Pixie Wallow ~ Pixie Crafting with Little Cobs

At my Grandsons, Little Cobs, school they have a ‘project’ which involves a teddy bear called Barnaby.  Each child in the class gets to take Barnaby the Bear home with them for a few days, and Barnaby gets to spend time sharing the family outings, games, toys, meals, visits etc., and the children (with the help of parents, guardians, grandparents) write the story of what Barnaby has been doing while he’s been staying with them.

Little Cobs Daddy (Son in Law) told me about Barnaby, and suggested that perhaps Barnaby Bear would like to come with Little Cobs to visit Grammy and Grandad, and maybe Grammy could do some crafting with Little Cobs and take photographs, print them out and they could then be included in the story book of Barnaby’s time spent with Little Cobs and all the things he did.

And this is the [mostly pictorial] story of how Barnaby Bear came to visit Grammy and Grandad and joined in with some crafting with Little Cobs and his Grammy.

I’ve made little tiny things for years (and years and years – more than I care to own up to).  I love small detail.  And ... I used to make little houses, paint and attach them to various items and used to sell them for just enough money to cover the costs of actually making them.  Now about a month ago, Pinterest (that well known joyful time-waster) sent me an email with pictures of things it suggested I might like.  Among those photos were some little Fairy Houses which reminded me of the Fairy homes I used to make many years ago.  This gave me an idea for what I thought Little Cobs, and Barnaby Bear, might like to make, and the following photographs show you what happened, how it happened, who made it happen, and how it all turned out in the end.

Once upon a time, two and a half weeks ago, there was a boy, a bear, a mug and some clay….

I showed Little Cobs how to make a tiny Pixie House using clay.  My bright little chap got the idea first time and, using just two fingers, he made two perfect little houses, while Barnaby Bear watched and learned.

The little boy then made some Mushroom Caps, and held them up for Barnaby Bear to pass his expert eye over.  Barnaby, as it turned out, is an expert at all things Fairy and Pixie.  What a stroke of luck that was!

Progress  …  Two expertly created Pixie Houses, and two miraculous, magical, Mushroom Caps.

We put the newly made clay pieces to one side and filled the chosen mug and fixed moss in place, to give the feeling of being in Fairy/Pixie Land. (see the Mug Garden over to the left of the photo).  Next came PAINTING!  The little boy – aka Little Cobs, is pretty expert at using a paint brush now and I’m wondering if perhaps I could get him doing a bit of decorating around Cobweb Towers.  Free child labour – and at my favourite price. lol

As you can see, Barnaby Bear was definitely taking his job as Quality Control Bear, very seriously indeed!

It’s a really pretty plate – but not one we use for food.  It just sits around waiting for some passing crafter to blob paint onto it in order to give it a use.  

Once all the paint was dry, and after the artist had had an afternoon snack and a bit of a play, Little Cobs placed all his beautiful handmade pieces in the places he wanted them to be so that he could check for position.  Once perfect, he gave the go ahead for everything to be fixed in place.

A few small resin flowers were added, just for artisticness, (not a real word but it’s so ‘juicy’ that once I’d made it up I simply had to use it), a couple of teeny tiny pine cones and some general florestry bits – just to make it feel like home to any passing Fairy or Pixie who might be looking for a place for the summer.

Barnaby Bear suggested that the whole scene needed a name, so Little Cobs and I came up with Pixie Wallow, and Grammy built a name label on the computer and printed it out for Little Cobs to fix it to the outside of the cup, so that everyone knew what it was.

I’m reliably informed that Barnaby was very happy with Pixie Wallow, and it passed the Inspection Test with a gold star!

It’s ready for a close up, Mr. Demille …  (those who’ve watched Sunset Boulevard will get that one).

All the painting is Little Cobs own, apart from tiny bits where I showed him what he needed to do before I handed over the paint brush, and two spots on one of the Mushroom caps, just to show him how to get that magical ‘dot’ in the right place, in the right size.  He made the houses, the mushroom caps and was the ideas man for how the whole scene was to look.

Little Cobs, Barnaby Bear and myself had an absolutely great time making this.  Lots of laughs and lots of stories about who would eventually live in the Pixie Houses, and who would come and sit on the mushrooms and play in the garden.

Before I go may I share a surprise that I had a couple of days ago.  I got sent an Anniversary Achievement by WordPress . . .

…  four years!  FOUR YEARS I’ve been blogging, and yet if you’d have asked me I would have guessed about…  maybe 2 to 2 and a half years tops.  I can hardly believe it.  Four years,  and I’ve loved every single day of it, and that’s because I’ve shared it with you.

