Firing my imagination

My latest piece, Fiery Heart, is so called because of the bright, tropical-coloured beads I've used in its creation.



Inspiration for the colours used in its design came from a magazine advert for paint. I thought that the combination of brights in the room set just looked so gorgeous together that I needed to use them in my work.





Its so colourful that I almost want to keep it for myself. I won't though - you can buy it now on Folksy - just click the image below:

Pretties

I love my Etsy friends. They like to send me things just because they think I'd like them. The latest sweetiepie to send me pretties was maker of hand-embroidered goodness, Laura of LAMdesigns.

There are little cobweb baggies (which some lucky customers will get things in no doubt), one of which contained a cobweb eyepatch and little wire spider. Plus there were Moo cards, and a very sweet little note on equally sweet notepaper.





Laura says that she was going through her stash and realised that, as much as she liked these bits, that she was unlikely to use them. She knew I'd like them though, and sent them on to me. Thanks sweetie! x

Much cuteness

Today has been a day of squee, bringing with it much cuteness. This came in the form of:

Bunny Blobs by Cute Designs:



A Bat Brooch called Bertie from KoolKookyKreatures:



And an Emo Tweet from feltmeupdesigns:



These little guys (and Pinky Bunny) are all living in my studio:



Way too cute by far!

My handmade year

Normal, organised people would post such a post on the 31st of December, or indeed on the 1st of January. However, having never been normal, or indeed organised, I am posting this on the 13th. 13 is my lucky number however, so there is method in my madness!

Last year's resolution was to buy something handmade at least once a month. Lack of money has meant that hasn't been possible every month, but I've still bought some fabulous things this year.

The first of those fabulous things was this gorgeous print by the ridiculously talented Deb of Champignons:



It came with some lovely free prints:



Two of which now reside on my ever-changing staircase wall of art.



Also in January, I bought this cute little print from Quite Contrary,



and, in February, I was able to afford to buy this gorgeous print from Linda Boucher:



The three prints hang in my bedroom, creating a little red shoe-themed triptych:



Take a look at this post for more about those :)

In March, I bought my Mum an adorable owl from Kool Kooky Kreatures for Mothers' Day.

June and July were somewhat batty, bringing with them as they did a Batcat ACEO from the truly fabulous Blacklilypie (I would buy her whole shop if I could afford it!):



It came with a gorgeous free postcard and stickers, yay!



Batcat now lives on the shelves in my studio.



Plus, a very cute apple cinnamon scented bat sachet from batgirl93.etsy.com,



A postcard (plus one free!) from She's Batty (check out her card designs!):



And lots of Halloween supplies:



I'd won a gift card for Aquariann's Artfire shop (another one whose whole inventory I'd buy if I could), so in August I felt the need to get me a little Tree Fairy print:



In November, I spotted that Claire Payne was having a little sale, so I snapped up a skully brooch for a bargainous price. I couldn't resist a cat brooch either, and, when the sticker-adorned package came, there was a free monster brooch too!



Also in November, I took advantage of a BOGOF offer in the lovely Illusio's Etsy shop. Not only did I buy one ACEO and get one free, I got two free, plus a postcard. Hurrah!



Those now live on the wall of art too.



So, with 2009 over, it's time to start concentrating on my resolutions for 2010. I need to generally look after myself better really - eat better, get out more and so on. Also to be more creative - I've really neglected my crafts lately (two pendants in three months is not good enough!) - and try to make something every day. So I've started the year with good intentions, but whether or not those are followed up remains to be seen ...

A ghostly giveaway - part 2

It's not often that I do a happy dance while reading someone's blog, but yesterday evening I did. You may remember that I recently took part in the fabulous Mrs B's 31 Days of Halloween, allowing folk the chance to win this beaded ghostie.



There was a great response to the giveaway, and the winner was announced as the wonderful TMCPhoto. She sent me a link yesterday to a very lovely blog post, in which she was very complimentary about my work. How sweet!

You should check out her shop, in which she sells fine art photography of natural phenomena, landscapes, cityscapes and nature. In her words, "My photos are a variety of landscapes, still life and portraiture. My images are taken with a regard to the relationship I have to my subjects, they are full of energy, playful or thoughtful expressions of my view of the world." You can follow her on her blog, on Twitter and also on Facebook.

A bat and a ghostie

This cute little fella arrived at my door on Saturday morning:



He now resides in my living room with the other spooky guys:



He was made by by Half an Acre, purveyor of hand-painted wooden loveliness, and creator of the brilliant Widget the Sock Bunny concept (read about the ideas behind Widget here - very clever.).

In other news, my Small Ghostie (click the image below to go to the listing) has been featured in a couple of places. He was on Cuteable on Friday in their Flickr Friday feature, and today he's in the Autumn issue of UK Handmade magazine (check him out on page 83 in the Trick or Treat feature).



Thanks folks! x

Cutie Pie Pumpkin

I'd been admiring this little cutie for a couple of months, and finally bought her a couple of days ago. She popped through my letterbox this morning, and now resides in my living room.



She was created by a fellow Folksy seller, SeeTheWoods, who makes all manner of gorgeous things. Her plumpkins, pumpkins made from a variety of yummy patterned fabrics, are particularly lovely.


(Photo by SeeTheWoods)

Cutie Pie has now been added to the many Halloween decorations that live in my house. Here are just some of those: