A Glorious Moon and Morning

I am not a morning person. At all. I need at least 3 mugs of coffee before I am civil. Ask me to pick between sunsets and rises and I will pick sets every time. But this morning the sky was pink and reflecting off the pristine snow and streaming through  the white birch branches and I took notice.

A friend commented that Mother Nature "did phone up and say she was happy you took notice. FINALLY!" and I'm sure this is true. I feel like I've been missing so many of the beautiful things around me. 2017 has kicked my ass so badly that I've been bandaged head to toe and blinded to the things that make me happiest. I'll be glad when this year is gone. GOOD BLOODY RIDDANCE TO YOU 2017! *shakes fist angrily*

BUT let's stay focused on nice things like happy moons and little houses.

A new moon shrine. This fellow measures 7" wide 10" tall and 1.25" deep. It's a tiny bit different than some of the other shrines I've made.

The clay used for the moon is different than the one I normally use. Those stars are something a little different too. Different isn't better or worse... it's just different.

Generally speaking, the only time different is bad is when someone uses it to describe your work. "Oh, that's different." This is the song of the choir that doesn't have praise for your art but doesn't want to offend you.

Those mushrooms are different too. I normally stick to paperclay, it's my preferred material, but these are polymer. Again... no better or worse, just different.

This piece is available in the etsy shop HERE

P.S. If you happen to be nearby, my doors will be open tomorrow, Saturday December 16th from 10am till 4pm. And I'll be around Sunday from 1pm until 3pm for stragglers. Stop in and say "Hello weirdo, you're work is... different."

Fairy Butterfly Shrine

There are a whole whack of tiny shrines sitting on my work table waiting for something to jump inside of them. This particular shrine is much bigger than those tiny ones.

Inside is lined with vintage dictionary pages and a paper fairy sits inside.

The roof is covered with birch bark from a felled tree from our property. And that lovely round wooden piece at the peak is a piece from a vintage french lottery game.

Overall shrine measures approximately 7.5" wide, 9.5" tall, 2" deep.

The Fairy Butterfly Shrine is available HERE

Twinkly sky and mushroom garden shrine

Are you ready for Christmas? I am not. Not even close. But I've been keeping at the making.

Base is a wooden box and pedestal. Glittery night sky over vintage music papers. Wee house was pit fired in the back garden at Pixie Hill. Tiny toadstools are handmade from paperclay.

This wee thing measures approximately 3.5" wide, 6" tall, 2.5" deep.

The Tiny Night House Shrine is available HERE

Jollymaker's Toy Store Window

It's December and I am not prepared for the holidays. Not one little bit! Despite not being holiday ready, I managed to churn this bad boy out.

Jollymaker's, a wintery toy shop window.

The base for this piece is a 10 inch bay window (available from Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts) which has been turned upsidedown. Although it's intended as an add-on to other pieces, I thought it was a great stand alone option for creating a piece both smaller in display size and a smaller creative commitment.

And this piece did come together relatively quickly! The brickwork is simply THIS scrapbook paper. Absolutely no fussy about on this one.

The fancy iron work that borders the top of the piece is Half Scale Widows Walk Fencing.

Inside I've made shelving and packed it with all sorts of sweet little toys. (That rocking horse is amazing btw! Like an old fashioned iron toy.)

The Jester Jack-in-the-Box Toy there is pretty sweet too!

The windows are transparency sheets cut and looks rather lovely and frosty... as a winter window should!

No toy store window would be compete without a Toy Plane and Sailboat Set, Teddy Bear or Train Set. There's all that and more in that little space. It's amazing how much you can fit in a small area with a little organization.

Approximate overall size of this piece is 10.7" tall, 6" wide, 2.5" deep.

Jollymaker's is available HERE.

Want to make your own toy shop? Here are some of the bits I used:

10 inch bay window
Classic Christmas Chimney Bricks Scrapbook Paper
Half Scale Widows Walk Fencing
1 Inch Iridescent Snowflake Ornaments
Fluffy Winter Snow
Frosted Mini Green Sisal Trees
3mm Brass Flat-Back Studs*
Tiny Wrapped Gift Box Ornaments - 1/2 Inch
Wrapped Gift Box Ornaments - 3/4 Inch**
Miniature Clay Dough Peppermints
White Iridescent Snowflake Garland
Mini Holly Leaf Garland
Jester Jack-in-the-Box Toy
Miniature Red Wagon*
Painted Rocking Horse
Miniature Toy Plane and Sailboat Set
Mini Clown Jack-in-the-Box
Tiny Resin Teddy Bear
Tiny Train Set
Xylophone Pull Toy

Peg Doll Angels and Fairies with Tutorial

It's that time of year again when I itch to make some adorable little peg dolls. Honestly, how sweet are they with their cute striped legs?!?!