I’ve made so many lovely friends via my blog and have and am enjoying so many blogs which are owned by others.

So thank you, dear reader, for filling my last four years with joy and fun.  I’ve loved getting to know you and hope to continue doing so, and also hope to get to know all the new people who join The Cobweborium Emporium,  or that I find in blog land.

Thank you so much for coming today and sharing Pixie Wallow.  Have a truly blessed rest of your day.

 

 

 

 

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New Fairy Dragon Eggs, & meet one of the makers!

A hundred years ago ….  Ok, I might be exaggerating just slightly there. Let’s begin again.

Last month (February) I shared some Fairy Dragon Eggs that Little Cobs (my grandson) and I had made together.  They were a smash hit with him and he loved them.  So much so that I thought that while he was so enchanted with them, perhaps we could make just one or maybe two more, and enclose them so that they were protected, and (more importantly) they wouldn’t get lost or damaged.  So I put my thinking cap on and came up with the perfect idea.

Little Cobs comes for a visit on Tuesdays.  We collect him from School and he comes to Cobweb Towers for a bit of fun and his tea.

So on the previous day,  (Monday),  I made two tiny eggs – one around 2.5cm tall (just under an inch) and another approximately 1.25cm (which is little bit under half an inch), which I made from Hearty air dry clay, as I wanted them to be light in weight, and quick to dry.

Hearty Clay comes in a variety of colours, and they even have a super lightweight clay which would be fabulous for card adornments which have to go through the post.

The following day we went to collect him from school and, once he was safely ensconced in the car, I told him that I had got two tiny Fairy Dragons eggs in the house, and wondered if he would like to make them look amazing, since he was now considered an expert at Fairy Dragon Eggs.  He was all over the idea and didn’t stop talking about it all the way home.

He bounced into the house, hung his coat up, and was waiting at the table before I’d even managed to take my own coat off!

I stupidly didn’t bother taking photo’s of the undecorated eggs, because I thought “everyone knows what a white egg looks like” – but am now wishing that I’d have taken a photo of them,  next to a real [chicken] egg  –  so that you could see the size difference.  They looked exactly like eggs from the smallest chicken in the world!  Even the little chap said over and over how cute they were. Bless him.

I put out all the ‘Fairy Colours’ of Pinflair Buff-It, and told him to choose the ones he wanted to use.  He wanted them all.  (Thankfully I’d left the pots of ‘duller’ colours in the drawer).

I got out a selection of [cheap – pound shop] cosmetic sponges and put one on top of each of the Buff-it colours and he went to town.  He needed no reminder of how to apply the colours, and was so delicate and gentle.  Finally, when every last bit of both eggs was covered in the magical colours, he took a tissue and gently ‘polished’ them and made them shine and glow.

The Magical Eggs shone, and his eyes shone and twinkled as he gazed at them.

I then produced something which caused him to gasp.  A tiny miniature ‘cake’ stand and matching dome.  I told him that we were going to put these eggs inside the dome and then seal the dome so that no one else could ever touch them, and, even better,  they would never get lost!  “They’ll be sealed inside the dome for alllll eternity.  For ever and ever and ever!”  I said. (trying to sell him the idea because I thought he might not ‘see’ my vision).  He saw. He loved the thought that he would be the only person who knew what these eggs felt like in his hand.

By the time we were ready to put the eggs into the dome it was almost time for him to go home, so I said that I could do that bit, he just had to show me where to put the Fairy Dragon Eggs inside the dome so that I got it perfectly right.  He put them on the stand, and then carefully put the dome on top.  He sat at the table and looked . . .   then gave me a whole new set of instructions of exactly how he wanted things done:

“Grammy – they need petals.  Flower petals.  On the bottom, and the eggs on the top of the petals.  Like in a nest.  You put petals on there and then the eggs on the petals”.

He looked deep into my eyes to see if I understood.  I smiled at him and repeated what he’d said, pointing to the cake stand top, to show I knew where he meant the petals to be.  He seemed satisfied that I understood.

Daddy arrived to collect him, and the last thing Little Cobs whispered to me was: “Don’t forget the PETALS, Grammy!”.   Bless his beautiful heart.  He melts me every time I see him.

I did exactly as I was instructed to do.  I didn’t forget the petals:

It was stupidly difficult to photograph the Fairy Eggs when they were sealed inside their dome home, as the light kept bouncing off the curves.  But I did manage one which isn’t great – it’s a bit dull and flat, but it gives a slightly clearer view:

That’s a penny in the picture, for reference

As you can see . . .  I didn’t forget the petals.  😀  lol.

