Spring

Well it seems to have arrived, finally. What a lovely week we have had here at the Fairyglade. Washing has been dried on the line and there has been time to sit a while after work and do some crafting.

Here is where I sit in the warm sunshine, do you like the cushions? Bargain at Dunelm Mill.

There has been a bit of dolly making and a bit of knitting too. Ages since I picked up my needles. Excuse the porky fingers and the tatty nails.

I will tell you more about this make when I have done a bit more, but think flowers.......

Now, let me introduce you to Delia, my latest fairy doll. Isn't she cute!

Her dress is made from an old dressing table mat and I have attached some pretty beads in the centre of the flowers.I have used an old earring to decorate her bodice and another one for a bit of sparkle on her lace headband. (She is in my shop if you are interested. See the link on the sidebar).

And so onto the Giveaway. Sadly I have not heard from thriftymissus which is a real shame. Just to let you all know that I emailed several people, contacted bloggers with similar names and I believe that another fab blogger even tweeted a message in the hope that she might get in touch. So I feel that I have done what I can.

So, this afternoon the magic hand pulled another name from the dish and this time it's congratulations to Vintage Vicki. So sorry thriftymissus!!

I hope that you are all enjoying some sunshine and will be back with another Giveaway soon.

Dev x

BLOG SHOUT

This is a blog shout for thriftymissus who entered and won my giveaway on 13th March. I have been unable to contact her and she hasn't checked back with me to see the results. Therefore, I am going to give her until this Sunday coming (27th) to claim the Larkrise DVD's. If I have still heard nothing, then I will draw another winner. If anyone else can help me track her down then I would be really grateful. I did wonder if she is an invited reader only blog and that's why there are no links back to her?

I hope this is acceptable to everyone involved and I am unaware of any blogging protocol to be followed in such cases. Again, if anyone knows different, I would appreciate the advice.

If Thriftymissus reads this at some later date, I don't want her to be offended, so really, really hope that she gets in touch.

Dev x

Tah Da Moment

Hello there and I hope everyone has been having a lovely weekend. So here we are again. Now what shall we do first the Giveaway or the Ta Dah moment...mmmm....decisions, decisions.........

Okay, Tah Da moment it is then. So without further ado, can I introduce you to Lottie and Mabel. Lottie first I think as she was the first one to be completed.

She's is so pretty with her braided hair and little star decorations.Her dress is made from an old lace handkerchief with an overskirt of deep white lace. I have used a diamante trim to give her a bit of sparkle, and she has her dancing shoes on too.



She is approximately 10 inches tall from the top of her hair down to her twinkly toes.



Secondly, Miss Mabel. She is slightly smaller at 9 inches. Her underskirt is made from an old chair back and her overskirt, a piece of fabric from a bolero jacket made to go with a bridesmaid dress.



Her hair is made using Wenslydale sheep's wool all the way from a flock in Germany. I made her a pretty bow with some crochet lace from the chair back and topped with a small pearl bead.

Her bodice is adorned with an old diamante and pearl earring from my Mum's magic box of pretties.

She too has her dancing shoes on, decorated with tiny metallic gold stars. They both have white wings made from an old napkin and also have a hook at the back for hanging from wherever you want.

There is she is as pretty as a peach...Miss Mabel.

I hope that you like then both, I can't decide which one is my favourite, what about you?

I have decided to offer these two girlies for sale in my shop if anyone is interested.

And now for the Giveaway... the names in a bowl.... the magic hand appears and pulls out....

Congratulations to thriftymissus and if you get in touch and let me know your address I will get the dvd's in the post soonest. (I don't seem to be able to log into your blog, so not sure if it is invited peeps only).

Well that's all for now folks, there will be another giveaway soon. Bye for now.

Dev x

EDIT if anyone out there could get a message to thriftymissus for me as she hasn't contacted me and I am unable to leave her a comment on her blog for whatever reason. Many thanks.

Giveaway

Is anyone getting any warmer weather yet? Here at the Fairyglade it just seems to be grey and dark and oh so cold. This was the outside temperature on Friday morning. Nice and warm indoors though.

There are small signs of spring however, the daffodils are slowly coming into flower and here and there are pretty carpets of snowdrops. We have noticed a lot of activity amongst the wild birds and the Fairyglade doves, especially the males who are strutting their stuff and showing off to the females. They in turn are busily collecting twigs and tidying up nest boxes in readiness for egg laying.

