Our Wish to You!

Winter Solstice, Faerie Dust and Wishes

With the nursery being filled with twinkling lights, sparkling faerie dust and lots of smiles; the guardians and faeries of the nursery wish you a joyful, healthy and happy winter solstice.

The Props

Today was spent rummaging around my faerie nursery in order to find things to put into The Clay Potters nursery. With all of the miniatures I have this was actually quite an easy and fun task.

As I mentioned on my first set of photos of me, Faerie Amma, that I loved my ladybug print but figured it was just way tooooo busy for a backdrop. So off I went to the internet to try to find miniature frames. I managed to find some really fantastic ways to make your own frame. I am extremely pleased in my final result and what a perfect addition to the miniature nursery.

 

And flowers! These little vases are actually drawer pulls!! 

All I had to do was sand down the bottoms so they could stand up. How simple. 

And shelving units. I found this idea as well. 

All it is, is wooden skewers put through wooden buttons and pony beads. Again, how simple. 

These little vases I had just sitting in a baggie buried deep in a box of knick knacks 

and yet they are the just the right size. 

 

Entry way goodies or I guess for if it ever happens to rain in the nursery (I sure hope not!)

             As the nursery is situated in the north, here are some of the veggies and fruits that can 

be grown up here in our short summers. I also found some great gardening tools as well. 

A few extra things...not sure if I will use them but going to put 

them into the nursery prop box just in case. 

Now these are actually props for the boys....new swords and spears. 

Not sure if they are going to be painted or not. 

The Clay Potters??

Who are The Clay Potters?

Why, YOU and I are The Clay Potters!!

My brand new line of standing-up faeries will now become The Clay Potters.

Everyone who wants to join is welcome, mind you the Faeries do insist on me telling you that there are a few simple things you must do firstly.

1. Chose a name...that sounds simple enough to me. Perhaps a favourite nickname from when you were little? Perhaps your pets name? Perhaps you just love your own name and you want to use that! The main reason behind choosing a new name is so that I (and the Faeries) can address you without any worries of sharing too much personal information here on the world wide web.

2. Decide who you are...this one is a bit tougher but I found a wonderful guide that you can use Faerie Groups (a massive thank you to the designer Kelley Heckart). So look at who you feel you are or want to be.

3. Let the Faeries know your top 3 favourite colours.

4. We need to know at least 2 of your favourite things to do. Maybe you are a knitter, a hockey fan, an archer, a baker...the list is endless.

5. Send us an e-mail to: faerie.nursery@theenchantedpathways.com

With all of this wonderful information, I, Faerie Amma will make you a Faerie (female/male). This new Clay Potter faerie will stay here in the nursery with the other faeries as a chance for us to get to know them.

There will be brief updates on Facebook and Twitter. The Website will host all of the photos and news updates. The main story line will be told here on the Blog.

Oops...did I say 'story line'? Well the whole point of letting The Clay Potters get into mischief and mayhem is for me to start a faerie tale book. I will record what is happening here in the nursery and share it here with you....as YOU are the characters.

If you have any suggestions, ideas or questions for The Clay Potters or for me please do not keep them to yourself as I will need all the help I can get.

I look forward to creating The Clay Potters and for you get to know them too.

Faerie Amma

And the Mystery Continues?

A bit a go, I had a mishap with the nursery. Yes, actually I think you could call it a complete disaster!!

It seems that when left alone too long....well let's just say, Faeries will be Faeries. Figure that should sum everything up just nicely.

This was a posting that I made on my Facebook page Faerie Nursery Facebook

Oh Oh!! The Faerie Nursery has been found in such a disarray that I don't even know where to start! There seems to be faerie dust EVERYWHERE! Even the dust bunnies are covered in faerie dust! How does that happen?? So while having to make some rhyme or reason out of everything that had happened, I heard the little faeries laughing and they were calling me the strangest name? Once they finally calmed down I was able to figure out what they were trying to say. According to the faeries, they have decided that I am to be blessed with a new name. It was actually quite the event....with faerie dust everywhere (I feel so bad...I sneezed half way through...I couldn't help myself...thankfully they just giggled even more!), I am now to introduce myself as Faerie Amma. So to all of my wonderful followers....meet the new me... Faerie Amma :)

Well since then...there has been no stopping these wee little critters from doing just what they want to do! I have no say in anything anymore. They have COMPLETELY taken over. 

Rumour has it now that there is going to be a new group of friends joining us here at the nursery? Now, granted this has only been whispers and mumblings but I, myself believe it to be true. 

The Faeries have decided that it is time to start a book on their adventures that they have been having (and will have....I can't imagine what else they could possibly get into). So with that being said, the new faeries should be arriving I figure before Christmas! I know, how could that be? With the holiday season being as busy as it is...how can I get ready for even MORE guests in the nursery?

