Haunted Cypress Studios

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Haunted Cypress Studios

Swamp inspired jewelry and adventures from the enchanting swamps of South Louisiana. Jewelry & Photography By Nell Bentz

www.HauntedCypress.com

Welcome to Haunted Cypress Studios! Here you will find swamp jewelry not only inspired by the haunting atmosphere of the Louisiana swamplands, but also handcrafted from materials that have been gathered from swamps with haunted history.

27/08/2024

This video of me soldering bails may look pretty non-eventful (& poorly angled/edited🙃) but it took a lot of mental weightlifting and therapy to get to this point of creating simple things again. And I just wanted to pop in since it’s been so long since I’ve made a post about my work.

The loss of my brother has felt like the loss of a limb, or like my head has fallen clean off for 12 straight months but somehow I continue to appear normal and functional on the outside to everyone else. Sucking back tears is a skill I hope no one ever has to master for too long, after a while it takes a toll on the heart.

And while that all sounds dark and gloomy, what I REALLY came here to say is that lately I have managed to cherish little moments of lightness through my art again, and by connecting with my people in nature, while holding space for my pain at the same time. When you’re with the right people, it doesn’t feel like such a struggle, joy and grief can coexist at times, and I think there’s some kind of magic in that❤️🐊

After a year of carrying around the heaviest grief I’ve ever known, I now know that healing is cyclical🔄 The storms will always return but I’m learning to move through it differently each time, a little less paralyzed, a little lighter. Choosing ✨wisdom✨ over woe is easier said than done. I’m still a work in progress.

Sending armfuls of love to anyone else walking around with a massive invisible weight on their shoulders. There is also lightness within you at all times, I hope you always manage to find it when you need it the most. This s**t ain’t easy, I 🤎 you.

If you have managed to read this far (thank youuu) I am planning to be at Twin Steeples Arts Market this coming October. Stay tuned for updates, I am going to attempt to post more often about what’s in the works💚🐊🐊🐊🐊

25/02/2024

Future cypress swamp hearts🖤🐊
Just got a brand new CORDLESS dremel, sitting by my pond on this peaceful February spring day with my cup of tea in my fav swamp mug (by ) READY TO CARVE OUT SOME HEARTS🔪❤️🩸 lol

18/02/2024

I finally crawled out of my sad girl cave with the energy to organize my workbench & entire workspace last night (I even dusted things, whaaat?! lol)
Now today it’s practically begging me to sit down & create something, I haven’t felt that fully in almost 6 months.
I have so many projects on hold, now to decide where to start🔥✨

01/12/2023

The art market this Saturday is officially ⛈️CANCELLED⛈️ And I’m just plain tired, & emotionally exhausted. I may or may not have an online release with some cypress pieces I’ve been working on next week, I haven’t decided yet. It will depend on my energy levels this weekend. And lemme tell ya, anyone who has never experienced a soul shaking traumatic loss of a loved one, the holidays amplify that s**t tenfold. Like unholy levels of intense emotions.
I’m taking everything day by day, so stick around & maybe there will be some cypress jewels coming to the shop soon? oR? maybe I will just be sharing my favorite swamp photos. Either way, there will be swamp love on the way🐊🎄❤️

30/11/2023

Swamp Sneaux-man☃️
My donation to this year’s ornament auction at Twin Steeples Creative Arts Center
With Spanish moss sneauxballs, gator flower eyes, Nola crepe myrtle hat, & cypress twig arms and buttons✨ Topped off with a cypress bark Louisiana “Sneaux” tag.
It could be all yours by bidding at the silent auction December 8th 6pm-8pm at Twin Steeples Art Center! See yall there❤️🐊

22/11/2023

🍂✨🐊

📍Manchac Swamp, Louisiana 11/2023
📸HauntedCypress

18/11/2023

New set of heartwood cypress hearts🤎🐊 polished with their own sappy swampy resins and soon to be set in sterling silver✨
To be released at Gnarly Barley Brewing Art Market on December 2nd🍻
All cypress pieces made from found driftwood in Manchac Swamp, Louisiana.

