Happy International Fairy Day! You'd think I'd have something glorious and pretty and glittery for you...
... but instead I have some rotten smelly dragon jars.
True story: we ran out of garbage bags last week around the same time these terrible things appeared. Coincidence? I think not! Despite their timing, I don't think that they are fabled Trash Dragons. I suspect they are Northern Swamp Dragons.
I'm currently working on a breeding program and will try to have some available for adoption in a week or so. I WILL have a few at my open house on July 2nd if you happen to pop in for a visit.
Want to try your own 'breeding program'? Cutouts are listed HERE in my etsy shop, or at gslcuts.com
It's new issue day at DollsHouse and Miniature Scene magazine which means I can finally share this project I've been sitting on for months. (Note: not actually sitting on... oh, you know what I mean!) It's my miniature tribute to the fabulous Ms. Beatrix Potter.
Dear old 'Stumps' is complete and has become the home of the Rabbit family.
The piece is based on several illustrations by Ms.Potter.
Lovely illustrations by Beatrix Potter
I tried to capture the watercolour, illustrative style of her images in this piece and I'm pretty happy with the results. Plus, it was was great fun incorporating the little details from her work
A ball of blue wool on the floor.
A wash bowl to clean up those many bunny messes.
I've added some of my own elements too. One of Potter's illustrations sits on the wall as a 'Rabbit family portrait'.
I've used both handmade and purchased items to dress the piece. All of the vegetables are handmade, as are the table and chair. The adorable carrot tea pot is from Alpha Stamps as is the sack, copper pans, and bowl.
As for those bunnies...
They're made from Creative Paperclay with strands of fur for whiskers. I gotta say, Paperclay works beautifully if you want to achieve that watercolour look. It's a very different from polymer clay, but it's one of my favourite materials to work with.
Beatrix Potter really was a marvel, and a true talent, whose work went far beyond charming stories of cheeky rabbits. If you're interested in Ms. Potter, I highly recommend looking up her botanical illustrations. Her mushroom and toadstool studies are an absolute delight.
Our annual open house is in a week and a half. I'm a bit flubbered about it because I feel absolutely behind and not at all prepared. Despite not being ready in the least, the fair folk have begun arriving.
There are little Irish cottages sprouting between the flowers and greenery.
Old pixie houses from last year have appeared in the hostas.
Luckily the critters have been doing their part. Moths have taken to dusting off the flowers, making sure the garden is tidy.
And the birds are adding extra twigs to their houses, in case a sprite needs a place to stay.
If you happen to be around, we'll be open to the public on July 2nd and you're very welcome to join us and explore our 'fairy sanctuary'.
It feels like AGES since I last posted but I do have an excellent excuse.., my granny and auntie were here for a visit. While they were here I shirked most of my responsibilities and sat on the deck, gabbed and sipped cocktails. Woo hoo!
But it's back to work now and I'm preparing for the arrival of our summer fairies. I'm sure we'll have a few new arrivals tonight, just in time for Summer Solstice celebrations.
I hope you're lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the little people's revelry this evening.
I was waiting for the perfect little thing to place inside my grotto. I tried my little figure of
St. Expeditus but he wasn't quite happy in there. I bought a beautiful little Madonna statue, Our Lady of the Cape to be specific, but her crown wouldn't let her fit inside.
But it this little grotto wasn't meant for a saint after all... it was meant for a little Venus de Milo!
And the little space seems a fitting shrine for the goddess of love and beauty. A smidgen of space to dedicate to prettiness. The original Venus de Milo (or Aphrodite of Milos as is her proper name!) was actually discovered burried in a niche, so I'd like to think she's happy to be tucked in her little arched shrine box.
Want a slice of beauty to sit on your own shelf? Here's the supplies I used to create this piece:
Can castles! Tin turrets! Recycled fairy garden towers!
The biggest struggles setting up the summer fairy garden have been the battles with the weather and the critters. This year I was determined to come up with something a little more sturdy to survive the summer and the squirrels. These are the result of all that thinkin'.
I'm kinda in love with them and want to make them in all the colours to dot around my garden. Just look at those blue beauties next to the tall poppies.
Some are topped with roof top gardens (which fairies love btw). Others have really simple pointy cone roofs which are just a bit of burlap sewn into a cone shape, then spray painted. The paint adds some stiffness and helps to prevent fraying. Pretty sure that any stiff fabric would do. My initial thought was to use reusable grocery bags (reusing the reusable!) but the burlap was on hand so I'll do that next time.
And speaking of 'next time'...
I've made a video tutorial for the basic version of this project so if you haven't already, hop over and subscribe to my Youtube channel.
