Maygreen Fairies

New CHEEKY Card Range for Men

2012-02-20T02:59:00.002-08:00

Introducing my new "Undress Me" Card Range for the man in your life!! I have often been asked if I could design a greetings card for a male, as most of my designs appeal to females. So whilst laying in bed one morning this idea came to me and even though it was 6am I just had to get up and start playing around with my idea. So here's how it works.... the recipient of the card will receive the little lady dressed (shown below), he is then invited to undress her, all he needs to do is pull the ribbon at her waist to reveal her cheeky outfit underneath with the Birthday Badge saying "Happy Birthday".

Of course, I can design the Badge to have any saying on it you would like, or no badge at all!!

So far I have created four different designs, but there will be more to follow. If you want to check them out please visit my Shop and the Greetings Card section.

Please spread the word and share my new designs with your friends and family, I think these are really cute and different cards for men and hope to get the word out there, so if you can share this post that would be lovely... THANK YOU!

Creating for Papier Creatif......

2012-02-12T11:34:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I was approached by the super talented Juls of Papier Creatif, Juls asked if I would create some digital fairies as part of her February 20Twelve Clik*Board, and I was both excited and delighted to be involved. Digital Art is something I dabble in and certainly do not profess to be an expert in by any means, but I sure had fun creating these little whimsical ladies, and learnt alot whilst doing so!! Thank you sweet Juls for your enduring patience whilst waiting for me to create the little ladies, especially the "Love Heart Gal". Pop on over to Juls' wonderful site "Papier Creatif" to check out the amazing digital packages she has on offer.... her website and blog are a real feast for the eyes! Thanks again Juls, I loved working with you and look forward to doing so again real soon.. Hugs x

My First Altered Book....

2012-02-08T02:37:00.000-08:00

For a while now I have wanted to alter an old book and I have had plenty of ideas buzzing around in my head. I finally sat down a few days ago with the book I wanted to attempt to alter and began by removing the front cover and then cutting away at the centre to produce the shrine centre piece. It took a good while to cut through all the pages, I had to be very careful as it was quite an old book and the pages were very thin, but after an hour or so (with a few tea breaks in between), the desired effect was achieved. Then all I had to do was add the decorative elements!

At various points inside the shrine I have added very fine lace to build up a lace background both inside the shrine centre and also little bits exposed around the edges of the book. I then printed out some butterfly images and the girl image from a Paper Whimsy collage sheet. The butterfly images have been secured in position with decoupage pads to enable them to stand out slightly from the background.

The little lady has been mounted onto thick cardstock to give her stability and then I have created her paper skirt using tiny crinkled pieces of vintage paper secured and painted with Diamond Glaze to add some depth and texture to her skirt. The book has then been bound around the outside with some decorative cotton ribbon with words such as "imagine" "believe" and "create". The top binding is some garden string that I have aged with coffee and then wrapped around the top of the book and tied. I am extremely pleased with the finished result and can't wait to create another one... Would love to know what you, my lovely readers think!

What Happened on my "Snow Day"

2012-02-07T02:27:00.000-08:00

Predictably, as with most Snowy Days here in the UK, we get a downfall of Snow for a few days each Winter and the whole of the UK seems to grind to a halt... trains don't run, roads aren't sufficiently gritted and Schools and Shops struggle to open!!! Luckily on this "Snow Day" it was a Sunday so we didn't need to battle into school and work, we could just enjoy the day, walking, having fun in the snow with the kids and then returning to a roaring fire with a cup of Hot Chocolate with Marshmallows in hand and for me, a little crafting.... The freezing weather enabled me to work inside on the last remaining corset I had to create for the upcoming Drama Performance of a Mid Summer Nights Dream, above is the finished piece. Now all that's left for me to create are 27 headdresses, and working with my good friend Sarah to help her with the skirts, so more pictures will follow as these are completed.

It has also been a special time for our family as my two boys were Seven yesterday, and we celebrated with a family get together at the weekend and then the boys had some of their friends over after school yesterday afternoon for some "boy" fun and games. So Happy Birthday my gorgeous boys.. love you both to bits!

Ardingly Quilt Fair

2012-01-29T00:32:00.000-08:00

Had an extremely inspiring day at the Ardingly Quilt Fair on Friday.... Although I am not a quilter, it was still very exciting to be attending this wonderful event. I was invited by my good friend Sarah, who is an extremely talented Quilter herself! The event was held on two floors, the ground floor was home to vendors selling various products from Sewing Machines, Fabric, Quilting Tools, Patterns and the most amazing Bookstall and the second floor displayed Quilts that would take your breath away.... so much talent!! I was lucky enough to be allowed to take photos of some and I did try to get close up's of as many as I could to be able to show you the tiny detail that went into creating some of these beauties.....

The Art Nouveau style quilt below, was stunning, such beautiful Art Nouveau shapes and colours, I really liked this one, being a fan myself of the Art Nouveau period, this was a joy to see....

The Quilt below was a favourite of my friend Sarah; As you got up close to it, the stitching detail that went into creating the flower heads was just amazing.....

There were so many quilts on display, all with varying styles, it was a real colour explosion as you wandered through the hall, with lots of Ohhing and Ahhing at every turn.

Not all the Quilts were in the style that I personally liked, but you couldn't help but admire the workmanship that went into creating them... just take a look at the close-up detail on this Seaside Quilt......

This too, was not my taste, but the finer detail on this was so very clever, just take a look at the close-up of the net hanging from the boat... just wonderful!

There were some gorgeous traditional "type" Quilts, which I loved, like this children's example, so adorable! Such cute colours and precious little "International Dolls", loved this one!

But my absolute favourites of the day were these two "Quilt Journals" which were very much done in "my style", there was such emotion in these two pieces, they really told a story. I loved the different elements used in creating this; the old lace, printed verse, jewel elements and old photos.. just divine.

It was a fabulous day and I came away buzzing with ideas of how to incorporate some of this talent and style into my work..... hhmmmm, where to start!

Exciting Opportunity.....

2012-01-21T05:31:00.000-08:00

I have been asked by a good friend of mine to assist her in creating costumes for a Drama Production of A Midsummer Nights Dream. My friends Brother is the Head of Drama at a local Private Girls College and each year the students put on a lavish production, and this year it is to be the wonderful Shakespearean Fairytale of A Midsummer Nights Dream. I was thrilled to be asked, there is alot of work involved creating twenty Fairy Costumes plus the costume for Titania. The Fairy costumes are a base of a basque (shown above), plus a pretty net skirt. Each has to be decorated with leaves, feathers and a bit of sparkle.

This morning, with the Twins and Hubby out at Football Practise I had the house to myself, so I set about starting the first Fairy Costume, covering the plain basque in foliage. I worked with silk leaves in greens and purples, adding sequins here and there, gluing each leaf on with a hot glue gun. I dotted some pheasant feathers about each leaf to soften certain areas and finished off trailing some silk ivy amongst the leaves.

The finished result is exactly how I envisioned it and with the net skirt to be added and decorated similarly, it will look amazing. Now onto the rest of the costumes and then comes the headdresses... I'll keep you all posted on my progress and hopefully even have some photos of the actual event and backstage on the day.

New Items in Store Now!

2012-01-20T07:13:00.000-08:00

Pop along to Maygreen Fairies Website Shop, new items have now been added to the Cards, Gift Tags and Bookmark Sections as well as the NEW Fairy Jars!

New "Little Bookworms" for 2012

2012-01-19T08:24:00.000-08:00

Introducing the new "Little Bookworm" Characters that are decorating my Bookmarks in 2012... These three are just a sneek peek at some of the new cuties available in 2012.

I am busy tucked away at my Studio Desk at the moment creating new designs and updating old ones in preparation for restocking my website shop and stocking up for the Spring Fairs that begin at the end of March. These Little Bookworms are just the first of many re-vamped designs that will be available very soon.

More new bits coming soon... so please keep popping back if you can!

Own a Fairy....

2012-01-10T05:42:00.000-08:00

New for 2012 are my Jar Fairies, each Fairy is suspended inside the Jar and comes with a lable describing how she was caught! These whimsical cuties have been a long time coming, as I used to sculpt fairies and place them in jars, and for a while now have wanted to create a similar style with paper based fairies, but knowing how to suspend them has always been tricky, as I did not want to stick them to the base, I wanted them to look as if they were fluttering in the jar, and for them to have movement.

So for the last few weeks I have been toying with different ways of placing them in the jar, before finally deciding on using acetae and clear cotton to suspend them from the lid.

The finished result is really pleasing, especially when you handle the jar and the little fairy inside flitters away, it just adds to the whimsy of the piece.... My kids love them! They look fab displayed on kitchen or dresser shelves amongst pretty china.

The first few will be availalbe on my website very soon, and they will also been available to view and buy at my first Fair this year on 31st March at the Kitsch and Stitch Event in Cranbrook, more details on this will be available soon. If you have any queries on my Fairy Jars please drop me a line.

New Year, New Designs....

2012-01-04T05:56:00.000-08:00

The twins are now back at School, hubby is back to work so the house is quiet and I'm ready to get stuck in on some new designs for this year. Firstly I had to get the dull stuff out of the way and finish off paperwork and accounts that had been outstanding, but now with that done I have settled down to complete my first new design of 2012, this pretty button necklace. This style of necklace will be available alongside my other jewellery items this year and will also compliment my "Button Floozie" earring designs. I have been a busy girl today as I have also been working on some bottle labels for a range of Aromatherapy Oils and Facial Waters for a new client of mine, it has been lovely to work on something a little different, and the designs are now with the client for their comments... exciting!! This is only a short post as I'm now off to do a spot of housework before the twins come home... will be back soon with more new designs from Maygreen Fairies!

Happy 2012!!

2012-01-01T02:13:00.000-08:00

Wishing all my lovely Readers and Healthy, Happy & Prosperous New Year!! I look forward to another year of "Blogging" along with you all. xx

My Christmas & Boxing Day

2011-12-28T09:09:00.000-08:00

Gosh, it's been a whirlwind of a Christmas Period so far, we had a super Christmas Eve, attending a Children's Church Service, which was really magical, with the Nativity Story told with puppets to keep the kids interest and then lots of Christmassy Songs, Ding Dong Merrily on High, Little Donkey and a magical Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, which the kids all loved. Then it was on to the local pub with kids and all for a little drink with friends before heading home to put out the stockings and Mince Pie and Milk for Santa! The boys were so excited, and on Christmas morning awoke at 5.30am!!! But Santa did not disappoint, and they had a sack full of goodies beside the fire.

Christmas Day was spent at our home with friends and some family, here our lovely neighbours popped in for a Christmas drink before heading on for their day with family....

The table all set before the guests arrived, I made the little name cards, pretty one's for the ladies and some vintage cheeky one's for the boys...

Here are our guests just sitting down for their starters... my wonderful husband is not in the shot as he and my friend Claire (seated in the centre) prepared the Christmas Dinner. Our friend Matt (seated on the left) is a Fireman and he was on call, unfortunately just after he ate his starter he had to dash off to a fire, but did return a couple of hours later and was then able to have Christmas Dinner, bless him.

The boys and their friend had a table all to themselves, with lots of Christmas Crackers and party poppers...

Boxing Day we travelled to my Parents home to spend the day with my family; Parents, Brother, Sister, her husband, and my gorgeous little niece...

Here I am with Mum, she always puts on a wonderful spread, the food was fabulous, and there was lots of laughter and fun.... a FABULOUS day!

My regular readers may remember my Sister got married a few weeks ago, and had a magical Wedding, here she is wearing the crown from her wedding day, it was so beautiful, she has vowed to get it out every Christmas and wear it instead of the traditional party hat....

Here I am with my boys, they love being at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and are very smitten with their new baby cousin, as you'll see from the photo's below....

And of course, as on my Sister's Wedding Day, little Isabella stole the show.... I think you'll all agree, she is truly scrumptious, truly, truly scrumptious!

