Dax is one of my clients from the UK who first discovered my work 7 years ago while purchasing one of my pre-made Dead Girl Decay barrettes. He gifted it to his wife and she loved it so much he reached out to me the following year asking if I could make her something more custom. Every year since then he returns with a new theme to have a new hair piece made for his wife and it always gets my creative blood flowing! Not to mention how honored I feel knowing it’s the first thing she opens every Christmas!
So this year Dax got into the “spirit” of things by requesting the theme be Disney’s Haunted Mansion! Some requests included the branding colors, Madame Leota, the iconic wallpaper, and of corpse…the hitch hiking ghosts! This was right up my alley so I was super stoked to get working on it and very happy with how it came out…
The first thing I envisioned was Madame Leota front and center but most importantly I wanted her to have a dome like – crystal ball appearance. I was lucky enough to be able to up-cycle a Madame Leota cabochon jewelry piece that was perfect for what I was envisioning. I used charms to add the hitch hiking ghost accents and found the iconic wallpaper on ribbon! On top of adding flower petals and feathers to tie in the branding colors, I chose to add sheer flower petals and iridescent glitter to represent the holographic ghostly spirits that haunt the mansion! When I sent photos to the client for pre-shipment approval I was happy to get this message in return…
“Perfect! You’ve outdone yourself again! She’ll love it! ❤️❤️”
As alway, the wait to get confirmation that it made it to the buyer (especially overseas) is always a nail biting experience for me. If it gets lost or damaged in transit, you can’t get back the time, unique materials, and the heart and soul you put into an original creation. However my mind was set at ease when I got the message that it had arrived…
“It arrived today!! It’s beautiful! Thank you again, Nicole. Nailed it. 💀💀🦇🦇”
And just like that I was doing my artist happy dance again. I must say no matter how big or small, the custom creations I have made for clients are always extra special to me. It’s one thing for me to envision something and bring it to life in various mediums. It’s another for someone else to have a vision and then trust that I am the right artist to bring it to life. Especially when it has to do with creating something that someone wants to gift to someone they love and is a part of making the holidays even brighter.
Want to see the other custom barrettes I have created for Dax (and other clients)? Be sure to visit the Dead Girl Decay page of my portfolio website and scroll down to Custom Themed Decay!
Looking to have something custom made? Contact me for details, turn around times, and pricing.
Did you receive a piece of my art this holiday season? Contact me or send me a message via my Etsy shop to submit your photos and be featured here and in my Freaky Fanatics slideshow!
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Stay Spooky & Magical,
LDG Nicole
Last night we attended a wedding for our friends Matt and Mari. When I had picked out the dress and necklace I wanted to wear for the big event (thank god for new with tag deals on Poshmark), I knew I wanted to make a special barrette to wear with it. My dress had lady skeleton cameo faces and an ornate gothic black design in velvet all along the edges. So I got an actual lady skeleton cameo piece to be the focal point of the barrette. My necklace was a black lace choker that was very vampy with beautiful red stones set in ornate gold metal (reminded me of the Dracula medallion necklaces you buy for Halloween costumes). So I re-painted the silver metal frame around the cameo to match the necklace. I was very happy how it all came together.
