Fairy Garden

I said I'd do a weekly installment for a few weeks on gardening.  This week, I'm going to suggest a few things that might be perfect for a garden to attract the wee folk. 

Moss Mousse Mix from Fluffnflowers

Gardening moss?  Never heard of such a thing.  But when I read the listing... cool!  You can use it to fill in unsightly cracks in your driveway, between stepping stones on a walkway to your door, or make a pretty little rock garden with fairy houses in a bed by your front door that will require very little maintenance.  I LOVE this idea.

Beautiful Celosia Flamingo Feather Seeds from Smokymist Gardens

The seller's daughter says these look like fairy wands.  I must agree.  Wonder if they'd grow in my moss garden?   Best thing:  they're annual.  (I really hate things I have to buy every year).

Fancy French Faerie Door by TaraLinnea

Tough call, here... there are lots of really cool fairy doors on Etsy (try a search some time... they're fascinating to me).  In choosing I wanted:  1)  Something that can go outside, 2)  Something that didn't look like a dollhouse door, something sort of organic and fae, and 3)  Love to feature one of my fellow FAE team members.  This pretty door by TaraLinnea fills the bill perfectly (although I had a hard time choosing from the several in her shop!)

Tree Man Stoneware Pot by Jillhoutz

I went on a hunt for a green man.  You can't have a fairy garden without a green man.  I was actually surprised at the lack of green man plaques (what I initially intended to feature here) on Etsy.  But this... this is PERFECT.   Want to grow some mint in your fairy garden without it taking over the garden?  Put it in here.  He'll take good care of it.  I absolutely adore the earthy, natural look of this pot. 

There are lots of other treasures on Etsy in this theme.  Take a look for yourself!

Student Work

Yesterday I taught my first wire wrapping workshop with a lady I know from craft fairs (she does face painting) and two of her friends. They had some experience tinkering with wire but, in her words "we always end up gluing it." I'm proud to say none of these were glued :) They are all stones that they had and wanted to do something with. Turns out most of their problem was that they were using half-hard wire. Maggie was so excited "I finally made something pretty!" and that's a great feeling, for me and for her.

I think I have contributed three more addicts to the wiring world.

I'll probably be getting together with these ladies on a regular basis to teach various techniques. I also have an opportunity to join a gallery that is opening here in White County and to use the facilities they intend to have for teaching crafting classes - and participate in learning other crafts (the company that is opening it is a pottery company and I think I'd love to play with clay on a wheel - everyone knows there's no end to my creating ambition). Frankly, I feel like somewhat of a newbie myself so I'm not sure I'm qualified, but I am eager to share what I know and partake in that incomparable feeling of a creativity-charged atmosphere. Anyone who's taken an art or craft class with other willing participants (meaning, not in high school) will know what I'm talking about.

She Sells.... Etsy Finds Week of 7/28/08

I'm gearing up to create my entry for the Chainmaillers' Guild Almost-Fall Contest, themed "The Sea." And I was talking to a friend about the ocean the other day. It made me miss the roar of the surf, searching for treasures in the sand, and the smell of salt sea. Landlocked Tennessee is lovely in so many ways, but it's been a while since I felt sand between my toes.

And, my other team, Fantasy Artists of Etsy, is having a "Visions of Atlantis" exhibition.

There's a definite theme. In honor of it, I present...

Faux Coral Candelabrum by Juls of Paradise

If I had a beach house, one of these would live there. Of course, I never will, cause my husband hates the beach. I'll be happy to go visit someone else's beach house every few years. Maybe I need to decorate one room as if it was in a beach house anyway.

I love shells. I love picking them out of the sand, then lacquering them to see the detail it brings out that went away when they dried off. I love decorating with them, making things with them. I never aspired to anything this pretty. It does a great job evoking a coral reef, doesn't it?

Vintage Shell Embellished Cabinet by Tropical Cottage

The five pictures Etsy allows can't possibly be enough to show this beauty off. I imagine it in a beach house bathroom holding the towels, or in a room with a sea view holding knicknacks and finds from the beach. I suspect I could spend hours looking at it and touching it. Wow, the hours that must have gone into this...

Mini Beach Tropical Treasure Sandscape by Faithlady

You might find this sort of thing in one of those kitschy souvenir shops at the beach but it'd be in cheap commercial glass, not handcrafted (unless by someone in a sweat shop somewhere), and not nearly this pretty. Since I can't get to the beach or put my toes in the sand, maybe I need one of these to put at my desk for daydreaming about my own seashell hunts. Maybe you do too. Seems like some stress would melt away.

Beach Art Photograph Print by A Moment A Memory 28

I never made a sandcupcake but this print certainly evokes memories of sand sculptures I did do. I had an artist friend who used to go to the beach with us who made sandgators and a muscleman body for my son buried in the sand with his head sticking out... great times. The sand sculpture is art in its own right.

Sunrise Beach 48 x 24 Digital Painting by Elseart

Wow. This would look so striking in the right room. Check out the picture of it over the couch. There are a variety of paneled beach scenes in his shop, but this one made me want to step into it. And stay there.

Definitely check out these shops' other items, as well. You won't be disappointed.