I hope you all too have had a super Christmas, and I wish all my lovely readers a very Happy New Year!

Who's A Lucky Girl Then?.....

2011-12-23T10:46:00.000-08:00

I am!!!!! Look at the gorgeous Tapestry Cushion I received today from my sweet, sweet, girlfriend Lils. She has spent hours creating this gorgeous design for me, with my initials on the front, just for Christmas. It looks fabulous in my lounge, the colours are perfect and it is soooo me!! I adore handmade, and the fact that it is from one of my most special friends means so much, I shall treasure it forever! Thank you Lils... big hugs xxx And now on to my lovely blog readers out there... you too are very special to me and I would like to take this opportunity, as we approach Christmas Eve, to thank you all for your support and wonderful comments over the past year, I wish you and your families a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy & Healthy New Year!

Festive Fun....

2011-12-20T10:34:00.000-08:00

I had such a wonderful, festive treat yesterday.... My good friend Sarah (who my regular readers will know, as I refer to her alot), took me to meet her brother at his home village of Winchelsea, approx forty minutes from my own home. Winchelsea is a beautiful ancient town full of quaint homes, picture postcard streets and a stunning village church. Our first stop was her brothers amazing home, which was decorated beautifully, above is his front door and below, next to his home is a traditional red phone box, which he had also decorated with a pretty Christmas wreath.

The village Church is breathtaking, particularly inside, the photo's really do not do it justice. We were invited by Sarah's brother to help with the floral decorations inside the church, and it was our job to create the two displays that will be placed in the entrance lobby as you enter the church.

Quite alot of the displays had already been created inside the main church, they were so gorgeous. It was lovely to be a part of the team creating the Christmas displays inside the Church.

We had a vast array of foliage, flowers and dried fruit to choose from for our display, so we collected what we needed and set about creating..... It was great fun and very satisfying, especially once we got the finished pieces in the lobby and on display.

Below is my display nestled in a stone windowsill, I used lots of greenery, feathers, pomegranates, small apples and pine cones.

Before lunch we met a friend of Sarah's and her brothers, the talented Children's author and illustrator Ant Parker, and he very kindly showed us around his stunning home (below), which has amazing views from the garden and also an extremely interesting history, as do most of the homes in Winchelsea.

We finished off our day at the Winchelsea Farm Kitchen which is situated at the back of the delicious delicatessen, the food and atmosphere here was second to none, with a tasty Christmas menu, a wonderful end to a truly festive day... Thank you Sarah xx

All Decked Out.....

2011-12-14T12:31:00.000-08:00

Finally after an amazingly busy few weeks I have gotten round to decorating the house for Christmas with the help of hubby and the twins... It's always a very exciting time, we purchase the tree from a local Christmas Tree Farm, then pour out the Sherry for me and hubby, pop Christmas Songs on and set the boys up in their playroom where they decorate their tree. We then set about dressing our real tree, the lounge, kitchen and garden room, it usually takes us a couple of days.

So, I officially welcome you to a little tour of our Christmas Home, the Angels above will greet you at the door, then we make our way into the Lounge, which is a really cosy room, especially in Winter, with the deep red walls and open fire its a lovely room at Christmas...

The decorations on the tree I have collected over the past ten years and there are lots of different types from traditional folk to more unusual handmade fabric and paper ones, here are a few close ups..

The paper decoration below is my latest purchase, I adore it! Made from an old book and tied with grey muslin, it's so what I'm all about.... handmade and very vintage (I didn't mean I was vintage!!)

The fabric bird below is a very special decoration for me as it was made for me as a gift last year from my very good friend Sarah, we are both lovers of handmade items and Sarah is such a talented, artsy person, I love her to bits...

You may remember from last years Christmas Post, I love old Jester Dolls at Christmas time (I know they are not everyone's cup of tea), I just think my two have a lovely Christmassy feel about them...

So we come to the end of the tour of the lounge, we'll move on past my Shabby Skating Mouse (below) and into the Garden Room.....

The Garden Room is a lovely bright, airy room, it's where we'll be having Christmas Dinner this year with friends and family members, so we've surrounded the ceiling area with twinkly Christmas lights which look fabulous at night as they reflect off the glass, and the rest of the room has little festive trinkets dotted around, including the Bastidor Doll (first picture at the top of this post), which I have dressed for Christmas.

Rudolph always has pride of place in our Garden Room, overlooking the Christmas Table, the Twins love him....

The table centre piece awaiting Christmas Day... Hubby and my good friend Claire are cooking for us all this year, so I'm very lucky to be able to enjoy having dinner cooked for me and our guests.

So, that was just a little insight into Christmas at Maygreen House, hope you've enjoyed your tour, and may I take this opportunity to wish all my readers a Very Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

More Wedding Pics of Venue....

2011-12-11T23:34:00.001-08:00

Hope you're not getting bored of these stories yet!! So sorry, it was such a lovely day and more photos keep coming through each day.... These are some of the professional shots taken of the Ceremony Room (above is for the actual wedding ceremony) and below once it was transformed for the wedding breakfast....

The professional photos taken of my Sister on the day will not be ready for a couple of months so there will be more to come in the future, but for now hope you've enjoyed these.

A Little Reminder of the Day....

2011-12-11T09:16:00.001-08:00

My Sister just sent me a link to the Bespoke Cake Makers Blog who created the fantastic cake for her Wedding last week, here's the link to her wonderful blog she sure is a very talented lady!

My Sisters Fairytale Wedding...

2011-12-06T13:07:00.001-08:00

I thought you might like to see photos from my Sisters Wedding this past weekend... A fabulous time was had by all and I'm still recovering from the joys of the day! Above are the happy couple just after they tied the knot. My Sister and Parents had created a Fairytale Wedding Day, which was truly magical for all involved, here are a few of the best bits.....

The Ceremony Room all set up awaiting the Guests arrival. A roaring fire greeted you at the end of the isle, Guests could sit comfortably in black silk chairs and the bride and her party travelled along the isle which was framed with glittering silver birch trees, blue lighting and white petals at your feet, just breathtaking.

The grounds of the venue were equally as stunning, with beautiful manicured gardens, with wonderful statues at every turn.

Trying hard not to upstage the Bride, is the Bride's Daughter (my niece), below, a scrumptious vision in pink tulle....

And not forgetting my boys, all three of them, how handsome they all looked.. The twins were so proud to be dressing up like grown ups for the occasion....

And here I am having a little quiet time with my gorgeous Niece watching guests arrive out of the window, just before we made out way down the isle before the Bride....

First to enter the Ceremony Room were my Brother and gorgeous Mum, we were waiting in the wings as it was our turn next....

And down we came, my Niece making a very grand entrance........

And then for the beautiful bride and my very handsome Father, a moving moment for us all.....

The Ceremony seemed to take it out of little Isabella and she finally had a nap, once Mum and Dad had tied the knot.....

Next for the Wedding Breakfast, which was equally as stunning as the Reception, full of sparkle and twinkle.....

And I mustn't forget the amazing cake, this really was a statement piece, and tasted just as good as it looked......

Here, the beautiful Bride relaxing over Dinner, in anticipation of the Party ahead in the evening...

Moving onto the Party Room, all set out and glitzy before the evening Guests arrived........

And letting our hair down, me, my younger Brother and Sister... fun, happy times.......

Here one of my gorgeous boys, his first Wedding Ceremony, which he was loving every moment of........

Gradually getting tired, trying to hold on and stay awake for the Dancing ahead..... but.....

Oh no.... they just couldn't do it, so fast asleep on the Chairs they were whilst we all danced the night away around them... bless 'em.

And here they are, my stunning Sister and her Handsome Hubby, love 'em to bits.

Mid Winter Fair - PART 2

2011-11-29T12:27:00.000-08:00

Well as promised, here is Part 2 of the Mid Winter Fair.... with a showcase of some of the other Stall Holders, there were so many wonderful displays at this years Fair, the glittering stall above was right opposite me and was a firm favourite with lots of shoppers. It had some fantastic Christmas Decorations as well as beautiful paper trees, for more info on this stall please visit MAC Creative

At every turn there were Christmas displays and vintage finds... I adore the old skates above...... as well as the beautiful Christmassy arrangement below......

This display of net skirts looked fabulous and was very popular, to delve into the world of Angels Face, please click here!

The rustic Angel above was just divine, beautifully handcrafted and a true one of a kind piece, little gems like this were everywhere, it was a very special fair this year.

At every turn there were stunning displays featuring gifts, decoration and homewares, so much choice. It was difficult not to spend all the money I had made lol!! But I did treat myself to one very special find that I had been after for a while, but I'll save that story for a later post.

There really was something for everyone... Even the furry friends in our lives. Just look at these fabulous doggy designs below.. what pampered pooches wouldn't love these....

And finally a little bit of cheek for the last image... Just take a look at this stunning underwear, this was from the beautiful Violetta Boutique in Rye, for more info on this fabulous store please click here!

Fun & Frolics at the Mid Winter Fair.... PART 1

2011-11-28T08:45:00.001-08:00

This is such a large post that I have decided to split it into two parts, so here we have Part 1.... This years Wealden Mid Winter Fair, held in the beautiful surroundings of Bedgebury Pinetum in Kent, was a roaring success, from the moment the doors opened on Thursday morning I didn't seem to come up for air until late afternoon... it was fantastic, so many lovely people came shopping over the three days.

Maygreen Fairies stand was full to the brim with lots of goodies from Cards and Tags to Jewellery, Altered Art, Vintage Style Cushions and Lavender Pillows.

Lots of Christmas Shoppers browsed round the Stand and I sold out of many items on the first day, which was wonderful. Thank you to all my regulars who popped by and said hello, and to all the new customers who came my way, it was so lovely to meet and chat with you all.

There were many familiar faces, including these two lovely lady shoppers who I met at the Summer Fair earlier this year. They work at the wonderful Whiting Post Boutique in Kent, selling beautiful brands such as Noa Noa, Sandwich and Darling, they always stand out from the crowd in their gorgeous clothes, I just had to snap a picture of them... thanks Ladies!

Lots of new faces too, including this lovely little lady, modelling a beautiful tutu from her Mothers company Angels Face... how scrumptious she looks!

Lots of products on my Stand were popular this year, but in particular my Teacup Pin Cushions went down a storm, they make such wonderful Christmas gifts!

Another big seller were the little burlap gift bags above... they are just the right size to slip Gift Vouchers in or money, and they are a little gift in themselves.

My stand display was slightly different this year, in addition to a table and wooden crates I also had this pretty little dresser that I had picked up in the Summer at Ardingly Antiques Fair, it looked fab crammed with lots of my creations and really dressed up my stand.

There were some fabulous stall holders this year with amazing items on offer, in Part 2 I'll give you a little tour of some of the other stands... they are worth the wait I can assure you!!

Worn Out!

2011-11-24T11:04:00.001-08:00

Wow! What a whirlwind today was at the Wealden Times Mid Winter Fair... from the moment the doors opened at 9am I don't think I came up for air until about 3pm!!! It was MAD busy, with non stop customers pretty much all day... super!! Thanks to anyone who came by my stall, and to friends, family and my regulars who popped by, so lovely to see everyone. The atmosphere was very festive too with live Christmas Carol Singers and lots of twinkly Christmas lights and trees. Well my poor old feet are officially worn out, best be off now to rest them before the madness continues tomorrow!! (A post on the whole Fair and lots of pics will follow in the next few days).

MIDWINTER FAIR... the fairest of them all....

2011-11-23T11:07:00.001-08:00

Spent a tiring day setting up my Stall at this years Wealden Times Mid Winter Fair. All the stalls look fabulous and it is sure to be a very Christmassy affair! So if you are in the Goudhurst area of Kent from tomorrow why not drop by, you won't be dissappointed. I hope to see you there... Maygreen Fairies can be found in Tent A, Stall A30!