12/11/2023

Autumn in Manchac Swamp🐊🍂 This is one of my favorite cypress trees to photograph, the way that one branch barely grazes the water✨
📸HauntedCypress 2019
📍Manchac Swamp, Louisiana

11/11/2023

New Orleans swamp tomb pendants will be available Saturday Dec. 2nd at the Gnarly Barley Brewing Art Market!

Each handcrafted sterling silver tomb pendant contains preserved cemetery wildflowers, swamp moss, and tiny insects collected from spiderwebs encased in glass🕸️🖤

Come see me under the 🖤🤍 striped tent for some handmade swamp jewels🐊🖤

27/10/2023

This great horned owl graced us with his presence during a classic Louisiana October sunset on Cane Bayou this week. He was pretty far away, but I still managed to get some interesting shots through the tall swamp plants! Gave it a kinda perfectly sPoOky effect🖤👻

09/10/2023

Thanks to all my lovely supporters for coming out and showering me with all the love this past weekend! Y’all make all my witchy swamp jeweler dreams possible🖤👻 May the rest of your Spooky Season be filled with cool breezes, scary movies, and wicked swamp jewelry🖤🐊🍂✨

07/10/2023

Did I just win… BEST IN SHOW?!👻
After everything I’ve been through these last few months, I really didn’t think I’d be able to even make it out here. So it really goes to show that no matter what absolute insanity life throws at you, you can do anything you put your heart and mind to. My art has always been my savior in life ever since I was kid, this is a reminder of just how much it has held me up over the years. It all comes straight from the heart. Love is everything🖤🐊
Thank you 🖤steeples.arts.center 🖤

07/10/2023

Slinging swamp jewels at .steeples.arts.center on this gorgeous day🖤🍂🐊 Come see us at booth #42
6 new sterling swamp lockets fresh off the bench! Featuring tiny insects collected from spiderwebs🖤🕸️ and New Orleans Cemetery wildflowers🐊

01/10/2023

I’m trying with all my might to make progress on these swamp tomb lockets. I’ve melted more bezels today than I have in the last two years combined, grief is an as***le like that🙃 I’m wading through all the emotions, but it’s honestly kind of therapeutic taking it out on the metal🔥 (I’m just hoping I have enough silver left by the end of today, jeeze Louise😅)

I’m still a bit unsure if I’ll make it to Twin Steeples Art Market this Sat-Sunday. But the weather is supposed to be phenominal, and I am highly motivated. Send me all your spooky energies pleez👻🤍

15/08/2023

Typing these words feels like a knife twisting in my chest, so I’m just going to say this all once to everyone on my socials as contacting ppl individually is too much to bear. My sweet little brother made his choice to leave this world last week. Few people truly knew the trauma we went through growing up. I always felt like he was a miracle, a precious gem of a person that was somehow forged from all the insanity that we endured, & his existence made going through what we did all worth it. He was a treasure my sister & I always tried to protect from all the monsters in our life. Now that he’s gone nothing makes sense right now. I loved that kid with every fiber of my being, he was my mini-me. I can’t even look in the mirror without breaking down because all I see is his face within mine. I will never be the same. Relearning how to live life without him feels nearly impossible. He was my heart. His jokes & laughter constantly fueled my spirit. His absence is a pain I never knew could exist within my body. Everything hurts.
To everyone recently & in the past that have mishandled this delicate soul, you know who you are, and I hope you learn to be less careless with people in your everyday life. You cannot fathom how deep the internal struggles of others can really be. Be more aware of the way you treat and speak to people in this already difficult world we live in. I beg you.
Please remember DeanJr Price. My precious DJ. If you were lucky enough to know him, please tell me your favorite memory, your favorite prank or joke, tell me about your best fishing trip together, how you met, share your pictures with me, just anything. Keep his memory alive. He was a rare one.
I’m going offline until further notice to spend time with my loved ones and figure out a way to process this, but feel free to leave messages here. I’ll read it all later when I can handle it better. Please try not to contact my sister by phone right now, you can DM me on fb or leave a message here and I’ll make sure she gets it when she is ready. She specifically asked for peace and quiet while she attempts to process this really difficult time. It’s all so overwhelming, and unreal. Memorial service TBA.

