Tuesday Talent - More Mice with Witty Dawn

 Witty Dawn is Dawn Witts and you can find her on Folksy.  Dawn is about everything vintage but particularly fabric.  She has been featured in House Beautiful magazine as her home is also all about vintage.

Her eclectic taste runs to fabric from the fifties to the seventies and she both sells her fabric but better yet she makes the most adorable home gifts from cushions to children's dresses.  I, however, like the mice.  Dawn's retro mice are the cutest with the best range of fabrics and fabric colours.  They are not expensive and are very well made, with a good finish.  Have a peep at her shop on Folksy and enjoy the very best vintage fabric around.

Well I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone the very best of the season.  Have a Happy Christmas and a Joyful New Year.  Thank you for all your lovely comments and queries, will see you in 2017.

Cora, A Crow Lady in Liberty Lawn

This is Becca's Christmas present, well one of Becca's Christmas presents.  She initially wanted a seagull but is studying crows for her MA and she decided on a crow. Cora is a much smaller pattern than my usual crows, only nine inches. She has a variety of stitches to her embroidered head to give a moving run of textures which is worked on an Oakshott plain cotton in a slate grey.

Her dress is a Liberty Lawn called Wildflower which is based on a series of bookplates from a Victorian book of wild flowers. This colourway is a deep blue and I think it sits well against the black of the crow.  Her underskirt is an antique silk from France which I have had for a absolute age and finished with a pretty modern lace.

Her sachet had to have ribbonwork on it as eveything else was so Victorian and I like the way it looks. Becca chose everything, they are not colours I would have chosen but I really like her choice. So happy Christmas Becca and thank you for letting me share.

Tuesday Talent - Beverly Peach of PeachPlot

 I first discovered Beverly at The Little Northern Craft Fair in Manchester and fell in love with her mouse collection.  Each little darling is hand stitched using antique and  vintage lace, ribbons, trims and buttons. Each mouse has a hand written name label so you can identify each individual.  They come in their own little box with a hand stitched linen cushion for your mouse to sit on all filled with lovely aromatic scented herbs.

They are completely unique, no two the same and are delicately made.  Beverly and her daugher, a talented paper artist, trade as PeachPlot and you can find them at venues all over Lancashire, Cumbria and their native Yorkshire.  There is a website at www.peachplot.com with links to their blog, shop and instagram feed.

The make the most wonderful gift and my Mum, Aunty and various friends have all been delighted with their own mouse.  I have Fiona, Frida and Robyn, Rebecca has Robin a little boy mouse in a handsome waistcoat.  If you are at all tempted contact them via their website, they are never at home always at craft shows but they do get back to you very quickly. Their wedding mice a so sweet and make a lovely couple.
  

Marigold - A Goldcrest Lady in Liberty Lawn

 This is Marigold, a Goldcrest Lady, her name comes from the local nickname for Goldcrests which is Marigold Finch.  She is, of course, not a finch at all and is the UK's smallest bird.  With this in mind I reduced her pattern by ten per cent so she stands a little over eight inches, an inch and a half smaller than her sister bird dolls.

She is dressed in a lovely Liberty Lawn called Garden Trail from the 2016 collection The Garden of Dreams inspired by the beloved poems of Robert Louis Stevenson, ‘A Child’s Garden of Verses’.

‘the garden path trails and loops with excitement at every turn’

She is made from a delicate green Oakshott plain cotton with fly stitch, cross stitch and chain stitch to detail her plumage and she has a delicate yellow crown in chain stitch edged with black just like the female Goldcrest.  So small is she that even her little embroidered lavender sachet is less than an inch square.  It was harder to work so small but she has a satisfying delicacy to her that I really like.

She will be the last garden bird I make this year, I think, as I am now full steam ahead on Christmas presents including a Herring Gull in a sailor suit for my daughter. He will have yellow leather legs!

Tuesday Talent - The Way to Blue

 Really like this lady's work, not doll related in any way but so interesting.  I found her work a while ago and wanted to share.