The video tutorial is below, and below that you'll find the supply round-up. If you're inspired to make your own tin can kingdom and show it off, tag me in your post! I'd love to see what you made. Want to recreate this project for your own blog? Have at it! Just be sure to link back here please-and-thank-you. The credit for the inspiration is appreciated, and it encourages me to share more free projects.
Here's everything you'll need:
Tin cans of all sizes and shapes
Silicone
Spray paint (I recommend using a paint w/ primer)
Bits and bobs for windows & doors
Cardboard
Stir sticks
Burlap
Stones
Soil
Plants and moss
*GooGone for removing label glue from tins
*Nail polish remover will remove SOME ink stamps
That line is from my favourite Shakespeare play, A Midsummer Nights Dream. It's the inspiration for my project for Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts this month, A Midsummer Faerie Theatre, perfectly timed for the upcoming summer solstice (in the Northern hemisphere anyway).
I haven't used glitter in the past couple of projects fir Gypsy Soul *gasps!* so I made up for it on this one. Even my little Titania, Queen of the Faeries, has glitter encrusted on her wings. The image I've used here is from The Graphics Fairy, which is an excellent source of quality free images btw.
Inside the chipboard Stagethere are glittery branches, moss, flowers, leaves, toadstools... all the good stuff.
This month Gypsy Soul is pairing with Altered Pages, who supplied us with these Muse Dragonfly rubber stamps. Now, I've got to be honest, I am not a stamper. I rarely use stamps so including them was a challenge for me. I've stamped the image on to thick card, cut out, then applied some gold embossing powder to the body of the dragon and damselflies. They're finished off with some glitter and tucked into those sparkly branches.
Gypsy Soul is also partnered with Xyron and I used their 3" Sticker Maker to not only add the trims you see on the piece, but also as an adhesive to apply embossing powder to the top bunting and moon.
If you'd like to see how this piece came together there's a video walk though of it's creation HERE
Thinking of making your own version? Here's a round up of all the supplies used:
The past few days have been exhausting in the very best way. I've been busy, working and tinkering, yanking weeds, putting laundry on the line. My minutes have become precious. But there's something to be said for being tired at the end of the day. There's a sort of goodness in weary feet.
Yesterday morning I discovered a gang of stone goblins beneath the shrubbery. By dusk more wee folk revealed themselves. A little village of pixie cottages popped up between the trunks of the maple and locust trees in front of the house.
I'm sure they think they are clever with their polka dotted roofs, hiding near the toadstools.
And they are rather clever! They've picked a spot where they will be protected by the elements but able to spy on all of our visitors. They've tidied their little plot neatly and have even done a little landscaping. I'm sure they will be fine neighbours.
I was in the garden this morning, day dreaming as you do, when I heard a rustle and tittering coming from the shrubbery. I pushed aside the lower branches and found this gang of hooligans hiding in the mulch.
We've always had goblins, but never this close to the house and never so open about their presence.
Because they are stones of the goblin variety I am concerned that they are up-to-no-good... but I suspect they are just really excited about this years open house and curious about tea-parties.
It's that time of year again when I venture into the heat and bugs, get covered in dirt, then complain about my sunburn. BUT it's all for a good cause... the faeries!
Little by little over the next few weeks we'll add a bit of pixie dust to the garden in preparation for our annual summer open house and the arrival of the summer wee folk that visit us. Above is a 'before' shot of one area of the garden, over-run with weeds, and below an in-progress picture after a bit of gumption and elbow grease.
There's loads to do, and this year will be a little different than our past fairy tours, but I think you'll like what we have planned.
I also managed to finish up this little happy moon shrine that has been waiting patiently for attention for MONTHS.
The moon is free sculpted from polymer clay, the toadstools handmade with Creative Paperclay. The interior was lined with vintage book pages then painted and glittered. The wee house was pit fired in our own back yard. The moss and bark collected from our garden. Phew!
If you're interested in this fellow, he is listed HERE.
Hope your week is off to a great start! I'll have a new tutorial this Friday so be sure to pop in for another visit.
Ok, I know I mentioned this just a few days ago but today is new issue day and I have a proper cover image from Dolls House and Miniature Scene magazine and I'm pretty excited about it. My 'Wandry Room' is smack dab on that cover AND there's even a wee tea cup garden tucked up in the corner too!
If you haven't seen the 'Wandry Room' you can hop over HERE to see the original blog post.
Other than that, it's been a load of cleaning, tinkering and packaging here. We're slowly, SLOWLY, starting to prep for the open house in July but I'm easily distracted by all the spring blooms in the garden.
White violets! We have a few little patches of growing next to their purple cousins.
The lilacs are starting to bloom. I adore lilacs. I do wish cuttings would last longer when I bring them inside, but they seem to wilt easily. At this very moment I can smell them, along with the apple blossoms, from indoors!
Hope your week is being kind to you. I seem to have lost all sense of time and have been playing catch-up for days.