22/07/2023

Maypop flowers & Gulf Fritillary butterfly wings pressed in glass with sterling silver✨ Pendants and bracelets will be available today (along with some other sterling swamp jewels) at the Twin Steeples Creative Arts Center Summer pop-up TODAY from 5-8pm!
I’ll be out there among some really talented local artists, performers, and musicians. Stop by and see us!🖤

21/07/2023

Tupelo spider cave🕸️🕷️
The green moss on this tree reminds me of the moss agates I’m currently working with💚
Honey Island Kayak Tours knows so much about this beautiful area. Book a tour this summer!

14/07/2023

New work & personal life update: Vol. II of the Swamp Water collection is in the works! Currently working on the tiny swamp plant elements, including sterling silver water lilies, arrow arums, and duckweed. I’m hoping to have these ready (along with some lily pad stud earrings) for next Saturday at .steeples.arts.center pop up art market 5-8pm ❤️
On a very personal note, I’ve been dealing with some super scary possibly permanent nerve damage from my tonsillectomy back in January that’s been majorly affecting my sense of taste and my salivary glands (which for a Cajun gal that loves to cook, this has been a major struggle for 6months), and I have a doctors apt this afternoon that may bring either good or possibly life altering news. The anxiety has been paralyzing this week. (Hence not a lot of jewelry updates lately) I’m kind of lost on how to handle myself or talk about it, but super thankful for my friends bc despite how much this has been weighing on me, they still manage to lift me up when I need it🖤
Send happy thoughts my way today, or light a candle or something. I need all the good joujou I can get.

28/06/2023

Boscoyo🖤
(Swamp spirits👻) can you see their faces?
📍Manchac Swamp, Louisiana
📸HauntedCypress

25/06/2023

Swamp Diamond💎🐊✨
Sz. 7
Cypress heartwood (driftwood) collected from the banks of Manchac Swamp, Louisiana. Cabbed and polished with its own sappy resin, & set in sterling silver✨
At HauntedCypress.com

23/06/2023

Summer has arrived!!🔥☀️🔥 (Which means early morning swamp paddles are a must!)
I currently have some alligator/ moss agate pieces I’m trying to get together for possibly a late July/ Early August summer release!
I’ll be working in the city for a couple of weeks solid, so after that I’ll be hittin the bench⚒️
Stay tuned for updates!💚🐊

📍Manchac Swamp, Louisiana 2023
📸 ©️HauntedCypress

09/06/2023

All orders made by Friday night ship Saturday morning!🖤🐊
We have 7 sterling silver & cypress heartwood rings left, sizes 🖤8🖤7🖤6🖤8.5🖤7.5🖤 HauntedCypress.com

08/06/2023

Cypress heartwood rings go live at noon 12pm Central! At HauntedCypress.com
🤎🐊
These simple, petite split shank rings are handcrafted from band to bezel with .925 sterling silver and hand cabbed pieces of cypress heartwood cut from a piece of thick cypress knot driftwood collected from the banks of Manchac Swamp, Louisiana.
🤎🐊
The goal of this collection is to display and treat Louisiana cypress like a rare and precious gem, as these trees that are essential to our ecosystem are constantly under threat by saltwater intrusion, human greed, and hurricanes. They are the true queens of the swamp and should be treated like royalty!
🤎🐊
This is a perfect, comfy everyday piece for those that appreciate Louisiana’s unique and fragile beauty.
🤎🐊
Only TWO lily pad pendants are left after my last art show, so if you’ve had your eye on these now is your chance! One cypress heartwood slice with sterling silver lily pad, and one regular driftwood piece with copper lily pad.
🤎🐊

