Bathroom Plaque & Handmade Monday

Gosh I'm really late this week, oh what a busy one it's been and not all painting and crafting either, I've had a couple of great day's out but as I'm running so late I'll leave all that for another post. 

For this weeks blog hop I've got a some Bathroom Plaques to show you.

 

I have a couple more Bathroom Plaques in the pipeline, one say's "The Reading Room" and the other is "Throne Room", it has surprised me how many people give 'that' room a quirky or different name, a couple I've done that spring to mind are 'The Wee Room' and 'The Best Seat in the House'

I'm off now to follow the links on Wendy's blog and have a nosey at the other great crafters that take part in 

Handmade Monday

Bye for now

Jan x

Handmade Monday 29

This week I've been busy doing my wood preparation. I tend to saw, drill and sand the wood in large batches ready for my plaques, bunting and other bits and bobs. If anyone requests an item of a different size than I usually do then I will do that as I need it. 

A few days ago I had such a request from a repeat customer, she wanted a Plaque larger than I normally do, to hang in the kitchen of her new house. My Plaques are normally 31/2" x 7" but this one is 5" x 10" and I've used a chunkier wood. I'm pleased at how well it turned out.

A Kitchen Plaque

This is one of the nice things about individual handmade items, as I'm sure you will all agree, they can be done to suit the customers wishes.

I also had a commission for a Plaque for 'Grandpa's Shed'. The customer wants the Plaque to hang outdoors and asked if it could have a bee painted on it. I emailed across a selection of designs and the customer chose this cute 'ickle Bee and Daisy. The Plaque is finished with an exterior varnish and florists wire instead of ribbon.

A Plaque for Outdoors

Before I go I'd like to say a big Thank You to three lovely bloggers, firstly I'd like to thank

Linda at myblogfinallymadeit  for featuring one of my Fairy Doors 

Linda does a great job of showcasing wonderful selections of  items from the Folksy shops.

My next thank you is to Anita at Bath Bomb Creations

She sent me a gift bag of her Lavender & Ylang Bath Bombs to 'Try & Review' and I must sat it was very favourable.

Anita often offers freebies to her blog subscribers in exchange for a review, it was done as a simple question and answer format. I never would of thought of buying this type of gift before but I have completely changed my mind. All reasonably priced too so...........

.........Thank you Anita.

Lavender & Ylang Bath Bomb Cubes

 Lastly but certainly not least I would like to thank Wendy who does a brilliant job of hosting Handmade Monday so why not pop over and check out what all the other talented bloggers have been up to this week. If you don't know what Handmade Monday is then follow the link and all will all be explained.

Jan x

F is for Fairy

It doesn't matter to me how it is spelt it all means the same, whether it be fairy, faery, faerie or any other spelling, to me it's magical, enchanting and charming. 

Did you know that the word 'faery' originally derived from the Latin 'fatum' or 'fata' meaning Destiny, Enchantment and Fate? Fatum/Fata developed into fee (french) and the English fay or fae. Now this isn't me being clever, I gleened this information from one of my most favourite books, Good Faeries-Bad Faeries  by Brian Froud. 

As the title suggests Fairies are not always the sweet, gentle, helpful creatures we usually imagine, they can be mischievous, disruptive or even evil.

Other names we can use for the Faery Folk are sylph, spirit, elemental and pixie.  Brownie, elf, sprite and nymph. Gnome, goblin, gremlin. Siren, imp and leprechaun, these are just a few that can be used for the different classifications of Faries. We have the Fairy Godmother the Tooth Fairy and even Fairy Rings.

I often paint Fairies in my artwork, not in the same class as Mr Froud but I get great pleasure from doing these paintings.

Autumn               &               Springtime

Summer                      &                      Winter

Some of my commissioned Plaques

 I love Wooden Fairy Doors too, they are the doorway to an Enchanted Kingdom.

Do you believe in Fairies?       I do and it's often been said that I am 'away with the Faeries'!

All my Plaques and Paintings are either for sale or can be made especially for you, you can contact me by leaving me a message on this blog, through my Folksy Shop or my Facebook Page

Also check in on Wendy's Blog for a look at lots of other great bloggers or even join in on Handmade Monday.

I'm off now to play at the bottom of the garden, I'll be back soon with the letter G

Jan x

Jungle Themed Plaque

Good day to you all and Hello to any new visitors to my little corner of the blogasphere. 

It's a wonderful sunny day here in Suffolk and I will be spending some of it in the garden taking photographs of my finished plaques and paintings. 

I'll also be scribbling away at some sketches for a couple of  new paintings I'm hoping to start in the next week or so.

Here is one of my jungle themed plaques I was asked to do for a birthday gift.

There are lots more designs for Plaques in my Face Book Albums

This week also found me having a great day out in Wells-next-to-the-Sea. It's a great place for fish and chips on the beach and an ice-cream for afters.

I'm off to check out the other great bloggers who take part in Handmade Monday

I hope you can join me.

Bye for now

Jan x

E is for......

Continuing with my alphabet theme, I am now up to the letter E

FirstlyI thought of doing 'E is for Events' but decided that there is a far better blog post about this subject than I could ever write. This one, 'Being an Exhibitor' written by Former Glory Seat Weaving is split into 4 episodes and well worth reading, so pop over and have a look and a read of   Episode 1   2   3   and 4

--------------------

I could of written something on Equality, Ecology or Evolution but I think my brain cell is either sleeping, has gone on strike or my husband has borrowed it. I had it yesterday Evening but it was missing when I woke up this morning.