In the end, I loved the look of these so much that I’ve decided that I’m going to make some for myself. They look so impressive in real life that I just HAVE TO!

When he came on the Saturday, he fell in love with his Fairy Dragon Eggs all over again. He took them home at the end of the day, and his mummy (daughter No.2) told me a couple of days later, that the Fairy Eggs had barely left his side since he’d taken them home.  He was carrying them around with him everywhere he played.

I promised, in the title of this post, that you could meet the maker . . .  and you shall…

We’ve had snow here in Dorset in the last few days, and obviously, like all children do – Little Cobs wanted to play in it … and his mummy took photo’s.  She sent me some in a text message … and although I’m extra mega careful of sharing photographs of children on-line,  I asked, for the first time ever, if mummy would mind if I shared one of the photographs on my blog, so that you could see the little chap who I’m totally nuts about … and mummy said yes!

So here, with an enormous amount of pride [which bursts out of me like rays of the brightest sun, shining through every pore on my body], is my fabulous Grandson – Little Cobs…

photograph not for reproduction – altered or otherwise.

…  I’m totally dotty about this child. He’s an incredibly handsome little chap.  The product of a very pretty mommy (daughter No.2) and a very handsome daddy (son-in-law, husband of D.No.2).   But …  he has my eyes – the same colour of Hazel, with the same flashes of gold dotted randomly around the iris, which really show up when he’s happily excited about something.

This isn’t the end of the crafty creations that he and I have made together over the past couple of weeks.  I still have one final thing to share – but that will wait for another day.

Thank you for coming and sharing a coffee with me.  Wishing you a happy rest of your day. 

Love . . . 

 

 

Fairy Dragon Eggs ~ the Cobs way.

I said last week (in The Wand of Doom post) that Little Cobs (my Grandson) and I had done another crafty project together, which I’d share in another post, and I’m here today to share that crafty project, along with some others which I started off, and he finished.  All of what you are about to see were made with Little Cobs.

It all began with me mentioning that I knew that Fairies had Fairy Dragons which they rode on, and which protected all of Fairy Land from any dangers like fierce dogs or Ogres(!),  and,  I said,  those Fairy Dragons laid eggs, from which Baby Dragons were born!

Little Cobs, naturally wanted to see a Fairy Dragon Egg.  Hmm.  Now I’d seen on Pinterest and on someone else’s blog, some ‘Dragon Eggs‘ which were just incredible.  But … not suitable at all for a small child, as they were made from drawing pins (thumb tacks).  Knowing Little Cobs as I do, I knew that he’d pick those pins out one at a time until there was a trail of them through the house!

So I had to come up with another idea.  And I did.  And …  that original idea turned into another one, and then it made me think of something else … and on and on until …  well …  I’ll share the photos, and then you’ll see.

It all began with a polystyrene egg …  which I painted first to take away the white (but you can get away without doing that bit, if you want to try this out).  Then, using glue gel in a syringe, I fixed assorted Candi (made by Craftwork Cards) and overlapped the Candi  dots, to make the ‘Dragon Scales’.

Photo showing the egg, half way through the making process.

Once I’d  finished fixing all the Candi dots in place, the egg looked like this ….

A Dragon Egg . . .  but it needed ‘the Magic!’

The glue gel needs 24 hours to dry – and unless you’re really careful, I’d suggest covering the egg with the Candi dots in two sessions.  It’s not a quick to do project, so don’t think you’ll get away with it being finished in an hour.  You get quicker as you get used to it … but it’s still a good couple of hours or more to cover an egg.

The egg looked impressive exactly like that – and Little Cobs loved it … but it needed some Fairy Magic to actually bring it to that special place that children love.  So …  out came the Buff It – by Pinflair.  (one of my most favourite crafting items in my craft room – I absolutely love it!).  I told my project manager (aka Little Cobs)  to choose three colours of the Buff it – which took him ages, – that kid likes to change his mind a lot!  lol.  I gave him a cosmetic sponge and showed him how to get just a little bit of Buff It on the sponge, and gentle swipe it over the Dragon Scales on the Egg.  And when we’d finished,  this ….  is what had happened …

 

He was absolutely delirious with joy at this egg.  He didn’t want to put it down.  He took it to Grandad so that it could be admired.  He showed it to the Dog, and even to Alf Capone (one of the cats), who I interpreted for (I speak several languages – English, Dog, Cat, Horse, Rabbit and [mostly] Gobbledygook), and said that Alf was very impressed and believed that it really was a Fairy Dragon Egg – adding that Alf would know this because he played with the fairies every single day!

