Friday Folksy Finds - Pumpkin

Whether its simply autumn bounty, a Samhain Festival or just a Halloween Party pumpkins are everywhere at the moment.  They're good in pies, soups and chutney and they do make a better lantern than the Jack O'Lantern turnips we carved when I was little.  Our turnip up in the North are the big yellow ones, the ones the Scots call neeps.  I have to say I love the colour and I think a pile of pumpkins carved into magical lanterns and lit on Halloween look great.  Had a look for both Halloween pumpkins and autumn pumpkin and found a plethora of seasonal treats.

Goozeberry Hill

Mrs Goozeberry is right on track with this whimsical hand stamped vintage spoon.  It would be lovely to have a set of these to bring out every autumn to enjoy the seasons riches particularly my favourite spiced pumpkin pie with a touch of cream.

Wychbury Design

This is the perfect pumpkin pin cushion from the excellent Wychbury Design.  This shop is a delight, a real treasure trove of beautiful designs and craft items.  The shop is run by Paula Perrins who works in Bingley in the rolling hills of the Aire Valley in gorgeous Yorkshire.  She makes interesting designs for your sewing box as well pretty hair clips and stylish jewellery.

Dakini

Dakini is Corrina Field from Birmingham and she is a jewellery designer and glass blower.  The Alchemy Baubles come in huge range of colours and in three designs.  These autumn baubles just glow with the colours of the season and would give a welcome touch of autumn sunshine on the darkest days.

Hare's Moon Yarns

Hare's Moon Yarns is a delightful collection of hand knits, hand spun yarn and lovely knitting patterns.  Couldn't resist this great little pumpkin beanie hat for a little one.  The hand spun yarns are in an amazing array of colours and fibres from alpaca to silk.  Have look at this shop it is a special place to look for knitting wools and gifts.

Hofficraft

Had to include at least one nod to Halloween and this little pumpkin skeleton made me smile. There is a feel of Jack Skelington to this little fellow, he is made from shrink plastic with a brooch pin to his back and he is part of a range of Halloween themed items in the shop of Amanda Hartley a Welsh lass living in Oxfordshire and running Hofficraft.  I particularly liked the fact that each brooch is hand drawn so no two are the same.  Lots of wonderful brooches, mirrors, prints and decorations all with gorgeous illustrations and with a quirky original style, pay her a visit and she will make you smile.

Have a lovely weekend, whatever you get up to and enjoy this autumn colour we've got.

Tuesday Talent - Caroline Lingwood

Every Tuesday I try to bring a new artist that I admire to my blog for sharing, this week I want to share the very talented painter and mixed media artist Caroline Lingwood.  She is a British artist working in Surrey and you can find more of her work at her gallery shop, www.lingwoodsamuelart.com.  This is a studio gallery that she shares with the equally talented Margaret Samuel, a painter and sculptor.

Love is not Love

If you take a peep at the website you will find her atmospheric paintings of skies and still life but it is her mixed media work that has really grabbed my attention.  Reminiscent of the work of mixed media artist Jennifer Collier this collection of objects is a delight.

Her pieces are a combination of subtle colour and rich textures.  It was her little birds that first caught my eye, I love the combination of fabric, buttons and lace making for a charmingly different piece.  However searching further you find the main body of her mixed media work which is simply beautiful. Have a look at the gallery, I think this lady is a real find and I am going to enjoy following her work.

Friday Folksy Find - Upcycled

This seems to be a word I am hearing a lot and having just received a wonderful bag made from old tweed suits as a gift I thought I would see what Folksy had to offer.  I use a mixture of new and old fabrics in my dolls, mostly David's stripped shirts making great stripy legs but some of these finds have truly made something new and desirable out of the old and unwanted.  So here goes.

FabFunky

FabFunky is Kelly McLaughlan from Sussex on the south coast and her shop is a treasure of book prints.  Creative images printed onto old pages from books.  There really is something for everyone at FabFunky, the colours are gemstone bright and the animals, some dressed and others like Mr Puffin in the raw, are witty and full of character.  There are so many to choose you won't know where to start.

