Faux flowers Giveaway winners!

Posted on April 28, 2014 by Salley Mavor

Congratulations to the 3 Giveaway winners; Susan Fiebig, Retro Sandy and Lena Frost! They will each be notified and sent a set of faux flower petals to make skirts and wings for 6 fairies. Thank you to the 100+ contestants who entered!

Many of you wrote such sweet messages about how much you enjoy making these fairies. Some of you also plan to teach your grandchildren how to make them. It warms my heart to hear this. Over the past few years, since I started the blog, I am sometimes so touched by your comments that I get teary. Can it really be that making a simple little doll can make a difference in someones life? Your personal stories and warm messages are very much appreciated, even if I don’t answer every one!

The fairies started as a spontaneous afterthought, when an article about my work was getting ready to go to press for the March 1999 issue of Mary Engelbreit’s Home Companion Magazine. I was asked if I had any items or projects that readers could send away for. I quickly put together a Blossom Fairy Kit and figured out a price. After the magazine came out, I was inundated with orders. The only way people could see what the fairy looked like was to search one of the photos of my studio through a magnifying glass! One thing led to another and before I knew it, Wee Folk Studio became a kit business, with new designs added every year. Eventually, there were 10 doll designs and 10 felt purse kits. At this point, the wee folk were ready to be introduced to a wider audience through my how-to book, Felt Wee Folk: Enchanting Projects. The fairies have been good to me, but after about 8 years, I was ready to give up the kits in order to work on the illustrations for Pocketful of Posies full time.

Reading your comments on my posts made me keenly aware of the need for a revised edition of my how-to book, even though I’d convinced myself that one was enough. It took some time for me to get on board, but in less than year from now, Felt Wee Folk: New Adventures will be published. See posts about it here. I’ll be selling the original book in my Etsy Shop until then. I’m not sure if it will disappear or not when the new one comes out, but C&T is planning on offering the non-doll projects on-line.

Cuba: Colon Cemetery

Posted on April 26, 2014 by Salley Mavor

We visited the Colon Cemetery in Havana.

4000 Facebook Likes Giveaway!

Posted on April 22, 2014 by Salley Mavor

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The Wee Folk Studio Facebook page has just reached 4000 Likes! To show my appreciation, I’m offering a Giveaway. Since many of you have made or want to make fairies from my Felt Wee Folk book, the prize is something you can put to use ~ Faux Flowers for outfitting your wee folk dolls. Assorted packs of flower skirts and wings are also available from my Etsy Shop.

To enter the giveaway, just leave a message on this blog post and 3 winners will be selected at random on April 28th. People from all around the world are welcome to try for the prize.

fairy making supplies

Studio report, spring 2014

Posted on April 20, 2014 by Salley Mavor

I thought I’d take a break from showing my Cuba pictures (more coming) and report on what’s been happening in the studio. Not long ago, I noticed the early evening light streaming in from the windows on the west side. This is the only time of year that it looks this way. The sun’s position was low and shone through the still bare trees. I asked my husband Rob to quickly take a photo, which he did.

You’ll have to imagine what the rest of the room looks like right now, because I’m in the process of working on projects that are secret or just not ready to show yet. I’m making three sets of wedding cake dolls as gifts for friends who are getting married this summer. Of course, I want them to be a surprise, so they’ll be shown after the weddings.

And, I’m excited about making a large sculpture for the Portals and Passageways outdoor exhibit at Highfield Hall in Falmouth, MA this summer (June 29 – Sept 7, 2014). Working on this large piece has been very different for me and we’ve taken photos and videos along the way. I’ll show them after my sculpture is installed in June. Update: See how my sculpture, Hither and Yon was made here.

Lanyon-Quoit-Pink.web-(2)

I’m happy to report that my sister, Anne Mavor is also having an exhibit at Highfield! Ancient Landscapes: The Spirit of Place will feature paintings from her Mounds and Stones series, which was inspired by our late father, James W. Mavor, Jr., an astro-archaeologist who traveled the world documenting the connections between the land and sky at ancient sacred sites.

Soon, I’ll be gathering some of my older pieces, which will be borrowed from their owners for the upcoming exhibit, Salley Mavor: Expressions in Stitches: Then and Now, at Museums on the Green in Falmouth, MA (July 4 – Aug. 16, 2014). Historical needlework that I picked out from the museum’s collection will be shown alongside my contemporary embroidered artwork. I’m really looking forward to working with the curator and figuring out how to display some of the historical items.

More goings on:
Pocketful of Posies Exhibit
~ Cotuit Library, Cotuit, MA until May 27th. My talk is on May 2 @ 6:00 pm.
~ Lexington Public Library, Lexington, Kentucky (July 5 – Aug. 17, 2014).

Cuba: street vendors

Posted on April 17, 2014 by Salley Mavor

Every day, Cuban farmers bring fruit, flowers and vegetables into Havana to sell on the neighborhood streets. The farms are close by and you can see them hauling their produce behind bicycles and horse carts.

Cuba: doorways

Posted on April 14, 2014 by Salley Mavor

Through open doorways, we caught a slight glimpse of the life within Havana’s deteriorating buildings.

Cuba: cars

Posted on April 11, 2014 by Salley Mavor

The streets of Havana are full of American (and other) cars from before the Cuban revolution in 1959. It’s said that most have had their motors replaced with Japanese engines, but the old car bodies have been lovingly maintained. We took a ride in a convertible one evening!

Cuba: laundry

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Salley Mavor

In Havana, laundry hung from every balcony like flags of humanity.

Posies is going south in 2015!

Posted on April 7, 2014 by Salley Mavor

I am thrilled to announce that the Pocketful of Posies Traveling Exhibit will be going to the Upcountry History Museum – Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina! This is extra exciting, because southerners have been clamoring for the exhibit to come closer to them. The show dates are October 17, 2015 ~ January 31, 2016, so there’s plenty of time to plan a trip to see it. I have also been invited to do a book signing and give a talk at the museum sometime in the first half of November, 2015. An added bonus will be a chance to visit the area in SC where my grandmother was born and raised and where our Salley family has been for many generations.

Wouldn’t you know, just as soon as I announced that the exhibit’s 3+ year tour will be winding down, it has picked up momentum. Dana Thorpe, the museum’s director, contacted me last week and we quickly made arrangements. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’m no longer actively seeking out new locations, but will respond to inquiries from interested venues. Looking at a map, Greenville is located in the north western corner of the state, near the North Carolina and Georgia borders. I am so pleased that folks from the surrounding cities and towns will be able go and see my original embroidered illustrations!

Cuba: modern dancers

Posted on April 6, 2014 by Salley Mavor

While in Cuba, we had the pleasure of watching a modern dance troupe in rehearsal. What a treat! They were a fantastic, incredibly talent group of young men and women. The dancers did an elaborate warm-up and then launched into a performance piece, with excellent live drumming. I was busy being mesmerized, while my husband Rob took these photos.