I am super sorry for not updating. My week has been busy, and I spent today finishing a shrug and reading Cold Comfort Farm. And taking a walk to get ice cream. Penance is in order, but for now, here is a pillow I am quite into:
While on vacation in Maine, I joined the community that all the cool kids are joining: Indie Public. It's for bloggers, designers, and artists...or really anyone who "gets giddy when they buy indie." And I do! In fact, I do all of these things, and I'll be opening my own Etsy store on October 1st (details to come). One of the best parts about Indie Public is that it has given me the opportunity to create a fairy-tales group that has helped me find some more interesting individuals who make fairy tale-inspired art. As I sat recovering from my fourth 12+hour dive in less than a month, I wondered if I would even be able to post coherently; then I thought - aha! and Indie Public made my work much easier:
"'O, Oysters, come and walk with us!' The Walrus did beseech. 'A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk, Along the briny beach...'"
Enter Ethereal Girls, where you can find fabulous fused glass pendants bearing vintage illustrations. They carry a healthy selection of Alice in Wonderland pendants, which I love:
I am on vacation in Maine, and...
| You Are a Mermaid |
 You are a total daydreamer, and people tend to think you're flakier than you actually are. While your head is often in the clouds, you'll always come back to earth to help someone in need. Beyond being a caring person, you are also very intelligent and rational. You understand the connections of the universe better than almost anyone else. |
Hovering as I do on the fringes of fantasy culture has given me the opportunity to see strange inventions. Some are frightening, some are just plain irksome, and others hit that note of sincerity with beautiful clarity. Many fantasy-types struggle to bring more of the fantastic into their lives with all the panache of a Tolkeinite wearing a badly-sewn elvish cloak to Wal-Mart on grocery-shopping day. I envision a world in which this is acceptable, but in the meantime, how are we to get out our little but important message that we all live, as Thomas Howard puts it, "in a huge universe all ringing with the footfalls of hurrying seraphim, cherubim, archangels, angels, men, and devils" (he later mentions elves) - and that this is a very rad state of being?
Why, Urban Fairy Doors, of course!
Now, I'm the kind of cheeseball who loves seeing trees that have had little rustic fairy doors or windows put into them. While I appreciate the convenience of the city, deep down I have a bucolic aesthetic that would never allow me to think of something nearly as creative as the Urban Fairy doors, which were discovered by Jonathan Wright.
If you go to urban-fairies.com, you can find a whole bunch of pictures that I forgot to ask if I could use. And they are marvelous in the truest sense. However, if I go to Once Upon a Time Design at Etsy, I find that another person is in the business of "finding" these fairy doors, as Jonathan does; however, she is also in the business of helping others find them, which makes her just a shade awesomer.
When I am beginning to believe there is no magic in life anymore, I point myself firmly in the direction of this set of photos by Eugenio Recuenco. You should too.
(Welcome to anyone who was directed here from Changeling's Knit and Stitch Podcast. It was a wonderful butterflies-in-the-stomach moment to see that the shownotes were updated and lo and behold, there was a link to Folk and Fairy. Thank you, Changeling {a claim so few can make these days!}, for your kind words. If you are into fiber crafts of any kind, please give her a listen - she is both creative and informative.)
When I set off for South Carolina, I was not sure whether I would find anything to write about. Maybe I could talk about Gullah folk art or make a far-fetched comment about a bed of oysters I spotted and Lewis Carroll. (I suspect everyone was tired of hearing me spout "Oysters, come and walk with us..." every time I heard their little snapping shells.) But you were saved, because my grandmother insisted that we see an installation entitled "Be it ever so humble."
