"eeriefae"

Continuing the Halloween theme....have spent the past week making these little darlings. There are only 10 available and the plan is to have an edition of 10 available each year for Halloween. Of course, they will be different "eeriefae" each year, so should make a nice little collectible set. They've been wonderful fun to work on and you can check out their shop page here.

I'm still listening to the 'Harry Potter' audiobooks every day in the studio. I'm about halfway through 'Order of the Phoenix' and can honestly say that I'm getting more enjoyment from hearing them read by the great Stephen Fry than I did reading them myself years ago. I had quite forgotten how much they've left out of the movies or changed around....all the small details that make the books so compelling. If you love the movies, I thoroughly recommend experiencing the books this way.....just listening to Mr Fry do the voices is a real treat in itself!

The beautiful Spring weather we've been having the past couple of weeks came to a crashing halt today with a return to wintry cold, rain and wind. A bit of a rude shock really.....as someone who is always freezing during the cooler months, sunshine and blue sky does wonders for my energy levels and my mood. I hope the return to Winter doesn't last too long.

Before I sign off, my good friend and fellow 'Strathalbynite' Joanne Blackeby has finally got her blog up and running. Joanne is a very talented textile artist who creates beautiful, sensitive pieces that reflect her love of nature and the countryside that surrounds her. Being a very private person she was quite nervous about blogging, but I think she's done a lovely job. You can check out Joanne's blog here.

Till next time.

Halloween Faery....finished!...(almost)

I'm always a little nervous about making Halloween pieces....always just a little afraid that I won't want to stop once I start. There is something so 'addictive' about those Halloween colors....I never use orange at any other time (well, rarely anyway). This has been such an enjoyable piece every step of the way....she almost seemed to be putting herself together, everything just worked and there was no stress involved. Nice change! She is all finished except for the tiny light that will illuminate the jack-o-lantern she is holding....I'm hoping to pick that up tomorrow. The little skulls and pumpkins in her hair were great fun to make too....being able to do these little things makes me appreciate polymer clay all over again!

So, this is the first in a series of Faeries (all around the same size and with sculpted hair) that I will be creating over the next twelve months or so. The next one will be a 'spring' themed faery followed, of course, by a Christmas one. I hope to have her up on the website this weekend.

It's been an interesting week with a few ups and downs. We'll ignore the downs, but the ups have been really lovely. There was a lovely post on Koldo Barroso's blog, a 'sneak peek' at a wonderful treat being sent to me by my friend Pattee, a delightful e-mail from the BuNnY Queen Keri, the joy of knowing that the new 'Alice' book by Nancy Wiley is on it's way, the arrival of Brom's new book 'The Child Thief', the joy of listening to the Harry Potter books on audiobook (read by Stephen Fry) every day in the studio, and of course my youngest child, Noah, turning ten last weekend. Life's good.

Till next time.