So now I have done what I have been told to do.....the mystery still alludes me but each day brings more information to light. As I find out more...I will stay in touch and let you know what I find out. 

Faerie Amma

As Seen In??

I have had my web designer put in a few new sections on the website!   Faerie Nursery

I had this daunting feeling that no one would ever know if my website was ever active or not the way it had been set up. Unless you followed each and every faerie that I ever posted onto the site through Etsy or Flickr it would look like my website was never updated or used and that is not a good thing!

I did have my Twitter feed right on the front page but I do know some people do not use Twitter or wouldn't even know to look on the right hand side of the page for updates. Unfortunately that is where a lot of websites keep their advertisement sections...not in my case...it was actually the only way viewers could see if I was active or not.

So...the new stuff..

We now have an ongoing NEWS section right on the front page. I will try my best to keep this updated every two weeks or so. Figured what better way to let people know what was going on in the nursery if they weren't added on Facebook or Twitter. Shawn has just been awesome with all of his suggestions and assistance. As this will be a server requirement and one that I will not be able to update on my own...he has again...said that he will update as I send him my new news.

Subject Titles....done in a clean white colour while all of my news is done is the softer grey tone to allow easier reading and not such a strain on the eyes.

I have also now added just under the Twitter feed where you can physically see my products and where I have advertised. I thought that this might help verify my commitment to my little company. I will continue to advertise in some of these magazines and have a few new exciting ideas on where to advertise next in the New Year.

I hope that you will each check out the website for updated news and also to look into each category of faeries, nurseries and suites as I am always adding new product.

Precious Teacup Nurseries

While trying to keep organized (might I add....it isn't working!!) at getting ready for 2 more craft fairs and removing all of my holiday items from Etsy....I am coming across beautiful creations that need a bit of attention prior to being sent off to a craft fair and never shared.

This Buttercup and her Teacup Nursery. She we be displayed at the upcoming Fort Smith fair that is being held this weekend. I think she is just beautiful.

And this is Ophelia and her Teacup Nursery.

Rolling Up the Carpet

As another holiday season shortly arrives, I must say that I have had a wonderfully success month for sales (insert....MASSIVE hug to all my followers).

This will be the last day that my 2012 Holiday Collection will be available on my website and on Etsy.
I wished I could keep them up longer but due to possible shipping delays, I would be more disappointed if my little creations didn't make it to their new homes in time.

Enchanted Pathways Faerie Nursery website

Faerie Nursery Etsy store front


I have one last craft fair to attend here in town and right now I am busy decorating my first entry for the Festival of Trees (photo will be posted soon).

I will be splitting up the last of my holiday faeries between this craft fair and the one that my daughter has a table at next weekend. Pretty exciting to know that my faeries will be displayed in Calgary, AB.

Over the next month I will be just as busy with the new line of stand-up faeries along with my current selections.

I have already decided on what I will be making for my next free draw that will be held the first week of January....just in time for Valentine's Day (oops, did I just give a hint away??).

Again, thank you for your support of the Enchanted Pathways Faerie Nursery :)


Emmanuelle

Special Finds?

After dreaming up making little Faerie Princes and then making them come to life, I can say that they have made a wonderful addition to the Faerie Nursery.

My only issue with them so far is that they seem to be VERY holiday oriented. As I never want my Faeries to be associated with only Christmas...this has become a big dilemma for me. I have been trying to figure out what I could have the little Princes holding in their arms that weren't just acorns and pinecones.

After speaking with my husband on this issue, he reminded me that Faeries love to steal and collect all bits of little goodies. So in my quest for finding wee little things, I managed to save these few items that I can incorporate when making the Princes.

I will be on the lookout for bottle caps, miniatures and lots of shiny things :)

Teacups!

Over the past couple of weeks, I have managed to get out of the north for one reason or another. During these two quick visits back to civilization I came across two amazing finds for the nursery.

We all know the size of a regular porcelain china teacup with the average height being around 3" to 3.5" tall depending on the manufacturer. Well that being said, I was able to purchase 8 more teacups which made me extremely happy.

On that note....while out and about....my husband while snooping around in the stores for me, came across what I thought were the most adorable 'little' teacups I had ever seen!! These little beauties are only 2" tall!! Can you believe that? I have never seen anything like it. So yes, even though they did cost a bit more, how could I refuse? Yeah....of course, I couldn't and didn't.

On this trip out here again just wandering around little tiny shops, this time I was the one to find the treasures. Sitting in the back of a glass cabinet were 4 more 'little' teacups. Okay, so I know...that doesn't sound like anything new!! But, I shall re-phase that last statement....there were 4 'wee little' teacups to be found. Now I know...money is the driving force here and I really have to be careful to not spend more on a product than what I will be able to sell it for, but really.....would you have been able to walk away from teacups that stand less than 1.5"?? Come on now, you can be truthful...of course not and again...either could I.

