Showcase Sunday - Feyth Crafts

Every now and then I stumble across a shop on Folksy that makes me stop and go 'Wow!' It might be something bright and colourful or beautifully simple, sometimes it's the uniqueness or sheer craftsmanship that catches my eye and that is what makes sites like Folksy so special.

The other day, whilst refreshing the home page over and over in the vain hope that I might spot one of my items there a beautiful face beamed up at me and I fell in love - head over heels. I truly hope my OH won't get jealous when he reads this but I must confess Mr Dimbleby stole my heart from the very first moment I laid eyes on him...

Mr Dimbleby

I simply had to see more so I clicked on the image and went to the shop of his creator Traci Howard,  Feyth Crafts and found a whole collection of fabulous fantasy creatures.

Now I have a life long obsession the artwork of Arthur Rackham whose illustrations filled a childhood copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales that I loved. (If you are not familiar with his work you could start here) His art is not your typical cute fluffy fairytale artwork we are used to seeing in kids books these days but quite dark and gloomy and at times even creepy - look closely at the twisted branches of his trees and you will see faces, old, wizened and utterly fascinating to me when I was 7 and still now 30 years on... At around the same time (when I was 6 or 7) my dad took me to see the amazing Jim Henson movie The Dark Crystal a fantasy collaboration with the artist Brian Froud (you may also recognise his style in another Jim Henson movie Labyrinth ) whose fairies, goblins and other fantasy creatures have captured my imagination ever since.



Nerval


So you see Mr Dimbleby and his associates (including Nerval here) immediately resonated with me - it was like discovering a physical manifestation of all my childhood fantasies. Here were the tiny, wizened Little People and Tree People I had always been looking for whenever we went for a walk in the woods or set up a den behind the garden shed...


Sleeping Elf








So why not let a little magic into your life and add introduce a Twog to your garden :)




Twog




 Exquisite is not a word I bandy about unnecessarily but I think it perfectly sums up Traci's work!
For more Twogs, Dragons and other fantasy creatures please visit Traci Howard's lovely shop Feyth Crafts or her website feythcrafts.com 

Wordless Wednesday...

**Handmade Christmas Giveaway**

Well, approximately 24 hours ago I had 196 'likers' of my Forest Flower Facebook page so I suggested that if I could get 4 more I would do a little giveaway...

I have been truly overwhelmed by the response - I seem to have attracted over 100 more likers overnight!! In fact the current number is now 330, well over the 200 I was aiming for!

So as a big thank you to all you gorgeous peeps I am giving you the chance to win some of my handmade lovelies for your very own Handmade Christmas - in fact I am giving you several chances!! (more about that later...)

Here is what is up for grabs

First up we have a pair of felt birds in traditional festive red and green. Made from quality wool mix felt and stuffed with soft high grade polyester toy stuffing and a generous scoop of 'Christmas Spice' scented aroma beads for a warm, welcoming festive fragrance wherever you hang them. The cute gingham wings are blanket stitched in place by hand and decorated with matching buttons. Each bird has a little metal hoop so you can hang them from decorative tree ornament hooks or tie pretty ribbon through them - however you choose.

As if that wasn't enough I am also offering a custom made complete set of my 'Christmas Spice' scented plush tree decorations. The set of four - a heart, bird,stocking and star- will be handmade to your specifications from a choice of fabrics. You can have ribbon hanging loops as shown in the pictures or you could opt for simple metal hoops as seen on the felt birds above and hang them from decorative tree ornament hangers. Each decoration measures approx. 10cm and includes a generous helping of the wonderfully festive 'Christmas Spice' scented aroma beads.  For more information and pictures please visit my Folksy shop

So how can you win these gorgeous handmade lovelies?

I am offering each of you not one but FOUR chances to win this great prize

First you need to pick which one (or more!) of these fabrics you'd like your decorations made with.

(1) Modern 'Dark Green with Gold Swirls'

 (2) 'Vintage Patchwork'

(3) Pretty 'Holly and Berries'

(4) Fun and Contemporary 'Modern Patchwork'

(5) Country Chic Red and/or Green Gingham or

(6) Pure and Simple 'White on White Stars'

Next leave a comment below stating your choice (that's one chance to win)

You could also become a blog follower (that's two chances...)

