New Ltd. Edition Fairies are coming!

Posted on November 16, 2024 by Salley Mavor

I’d like to introduce AMETHYST and CAMILLIA, two new Ltd. Edition Fairies. How can that be? I keep saying that I don’t sell dolls. But this is an exception because I needed something to do on our recent train trip across the country!

UPDATE: The fairies sold out in 7 minutes!
Both sets of 24 dolls are dressed, coiffed and winged and will be ready to fly off to their new homes on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024 at 10 AM (Eastern US time). They will be sold for $100 each through my Etsy Shop on a first come, first served basis, so please act quickly if you really want one! Sorry, no pre-orders ahead of time. I realize that 10 AM on Cape Cod is in the middle of the night for those of you on the other side of the world, but I can’t figure out how to make it perfectly fair for everyone.

Despite my intention to move on, I haven’t weaned myself entirely from making fairies. It’s a nice relaxing, portable activity when traveling. I’ve had to put limits on myself at home or else I would make them all the time, instead of pushing myself to do new work.

They’re basically the same fairies from my how-to book of doll projects, Felt Wee Folk – New Adventures. During the train trip, I was able to complete the most time consuming steps, like embroidering felt peplum jackets and wrapping pipe-cleaner bodies.

The following video shows how I finished making CAMELLIA once I got home.

Salley Mavor Makes a Fairy

These fairies have a different hair material than I’ve used before. Instead of wool fleece, I used single ply, fingering weight Merino yarn, which is easy to braid. Unfortunately, Flying Finn Yarns, the small cottage industry I bought it from, is not currently in business.

It was fun revisiting the fairies, although it did remind me of why I don’t do mass-production any more. Now, I’ve got to change gears and work on some new pieces for my next exhibition, which will be in the fall of 2025 at the New England Quilt Museum. I can hardly wait for January, when hibernation sets in and you can be busy inside without the distractions of warm weather!

My Etsy Shop is well stocked for the holiday season, with a selection of books, cards, puzzles, notebooks, posters, and bookmarks that feature my particular doll-infested needle and thread universe!

To keep up with new posts, please subscribe to this blog. Your contact info will not be sold or shared. If you’d like to see more frequent photos tracking the projects in my studio, please follow me on Facebook, Instagram and BlueSky.

Bur Oak Fairies

Posted on April 25, 2024 by Salley Mavor

After a 4 year delay, I’m finally sharing photos, videos and commentary about how I made a pair of larger than usual fairies. A while back, a fan from the Midwest kindly sent a boxful of bur oak acorn caps. They are humongous compared to regular run-of-the-mill acorn caps that I used as hats for the 3-inch tall dolls in my how-to book Felt Wee Folk.

I really liked the hatlike quality of these caps, but to use them, I had to adjust my design to accommodate larger 5 to 6 inch figures with 1 1/4″ heads. To start, I painted faces on a bunch of wooden beads and ball knobs, until I was satisfied with a few impish ones with upturned pointy noses.

I increased the size of their pipe cleaner bodies and made hands to scale. It was also an opportunity to use larger faux flower petals from my collection for the skirt.

I made a peplum jacket pattern and cut it out of felt, which I embellished with a flower petal collar, beads, embroidery floss, and metallic thread.

Because these fairies have nice big feet, I could more easily cobble shoes for them. This pair of slippers are made out of felt, with a bit of wire reinforcement to give them a pointy elfin look.

Here’s a video of my work table that I shared on Facebook and Instagram in 2020. The response to the video was mixed. Some people were uncomfortable with the disorderly jumble, while others were relieved to see another creative space that looked as messy as theirs.

I attached felt wigs to the bead heads using the same techniques that I teach in my how-to book, Felt Wee Folk. This doll’s hair is made with variegated single ply Merino wool. I created tangled ringlets by stitching yarn up an down the long tresses.

Just as with the smaller fairies, I made wings out of faux flower petals. But because of the increased scale, these wings were too floppy. I gave them extra support by sewing wire along the outside edge, going around a few times until the wire was completely hidden by thread.

In this video, you can watch over my shoulder while I stitch wire to the outside edge of a wing and embroider a felt tailcoat.

I dressed one of the fairies in an embroidered felt vest and leafy cravat…

and a green felt tailcoat embellished with metallic thread.

