It's all Folk.

This idea came to me the other day when I was putting together a Pinterest board of Vintage European tourist souvenirs, ones that I liked and would buy. When I'd got the items all together I noticed there was a very strong folk art theme to them. I have always liked Swedish Folk Art so I decided that would be the design for my next mosaic mirrors. I have handpainted the folk symbols onto the tiles, then fixed the paint to give a durable finish. The first one I made was this Red and White version. It's the traditional colours I think of when I think of Swedish Folk Art. I painted over the bare wood with white gloss to give a clean, bright, slightly shabby chic, finish. The strips of pattern also remind me of embroidered trim.

The second version I've made is another, what I think of as traditional, Swedish country folk style colour combination of pale Blue and Grey. This time the design is painted in blue onto pale grey tiles, the plain tiles are pale blue, and the bare wood of the mirror has a blue/grey woodstain which has a nice, sunbleached, faded effect to it.

The handpainting, fixing, and then making the mosaic, makes this mirror pretty labour intensive, but the results are worth it, I think.

Latest Ripple Bird Bath

I've used a slightly more muted set of colours on this Ripple Bird Bath, and it's come out really well. It looks like the colours are slightly sun-bleached. Which, of course, will never happen, as the beauty of these glass mosaic tiles is they are fade-resistant. So this faded-effect will stay at this shade even in bright sunshine. Perfect.

The stone I've used in this bath is slightly larger than I've used previously too, but I think the scale of it fits the large size (31cm) saucer that I've used.

I was thinking about making a matching base, but I'll leave that to the purchaser to decide if they want to use it as a floor standing bird bath, or if they want to use a plain pot as a pedestal, or they want a matching 'Ripple' coloured pedestal.

Although I repeat this Ripple pattern a lot in my items, each one is completely unique. I start with a blank palette everytime and build it up as I go. Each design will be using slightly different colours, in a different order, so no two Ripple Bird Baths will be the same. The beauty of handmade.

Fiesta Ripples Mosaic Mirror

I have been experimenting again with building up my own tile colours, and I came up with a colour range that has made a great new colour version for my Ripple Mirror collection.

Folksy Metallics

Following my discovery of creating my own colours on my mosaic tiles, including giving them a metallic finish, and then creating my Copper Verdigris Mirror, I've put together a Pinterest board full of metallic items found on Folksy.com. There's some very opulent looking items to be found here -

Folksy Metallics

Ripples Mirror

This is my latest mosaic mirror, it's called Ripples Shades of Blue and Green. It was inspired by the colour of the stain on the wooden frame base, which reminds me of faded beach huts, which reminds me of water, which reminds me of my ripples pattern that I've used before. This time I've only got 2 parts of the mirror with the mosaic on and I've left the middle section of the frame as the bare stained wood. I really like the effect. It reminds me of all sorts of things. Butterfly wings, carnival fans, as well as the watery ripples I was originally going for.

Subconsciously Designing

I just listed a large Raspberry Red and Aqua bauble which is the latest design in my Christmas range. It was only when it was listed in my shop that I realised where I'd got the colour combination, and design, from.

The item listed next to the bauble was this vintage ribbon that I listed a few days ago. The colours are nearly exactly the same. I think I must have even thought to put the holly design on the bauble from this ribbon pattern too.

Funny how things influence you without you really realising it. It just goes to show how mood boards, and Pinterest can help visually inspire you with colour pallettes.

My new favourite thing.

Ive said before in previous blogs that I love to create colour combination and patterns. But sometimes I was restricted by the colours of tiles available. Well, I've found a new way to create new and interesting colour effects on my mosaics. It involves adding colours in a layered effect to give a really different finish to the tile. I am in a whole new world of experimentation now. This mirror is the first item I've listed that has this technique used on it. It has peacock blues and green, greens and golds, and a copper verdigris finish. Keep an eye on my website or my Folksy shop for more coming soon.

Christmas?? Already??

That's what I thought when I saw people on the craft forums saying that they'd started making items for Christmas in July. But, then it dawned on me. Folksy's listing time is 6 months. To get the full benefit of that for a Christmas item you want it to run down, ideally, on the last posting date for Christmas delivery. That would mean listing Christmas things around June time. I couldn't do that. That would seem very odd. I'm just about coping with listing Christmas things in August. Truth be told, I was always a bit annoyed at shops that started putting their Christmas displays up in September. I really like Christmas, but to stretch it out over 4 months made the actual November/December run in seem a bit familiar, rather than building the excitement.

So, my dilemma, do I list some Christmas things to get value for money, but risk putting off people who think it's a bit too early? Or do I leave it until later in the year when there's less time for the items to be spotted? In the end I decided I'll start listing now. I have held back on advertising the fact on Facebook for the mo. I've got some non-crafting followers and I don't think they'd appreciate Christmas tinsel and baubles splattered all over their walls in August. (Actually, I think I might advertise on Twitter because I'm sure they are all crafter on there, so they'll understand.) And there's nothing Christmasy about my shop at the mo, apart from a new Christmas section with a couple of home/garden use mosaic ornaments in it, so it's not too 'in your face'. I'll gradually top up that section over the next few weeks, and advertise it on Facebook in a few more weeks. I'll add a Christmas section to my website at that time too. Problem solved. People who like Christmas can hunt down the items subtley placed in my Folksy Shop. People who like Christmas to start in the winter are non-the-wiser, at the mo.

I'm actually really enjoying thinking up designs for decorations. There are two versions of the bauble decorations that I've listed. The richly coloured bauble, Gold Star Dust, with shades of brown as a background has a gold-dusted effect, and jewel colour tiles with shiny gold stars on them. The pastel coloured version, Silver Star Dust, has a silver-dusted effect and darker tiles to show the shiny silver stars.

Keep an eye on my shop for more additions, if you don't mind Christmas coming early.

Natural Nature

Mosaic Dragonfly Garden Ornament

My latest Pinterest Board is Folksy Nature. For this board I've tried to find things that are close to how the flower, animal, or insect look like in real life. Not too stylised. (I think my dragonfly is fairly close to nature, with the segmented body and iridescent wings). I also try and collect a range of items, I try not to have more than 2 of anything (I might slip to more occasionally). There's some lovely things on this board.

I've got birds, brooches, bluebells, badgers, and bees. I've got purses, pendants, pictures, pyrography, and paintings. I've got daisys and dragonflys. Cards and ceramic. Mushrooms and more............Folksy Nature

Pinterest. Interesting.



Featured on the Waves Board



Having been pointed in the direction of Pinterest I thought I'd give it a go. Basically it's a site which you make online pinboards on. You could collect inspiration pictures to give you ideas for new makes. If you're redecorating you can pin colour combination ideas, and furniture pieces that might match. You could pin a gift idea list. There's loads of uses.

As I am endlessly fascinated by colour and pattern combinations I find it really interesting to put items together as a group to give a feeling, or mood. I've only had time to create a few boards so far, but I've created a couple of themed handmade boards from the items available for sale on Folksy.



Featured on the Moroccan Mood board


 For a bit of middle eastern style - Folksy Morrocan Mood

And as it's holiday season - Folksy Waves

I can feel a series of these boards coming on. More to follow. Probably.