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A picture-filled fairy catch-up post with general news and... snowdrops :-)
I've spent the early part of this year in a way that can probably best be described as 'wintering'. I gave in a little to the natural impulse to take things at a more gentle pace than at other times of the year, with regards to fairy-making, to enjoy taking the time to celebrate family birthdays and catch up with admin of all kinds. After the fast-paced busyness of the festive season - which starts as early as late summer for me as a maker - January is always time for a much needed declutter of my work cupboards and spaces, whether I want to do it or not! It can be quite time consuming, and invariably there is more mess before things get better! But I do feel good once it is done; I can see clearly which materials need replenishing, I can find things again that I thought were long-lost, and it is also a kind of physical and creative/emotional/spiritual, embodied taking-stock - I can look back and appreciate of all the projects of the previous year and see them in a fresh light. This process is always renewing when feeling a bit burnt out, and I always find that new ideas follow soon after.
Alongside the decluttering, restocking and sorting of accounts, we changed the day of our small community craft group to a time when the community centre is a little quieter, giving us lots more space to play and make. We've been enjoying building this up and exploring different projects - and it's been so great to be able to quickly lay my hands on all the materials we need each session now that everything is neatly stored following my declutter!
I took some time as well to play around and experiment with making tiny fairy garments. I explored wet-felting miniature clothes onto my childhood dolls as a model-base/resist - on the whole it worked very well! It took a little bit of trial and error to find a way to remove small items like gloves and boots without ruining the shape, and it is definitely quite intricate but I loved the way they were turning out after a few attempts... Here are a few pictures and I'm super pleased with both of these fairies and their different outfits...
I've used a mix of greens and botanical blues again - still colours I feel deeply drawn to working with... nature-based and faery in essence, I find them both calming and vibrant and uplifting. I'm not sure where this little pair are going yet - watch this space (or be in touch if you would like to know more!).
The two fairies below were a themed around a sparkly, snowy, winter, white, and again complemented with greens and blues respectively, with gold details in places as well... they made their way to the Museum in the Park, just before Christmas.
The little ladybird fairy below was also for Christmas, although she was a custom order... she has one of my very last one-off vintage ladybird buttons which accompanied her perfectly and just had to be incorporated... rather than traditional fairy wings, I gave her layered ladybird-like wings to accentuate the beautiful black spots against the red wing. I love her vibrant red 'ladybirdness' and I made sure to pop some extra little surprises in her box!
The fairies below also flew the nest in the autumn and festive season last year... I've not included some of the more Christmassy designs - I always make a few very festive fairies as fairies are always undoubtedly part of the magic and fun of Christmas! But they are also so lovely all-year long, so I always make plenty that can be on display at any time of year :-)
The fairies in the Indigo Moon Holistics shop in Guildford are presented in a lovely box along with their accompanying crystal and other little surprises...
We've also been making our kids' craft activity videos for the Kids Art Spot... we have a lot of fun making the videos, especially completing the projects - many of them end up dotted around our home which seems to get more colourful by the day, week, month, year! Below are some images of activities that are already live in the Kids Art Spot and there are always more on the way...
In the spirit of slowly coming out of the winter weeks, I've taken tried to make time for walks outside to recharge, especially on bright days of which there have already been a few... I took some lovely snowdrop pictures on one of my walks just before half-term - the snowdrops really have been abundant this year, and seeing them shine and dance in the sun on a bright day is always just so joyful!
Nearing the end of February can definitely feel like spring is just around the corner, and I'm grateful for the bright days, and feeling energy quietly returning, even if it can take a while for things to really warm up... I'm looking forward to really getting back to fairy-making in the spring after going at a gentler pace for a few weeks, and I have plenty of designs unfolding in my fairy-covered 'composition notebook' - which I've dedicated solely to playing and having fun drawing little fairy outfits! I've got so many ideas that I can't wait to try out!
Wherever this blog post finds you, wishing you plenty of bright days ahead full of spring awakening, playfulness and growing warmth! ♥
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