Fairies Are Exercising !

 It may look like the ballerina fairies are doing their daily push ups but in fact they are having their feathery wings stuck on ! After patiently waiting ( beauty can never be rushed ) they fly off to stretch
their limbs and freshly formed wings and then hang around the garden for awhile waiting to be admired by all passing birds and insects.

 I have to look in every bush to make sure they are all safely in as it has been known for some absconders to be left out all night ensuing in very damp and droopy wings the next morning and with the weather turning chilly we wouldn't want them getting frostbite after being exposed outside in just a tutu...

 Safely in they huddle together for a warm up... these little ladies are £10 each and are just waiting to jump onto a Christmas tree .

 These two are a little more special ( but don' tell the others that ! ) at £15  - they have glittery tights and  tulle underskirts.

 The little boxed fairies don't want to be forgotten at £8 ( name in the lid and any name can be written in . )

 Bringing up the rear is Araminta - dyed with mint and wearing a richly embroidered skirt incorporating dried flowers - she is trying to camouflage herself into the apple tree but I am wise to fairy tricks now and not an expert fairy spotter for nothing - she is now safely inside and waiting to go to Cherry Picked For You open house on the West Hove trail this coming weekend .

Have just remembered I promised to put up the domes on the last post - will do soon ! In a bit of a fairy flap at present !

Autumn Colour

 Having made Fairy Fern a new and warm  Autumn skirt ( see embroidery above ) you can see her having  a little frolic through the garden with her dried Astrantia wand, happy to discover a lone Daisy in bloom.

 Before too long she was joined by Angelica and they can be seen wandering through the red Sedum.

 All my fairies are very good at bringing back lovely leaves and flowers and every year we sort out our pressings in to piles and put them in a folder for easy choosing when it comes to making more fairy haute couture. Sage and Maple make good partners ...

 Assorted leaves with Hydrangeas ...

 and Poppies always make the finest of silky undergarments , best suited to a delicate fairy skin.

Fern wants you to see her whole outfit - she is now in a box frame waiting to go to MADE 13 at the Brighton Corn Exchange on the 22nd, 23rd and 24th of November. They are all getting excited about getting out into the wider world ( this only happens of course after they have been around the house and studio for sometime and get used to human contact . ) Fern is wearing a hand dyed with Fennel , silk and woollen top with dried Daisies in the richly embroidered skirt - her hat is an Acorn cup.

 Angelica is going too; she has pink Hydrangea petals sewn in to her Strawberry hand dyed skirt and her wings are made of Sage.

SOLD

 Bracken is a perfect fairy companion for Autumn; she has Bracken wings and skeletal Hydrangea flowers in her skirt as well as tiny dried seeds and a dried Rose petal hat. Her top is dyed with Alder cones.  All three are in  20x15 cm off white and waxed boxed  frames  and are £45.

This little fairy is an example of one that is only recently habituated to being around humans - she is quietly contemplating her future and tells me she is not sure wether to sit under a glass dome or just hang around for a bit. Her old lace jacket is dyed with Wild Bramble and her silk chiffon skirt is coloured with Red Cabbage.

 Claudine ( below) has just reminded me to tell you that we had Making Magazine here a few weeks ago to take pictures of the studio and talk about the fairy work we do here ... there was much fluttering when the photographer came along as all fairies vied to be in the shots and a layer of fairy dust everywhere by the time they had gone ! The results can be seen from 7th November , tomorrow indeed  ... I am hoping to put it up on the blog if I can sort out the technology !

 Dyed with Fennel is Clary Sage waiting to get a mention ...

SOLD

 and Lucinda here is pictured on the kitchen dresser ...

 joined by Prudence , dyed with Green Tea and Winter Poppy whose skirt was dyed with Dock. As you can see all our plants and gatherings are put to good use here at chez Bib . All the  dolls are individually  priced between £25 - £40.

 I shall also be showing some new Domes this season 9 more to follow on another post , but just to give you an idea this one is called ' Cloudberry '. It is 29cms high and is quite hard to get a good photograph of it ... it has a finely , frosted embroidered base , little clay birds in the tree , a hand woven basket with a hand made berry in it  and I am very happy with it's magical , mystical atmosphere.

