A year of Free Photos

My birthday is coming up. I think I'm creeping up 'old'.

Age has never really bothered me. The truth is, I like old things... so why shouldn't I like an old me? 

One of the old things I particularly like is old photographs. I have a good sized collection and I'm trying to scan and organize them all digitally. It's something I've been meaning to do for years (but I get easily distracted soooo....)

I did make a start and have enough photos processed to post one old timey pic, once a week, for the next year. So, I'll be sharing my collection of oldies, one at a time, every Friday over the next year. Feel free to use them in your mess making.

The images are not polished and left in their grungy, smudged and speckled glory. Just how I like 'em! Without further ado... 

Please do NOT sell, give, or distribute the images as your own, digitally or printed, alone or as part of a collection, collage sheet or group. BUT DO absolutely make stuff with them and sell the stuff you make. If you share your project, a link is appreciated.

Violators will be turned into toads, given warts, all the bad stuff... I mean it... It won't be pretty. 

Day 22 - SPINNERS FOR EVERYONE!

The Yule celebrations were a lot of fun last night. I ate, and drank, and built a fort, and fell asleep BEFORE my bedtime. So today I am well rested but WAYYY behind.

Now, I know I showed off a bottle cap spinner yesterday... but today I have spinners for the whole dang family.

There's something for the kids (or kid at heart).

Something for the person you like to play 'slap and tickle' with.

Not to generalize... but this covers most men I know.

There's a traditional judgy Christmas version too.

And because I love you (and number of people said they wanted to make spinners yesterday) here's a sheet of 1" spinner boards of each of the spinnies pictured for you to make your own. (Be sure to download the full sized image, not the preview for proper size.)

Now back to the holiday prep. I'm beginning to feel like I'll never be done everything in time *sigh*.

Miniature Book Tutorial Now Available

We hoard books like crazy in the Pixie household. They are tucked into every cranny. It's not surprising that miniature versions should frequently make their way into my work.

 I've been making little books for a very long while. Years even!

I love the challenge of going smaller and smaller... 

...while still being able to open them up and turn the pages.

There's something extra magical about being able to interact with those little things. When children pick up my little books the skepticism in their eyes turns into a flash of delight when discover they can open the cover and flip through the pages.

Anyway, after years of keeping it all to myself, I've decided to offer my book making technique with a PDF tutorial available in my etsy shop. I'm not gonna lie, it's a bit of a long process... but you end up with books that are pretty dang sturdy. I've left books in my pocket, put them through the wash, and they've come out the other end fully intact.

Instead of a template, the download shows you HOW to make the books so that you can add your own splash of magic and create them in whatever size or shape you like. Quick as can be you'll have an entire fairy library in no time at all.

You can find the listing HERE... and, don't tell anyone, but there's a little bonus project included too ;)

Fairy Christmas Card Advent Calendar

Ok, I've let Halloween pass and now it's full steam ahead with the Christmas posts. I have a few projects coming up that I KNOW you're going to want to try so I'm posting nice and early to give you plenty of crafting time. Today, a totally freaking adorable advent calendar alternative.

Imagine waking up each day to find a card from the fairies helping you count down to Christmas! I've put together a Fairy Card Advent Calendar, a 2 page download that includes 25 miniature cards with vintage holiday imagery, numbered postage stamps and three envelope templates to fit the various sized cards.

Now, when I showed this project to my kiddo he said "Yeah, but what about the treat?" The wheels in my mind starting turning and I thought of all the little things that would fit in those envelopes... letters, notes, coins, buttons, glitter, jokes, stickers, charms... then the light bulb above my head lit up. 

Every few days a charm could be included in the tiny card and your little pixie could make their own Christmas charm bracelet! The sets I've used here are the Santa Sleigh Silver Charm Set and the Silver Snowflake Charm Set from Alpha Stamps.

Cute as buttons and sugar free! Although if you do like the sweet stuff you could always give a lolly or chocolate kiss.

Don't do the advent calendar thing? No worries! You could always make these up and pass them out to the people in your life who need a little extra fairy magic around the holidays.

