BE MINE!

Valentine's Day is fast approaching. To celebrate I am doing a series of little "Love" pillows. Here are the first two. They are now available in my Etsy Shop "Wicked Faerie Queen".

A GYPSY DREAM!

I was raised by my wonderful, whimsical grandparents. They made my young life magical. My grandmother was an antique dealer and a wanderer. She was British and said we had gypsy blood in our family which is why she never settled in one place too long. Her and my grandfather moved almost every other year until she finally found the farmhouse they lived in the rest of their lives.

As an antique dealer she travelled back and forth to England and Scotland quite often. On one trip she had the opportunity to buy a Gypsy Caravan. This had always been one of her dreams.

She always said she would love to have a Gypsy Caravan on the farm. How wonderful that would be.

I could just imagine having one in the garden. The vibrant colours sparkling in the sun.

And inside this little jewel there would be a comfy bed pile with gorgeous patterned pillows beckoning to be lounged upon.

We could sit and have tea or the occasional palm reading.

And we would paint the wicker furniture bold, fabulous colours. Unfortunately, tranporting the Caravan was too costly. I still think of my grandmother whenever I see anything gypsy. She was a free spirit, a woman who imprinted on me the importence of self worth, freedom and the love of life. I miss her but I am so grateful to have had that wonderful gypsy in my life.

FEATURED FELT ARTISTS

I love to work with felt. I carry a lot of felt pieces in my etsy shop "Wicked Faerie Queen". I love the soft look of the pieces, the stitching. It just looks so homey and comforting. I admire many of the felt artists on etsy and on the blogs.
I would like to show you two I have recently discovered on etsy.

Sweet Emma Jean makes these wonderful, whimsical little baby shoes. She also carries felt supplies.

Desiree at Habitmade creates these beautiful Penny Rugs. She also makes Candle Mats & Ornaments.

Both of the artists can be found on Etsy.

ORGANIZING THE KITCHEN, BATHROOM..........HOUSE!

In the past, when we have needed more space we have built onto the house. When I felt I needed a studio space because we both got tired of paints, fabrics and bits sitting around the kitchen, we built my studio. I have found that after Christmas, when I put everything away and started to clean things out I realized there was so much I did not need. Today I have hit the bathroom. Lotions, potions, shampoos.........so much! I have cleaned out the cupboard and have a whole bag for the recycle bin. Tomorrow the kitchen!

With all of the rooms we have built onto our home, I don't know why but we never built a pantry. I would love a walk in pantry but the way our kitchen space is there is just no room. I don't know where it all comes from but I always seem to have so much stuff in my cupboards.

We may have to come up with a free standing pantry. I like the idea of an armoire type. I do like the wire rack but I don't know if I want all that stuff showing.

I like this idea, my paper towels are on the counter, this is a nice hideaway.

I love this. I have a lot of pots and pans and gadgets because I cook a lot. These racks are from WalMart. I will try them and see if they work this well.

Wow! I don't know if my drawers would ever stay this organized but they look wonderful.

I do a clean out several times a year and my cupboards do look very nice and organized for a while. Then some how little elves and faeries come in the night and mess them up. This is the only way I can figure that it happens, my husband swears it's not him and I don't think it is me............maybe I sleep walk. Oh well, I am giving it another go. I don't know if it is possible to keep your cupboards Stepford Wife organized but maybe I can keep them from falling out on the floor when I look for the sugar.

TWINKLE, TWINKLE LITTLE TOES.

Black Swan was on television last night. I had not seen it so I thought I would give it a watch. I do love ballet, the costumes, dancing, makeup. Although it was a well acted film I cannot say I particularly liked it. Some scenes were very disturbing and I really don't like films about weak, whiny people, men or women. It did get me to thinking about ballet though.

There is something about ballet. It is timeless. The costumes are so beautiful and delicate. The slippers, although I am sure painful, look so lovely. I think I like the images of a ballet as much as the dancing. It made me wonder would my sweet little baby granddaughter one day take an interest.

Would those chubby little toes put on a pair of pointe ballet shoes and fly through the air with the elegance of a graceful bird.

Maybe she will just love dressing herself and her pets up in tutus and put on her own shows, which would be fine with me. Time will tell.

ALL IMAGES ARE FROM PINTEREST.

DO YOU BECOME OBSESSED........OR IS IT JUST ME!

I am a very thorough person. When I do something it is 110%, I have always been like that. Now that can be a good thing but it can also be a little aggravating, to me. If I see a picture of something that I really, really like I will search everywhere to find it. With the internet that is a possiblility. There is not much you can not find.

Last year I saw some teacups ( as you know one of my obsessions) in Country Living Magazine. There they were, 12 of them sitting on a shelf in a country kitchen. They were yellow with a little bluebird on the front and a scalloped edge (I love scalloped edges). They did not list anyone who made them. Well, that did not stop me. After about a week of searching I discovered they were from Anthropologie. Now, I, like my daughter-in-law, adore Anthropologie, but once they have an item in if you don't buy it there are no more. I searched for months and only found two, sold by different sellers, on ebay. I missed out on both, which by the way, sold for over $25.00 each. I had pretty much given up on my yellow teacup ( I only cared if I had one ). Then, lo and behold, I gave it one last try a few months ago and there they were, four of them.

I was so thrilled. I saw that the seller shipped only in the U.S. Now that has happened before and when I e-mailed they were more than happy to ship to Canada. I sent an e-mail and after 2 days had no response. No one had bid and there were 2 days left. I thought that I would put a bid in and surely someone would either outbid me or if not the seller would either ship them or relist. Well, I was the only bidder and tried to contact the seller about the shipping. After 2 more days the seller sent me a not so nice e-mail about not shipping to the Canada. Now on ebay you cannot retract a bid that is up to the seller. After apologising and offering to let her relist or sending them to a U.S. address( very kindly offered by one of my followers) she sent the cups. The total cost of four was $42.00 including shipping!

The day arrived and my lovely cups were finally here. I opened the container and there they were. Just as beautiful as I thought they would be but unfortunately the awful encounter with the seller had taken some of the thrill away for me. I still love them but I wish getting them had been a little nicer.

While searching for the original pictures from Country Living Magazine for this post I came across some other teacups that I have fallen in love with.

I clicked the image to see who made them and you won't believe it. They are from Anthropologie. Damn you Anthropologie! You have me hooked again!

Just a quick note.. Many have asked about the artist of the dog prints in my kitchen. He is Stephen Fowler and his Etsy shop is Gemini Studios.