#Folksy Friday ~~~ Birds

Each week I shall be sharing some of my favorite finds, with links, from the wonderful online shopping platform Folksy
This week I've been in the garden watching the newly fledged birds being fed by their busy parents, so I've chosen birds  for this weeks  #folksyfriday post.......

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 Who wouldn't be pleased with this lovely Letter Writing Set

by Hannah Longmuir on Folksy

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I love this little Bird on the Donkey 

 

by James Green - Printworks

 

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 A pretty Purple Birdie on a Necklace

 by Di Keeble Beads & Jewellery

 

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 and lastly, a little Happy Bird Day Card

by me over at Picto on Folksy

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 that's all from me for this weeks Folksy Friday, I hope you can pop over for a browse.

Jan x

White Unicorns

Firstly I'd like to say a big Congratulations to Victoria on her wedding announcement over at Lucy Blossom Crafts,   I wish her lots of fun and no pre-wedding stress while organising such a wonderful event.

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Meanwhile, I managed to pick up a couple of small canvases that came with their very own easels, they're so cute and perfect for a shelf or table top and perfect for a couple of Unicorns.......

A White Unicorn with a Silver Mane on a lovely sky blue background.

 Painted around the side of the canvas and finished off with a shimmer of sparkle.

 A Prancing White Unicorn on a peach background.

The mane is painted with silver and gold coloured paint and finished off with a shimmer of sparkle.


That's it from me at the moment, I'm sharing this post over at the linky party at Lucy Blossoms Blog

Jan x

#Folksy Friday - Poppies

Each week I shall be sharing some of my favorite finds, with links, from the wonderful online shopping platform Folksy
Today is the 100th anniversary of The Battle of the Somme so I've chosen Poppies for this weeks  #folksyfriday post.

A beautiful Dish from...

 Kat's Stoneware Serendipity

This lovely Candle from...

Dew Drop Crafts 

 A Cat and Poppies from my shop....

Handcrafted by Picto

A Pretty Poppy Necklace by...

 Beadish Delight

I hope you can pop by and click on the links to the shops and help to spread the hand made love.

Take care

Jan x

 

#Folksy Friday, Raining Cats and Dogs

One of the places I have a shop is Folksy.com, it's a great online selling platform and as part of a way to spread the word about Folksy I'm sharing the hashtag #folksyfriday, you can read more about how this works here on the Folksy Blog.
I'm aiming to do a #folksyfriday post each week by showing you some of the wide array of British handmade items that can be found on Folksy.
This week, although it's the beginning of the Great British Summer, it's been raining cats and dogs so with this in mind here's my 1st Folksy contribution.....

Cats from KB Creations on Folksy 

 

Dogs from KB Creations on Folksy 

Click on the links to be taken to the items and while you're visiting their shop, you might also like to 'Favorite' it or 'Love' a few items, or check out the rest of the site and help spread the word of British Handmade. 

Jan x

Birds, Cards & WiP Hearts for Handmade Monday

I had a quick trip to the coast one day this week, it just happened to be the coldest and windiest day of the week, after a hot cup of tea at a little cafe I managed to take a few photo's of birds along the waters edge.

Birds on the Rocks

Sanderlings on the Shoreline

I had a look at good old Google when I got home and I think they may be Sanderlings, they are so cute standing on one leg.

A couple more cute birds can be found on the cards I have in my HandcraftedbyPicto Folksy Shop

Happy Bird Day Card

These have been hand painted using acrylic paint and attached to a white card.

Happy Bird Day for a Happy Birthday ♫♪♪

The inside of the card has a nice sheet of lilac paper for you to write your own message.






I'm working on some commissions at the moment so here's a couple of work in progress shots,

WIP Hearts

Do you like my 'one use only, don't bother cleaning, just throw away palette tray'?

Personalised Hearts

I have to be a bit secretive until they are all completed but I can tell you that they each have a name and favorite items painted on.






That's all from me at the moment


Jan x


I'm listing this post over at Lucy Blossom Crafts for Handmade Monday

New Outdoor Plaques for Garden Sheds

I've missed a couple of weeks of blogging, The Hubster and I decided to have a few days away for a bit of R&R, it was great to have a bit of time out and a thoroughly lazy time. Other than my little break I've been busy with commissions.

Outdoor Plaque

The Spade and Fork image tends to be one of my most popular Shed Plaque designs but I can work with my customer to personalise any design.

Personalised Garden Shed Plaque

For Val's Garden Shed I was asked to include a butterfly, a cat and a hedgehog.

Outdoor Plaque

Both these plaques are now with there new owners and I had lovely emails back, it's always great to know that an item got to it's destination safely and in good time but even more pleasing to get great feedback.

Right, I'm off to play work, I've got some hearts to prepare for my next commission.

Jan x 

As usual, I'm linking this post across to Lucy Blossom Crafts Link Up 

 

A Cat & A Mouse Nursery Paintings

I've been working on a few projects this week, some are not quite ready for their final photographs so they'll be for a future blog post. I've taken a few Work in Progress pics along the way so here are a few teasers. I'm really pleased with these little animals so while I was waiting for the varnish to dry on the wood I thought I'd do some nursery paintings.

Work in Progress

 I decided to start with the Ginger Cat and the Little Pink Eared Mouse....

Cat & Mouse for the Nursery

I used white mounts to set them off nicely.

The Mouse & the Flower

The Cat & the Poppy

I used a frame that I already had to show how they'd look all framed up, these 2 mounted pictures have been put in my Folksy Shop

I really enjoyed my time doing these so I can see myself painting lots more.

