Madam Clara's Record Breaking Show!!

I've been concentrating on new creations for future Art Shows I have coming up at the end of the Summer. I finished this piece yesterday, it is entitled "Madam Clara's Record Breaking Show", it is created in a Shadowbox to give depth and real interest to the piece. I love working with Shadowboxes, it is so much fun creating inside a little box! This piece also incorporates one of my favourite vintage images from my collection, the two girls are wearing just their stripey stockings, boots and fairy wings and are suspended from a trapeze swing... love it!!! I have added theatre curtains and a vintage sign with the words "Burlesque Troupe". The box is then covered in scraps from an old circus advertisement and the whole thing is then sealed with Diamond Glaze to give a muted glazed finish.This piece will be on display at the end of August during the Art Wave Festival, further details on this will follow nearer the time, but if you'd like to learn more about Art Wave please visit their website http://www.artwavefestival.org/index.htm

The piece above is another destined for Art Wave; "Johann Hoffs Wand Tonic", created on thick cardstock, I have manipulated an old Tonic Advertisement, rewording it and adding the vintage image (again, another of my favourite images from my collection). I really enjoy working with cheeky images and adding some humour to my pieces, it makes me happy if my work brings a smile and a bit of laughter to you!! More coming soon!

Updates to Maygreen Fairies Shop!!!

Well, I managed to tackle a long overdue task today, updating the products on my website shop. It's a laborious task, but enjoyable all the same, and with the weather so hot I decided to keep cool indoors and work at my studio desk overlooking the garden with a slight breeze coming in through the window.... bliss!!Here is a sneek peek at a few of the items now available at the shop. I am also introducing some pieces that I usually only sell at my fairs, one of them being the fabulous vintage style brooches (above) from an Internationally sourced artist.

More items are being added throughout the next couple of weeks so if you get a chance head on over and check them out http://www.maygreen-fairies.co.uk

Playing with the PreRaphaelites

As well as having a love for vintage, I also adore Pre Raphaelite art, being a fan of William Holman Hunt, John William Waterhouse, Dante Gabriel Rosetti and Edward Burne-Jones. So in the past I have dabbled in playing around with Pre Raphaelite art and adding wings and flower surrounds to create pretty ATCs, Art Pockets and Mini Collages.Here are some of my old pieces from my archives, every so often I trail through my old files to remind myself of past creations and also gather inspiration to add to new pieces.

Hope you enjoy looking at them! I am currently working on my first Art Book so new creations are coming a little slow at the moment as I concentrate on finishing the book, which hopefully will be within the next month or two. It's a slow process, especially as I am doing it myself without the support of a publisher.

I have lots of new and exciting things in the pipeline, in addition to the book there will be a new jewellery line, some more Tattered & Torn Wall Hangings and new card designs, so do keep returning as I'll be sure to update you as inspiration strikes!

Playing Around with Digital Elements

Had fun this evening tinkering about with some digital design elements from Deviant Scrap. Came up with this fun piece which I've entitled "My Crazy Life". Hope you enjoy it!

Digital Elements from: Tumble Fish Studios; Holliewood Studios, Ode To a Muse; Finecrafted Designs - ZettiReVamp, all at Deviant Scrap.

Blooming Marvellous!!

Despite the rainy weather I'm having a lovely Saturday so far.... this morning a parcel arrived that I had been waiting for and inside were the most gorgeous lacy vintage style bloomers/leggings (pictured above with my new boots). I spotted these leggings on a lovely lady visiting the Wealden Fair last week and she looked fantastic in them and I fell in love with them instantly and just had to have a pair. As luck would have it, the lady worked for a clothing company that sold them so I quickly took the company details and ordered them the next day. Check out the site it has tons of lovely items; http://www.thewhitingpost.co.uk/
I also spent some of my morning wrapping my friends Birthday Gifts, I love having fun with wrapping and tagging Gifts and really enjoyed a quiet half hour whilst the boys were at football practice with Dad.

Now I'm settling down to some research with old books and vintage pictures for new inspiration for up coming pieces. Have a good day friends! x

Mid Summer Madness!!

Wow!! After three days of Mid Summer madness at the fantastic Wealden Fair, I am now firmly back at Maygreen Fairies Head Quarters to relax and take stock of the fabulous three days spent at Brick House Farm in Kent. The Wealden Fair organisers did a super job, the Farm grounds that played host to the tented fair, looked beautiful, lots of white canvas tents with an abundance of summer bunting, and a few pretty chandeliers thrown in for good measure in the food tents, it was all very civilised!

The Maygreen Fairies Stand looked very pretty on the first morning, I managed to take a few moments to rush round the whole Fair before the doors opened and take some shots of many of the lovely Stands, without the crowds to block the pretty views. All was quiet and calm prior to the 9am opening, but we could see the queues forming outside and knew we were in for a busy day! And once those doors opened boy was it busy!!!

Hundreds of people came through the doors over the three days, Maygreen Fairies sales were non stop, which was wonderful. Thank you to anyone who stopped by my Stand, it was lovely to see you, lots of familiar faces, family and friends and some new faces too. It was really lovely to meet Joanna from http://fiddlesnips.blogspot.com/ who came by to say hello and who also very kindly photographed my stand and blogged about the Fair!"