These are cyanotypes, "the old photographic process of cyanotype invented by Sir John Herschel in 1841. A light sensitive solution is applied to paper, objects or negatives layered on then exposed to sunlight, the solution is then rinsed off in water and the paper dried, fixing the image in glorious blue tones.".  Words taken directly from Sarah Middleton's shop. Her work is quite stunning and varied in detail but all in this wonderful blue.

Sarah, from Conwy in North Wales makes cards, framed prints as well as candle holders and these really interesting industrial framed prints that are only 10cm square.  I find the whole process
intriguing and would love to watch it being worked.  Have a peep at the shop, The Way to Blue for a very original craft brought right up to date.

Hope - A Bullfinch Lady in Liberty Lawn

 We don't see many Bullfinches in our garden, so when we do it is a special treat.  A pair have been coming lately and I love to see them.  Hope is a lady Bullfinch all in pinks and oranges, the fabric is called Wild Flowers by Su Blackwell and is inspired by nineteenth century book called Field Guide to Wild Flowers in Britain.

Hope is slightly more pink than our lady Bullfinch but I took some artistic license so that she is worked in palest pink, rose pink and peach thread with black and grey.  I have used a fly stitch and a random cross to delineate her pattern and hopefully bring her to life.

Quite often I use a plain fabric as underskirt and more often than not this is from a company call Fair Trade Fabric,  I have been a regular customer of Ruth's and I am sad to say she is shutting her doors after nine years and I will really miss her.  So if you want a bargain in ethically sourced cotton fabric in wonderfully rich colours do so before Christmas at Fairtradefabric.co.uk.

I do wish that Hope makes you smile, she was a pleasure to make and I am happy with her appearance.  I am working on a Goldcrest at the moment and have reduced my pattern as she is so tiny a bird, the smallest bird in the UK and hopefully I will be able to share her soon.

Tuesday Talent - Mandy Hollowell

 Whilst wandering around looking for gifts I found this amazing jeweller.  She is Mandy Hollowell from Hollowbourne Jewellery.

Mandy is from Stoke on Trent in the North of England and is trained as a silver smith but happily states she doesn't want to make anything serious just what takes her fancy.  Her work is a combination of consummate skill and a wry sense of humour.  She seems to work in brass and copper producing tiny characters that raise a smile. Me, I like her birds and if the bird and balloon is still around after Christmas I will definitely snap it up.  Some how buying a Christmas present for myself is too indulgent so I will wait!

You can find these delightful characters at Hollowbourne on Folksy and HollowbourneHoard on Etsy, there is also a Facebook page and Instagram.  The shop on Folksy looks gorgeous with lots of animal characters to choose from, take a peek and it will raise a smile.

Kate - A Goldfinch Lady in Liberty Lawn

This is Kate, a goldfinch lady in Liberty Lawn. Up in the North of England young goldfinches are known as Grey Kates so it seemed appropriate. They are also known as Thistle Tweakers which is not quite so elegant.

Her plumage is stylised and hand stitched both to the front and the back of the bird to give a good dense pattern.  She is dressed in Liberty Lawn Classic fabric with coordinating skirts and underskirts.  Her shoes are red leather and she sports a tiny lavender sachet with a hand stitched sampler pattern.  She is finished with buttons and organza ribbon with a ring to her back so she can hang.

 I thoroughly enjoyed making her and the intricacy of her patterning.  They are one of our most common visitors to the bird feeders and always bring a little golden flash to the garden when I see them.  I hope you like her.

Tuesday Talent - Eve O'Neill

   

Eve O'Neill is a South London lass who now lives in West Wales making extraordinary needle felted sculptures using wool sourced from local farms.  She likes to incorporate all kinds of found objects, from feathers and lichen to old nests and broken egg shell.  Her work has been featured in many magazines, including Country Living and she was a featured artist on BBC Countryfile.

She trained as an artist at Camberwell School in London but when she moved to Wales she found herself surrounded by all that is best in the British countryside and has been inspired by her surroundings ever since.  Once she had found wool and needlefelting she discovered her medium and never looked back.