 

From there, we went on to colour another Egg I’d pre-made ready for him, this time using all Pink Candi dots . . .

…  as you can see we coloured that one totally in Antique Gold Buff It – and you can just see the pink of the Candi Dots peeping out from between the scales, which kind of gives it a sort of rosey glow about it.

…. this picture (above) is of the exact same egg, but stood up (balanced on a glitter shaker lid), with a penny coin, so that you can get an idea of the size.

So, those Candi dot eggs completed,  out came some more polystyrene eggs, only this time I did something totally different with them, and Little C and I coloured them up  … and here’s what they look like…

This effect of a lumpy, bumpy egg came about by using a heat gun.  Now if you try it yourself be aware that you have to be REALLY careful with the heat.  Firstly … DON’T HOLD THE EGG IN YOUR HAND while using the heat gun on it.   And don’t hold the heat in one place for too long.  You have to keep the heat moving around and know when to stop heating.  As soon as you begin to see a result that you like, then stop.

Little Cobs wanted to use only Pearl coloured Buff It on this bumpy egg,  but I said that it might look a little boring so talk him into letting me add just little bits of colour, here and there, and blended them well, so that it looked as if it had that lustre of a real pearl – or the colours of Mother of Pearl.

My Project Manager made the executive decision of BLUUUE! (said like that too! lol) – for this egg.  Again, this lovely effect was done using the heat gun – but very gently.   Once we’d coloured up the egg and Little C had ‘polished’ it to a sheen, it was just fabulous… in fact, it reminded me of a Chocolate Easter Egg, wrapped in foil and waiting for me to break it open and eat!

And finally . . .  I wanted to do something that wasn’t Dragon …  something with more ROAR and GROWL and ARGGH!  . . .  and thought that perhaps I could get a result that was more grungy and pitted – in the hope of making a Dinosaur Egg!

 

This result came from carefully heating the egg in places for a while, then coming back and heating that bit again, then again and again – until the desired result came about. It was still bumpy in some places, but more grungy in others.  I have no idea what a Dinosaur Egg might look like, but this, I decided was what our Dino Egg was going to look like. 🙂

The Project Manager decided upon brown and green for the Dinosaur egg,  and to be honest,  I think he chose the perfect colours for it.  They really worked as Dinosaur colours.

All in all we had an absolute ball of a time with these eggs. Great Crafting projects and lots of fun both in the making of and in the colouring up.

Oh crikey!  … almost forgot ... all of the papers you see in the photographs is all Graphic 45 paper – from one of their more recent collections:  ‘Fairy Dust’.

And that’s all there was to it!  😀

I still have two special eggs to show you – but those will be for another time.  I think I’ve kept you here long enough, and that bit of coffee you’ve got left in your cup must surely be cold by now.  Shall I get you another?  Or do you have to rush off?

Thank you so much for coming.  Happy Monday!  I hope your week ticks along nicely, with no problems which make you pull your hair out, and no troubles like finding out you’ve got the work or the shops and forgotten your purse or keys.

May an Angel pass over your house and sprinkle your home with love, peace, joy and all the stuff which will give you contentment.

Have a blessed rest of your day, and a truly lovely week.

Sending squidges ~ 

 

Tag Art.

Back in 2014 I began the Tag Art category here on the blog and although I did post Tag Art from time to time,  I didn’t post in that category all that often except to add a bit of something or other, every now and again.

A couple of weeks ago I had a bit of a change around in my craft room and came across the box labelled ‘Tag Art’, and I realised that I hadn’t done any Tag Art in …  well I couldn’t even remember when!

I thought I could perhaps wake it up and see if I can interest anyone in trying a little tag art too.

If you haven’t met Tag Art before then can I suggest that you read the opening post in the Tag Art category on this blog, which tells you everything you might need to know about Tag Art.  (There aren’t any rules).  You’ll hopefully find suggestions to get your mind working and your arty fingers itching.

You can find that opening post here:  We’ll start with a Basic (little) Tag … With a (little) basic art.  

The photo at the head of this post is of a Tag that I made ages ago for one of the first posts on Tag Art here on the blog, but felt that it would be nice to begin with an oldy but goody.

I’ve also taken some photo’s of Tags I still have in the box to share with you.  Some are there because I kind of liked them.  Some were ideas for a tag which I never got around to doing anything about.  And some are there because I didn’t throw them away. . .  … and there are a few photos.  So in an effort to take away the mystery and show you that anything YOU make on a tag is great!

Ho Ho Ho.

A card tag, grunged up a little, with a panel of fabric sewn to it.  Halloween!

Made using a blue card tag and two colours of a Kuretaki calligraphy pen to make the bamboo tree trunks

Practise tags.  I was trying to work out the best way to draw a sunflower using my Kuretake Calligraphy pens.  I got there in the end, but sadly forgot to take a photo.  (Margaret is my neighbour)

Of course .. you just KNEW there HAD to be a fairy here  somewhere or other.  lol  She was an idea I had for what a particular type of fairy might look like for another project I had in mind.

A bit of ginger joy on a tag.  I painted LOTS of these tags a while ago, and put them all on the front of some plain white cards, and sent them out for Christmas.  I loved the fabulous little ginger faces SO much that I decorated some circles and stars shapes made from wood, with these wonderful happy faces and hung them on my christmas tree.  I still have them today, and still hang them on the tree every year.  Love them.

If you make Tag Art, you must make sure that you sign the back (and date it) so that your tag can be seen to be made/painted by you.

I bought the ‘Tag Art’ stamp as an unmounted red rubber stamp, and the moment it arrived I went routing around the scraps of wood in Mr.Cobs shed, found this piece, inked up the stamp and pressed it onto the back and then glued the stamp to the other side.  I’ve had this stamp for about twelve years now.

Tag Art is anything you want it to be.  It can be painted, drawn, stamped, coloured with pencils, felt tip pens, specialist colouring pens, or left with no colour at all.  You can glue things, attach things – lace, ribbon, adornments, bits of wood, leaves, acorns, feathers, anything.  Anything which you want to fix to your tag you can.  (Obviously you can’t attach something which is too heavy – no sticking a car engine to a tag, because it’s just not going to work! lol).  You can add paste – maybe through a stencil to give a texture.  Glitter, small dolls, toy soldiers, plastic animals,  flowers, (pretend and pressed) … anything.  Do anything you like to get the result you have in your head.  Make it complicated or make it simple – like the tag at the head of this post – the one with the blue flower on it.  Just make some art, because it gives you a ‘high’ which you won’t get anywhere else.

Here’s a tag I made especially so that I could include it here.  It’s a simple tag … and to prove that it’s simple I’ve taken photographs of each step along the way which I did to make the tag.  Here’s the finished tag . . . .

The finished tag measures 9.5inches or 24.5cm x 5.4″inches or 13.5cm.

I measured out the length of card I would need to put the image of the Angel onto the card, cut the card to size and then gave that card the pointy top you see in the photo.

I stamped the image and began to paint her colours . . .

I decided to keep her colours to greys and blues in order to give this a cold winter breeze feeling.

I coloured up the background with a watery wash of pale grey.  Then turned my attention to the edges and echoed the denim blue of her jacket and wings.  I then added the snow at her feet which she was stood in,  and added dots of snow as it fell from the heavens.

image taken from a different angle so that you can see the ‘snow’

Mounted the image onto black card to echo the black of the stamped image.

Added lengths of lace at the bottom, and towards the top of the tag.  I added charms to hang from that lace – these are made from Tibetan Silver, and the angel coin in the centre at the bottom has a more vintage look about it.  It has an angel cut from the centre, and around that it says ‘You are My Special Angel’.  I embossed all around the edges of the Tag in Silver Embossing Powder.  There are little ‘feathers’ at each end of the lace, along the top of the tag.  These are made of velum.  The card then was mounted onto some royal purple coloured card.  I punched a hole towards the top where the point is, using my Crop-a-dile, and added an eyelet, for the ribbon to hang by.

The Tibetan Silver Feathers and the Angel coin hanging at the bottom of the Tag.

And of course .…  don’t forget to sign your Tag Art on the back …  and perhaps date it, even give it a name and any other details you feel you want to add to your art.

The end of a really simple bit of Tag Art.

What do people do with their tags once made?  Well you can do pretty much anything you have a mind to do.  I have a tendency to mount them on or in cards, or use them in scrapbooks.  However, I also keep some of them because I fall so deeply in love with them that I simply can’t part with them.  So I store them.  I have a box, and some big clippy pegs which I use to hold bits of art.  People also keep tags in Library Drawers. They make a particular sized tag so that they can be stored in that special draw which they have.  I’ve also seen tags hung on a wire coat hanger, and they look spectacular like that.  I can imagine them hung on a wall in the house, and one tag could be chosen to ‘speak’ for a few days, and then move it along the hanger and choose another tag to display.