Normally I stick to fairies but this year I've mixed things up a bit by adding angels into the crew.

I'm not normally an angel person... but I can't resist a sparkly pipe cleaner halo.

Looking for wings? Might I suggest the following collage sheets?

Fairy Wing Collage Sheet

Butterfly Wings

Angel Wing Collage Sheet

I really like using tufts of wool roving for the hair. In a pinch you could use some cotton batting, heck you could use a cotton ball! You might even unravel some yarn or use some moss for their locks.

Just don't get hung up on making these perfect. I think they're so much more fun and charming with their imperfections. It gives them personality.

One word of caution: I use black gel or ink pen to add detailing. There have been times when certain inks react with certain paints. Save yourself some potential heartache, make a sample doll and ensure your ink/paint like one another and don't bleed, run, blur.

AND although I am aware of how brilliant you are, if you need help putting these adorable girls together I've created a video tutorial you might find useful. It's HERE over on my youtube channel. Go, watch, help me earn a fraction of a penny.

On to the list of requirements!

Wooden clothes pegs
Acrylic craft paints

Black gel pel or fine tip liner pen

Wool roving (or other hair substitute)

Wingy things such as:

   Fairy Wing Collage Sheet

   Butterfly Wings

   Angel Wing Collage Sheet

Acorn caps
Silver Pipe Cleaner

Tulle trim
Embellishments

Hot glue

A Plethora of Presents

I absolutely love Christmas and gift giving. If I could, I'd buy something lovely for every single person I know. Alas, my bank account is firmly against this.

BUT I had a nice little idea! I saw the Set of Pre-Cut Drawers intended for the Advent Calendar Shadowbox and thought that they'd make a sweet little base for tiny tokens of holiday cheer. Super simple to assemble and sold as a set of 25 they just lend themselves for en masse making.

AND!!! AND!!! A strip cut from a 6" sheet will wrap around the boxes just so, with just a sliver needed to be trimmed. So, you only need a 6" scrapbook pad to cover these cute wee things. These boxes have all been covered with papers from Authentique's Vintage Christmas. The items I've used are all inexpensive but festive.

Covering the boxes with different papers and embellishments, like Miniature Bookplates or decorative brads, make the tiny gifts feel personalized and not mass produced. Filling the boxes with a variety of dodads and treats makes each little box feel like a unique present.

The items I've chosen to fill the boxes are all inexpensive but festive. I think they're rather sweet.

Some ARE filled with sweets! Then a bit of celophane and a simple tie. If you want to be extra fancy, you might place a single gourmet truffle inside. 

Pieces from the Snowflake Shape Set or Winter Shape Set also make sweet little embellishments.

Or perhaps you'd like to top your box with Christmas fairies or angels.

Or send a little holiday message.

While these little tokens have a decidedly Yuletide feel, these could easily be adapted to any theme as party or wedding favours. 

While these are super simple to create, I do have a video tutorial for you. You can pop over HERE to see just how easy they are!

The list of bits I've used:

Set of Pre-Cut DrawersMiniature Bookplates

Snowflake Shape Set
Winter Shape Set
Victorian Corners 2
Banner Border Strips

Authentique's Vintage Christmas
Wrapped Gift Box Ornaments
Tiny Wrapped Gift Box Ornament
Retro Bottle Brush Tree
Fancy Scalloped Gold Dresden Borders
Little Sweeties Collage Sheet
Angel Wings Collage Sheet
Brads
Fake snow
Moss
Candy
Tissue Paper
Cellophane
Ribbon

Pink Starry Angel Shrine

 Another angel shrine, pink and glittery and starry.

I've been asked about angels for a while but I was always preferred to stay in the fairy realm. And while I'm not really a big 'angel' person, I am rather fond of classical angelic beings.

This piece is created in a chip board box base, lined with vintage papers and glitter. Fluffy clouds and Tinsel halo, paper wings and Pink Thin Looped Dresden Border finish it off.

This original piece is available HERE