At 5 and 6 inches tall, they are the largest and best dressed fairies I’ve ever seen!

The Bur Oak Fairies’ permanent home is in the West Falmouth Library, downstairs in the Moira Shea children’s room. You can find them hovered over a fairy house made by Andrea Riggillo.

Wee Worlds exhibition video

Posted on November 19, 2023 by Salley Mavor

The Wee World of Salley Mavor, Southern Vermont Arts Center, photo by Dave Barnum

It’s so gratifying to hear that visitors are traveling from all directions to see my exhibition at the SOUTHERN VERMONT ARTS CENTER! Carloads of fans are coming south from Canada (crossing the border from both Ontario and Quebec) and north, east and west from many different states. One woman wrote, “I went to the show yesterday. Seeing the work in person gave me shivers.” I wrote back that I hoped it was the good kind of shivers! If you live too far away to make the trip, here’s a short video that gives an overview of the show.

THE WEE WORLDS OF SALLEY MAVOR
On view through January 7, 2024 at the
SOUTHERN VERMONT ARTS CENTER, Manchester, VT

On view are are over 75 shadow boxes and other objects, including original picture book illustrations spanning my career. The show contains BEDTIME STITCHES, the touring exhibition of artwork for my most recent book, MY BED: Enchanting Ways to Fall Asleep around the World. Also on display are a wall full of wee folk dolls and stand alone pieces that explore a range of social narratives, from the everyday to topical subjects.

“My aim is to breathe life and emotion into embroidery, an art form that is often perceived as purely decorative.” Salley Mavor

The main reason I decided to pause or maybe altogether stop selling my original pieces is that I want more people to experience the detail and 3-dimensional quality of my work in person. Lately, I’ve realized that I can’t afford to let go of my recent pieces because their current value lies in being available to show. If I were to sell what I have, it would be difficult to put together an exhibition like this one in Vermont. The logistics and expense of arranging loans with private collectors would be prohibitive. It would take at least 20 years to make a new body of work to fill a gallery of this size! I want to make art for as long as I can, but I also I want to spend the next 20 years enjoying being a grandmother and that might mean making art at a more leisurely pace.

More exhibitions are being planned, which will be added to the exhibitions page when locations and dates are finalized. I’m also pleased to offer reproductions of my artwork in books, posters, cards, puzzles and notebooks in my Etsy Shop.

Hand-painted wee folk faces

Posted on June 21, 2020 by Salley Mavor

Recently, I’ve felt an urge to paint doll faces on wooden beads. Not just a few, but lots and lots of them. Like stitching, I find the repetitive process calming. This compulsion, or meditation practice, depending on how you look at it, has led to a new offering in my Etsy Shop.

Many of you who’ve made fairies and other wee folk dolls from my how-to book, Felt Wee Folk, mention how frustrating it can be to paint the dolls’ faces. Now, with the option of buying painted doll heads, you can relax and concentrate on the stitching and wrapping part.

Hand-painted wooden doll heads and acorn cap hats

It all started while tidying up my studio, when I found myself confronted by baskets brimming with acorn caps and bags full of wooden beads. I used to collect acorn caps by the thousands when my fairy kit business was going strong in the early 2000’s. It was always a rush every Fall to harvest enough of the right size and type to fit the different bead head sizes. Even though I stopped making kits years ago, I haven’t broken the habit of scanning the ground under oak trees and picking up acorn caps. Just because they could be the perfect size and shape to top off some little character. So, I figured that I’d paint wooden doll heads to sell along with the caps.

Some of you were introduced to my work through the kits, which I made for 10 years from 1998 – 2008. They were mostly available through catalogs and Waldorf School stores.

As I culled through piles of acorn caps, separating them by size and quality, I had flashbacks to the time of my life when every spare moment was devoted to designing, sourcing materials, mass-producing and marketing these kits. The memory gave me pause to think about what I was getting into.

So, before deciding to mass-produce painted heads again, I convinced myself that this time was different. I told myself that I’ll just paint heads until I don’t want to anymore or when the acorn caps are used up.