Enjoy the rest of your week end


Jan x

St Patricks Day Charms & a little snippet of WIP

I hope everyone is having a good week, did you know that it will soon be St Patrick's Day? (Thursday 17th March), so Happy St Patrick's Day to all who celebrate, I don't celebrate this day myself but I have family over in Ireland so always receive a couple of cards and messages. I decided to make a few special Hanging Bottles....

St Patrick's Day Bottle

I made a bottle filled with the gold coins I collected from the End of the Rainbow!!!

ok, ok,  I'll come clean, I didn't really find the tub of gold at the end of the rainbow, I made all the little coins with gold card.

Green Fairy Dust in a Bottle

4 Little Bottles all in a row

Good Luck Wishes in a Bottle, these make nice little Good Luck Charms that can be hung up around the home.

I've also been working on a new idea for my paintings on wood, here is a little peek at some of my work in progress.......

WIP Cats and Bunnies

WIP painting on Wood

That's all from me for now, I'm off to have a nosy at Lucy Blossom Crafts Link Up


 Jan x

Happy St Davids Day, Dragons and Daffodils

Today is St Davids Day, the Patron Saint of Wales, check out more about St Davids Day Here 

I haven't got anything new to show you this week so in celebration of this special day  I'll show a few of my previous makes....

Red Dragon

.....here is a Red Dragon that I made for a boys Name Plaque, a Red Dragon is depicted on the Welsh Flag.

A Tiny Daffodil Aceo Painting

The Daffodil is the National Flower of Wales

Daffodils on a Heart

It's a lovely flower that you can see alongside our roads and hedgerows. I've painted these Daffs on Aceos and Hanging Hearts.

St David of Wales

Images of St David often depict him on a hill with a white dove on his shoulder. It's said that the dove represents the Holy Spirit which gifted St David with eloquent speech when he preached. Some stories say the dove is depicted because one landed on his shoulder on the day he miraculously raised a hill to preach.

A Nesting Dove

This is my resident dove in my garden.

Rough Sketches

Happy St Davids Day

Jan x

I'm linking this post over to Lucy's Craft Blog Link Up

Hare Gazing & Hare Leaping Paintings on Hearts

I was having a rummage through my 'stash' and found a few Hanging Heart blanks, mmmm so what should I use them for? I asked myself...... yes, I often talk to myself, I suspect you do too. The Hubster says it's because I'm usually the only person to understand my own ramblings!! 
So I thunked and I thought and decided it was time I painted a few more Hares. I haven't done any for a while.

A Leaping Hare & The Snow Moon

The Hare is closely associated with the moon, particularly the full moon, it's a connection found in Celtic and Druid mythology as well as folktales from all around the world.  Did you know that the Snow moon or Full Snow moon is a traditional name for the full moon that occurs in February in North America? No I didn't know either but I saw it on my FB page and checked it out. I thought this was a fitting image for one of the hearts.

Hare Gazing at the Moon

I live in a rural area and lucky enough to see hares running through the fields, it's believed to be a favorite animal and 'attendant spirit' of the Celts. It represents love, fertility and growth and is associated with the Moon, Easter, death, redemption and resurrection. So I really should paint a Spring Hare to add to the Winter and Autumn ones. 

Hare Painting

 

I love the Hare and the associated stories, the Moon Gazing Hare on the hanging heart was taken from a painting I done a while ago. You can see the post about it here..  The Hare Gazing Painting

Hare Sketch

And while searching for the Hare Painting post I came across this little sketch from one of my first posts way back in March 2011, you can see the post here ..... Running Hare Sketch

I hope you've enjoyed my little ramble but that's all from me for now, I'm off to do some more painting.

Jan x


I'm linking this post over to the weekly Lucy Blossom Craft Link Up

Magical White Unicorn Paintings

Unicorns are what Fairy Tales are made of, I love these magical creatures. The Unicorn is often used in heraldry on coats of arms and flags around the world.  Did you know that the unicorn is the symbol of Scotland? The unicorn was chosen because it was seen as a proud and haughty beast which would rather die than be captured. The Scottish and the English Coat of Arms are quite similar, but the Scottish Unicorn is on the Left and the English Unicorn is on the right. You can read more about it here at wikipedia.

White Unicorn on Canvas

This Unicorn that I painted on canvas  is neither haughty nor proud, I'd say that she is more playful and whimsical.

Unicorn painting on wood

This White Unicorn is a little more regal. He has been painted onto wood.
He has a lovely silver mane and a pretty ribbon to hang it up.

Unicorn Painting

Or if you prefer, it can popped onto a stand and displayed on a shelf.

White & Silver Unicorn Plaque

I'm joining in with Handmade Monday over at Lucy's Linky Party

Wishing you all a magical week


Jan x

A Bumble Bee Outdoor Plaque

I had a lovely commission via my Wow Thank You Shop.  It's an outdoor plaque and a bit of a rush order but hey, that's how we crafters do things. I even managed to get it finished on time.

 Plaque Ideas

I done a couple of quick sketches and sent them over for my customer to choose, she favored the bottom one so I made a start on the painting. 

Outdoor Plaque

The choices given for hanging the plaque was wire, twine or screws, as you can see from the photo, the screws were chosen. I prefer brass screws for outdoors, they weather well and look good.

The Bumble Bee Plaque

I hope you've all had a good week, I'm popping this post over to Lucy Blossom's Craft Blog Link Up I love to see what everyone else has been up to and it's great to leave and receive comments from the crafting community.

Ta Ta for now..

Jan x