Countdown till the Mid Winter Fair

2011-11-15T08:46:00.001-08:00

In the last few days the temperature outside seems to have dropped dramatically, making it feel very Wintery, and just in time too for the Wealden Times Mid Winter Fair, starting next Thursday 24th November. I have been busy creating the last few pieces for the Fair, and these little Journals were among them.

It has been a crazy few weeks for me, what with making like mad for the fair, I have also had some fun times attending various Christmas Fairs with friends, last weekend I was at the Country Living Fair in London, which was F.A.B.U.L.O.U.S!! an amazing Fair attended with lovely company.... thanks Ladies if you're reading!

This coming weekend I am attending MADE in Brighton, every year I go to this super event with a very good friend, it's great for getting ideas as there are many talented designers at the Fair, but it is also a wonderful place to pick up unusual Christmas Gifts. Each year I say to myself that I am going to exhibit at the fair, but I have such a super time attending as a consumer with my friend it keeps putting me off attending as an Exhibitor.

The weekend after this it's the Wealden Fair, which is just scrumptious, and of course Maygreen Fairies is exhibiting there, so it's a busy weekend for me, and then to top November off, the weekend after (beginning of Dec) my Sister gets married and it's going to be a wonderful, theatrical affair, and I'm Bridesmaid, so great times ahead! Hope you too are having a good November! Back Soon.....

Santa... I've Been a Good Girl!

2011-11-05T03:36:00.000-07:00

If you want to make sure Santa visits your home this Christmas then why not leave a little request at your door. These pretty door hangers are made from wood and hand painted and then stamped with y vintage style flourishes. Vintage images have then been mounted onto the door hanger with little slogans printed onto an old style postcard image.

Slogans read "I've Been a Good Boy", "I've Been a Good Girl" and "Santa, Please call here tonight"

My door hanger creations are always popular at Christmas time, but I also do "Tooth Fairy" and "Dummy Fairy" styles for other times of the year.

So.. have you been a good girl/boy? Only time will tell....., let's hope so!

Homespun Christmas Stockings & Pouches

2011-11-02T08:07:00.000-07:00

With the Wealden Mid-Winter Christmas Fair under four weeks away now I am busily finishing off items for this event. These little ditties are Christmas Pouches great for dressing up gifts of money, gift vouchers or smaller items that are tricky and uninspiring to wrap. These pouches will certainly dress up any gift and are actually a gift in themselves. Created from hessian / burlap, with cotton printed vintage images and lace, they really have that homespun look.

Next up are my Shabby Christmas Stockings, designed purely to add decoration to your home this Christmas, they have a super shabby look and would dress up any shabby chic home.

All of these items will be available for sale at the Wealden Fair this November, if you haven't already got your tickets you can get them here!

In addition to my Homespun Gift Pouches above, I also have a linen version below, these tie with vintage lace and are created on soft cream linen with vintage images printed onto cotton.

Well I need to dash now and pick the kids up from school, but do check back again soon as more Christmas items will be showcased here before being displayed at the show.

Pumpkin Pie Baking Day

2011-10-31T03:37:00.000-07:00

My boys love a Baking Day with Dad and Halloween was a great excuse to get baking! Whilst Dad was making the main Pumpkin Pie, and his delicious spicy Pumpkin Soup, Ethan wanted to create the mini pies for him and his twin brother, so with sleeves rolled up he was off...

Baking with Dad I hear you cry!!! Well yes, in our house Dad is the main cook... he loves it, and well basically I don't!! lol! So the two of them had a blast in the kitchen whilst I was busy doing some creating of my own at my Studio Desk.

With the smell of the Mini Pumpkins cooking in the Oven, Ethan's twin brother, Cameron and little Oscar were waiting patiently......

And an hour or so later, here is one proud little boy with his Mini Pies........

Well, errr, not for long, those Pies went down a storm and here's a big hug for his brother once he'd demolised a few... bless 'em.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Cushions, Cake & Bunting!

2011-10-21T06:44:00.000-07:00

Ohh what a FAB morning I've had today, surrounded by fabulous crafts and lovely people in the comfort of my own home. I hosted a "SEW Sumptuous" Party this morning alongside raising money for MacMillan Cancer Support and it was such a fun event with lots of colour, chat and laughter.

As some of my lovely readers may remember, Sew Sumptuous is run by my good friend Cath, who is solely responsible for all the lovely home decor creations you see in these photos. We had great fun transforming my Garden Room into the Sew Sumptuous Shop, it looked wonderful once it was adorned with all Cath's pretty creations from Cushions and Bunting to Peg Bags and Apron's. There were some scrumptious Christmas pieces to include cushions with festive slogans and the most adorable Micro-Bunting in festive fabrics.

Cath's little Geese are one of my favourites, I purchased one earlier this year to sit in my craft pot on my studio desk... so cute!

Most of Cath's creations can be tailor made to your choice of colour or slogan. Her bunting is very popular with slogans such as "Merry Christmas", "Mr & Mrs", or even your childs name.

Of course I couldn't ask all my lovely friends to turn up without offering them some refreshments, so coffee, tea and cakes were on the menu, my little ladies in bloomers (below) gave details on the cakes fillings... Choccy Woccy and Apricot & Almond.. yummmm.....

I also had a very small "taster" of my Maygreen Fairies goodies, promoting the up coming Mid Winter Fair I am attending, it's such a wonderful Christmassy Day out to get you in the Festive Spirit and you may also pick up a gift or two, or three ooopps!

I have to say my favourite piece of Cath's this season is her Festive Micro-Bunting it is FAB, I had to purchase some, just look at all those gorgeous fabrics.......

So ladies, if you are local and would like to host a "Sew Sumptuous" Party please visit Cath's Website where you will find all her contact details, I can assure you, you won't be disappointed, and neither will your guests!! Now... where is that left over cake ;-)

Button Beauties

2011-10-10T06:38:00.000-07:00

I am concentrating on Button products at the moment, as you can probarbly tell!! Rummaging through my ever growing button stash to find duplicate buttons for these pretty earrings was a time consuming mission but well worth it. I often wear my own creations and my button earrings always get lots of comments so hopefully these will be good little Christmas Gifts for someone this year.

In addition to the earrings I have also produced some pretty whimsical button brooch pins, these lovely ceramic butterfly buttons were a recent purchase and I've added lace and feathers to create delicate pins to dress up Autumnal jackets and cardigans.

And these beautiful wooden buttons below also make extremely pretty brooch pins, complimented with little swatches of lace they look fabulous on an autumn sweater! If you are interested in any of my button jewellery please drop me an email as these new items are not yet available on my website.

The Knitting and Stitching Show

2011-10-07T07:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my friends and I hotfooted it up to Alexandra Palace in London, where this beautiful Art Deco Building played host to the fabulous Knitting & Stitching Show. It is an amazing event packed to the brim with Artists, Crafters and Vendors, so if you love any kind of textile craft, knitting, embroidery etc.. this is the event for you.

It was a busy Show with a wide audience, but the venue is so big you didn't feel squashed or battered about as you made your way around each vendor, it was quite calm and civilised... thankfully!

There were lots of varied things to see including Exhibitions of work, the main exhibition this year was that of the Embroiderer Beryl Dean. Beryl was one of the major figures of twentieth century embroidery, and her innovative use of materials and techniques inspired her contemporaries and informed the making of a generation of embroiderers. The exhibition of her works were stunning, from small embroidered panels of flowers to Ballet Costumes and ecclesiastical pieces. Unfortunately we were not allowed to photograph this exhibition, but she is well worth looking up on the internet as her work is fascinating.

There was lots of other smaller Exhibits, including original 1920 fabric designs for dress prints, many drawn or painted on tracing paper as well as more up to date pieces, like that of the amazingly talented Mary Cozens Walker, again not allowed to photograph these works but do check out her website her pieces of work are just wonderful.

There was also some interesting mixed media art on display, like these unusual pieces, from a new designer, they were made from paper machie and thread, and were all displayed on what looked like a piece of tree bark.... fascinating!

All around you was so much inspiration, even the vendors and visitors attire was a feast for the eyes!

Shopping at the Show was a real treat, the vast array of fabrics available was breathtaking, I must say I purchased a few glorious fat quarters for upcoming projects, and the buttons.... ohh so many wonderful buttons from vintage to new, mother of pearl to ceramic, something for every button floozie out there!! And one of my favourite vendors, the Selvedge Stand, packed full of tempting goods from crocheted scarves and necklaces to fabric birdhouses and cages.

And then of course came the highlight of my day... meeting the super talented Frances Pickering, getting to talk to her up close and personal and see her creating right in front of my eyes. Her work is so beautiful and inspires you to get home and just create! lol!

She was so lovely posing for photo's and very happy to let you hold and look closely at some of her previous works, photograph them and ask her as many questions about her work as you wish.

I currently have her first book, Page After Page, Making Individual Books & Journals, which is packed with beautiful photos of her work, with lots of tips and ideas, her second book is due out next year. Check out her website here!

So after several hours of scouring every inch of the show we made our way back home to peruse over our purchases and reflect on a super day!

Stocking Up!

2011-10-05T06:05:00.000-07:00

Look at these beauties!!! This is just a sneek peek at some of the lovely vintage teacups I've recently acquired ready for altering into Teacup Pin Cushions. They are all in great condition and very pretty, and I can't wait to get started on altering them.

At the same time I also was lucky enough to purchase some great vintage glass bottles, I will be altering some of these adding lace and vintage elements to them, whilst others I will leave untouched as they are pretty as they are. All of these items will be available to buy at the Wealden Mid Winter Fair in November.

Tomorrow I am off to the Knitting and Stitching Fair at Alexandra Palace, I can't wait, it will certainly be a feast for the eyes I'm sure. I am taking my Camera with me, although I have heard that it is not always acceptable to photograph the exhibitors at this fair, so I'll see what I can come up with for you. But of course any goodies that I purchase I'll be sure to post here. xx

Little Wonders from Wonderland

2011-09-28T08:58:00.000-07:00

Gosh, isn't it hot today here in good ol' Blighty!! I think we truly are having an Indian Summer, better late than never. After the morning spent at a local Farmers field watching my kids take part in their School Harvest Festival in the wonderful surroundings of the East Sussex Countryside, I then strolled back home, flung open all my doors and windows and sat looking out of my Studio Window onto the garden and finished these Wonderland Brooches.

They have been a few days in the making as I have mounted them onto little quilted pillows decorated with Wonderland images on the reverse of each pillow, they really are quite sweet, especially if you an Alice fan of course.

I am now blogging with a nice cuppa before I log off and make the kids their evening meal, we still have a few warm rays of early Autumn sunshine streaming through the windows, a lovely end to the day. Hope you too are having a fabulous day wherever you may be!

Sew Much to do!

2011-09-26T05:52:00.000-07:00

Since my last post I have been hard at work continuing to prepare for the Wealden Mid Winter Fair in November. It does always seem crazy to me that Christmas creations have to start in my home as early as September, and believe me, by the time Christmas actually arrives I am really all "Christmassed Out" lol!! But at the moment I am enjoying creating some new goodies for the Festive Period. Shabby Primitive Christmas Stockings are in the making at the moment, these include lots of linen, tea dyed of course, burlap, vintage Christmas slogans, lace and lots of rusty bells. This post is just a sneek peek, I will repost them in their full glory once I've finished them!

It's All Systems Go.....

2011-09-16T06:06:00.000-07:00

Well the kids are back to School after the Summer Holidays and Autumn is creeping upon us, the garden looks windswept with the recent weather, but extremely pretty as the Autumnal colours arrive and the air is awash with Autumn scents, woodsmoke being a favourite of mine. Over the past couple of weeks my focus has turned to Christmas!!! Yes I know.. it's way too early, but for us Artists and Crafters the Christmas period is a busy one and needs lots of preparation. This year my biggest Fair is once again the Wealden Mid Winter Fair, being held at the beautiful Bedgebury Pinetum in Kent on 24th, 25th & 26th November. I have already begun creating my Christmas Cards and Tags and am now focusing on Christmas Garlands and Wreaths made from fabric and bay leaves with a few rusty bells thrown in for good measure!