Actually, designing and figuring out directions for the kits gave me the experience and ability to write my how-to book Felt Wee Folk. In the 17 years since the first edition came out, many of you’ve written to say how much pleasure you’ve gotten out of making these little dolls. You also mention how habit forming they can be, so maybe the book should come with a warning! I love seeing and hearing about how you’ve adapted the patterns to personalize your own wee worlds. It was always my intention to introduce projects that encouraged imaginative exploration and I’m happy that you are doing just that!

In addition to the Felt Wee Folk book, flower petal skirts & wings and wool fleece fairy hair, my Etsy shop now has hand-painted wooden doll heads for sale.

Wooden bead doll heads with hand-painted faces and fitted acorn cap hats are available in my Etsy shop. A range of skin tones are grouped together in different size assortments of 12mm, 14mm and 16mm beads.

I just restocked the shop with packs of flower petals, which you can watch me assemble in this time lapse video.

I’m also selling naturally dyed wool fleece fairy hair, which was left over from the kit making days.

Blueberry Blossom Fairy was one of the most popular kits. She still lives on as a note card in my shop. I hope that you find these supplies useful. As for other wee folk necessities, such as wool felt, I recommend A Child’s Dream, which has a great selection.

To keep up with new posts, please subscribe to this blog (top right column on the home page). Your contact info will not be sold or shared. If you’d like to see more frequent photos tracking the projects in my studio, please follow me on Facebook and/or Instagram.

a virus-free wee world

Posted on March 14, 2020 by Salley Mavor

Are you wondering what to do while you’re hunkered down at home, staying away from crowds? I must admit that the concept of “social distancing” isn’t very different from my normal life, so it’s not much of an adjustment. But, I realize that closed schools and work places, as well as travel and event cancellations, is a hardship for many of you. So, to help keep your mind off the worrisome situation, how about immersing yourself in the virus-free fairy and wee folk world? In this post you will find a source list of materials to make projects from my how-to book, Felt Wee Folk. There are also lots of photos and videos that I hope will inspire you to make your own wee world!

When I posted this idea on Instagram, several people, including a self-described introvert, commented that they were already in making mode:

“‘I adore your wee felt folk book and actually hunkered down yesterday and made a little jester. I’ve decided to make more to give to friends during this crazy time💕
‘What a lovely idea! I admit, I’m more worried about craft supplies than toilet paper.”
“Introvert here reporting from a cozy studio! I secretly love a good excuse to stay in. I’ve got your book and will be making some fairies while we bunker down!!”

Many of the supplies needed to make the dolls, such as embroidery floss, paint, brushes, unvarnished wood beads, pipe cleaners and faux flowers can be found at craft stores. Online sources for the book, wool felt, acorn caps, and other materials are listed below:

Felt Wee Folk: New Adventures book – My Etsy Shop
Acorn Caps – Etsy shops
Wool Felt – A Child’s Dream
Faux Flowers – My Etsy Shop
Wool Fleece Fairy hair – My Etsy Shop
Unvarnished wood beads – A Child’s Dream

Felt Wee Folk: New Adventures, with bonus playing cards and flower skirts & wings

I’m keeping my Etsy shop stocked with wool fleece fairy hair and flower skirts & wings.

The dolls and their clothing are portable, so you can bring them where ever you want to settle in.

This is my work table on a random day, the way it really looks.

My Work Table on a random day

I made the Frost Family for a benefit raffle a few years ago. See more details here.

This is a little experimental video from a few years ago.

Of course, all of the dolls pictured in this post were made years ago and the raffles are long past. I just wanted to show you a variety of possibilities.

The Oakley Family was made for another benefit raffle. See the process of making them here.

And yet another fairy family raffle, which you see in more detail here.

I hope that the wee folk help keep your spirits up through this ordeal. Please stay safe!

Euphoria – Ltd. Edition Fairy

Posted on September 4, 2019 by Salley Mavor

I’d like to introduce EUPHORIA, the newest Ltd. Edition Fairy. The group of 25 dolls have been traveling around with me for several months and finally they are all dressed, coiffed and winged! The fairies will be ready to fly off from my Etsy Shop to their new homes on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019 at 10 AM (Eastern US time). They will be sold on a first come, first served basis. Sorry, no reservations ahead of time. I realize that the hour of the day is in the middle of the night for those of you on the other side of the world, but I can’t figure out how to make it perfectly fair.