A dandelion wish, and a wish-bone wish!

A Tag, which has some surprise Tags!

Make your tag(s) about anything you want.  Anything you have an interest in.  Anything which would make you smile.

Just a crocheted flower on a plain tag … draw a plant pot and a stalk and you’re done!  Maybe a picture of a bike in the newspaper?  Or an advertisement for perfume, hair spray, cosmetics, fishing equipment?  Anything.  Anything at all.  Then build your tag up a little – eg. if you chose the fishing equipment, you could perhaps add a bit of netting somewhere on the tag, or a plastic fish you’ve ‘tidied up’ from your children’s games, maybe a photo of a fish which you fix to card (for stability) and then fix in place using foam tape to give the tag a little depth.  Add ribbon and anything else you’d like and VOILA!  One Art Tag!

You can buy your tags … or you can simply use card and cut tags to the size you want them.  Round Tags, square, triangular, kite shaped, banner shaped.  Anything you like.  Oh … and I almost forgot to say … once you’ve made it, you can also use it on a gift just like a normal gift tag, so when you hand your gift over, what you’ll be giving is actually two gifts.

Go on.  Make some Art.  You KNOW you want to.  Do it.  Go do it now!  Have some fun!

If you’d like to have a go at Tag Art, do it today.  Don’t put it off till a week next Tuesday, do it now while you have the inspiration bubbling inside you.

You can buy tags almost anywhere and for a small amount too.  Add some PVA glue, an empty cereal box so that you can back some images and give them support (for things like pictures cut from magazines and newspapers), and you’re good to go.

We’re only given so many tomorrows and at some point those tomorrows run out.  So do it now.  Enjoy yourself now.  Have a little fun.  You never know, you might like it so much that you decide to buy some proper card to back your pictures/cut-outs and from there … the sky’s the limit!

Have a truly blessed rest of your day.  May you end the day by looking in the mirror and smiling at yourself.  And . . . . Let’s make a brand new rule for life;   as from tonight, always be a little kinder than is necessary.  That’s all the world needs to begin repairing itself.  Us to be a little kinder than is necessary.

Sending my love ~

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A special Thank You [Tag] Card

My last post told you about how a bad week was turned about by a token of incredible wonderfulness from an amazing fellow blogger, Mrs.Craft.  (If you missed the post you can find it HERE – it will open in another window for you).

I wanted to make something to say ‘Thank You’ – but something a bit different from just a normal thank you card.  I’d been working on an idea of making a post about Tag Art,  and suddenly a little Fairy sparkle of an idea grabbed me and spurred me on to make a Tag Art card for Mrs.Craft.  But I needed a theme.  hmmmm

Something popped into my mind.  Mrs.Craft is the maker of some extraordinary show stopping slippers….  knitted slippers.  BUT STOP…  don’t think of ‘knitted slippers’, instead think Fairy Boots.

Mrs. Craft calls her creations Crocodile stitch slippers.  What kind of name is that for something which belongs in the land of the Fairies??  It says nothing about the absolute fabulousness of those magical slippers.   I mean to say … look at these Boots …

CreditL Mrs.Craft.

Credit: Mrs.Craft

All photographs of the boots belong to Mrs.Craft.

Every time Mrs.Craft posted about her ‘Crocodile stitch Boots’, I told her in a comment that she really should consider calling them something more wonderful.  Fairy Boots.  Unicorn Rider Boots.  Elfin Creepers.  That sort of thing.  Of course … Green creations could be called Crocodile Creepers.  But not these fantastical wonders!

When I was a child I can remember not wanting to wear my slippers which my mom had bought me.  But had they been given a magical name such as ‘Samantha’s Slippers’ or ‘Bewitched bootees’  (both after the TV series Bewitched – which I adored to as a child),  then I doubt very much that you’d have ever got them off my feet!

So with a nod to the Fairy vibe  I decided to theme the Thank You Tag card around Fairy Land, and I share the resulting card with you here…

(. . . and to borrow the words of Willy Wonka himself . . .)

“Come with me and you’ll be in a world of pure imagination . . .”

 

A Card for Mrs. Craft

The large red balloon was made by cutting out the same shape over and over, and then glueing them to each other so that the ‘half round’ shape for the balloon was achieved.

Oooo, yes please …  ‘Admit One to Wonderland’   I’m all for that!

