Red Spotted Toadstool

The fantastic craftylittlemonkey over on craftster.org was very kind and very generous, and sent me a fantastic package of goodies which included a glorious bell jar with a wooden base.

I decided to make a red spotted toadstool to go inside. It looked awfully lonely in there so I built a ladder. Then I thought there needed to be a reason for the ladder and toyed with the idea of putting a telescope and star chart on top but space was pretty tight up there. So my husband said "Why not make a wee paintbrush and bucket of paint? After all, how else do you think those toadstools are such vibrant colours."

And so, believe it or not, I listened to my husband. Shock of shocks!

It's snowing! SNOWING!

Okay, so I slept through the snowing BUT the kidlet did wake me up before 7:30 to drag me to the window to see the absolutely perfect layer of white stuff.

Everything is covered in ice and snow. And it's gorgeous!

and just look at those perfect little paw prints!

*dreamy sigh*

Padfoot thinks the snow is a new toy just for him.

D's sled on the other hand is his mortal enemy :)

**Excuse the double posts between here and the Pixie Hill blog. I'm going to squish everything together soon. **

Cannibal Snowballs and Peggy Fairies

Where are the days going? November is breezing past like nobodies business!

Just a couple of small things to post...

A couple of years ago I made some emotional snowballs. This year I made some cheeky ones. At least one of them is a cannibal.

I also made some very simple, but very cheery Christmas fairies.

I think they're rather cute :)

Now, it's 3:20 and I've been working so hard on dull design work that I'm still in my jammas so I gotta run! Cheerio!!!!

Faerie Specimens

It's going to be a glorious day. It's Friday, we're going to the Santa Clause parade tonight and I made something cute. Really, stinking cute. Quite possibly the worlds best stocking stuffer :)

They measure around 1.75" tall. Teeny weeny!

Each are numbered and have their own specimen description.

No. 001.11 - Faerie House and Toadstools, found in the Eastern field beneath a large pine tree

No. 002.11 - Faerie House and Toadstool, discovered beneath the rows of brussel sprouts 

No. 007.11 - Ladybird and mushrooms collected from a mossy stump on the South hill. 

No. 003.11 - Faerie House and Toadstool, plucked from a spot very near the compost heap.

P.S. Here's a pic before the labels to give you a better idea of the size of them.

These aren't in my esty just yet because I think I'm going to hoard them for our open house. If I can capture some more I might list one or two in the shop.

...and it's done!

The Storyteller's House is complete!

The base measures just 10.5" x 7" and the house is around 18" tall. There is a boatload of stuff going on in this house. Some of my favourite things are...

The mossy roof with toadstools, rabbit hole and lost kite.

Paper flowers in the window boxes.

Milk bottles.

The mud trail from the door to the tiny little boots.

The three tiny mice that scurry about the roof.

The teeny weeny letters on the table and the wristwatch clock on the wall.

You can see all more photos on the Pixie Hill Studio facebook page.

Pretty little paper flowers

I'm this close to finishing the Storyteller's House. There's a lot of outside stuff that needs to fiddled with, one of those things was making little flowers for the exterior flowerboxes.

Totally inspired by this flower tutorial... I've made a tutorial for lazy crafters with chunky fingers :)


Cut a bunch of round-ish shapes out from tissue paper (I got a whole stack for .99 from the Asian market). These were a bit smaller than a dime. Don't be too picky... nature is perfect in her imperfection.

Stick a bead at the end of a pin. This is really helpful because otherwise the tissue will tear.

Push the pin through a couple of 'petals' and push them up till they meet the bead.

Using your thumb and finger, pinch and roll.

Repeat. Add petals. Pinch. Roll. A bit of crumpling is good too.

Very soon you will have something like this...

Push a crimping bead tight against the bottom of your flower to hold it all in place.

Ta da! A pretty bed of roses/peonies in no time at all!

Use fewer red oblong petals for a poppy...

Cut/fray the edges of your finished flower, then crumple it up a little to make carnation/mum sort of blooms.

I wasn't bothered about the pin head showing, but if you could always paint it to match the bead if you like, or even just give it a dab with a Sharpie (thanks craftylittlemonkey).
 
Happy making!
 
xoxo

Lest we forget.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

~ John McCrae