So, 1 or 2 times a year, I complete a group of 25 dolls and offer them in my Etsy Shop. They’re basically the same fairies from my how-to book of dolls, Felt Wee Folk – New Adventures. To see EUPHORIA and the other ltd. edition fairies in the archives, click here.

The only potentially messy part is gluing on their hair and acorn caps, so I usually do that in my studio. The hair is wool fleece, which is available in a multi-colored “fairy hair” sampler in my Etsy Shop. There’s also an assortment of faux flower petals to use for fairy skirts and wings in the shop here.

wool fleece fairy hair
fairy skirts & wings

EUPHORIA is 3 3/4″ tall, with a dark brown complexion, black hair, acorn cap hat, hand embroidered wool felt tunic and petal skirt. Each doll is one of a limited edition of 25 look-alike fairies. They each sell for $85.00 and come with a signed and numbered name tag.

To enter my shop, click here. EUPHORIA will be added on Sept. 7, 2019 at 10 AM. Please know that the Ltd. Editions sell out very fast, so if you really want one, be ready. Good Luck!

Wee Folk playing cards!

Posted on January 25, 2019 by Salley Mavor

I am excited to announce a new set of Felt Wee Folk playing cards! Aren’t they a perfect way for all ages to enjoy the wee folk? C&T Publishing has just added the cards to their product line, which also includes the 1st and 2nd editions of my how-to book Felt Wee Folk. After selling out earlier this week, they’ve been restocked in my Etsy Shop. I also want to take this opportunity to let you know that I’ve added some doll-making supplies to the shop – wool fleece fairy hair, flower petal skirts and wings.

Wool fleece fairy hair
fairy making supplies

C&T Publishing’s catalog describes them this way:
The popular Felt Wee Folk, created by best-selling author Salley Mavor, spring to life in an imaginative deck of playing cards. Each felt doll is shown in exquisite detail, so their outsize personalities shine through. So cute you will want to play with them all, these popular playing cards make a great gift for crafters and children, but will be loved by all!

• Unique set of playing cards based on Salley Mavor’s much-beloved Felt Wee Folk books
• Adorable characters handcrafted with love
• This set makes a fun gift for everyone—especially crafters, children, and the young at heart

Standard Size: 2.375″ x 3.5″

Retailers please take note:
The cards are sold in boxes of a dozen in an attractive POP (point of purchase) display.

C&T Publishing – ISBN 978-1-61745-806-4

Surprise Find!

Posted on December 10, 2018 by Salley Mavor

I am happy to offer a very limited supply of discontinued Wee Folk Studio note cards, which were recently discovered in storage. Most of these designs were originally released in the early 2000’s and have been out of print for over 10 years. They come from a time when my business was dominated by fairies, with dozens of varieties of kits and cards sold on a wholesale basis to catalogs and stores.

Back then, I could be seen photographing fairies all over town, along the roadside, at the beach or on the bike path. This all-consuming experience led to writing my how-to book, Felt Wee Folk, which gives step-by-step instructions for making your own fairies and wee folk characters. My work has taken me in other directions since then, but I look back fondly at this period when the possibilities to expand the wee world seemed endless. I don’t think I would be making the kind of art I am today, if I hadn’t gone through this “fairy period”.

The cards will be sold in packs of 8 different designs, 4.25″ x 6″, with envelopes, in a vinyl wallet. The watermark will not appear on the cards. Each set will include 8 different cards, selected at random from a choice of 16 different images — Bay Berry, Morning Glory, Princess Dill, Harvest Folk, Swamp Rose, Dandelion, Lavender, Crystal, Flora and Rosebud, Sweet Pea, Milkweed, Bitter Sweet, Blueberry, Petite Pea, Moon Shell, and Rosita.

UPDATE: The discontinued cards sold out quickly, but there’s another 8 card sampler of fairies and baby wee folk available, which is a good substitute.

Please enter my Shop HERE.

Swamp Rose
Bittersweet
Blueberry
Crystal
Dandelion
Bayberry
Moon Shell
Sweet Pea
Flora and Rosebud
Harvest Folk
Morning Glory
Petite Pea
Princess Dill
Rosita
Lavender
Milkweed

Petunia Ltd. Edition Fairy

Posted on November 27, 2018 by Salley Mavor

I’d like to introduce PETUNIA, the newest Ltd. Edition Fairy. The group of 25 dolls have been traveling around with me for about 6 months and finally they are all dressed, coiffed and winged! The fairies will be ready to fly off from my Etsy Shop to their new homes on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018 at 10 AM (Eastern US time). They will be sold on a first come, first served basis. Sorry, no reservations ahead of time. I realize that the hour of the day is in the middle of the night for those of you on the other side of the world, but I can’t figure out how to make it perfectly fair.

