practical magic

It's Autumn! My favorite season of all.

A bright yellow moon hangs in the night sky and a feeling of magic fills the air. Each fall I love to watch one of my all time favorite films, Practical Magic. Since I discovered blogging this year it was obvious that a  blog party was in order. More than 200 of you seem to feel the same way! I never tire of looking at that house and it's amazing interior. More than a decade after the movie it still never fails to enchant me.

Tonight I invite you to join me in celebrating the season with

a touch of Practical Magic...

Here in a little corner of the attic I have tucked

away a bewitching space. A place for dreams and enchantments

inspired by the movie's white Carpenter Gothic Victorian.

Where gypsy firelight illuminates ancient herbs and

potions waiting to be brewed.

And where sparkly ravens foretell omens and fortunes

for unsuspecting guests.

Like the Aunts' greenhouse and pantry I filled

my room with curious bottles, fragrant blooms...

and candles in shades of honey and amber.

In this place everything is magical by candle light.

Time stands still.

When I stand here I can imagine being

in the Aunts' conservatory, gathering ingredients for a potent charm.

Tonight these ingredients await a spell...

A spell for true love cast under an Autumn moon.

With words whispered in the darkness of night.

Sweet blooms and intoxicating lavender are mixed just so.

In my witches pantry you might find herbs such as those

mentioned in Alice Hoffman's novel and in the film as well.

Butterfly Weed, Pennyroyal, Mugwort

....and Belladonna.

And a book of spells whose pages must remain a secret.

Unless you dare to meet me under a midnight moon.

We can mix a wicked brew....

with herbs gathered from a witch's garden

Like Sally Owens we can cast a spell for true love...

.....Amas Veritas

In this magical place pumpkins dare to grow year round.

Spring flowers bloom in a witches garden even

as the leaves begin to fall.

The heavy scent of jasmine fills the air inviting us

to play in this corner a while longer. But now there

are other witchy things I would like to show you.

Other spaces and a pinch of art created by this whimsical witch.

Would you like to see?

I'll come back for my broom after we're through.

This corner of the attic is for crafting magic by witches light.

In honor of our favorite movie I created a set of

Practical Magic inspired ATCs (Artist Trading Cards).

A toad found in the Aunts garden watches over them.

I suspect he's been there since that day they banished

Jimmy Angelov's nasty spirit!

Each ATC bears part of a quote taken from the last lines

from the film (and from the book).

And a miniature spell book....

One to hold a small gathering of ingredients for an ancient curse.

...Or perhaps it's just the right size to hold my ATCs!

It's nearly midnight and before the spell is broken I have

still one more thing to share with you.

This sign was used to promote the fragrance Elixir of Love No.1 by Caswell-Massey. You can almost imagine it being sold at Verbena, Sally's botanical shop. Caswell-Massey provided some of the antique furniture used in the movie. I purchased the fragrance and lotion a few weeks after the movie opened. While I was in the shop I saw this sign and asked what they would do with it after the promotion was over and to my surprise the very nice cashier just gave it to me! It was like magic.

The card shows the original release date of October 9 (my son's birthday!)

but there was a delay and it eventually opened on the 16th.

Yes I was there on opening day for the first matinee and I won't even

tell you how many times I saw it in the theater. 

The beautiful Elixir of Love No.1 apothecary bottles are a deep cobalt blue. It's always been one of my favorite scents to wear in Fall. I still have the lovely boxes these came in but couldn't seem to find them. You can see the entire line at Caswell-Massey but don't forget to come back here....

Because I have a witchy little giveaway for you.

I will send the winner my set of 3 ATCs inspired by

Practical Magic along with your own mini glass cloche

or belljar which is seen throughout the Aunts house and garden

(sorry you will have to catch your own toad).

All you need to do is leave a comment and you're entered.

I'll leave the giveaway open for 2 weeks and announce

the winner on Saturday October 9!

Det. Gary Hallet offered to take the little spellbook to a new home in AZ (hee-hee).

And if you like the Autumn spellbook page I created at the top of my post I also made one that anyone can download and use for your personal (non commercial) book or journal, virtual or real. It's a high resolution (300dpi) 8 x 10 page which you can print out or resize as you wish.

Click for a larger image to save to your computer.

Well I would say it's definitely time for Midnight Margaritas! It's been an amazing soiree with so many of you nice enough to come and play. I think I'll need a little break after this but I'm also looking forward to playing at the lovely Miss Vanessa's  Halloween Party at A Fanciful Twist on October 16.

(She is my inspiration after all.....isn't she everyone's?)

And if you're like me and you still can't get enough of Halloween

come back and join me on the night of the next full moon,

October 23 for my Tea Party Under A Halloween Moon.

Thank you so much for coming to our party and for

visiting me here in the witch's attic.

OH MY GOODNESS!! With all this deliciously magical chaos I forgot to thank my dear co-hostess Justina at La Boheme Magique! It was our mutual obsession for this movie that brought us together which led to this blog party coming to life. She's an amazingly talented artist (the girl can really sing I tell you) and through all her crazy and hectic schedule she was able to put an amazing post together so don't miss it! Thank you for all your inspiration and magic Justina!

My dear Luna has been patiently waiting by our broom.

She knows it's almost time to grab our

witchy hats and carpet bags. It's midnight at last....

.....and now we're off to visit all of you!

Have a most magical Autumn season.

Click HERE to go to the blog party home page and to see list of participants.

Blog design, photos and digital art were created by me. Please remember to be kind and not link to or take them away(except for the giveaway page which you are free to download). If you have questions feel free to email me at frostedpetunias@gmail.com