RooRaw

RooRaw is Hatty Leith and she makes bottle cap jewellery.  Collections of notions and findings together with an upcycled bottle top, all finished to make an attractive and unusual necklace.  Very young and fresh.

wyatt&jack

wyatt&jack state boldly they are made by the sea and the work involves upcycling the most amazing array of sourced vinyl you can imagine.  They state 'WYATT AND JACK CREATES SUSTAINABLE BAGS AND ACCESSORIES FROM UPCYCLED BEACH DECKCHAIR CANVAS AND RETIRED BOUNCY CASTLE VINYL PVC'.  This bright and cheerful tote is made from a bouncy castle, what a wonderful way to reuse what would otherwise by landfill.  Great idea.  Have a peep at their shop because you wouldn't believe the range of colours and patterns they have used.

Goozberry Hill

Mrs Goozeberry has a passion of Georgian and Victorian cutlery and why not.  She states in her bio that her most prized possession is a pair of nineteenth century silver plated sandwich scissors, which sound fantastic.  Goozeberry Hill take old unwanted cutlery and hand stamp witty and original statements and thoughts onto it, I particularly like the sentiment above.  They will work to order and the pieces come in interesting gift bags.  This lady is lovely to buy from and the pieces are well finished, have a visit to the shop.

Witty Dawn

This lady is a perennial favourite, her collections of vintage fabrics are amazing, as are the little gifts she makes from remnants and off cuts.  Witty Dawn is Dawn Witts from the Cotswolds, her previous incarnation was Audrey's Cat but a re branding exercise has brought her to this new shop.  Check out the owls and the mice as well as home furnishing all recylcing the past.

There are so many inventive upcycled ideas on Folksy that five just isn't enough, have a peep at the Quilting Demon and OliBee as well as Cissyface and ElizabethanRuby.  Just a few of the many to check out.  Searching for gifts is always a pleasure but finding well designed good quality pieces made from old or unwanted items is very satisfying.

Mabel Blue Tit

Head Detail

This is the second bird doll I have designed and made, her name is Mabel Blue Tit. I have altered the pattern to give her a larger more defined head and a slimmer profile, adjusting the dress pattern to show more of the detailed head embroidery. I have kept her quite small and dainty, she stands just under ten inches tall in her little leather shoes.

I am going to have to work on my photos, they never seem to do justice to the subject  but that being said I am very happy with this doll and have had lots of positive encouragement to continue exploring this avian subject.

I love birds, they are one of my favourite things and recently with our garden cat PussPuss being nearly ten years old (he cannot catch birds anymore - too slow now) I  have started feeding in the garden again.  Very satisfying. He sits and watches from the cabin roof but the birds seem to realise he is no threat and don't mind him.  Besides I am using a bird pole to feed from and it is over six feet tall, well out of the way of teeth and claws.

Really happy making these little girls, I have tried to make bird dolls before but always as straight birds.  So many people do this so very well that I decided to make something a little different, a hybrid - a little bird in a dress.  I have a whole nestful planned in between orders so watch this space as they say.

I hope you like them and would appreciate any of your comments or observations.  Pease enjoy her with my warmest wishes to you all.

Wing Detail

A little bird on her dress

Back Detail 

Tuesday Talent - Louise Saxton

Louise Saxton is a major talent working in textiles today and I find myself drawn to the wonderful detail of her wall pieces.  She is an Australian artist from Melbourne and for the last fifteen years has been making art from the detritus of the home.  These materials have included the re-use of her own paintings; collections of everyday business envelopes and vintage wallpapers; discarded needlework; book illustrations and domestic porcelain,

I was first introduced to her work through the Embroiderer's Guild magazine Embroidery and have followed her keenly.  The pieces are pictures of perfect placement, when you look at one of her works closely the texture is just stunning. Her subjects include birds, insects and flowers, as well as more unusual inspiration like her pieces Vanitas from the Wild collection.  I particularly like Vanitas 2, the Twitcher.

Have a look at her website, which is a fairly complete record of her work at www.louisesaxton.com, I really enjoy the exotic nature of her subjects, the insects are bigger and the birds more flamboyant and I am intrigued by these captivating Australian beauties.  There is some pretty amazing stuff coming out of Australia and New Zealand check out Annemieke Mein, a dutch born Australian artist and Claire Prebble a Kiwi who works with silver wire, precious stones and silk.