I am still waiting for some fabric paint pens to arrive and so cannot give you all a proper Ta Dah moment just yet, but I can't resist giving you a few tantalising glimpses of almost finished fairy dolls. I am so loving these little pretties and am planning on offering one or two for sale in the Fairydell shop at some point if anyone might be interested. This is how they start their journey, outlines on a piece of vintage linen...

After handsewing them together and adding some stuffing they start to take on their individual characters and then the fun beginnings in choosing what they will wear.....

There are so many gorgeous trimmings..what to choose...what to choose!!

Hopefully, soon, all will be revealed......

And, now onto my first ever giveaway. Who has been having withdrawl symptoms since Lark Rise to Candleford finished? Would anyone like to own the the first series on DVD? I have a spare set of free discs that were collected with the Daily Mail.

Just leave me a comment...that's it. I will draw a winner next Sunday 13th March.

Bye for now........Dev x

March Make

Following on from my January dolly make, I have been having a bit of a play in an effort to try and improve my designs.

There were several things in particular that I didn't like...the head piece being seperate from the body for instance. I have now made the head an integral part of the body. The face has been one of the hardest things as well. I have now decided to keep it simple and just paint on eyes.

The skirt on the original doll didn't seem to hang quite right and I realised that she really needed some legs, so I have now included them in the design too. And wings have been made too......

The best part has been selecting the fabrics, ribbons and lace. I have had a good rummage and found some really pretty bits and bobs that I have collected over the years, things that have just sat there waiting for me to put them to good use.

I never realised just how many pretties I have and spent the weekend washing and ironing and untanging yards of lovely trims, sorting out beads and crystals and writing down different combinations. Some of it is vintage and some of it not, but all of it is simply gorgeous.

I am on the verge of sharing a "tah da" moment with you all, but not quite yet. There are just a couple of things that I need to tweak first. So be patient with me and all will be revealed in a few days time. I am so excited about these little girls of mine.

Dev x

Stanley

Hello everyone, hope all is well with you. Well, what have we been up to here at the Fairyglade....well there has been a birthday, Littlest Fairy has reached the grand old age of 12, and boy is she growing up fast, (and ever so pretty in my opinion!!).

I took her a a small group of her friends to see the new Disney film "Tangled" which was so good, I really recommend it if you get a chance to go.

I have also completed this months "Make", although strictly speaking I actually started this cute little fellow back in December in a vain attempt to give it to LF as part of her xmas presents.

Unfortunately, because of one thing and another, I didn't get it finished in time. So with her birthday pending, I pulled out all the stops and here he is....Meet Stanley...isn't he the cutest?

He is completely hand stitched and I crocheted him a simple green scarf. The coat isn't my handiwork but fits him perfectly and is just right for the cold wet weather that we have been experiencing in our part of the world.

Is that not the cutest face you ever did see? I am really pleased with how he turned out and how simple the instructions were to follow. Oh, I almost forgot, he is fully jointed too. So what do you think....do you like?

Make a Month

I mentioned in my last post about taking part in Annie's Make a Month and decided that I would try and make a small doll. I have so many bits and pieces of old lace and linen and here is what I came up with.

In all honesty, she needs some work (well a lot of work actually) and there needs to a be a fair bit of tweeking here and there, mainly in relation to the head and face. It took me a while to work out what I didn't like about her and realised that she needs to have a neck to make her face look less round and I must also position her eyes and mouth a little lower. Does she need a nose, for instance? I must also look into different mediums for her face too.

I made her skirt from a rather stained tea tray cloth and edged it in some old lace and then I made an overskirt from the corner of a damaged tablecloth. Her hair is just a length of wool that I finger knitted into a long plait that I sewed onto her head with invisible cotton. ( I am rather pleased with her hair). I used a piece of ribbon for her waistband and arms and embellished with a pretty button and an old earring in her hair found in my Mother's bits and bobs box. She is completely hand sewn as well.

Despite the mistakes, I had a lot of fun making her and have been through my stash and found oodles of pretty bits. My head is full of ideas, so I will have another go and keep on until I find a design that I am happy with.

Dev x