I started making this group while in Scotland last spring. Here I am in the Edinburgh Airport, sewing their felt tunics while waiting for my plane. As with all of the Ltd. Edition Fairies, I only work on them while traveling, when there are long stretches of time to fill going from one place to another. The photo reminds me of a drawing I made of my mother many years ago. She is knitting one of her signature hats featured in my sister Anne Mavor’s 2006 article, “My Mum’s Fair Isle Hat” which she wrote for Interweave Knits Magazine. I wrote about it in this Blog post. I suppose we are all destined to become our mothers in some way!

As you can see, I haven’t weened myself entirely from making fairies. It’s a nice relaxing, portable activity when traveling. I’ve had to put limits on myself at home or else I would make them all the time, instead of pushing myself to do new work. To see this and the other fairies in the archives, click here.

So, 1 or 2 times a year, I complete a group of 25 dolls and offer them in my Etsy Shop. They’re basically the same fairies from my how-to book of dolls, Felt Wee Folk – New Adventures.

The only potentially messy part is gluing on their hair and acorn caps, so I usually do that in my studio. The hair is wool fleece, which I’ve just added as a multi colored sampler to my Etsy Shop.

During a recent long car ride, I braided their hair and sewed on their wings while sitting in the passenger seat.

PETUNIA is 3 3/4″ tall, with braided chestnut hair, acorn cap hat, hand embroidered wool felt tunic and petal skirt. Each doll is one of a limited edition of 25 look-alike fairies. They each sell for $85.00 and come with a signed and numbered name tag.

To enter my shop, click here. PETUNIA will be added on Dec. 1 at 10 AM. Good Luck!

Honeydew – Ltd. Edition Fairy

Posted on June 14, 2018 by Salley Mavor

Please meet HONEYDEW, the newest Blossom Fairy! She is 3 3/4″ tall, with crimped blond hair, spiky acorn cap hat, embroidered wool felt tunic and petal skirt. I don’t sell one-of-a-kind dolls, but every once in a while I offer a ltd. edition of 25 dolls similar to the ones in my how-to book, Felt Wee Folk. You see, I only work on them outside of my studio, while traveling, so there’s no predicting when a set will be finished. This is my way of controlling the urge to make them all the time. As some of you’ve discovered, making wee folk can become addictive! That isn’t such a bad thing, but if I succumbed to the impulse, I would be less inclined to commit to long term projects like our animation Liberty and Justice or the children’s book I’m working on right now. To see previous ltd. editions in the archives, click here. Information about purchasing HONEYDEW is at the end of this post.

When painting their heads, I slide the wooden beads onto a pipe cleaner, so they won’t roll around.

Their felt tunics are small and portable, which makes them easy to work on while traveling. Airplane stewardesses are always curious about them!

Wrapping their pipe cleaner bodies is another portable activity.

I usually dress them in their petticoats at home because it requires room to spread out the petals.

Their wings are sewn onto the back.

HONEYDEW has a different variety of acorn cap than previous fairies. This collection of spiky burr oak caps were sent by a fan in Georgia. Of course, she will be getting a fairy as a thank you gift.

Each fairy will have a signed and numbered tag.

In an effort to be fair to everyone, the sale of 25 HONEYDEW dolls will be announced on this blog, Facebook and Instagram. They will be listed for $75.00 each in my Etsy Shop on Sunday, June 17th at 10 AM, eastern US time. That gives more of you a chance to read about it in advance, so you can plan on being ready to shop. I’m sorry if this hour isn’t convenient for other time zones around the globe, but I can’t figure out how to accommodate everyone. The last edition sold out very quickly, so if you really want one, act fast! Sorry, no reservations ahead of time. The dolls will be sold on a first come first served basis.

To keep up with new posts, subscribe to this blog (top right column on the home page). Your contact info will not be sold or shared. If you’d like to see more frequent photos tracking the projects in my studio, please follow me on Facebook and/or Instagram.