Happy Halloween!!

Halloween is nearly here and we have been busy getting ready today!! Well actually, I should say, my hubby has been busy he! he! He has gutted the Pumpkins and made scary faces with the shells for the kids. He then made the best ever Pumpkin Pies and Spicy Curry Pumpkin Soup, all ready for my folks coming over tomorrow.
I have been busy myself, apart from making more bits for my craft fayres, I've spent the morning in the garden sweeping up the fallen autumnal leaves to make the garden look a little more respectable for visitors.

Hope you all have a wonderful Halloween!!

A Stocking Full of Fairies

I am up to my eyes in Christmas Creations at the moment. In preparation for forthcoming Christmas Craft Fayres, I am busy making Cards, Tags, Journals and Door Hangers, to name but a few, and I will be showcasing some of my Christmas Creations here over the next few weeks.

Here are a few samples of my Christmas Greetings Cards, the two above are my "Stocking Full of Fairies" Range, the boots/stockings are created from silk paper so they have a lovely silky feel to them. I also create woolly ones using fuzzy paper!

These two samples are created using a vintage Art Nouveau surround that I have printed onto acetate and attached to the backgound image with sparkly glue. I've many more styles in my Christmas Greetings Card range, but at the moment I am not offering any for sale through my website as I have them all ready for the Fayres I am attending. But if you are interested in any that you see here then please don't hesitate to drop me a message (you can contact me through my website).

When Autumn Leaves are Falling.....

..... We head on out to our local woods at the back of our home and get the kids covered in those leaves, just for the fun of it!! And they loved it. You can just see Ethan's head poking out through the leaves... bless him.
Autumn is my favourite time of year, I adore the Autumnal colours, burnt umbers, reds, golds and browns, I even had my hair coloured for autumn at the hair salon yesterday!

Once we came through the woods we reached one of the many fields surrounding our home, they were full of these hay bales, the boys loved rolling around on top of them. You can just make out that they are both carrying wooden sticks that they had found in the woods, they were using them as broom sticks like Harry Potter, and then once we were in the thick of the woods they decided that they were their weapons to attack any Goblins that we may encounter, "like in Spiderwick Mummy" they shouted!! LOL!! Oh I do so love their wonderful imaginations.

We are so lucky to have such a wonderful wood on our doorstep, in Winter it is quiet and mysterious in thick Snow; In Spring glorious with Bluebells; In Summer warm and very green, and in Autumn, wow!! it comes alive with amazing colour.... oh and the smell in Autumn is my favourite, burnt woodsmoke from the surrounding chimney's, as people keep warm in their homes.

We came back from our walk to a homemade lasagne, courtesy of Daddy.... yummy!! And then we too sat in front of our fire for a toasty evening in front of the TV.

The Fashion Department - New Vintage Image CD Now Available!!

Over the last few months I have been putting together a unique collection of Vintage Fashion Illustrations from the 1910's to 1930's. These wonderful images have been sourced from vintage magazines and books that I have collected over the last few years.

This new CD has over 280 vintage fashion illustrations to include: Womenswear, Bridal, Ladies Hats and Hairstyles, plus a few childrenswear, ladies aprons, nightgowns and accessories.

Illustrations include designs by Chanel, Germaine, Philippe & Gaston, Drecoll, Yves and many more. Fashions from as early as the 1910s, to gorgeous 1920 gowns and outfits, up to the 1930s.

You may remember I created some vintage style tags a few weeks ago with fashion illustrations on them, these were created using images from this CD. The creative possibilities are endless, use the designs on your cards, tags, journals, for scrapbooking, whatever takes your fancy. To find out more about the collection, order the CD and to see a slideshow of some of the images on the CD, please visit the Maygreen Fairies Shop.

A Bespoke Birthday Card

I had recently been asked to create a "Bespoke Birthday Card" for a good friend of mine, for his Sister's 75th Birthday. He supplied me with an old photograph of her when she was a young girl and let me create whatever I wished with it... and so this is what I came up with!

More Haiti Goodies....

Well it's been a fantastic week so far for the Haiti Fundraiser. Handmade items have been flying out the door and we are now putting our next round of items in the window. Above is pottery made by a local artist, as well as a selection of beautiful earrings and necklaces. Although a few minutes after putting the jewellery in the window a few pieces were snapped up, no sooner are we putting them in and there flying out!! LOL!!