The Mid Winter Fair is a wonderful festive event to really kick start your Christmas Shopping Period, with a huge array of beautiful stalls from gifts, to clothes and furniture, there is something for everyone and if you are a fan of vintage there are some fantastic finds to be made here. Carol Singers add to the festive spirit as well as some scrumptious food and drink halls. For more information check out the Wealden Times Events Section and here you can also pre-order your tickets to avoid queuing on the day. I will be posting little updates as we get closer to the event with sneak peeks of items I have made for the Fair, but in the meantime hop on over to the Wealden Site for a full list of other stall holders and their wares.

Website Shop Updated!

2011-09-06T06:08:00.000-07:00

After weeks of creating for upcoming Shows, and also the busy Summer Holidays, I have neglected my website a little and it was in need of some tlc! So this morning I have got my act together and updated some of the shop areas to include the Jewellery Section where you can now purchase some of my cute Halloween Pendants as well as Storybook Brooch Pins which I previewed in an earlier post. But be quick!! The Halloween Pendants are limited editions for the Halloween Holiday period.

In addition to the Jewellery there are also updates in the Home Decor Section and the Gift Tag Section. Lots more tags have been added to include Bird and Ballerina Tags.

I will be working on some new pieces of Jewellery over the coming months as well as new Gift Tags so watch this space readers!!

Recap on a Fabulous Fair - Kitsch and Stitch!!

2011-09-05T03:41:00.000-07:00

I have been looking forward to taking part in last weekends second Kitsch and Stitch Fair for months now and it did not disappoint! It was a fantastic event with beautiful stalls and lovely stall holders, I was so glad to be a part of it.

The venue, Cranbrooks Vestry Hall, was the perfect setting with it's Gothic Style leaded windows, and high beamed ceiling. The refreshments were provided by the lovely ladies and gents of Hospice in the Weald and there was an array of scrumptious scones, cakes and sandwiches on offer.

I set out my stall with plenty of my usual fantasy folk to include Whimsical Bookmarks and Greetings Cards, Fairy Magnets, Vintage inspired Jewellery, Gift Tags and much more. I had a few displays on Halloween and Christmas incase anyone was super organised and wanted to purchase for those occasions this far in advance... and of course they did!!

It was so good to see a few familiar faces who always come and purchase from Maygreen Fairies, thank you, you are a continued support of my art and for that I am very grateful.

There were so many other fabulous stalls with lots of goodies to tempt you. I love this company (below) Weft a Bit, they make the most gorgeous items and I couldn't resist purchasing one of their birdcage brooches.. just stunning ladies.

If you get a chance do visit their blog for more photo's of their creations and for details on where to buy and events that they may be attending in the future.

The stalls were all set out to such a high standard, there were handmade beauties like those above and below, as well as vintage stalls selling crockery, linens, mirrors, old books and furniture, for more photos on these stalls please visit my good friend Mary's blog, Vintage Cottage, Mary took some lovely photo's of the event from a visitors perspective.

The organisers of the Event, Deb and Linda, did a fantastic job, the set up and take down of the stalls was so well arranged, everyone was extremely friendly and helpful and the whole event had such a professional feel I was so proud to be a part of it.... Thank you Deb and Linda.

For more information on each stall holder and any future Kitsch and Stitch Events, please visit the Kitsch and Stitch Blog, it is a super read with lots of links to wonderful makers sites.

One of the stall holders was the lovely Kate Tullet of Katy Lou Textiles, I have blogged about the super talented Kate before, but I wanted to give her another mention today. Unfortunately the one photo I took of Kate's stall did not come out well, so you MUST visit her site to view her stunning textile work. I purchased a piece of Kate's work last winter and I am hooked! So go on over and check her out, you wont be disappointed!

Well, I hope you have enjoyed your peek into September's Kitsch and Stitch, the next Fair is scheduled for December 3rd, again at the Cranbrook Vestry Hall. Unfortunately I cannot be a part of this event as my Sister gets married on that day, but I'm sure it'll be wonderful again as it is decked out for the Christmas period! I'll keep you all posted nearer the time. Have a super day!

Kitsch and Stitch: Vintage & Makers Fair

2011-08-24T12:33:00.000-07:00

This wonderful Fair is nearly upon us and I am so excited to be a part of the second "Kitsch and Stitch Fair". It is being held at The Vestry Hall in Cranbrook, Kent and will be open from 10am until 3pm. All stall holders are offering either Vintage or Handmade items and if the last Fair is anything to go by it will be packed with wonderful goodies to tempt you.... I can guarantee you will not be disappointed!Maygreen Fairies will have lots of pretty items available from their trademark Greetings Cards, Bookmarks and Gift Tags, to Jewellery, Whimsical Magnets and pretty Lavender Sachets.

All the usual characters will be on display; Bottled Fairies and Mermaids, Teacup Fairies, Cheeky Vintage Showgirls to name but a few!

Plus some new designs, like these slogan pendants shown below and the Diva Postcards displayed in a previous blog post.

If you would like further information on the Fair and to see other the other talented stall holders lined up for the event, please follow the Kitsch and Stitch link at the top left of this blog! I hope to see you there.

Celebration Time!

2011-08-21T23:30:00.001-07:00

Here I am with my beautiful Mum, who celebrated her 65th Birthday at the weekend. We enjoyed a fantastic party with lots of family, friends, dancing and laughter, the evening was wonderful. My Dad, Sister and I decorated the room for the evening and created some little surprises for Mum along the way. I had initially designed her party invites and we followed the theme of the invites through to the decorations on the day. Below are the table centre pieces, this lady appeared on the invites so we thought it a good idea to have her throughout the decor for the evening. On the night each table had a lady in the centre with balloons behind her and lots of sprinkles and party poppers dotted around......She looked fab on the night... don't you think......

I also painstakingly cut out 100 little lady cake toppers, as my Sister made over 100 cupcakes for the celebration... she is the "Cupcake Queen"!

And here they are on the night in all their glory, they really looked fab when set up on the cakes, well done Sis as the cupcakes were delicious!

Here are me and my Sis enjoying a cocktail after all our hard work.....

It was so lovely to see so many friends and family, below are me, my Mum and Dad with two of my friends from my School Days... Happy Times...

And of course not to forget my gorgeous hubby, it was lovely to relax, let our hair down and have a good ol' boogie!

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM!!

Private Toadstool - NO Trespassing!!

2011-08-17T01:51:00.001-07:00

I wanted to share with you another piece for "Artwave", this is a mini art card presented on a wire stand. The toadstool is made from polymer clay and painted with acrylics with a few areas of fake moss added for more character. The fairy is a vintage image printed onto matt photo card with acetate butterfly wings. This is the last piece I have made for Artwave, now I'm am taking a days break and then will be back to it producing items for the up coming Kitsch and Stitch Fair, details on this to follow in my next post! Have a great day folks.

The Wallace Shows - The Highest Class Circus in the World!

2011-08-14T22:48:00.000-07:00

With Artwave only two weeks away, I've been very busy finishing off the last few pieces for this fabulous event (see previous post!). This particular piece.. an Altered Art Book, is packed with vintage circus images, most of which I've played around with.

Each page has a different theme that guides you through the book. The inside cover, first page, for example, is the entrance way, where the young lad wearing flat cap, will take your tickets to the show and pop them inside the top of his denim dungarees.You will then meet up with the "Dancing Girls", who are completely removable from the page, so you can "Dance" with them of course!

As you wander through the Circus you will start to come face to face with the main attractions.. strange beings that are not quite what they seem, like the wonderful "Mermaid Lady" below...

The Amazing "Twin Trapeze Artists" are a sight not to be missed, as they swing back and forth for your enjoyment!

Then it's a trip to see the Fortune Teller, who knows what she will see in you!! She can read your cards, just grab and take any from the bottom of the page... or perhaps you prefer the crystal ball?

The "Pit of Curiosities" is not to be missed, marvel at the strange, winged beauty and her Bottled Fairy Folk!

And once you have been amazed and astounded at the strange oddities before you, for the finale, a lighter note.... characters that make a good Circus... yes, you've guessed it!!! "Send in the Clowns!"......Well, I hope you've enjoyed your trip to the Highest Class Circus in the World! Be sure to come back soon.

This Altered Art Book will be available for Sale at "ARTWAVE", Little Talland Venue.

For more information on Artwave, please click the icon at the top left of my blog.

Have a great day!

Flying Diva Postcards

2011-08-06T03:59:00.000-07:00

I had great fun creating these Postcards, it makes a nice change for me to create using digital images as opposed to paperbased components. These little ditties can be used as postcards, gift tags or just decorative items within the home.

The flying diva's are created on PhotoShop, using elements from Tumble Fish Studio's, Diva's Set, and the postcard background is one by Paper Whimsey.These will be available to purchase at the Artwave Event and also the Kitsch and Stitch Fair in September.

Artwave 2011

2011-08-04T04:22:00.001-07:00

I am proud to be a part of this years Annual Visual Arts Festival for the Lewes District; ARTWAVE: a veritable feast of inspirational and engaging works. The event takes place in various venues across Lewes from Saturday 27th August until Sunday 11th September.
Artwork will be displayed in many venues from Studios, Farmhouses, Metal Workshops, Gardens, Conservatories, Barns and Private Homes. My work will be on display at Little Talland in the pretty village of Firle, home to the super talented Vanessa Mooncie. For more information on the event please click the link at the top left of my blog.

This Shadowbox is the latest piece I have created especially for the event and it will be on sale at Little Talland throughout Artwave.

Wonderful Wales!

2011-08-01T10:03:00.000-07:00

Apologies for my absence over the past week, but I've just returned from a super holiday in Wales with the family and wonderful friends! We stayed in the gorgeous cottage (below) and spent our days cycling, walking, paddling and eating!!
The kids had a blast riding their bikes and splashing about in the water and the hubbies braved a long arduous trek up Mt Snowdon, but once at the top the views were breath taking (below)...

We were very lucky, the weather was kind to us, and we had some super sunny days, with the exception of our last day which was a little overcast.

But now I'm home it's back to business as usual, and some crafting exploits will follow shortly!

Storybook Brooch Pins

2011-07-21T12:06:00.001-07:00

With the kids breaking up from School today for the Summer Holidays, I thought it best to get some creating out the way before the mayhem of Summer!! These little ditties are made from vintage storybook images that I have mounted onto old games cards, I have added a pin to the back of each card so they can be worn as brooches.All of these will be available at both the Kitsch and Stitch Show in September, which is being held in Cranbrook http://kitschandstitchfair.blogspot.com/ and also Artwave at the end of August, details on this to follow in a week or so.

Well I am now signing off for a few days (possibly a week) to unwind and spend some quality time with my two boys at the start of their Summer holidays. I'll be back at the beginning of August with tales of my Summer Adventures so far.... Ta, ta! x

Charleston - An Artists Home

2011-07-18T09:15:00.000-07:00

I had to share my visit to Charleston with you, I had such a lovely time at this wonderful open house and garden. Unfortunately you are unable to photograph inside the house, due to the damage that could be caused to the painted furniture and walls over time, but if you are ever in the area it is a must, the tour of the house is wonderful, the guides are so knowledgable about the history of the house and it's occupants, and the rooms and their painted furniture, art and pottery are stunning. My favourite room is the Art Studio, it is such an amazing space littered with so much history from the period, I was overwhelmed when I entered this room.Once you step outside the house, the garden too is stunning, and this I am able to show you!! It is abundant with glorious colour, there are whimsical cottage plants and flowers at every turn, it is a glorious explosion of colour and fragrance to tantilise all your senses.

