Light Witch Spell Book

This Blog Has MOVED!

2011-08-28T23:43:00.001-04:00

Please visit me over at my blogs new home LightWitch.com

I hope you do & I think you will like it. XOXO Courtney Brooke

Autumn Feels like Smoke on the Water

2011-08-19T14:39:00.000-04:00

Open publication - Free publishing - More art

Wandering into the woods as the leaves change, the warm comfort of autumn days and cool nights, the fall is nothing short of magic.

New Beginnings of Autumn

2011-08-18T20:50:00.000-04:00

Just a little iphone video of our shoot today

Treasures

2011-08-16T17:50:00.000-04:00

Over the weekend Christopher and I took a small trip around to some local antique stores in the area and this is my little collection of treasures. I found a great hand woven ribbon fringe shawl, I already have a few so this one might make it's way in to the shop. In the middle is a great blue and coral two piece pajama set from the 30's, it was such a bargain, and just the right size that I could not pass it up I just love soft slinky nick wear, and this one will be great for the coming cool weather of fall. I picked up a little white and silver handbag that has a dainty little chain, it's just so sweet, this too will most likely make it's way to the store. Lastly I found this great peach silk and lace slip from Bergdorfs.
I think I made out pretty well for going to antique stores which typically do not have much in the way of clothes. I am going to try and do posts like this more often, what do ya think?

Back to School

2011-08-15T11:19:00.001-04:00

Well it's almost that time of year again when the days start to fade early and the breeze feels just a little cooler. Before we know it we will be jumping in piles of colored leaves and eating apples off the trees.
It's back to school for many of us and even for those of us that are not headed for the classroom it's a time of change and new outfits.
I am having a short little sale this week to try and make way for more cool weather threads in my shop. It's also a chance to grab up something you might of had your eye on because in the next few weeks Light Witch will be on vacation mode quite a bit. I will be taking a short trip down to NYC and Philly next week and when I get back I will be starting to set up for the fall round of Brimfield. I will still be helping out my friends at Donnaland in the fashion tent near the church, but Light Witch will have it's own little booth in the fashion tent, so I am going to be quit the busy bee. I can not tell you how happy I am to be setting up shop at Brimfield this fall. I hope some of you come and visit me while I am there.

Deep Forest Magic

2011-08-06T10:37:00.000-04:00

The hill side on which Chris and I live is one of fields and forest. I adventured the other day deep in to the forest and spent time with the tall oaks and white pines. I flirted with the birds on the berry bushes and washed my feet in the brooke.

As I was making my way down the path that leads back to our house I was wishing to have a great forest ceremony in the woods. I went back to the house and collected some treasures and my camera, and then made way back up the hillside to the gateway of the forest.

I slipped into my new vintage red dress, and my newly created headpiece, it's a silver moon, with a quartz stone at the center to awaken the third eye. I loved watching the red fabric flutter among the tall grass as I walked.

(more here)

Rainy Sailor

2011-07-29T16:19:00.000-04:00

Today was a cloudy,over cast, cool day. The light coming in the front window through our lace sheers was simply lovely. I know I don't often post photos of my outfits, even though I always say that I should and will, either way, I am today.
This is one my favorite dresses, I know the photo is not as clear as it should be( I took it with my phone).
It's a little vintage dress that is black soft and sheer cotton with a little nautical style colar and bow in the front. The belt is thrifted. I am also wearing my favorite boots, they are Steve Madden, and they are my favorite color of brown, camel.
I hope to be getting a new camera soon, one that will me take more photos of myself with ease. So maybe for real, in the near future, there will be more outfit posts.

Tomorrow will be a busy day for me as I will be attending and photographing my friends wedding. They are having a lovely and simple ceremony at the Pines Theater in Look Park. The wedding party will be dressed in black and white, and I can not wait to take photo of all these pretty people in the park. After wards the reception too will be in the park and I love the idea of cocktails in the garden. I will be sure to share some photos with you all after. To get myself ready I have been looking at some other wedding photos I took. Here are a few for you to peek at too.

That last one is me working. Trying to be in all places at once.

Adventures in Antiques

2011-07-20T22:23:00.000-04:00

One of my most favorite things about Brimfield is the vast expanse of antiques as far as the eye can see, and the extreme variety of things you will find there. Some booths are piles of goodies just waiting to be dug through while others have more of a pop up shop feel to them, with their wells well displayed.

I was lucky enough to have a bit of free time this time around to walk the fields alone with my camera. I thought I would share with you all just a small sample of some of the interesting things I saw along the way. The photo above this was taken inside a yurt that a vendor has set up that was filled with nothing but silver jewelry.

This woman's booth was all kitchen wares, ceramic bowls and old mixers but what caught my eye the most, maybe due to my love of toast, was her collection of old toasters.