07/06/2023

Website update ToMoRRoW June 8th at 12pm NOON CST!! At HauntedCypress.com
🖤
11 simple sterling silver split shank rings (sizes 6-9) with tiny cypress cabs, cut from the heart of a cypress knot and polished with its own resin.
🖤
2 lily pad cypress driftwood pendants, one sterling silver and one copper🩶🧡
🖤
All one of a kind & handcrafted with luv🖤🐊

25/05/2023

I’ve been dying to share these two commissioned pieces I’ve been working on for the last couple of weeks!!
Two of my very best friends (unknowingly) both secretly commissioned me to make a piece of jewelry for the other for their 10 year anniversary. I feel so incredibly honored that they both trusted me to make such a special piece for this milestone in their relationship.
The pendant features a gorgeous Louisiana Opal with a hand fabricated sterling silver ginkgo leaf and an etched sunflower.
And my favorite part, I convinced them both to write their special phrase “in this life and the next” in their own handwriting to etch onto the others piece. Si bon🤌
Happy Anniversary, fools😘 .skin

19/05/2023

This solid sterling silver Swamp Tomb Locket is available at HauntedCypress.com🖤🐊

Featuring a coffin shaped armadillo bone, mossy cemetery dirt, & swamp wildflowers from haunted Manchac Swamp, Louisiana👻

I have not had the time nor the energy to update the shop with my more recent cypress pieces from my last festival. I do plan to have a big update sometime this summer though, I promise🖤
My bench has just been cleaned and organized and ready for the next project! Possibly involving some luvly moss agates👀💚

03/05/2023

My body told me I needed rest this week, so the website update did not happen. But after another week of work in the city, I’ll get back to it! Bear with me🖤🐊

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This video of me soldering bails may look pretty non-eventful (& poorly angled/edited🙃) but it took a lot of mental weightlifting and therapy to get to this point of creating simple things again. And I just wanted to pop in since it’s been so long since I’ve made a post about my work. The loss of my brother has felt like the loss of a limb, or like my head has fallen clean off for 12 straight months but somehow I continue to appear normal and functional on the outside to everyone else. Sucking back tears is a skill I hope no one ever has to master for too long, after a while it takes a toll on the heart. And while that all sounds dark and gloomy, what I REALLY came here to say is that lately I have managed to cherish little moments of lightness through my art again, and by connecting with my people in nature, while holding space for my pain at the same time. When you’re with the right people, it doesn’t feel like such a struggle, joy and grief can coexist at times, and I think there’s some kind of magic in that❤️🐊 After a year of carrying around the heaviest grief I’ve ever known, I now know that healing is cyclical🔄 The storms will always return but I’m learning to move through it differently each time, a little less paralyzed, a little lighter. Choosing ✨wisdom✨ over woe is easier said than done. I’m still a work in progress. Sending armfuls of love to anyone else walking around with a massive invisible weight on their shoulders. There is also lightness within you at all times, I hope you always manage to find it when you need it the most. This sh*t ain’t easy, I 🤎 you. If you have managed to read this far (thank youuu) I am planning to be at Twin Steeples Arts Market this coming October. Stay tuned for updates, I am going to attempt to post more often about what’s in the works💚🐊🐊🐊🐊

Cypress & Copper Lily Pad pendants are in the works! A homemade concoction of beeswax & olive oil has always been my favorite chemical-free method for polishing cypress driftwood. Coating them with my bare fingers & buffing is my favorite part of this pendant making process. It helps to hydrate thirsty wood & also protect it, while leaving that natural, glorious cypress scent behind✨ I love watching the wood drink it up & see the wood grain pattern begin to reveal itself before my eyes. This is where art meets therapy for me! 😅🥰 These will be released at Gnarly Barley Brewing Art Market this Saturday, Dec. 2nd 12-5pm. See y’all there! ❤️🐊

Finishing up the last of these sterling Swamp Tomb lockets!🪦🍂🖤 This batch features tiny insects🕷️ with cemetery & swamp wildflowers & moss. Release is tomorrow at @twin.steeples.arts.center Arts Market 9-5. There will be only 6 pendants and one cuff. Get there early if you want one, no holds!👻🖤🍂 Booth 42🐊 If I have any energy left in my body by tomorrow morning I’ll try to post more pictures of what’s available. It’s driving me nuts that this is so last minute and rushed, by now I’d usually have a thousand pics posted and everything completed. I’m dead tired y’all🙃