The history of the house and it's occupants is so interesting, Charleston was the home and country meeting place for the writers, painters and intellectuals known as the Bloomsbury Group. In October 1916, Charleston House was occupied by Vanessa Bell (sister of Virginia Wolf), she was accompanied by her sons Quentin and Julian, a maid, cook and nurse plus Duncan Grant and his lover at the time, David Garnett.

As both Vanessa and Duncan were Artists, the inside of the house was transformed with their paintings, not just on the walls but painted furniture, doors, baths and fireplaces and if you visit the house these wonderful creations are still there in all their glory to be admired today.

Duncan and Vanessa entertained many friends at Charleston from the art, literary and political worlds, and as such Charleston House became a base for the famous Bloomsbury Group.

To find out more about the house and details on visiting times etc.. please go to http://www.charleston.org.uk/

On site there is also a wonderful shop packed with fantastic books, and pottery depicting the Bloomsbury style. There are also pieces from local Artists and Makers.

Charleston also has Exhibitions running on occassion and when we visited there were works on display from the wonderful Kaffe Fassett.

I found the whole day so inspiring, I loved the nostalgia of the place, it had a wonderful feel to it.

Just look how glorious these blooms are!

I am so lucky that this beautiful house and garden is just up the road from my home, so I can visit as often as I want to. It would be lovely to see it in the different seasons, so I think I'll pop along again in October to see it in all it's Autumn glory!

Where Bloggers Create 2011

2011-07-14T05:26:00.001-07:00

I can't believe we are into year three with this blog event!! How time flies..... Well, once you've browsed around my studio space you can go on to visit many others via the events host; Karen of My Desert Cottage http://mydesertcottage.blogspot.com/ Thank you Karen for hosting this again in 2011 and you do fantastic job!

During the previous two events my creative space was in my Conservatory, but earlier this year we moved our twin boys into a larger bedroom so what was the downstairs playroom is now a family room with space for me to create and the kids to read, do their homework and watch DVDs and play their Wii Games. The decor of this room is very much still a work in progress, but I am able to show you areas I have tackled which are predominantly for me.... Above is our front door from which you turn right into the Family Room.

My workspace overlooks our garden so it has plenty of natural light for me to work with, and it is also a lovely space to look out on to when creating. At the same time if the kids are in the garden I can keep an eye on them. My desk and chair were an Ebay purchase, and I recently covered the chair in a pretty rose fabric. I adore the curtains at the window, they are a Mulberry Fabric with a wonderful vintage Lido design depicting 1920s ladies swimming in the sunshine. On each side of my desk are old apple crates one of which houses my PC which is covered with a vintage linen tablecloth and topped of with old books and my current magazines. The other holds my beloved vintage Underwood Typewriter and more old books and music scores.

My computer screen I find a bit of an eyesore so I created this pretty cover for it when I am not using it, the cover also protects the screen from the sun, as this window has the sun streaming through it from about 11am until around 7pm in the height of the summer.

I must say my workspace has never looked so tidy, it is usually full of my current projects, but this photoshoot gave me a good excuse to have a little tidy.

The pretty seat below is actually a Lloyd Loom chest that a friend gave to me, I use it to store fabric and vintage linen and lace, and when it is not being used it serves as an extra seating area.

When we first moved into the house the family room was originally a kitchen and during our remodelling we moved the kitchen to the other side of the house, however, one feature from the kitchen remained; The Larder, it is tucked away in a corner behind a door, and it now serves as a craft storage space and mini library for my array of art books and craft magazines, it is one of the areas that I haven't tidied for you so what you see (below) is exactly how it is most of the time.

This is just the shelving area or the old Larder, if you turn to the left it actually goes under the stairs and here is where I house all my props for craft fairs and shows as well as my stock. Unfortunately it didn't make a very exciting photo so it's not here to show you I'm afraid. Below is the inside of a set of cupboards that used to house all the boys toys when it was a playroom, but it now holds my craft items such as glue, papers, cardstock, glitter, stamps, feathers etc... as well as the printer. It's great because it can all be shut away when I'm not using it. Again, as you can probably tell, this has not been tidied for the benefit of this post.... oopps, sorry folks!

The plastic containers in the cupboard above hold old music sheet papers, book pages, vintage postcards, bingo cards and cardstock , a sample of the type of things they hold are below....

I also collect lots of bits for props or for future projects, one such thing are ballet shoes, I like to alter these for my art, but I also sell them at Shows I attend as people seem to love using them as decoration in their homes.

As I said earlier, I share this space with my twin boys, and Ethan is lounging on the sofa below, reading as I photograph for this post. The pretty quilt on the back of the sofa was made by my good friend Sarah and the cushion is one I had sourced from overseas.

I have little collections of books and vintage photo albums dotted all over the downstairs of our home, this particular selection is in my Garden Room, it is displayed with my vintage crown, a favourite prop of mine.

One thing I have always disliked in a home are radiators on show (unless of course they are the beautiful old radiators from the Victorian eras)... so I cover all radiators in our home with wooden radiator covers, as seen below, they then make great places to display ornaments and photos. The ART sign below is a charity shop find of mine and I am going to eventually get round to covering it in vintage papers. Another favourite prop I adore is my Santos Doll (below), I move her about the house often and dress her differently.

On the door to my Larder (art supply) space is a primitive style dolly dress, when I first purchased this it's creator had baked the fabric in a concoction of vanilla, cinnamon and coffee and it smelt wonderful, but over time the scent has faded, but it still looks fab!

My dress form, modelled on an old Victorian style bust (hence the tiny waist), houses my handmade necklaces, but this form too gets moved around the house depending on how I feel; sometimes it can be found in the family room but occasionally it is in my dressing room.

Below is a close up of my Santos Doll, I have positioned a Venetian Mask on her head, we purchased this Mask a few years ago on a weekend trip to Venice, I love to have reminders around the studio of things we've done or places we've visited, I find it all very stimulating and good fun!

Well, this is where I create folks!! I hope you've enjoyed my little tour, I'm now going to take a well earned rest from writing this post and settle down with my latest Magazine and a lovely cup of Lady Grey..... Mmmmmm! Be sure to continue visiting other wonderful studios by clicking on the link in the top paragraph to be taken to the hosts website where you will find a list of all artists participating in Where Bloggers Create!

Enjoy!

"Fairies with an Attitude" Pendants

2011-07-02T06:17:00.001-07:00

I am currently in the process of creating a new Jewellery Line for Maygreen Fairies, and the first part of this line is now finished, so may I present the "Fairies with an Attitude" Pendants!! Each Pendant holds a different Fairy ie: "Bossy Fairy", "Menopausal Fairy", "Sneaky Fairy" and so on, I currently have six Fairies in the range, although there will be more to come.The first six designs are available NOW at the Maygreen Fairies Shop http://www.maygreen-fairies.co.uk However, new designs will be coming out in time for the Kitsch and Stitch Fair in Cranbrook in September (see left side bar for details on this Fair), the new designs will include more Fairies with Attitudes as well as some Spooktacular Halloween Pendants.

The full Jewellery Line will be available within the next few weeks and will include "Alice In Wonderland" Antique Pins, Button Earrings and more Fairy Pendants. So please check back regularly. Have a super weekend!!

Madam Clara's Record Breaking Show!!

2011-06-30T08:11:00.001-07:00

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!!!

2011-06-27T09:57:00.001-07:00

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

2011-06-22T11:23:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-20T12:34:00.001-07:00

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!!

2011-06-18T05:57:00.001-07:00

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!!

2011-06-13T08:42:00.001-07:00

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!!

2011-06-07T12:54:00.001-07:00

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!

2011-06-02T13:42:00.001-07:00

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!

Artist Open House - NOW OPEN!!

2011-05-29T11:32:00.001-07:00

Roll up, roll up!! The Artist Open House Event in the village of Firle is now officially OPEN!! And how fantastic does the village look! I am thrilled to have some of my work on display at Vanessa Mooncie's home "Little Talland", I am proud to be among several other talented artists displaying their wares. Above is a view of the outside of "Little Talland", and below Vanessa herself among beautiful handcrafted items on display in her lovely kitchen.

Vanessa is an amazing artist creating stunning screen prints with images of vintage circus displays as well as beautiful crochet jewellery (see some of her artwork and jewellery designs below). Check out the gorgeous vintage lingerie and swimwear for sale by La La Rookh; Using vintage fabrics and trim on reproduction prints these designs are created inspired by vintage, limited edition pieces.

See further info at: www.lalarookh.com

Now the piece of artwork below is absolutely stunning. Created by Jazmine Miles-Long, an Ethical Taxidermist, Jazmine captures the beauty of these animals in stunning styles (please be aware that all animals used have died from natural causes). I know this style of art may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I find Jazmines work beautiful and a wonderful way to preserve these animals.

For more information on Jazmines work please visit: www.jazminemileslong.com

Here are some examples of Vanessa's gorgeous art, in the form of silk screen prints and greetings cards (below). For more information on Vanessa's art please visit www.vanessamooncie.com

And below is a piece of Vanessa's crochet Jewellery which is totally unique and quite adorable, for further details on her jewellery please go to www.kissysuzuki.com

I had pieces of my work dotted about Vanessa's home, my Lavender Cushions (below), some of my Bottled Mermaid Collages, and a selection of my Greetings Cards and Bookmarks as well as a couple of Vintage Pin Cushion Teacups. It was lovely to see my work displayed among the other artists pieces.

Vanessa turned her front room (below) and kitchen, into a treasure trove of goodies to rummage through and her hallway into a gallery of art to admire.

There were cute items at every turn, like these wonderful cushions pictured below, they really made me smile.

In each room there was something to ohhh and ahhh over, I could have stayed there all day, chatting with Vanessa, her wonderful family and visitors to her beautiful home, it had such a lovely atmosphere, very creative and inspirational.

The village of Firle is a pretty place to visit, packed with gorgeous cottage style homes, with roses in abundance, it's a must if you are visiting the area, it also has a great local Pub at the start of the village.

So why not drop by tomorrow, the Event is on again Bank Holiday Monday, it will be your last chance this Spring to visit the Event, details can be found in my side bar! You won't be disappointed.

Fun Head Turners

2011-05-24T08:38:00.001-07:00

I am really excited to be offering a new line of fun Fascinators at this Summer's Wealden Fair. My lovely sister (above) has designed a line of fun head turners under the label "Isabella Rose". Her pieces include crystal covered mini top hats and simple headbands adorned with crystals and a little bit of netting, great fun accessories!The "Isabella Rose" Collection will be initially only available through Maygreen Fairies alongside my Feathered Fascinators, however bespoke orders will be taken in the near future directly from Isabella Rose.

Time Worn Elegance

2011-05-23T12:09:00.001-07:00

Been busy with more creations today... Using vintage bottles I have covered them in muslin and lace adding little adornments such as buttons, vintage images, coffee stained twine and shabby roses to achieve this time worn look.The bottles look gorgeous displayed together on a dressing table! Each bottle is individual and will not be repeated. They will be available at the Wealden Mid Summer Fair, 9th to 11th June (see details in the sidebar).

Creation Overdrive....

2011-05-22T04:38:00.001-07:00

So far I've had a crazy weekend of creating, with just over two weeks to go until the Wealden Mid Summer Fair, it's official, I've gone into creation overdrive!!! Yesterday was spent making the last batch of Bottled Folk Greetings Cards, I made so many my hands were actually a little sore by the end of the morning! And then, with hubby and the boys enjoying a late morning Football Tournament at the boys football club, I was able to get rare uninterrupted me time to then make these cushions which will be available alongside my Bird Cushions at the Fair.

There is still time to buy advance tickets for the Fair, just visit the Wealden Mid Summer Fair site and buy online, or alternatively you can purchase them on the day of your visit. It would be great to see anyone who can pop by to say hello, it would be lovely to see you there.