The show is broken down into field sections, and in just about every field you will find an amazing booth filled with old carpets and tapestries. It's almost overwhelming. I am always tempted to grab a tall glass of water and just go relax on all their magical carpets.

These sashes are from a fraternity called the Odd Fellows, a gentleman, who goes by Harry's Heirlooms, had a booth filled with their costoumes, sashes and hats, all of them bold, velvet, golden and magical! If you are in texas he said he would be down in Round Top, you should look for him.

Quite a bit of old sinage looms around the fair in many a booth but this Col. Sanders was a true gem.

I just loved these shirts this woman was selling in the new england motel field. The shells on them and the bright colors and metallic threads, simply amazing

My love for lawn flamingos was brought to a new level when I saw these guys they where all cement! This wonderful woman, Susan Sauvageau had them in her section.. I was tempted to bring them all home with me.

On the main road there was this great fellow hand crafting leather for people right in his booth, he was working on a great horse bridal when I was walking past.

I found quite a few booths around that where selling some amazing vintage, I actually went home with that little romper you can barely see in the right hand side of the photo. I am sure you will see a photo of me in it real soon, In fact I have it on right now.

Here are more of the odd fellos garments.

If you love creepy dolls you will make lots of friends in this place.

I wish I had gotten to spend more time in this particular woman's booth, she has a line called Rough and Tumble Vintage and she hand dyes amazing vintage dresses. I was a little over whelmed and wanted to go home with one but I just could not decide between this great velvet one above of a little pink and brown lace shift dress. I will have to go back in Sept.

Never Too Much

2011-07-18T15:47:00.000-04:00

The last nine days have been great here in my little corner of the world. It's summer and it's hot. That means it was time for the Brimfield antique market to happen and I worked the whole thing with my favorite ladies over at Donnaland. We started setting up the friday before the show. You see Donnaland also sets up at the most amazing Sturbridge Vintage and Textile Show, which takes place the Monday before Brimfield. So we had to have a head start if we were going to be ready, and we basicly set up an entire shop in a tent, in under 3 days.

This was my third time working with the ladies from Donnaland and I had such a blast. Donna the owner is such a sweet and kind hearted woman, and her right hand woman Molly has the best sense of humor around(and some serious singing skills too). Donna's sister Janet even came out to help set up and she is a wealth of vintage knowledge, it was great spending time with all three of them.

Emily got to come up to help out too so we had a great team of five ladies going on a vintage rampage.

I took some shots of the booth so you could see all our hard work.

I hope you come and visit for the fall show.. My store, Light Witch, might even have it's own booth in the fashion tent.

Heres Molly and Donna cleaning up the textile tent, so many goodies!!!!

Fourth Of July

2011-07-05T00:39:00.000-04:00

Happy 4th of July! I took some shots of the fireworks in the park, the sky was heavy with smoke and bright with light, it was stunning. We had sat right near this old dead tree and it's branches in the midst of the fireworks looked so magical.

Earlier in the week Chris and I went to some of our favorite haunts here in town. I always find so many treasures. Just look at this little corner in this one shop it was jam packed with such lovely dresses, I picked up a lovely dress that I will be sure to take photos of later for you all, it was a white 50's day dress.

Look at these amazing log holders for a fireplace, I wish that I had a fire place to put them in so I could see their eyes light up with fire, what a lovely treasure. I hope these kitties go to a good home.

We went to the ice cream stand down the street on the way home, it's this amazing little place called Randeau's. They only serve hard ice cream and even have an anti soft serve sign. They have amazing flavors too, I was sort of boring and got coffee heath bar, but Chris got a mudslide. If you're ever in town be sure to check it out, it's certainly summery and yummy.

Before the daylight faded I went out into our yard and picked some wild flowers for our table. There are so many in bloom right now, yarrow, speedwell, catmint, black eyed susan, and more that I am not sure the name of. As a bonus, I got to eat the first batch of raspberries off the bush. Sweet sweet summer living. I hope you all had a great weekend. I can't wait to show you all the fun finds I collected.

Looking New

2011-07-04T00:22:00.000-04:00

The last few days I have been busy working on my store. I kept looking at it and thinking something just was not right. I repainted a wall in our house, took out everything I had and started shooting. It was a ton of work but I think it was well worth it. I also added some new items to the store, mostly things that were in my closet that I have not worn in ages. I think the plain wall makes it easier to focus on the clothes. The light is pretty great too, as the wall I painted is right by the front door. Let me know what you think.

After I had taken all the photos and started updating I got carried away and color coded my store. I think it will make it easier to shop my store. I started with black and white then went right through the rainbow.

Friday Adventures

2011-06-25T18:20:00.000-04:00

It was pretty rainy off and on yesterday and I had the hardest time getting dressed as it was sort of cool for a summer day,so I went with one of my favorite skirts that I thrifted some time ago, a little thrifted white tank, a cream silk 20's bed jacket that I picked up in Brimfield, my coat, bag and shoes are all thrifted too, I think the only thing not thrifted is my tights they are from Target.

