Thursday 31 January 2013

Heathland Mosaic Plant Flower Pot Set


Heathland Mosaic Garden Herb Plant Flower Pot Set

Heathland Pots and Bird Box
Another addition to my new Landscape range. I've already listed a couple of bird boxes in the Coast, and Heathland palettes. I've now got this set of 3 Heathland flower pots in stock. I think these would look great with silvery plants like lavender, or succulents, or herbs. Which are perfect for the Heathland theme too as it's a hot, dry landscape which is just what these plants like.

This pot set will come with a free mini packet of Thyme seeds to get you started if you haven't got any herb plants. Maybe they could be used in the kitchen to have fresh herbs there all year (you'll need to stand them on a saucer, or tray to catch the water). You could colour co-ordinate your herbs to the pots, so some basil in the small one, some chives in the medium, and a thyme plant in the big one. And you could place the pots outdoors in the summer and bring them indoors for the winter. The pots are designed to be used outdoors all year if needed though, and would look great in the garden adding colour.

Friday 18 January 2013

Folksy Handmade - Landscapes



Heathland Mosaic Garden Bird Nest Box
I've listed the first of my bird boxes today, which is part of a range that I've decided to name after the landscapes that the palettes used remind me of. So this first one is Heathland. (There's Coast and Estuary to come.) This inspired me to hunt around for other landscape inspired things for today's Folksy Friday.

All these items are either pictures of landscapes, or the designs look like a landscape, or like me are using the colours of certain landscapes to create a palette. And they are all fab. Hope you like them too.

Click on the pic to visit the shops for more pictures and details on the items.




Felt Painting - Yorkshire Moors
The Mucky Pup Gallery
Felt Bag - Moorland
Artisan Caithness
Moorland Spring Bracelet
Moorlandrivers Jewellery

Life Between Seams Fine Art Print
Steves Art Shop
Hand Painted Cotton Fabirc
Quilt Routes
Beach View 6
Chris Farrow Photography

Blue Landscape Cup
Julia Smith Ceramics
Weston Beach Seascape Orig, Print
T.H. Photography
Scarf Cromer Seascape
Norfolk Seascape Scarves

Abstract Woodland Cuff
Clare Gent
Mountain Patterns A4 Print
Felt Mountain Studios
Patchwork Fields Lino Print
Zebedee

Tuesday 15 January 2013

New Season Preview - Part 2

Heathland Mosaic Garden Bird Nest Box
Heathland Mosaic Garden Bird Box

The garden tests are going well and the tester bird box has survived the snow and ice intact, so far. I'll give it to the end of this spell of bad weather and then I think they will pass for garden worthy.
This is another of the nest boxes that I will be listing when the testing is complete.

I've been trying to think of names for the palettes I'm using that will link them all together. Not easy, I can tell you. But once I got an idea for one, the others seemed to slot into place. This one I'm going to go with Heathland because of the sandy browns, light and silvery greens, and heather purple which you find in that kind of hot, dry landscape.

Coast Mosaic Garden Bird Nest Box

The bird box that I previewed last week I'm going to call Coast because it's reminding me of a rocky coastline with grey cliffs, blue sky, white clouds and blue/green sea.

Coast Mosaic Garden Bird Nest Box
I have one more palette that I want to add to the range and I have a landscape name in mind that will fit the colours for that too.

I also think that if I name my palettes (like I have done on my mosaic bird baths) I can use them on other items to create ranges. I love it when a plan comes together. So watch this space (or my Folksy shop or website) for the bird boxes and for matching bird baths in the bird box landscape palettes too.


Friday 11 January 2013

Winter to Spring

Mosaic Bird Box
This week started with quite mild weather, which started me thinking about spring (I think it started quite a lot of people thinking about it, because at least two of this week's Folksy front page features have been spring themed). I'm not quite in full spring mode just yet. Especially as the weather is taking a turn for the cold again. But I'm looking forward to the first signs. Like the first spring flowers, and the birds that stay for the summer starting to arrive. On that train of though I have been creating a new range of bird boxes which I'm planning to start listing in a couple of weeks. And I think one of them inspired the palette for this FF.

So, today's Folksy Friday is a nod to spring, with a touch of winter too, just to remind us that we're not quite through it yet. Some things are featured for their image, and some things are featured to create the palette I wanted. All things are there because they are fab.

Birds in Flight Fine Art Photo Print
Eyeshoot Photography
Frosty Tree
Michael Arthur Photography
Cornish Ceramic Buttons
Eljo's Haberdashery

Sky Ring
Art You Wear
Fair Maids of February Linocut Print
Stuart Brocklehurst - Printmaker
Hand-knitted Cushion 'Springtime'
The Cat and the Holly Tree

Spring Breeze SportW Merino Yarn
Abstract Cat Crafts
Spring Green Waterfall Necklace
Sally Jane Originals
Green and White Granny Blanket
Purpleshed - Contemporary Crochet

Primrose Trio Felt Flower Brooch
Lupin Handmade
Spring
Unique Artwork
Spring Green Light Catcher
Sugarlips Glass


Tuesday 8 January 2013

A new season preview.


Coast Mosaic Garden Bird Nest Box

This year I am planning to add to my wildlife product range by including hand decorated bird boxes. I was originally going to cover the whole box with mosaic. But I've decided that I quite like the flexibility of using paint and mosaic to create colour combinations. I like having the large blocks of colour on the sides and roof, contrasting or complimenting with the front design.

Putting mosaic straight onto wood that's going to be used in the garden is a bit iffy, as wood expands and contacts when it gets wet then dries, so I have designed a panel that I can attach to the front of the bird box which is a stable base for the mosaic to go onto and won't be affected by movement. It's also great as extra insulation (helping keep the interior warmth inside the box) and protection (helping to stop the box from overheating if the sun is on it, and protecting the entrance hole a bit more from predators, and direct rain).



Coast Mosaic Garden Bird Nest Box



As with all my items I am currently trialing the boxes my own garden to make sure they stand up to the weather. There's still a few more cold snaps for them to go through before they'll pass. Plus I might well tweak some of the colours (the beauty of leaving some of the design as painted wood).

Keep an eye on this blog, or follow me on Facebook or Twitter to get a heads up when they go on sale.