Category Archives: Fairies

Bike Path: Porcelain-berry

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All along the bike path is porcelain-berry, one of the most beautiful invasive vines in our area. The plant’s berries come in shades of blue not normally found in plant life. They look like hard candy or gum balls that turn tongues blue.

The Plant Conservation Alliance (PCA) Alien Plant Working Group has labeled it LEAST WANTED.

 

Originally from Northeast Asia, porcelain-berry was cultivated in the US around the 1870s as a bedding and landscape plant.

The PCA says, “The same characteristics that make porcelain-berry a desirable plant for the garden — its colorful berries, pest resistance, and tolerance of adverse conditions — are responsible for its presence in the United States as an undesirable invader.”

I was inspired to make this pair of fairies to match the berry colors.

Rose Hips

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Rose hips are everywhere this summer.  The rosa rugosa plants are not native, but brought over from Asia hundreds of years ago. They love our climate and grow like weeds along the bike path, on road sides and along the edge of the beach. First, they bloom with the most brilliant deep pink flowers.

And then form rose hips that look good enough to eat, although they don’t taste very good. Years ago, I made the mistake of calling these beach plums (which are a totally different edible fruit), but the “botany police” corrected me.

They turn wonderful shades of orange and red and look as exotic as sea creatures, like mini octopi.

This fairy is in my how-to book, Felt Wee Folk .

dolls’ new home in Australia

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Lucinda Hooper sent me these photos of some Ltd. edition dolls which I sent to her in Australia. It’s fun to see Dahlia and Bud & Ivy settled in their new home on the other side of the world.

Dahlia, Bud & Ivy with Mimi Kirchner’s tiny world pin cushion

The dolls feel at home with Mimi Kirchner’s tiny world pin cushion, which also found its way from Massachusetts to Australia. See more of her pin cushions in an earlier post here. Thank you for sharing these pictures, Lucinda!

Dahlia sitting by a river in Australia

Bud & Ivy with a “river stone” cottage made by Lucinda’s Mum

Fairie Festival (costumes)

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People work all winter on their costumes to wear at the May Day Fairie Festival. Not just women and girls wear wings, but dogs and manly looking guys have them, too. These photos show a sampling of characters from around the fair and in my tent in years past.  The Festival will be held from April 30- May 2 this year at Spoutwood Farm in Pennsylvania. You can see more photos and find out about the festival here.

Close-ups (mushrooms)

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Ah, the fascination of mushrooms, with their bizarre, alien quality. This group includes some real mushrooms I found and used as props and some I made.  The first photgraph is of some mushroom houses that I made for a scene that was used in an educational reader illustration in 1979. To see more mushroom houses and read about the story in another post go here.

mushroom houses, 1979

 Skip ahead 20 years to this photograph, which shows some of the first Blossom Fairies that I offered as kits in 1999.

Blossom Fairies on a mushroom, 1999

  This is a pair of wee folk sitting in a cluster of mushrooms that were growing so fast that I had to run home and get my camera before they changed shape.

Wee Folk under mushroom, 2002

 I molded the next mushroom from clay, glued kid leather on top and painted the leather red. For the photo shoot, I put some drops of glycerine on the mushroom to look like rain.

mushroom made from kid leather, 2005

 This last one is from my up-coming book, Pocketful of Posies (Sept. 2010).  

detail from "Pocketful of Posies" 2010

Note: See other posts in the Close-ups series archive here.

Fairie Festival (wee folk studio)

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Wee Folk Studio went to the May Day Fairie Festival for a few years when we were still making fairy kits. We set up a tent and displayed many fairy related items. There were Blossom fairy kits, Ltd. edition dolls, note cards and books for sale. We don’t sell at fairs anymore, so we won’t be there this year, but I highly recommend going if you are at all interested in fairies and fantasy. The fair will be held April 30 – May 2nd this year at Spoutwood Farm in Pennsylvania.

Along with the 12 x 15 canvas tent, we transported a trailer full of trees, branches and vines to make an arched entryway. For me, decorating the tent , inside and out was as much an art project as making miniature dolls and illustrations.

Inside our tent, we set up tables and hung ivy and flower garlands. Here I am, early in the display phase, with the tree stump base.

We brought boxes of moss to use around the tree stump display, which I sprayed with water all weekend.

Some customers came in wearing these wonderful bark back packs. They said that they made them at a workshop.

Fairie Festival (masks)

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Fairies and other fanciful creatures come to Spoutwood Farm in Pennsylvania every spring. The 19th annual May Day Fairie Festival will be from April 30 to May 2nd this year. Wee Folk Studio was a vendor at the festival for a few years, when we sold fairy kits. One of the highlights of the weekend is seeing the costumes that people have made to wear at the event. If you live anywhere within driving distance of southern Pennsylvania, go to this fair! You will feel out-of-place unless you wear a costume or at least something celebratory.  We have a lot of pictures, so in the future, I’ll be posting more photos from past festivals. These masks are made by Mythical Designs.

Here are some gorgeous green men who came by our tent in 2005. Their incredible leather masks are made by Fantasy Guild Studios, which will have a booth at the Fairie Festival this year.