My Second Giveaway

Hello there and a Happy Mother's Day to you all, I hope that you all received something nice from your little people. I woke to find this on the table.. She has recently opened a store in Canterbury, good news for me and the Littlest Fairy....not such good news for Mr Fairyglade though.

Would you like to see what was inside? Look at these amazing pretties. I am such a lucky Mummy am I not?

So here at the Fairyglade everything is bursting with colour and activity. The birds have gone into overdrive, prinking and preening and strutting around. Old nests are being renovated, particularly by the doves and new ones are being built by the wildies. I sat outside after breakfast, my new mug keeping my hands warm because it was a bit sharp to say the least. I could see my breathe! But it was so worth it. The doves were cooing, the robins trilling, the crows cawing, the magpies chattering, the woodpeckers drilling, oh so much noise, but so worth listening too. Nature's alarm clock I call it.

As for colour, the spring fairies have spun their magic and the daffodils are lighting up even the gloomiest of corners. Everywhere you turn there is a golden pool of colour.

I just can't get enough of the daffodilies and Mr Fairyglade has planted thousands upon thousands since we moved here.

Such hard back breaking work at the time, but so worth the rewards now. We have quite a few different varieties and some flower early and some a bit later, that way we can keep the colour going as long as possible.

Then there are the hyacinths that waft their sweet intoxicating perfume on every soft puff of breeze. The Fairglade is a beautiful place to be all year round, but particularly so in the spring.

On my last post I mentioned that I had picked up my knitting needles for the first time in a while. My fingers were literally itching to get hold of the needles. Do you know what I mean, it's that irresistable urge to do something, that I actually feel like my fingers are twitching. So I suppose you are wondering what I was up too or maybe you weren't and there was no one out there with an interest either way. I am going to show you anyway....

A trio of pretty brooches! Once I started, I couldn't stop. So do you like them? I hope someone does because I don't need three and I so I thought I might offer one as my next giveaway. You have a choice between the lilac bow or the rust/orange bow. I am keeping the dark pink one for moi.

You decide which one you would like and leave me a comment and I will pick a winner next Sunday 10th April around teatime.

Well, that's all for now folks. Looking forward to the new series of Lewis this evening. I feel a bit of crocheting might be in order as well, remember the itchy, twitchy fingers.............

Dev x

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?