The Little Green Cabin

2011-05-16T09:17:00.001-07:00

I am thrilled to announce that a selection of my work is available for sale at a new Art & Craft Store in the beautiful village of Alfriston. The owner Glenys wants to create a Contemporary Vintage, Shabby Chic Store with Hand Made Arts and Crafts from local Artists. In addition to offering beautiful items for sale in the Store, Glenys will also be promoting an "Artist of the Month" where shoppers will be able to meet the Artist and talk about their work.

The shop is located at the start of the village and is exactly as it describes itself "A Little Green Cabin". And once you enter it is full of delights and you're sure to leave with a little something to treasure.

In the Store Maygreen Fairies has a selection of Greetings Cards, Gift Tags, Bookmarks and Vintage Prints to purchase. I am hoping to add to what is on offer once clients get a feel for what I make, then I hope to also include my Lavender Sachets, Pin Cushion Tea Cups and Whimsical Magnets.

You may remember I blogged a while ago about a friend of mine who runs "Sew Sumptuous", she creates beautiful cushions, bunting a home decor items, well Sew Sumptuous pieces are also available at the Little Green Cabin, a few of her available items are pictured below.

A website is currently in the making for The Little Green Cabin, you can view it by clicking The Little Green Cabin icon top left, there you will find details on the current Artist of the Month and when they are in the store.

I will be making regular visits to the Store myself and on these occasions will photograph any new and exciting items I come across to show to you, who knows, you may find yourself in Alfriston one day and can visit for yourself!

Glenys has created a little oasis of Vintage, Shabby Chic where you can escape for a while and not only enjoy the experience of visiting "The Little Green Cabin" but also take time to browse around the beautiful village of Alfriston with it's pretty shops and tea rooms, it's well worth a visit.

You can find details on Store Opening Times and directions via the Little Green Cabin Website and if you have any queries for Glenys contact details are also available.

Firle Open House Event - More Details

2011-05-14T12:04:00.000-07:00

More details on the Open House Event at Firle are now available, please click the link above to find out when the home I am exhibiting at is open...

Firle Open House Event

2011-05-10T09:07:00.000-07:00

I am thrilled to be a part of the Brighton and Lewes Open House Event this year. The super talented Vanessa Mooncie of Kissy Suzuki, has given me the opportunity to sell a selection of my work at her home in Firle, Lewes on the weekend of 28th to 30th May 2011. For more information on this event please click the image above to be taken to the Firle Artists web page.
Above is a small selection of the new style Lavender Sachets I have recently completed, all with a vintage pin-up girl theme. These sachets will be available for sale at the Open House Event in Firle along with a selection of Maygreen Fairies cards, bookmarks, magnets and bottled mermaid collages.

Now after a busy day making lavender cushions, the house is full of the fragrant smell of lavender and my studio space is tidied and ready for another day of creating tomorrow.

Royal Wedding Frock Designer at the Mid Summer Fair!!

2011-05-06T09:29:00.000-07:00

How exciting!!! The Wealden Mid Summer Fair organisers have really outdone themselves this year, we have the Royal Wedding Frock Designer, Nicki Macfarlane, exhibiting at the Fair! Nicki was the designer of the gorgeous little Bridesmaids dresses at the Royal Wedding last Friday. She will be exhibiting her Bridesmaids dresses at the Fair, so why not come along and check them out.

Wealden Mid Summer Fair

2011-05-04T08:45:00.001-07:00

Maygreen Fairies will be exhibiting at this years Wealden Mid Summer Fair, and if last year is anything to go by it will be a wonderful day out for anyone attending. There will be lots of gorgeous stands to browse through and some tasty food for when you need to take a well earned break and all this will be set in the beautiful surroundings of Brick House Farm, High Halden, Kent. The event takes place on 9th, 10th & 11th of June and advance tickets can be purchased here! To see more details on the Fair and a list of Exhibitors please click the poster above.
I'm busy creating lots of goodies to sell and display at the Fair, but in addition I also buy in a few gorgeous items from International contacts and these cushions are just a sample of the type of items I will have available over the three days.

I will only be stocking these for my Fairs, they will not be available through my website at this stage.

Over the next few weeks, in the lead up to the Fair, I will be showcasing some of the items I will have for sale to give you a flavour of what will be available, there are going to be some lovely new handmade items from Maygreen Fairies as well as old favourites, so if you are in the area please do come along and say Hello, I'd love to see you there!

Jack In The Green Parade

2011-05-02T08:51:00.000-07:00

What a super May Bank Holiday we had at Jack in the Green Parade in Hastings. It was such a glorious sunny day for the festivities, everyone was in great spirits and the parade was a blast! It was the first time we had attended and it was wonderful; participants wore beautiful costumes with amazing masks covered in feathers and leaves, the music was fantastic plenty of drum beats to get you grooving and lots of whistle blowing from the kids (below)!
Hastings Old Town looked beautiful decorated out for the occasion with lots of foliage and ribbons, many onlookers got into the part too and dressed up just to watch the Parade, there was such a great atmosphere.

It was quite difficult to take good quality photos as there were so many people jostling for a good position, but hopefully you can get the gist from the photos I have taken.

In the 16th & 17th centuries in England folk would make garlands of flowers and leaves for the May Day Celebration and they became increasingly more elaborate. Work Guilds would try to outdo each other, in the late 18th century it became a competition, milkmaids in London would carry garlands on their heads, but the winning crown had to go to the Chimney Sweeps, their garland was so big it covered an entire man; it became known as Jack in the Green.

In Hastings there were two groups who paraded a Jack in the Green until about 1889, but by the turn of the century the custom was seen no more. However, the custom was revived in 1983 in Hastings by Mad Jacks Morris Dancers, and as you can see is still going strong in 2011!!

If you are able to get to Hastings Old Town easily then it is well worth a visit next year on the May Bank Holiday, it's fantastic fun for all the family.

And once the Parade is over they all congregate at the Castle where a small craft fair is in operation and wonderful views of Hastings.

Old Town Hastings is a favourite place of mine, it has fantastic shops all very individual, as well as plenty of Antique shops and courtyards. It is also home to a favourite Artist of mine Claire Fletcher, whose Studio overlooks the sea at Hastings.

Another wonderful shop to visit is MADE in Hastings, who offer an array of handmade items from talented artists living in and around the area.

And if you get a little hungry and need to stop for refreshments, Hastings has the BEST fish and chips shops around!

Another little gem to visit whilst here is the Felt Flower Makers Museum located on George Street, it is stacked high with handmade felt and silk flowers of all kinds and in the basement is an array of machinery from which the flowers are made, some are over 150yrs old!! The shop also boasts being involved in the making of all the flowers and head wear for the blockbuster Gladiator!!

For more information on Jack in the Green and to see photos of previous years parades, visit their website here.

Congratulations William & Kate!!

2011-04-29T06:59:00.000-07:00

New Baby Card

2011-04-27T08:47:00.001-07:00

"New Baby" Card design; Tag around Baby's neck reads "New Baby, Fresh From the Oven!"
It's a different world when a baby arrives;
A wonderful change has come into your lives.
She's a sweet little Mother and you are a Dad;
A change which has altered the plans you have had.
For all the tomorrows that ever you'll know
Will swing round the crib with its pink ribbon bow,
All all that you'll dream of and all the you'll do
Will be for that baby, so red and so new.

It's a different world when the baby is born;
It's not the same place you knew yesterday morn.
That little white crib with its red little mite
That into your lives came on wings of the night
Now stands in the centre of all that you plan,
She's a different wife, you're a different man;
Your thoughts have been changed and your purposes too.
And that baby so helpless has made you anew.

You look at the world in a different way
The moment a baby comes with you to stay;
And life is more wonderful, too, for it seems
To throb with real purposes, visions and dreams.
Henceforth for another your work you will do,
For God has entrusted a baby to you.

You have something to do, and you see it right then,
Your souls have the purpose of women and men.
Your duty no longer is seeking of gold,
You've the life of another to fashion and mould,
And all of us silently alter our lives
For the better the moment a baby arrives.

Sew Sumptuous

2011-04-21T14:29:00.001-07:00

There's no place like home, There's no place like home!!! Well, not if you own some of Sew Sumptuous's wonderful cushions!! Just take a look at these beauties, made by my good friend Cath. I had the pleasure of helping Cath, owner and founder of Sew Sumptuous, set up her first craft stall at the Bewel Water Garden, Food & Craft Show scheduled to take place over this Easter Weekend.
As you can see from these photos, her stall looked wonderful, it was stacked high with sumptuous creations that Cath had worked hard to create over the last few weeks in readiness for this weekends Fair. Cath makes the most gorgeous home attire in the form of fabulous appliqued cushions, beautiful bunting and stylish bags. Any of her items can be customised, all you need to do is ask and she can create individual and unique pieces just for your home.

Just take a look at the adorable peg bag above, the fabrics used in Cath's creations are just stunning and very unique to Sew Sumptuous.

I adore her fun appliqued cushions above, with slogans such as Love; Sleep; Home and Bed.

Each piece is handmade by Cath at her home Studio in East Sussex, and you can just see the love and attention that goes into each piece.

It was great fun helping set up the stall in the glorious Spring sunshine today, a visit to the Bewel Fair this weekend will be a great trip for all the family especially in this warm weather, just take a look at what's in store for any visitors to the Fair.

For more information on Sew Sumptuous please visit the website and blog, where Cath will make you feel very welcome!

So Proud of my Hubby

2011-04-21T02:16:00.001-07:00

My wonderful hubby always puts me to shame, he is so fit and committed to his health whilst I struggle every morning to get on the rowing machine before my day starts. He's up at 5am each morning to leave for work by 5.30am, but every day he manages to go the the Gym and has a session with a personal trainer once a week, at weekends he still doesn't take time out, instead he cycles on Saturday mornings and runs on Sundays, not to mention fitting in lots of exercise with our very lively twin boys. All that hard work is now going to a good cause as he has enrolled himself into a Triathlon on 8th May to raise money for Demelza, a charity that cares for children with life-limiting illnesses or serious medical conditions, as well as support and counselling for families. Well done babe, I love you to bits!!! If anyone would like to support Steve and help raise money for this wonderful charity please visit his Just Giving Page here, or use the link on the left of your screen. Thank you x

Whimsy Mermaid Wedding

2011-04-08T05:22:00.000-07:00

You may remember from a post in 2010, an amazing wedding that I was fortunate enough to be involved in. This stunning vintage, whimsical wedding can now be viewed in all it's glory on the Wedding Blog site Rock My Wedding. I created all the mermaid place name settings and table name settings for the wedding breakfast, it was a joy to be asked! I thoroughly enjoyed making each mermaid and working with the bride Sophie. You have to check out her wedding photos they are stunning, and her dress is to die for!!! Thanks again Sophie xx

Cotton Reel Cuties

2011-04-02T08:37:00.001-07:00

Just popping in to show you my Cotton Reel Cuties, spent a couple of hours this morning tinkering at my studio desk and this was the end result! I might make a few more to dot about my stand at the Wealden Fair. Better go, am about to help hubby in the kitchen; Handmade Burgers and home movie night with the kids tonight!

Artful Cushions

2011-04-01T06:26:00.000-07:00

All finished!!! My cushion templates from my previous post are now all complete, and I'm thrilled with the finished results. I've now lots more designs in the making, including a Vintage French Corset Image that looks amazing on the cushion front. There are lots of exciting new things to come from Maygreen Fairies in readiness for the up-coming events I'm exhibiting at as well as from talented International Artists; In the lead up to the larger fairs I attend I do source a few select items from contacts I have made overseas, this year at the Wealden Fair I will be offering the Suffragette Dolls once again by the super talented Lenae May as well as Flapper Brooches from Yalipaz and some wonderful new Cushion Covers created on Burlap and decorated with vintage images ie: music sheet papers, vintage birds and flowers, they are so gorgeous and I can't wait to showcase them in June. I have received messages from some of you asking if these new pieces will be available to purchase on my website shop, and the answer is yes... EVENTUALLY!!! But in the meantime if you see anything you like on my blog, just drop me an email and I can always get the item sent out to you. Time is of the essence at the moment and I'm snowed under with creating for the Fairs and unfortunately my website shop does get a little neglected at these times.

