Recent Finds

 

 

 

  

 

 

Very recently on a leisurely day, my husband and I chanced upon two mixed skeletons by the side of a country road. One was an almost complete small carnivore (possum perhaps?) and the rest was a few large ribs, several vertebrae, and part of a pelvis. The larger skeleton had been there quite some time. The bones were all very dry and brittle and had begun to crack; several had moss growing on them. The skull is absolutely gorgeous and I can't wait until it's clean so I can start trying to identify it!

Inspiration :: Morbid and Beautiful

treasure hider

Victorian hair locket, via prettyimpracticals

 

Victorian headless photography, via Laughing Squid

BioDivLibrary

Indiana Historical Society

Coin Operated Morgue, via Morbid Anatomy

 Find more daily inspiration like this at my tumblr.

See you soon <3

Introducing.....

I'm happy to finally announce the opening of my new Etsy shop, Bone Flora!

Combining the bones with pressed plants, feathers, shells, and other bits I've collected throughout my time exploring, I've been creating assemblages highlighting the unique beauty of each piece of the skeleton. I'm hoping that I can accentuate the tiniest beautiful details of something that most people don't stop to consider!

So far I only have a few pieces stocked, but I'm working on more every day and having loads of fun doing it. I'm hopeful that others will enjoy these as much as I do! But I won't complain if I end up keeping them all to decorate my house with either, haha!

What do you think!?

See you soon!! <3

Lazy Sunday Instagram Roundup #4

Making a lot of progress on my bone projects lately... these are some of the materials I'm working with.

The new portion of the river we found     \\    I love the way the light comes in our bedroom in the afternoon

My husband seemed excited to mess around with the sewing machine!         \\           Cuddle time :)

A finished product... more pics soon!              \\           Delicious mojito from my work Christmas party!

I got these awesome shoes from Modcloth's black Friday sale! They're so snazzy.

My username on instagram is 1finefeline, or you can check out my profile on the web here!

See you soon! <3

Bones and a New Project

Today I finally got all the bones in the final stage of cleaning! My big deer skull is going to take a bit longer than the smaller skeleton because it was a little bit fresher if you catch my drift! So it's still got a while of hydrogen peroxide soaking left. However, I believe my new skeleton from Thanksgiving will be done in just a few short days! Here are some pictures of it as I was cleaning.

I'm fairly sure that these are the bones of a muskrat!  There are lots of them hanging around my grandma's lake, so its' definitely the  most likely candidate. I'll be able to get a better look once it's fully clean and sterilized.

The reason why I'm so darn thrilled about all these bones (besides the fact that I personally find them gorgeous) is a super secret project that I have in the works. I've been feeling very excited and passionate about it...Most of my free time lately I've been working on developing my concept as fully as I can. It feels great because this is the first time I've really and truly felt excited about something I created. Here's a sneak peek for you!

These mink bones are in the very first stages, but I've got lots of ideas and I'll be working like mad so I can hopefully reveal my surprise soon.

See you soon! <3

In My Bones

Sweater \\ Le Bomb Shop

Skirt \\ Urban Outfitters

Tights \\ Target

Shoes \\ Thrifted

Fake Gauges \\ Tribal Style

Coat \\ Old Navy

I am so in love with this sweater! I knew I would really like it, but it's become one of those pieces of clothing that you just want to wear every day in every combination you can think of. I probably wouldn't take it off if I didn't have other nice things to wear. Even my husband liked it, which is pretty unusual for him!

I'm going to be working on a really cool DIY I found today, I'm excited to share the results with you! Hope everyone's staying stress free while gearing up for Thanksgiving holidays. :)

See you soon! <3

A Bone to Pick

This bone harp by artist Evan Voelbel is actually made of cast, painted glass, which I think makes it all the more impressive.

 

Far too many gorgeous bone-related items at Modcloth right now. Sadly the awesome cardigan is out of stock, but sweater has such a beautiful design that it makes up for it.

 

When I saw this sweater from Le Bomb Shop I fell in love with it. At first I hesitated because that's more than I tend to spend on one item, but I couldn't stop thinking about it! So it's on its way to me now!

Wow, if only! From Oddly Custom Creations

And finally, if you're interested in specimen preservation, this video is a nice little intro to that. I had the privilege of helping a PhD student to prepare some taxidermy bird specimens for study once, and I have to say it's a very unique experience. It looks as though preparing a skeleton mount is much more time intensive than just preparing the skin. 

Too bad I don't have access to those helpful little dermestid beetles! They would have made cleaning my deer skull a little easier ;)

See you soon! <3

Wednesday Nature Walk :: Skull and Bones

Yesterday's nature walk was so exciting. All my hiking hopes were fulfilled! I found a totally beautiful, super awesome....

Deer skull!

I couldn't  believe it, I was so excited! I flipped it over to check and see how clean it was, and luckily it was basically 90% perfect. When I saw these fissures between the skull plates I was shocked by how beautiful they are. 

It has all its teeth even! No lower jaw, but I can hardly complain about that. We also noticed when we looked around that quite a lot of the body was laying nearby. It wasn't very old because there was still hair and hide attached. Sorry if this picture grosses you out, I was just fascinated by how beautiful the ribs and vertebrae were!

Since we didn't have any way to carry it out (and didn't want to touch it!) my husband rigged up a little carrying device using some vines he found nearby. I was pretty impressed by his resourcefulness!  I've got the skull in some water now to finish cleaning it up and I'll be giving it a light bleach/sanitizing with hydrogen peroxide. Don't worry I will most definitely have more pictures of it soon!