So instead, I'm going to wonder around my computer and see what I come up with.

ooooooooOOOoooooooo

How about some Emerald Isle Earrings handmade from 'The Endless Knot' on  Folksy

or check out her Blog HERE

Or a lovely Enamelled Egg Pendant from The Magpies Daughter on  FOLKSY 

or you can see some of her lovely items on her BLOG

The next thing that came to my cell-less mind was E is for Elephant.

ooooooOOO000OOOoooooo

Did you know that in India and other Asian countries the Elephant is considered to be lucky? It is a symbol of power and intelligence.

It is also a Religious Symbol in the Hindu Faith. Among the Buddhists it is said that Lord Buddha’s mother dreamt of a White Elephant at the time of her conception and the White Elephant is said to symbolise the Divinity of Lord Buddha. 

There are many stories and myths about the Elephant, you can read more about them  Here

ooooooOO0OOoooooo

These are some Elephants I found around my house and garden

 and to finish off...

Some more Elephants for your garden...........

 .........these are quite impressive aren't they? but a bit big for my little patch.

Topiary and Willow Sculptures

That's all for now.....

Jan x

Pink Plaques

 I seem to have had a bit of a pink moment......

Shhh..... Princess sleeping

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A little Princess sleeps here is a popular Plaque and I like to do each one slightly different.

 'Shhh....Baby sleeping

This Plaque painted 'portrait' rather than the usual 'landscape' seems to be a hit and I already have a few orders in different colours. 

oo0O0oo****oooo00O00oooo****oo0O0oo

 

Just as a change from pink I'd like to show you a rose from my garden.

The colour is really beautiful, I haven't messed around on the computer with the colour of this rose, it is truly black when it first buds and over the next few days becomes a lovely velvety red.

Just starting to open

The fully opened flower

 

 

 

 

Don't forget to have a mooch over to 1st Unique Gifts blog and check out what the other wonderful bloggers have been up to.

Bye for now

Jan x

Family, Awards and Handmade Monday.

Wow what a busy couple of weeks I've had, some ups and some downs. 

On the up side I had my daughter and grandson to stay with me for a week and that was great fun. The house seems so quiet now they have gone back home. 

My mum,bless her, was in hospital for a short while, things improved and so they allowed her home, after one day at home she had a dizzy spell, blacked out and fell on some steps and was duly carted off to hospital for another week, she's back home again now and doing well. (Fingers crossed)

Out for a stroll

Another up is I have been awarded the One Lovely Blog Award by my fellow bloggers so I would like send my thanks to the following people.

 Helen @ Raindrops and Roses  

 Dorset Girl and

 Anna @ Puppyfly Boutique  

Here are a few guidelines that go along with this award

Link back to the wonderful people who gave me the award

Share 7 random things about myself

Pass on the award to 15 deserving, newly found or loved blogs.

Ok, the 'rules' say random, so they don't have to be profound, witty or interesting although it would be better if they were at least one of the three, but hey, whose to say what's witty  to one person would be dead pan to another, so I'll just plump for random and hope for the best.....

1. According to my children and my husband I cannot carry a tune and anyone who has ever heard me sing agrees with them.
2. I hate feeling cold. 
3. As a child I wanted to have the ability to become invisible, I'd still like to, just think of the fun I could have.
4. My favourite  re-reads  are the 'Clan of the Cave Bear' series of books by Jean M Auel, the 'Duncton Wood' series by William Horwood and 'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens which I read every Christmas.
5. I don't like ice in my drinks.
6. My first job was as a 'Window Dresser' in a Fashion and Bridal Shop.
7. I think it's really difficult to think of 7 random things. Ok so this last one is cheating but it didn't say anything in the rules about not cheating.

Below are the 15 blogs I have chosen. I hope you pop over and have a look. These are all blogs I enjoy visiting, some I have followed for a while and some are quite new to me but they are all worth a visit.

I don't know how the number 15 came about and I feel it is a bit of a high number so if I have passed this award to you and you don't yet follow 15 blogs then I'm sure nobody would mind if you do less, after all the rules are more guidelines than 'law'. These awards are a great way of discovering new blogs or as a way of thanking the writers of those blogs we enjoy visiting, but most of all they are fun. There are no 'do's or dont's' about these awards, they are not compulsory and I understand that not everyone likes to participate, I picked the following because I enjoy them not because I expect them to do anything. I hope you enjoy them too.

Dearest Jackdaw

Former Glory Seat Weaving

Goblin Dreams

Its a mistry design studio

Minervas Crafts

Ooak-fairy-fae

Weird-Wood

The Princess Prudence Diaries

Young Designs

Silver Paw Jewellery

Sew to the Sea

Polly Kay

Owl loves Panda

Jewellery BeBe

Beautiful Things by Claire

I have a bit of a catch up to do with my Plaque Orders, as with all of my Plaques this one can be done in any colour requested and can be painted and hung either landscape or portrait.

Now it's time for a bit of a blog catch up, I'm off to read all the wonderful blogs who are participating in 1st Unique Gifts' blog hop, You can find it here at Wendy's blog so why not come along and check out what everyone else has been up to.

Before I go I would like to thank Kirsty at Ladybird Beads for featuring a Personalised Canvas of mine, I hope you take the time and pop over to her blog.

Bye for now, I wish you all a good week.

Jan x