It was also wonderful to see Claire from the super Fabric and Wallpaper Shop "Vintage Bird", if you are ever in the Old Town of Hastings, you must visit Claire's beautiful shop at 48 High Street, it is full of the most gorgeous fabrics and wallpapers, you wont be disappointed.

My dear readers, I do hope you are reading this post with a cuppa in hand, if not, you may want to go get one as it's a pretty big post, lots of eye candy too! (Also I must take this opportnity to explain that my Blog Editor is not working very well and I'm unable to add web links to wording, so all links in this post will be in full, sorry, that's technology for you!).

On the odd moment when my stand was quiet it was really lovely to people watch, everyone who came made a real effort with their dress, there was some amazing outfits, and some really cute kiddies too!! The other nice thing about this Fair is that the organisers allow Dogs on a lead, and it was super to see some extremely well behaved woof woofs!

Another couple of local ladies who popped by to say Hello, were the lovely Linda and Debs, founders of the "Kitsch & Stitch" Fairs, http://kitschandstitchfair.blogspot.com/ the first was held in Cranbrook a few weeks ago and it was a huge success and I am hoping to be involved in the next Fair in September, I will be posting details on this at a later date.

Now enough photos of my Stand, let me give you a little glimpse into the other wonderful array of products available at the Fair, below is only a snippet of what was there but hopefully you'll get the gist of how scrumptious it was......

Above is the view I had from the side of my Stand right out onto the Farms little Lake, it was so beautiful. We were lucky with the weather on the first morning and the Saturday, but unfortunately it did rain quite heavily on the Friday, but the good old British public still came out in their droves, good on 'em!! You can always rely on us Brits in all weathers!

Although having said Brits, I did sell some items to a lovely Australian couple who were holidaying in the UK and also two French ladies who I remembered from the Winter Fair last November, they returned to buy more items from my Stand which was really nice.

The photo above is of lovely Shirley-Ann who runs "A Day in Provence", she always looks so amazing at these events but never lets me take a photo of her so I took one on the sly but only managed to get her back... shame!! Her stand looked so pretty she has lots of gorgeous vintage items on offer as well as her own fabulous art.

There were all kinds of quirky goods on show, the displays on stands were so well thought out, lots of beautiful things to look at and smell... the food tent was amazing, and the outside areas were packed with stunning plants and garden furniture, there really was something for everyone.

I even managed to find a stand with some fairies (above), and just take a look at the cute Bird Boxes below:

Another favourite find of mine are these novel Bird Feeders (below), made from Vintage Teacups, these were flying out the door, I just wish I'd got the chance to get one myself.

I adore the pretty baby slippers below, made by Katie's Originals, all crafted from textiles using hand dyed local yarn, the Mum and Baby Gift Set below was particularly sweet.

There were pretty little things at every turn, and the temptation to buy was high.... I found it very hard to resist, so it was a good job I was a stand holder with little time to browse, otherwise I think I may have got into a little trouble with hubby!!

I must say my favourite Stand was Katy Lou's http://www.katylou.co.uk/ (below); Katy uses recycled materials and treasured fabrics to create the most stunning textile art. I was lucky enough to purchase a picture of Katy's at the Winter Fair and it consistently gets so many comments from friends and family who visit my home.

Katy's work really is a feast for the eyes, and if you can get to see her at a local show then you should, her next show is at the Tunbridge Wells Town and Country Show and you can find more details on this and her work at her website listed above.

So all in all the Show was a huge success and I now can't wait for the Winter Fair in November! I will of course keep you all posted on this event as it really is a must for your diary if you live in the area. For a full list of all the Exhibitors at this years Fair please visit http://www.wealdentimes.co.uk/events/MidsummerFair2011/Exhibitors.asp

Thanks again for all who came by, in particular to my friends who came to support me; Lilius, Cath, Claire, Nikki, Anna, both Sarah's, Jackie, Alison & Nicky and of course my family; Mum, Dad, Jules and little Isabella!

The Summer Fair is Here!!

Well the Wealden Mid Summer Fair week is finally here, all my stock is packed up and ready to go for "set up" day tomorrow! I was able to chill out a bit today and spend some well earned time with my lovely two boys, their little mate, and my good friend at Drusilla's Zoo, we had a super fun time in the sunshine and I'm now ready for a few days of hard work at the Fair.I will be blogging about the event over the next few days so watch this space! And don't forget, if you are attending the Fair, do pop by and say hello!

Where Bloggers Create!

I am thrilled to be participating once again in the "Where Bloggers Create" Blog Party. Thanks to the events host, Karen at My Desert Cottage, this annual event is now in it's third year and has grown each year with over 300 participants in 2010! This years event is happening on 15th July, when you can visit hundreds of Bloggers Studios situated all over the world from the comfort of your armchair.... how cool is that!! So be sure to check back on July 15th when you will be able to view my Studio Space and then link to many others via Karen's Blog, it's gonna be a fun party!