New work & personal life update: Vol. II of the Swamp Water collection is in the works! Currently working on the tiny swamp plant elements, including sterling silver water lilies, arrow arums, and duckweed. I’m hoping to have these ready (along with some lily pad stud earrings) for next Saturday at @twin.steeples.arts.center pop up art market 5-8pm ❤️ . On a very personal note, I’ve been dealing with some super scary possibly permanent nerve damage from my tonsillectomy back in January that’s been majorly affecting my sense of taste and my salivary glands (which for a Cajun gal that loves to cook, this has been a major struggle for 6months), and I have a doctors apt this afternoon that may bring either good or possibly life altering news. The anxiety has been paralyzing this week. (Hence not a lot of jewelry updates lately) I’m kind of lost on how to handle myself or talk about it, but super thankful for my friends bc despite how much this has been weighing on me, they still manage to lift me up when I need it🖤 Send happy thoughts my way today, or light a candle or something. I need all the good joujou I can get.

Maritime Music & Arts Fest is in full swing! Come see Haunted Cypress Studios in the 🖤🤍 striped tent for some one of a kind swamp jewels🐊 Madisonville Ballpark ‘till 8pm

Lily pads & cypress!!🪷🐊Handmade with sterling silver & copper. These will be available on April 22nd at the Maritime Arts & Music Festival in Madisonville, La!💃

Swamp tomb locket previews!🪦🖤

Swamp tomb locket previews!🪦🖤 Each of these handcrafted solid sterling silver tombs will be listed ✨FRIDAY✨ 12/16 at 7pm Central at HauntedCypress.com All wildflowers, lichen, bones, and moss collected & preserved by me from various swamps & cemeteries in South Louisiana🖤🐊 This batch includes lots of Mardi Gras colored flora!💜💚💛 Sending out newsletters with Holiday specials ✨tomorrow morning!✨ So join the mailing list asap at HauntedCypress.com for tomorrows promo codes & info!

Louisiana Opal #2! Trying to capture all the beautiful colors of the opalescent “flash”. As always, it’s difficult to do it any justice. But here’s my attempt! This piece will be part of a set of three pendants featuring swamp lilies with green patina copper lily pads💚 🪷 #louisianaopal #leesvillelouisiana #sterlingsilver #louisianaartist

Cypress are starting to change color in Manchac Swamp🍂✨ With so many things transitioning in my own chaotic life, it was nice to feel connected to this beauty in my favorite place on my birthday week🖤 P.S. Orders are shipping out Saturday! And there are three Cemetery Magnolia petal pendants & two cuffs left in the shop;) 🪦 HauntedCypress.com

Twin Steeples Village Arts Market is here!! Tomb lockets are ALREADY sold out😱 But don’t worry! More tombs are coming before the holidays🖤 We still have plenty Cemetery Magnolia Petals, Maypop & Butterfly wings, and petrified Louisiana palmwood pendants, cuffs, and rings! Come see Haunted Cypress booth #22🖤 Twin Steeples Creative Arts Center

👻GHOST STORY TIME: Since I was a kid my grandma would tell me this story about my great grandpa Freddie Blanchard who used to maintain a graveyard near Lafourche Parish. One day he brought home an empty vase that laid abandoned near a grave & brought it home to surprise my grandma. The next day she fell very ill & began seeing a little girl in a frilly dress sitting on top her dresser, staring at her. So a few days later when they made the connection, he returned the vase back to the area that he had found it. My grandma instantly started to recover & the little girl never returned. To me the lesson of this story had always been pretty clear, & to this day I will never remove anything near or on a personal grave site! All the flowers I pick from the cemeteries for my lockets come from the trees or the neutral grassy areas before the maintenance men cut the grass! It’s also just respectful to leave things as they are. With the exception of maybe picking up a fallen vase or putting flowers in them🖤 These solid sterling silver oven tomb pendants will be released at the first ever @twinsteeples art market in Ponchatoula THIS Friday 12-5 & Saturday 9-5! HauntedCypress- Booth 22 Come out and see us! 👻