Yesterday turned out to be a pretty fun day. Earlier in the week my friend Nikki who live out east gave me a call and asked if I wanted to get together and with out a doubt I said yes, when she lived out here we would see each other all the time, and had weekly dates to go roller skating. I miss her a ton, but she has an amazing house with her amazing boyfriend on the other side of the state. Nikki recently opened up her very own Etsy shop called Good Time Island , she brought some of her stuff from her store and we spent part of the afternoon modeling for each other and it was a blast. She finds some super cute dresses, and her prices are so down to earth.

Later on after Chris got home for work we all headed over to northampton to meet up with Sam as she is going on tour with her friends in Outdates for a week and we wanted to see her before she left. So we all meet up at Haymarket, they easily have one of the best tofu sandwiches in all the valley. After dinner we headed over to the tunnel bar because it was early enough in the evening that we thought we might get a seat and in fact we did.( I got a martini called a hoodsie cup, and it tasted just like a twist soft serve and it came with a strawberry. What a great dessert.)
We got distracted as usual walking over there as northampton is filled with the most insane stores, and Nikki wanted to go in, so we did... it was soo cheesy but totally funny.
It was a pretty great night.

Sam oogling at the crazy stone pendants, "that one is for her"

Chris found some bejeweled glasses.

Summer in America ( 4th of July)

2011-06-24T00:20:00.000-04:00

I took this a few years ago at the Chicopee fireworks

I typically don't get excited for the fourth of July, but there has been something about this summer that has me just about loving everything. I am in fact looking forward to it this year. Last year Chris and I found out about some great local spots for Firework watching and even a town near here that has an anual bon fire. We spent the 4th last year watching fireworks from a local stone calendar, leaning up against a giant warm stone( the summer solstice marker I think)

Chris last summer

me last summer( this makes me miss my brown hair)

Byron and a flower flag!

I am already plotting and planning what I am going to do and wear this year, I even made a treasury on etsy of some neat things that inspired me.

Hello Summer, My Old Friend

2011-06-21T18:24:00.000-04:00

Summer is here! Hello longest day of the year. I didn't get very much done today as I wasn't feeling quite well. The sun was out and the yard was lovely so I made sure to spend sometimes out in the yard with my three fur bombs. I even took some photos of the flowers that blooming around the yard. I mostly did my favorite summer activity and that was nap!

A New Face

2011-06-20T17:57:00.000-04:00

So a few posts ago I mentioned wanting to makeover the look of my shop. Well I have been trying, last friday my friend Jessica came over and we took photos of just about everything that was in my store and over 20 new items that I need to list. I still don't think I am completely happy with the photos, but I sure like it better then before. I started doing some photos of my pieces on a white lace background, and I need to work on that setup a little bit, but I like it better then hanging on a wood wall. Our house is just so small and there is not a single blank wall in the whole joint, so I have to get creative, who knows maybe I will have a new space soon(fingers crossed)
I have not listed all the new items yet but here is a sneak peak of some of the new threads.

THANK YOU

2011-06-16T22:27:00.000-04:00

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Lightwitch

210

2011-06-16T10:24:00.000-04:00

Sorry I have been not here the last week or so, I was so busy getting ready for Chris' 30th birthday bash on Saturday, I had so much fun, I didn't even get a chance to take any photos!
In other news the store has the 210 sales mark today!!! I can't believe it's only been 6 months since my first sale. I am gonna celebrate this weekend with a 21% off sale. I also have a photo shoot set up to re-vamp the look of my store a bit. ( YIKES )
I was also thinking I need to post more often, it's a ploy to get me to take more photos I think, I have been super lazy lately and just wanting to lay in the sun on these nice summer days, I guess I could at least take an outfit shot here and there right!?!

Little Birds

2011-06-09T00:46:00.001-04:00

So I finally took the leap and started tweeting, @the_light_witch I know I know, old news twitter, I was reluctant for so long, but the truth is, I LOVE IT. So if you want a play by play on my days follow me. You will probably hear about crazy things I find in thirft stores, or what wild animal is lurking in my back yard.

I have been busy this last week collecting all sorts of new goodies to go into my store. It has been so nice out that it has been hard work getting myself to get out of the lawn chair and into shopping mode. Here are some of the of new threads I will be adding to my shop in the next few days.

P.S. The wild roses are in bloom and the yard is filled with fireflies at night, I LOVE SUMMER

Memorial Day Weekend

2011-05-26T23:53:00.001-04:00

Wow, that's all I can say about it being the official start of the summer season. Memorial day weekend just snook up on me. I love this time of year, everything is green and in bloom. The weather is ripe for wearing shorts dresses and halter tops. I don't have any fixed plans for the long weekend but I know it better include at least one veggie dog and fruity drink on a patio some place.

