
of the Pixies, I have made these
coffins called Mortem Lectulo,
to help protect my offspring.
Use each potion wisely,
the sword bravely,
and trust your heart.
Beware the ones who have
no reflection!
If bitten, drink the large red potion
and pray.
Go forth with honour and courage.
Your adventure had just begun!"
Wowzers! Looks like Jaz and I found a warriors protection coffin! Weird and different but very interesting.
Here is what else was in the coffin. And who knew Pixie's spoke a bit of Latin?!
Little potion bottles, the bravely swung sword, some little wooden stakes and the scary red liquid in the larger bottle! The green fabric it all sets on feels like silk and so luxurious! You can tell she was a Princess with good taste, as was her father. Wonder where she went? Jaz chased something off when we first opened the box, wonder if it was the Princess? Guess we may never know......
After much research on this little gem I think I know how her father made it. The outside was coated with a chalky sort of paint and then a twisted citron green ink was added to the edges. The brown looking stuff has to be artisan powder!
The scroll design looks to be coated with the citron and the powder as well. The jewel is probably a family crest with the green eyeball (maybe a dragon eye?). The inside padded top and bottom had to have been made with the help of batting and a template like this one. Notice the little notches that were cut out to help in placement of the template to make sure it fit well. Such a smart King!
Looks like these Pixies were very intelligent because the padded parts were hot glued to the top and bottom. The sword was embellished with some gems and pearls. These Pixies must be rich!
The scroll looks to have been stamped and heat embossed with a snow embossing powder and distressed by crumpling the paper and swiping DI over the entire thing.
It only makes sense for the red liquid to be a life reviving potion made from red berries know for their healing powders (today we call it chili powder ink).
The green stakes are as small as toothpicks but to a Pixie it probably fits her hand perfectly. Some people might know that these are what humans call toothpicks. :)
In conclusion, Jaz and I had a blast looking at this coffin. Just goes to show that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover or I would have maybe thought there was a dead little something in this coffin. BTW-here is a pic of my child "Jazmin". She is a rescue, a cutie pie and doesn't look like she is almost 16 years old! Aww! Loves her.
Jaz and I wish you all a happy weekend! It is a holiday here and we are continuing with our gardening. We are making progress but this is what it looks like until tomorrow when we dig in again. Hand laying the brick edging is taking longer than I anticipated. Carpe Diem right?
I would very much like to share this discovery with these challenges:
My furry "child" helped me find this and pixies are fun for any child!
My fave is Jaz, chalky paints, coffins, and creating the unexpected.
The stamping is on little scroll the King wrote.
Fairy tales and dreams go hand in hand in my book. Pixies are magical creatures dreamt up by someone very creative and imaginative.