Friday Folksy Finds - Prim

Had a great long weekend in Devon, Becca got to meet the gallery curator and collected her unsold work.  Lovely part of the world but what a long drive, we clocked up a 595 mile round trip in three days, phew!

Thank you for your generous comments on Tabitha the titmouse, I am working on a blue tit and am happy so far with the result.  I have adapted the pattern, so now she has a slimmer body and a larger head, I am just at the stage of embroidering her.  This week, with my birds in mind, I decided to look for all things Prim.  This style originated in the US and harks back to simpler times when things were made from what was to hand not from shop bought fabrics and trims.  A lot of work goes into achieving this style and done well the piece is simple and seems almost rough but that belies the effort gone in to creating it.  So here are my favourite five.

Lainey Whitworth Mixed Media and Textile Artist

I think this lady's shop is the home of all things primitive on Folksy, I am a regular visitor and have purchased several pieces from her including a brooch and one of her wonderful bees.  There is real artistry here and her pieces are original and unique.  She hails from Somerset although she studied fine art in Brussels and that artistic training show in all her pieces.  Lots to choose from on her shop but I just love this languid hare in the moon.

Astrid Weigel

Astrid is a Scottish lass who works mostly on hand printed textiles for the home.  Her shop is a treasure trove of colourful printed cushions and wall hangings.  However I particularly liked this little wooden and fabric piece.  The pattern is hand printed onto black canvas and then mounted on a piece of whitewashed wood, which I think is very effective and eye catching.  Check out her shop for lots of lovely colourful pieces.

Loopy la-la

Tara Heath is Loopy la-la and she hails from Worcestershire where she works on her small folk art pieces.  I think these rabbits are to die for, beyond cute.  I have seen them in a variety of colours but this lady never has much for sale and her work seems to be snapped up.  Check out her shop though for new pieces, it will be worth it.

Cush-n-Craft

This shop is totally new to me but I think it is quite a find.  Cush-n-Craft is run by Julie Petty and that is all I know.  Her shop is an eclectic collection of hand crafted gifts and home wear.  This collection of tags and toppers just caught my eye, I think drawn by the autumn yellows and mustard but this is just one of a series of collections ideal for scrap booking or card making.  There are all sorts in this shop and well worth a look.

Northfield Primitives

Sarah Pinney runs Northfield Primitives and I have enjoyed her work for some time.  The lady comes from West Yorkshire where she lives with Mabel the dog.  She tells us she has been sewing since she was seven and her skill is obvious when you see her pieces.  There is too much to choose from in this shop and I settled for this wonderful fox terrier pull along but there is an awesome collections of elephants and even more dogs. The sculpting is so subtle you can tell that Sarah know her canine friends.

Well, I really enjoyed searching for this collection, I love anything primitive and there is some delightful work on line at the moment.  As my mind is now turned to my own Christmas orders I will be looking closely at Folksy for my presents for loved ones.  Have a wonderful weekend and wrap up its gotten cold.

Tuesday Talent - Emily Sutton

Brambling

Here is a bird artist extraordinaire, Emily Sutton is a bird sculpture, printmaker and illustrator.  Catch more of her work at www.emillustrates.com, her print and illustrative style is shown wonderfully well on these, her embroidered birds.  She captures the character of the bird she is creating, they all have little personalities.  Her line is so good and the hand painting and stitching really represents the bird in a unique and charming way.  So good are they that you can always identify the species she is portraying.

Check out her website for more stunning and original pieces and have a wander around Google because some of her best pieces are not on the website.  The brambling is my favourite and he is only to be found on pinterest.  If I see just one brambling in winter I am very satisfied but sometimes we get a collection of these delightful visitors in a mixed bag with the chaffinches on cold morning and it makes my day.

In similar vein but quite distinct are Abigail Brown's wonderful bird sculptures, check out her owls which are just too cute and so appealing and for more decorative bird sculptures have a peep at Josephine Hague, her work is just so lovely.  
 

House Sparrow

Redpoll