Shiny sterling silver tomb, but make it old & grungy! 🖤👻 Showing some of the process from gritty matte patina to textured shine✨ trying to replicate the older broken down tombs in the old mid-city New Orleans cemeteries and also give them the glory they deserve🖤🪦 These tombs will be filled with cemetery flowers, roots, and tiny bones found in Louisiana swamps🐊 ⚫️Will be at the @twin.steeples.arts.center village arts market Sept. 30 - Oct. 1st! #neworleanscemetery #oventombs #graveyard #grave #hauntedcypress

This place has been a huge source of inspiration for me since the moment I laid eyes on it from hwy55 when I first moved to Tangipahoa parish. Ever since then all I want to do is figure out how make time to get back out there. The swamps and bayous of Louisiana are like home to my heart🖤 And since I can’t live out there 24/7 in the witchy swamp shack of my dreams, I make jewelry inspired by the plants, animals, atmosphere, & even the folklore of the area to keep me connected to it no matter where I am and also to make others aware of the beauty and importance of the ecosystems and culture of it all so we can all treat it kinder. Because why would we trash something so important? Anyway, I guess I’m still riding the high from our first stand up paddle board experience at Lake Maurepas in Manchac yesterday🥰 Spatterdock lilies were the star of the show, can you tell?🖤🐊 (pssst! I still have one spatterdock inspired piece left listed😉!) hauntedcypress.com

I’m so in love with this process. Composing the perfect combination of preserved plants & nature in their silver bezels and piecing them together like a puzzle, I could do this all day. These pressed Maypop flowers with Gulf Fritillary wings will be available at the @twin.steeples.arts.center Village Arts Market Sept 30 - Oct 1st in downtown Ponchatoula La🖤 (Ps follow me on Instagram @hauntedcypress !!! My vids look better there. Everything is better there lolkthanks) #maypop #passionflower #sterlingsilver #hauntedcypress #gulffritillary

👻🖤Mark your calendars!! Cemetery Magnolia petals coming this Saturday, July 30th! I’ll be releasing a limited few in the shop, five sterling silver pendants and three bracelets, as I’m trying to stock up for two shows coming up this Fall. 🖤Sept. 30 - Oct. 1 at @twin.steeples.arts.center at their 1st Village Arts Market 🖤Sept. 25 at @gnarlybarley brewing Mini Art Market #swampjewelry #sterlingsilver #hauntedcypress #louisianaartist

💡GUMBO MUGS💡What do y’all think about an oversized mug that can fit a perfect portion of gumbo, with a handle for convenient gumbo gravy sippin’?! This mug in the vid was a happy accident and came out way bigger than I intended, and I’ve been eating my gumbo in it all week long and it’s kind of my favorite thing atm. Might make a whole series of mugs this size for Christmas-y time with cicadas and gators, maybe even a trinity tribute! *wheels are a’spinnin*🤔

❤️𝑺𝒖𝒈𝒂𝒓 𝑪𝒂𝒏𝒆❤️ Quick demo of what goes into the making of a single sugar cane stalk out of sterling silver wire. (Mind you this takes much longer in real life lol) These components will be a part of my first folklore series featuring the 𝕱𝖎𝖋𝖔𝖑𝖊𝖙✨ Inspired by stories from my own grandmother and others that have been passed down through generations from South Louisiana. Release date to be announced, because liFe has been psychotically unpredictable and also it’s hurricane season🤪 so stay tuned;)

More swamp water mugs on the way! Coming to my website on Saturday March 27th🐊❣️ Subscribe at HauntedCypress.com for member only specials before the release!

Swamp water mugs❤️🐊 First test batch, more to come! #SwampLove #handmadeceramics #potterylove

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27/08/2024

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30/11/2023

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18/11/2023

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11/11/2023

27/10/2023

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Swamp tomb locket previews!🪦🖤

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