Her work is very beautiful, with a lovely finish and you can find her at www.fforestfelt.co.uk, where more of her work can be seen in her gallery and you can shop.  My mum has several of her birds and they are so life like that they make you stop in your track on first seeing them, wonderful work from a British artisan.

Tuesday Talent - Jess Smith at Silverpasta

House Sparrow

I found these little lovelies whilst pootling around on Folksy and I think they are delightful. Made of air dried clay, then decorated so effectively with paints, pens and inks before being coated in varnish to protect them, these little birds are lovely.

They talented lady who makes these creatures is Jess Smith and she trades as 'Silverpasta' on Folksy.  The finish is so interesting and the patterning and plumage so good.  You instantly recognise every thing from a House Sparrow or Dunnock to the coolest squid.  You have to have a peep at her shop to see the range of creatures she creates, mostly based around British wildlife, not just birds but moths, butterflies and the best grass snake.

I don't think it is possible to resist the Dunnock it is just too cute and will have to come to live with me! If you peep at this lady's website she also makes cakes as well as cake toppers all with the same care and attention, the website is found at 'www.silverpasta.co.uk'

Dunnock

Kingfisher

Kitty, A Wren Lady in Liberty Lawn

 This is Kitty Wren, a hand embroidered little bird dressed in Liberty Fabric.  The fabric is Dulwich Park and was created for Liberty from hand drawn roses in a Dulwich garden.  Dulwich being an area of South London mostly in the borough of Southwark.

She has a hand embroidered head and wings, with threads chosen to match her plumage colours and a little black bead eye.  She is worked on both sides to give a lovely finish. Her dress is finished with organza ribbon, little buttons and a sampler style embroidered lavender sachet to complete her outfit.  She is softly stuffed and lavender is added to her stuffin for a gentle scent.

Kitty wren is another local name for the wren in England, she is also known as Jenny wren here in Lancashire, in other parts of the country she is Jinty or even Rindell in Old English.

Tuesday Talent - Kate Shvedun

 Kate Shvedun is a London doll maker who sells her girls under the name of The Katies and you can find her on both Etsy and a little on Facebook.

I have admired her Tilda dolls for some time and this new doll style is more her own design with the addition of being CE certified as suitable for little children.  They come as one of three types, princess dolls with a little crown, ballerina dolls with a tulle tutu or little ladies with lots of hair and a pretty dress.  Most with their eyes closed but some with them open, all pretty variations around a common doll body with lots of detail and coordinating colours.  I have to say I am very tempted and this might be a Christmas present in the making.  My favourite is definitely this little girl with ginger hair.

So yet another talented doll maker with lovely girls, check her out at TheKaties on Etsy.

Eira - A Winter Robin

This is Eira, a little Winter robin dressed in warm grey and pinky red.  It is a lovely fabric I have used before called Little Odile by French General, its colours are so rich it makes a perfect Winter bird.

She is embroidered to her front and back with reference to a robin's plumage colours and I have added a rich dark pink to her feathering to reflect the dress colours.  I used a mixture of chain stitch, random cross stitch in three colours with feather stitch and a whipped straight stitch.  Her wings are also embroidered with a mix of stitches and finished with buttons.  Her dress is finished with delicate grey orgaza ribbon, tiny buttons and a lavender sachet embroidered to match her dress.  The lace I used to make an underskirt is Korean from a great company called zettayotta on Ebay and are wonderful to use.  I really enjoy making these little birds and am on with a little wren in Liberty print at the moment.  Great Fun!

Tuesday Talent - Lainey Whitworth

 I am so happy to share this lady with you, Lainey Whitworth hales from Taunton in Somerset and is a unique folk artist, making quirky and original pieces.

I have a couple of her lovely brooches, which are well made and beautifully designed.  Lainey has an Etsy shop that is well worth a visit for an unusual whimsical piece, it can be found at 'www.etsy.com/uk/people/CrazyCrowPrimitives'. Lainey, like so many of us, has a family background of sewing and making but interestingly also studied fine art at the Royal Academy in Brussels.  An exciting introduction to a world of creating.

Have a peep at her shop, I have my eye on the moon gazing hare below, to find an individual gift or a precious treat for yourself.