Halloween House!

Of course I have to dress up every year for Halloween as a witch (although my husband says I'm a witch year round (I rather embrace this statement). I thought I might add some pictures of my house because it's chock full of my spell books, potions and more during October!

Here I am with my fancy Etsy witch hat.  I bought this before I became crafty. 

The broom I hold is a handmade decoration I made this year.  It is a real branch (magical of course!) wrapped in Kraft and decked out with moss.  The broom rushes are made of blackish raffia wrapped around the stick in rusty wire and twine.  I only made 2 of these and they were such a pain, I doubt I'll ever make any more!  However, it turned out mighty cute. 

Here's a picture of my living room.  The pillow on the rocker was made by a very talented artisan Danielle Crane of  Sew Creepy Confections http://sewcreepy.blogspot.com/  I love her creepy portraits! 

Of course, I had to set up a spooky Halloween table.  Can you see my creepy chandelier in the upper left corner of the picture?  It's the centerpiece for my craft tent.  I love my little witch too, although my naughty cat Rudy knocked her over this year and broke her nose clean off!  I had to hot glue it back on and my daughter says she looks even scarier now. 

Here's a closeup of my table. 

Thanks for visiting my witchy halloween house!

Fairy Hollow

I'm so excited to introduce my largest fairy creation thus far.  It's called Fairy Hollow!  Since I don't have any shows this month, Fairy Hollow will be going "on tour" to the local shops that sell Books Enchanted.  Right now you can see it at Grace's Place in Paw Paw. 

I was in such a hurry to pack it up for the show once I finished it, that I didn't get alot of good pics.  I figured I'd take some during the show but then my digital conked out.  I took the above pic w/ my horrible 3G iphone but at least it gives you a better idea of the vessel that contains the garden.  It's a vintage metal file drawer painted a bright yellow.  The moss sort of spills over the sides and the grass and plants surround fairy hollow along the back. 

Fairy Hollow has a cluster of fairy houses that surrond a rock paved town square. 

Here's a picture of the funky flowers that grow in fairy hollow, obviously, they are quite enchanted.

I'm annoyed this photo came out blurry, but its a photo of one of those rickety this way-that way signs.  It points the way to  Oz, Wonderland, Hobbiton, and the Dark Forest.  In the front of the pic you can see the moss covered wishing well that has a real working bucket. 

Kind of blurry again, but this is a photo of the fairy ruins and a pond surrounded by rocks and moss.  See the lily pads?

Here's a pic Jessica took at Grace's today that shows more detail.  This garden has been so hard to photograph because of the detail and the background foilage. 

A lovely light string dances above Fairy Hollow!  It's battery operated and can be turned on and off.  The battery pack is hiding within the garden by the "welcome" sign--it's covered in moss-but you can change the batteries whenever you like.

Many exciting discoveries await you in Fairy Hollow!  Many of the details are just too small to photograph.  I hope you get the chance to pop into one of the stores while it "tours"!  Fairy Hollow is available for purchase for $150. 

Teacup Fairy Gardens

I have been terrible about posting lately!  I went back to school (MSW at WMU) and I've been so busy I haven't had time to blog at all.  However, I have been working on some new fairy gardens that have found their way to Lotsa Little Things Gallery in downtown Kzoo.  I'll be bringing them to Vineyards and Grace's Place within the next week or two.  They would make wonderful Christmas gifts. 
Love that pink mushroom!  This garden is in an antique compote cup my bff picked up for me at a tag sale.

These little petal cups are vintage and made in Japan. 

"Don't Piss Off the Fairies" y'all.

 This little antique silver jewelry box is my favorite.  I just love it.  I took it with me to a show this past weekend and kept hoping no one would buy it.  I'm going to put it on my bathroom counter. 

New Alice Book with cup and spoon

Here is a lovely, enchanted Alice book that I have just revamped.  It was an item that hadn't sold so I took a good look at it and decided it needed some changes (easily accomplished since I completed this book over a year ago and my techniques are always changing). 

I had a lovely old teacup and silver spoon I wanted to add to it.  The multi-color organza ribbons spill out of the cup and you can see the aged button sign that says "we're all mad here", along with some small paper flowers and the rabbit's watch.  Don't be late for tea!

The teacup is vintage and english. 

I've been playing around with different types of flowers lately.  These are fabric flowers I've embellished with buttons. 

Here are a couple more flowers made from vintage fabrics and buttons. 

The story pages are from a vintage Little Golden Book. 

This book is already spoken for! But thanks for letting me share it.  You are welcome to email me for a similar item. 

Fairy Table at Fancy Pants Theatre

I had so much fun at the Fancy Pant's Theatre's K-8 version of Midsummer Night's Dream (http://fancypantstheater.webs.com) last night at the Lotsa Little Things Fairy Table (http://lotsalittlethings.com).   What a talented group of kids and energetic adults.  This is a fun place to PLAY!  I love the way Janelle set up our table, it looked so pretty.  Once again, I took the photos from my horrible 3G iphone and you know how I feel about that.  I'll try to take some better ones tonight with my digital.  I believe I'll be taking my family to the show on Sunday!  

Fairy Frames! (or Pixie Pictures....take your pick)

Fairy Frame anyone?  They are the perfect vessel for your favorite photo of your little fairy or pixie!   They are also lovely for wedding and family photos!

Here's the story of how Fairy Frames came about:

Next door to the fabulous art co-op I belong to in kzoo ( http://www.lotsalittlethings.com) there lives a fun little play house called Fancy Pants Theatre.  I'd definitely recommend it to you parents who are looking for ways to stir your kids creativity, check it out at  http://www.fancypantstheater.webs.com/. Currently they are producing a full scale, k-8 production of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream. They asked the gallery if we wanted to set up a little table full of fairy items to sell during the show nights (cuz you know the play is all about mischievous woodland Fae!) .  

There are two Fairy Girls thus far at Lotsa Little Things:  Me and Janelle Barrett.  Janelle is a talented painter and fairy door maker:  

Isn't this the cutest?  

She is very talented and her work speaks to my heart!  

So Janelle was sitting at the table the first weekend and called me and said one of the parents at the Midsummer Show saw my books and fairy potions, and her little doors, and said "you should make little frames to put the kids pictures in!"

You know I couldn't let that go!

I love it when I get fantastic ideas for free!  If I had that gals name you can bet your buttons I'd  be giving her credit right now!  What a great idea!  So I scooted over to the goodwill to find 4 fantastic frames to embellish for Fairy Frames and toiled away for a day and a half on them. 

A word about Janelle.....Janelle and I were unable to get together to make our frames, but this is definitely a collaboration! You can see tidbits of her work in the

button flowers and the natural look to some of the frames. 

This is a funny fairy story that defines Janelle and I as different types of Fae ( or artists for that matter).  I met Janelle at one of our opening parties and she said "yay! you can come searching for moss with me!"

I said, "I just go buy mine at Hobby Lobby..." I was very confused...

She said, "I go moss hunting in the woods!" 

Some faery's are natural and woodsy and some fairy's are fancy shopaholics who are addicted to glitter!

(personally I think our world benefits from both)

 So here are the FOUR FANTASTIC FAIRY FRAMES that will be for sale at Midsummer Night's Dream beginning on Thursday, and the first collaboration that I know of, by two artists from Gallery 248  They can be personalized for your child (character). For those of you drooling over these particular specimens...if they don't sell at the show, they will be available at Lotsa Little Things/Gallery 248.    Special Orders are welcome and more to come for the holidays at Grace's Place, Verhage's Cider Mill, and Vineyard's Gourmet Chocolates in Coloma!

Enjoy the pics!

I think this one is my favorite! 

Button Flowers are Janelle's signature!