You can also 'like' my facebook page if you haven't already and leave a comment on the discussion board post *Handmade Christmas Giveaway* (that's three chances...)

and finally if you are on Twitter you can follow me here and tweet the message 'I have entered Forest Flower's #handmadechristmas giveaway. Have you? http://anthea-talesfrommountpleasant.blogspot.com '  just so I know and that's your fourth entry.

So there you have it. Simples :)

You have until midnight on October 31st to enter and the winner will be announced on November 1st at around 8pm (ish)

GOOD LUCK!!

Christmas is coming!! (no, really...)

 I know many people like to avoid even a sniff of the 'C' word before the second week of December, but these are probably the same people who moan and whinge about the 'commercialisation of a holy day' and the 'heaving crowds of desperate last minute shoppers' (of which they are a part!) They are also probably the same people who would sulk a bit if you 'forgot' their pressie!!

But putting the 'holy day' issue to one side for the moment I really think that anyone who leaves it all to the very last minute is really missing the point. It's not about buying as many gifts for as many people as you can think of in the shortest time possible or maxing out your credit card to keep everyone happy. It's about taking time to find something special for the people who mean the most to you.

As a crafter I have been thinking about Christmas all year, looking for ideas for presents, both to make myself and by other artists and crafters I have discovered on sites such as Folksy .

As a crafter who makes things to sell I have been fully immersed in Christmas since about the middle of August!!

This is my first Christmas as a seller on Folksy so I really don't know what to expect but I have been beavering away to produce, amongst other things, a line of gorgeous plush hanging decorations in a range of christmassy fabrics and ribbons all beautifully finished by hand and filled with the fabulously festive 'Christmas Spice' scented stuffing. They are very versatile and could be used as tree decorations or hung on door handles or in bundles around the hallway to welcome your guests. They would also make lovely additions to your Christmas present wrapping and are an extra present in themselves! Some are available in larger quantities (maximum of 5 listed but can make more to order). Some have been made from my stash and are limited. I am booked in for several Christmas craft fairs over the next two months and expect (hope) to sell the bulk of these to customers who can pick them up, appreciate the workmanship and most of all the divine fragrance but I would love to see some go further afield :)

There are three designs available from my Folksy shop right now but I will be adding more soon.

Here is a little glimpse of more of my handmade Christmas goodies...

 

In keeping with the whole spirit of giving I am currently planning my first blog/ facebook / twitter giveaway so if you like what you see above keep your eyes peeled for posts on how you can get your hands on some of my handmade lovelies for free!!

Wordless Wednesday. Ripples...

Wordless Wednesday - Letting the picture speak for itself

Ok - so for this Wednesday only it's not strictly wordless.

This is an idea I spotted on another blog whilst idly blog hopping round the net one day. I believe someone once said 'A picture is worth a thousand words' so as I have so many random pictures lurking on my hard drive I thought I'd give your virtual ears a rest and present you with a feast for your eyes once a week.

The image may be artistic, structural, historic, beautiful, funny, cute or just plain random.

Please feel free to comment, or not, as you choose :)

Sometimes there is no need for words.

An Autumn Walk Round Newent Lake.

Don't you just love this time of year? The weather today is horrendous - torrential rain, gusty winds that rattle our letter box and make the poor fir tree in our back garden sway alarmingly. It's proper 'staying-in-under-the-duvet-watching-tv' weather. Yesterday, however, was gorgeous.

Me and the little man went into Newent with Daddy and ran a few errands while he opened up the bike shop. Then, finding ourselves with some time on our hands we decided to get a bag of duck food from the local green grocers (30p!!) and go for a walk around Newent Lake, a tranquil spot just a stones throw from the Old Shambles Village .

The ducks formed and orderly queue...

...but quickly got stuck in!

It was warm in the sunshine but there was a definite autumn nip in the air and the signs of the changing season were everywhere. Fallen leaves, changing colours, berries and nuts and busy squirrels preparing for winter scarcity.

The water was very still and perfectly reflected the trees and sky...

In fact it was so still I had trouble working out which way up was the right way with this picture!

Riley loves the water and always stops at the bridges to gaze at the water running beneath...

How lucky we are to have such a beautiful place to visit so close by :)

Edited 28th May 2011

Whilst blog hopping (as you do) I stumbled across this lovely idea at The Boy and Me . An opportunity to show off a previous post that didn't do as well as you'd hoped, didn't get the views you would have liked and give it a second chance. This post was first published in October 2010 before I got involved in the mummy blogging community and Twitter. I chose this one mainly because I just love the photos so much. Hope you enjoy it this time round too :)