I'm in the throws of finishing off some new Lavender Sachets and also creating new Whimsical Magnets, which I will give you a sneek peek of soon. I'm so busy at the moment I really don't know where to turn next, I am also currently in the process of writing and producing a Maygreen Fairies Book, giving basic step by step instructions on how to make several whimsical products in the Maygreen Fairies Style, more on this exciting venture soon.

But back to the cushions!!! These particular cushions are for decorative purposes only and cannot be washed. Each cushion is labelled on the back with a vintage style postcard label (shown above) and all are stuffed with soft fibre filling. They look super in a vintage style setting, or shabby chic home, I'm so taken with them I'm going to be making some just for me! Back soon!!

A Busy Bee

2011-03-29T12:42:00.001-07:00

I've been totally focused on adding to my stock for the up coming events I have in May and June. Every inch of my Studio space is covered in new card designs, summer bookmarks and as of today templates for my Lavender Sachets and Decorative Cushions. I'll be sure to re-post with finished photos of the Cushions and Sachets when they are all done. I just adore working with Burlap at the moment, it seems to be all the rage and it contrasts beautifully with my vintage images; I just need to create some decorative stitching around the edges of the images and then sew together and stuff the cushions and they'll be good to go!

I've got some lovely new fabric for my Summer Lavender Sachets, and some great new "Pin Up" images for my bookmarks, so watch this space. Of course I'll still be offering my old favourites alongside the new designs, but it's always good to have a change.

Tomorrow the sewing machine will be coming out to finish off today's creations and then it's on to Whimsical Magnets!!! The fun never ends, I'll be back again soon.....

There's Something Fishy Going On!!!!

2011-03-21T07:31:00.000-07:00

With the sun streaming through my window I've been busy creating these "fishy" little ditties for an up coming event I'm involved with. I am very excited to have been asked to exhibit and sell some of my creations at a Lewes Open House Event this May. I was contacted by the house owner, Vanessa Mooncie, and asked if I would like to showcase my work at her home when she opens it to the public. Vanessa, is a contemporary silkscreen artist and illustrator, who also specialises in crochet jewellery design through her company Kissy Suzuki. Vanessa specifically asked for certain art pieces that I offer and my bottled mermaids were one of them. These four new designs were put together today in readiness for the Open House. Each are created on thick cardstock, the mermaid torsos are taken from vintage images that I collect and the fins are then printed onto acetate and fixed to the upper body to create the mermaid image. I tried something different with the first piece and created the mermaid inside a fish bowl, the fish is escaping and I have spelt out the phrase "I'm outta here" using vintage lettering and then giving the letters a glass domed effect using Glossy Accents Liquid by Inkssentials.

The bottles and fish bowl are also printed onto acetate and the mermaids fixed behind them to give the illusion that they are captured inside. Pretty adornments are then added to the bottles to give them a more vintage feel and a tag with the words "Bottled Mermaid, Do Not Shake!" is tied to the bottle top.

All of the above pieces will be available for sale at Vanessa's Open House Event. More information on this along with the address and opening times will follow in a later post. I am also selling again at the Wealden Mid-Summer Fair in June, information on this can be found here!

The Flying Trapeze

2011-03-13T04:06:00.000-07:00

This morning I have completed my assemblage shown yesterday and entitled it "The Flying Trapeze". Yes, it's a little cheeky, but I do like a bit of cheek!! I adore finding these amazing old images and transforming them into humorous pieces of art, I love nothing more than spending a lazy Saturday in my Studio creating with my kids playing around me and hubby creating his own concoctions in the kitchen, he loves to cook!! (Lucky aren't I!!)

I am writing this post with one of my gorgeous boys (Ethan), eating an apple on my lap, and he is finding it extremely funny that I refer to his Daddy as "hubby", bless him.

I am planning to create more of this style of assemblage over the next few weeks, as I have some amazing vintage trapeze images to work with so I will be sure to keep you posted on my progress. Have a super Sunday!! x

Work In Progess

2011-03-12T12:23:00.001-08:00

I've had a lovely Saturday today; Firstly I had a potter in the Garden tidying up my flower beds, it was such a gorgeous sunny morning this morning, and then I got down to some serious creating. Above is my latest assemblage half way through it's creation. The shadowbox, which you can just see, has been covered in vintage style papers and old music sheets, and then sealed with a coat of diamond glaze. And my little vintage lady on the trapeze has had her modesty covered by way of a glitter leotard, much more appropriate for my little Shadowbox Theatre. Check back tomorrow when I'll post the finished piece.
I then finished off a couple of cards I was working on and had a good look at some ballet shoes I purchased last week, I'm going to try and cover them in vintage papers, probably music sheet paper, don't know if it'll work but I'll give it a try, and of course I'll let you know the outcome! Hope you're having a good Saturday! Will be back again tomorrow.

Guest Blog Post

2011-03-04T02:23:00.001-08:00

I am thrilled to have been asked to write a Guest Blog Post for Marie of Vintage Inspired Lovelies. It is my first Blog Post as a Guest Writer and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. You must visit Marie's Blog to enjoy reading her many interesting posts and also peruse through her handcrafted items. Thank you once again Marie!

Birthday Goodies

2011-02-26T07:11:00.001-08:00

Earlier this week I celebrated my Birthday and was very spoilt by my family and friends! Hubby outdid himself as usual and treated me to a wonderful Japanese Lunch followed by an afternoon browsing around the V&A Museum in London and then topped the day off with a fabulous Cabaret, La Soiree.

What I really want to share with you are images of a few of the gifts I received that I know you would enjoy perusing. The gorgeous vintage shoe mold was given to me by my parents, I have wanted one of these to display in my home for a while now but had never come across one with a stiletto heel, so I was over the moon when I unwrapped this treasure. Mum also came up trumps with the stunning glass cloche above, I'm still deciding what to display in it.

My wonderful friend Sarah knows me so well, she gave me the gorgeous glass containers above, full of buttons.... I adore buttons and use them in all sorts of creations from mixed media collages to adornments on scented pillows and of course to create jewellery. The glass jars now have pride of place on my desk.

I also treated myself to the wonderful paper doll above, created by the talented Amy Earles of Wool and Water, Amy is an amazing artist, check out her work here.

AND THE WINNER IS.........

2011-02-17T12:32:00.000-08:00

Keep Those Fingers Crossed!!!!

Here We Go......

Da, Da, Daaaaaa.......

Congratulations to PAULA at Serendipity!!!!

My handmade vintage tags, and Rose Brooch will be winging their way to you.

Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to leave a comment on my OWOH Post, it has been so lovely reading each post as it arrived and to then have a good nosey round all participants blogs, it's been a wonderful few weeks, but sadly it's over so quickly.

However, it's wonderful news that Lisa will be hosting a new Event this time next year, "Our World, Our Heart" to find out more please click the link below:

Breathing New Life Into Old Finds!

2011-02-15T07:47:00.000-08:00

Some of my regular readers will know that I volunteer at my local Oxfam Shop twice a week, which I really enjoy. It's great to work with the other Volunteers and enables me to give something back to the society we live in. Of course there is also the added bonus of finding wonderful old items for my altered art! During the past three years I have had the pleasure of getting to know a local Antiques Dealer who visits the shop once a week, he knows that I am always on the lookout for old photo's, lace, music sheet papers etc.. and on several occasions he has brought some great pieces in for me to purchase.

The last couple of weeks have been no exception, he has found some wonderful old photo albums for me as well as a huge bag of old lace and tablecloths. With these treasures I have breathed new life into them and created vintage wall hangings. The cover and inserts from the albums have formed the background base for my wall hangings (after carefully removing the gorgeous photos of course). I have then very loosely thrown together scraps of lace to create a tattered setting for the main images.

I then stitch the lace background in a freehand motion on the sewing machine making a layered and tattered collage with the scraps of lace. This forms the base on to which I have added an old postcard image that has been covered in melted beeswax and sealed with diamond glaze. Butterfly wings printed onto velvet paper are then added to the child image and this is glued onto the postcard. I then stamped the word DREAM onto old paper and cut each letter out repositioning them haphazardly below the childs hand. The whole piece is then hand stitched onto the lace background adding vintage buttons, making sure to stitch through the lace and also the photo album backing.The original ribbon from the photo album is then retied onto the holes in the album cover, this adds as a ribbon with which to hang the piece from. And there you have it "Breathing New Life into Old Finds!"

A BUN in the Oven!!

2011-02-09T08:26:00.000-08:00

I thought it was about time I added a new style Pregnancy Congrats Card to my Greetings Card Range. My first Pregnancy Congrats Card "Great Expectations" is one of my best selling cards, but I wanted to offer another style, so here it is, with a comical edge to it of course, "A Bun in the Oven!" It is available in my website shop, although I have only made a limited amount at the moment to see how it goes, so hurry on over if you want to snap it up!! I also have a matching gift tag to go with it.

One World One Heart Blog Giveaway

2011-01-31T04:22:00.001-08:00

Over the last two years I have participated in this fantastic Blog Event! Sadly this year it will be the final One World One Heart Event, it will have been running for five years and has grown to be an International gathering of wonderful Bloggers who wish to share their amazing blogs with the World! This Event is the brainchild of Lisa Swifka (A Whimsical Bohemian Blog), whose Blog you can reach by clicking the OWOH banner above. I wish to take a moment to thank Lisa for organising OWOH for the past five years, it must take an enormous amount of her time to run and it is because of Lisa, I, and many other Bloggers, have been able to connect with so many readers out there in Blogland... Thank you Lisa from the bottom of my heart!

Now, on to how this Event works; I will be giving away these items (shown above and below) to one lucky winner, all you need to do to participate is leave a comment for me on this post and you will be automatically entered into the draw which will take place on 17th February 2011. Once you have entered please take a moment to click on the OWOH Banner at the top of this page, you will then be taken to the OWOH Main Blog where you can see a listing of all the other Bloggers taking part all of whom have lots of lovely Blog Giveaways just waiting for you to enter.
If you have your own Blog and would like to take part in this event, then please visit Lisa's Blog using the Banner link at the top of this page, where you will find all the information on how to get involved. Happy Blogging!!

My First Upholstering Attempt!!

2011-01-21T08:10:00.001-08:00

You may remember from a previous post that I had purchased an Art Deco Chair for my new Studio space. It was in need of upholstering and brightening up so today I set about changing the fabric on the seat. It is the first time I have attempted anything like this so I was prepared for anything to happen!!! lol! I had a selection of gorgeous "Cath Kidston" style fabrics to choose from and in the end went with the Roses pattern.
Removing the old fabric was tricky to say the least, firstly I needed to raid hubbies tool box to find the right tools to remove the tacks and then had to work out the safest and quickest way to prise them out without causing injury to myself, so eventually after one hour of cussing and tutting and several tacks and staples later the old fabric was off and discarded to reveal an old foam insert and a very fragile wooden frame, which looked like it had been re-upholstered several times over many years, so I knew moving forward I had to work carefully with this. But I soldiered on, replaced the old foam with some deeper new foam and then tightly wrapped the new fabric around the frame and secured gently with tacks. The finished result was by no means perfect, but it was good enough to give the chair the uplift I wanted without any expense....

From a previous post you may remember I was also waiting for my new studio table, this arrived earlier this week, and I'm over the moon with it. It is now in place along with the chair, here's a first glance of it all together (below)...

I've brought down all my art supplies from my old mezzanine studio and packed them away in the new downstairs cupboards and have also set up my beloved vintage typewriter on an upturned crate next to the desk, this will be used to store my vintage books in that I work from and eventually I will get a new ink ribbon for the typewriter so I can use old typeface in some of my creations.