Do come and say hi if anyone gets to MADE !

Foraging fairies

 I keep thinking that summer has ended , when along comes another warm day and fairy activity continues unabated ! There are still little violas nodding their heads at us and sprigs of lavender reaching up amongst the dead wood of the lavender hedge.

However my little foragers are also bringing back signs of Autumn in the shape of acorn cups and dried pods ( feathers are also a favourite fairy find. )

 I am starting to bag up these goodies and the ones below were brought in one chilly morning before the sun was up properly, as you can see , a  wooly coat was needed and followed quickly with a warm drink of barley cup. I especially like the little brown hydrangea flowers which merge so beautifully with  my hand dyed vegetable colours and the Love In a Mist seed pods are striped prettily in pink and green and the poppy heads rattle with their seeds ( to be sprinkled in fairy cakes. )

Down in the herb garden,  tansy , sage , rosemary and thyme are still there for the picking ...

 although this little forager opted for a sprig of French Lavender to fragrance the little cloth bag she sleeps in.

The English Lavender was picked by this little lady who has no wings but she does have a very clean apron.

 Further foragers are these two figures who have Winter in mind and look like they stepped out of a Russian fairy tale ...

SOLD

SOLD

 I'm not wishing Winter on or anything but just to let you know I am quietly stock piling fairies for the coming season  ... I hear the temperature is about to drop , so keep warm by foraging !

Summer's End

SOLD

 My lavender hedge has been full of Cabbage White butterflies and bees all summer long and as it begins to fade the fairies have  also been making the most of it. I spotted this Large White fairy  this morning and have yet to catch her so I can find out her name ( highly scented plants are a real magnet for fairies so do poke your nose amongst them as often as possible .)

 She looked me right in the eye and then I get very close to her ... but she flew away before I could get my net. I did manage to record that she was radiant in white cotton lace embellished with opalescent beads, silver stockings and white feather wings.

 Back inside the house I spied two black silk tulle ballerina fairies  enjoying the sunshine and dancing in a small pot of dried lavender ...

  later one of them was pirouetting next to William Shakespeare - the last bloom of the summer.  I picked it as a small bud and it blossomed over the day into this ruffled display - perhaps it was helped with a bit of fairy magic!

 Having a rest on a bundle of lavender that I was drying was this little gold creature ...

 and once she was revived I found her on the Passion flower.

 I last saw her on this dried arrangement of lavender , globe thistles and yarrow - so plenty of fairy activity during daylight hours still to be found and although fairies do prefer fresh blooms they are still quite happy to frolic amongst dried flowers , especially as Autumn sets in.

 This pink ballerina was looking rather pensive as she contemplated the last throes of summer ...

 This little black one is back again just to say goodbye ... next time we shall be looking at herbs.

Ballerinas abound !

 A little flock of ballerina fairies landed on my angle poise enjoying the evening sun yesterday. After a heavy day of dancing and fluttering they were happy just to be hanging out together.

 They measure 12 cms high on average and are richly attired.

Ludmilla and Alphonso like to dance together, she has a brocade  and gold tulle tutu  - he is wearing a silk velvet jacket with vintage lace.

Rosella and Irina. Rosella has an embroidered pink and grey tutu and Irina is wearing gold shot sateen with a pink tulle underskirt.

 They were keen to show off their neat chignons.

 Tatiana and Moira. Tatiana is wearing a purple embroidered and brown tutu and Moira is in gold and shimmering green.

TATIANA  SOLD 

 Here is a close up of Ludmilla ( her favourite ballet is Coppelia. )

 A close up of Lydia who wears a grey sateen and silver net embroidered tutu ( she loves Sleeping Beauty. )

SOLD

 And bringing up the rear is Rosella again who tells me she is into Tap and Modern in her spare time.

If anybody would like to give a home to some retired ballerinas who still have plenty of sparkle , they are £18 each plus £3 p&p.