Because it is a holiday weekend, I decided to have a sale over at my Etsy store,LightWitch. Everything is 20% off till the 30th just use the code "HONOR"
I hope you all have a great weekend, and remember and honor those that have passed.

‎"Neither country proverb nor King's command could keep me from the woods, today."

2011-05-24T21:21:00.000-04:00

Just the other day my dear friend Samantha and I went on an adventure in the woods, she let me dress her up and do her hair. We braved the mud and bugs and found deep forest magic.

Photo Adventure with Emily Rose

2011-05-24T02:09:00.001-04:00

So as you may have read in a previous post I got to spend time with my friend Emily a few weekends ago, we always have such grand adventures when she comes up from Long Island. We spent a few days weaving in out of booths at Brimfield and we worked in a down pour one day, helping our friends at Donnaland pack up their booth.
In between all that we found time for some photo adventures. Emily and I combined our vintage finds to dress her up in some amazing outfits. You can see more of the photos here.

Rag Girls, Vintage Clothes and a Rain Storm

2011-05-23T13:12:00.000-04:00

Just as soon as I got home from Florida the other week I went to bed so I could get up nice and early and hit the first day of Brimfield, I am lucky to have it right down the street from me. I met up with Donna from Donnaland to get a work schedule from her, she and her second in command Molly are such lovely ladies to work for and with, and she pays me in vintage clothes, how can I go wrong. So I spent a good part of the week at the fair cleaning up clothes or thumbing through old things with various friends. I went just about every day but Thursday, and I even got to have Emily come up and visit for a long weekend, it was a blast she and Sam even helped out closing up Donnaland on Sunday. I didn't get the chance to take any photos really of the show, but Emily took some you can visit her site to see more and I posted one here.

Emily took this lovely shot

Me trying on a cute little sun hat

Some of my finds after the first day of hunting

The Pan Handle

2011-05-19T23:12:00.000-04:00

So just last week I got back from an amazing trip to the pan handle in Florida. Chris and I got to fly down to meet up with the wonderful Chris and Connie of the Tall Pines. I had worked with them in the past for other projects and Chris and I just love them, so getting to spend 5 days with them down on the emerald coast was more fun then work, although we did shoot over a 1,000 images and busted our buts in the blazing sun, we had plenty of down time and plenty of rum.
This was my first time in this part of FL, I had been down to St. Pete when my grandma lived there and I had been to the Miami area, let me tell you they are all so different and this was by far my favorite trip down. The area is so lush with green pines, scrub oak, and my personal favorite spanish moss. We were blessed to get to stay in Chris' family cabin on the bay that his family has owned since the 40's. He had spent allot of time down there and knew all the in's and out's of the place. He was also down there filming footage of his great grandma's bible camp before it gets torn down to make room for more highway, I will let you know when he has it up to watch because the footage I saw is mind blowing and it's a real tear jerker.
I was sure to eat plenty of seafood while I was down there, and swim in the teal waters as much as I could. It was a real blast and if you ever get a chance, GO, and if you live down there, you are one lucky duck, and I am jealous.
Here are some shots from our time down there and I even made a silly little video, you can see some footage of the great bar thats with in walking distance from where we stayed, it's called The Red Bar, and they have an amazing hous Jazz band, with John"Jab-o" Starks(Former drummer to James Brown) they also have some amazing crab cakes and the best Key Lime pie. You will get to sample some sweet tunes from the Tall Pines, Chris and Connie blessed us with some back porch late night jams.
On an amazing karma side note, we even got to meet up with my friend Tim from the UK as he was driving through the area on his holiday to Dollywood, what luck! It was awesome to get to see a friend in the most unlikely of places.

Chris and I in the blue

Chris in his amazing beach garb

Some of the great pine trees

Chris and Connie of the Tall Pines

one of the great locations we got to shoot at

This is a tunnel of scrub oak through the dunes

Baby I Will Leave You in the Morning

2011-05-18T10:46:00.001-04:00

I am sorry to have been away for so long but the last few weeks have been busy busy busy, I was off taking photos down on the emerald coast, and then working the worlds largest antique fair, so the next few posts are sure to be photo heavy with the last few weeks work. In the mean time though let me show the video I styled for Marissa Nadler, that I posted about earlier.

April Showers Bring May Flowers

2011-04-26T13:54:00.000-04:00

You only have till Friday, then my store will be going into vacation mode.

You can visit me on Saturday from 10am to 3pm in Monson at 14 Longview Drive in the big barn, I will be selling my wares there along with a bunch of artists, there will be jewelers, stained glass, wood crafts, leather crafts, local maple syrup and more.

( I will also have free cookies)