My only issue now is...I thought that I was going to have a hard time finding any little castles or trees or anything for that matter for the middle size...what on earth am I going to decorate the tiniest ones with??

PWK Fall Fair & Tea

What a wonderful turnout today. It was so nice seeing returning customers and meeting new ones :)

First of all....a MASSIVE thank you to Georgina for sitting with me today. You made the day perfect.

Second of all....a MASSIVE thank you to my hubby for his help both in the nursery and today (plus having to live me....deserves a wee bit of a mention as well).

After living here now for 2 1/2 years it's amazing how many people I either knew or have seen before (being such the caterpillar type of gal I have become {not so much a social butterfly anymore}) that walked through the doors.

The Faeries were all behaved sitting in the new tree branches and on their platforms on the table. The Seed Pod Babies were happy in their new platter (note to self, Georgina always imagines them swimming, so I think I will pick up some tiny blue marbles or something that they can sit on to give the illusion of floating). The cases for the miniatures worked perfectly and everyone was able to see them and we didn't have to worry about wee little fingers getting ahold of anything (legally, a very important note). I will say though, that the hit of the afternoon was our new line....the Faerie Princes! Everyone had to pick one up and check them out.

We had put out a copy of the new catalogue and people were so impressed with it. Even got a few asking if they could purchase one. As this thought did not quite enter my mind when ordering them, I will make a mental note for next year to perhaps print off a few that can be made available for sale.

A big shout-out goes to Meagan at the Northern Journal for the story she did about me and my little company for Small Business Week in our local newspaper. I must have had a least a dozen people recognize either me or my company name and state that they had read about me and wanted to learn more.

Georgina organized a secret draw for anyone that purchased an item. She even punched out little 3D faerie figures on the ballots for me!! Congratulations Jennifer Hudson, I will be calling you shortly and making arrangements for delivery :)

     

My 2012 Christmas Faerie - Caramel Swirl

Well here she is in all of her finery....

This is my 2012 Christmas Faerie that will be given away as a free draw on November 16, 2012 @ 8:00 p.m. MDT.

I have even managed to get my very first YouTube video done that you can view at: Faerie Caramel Swirl - YouTube video

I must make a special announcement though....through special permission I was allowed to use part of the track from the song Silent Night performed by Terry McDade and The McDades. This track was taken from their Midwinter album. Please visit their website to learn more at: The McDades - website

Please remember to enter the draw from my Facebook page: Faerie Nursery - Facebook

Having to Say 'Goodbye'

So, okay....I get the whole big picture thing, really I do. I understand that I make Flower Petals Faeries and that these said Flower Petal Faeries are for sale. I get it!!

But, this past week I made my first sale to someone that I didn't know, or wasn't a friend of a friend, or a family member or or or....this sale was to a complete stranger.

Which remember, I get it. I make Flower Petal Faeries and that they are for sale.

I have a website, Etsy, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Pinterest and this blog.....all advertising that I make Flower Petal Faeries and that they are for sale.

So my reading audience....tell me this....why did I go through 3 days of anxiety, withdrawal symptoms and separation issues for 2 wee little faeries that I had to loving fill out their guardianship papers, gently place them on top of the crinkled paper and slowly, ever so slowly close the lid. Then I bawled!

All of the those bad 'what if' questions just started to pour into my head and there was NO stopping them. What if they had a cat that would be allowed to paw at them, knock them over and go hide them under a bed somewhere? What if they had a dog that just ate them? What if they had put them away on the back end of a shelf just to collect dust? What if they didn't like them and they just tossed them into the garbage? What if? What if? What if? What if?

After holding my breath for long enough....off I went on Tuesday morning and said my final farewells through a packing box and then into their individual boxes. So long Faerie Jewel. So long Faerie Goldie. I love you with everything that I am. I will miss you. Please take care. Please know that all of the other little Faeries in the nursery will miss you.

Good bye.

Care Package From Afar

A new care package arrived today in the mail from my bestest on-line friend Sharon.

 It seems that when I make my petal faeries my favourite flower petals to use are the sheer iridescent ones. These petals just add that extra 'magical' look to each faerie. Now, don't get the wrong impression of me or anything but I have hung these pretty little flower petals off on another rack away from the rest of my flowers as they are special to me. The last few times I have had visitors over to the nursery though, they have ALL managed to find my hidden little stash and proceeded to use them when making their own faeries!! Now, there is really nothing wrong with this and I am glad that they feel the same way about them as I do. So.....I thought I had best check back in with Sharon to replenish my supply and sure enough she had posted more of them. I ordered 7 more sets of 6 flowers (there are 8 layers to each flower) so that will give me 336 more sparkly flower petals (to share??) plus Sharon threw in a few extra as well.

