Daisies and Ripples

Bespoke Ripple Bird Bath

Bespoke Blue Stone Bird Bath

I've been busy over the last couple of weeks coming up with new designs and working on a couple of bespoke bird baths for a very lovely customer who wanted to use two of her own stones in the designs. She sent me the stones and let me come up with the colours to use with them. The cream/purple bird bath is for her, and uses a lovely striped marble stone that, when it was wet, had these same colours in it. The other bird bath with the blue stone is for her to give as a gift, and the recipient has a special connection with the colour orange, so a terracotta ring was added in amongst the blues. I think it works because of the terracotta rim of the saucer, so it's like a reflection of that.

Purple Daisy Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

One new design I've made up and listed in my shops now is a new colour version of my Daisy Bird Bath. I already have a white daisy and blue/green pastel background, but I wanted to use a dark flower this time. I chose the plum purple because I wanted to use cream and sand in the background colours, and purple matches them really well. The overall design reminds me of vintage fabric and has a lovely aged feel to it.

More new designs to come over the next few weeks. Keep an eye on my shop or website, or follow me on Twitter or Facebook to get the updates when they are listed.

White Pastel Daisy Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

Folksy Handmade - Practical Hearts

Last year I did an alternative Valentine gift guide with roses that were practical, just as an option instead of getting flowers that wouldn't last long. So for this year I've gathered a list of Practical Hearts. They're like the card and gift in one. The heart design is the sentiment, and then the item can be used all year without it looking out of place.

I haven't included jewellery because I think that's an obvious one. Heart jewellery is always going to be practical all year. Some people don't wear jewellery though, so these might be good instead. And some people aren't really into 'in your face' hearts and flowers valentine gifts (like me) and I think these would be a good alternative for them too. The piggie purse is the most subtle of all. The hearts are on the lining.

I've gone for a range of prices and styles, so hopefully there's something here for all tastes, and budgets. If you see anything you like, click on the pic to visit the shop for more details, and to get the link to send as a hint to the other half. You know it's easiest. : )

Geometric Heart Cotton Tote Bag
Kikichoo

Fused Glass Heart
Fused Glass from the Glass House

Rainbow Heart Pocket Mirror
Fresh Creative Designs

Hearts Mug
Morning Star Designs

Glasses Case Valentine's Hearts
Kirstie's Allsorts

Scandinavian Style Hearts Notebook
Blue Anchor Bay

Heart Flowers Tote Bag
Justine and the Joybringer

Golden Flourite Heart Keyring
NOfkantsCurios

Naughty Piggies Clasp Purse
The Yellow House

Leather Bound Pocket Journal
Black Orchard Books

Hearts and Flowers Trinket Box
Celtic Wood and Art

Rustic Hearts Candle Holder Set
The Pink Tortoise

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.

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

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.

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

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.