….and … of course, there had to be Fairy Dust, after all …  we were in Wonderland!

What better place to allow your thoughts to take flight than when you’re DREAMING!

The Scroll on the front, to the right of the balloon reads:  “How does one become a butterfly?”  she asked.  “You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a CATERPILLAR”.

All the butterflies you see on the front are hand-made from card, but with a mix of embossing powders on them, and heated over and over, in order to make them look enamelled.  There are a couple of hidden ‘smiles’ on the front of the card, but I couldn’t photograph those as they were tucked away and pretty impossible to try to get a photo of.

Shall we go inside?…

A peep into the middle…

The centre is a tad less decorated … because well… one has to have a place to write!  But it still has charm …

The ‘DREAM’ which you saw peeping over the top of the front of the card is actually a Bookmark which I made specially for Mrs.Craft, for this card.  It simply slides off the top of the card, and can be used as a regular bookmark.

On one side of the inner card there is a ‘scroll’ which reads…

…  and it continues on the other page of the card, and tells you exactly what you need to enter the Land of the Fae…

OF COURSE!!  “… one must come with the right KEY“  …  now why didn’t I think of that?!   So …  where do we get the right key from???

…  look closely.  ‘The Right Key’ is there … suspended on a cobweb thread, inside a tiny glass bottle, which has been sealed closed and dusted with Fairy Dust.  The glass bottle is hung inside the card, on a length of woven Unicorn Mane Hair. (or something like that).

… And of course … no one would expect that a Tag Art card,  made with the help of a Fairy who was sat on my shoulder, would have a plain ol’ boring back.  Nooooo.  Mrs. Craft deserved the full works …  and the Fairy whispered into my ear and told me I was to tell her this …

“Your Wings exist  . . . FLY!”  …. so, Mrs.Craft,  I know you’re reading this, and I wanted to tell you that the Fairy who was sat on my shoulder told me to tell you that your wings really do exist.  Don’t be afraid to fly.  (But I don’t think she meant jump off a ledge and fly…  not that sort of flying.  I think she meant that you can do anything you put your mind to.  And … I agree with her.  I think you can too.   So then…. ETSY shop here you come!).  😜

Thank you again Mrs.C for the wonderful gifts.  You won’t ever know how much your kindness  meant  means to me.  Bless your beautiful heart.

Edit to add:  Mrs.Craft has (a few hours before I did) made a blog post about this card and the fabulous Chutney which she had made and sent me a jar of.  If you’d like to read her post too, you can do  HERE   <— click to be taken to Mrs.Crafts blog post.

And now you …. no, not Mrs. Craft, but you...  you reading right now …  I want to do a post about Tag Art.  So … we’ll do that in a few days.  You see a little while back …  I introduced some folks to working in ATC size – which I was thrilled to pieces about.  Seriously so.  But … I kind of would love to also introduce those folks to TAG ART too.  It’s another fabulous way to craft, and really very easy.  So … that post will come in a few days. I promise. [holds pinky finger up]

Thank you so much for coming.  I love seeing you here and love even more when I get to chat with you, so please say hello in a comment.  Tell me what’s going on.  How you are.  How your cat/dog/bird/children/boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife/parent(s) are.  Failing that … tell me your current guilty secret.  Have you bought something you shouldn’t?  Or planning to?  Do tell.  I love the juicy bits!  😎

I hope your Thursday is a truly lovely day.  Please …  Do something which makes someone else smile.  Pull a face.  Cross your eyes and pull your tongue out.  Just make someone smile.  It might just make their whole day into something worth being alive for.

A smile is a magical gift.  Use it.  LOTS.   It never runs out. 

Sending oodles of squidges to you ~

Save

Little Fairy Shoes ~ once owned by Lady Lillie Fairy!

Looking through my photos on my camera I found these photos which I took ages ago and totally forgot to share them. What a dope!

These fairy shoes belonged to Lady Lillie Fairy.  She’s rather a big deal in The Land of the Fae.  She’s the Fairy equivalent of our Dame (a title bestowed only by the Queen (or who ever is the Monarch at the time) in the UK).  She’s well-respected and treated as a high-ranking Fairy among those who reside in the Land of the Fae.

She has her clothes made by Fairyland Designers, and shoes made by a Cobbler called Cobwebs.  (Yes, I know, how incredible is that?  Me=Cobwebs;  Cobwebs=Cobbler! Who woulda thunk?!).