But as always, my box from Sharon didn't just have my order of flowers (did I say, I LOVE her care packages yet? If I didn't....I sure do LOVE her care packages).

I now have a whole family of wee little critters that surround my little tree that I have on my desk here. So every time I glance over to the right of my computer screen, they are all looking up at me with their eyes full of curiosity and smiles galore.

Also in the box came loose flowers, beads, pins for my hubby's collection, little note pads, white head beads, a book, fimo flowers, molds and a whole lot more. How lucky am I??

The loose flowers....I am keeping out to make a very special faerie. As soon as I was taking them apart I knew immediately what her name was going to be....Cotton Candy :)

On a side note though.....Faerie Sharon (named on behalf of Sharon) has been a bit of bother lately! It seems with all of theses holiday decorations that I have laying around while getting ready for my upcoming Christmas fairs has put her into a VERY mischievous state! As I have always kept her close by on the table (she tells me stories and whispers in my ear while I work) she has been busy knocking things over and then hiding little baubles and jingle bells in the strangest places. At first, I was blaming Lady Isabella my cat, but nope.....I had gone upstairs to get a refill of my warmed apple juice and there on the floor were two jingle bells and a little present wrapped in the shiny gold foil. Now what on earth she was going to do with them, I have no idea but because of this behaviour she has now been moved over to my faerie bookshelf to keep her out of trouble!! Not sure how long it will take her to figure out how to get down...but at least I will be able to work without finding little treasures missing from the table!

Etsy Updates

Well for the month of October so far, I have posted 25 new faeries to Etsy.

I have updated my listing tabs on Etsy to now include all of the Holiday Specials under their own categories of: Holiday Faeries, Holiday Nurseries and Holiday Suites.

I have revamped all of the listing for the Limited Edition Faerie Suite by removing the choice of faerie to just a single faerie whose story matches the theme. I am very happy with how everything turned out. Mind you, I now do have 7 listings for faeries that have either wine, martini's or cigars for their themes? Wondering if that is a good thing or not?

I have 11 Christmas faeries that will be divided up between the Suites, Nurseries and just Faeries.
There are 4 New Year's Eve faeries that will be listed as individuals, each coming with a glass of champagne. I need to decide what to do with the actual Suite Faeries as right now they are listed as a group on Etsy. After that, it leaves me 21 faeries that still need to be listed and only 125 more to make :)

I had lots of help tonight as well with Fionn and Ciaran just hoping that even just one wee little faerie would fall off of my desk while I was trying to organize things.

While having to put EVERYTHING away as my cat Isabella has full roam of my nursery/workshop, I have managed to organize all of my faeries into new containers. I will try my best to get these posted within the next few days.

And on that note, I am off to bed!!

Etsy Posting Changes for the Limited Edition Faerie Suites

I have decided to re-do all of my listings under the category Limited Editions for the Faerie Suites. Originally I had 2-4 faeries posted with each Limited Edition. I am now changing this to an individual faerie and personalizing her to that topic.

For instance:

Nyssa is now the Faerie of greeting visitors to the nursery and garden with a cup of freshly brewed coffee.

Flossie is best friends with the Tooth Faerie, making sure that everyone takes good care of their teeth.

Amber like to share her milk and cookies after playing outside in the autumn leaves.

I thought that this would make these set a bit more personal for the buyer. It will also allow me to offer the other faeries individually on Etsy. Off to finish the other 9 sets.

Faerie Star and her Castle Teacup Nursery

I got these little bowls from a friend that was moving away. Now I know that they are not teacups in the traditional way but they were just too beautiful to not buy.

I had already made Faerie Star a few days ago and posted her on Flickr. As she was not yet listed on Etsy, I started to look around the Nursery to see if there was a way to make her into a Christmas themed faerie so she could fall under the Holiday Collection title.

I have sitting on my painting table, along the back wall, a row of teacups just waiting to be made into nurseries. There at the very end were 4 bowls stacked up all by themselves. I took a look at Star and thought, yes, she should have a nursery.

Now as these bowls have a bit larger top I thought the new faerie castles might just fit on there nicely. And, sure enough. In a matter of minutes I had gathered up mushrooms, flowers, trees and all these little goodies I thought would work well. Once I started to put things together, I knew that there just had to be another little moat. As the only black fimo flower I had, had a orange tinged centre, I pulled out an orange coloured swan. This nursery is even more special as I added 3 of my favourite things, cattails. So now surrounding the pond are the cattails. I love how they make the scene look so real.