So today was a successful day, even though no crafting is yet taking place... much to my dismay!! I still got a creative fix. I'm looking forward to settling down in my new chair over the weekend and getting those creative juices flowing!!!!

Bottled Friends & Family!!!!!!

2011-01-17T06:42:00.000-08:00

My Vintage Bottled Fairies & Mermaids have always been very popular, using vintage images I bottle the person as a fairy or mermaid and create the final image into a card. A few years ago I started "bottling" images of my friends kids as fairies or mermaids and this really took off, and now it is one of my best selling products! So why not give it a go?? Send your friend or family member a greetings card with them on the front in a bottle as a mermaid or fairy, I can guarantee they'll be shocked and pleasantly surprised when they open the card!!!!
The images are just a few examples of some of the commissions I have done in the past. All that is required is for you to send me a high resolution photograph of your intended recipient and I will alter it adding wings or a mermaid fin and place in an acetate bottle with lots of sparkle. A tag is tied to the bottle that has various slogans such as "Bottled Mermaid, Do Not Tap On The Glass"; "Bottled Fairy, Handle With Care"; Bottled Sprite, Do Not Shake!" and so forth...

Prices start at £5 for a standard 4" x 6" greetings card with envelope. However, some clients request that the images are created onto cardstock for framing, these prices start at £10.

Bottling a friend or family member is a really fun gift to give for a celebration, I have had lots of wonderful feedback from clients who say they are thrilled with the results. My last client sent an email describing the moment she received the cards; "Cards have arrived, I was nearly sick with delight, they are wonderful!". This comment really made me laugh, I have never quite had the receipt of one of my cards described in this way, but was flattered all the same. If you would like more information on the Bespoke Services I offer then please visit my website.

Nice Goodies from the Postman....

2011-01-12T12:42:00.000-08:00

I had a disappointing start to today, was meant to be going to the Ardingly Antiques Fair with friends, but as the weather was so awful this morning we decided to give it a miss, it's not much fun browsing round antique stalls in the pouring rain!. But my mood was soon lifted with the arrival of the Postman; Two large parcels arrived addressed to me, I knew instantly what they both were, and took my time opening them so I could enjoy every minute. The first parcel contained this gorgeous embroidered Cushion by the very talented Lara Sparks. I met Lara back in November when I attended "MADE" in Brighton, Lara was showcasing her stunning cushions and I just had to have one, and here is it "Bird on a Line". Thanks Lara I love it!The next parcel was much larger and took me a good while to rip off all the packaging, but once inside I was ecstatic at it's contents, take a look at the stunning Art Deco Chair below! I made this purchase a few days ago on Ebay, I have been looking for a chair and table to put in my new Studio Space at home and this is the chair I decided on. The table is equally as gorgeous and should be with me in a week or so. The chair will need upholstering, I am going to use a lovely Cath Kidston fabric on the seat, as soon as it's done I'll post pictures.

My new Studio Space is going to be in what was the kids Playroom, we are in the process of renovating our current study as the new bedroom for the boys, this is a split level room which will be a fantastic room for kids, so as the boys will have more room for their toys in their bedroom we no longer need a designated Playroom so this will become a kind of Family Room with an area for my Studio... so excited!! Because of the renovating we have been having a bit of a clear out and during one of these sessions I came across an old hook shelf that we were not using and decided it needed to be on show, so good ol' hubby put it up for me in the Garden Room and I'm so pleased with how it looks (below):

With all this clearing out I was on a bit of a roll and had a change around of several things in the home including my treasured 1920's bust (below), adding some vintage books and silk orchids surrounding her....

Recently I purchased a gorgeous lace bolero that had a real vintage look to it, to be honest I'm not sure where I'll wear it, but it looks fantastic hanging up on my old wardrobe, so I think that's were it will stay.....

The renovation wont be complete for several weeks yet, but I'll be sure to keep you posted and blog about it when it's all done.. so watch this space!

Published in Somerset Life!

2011-01-07T06:23:00.000-08:00

What a fantastic start to 2011, in the last few hours I have become an Auntie to my sisters first child, a daughter born yesterday evening, little Isabella Rose and my lovely Sister Julia are doing well. And this morning I received my regular subscription to Somerset Studio in the post, along with a complimentary issue of Somerset Life, I was surprised to receive Somerset Life as I was not expecting it, and then my eyes fell on the printed A4 sheet attached to the magazine that read Congratulations you have been published!
I was so excited as I thumbed through the sumptuous pages to then find my Whimsical Bookmarks sitting there looking back up at me, it's a wonderful feeling and I thank the team at Stampington Publications for placing a piece of my art in this amazing magazine. I am a huge fan of all the Stampington magazines and just wish I could afford to subscribe to them all, but as they are printed in the US it is a little pricey to subscribe to all of them so I receive Somerset Studio regularly and then have my Mother In Law pick up other copies when she visits her holiday home in the US. Each publication is so inspiring with amazing artist photos and their stories, the magazines are all thick and sumptuous and are a real feast for the eyes. So I am very thankful for a super start to 2011!

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T09:33:00.001-08:00

Get your glad rags on and have a super New Years Eve, whatever you are doing!! And a Happy New Year to all my readers and your family and friends, hope 2011 brings you much happiness.

Welcome the Boudoir Doll Jester!

2010-12-22T06:56:00.001-08:00

Well looked what arrived in the post this morning!!! I purchased this gorgeous 1930's Jester "Boudoir Doll" through a wonderful lady who runs a lovely shop in Somerset. Niki of Nostalgia at the Stone House recently blogged about this little man and showed beautiful photo's of him in her shop window and as soon as I saw him I knew I had to have him.
Now I know these kind of dolls are not to everyone's taste, I am sure when my husband arrives home this evening and walks in on this little man in our lounge he is certainly not going to be ohhhing and ahhhing over him like I did, and my kids definitely didn't "get it" this morning when I was fluffing around him arranging him in one of their chairs, they looked at me like Mum had lost the plot! And to top it all, quite a few of my friends think I'm pretty crazy with some of my taste in these old dolls, but I just adore the quirkiness of this gent, yes, he's not the prettiest toy on the block by far, but I love the fact that he is old, from the thirties and has that flapperesque look about him.

One member of our household who seemed impressed was Oscar our dog!! Although I'm not entirely convinced of his intentions, I secretly think he's on the side of my friends who don't approve of my dolls and if my back is turned he may just seek revenge for them and sneek up and chew poor ol' Jester, so the lounge door remains shut at all times when we are not in the room! Earlier this year I made a wonderful find, a beautiful Boudoir Flapper Doll, she is my absolute treasure and she has pride of place in my bedroom, I realised I hadn't blogged about her yet, so I've popped some photo's below, she's a real beaute.....

I adore her painted face and marcel waved hair. She wears her original silk pyjama's with a large black sash around her middle.

I agree, she's much prettier than the Jester, but they are both adorable all the same. Jester does need some attention, he has some bare patches at the back of his knees which need repair and a few faint stains on his costume, but this all adds to his charm. He'll be a long term fixture in our household now, coming out every Christmas, so be sure to look out for him in my decoration photos for next year!

All Decked Out....

2010-12-16T12:17:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was spent decorating my home for the Christmas holidays. We always really enjoy this time as a family, the boys love going up into the loft to bring down the many boxes containing all the decorations, we then take the short drive to the Christmas Tree Farm to choose our tree, and this year we found a beauty.......
I love going through each box and unwrapping the decorations ready to display, last year I purchased the gorgeous "Grubby Skating Mouse" pictured below, she is adorable and has a wonderful cinnamon and coffee scent baked into her clothing, amazingly the scent is still clinging to her clothing a year on.

My little cycling Santa always has pride of place on my old wooden trunk next to a card cutout Christmas tree.......

Another decoration I always enjoy unwrapping each year is the pretty Jester below, I can't remember where I purchased him but I've had him several years now and always look forward to displaying him alongside my other pieces.....

I have lots of different decorations for the tree, I've collected them over several years, and they are all so different, below is a little fabric angel, cute isn't she.....

In the Garden Room I love to decorate my Santos Doll in keeping with the current Festive Season, I have filled her cage skirt with pine cones and hung a pretty fabric tree decoration from her hand....

The Dining Table is covered in my Christmas Tablecloth and decorated with various favourites, although I do change these quite regularly depending on my mood.......

My favourite shelf unit that contains pieces of my art and treasured photos, vintage button jars and old photo albums has been decorated with the handmade garland that I made during my last get together with the "Vintage Ladies" (see earlier post), also lots of little fairy lights and my tin skating lady (below).....

Twiggy the Reindeer (below) looks amazing at night with his antlers all lit up........

Below is another photo of my treasured Santos Doll and at her base my his 'n' hers mice, a recent purchase from the Wealden Fair.....

The Kitchen doesn't go undecorated either, berry garlands and fairy lights brighten up this space......

We had a lovely Christmas Hamper arrive at our door, a gift from my husbands workplace, it contained lots of scrumptious goodies for the festive season, I just had to photograph it, below.

So this is Christmas Style at my house for this year, I hope you've enjoyed the little tour, now I'm off to have a cuppa and some shortbread from the delicious hamper!

A Message for Santa...

2010-12-13T13:03:00.000-08:00

With Christmas Eve fast approaching it's time to get those decorations up, plan the Christmas Dinner and get out all those finishing touches ready in time for the big day!! And these little wooden door hangers are a magical way to decorate any little childs (or big childs) door on Christmas Eve.
I have hand painted each door hanger using acrylic paint and added stamped flourishes. The vintage images are printed onto matt photo paper and then pretty butterfly wings are then added, the wings are either printed onto acetate for a transparent effect, or fluffy paper to give a velvet feel to the touch.

On some of the hangers the message is printed onto decal paper and then wet and slid onto the hanger, with others I have printed onto ordinary photo paper and adhered the cut out with tacky glue.

The hangers really do look very pretty, and children love to hang them on their door on Christmas Eve to ensure "HE" calls on them!

All The Fun of the Fair.....

2010-12-08T14:00:00.000-08:00

Finally I have managed to put together this post showing some of the fabulous findings at this years Wealden Mid Winter Fair. It was a super three days, despite the weather, lots of people braved the snow and turned out to shop, shop, shop!! Amongst the many visitors I had to my stall, these two lovely ladies above popped by on the Sunday, the young lady on the right purchased one of the felt brooches I had for sale and proudly wore it back to my stall with her Sister!! To my delight my creations were very well received, with several customers returning to my stall several times over!!

I met lots of lovely people, some of whom have already been in touch with me for on-line and bespoke orders which is wonderful! And even a couple of shop owners expressing an interest.

On the Sunday I had a very good friend of mine take over the running of my stall during the afternoon so I could have a wander around the fair and meet the other Exhibitors, below are some photos of the beautiful items for sale....

These gorgeous fascinators, hats and floral brooches are by "Love it Like Vintage", they are beautiful, so feminine and delicate, you can find more information on the company here!

I did succumb and spend a little myself at the Fair, the two little mice below caught my eye and now have pride of place on my bookshelf.

All the stall holders presented their stalls beautifully, they were all very eye catching with an array of unusual products.

There were alot of handcrafted items too, the bunnies below were just scrumptious!

Some stalls were like mini curiosity shops selling amazing vintage finds, Kirsty Allsop would have been in second hand heaven here...

One of my favourite stalls was "A Day in Provence" run by husband and wife, Shirley-Ann and Ian (photos below)...

I met Shirley-Ann last Christmas when I visited the Wealden Fair as a consumer, Shirley inspired me to work hard and aim to have a stall at the 2010 Christmas Fair, which I thankfully achieved.

Shirley-Ann sells a collection of handmade and vintage accessories for the home and garden, including original art by herself and her husband.

Unfortunately "A Day in Provence" does not currently have a web prescence, they are working on it! As soon as they do I'll be posting it here.

There were many, many more wonderful stall holders that I haven't photographed, but you can still find a full list of the Exhibitors on the Wealden Fairs website, it's well worth a look.