Possibly made from the petals of a Lily which one can find only in Fairy Land.  (or they might have been made from Polymer. [cough])  Can you see the teeny tiny stamens – which don’t leave any stains on your clothes – peeping out from the insides of the inner petals of the Lily?  They’re made from the same stuff.

The decoration which you see to the front of the shoes are teeny tiny green glass beads, which are hung on copper wire.  These beads give the most delightful tinkling noise as the shoes are moved, which makes every step taken ring out in an ethereal, magical, almost imagined sound,  – but it’s not imagined, for you really can hear it  – as you would expect from a Fairy!

The copper Penny sat next to the shoes in the photographs is there for reference, so that you can get an idea of the size of the shoes.

Of course, no shoes were stolen in order to share these shoes with you.  These shoes were left under a Fairy toadstool, in a place which is clearly labelled  “Sharing the Shoes” – so that a passing Fairy might stumble upon them and try them for size, or a human, with an eye for Fairies, might find them and either add them to a collection (as I do) or might begin a collection.

 

These Fairy Lillie Shoes were brought to you by Cobwebs. 

Have a spiffing Saturday!  Be good to yourself, and be lovely to anyone you come into contact with.  The Fairies would approve.  😉

Squidges ~

 

 

Believe in the Magic . . .

In a comment on my last Fairy Dress bit of artwork (an A.T.C. – you can see it  HERE  –  it will open up in another window for you),  I received this message … or maybe it was a letter … 

Dearest Cobs,
I would like to place my order for a lovely fairy dress in my size. I would also like it to have a bit of magic in it so that it makes my size be about 5 sizes smaller. And if I’m going to ask for some magic I should also like the feathers to be completely functional so that I can lift my skirt and fly away whenever the mood strikes me!
Sending you the fluffiest of fluffy feathered blessings!
~ Tami

Well, this young lady didn’t discuss colours, she only mentioned feathers, and a magical dress which would make her look at least 5 sizes smaller.  But … I don’t think it would be small enough for a real Fairy Dress in Fairyland … so I’m going to have to wave a Magic Wand over Miss Tami and simply change her into Fairy Size.  However, I have made her a dress which has a feathered skirt, – the feathers of which have been kissed with colour by a Kingfisher as he flew past.  As Fairy Tami flies, the feathered skirt will simply brush away from her legs which will allow her to land easily.

The Fairy Wings are the most beautiful of feathers …. but they’ve been died, cut and tinted to make them look like a butterflies wings.

The Skirt …  has been adorned with Diamond like Crystals, which can also be found on the bodice, at the centre of each flower.  The Bodice was all hand painted.

Above the Fairy Dress is a crown of gold ….  again decorated with Diamond like Crystals, and placed at a slightly jaunty angle, as I feel that Miss Tami would wear her crown at a slightly jaunty angle to show the fun side of her character.  (And believe me, that gal has a MAHOOSIVE fun side!  lol).

Although the four photos might appear to be exactly the same, they actually aren’t.  I tried my best to show the little details of this card so had to use different lighting in the hope of drawing attention to things so that you got a full idea of the whole card.

The Fairy Dress and Wings are mounted on an 8″x8″ plain white card blank.  The Teal colour around the edge is actually called Aquamarine, and is made using one of my most favourite crafty products – Pinflair Buff-it.  I LOVE this stuff and have it in about 8 different colours.  You can buy it direct from  Pinflair HERE –  I’ve shopped with them for many years now and cannot fault their service.

After I’d applied the Buff-it and polished it to a shine,  I then applied wriggly lines of glue all over the card and added very fine glitter dust to that glue.

I fixed the Dress and Wings in place;  fixed the crown at a jaunty angle, and finally fixed the word ‘believe’ to the bottom right hand corner – which I’d printed onto some thin white cotton.

And that’s all there was to it!

I do hope Miss Tami likes it.  Of course… she’ll have to have a fitting to ensure that it fits OK, but personally .. I can’t see a problem.  I think it will fit like a glove.

All that’s left for me to say now is ….  I hope your week is going well and that it’s not too hot, nor too cold where ever you are right now.  Here … well it’s a little humid in my cottage, but I’m sure it’s like that for a reason …  and being England, the weather will change if you blink so I’m sure it won’t last for too long.  (Although it’s three days here in the South Coast, and I am getting just a little fed up of feeling like a wilted flower).

Have a wonderful day, whatever you’re doing.  And whatever you’re doing, be nice.  Smile.  A smile costs nothing, but it can change a person’s whole day.

Squidges, from me here in my corner to you there in yours.