Now, as for decorating the outside of those envelopes, here's what I suggest:

1. Using the templates from the Fairy Cards Advent Calendar, trace the envelope shapes onto a piece of regular white paper.

2. Cut the shapes.

3. Fold the two short sides, then fold the bottom (the one with the flat edge) and glue into place. Be careful not to glue the envelope shut!

4. Sprinkle both sides with a bit of tea or coffee. I prefer tea as it doesn't leave a lingering scent. Allow to dry. NOTE: You can age your paper before creating the envelopes, but I found that doing it in this order results in a flatter, smoother finished piece. See wrinkles above.

5. Add little postage stamps and 'cancel' them using a rubber stamps. Any patterned stamp will do. Place a scrap bit of paper beneath so as not to ink your work surface.

6. Address the envelopes, personalizing them for the recipient.

7. Add the wee cards and any tiny surprises you'd like to include.

Lastly, and this is kind of important, these can NOT go through the regular postal system. Their size requires that they be handled only by Royal Faerie Post. If you want to send them to someone far away, I suggest mailing them within a larger card with a note of explanation.

Supply round up:

Fairy Card Advent Calendar

scissors
glue
tea/coffee for staining*
rubber stamps*
ink pad*
*optional

Do-dads for the charm bracelet:

Chain, clasp and jump rings / or pre-made bracelet
Santa Sleigh Silver Charm Set
Silver Snowflake Charm Set

You can get a printed version of the Fairy Card Advent Calendar and Charms HERE at AlphaStamps

Tooth Fairy Letters

The other day I happened to run into the Tooth Fairy and we had a little chat. She said that she has been very busy lately and run ragged with all of the tooth collecting. Her schedule is so jam packed that she doesn't have time for any other fairy activities! Such a shame. I asked if there was anything I could do to help...

I am asked about Tooth Fairy letters fairly regularly. While I do enjoy creating little the letters, they often take up quite a bit of precious limited time. Toothy and I (that's what I call her, we're pretty tight) came up with an idea.

We created a template, an 'official Tooth Fairy sanctioned' correspondence, that parents and caregivers can print and assemble to give Toothy a bit of relief and help her get caught up.

The PDF includes two letters (a 'thank-you' note and an apology for late tooth pick up) envelope template, tiny stamps, seals and a wee certificate for tooth collection completion.

The download is available in the etsy shop HERE.

P.S. Toothy asked me to remind you to brush at least twice a day and don't forget to floss.

Spreading some love...

I'm planning a little "Love" themed how-to later on this week

and put together this collage sheet of sweet nothings for you to use.

You can download a high res pdf here.

Please don't sell, or distribute, in part or whole as your own or I'll turn you into a toad.

You know the deal.

Feel Good Freebie

My worktable is covered in 'to-do' projects. I had planned on staying up late to get things done last night but... well... I fell asleep at 9:30 instead. I'm sure they'll still be waiting when I finally do get around to finishing them up. I'd better get cracking because I've got a show or two lined up and I'll need goodies to take with me!

Being sick for almost a week has left my house amazingly messy. The laundry piles are so high that I'm afraid to scale them for fear the altitude will affect my balance and I'll fall over, potentially giving myself a concussion. But the sun is shining and I can't get enough of that air dried laundry scent so I'm going in.

While I tackle the house work why don't you make something nice? The world needs more nice afterall.

So do me a favour, download this pdf collage sheet and make something sweet. Say something nice and spread some joy. If you're super awesome (and I know you are) you'll post your creation on your own blog, and come back and tell me all about the fun you had while I was doing laundry all day long.

Do me proud, fellow mess makers!
xoxo

Spooky Words for Halloweeny Inspiration

I have Halloween on the brain even more than usual at the moment. I've signed up for the Vintage Halloween swap on craftster.org and my mind is racing with all the crafting possibilities.

To get the juices flowing I typed up a list of Halloween-ish words on an old Underwood typewriter I bought last month. You can download the page and use it in your own crafting if you like.

*sigh* Nothing quite compares to old type.

For you...

because I appreciate every kind word and sweet comment.
Make your own Fairy Godmother and Free Mess Making Images

Thanks for being nice :)

xoxo