More gorgeous bags out on display, and yet we still have more to squeeze into the window when we can. I'm back in the shop tomorrow, so we'll see what is in store then! I'll keep you posted.

Let Handmade for Haiti Commence!!

The day is finally here... Handmade for Haiti officially starts tomorrow (Monday) yay!!. After months of planning, creating and gathering donations from you ohhh so generous people, we are now all set to go. I have spent the morning at Oxfam pricing up each item with the handmade Haiti Price Tags I created.... oh boy was this a long task!!! LOL!! There was so much to label, as we have received so many handmade donations.

We have actually got a whole load of stock that we couldn't display yet as there wasn't enough room in the window area and the display cabinet, so the second lot of items will be brought out into the window as we sell pieces. It's so wonderful that we have so much, we didn't expect to be able to fill the window twice over!

As you can see from the photo's we've had a huge amount of different handmade items from Primitive Dolls, to Cushions, Purses & Bags; Whimsical Fairy Doors, Beautiful button jewellery, beaded jewellery and cufflinks.

Crocheted items to include blankets, bags and sweet little crocheted flower brooches. Ohhh talking of brooches, we've also had pretty material and felt ones with lovely vintage buttons in the centre.... hhhhmmmmmm!!! It was so difficult to restrain myself from coming back home with loads of purchases.

Hats, berets and bonnets all different styles from chic to woolly winter warmers... something for everyone there!

Oh and not forgetting the darling knitted tea cosy above, it is simply scrumptious, with it's burnt orange autumnal colours.. perfect for this time of year don't you think?

And just look at the amazing felted bag and purse in the photo above, this was donated by "Created & Felted", you can find a link to their site and others who kindly donated in the side bar to your left.

Bookmarks, more brooches..... ohhhh what an array of goodies!! I just can't thank you all enough, I'm grinning from ear to ear whilst composing this post as I'm so proud of all you wonderful people who helped make this event possible... you are all amazing!!

On the counter top inside the store we have a box filled with the cards that have been donated, as well as gift tags, magnets and also more jewellery.

And just look at the display cabinet above!!! These little fairies have been hand sculpted just for Haiti... aren't they wonderful. And if you look to the back left you'll see the adorable felted doll from Sycamore Moon Studios, she's real special, please check out this site it is a real gem of a find!!

I have a small display of items from Maygreen Fairies above, and on the top shelf is art from the super talented Becky of Whymsical Musings and a Halloween Art Doll from the wonderful Polka Dot Pixie.

Getting in the festive spirit with handmade Halloween Bags, don't you just love the autumnal colours..... gorgeous aren't they?

And just take a peek at this Primitive Doll Duo, I had to restrain myself to not bring this one away with me, although I must confess if she's still there on Tuesday when I go into work, I think I might have to adopt her then! LOL!

I will keep you all posted on the progress of the sale over the next few days, it'll be fun to see what has sold when I next go into work on Tuesday. I am expecting good things!!! We've had lots of locals showing interest in the sale, and today when I was dressing the window so many passers by stopped in their tracks to peer through the glass and see what was going on.... Oh how exciting!!! Thank you again to all of you who have donated, I know many of you create items just for fun and don't have websites or blogs for me to refer people too, but those that do have blogs/sites I have listed your details on the left.... so readers check them all out, you're in for a real treat I promise!!!

Little Vintage Gift Tags

I've been a busy bee creating a new line of Vintage Gift Tags, ready for my up coming craft fayres over the next few months. I wanted to use colour tinted vintage images in soft, pastel pinks, greens and blues and lots of sumptous trimming.... so here they are....

Each tag is created on thick board, so they are very sturdy. The backs of the tags are covered in an old vintage cream paper and edged in gold gilt pen, there is plenty of room to write a message, if so desired.
The tags look wonderful tied to a special gift, or a bunch of flowers, or hung as a decorative piece on a dressing table! Or even as table settings displayed on a napkin for each diner... the uses are endless.

Each tag is sealed with diamond glaze which also gives a lovely matt, glass like sheen to the surface. I've lots more new bits to come so please check back again soon if you get the time. xx