I'm Still Here......

It seems like forever since I last wrote a blog posting. It is not like I haven't been either here in the nursery working or out of the nursery shopping while out of town. It is just that I haven't had the time to sit still long enough to write down what I have been up to.

There has been some major and some not so major changes to the company and to me personally as Faerie Amma (and the me, the alter ego of Faerie Amma).

Some of the major changes to the company includes a new direction....

I have hired a wonderful writer by the name of Michelle E. J. Knowles who has been listening to the faeries and it seems that the wee ones might not be here for much longer but I will let her tell their story.

The website has been updated by added new 'pink sparkles' to the banners on each page; the amalgamation of the faeries and princes page and the renaming of the Northern Faeries.

A new table top photo shoot box was purchased to give a more professional look to our photos. A massive thank you goes out to hubby who took the time to take the photos of the Northern Line of Faeries. I think they look fantastic on the new blue backdrop :)

The naming of our dragon mascot took place back in August but it looks like I forgot to mention it here on my blog! Her name is Roisin which is an Irish name meaning little Rose. For now she is our only dragon here at the nursery but perhaps in the future we will find more of her kind.

I am pleased to announce that the Faerie Magazine has a new partner and they are back in publication. My half page ad that ran in issue #24 looks fantastic and issue #25 will be out in December. I have applied to the Government of the Northwest Territories - Industry, Tourism and Investment Division for further funding so I can continue advertising with Kim for the 2014 subscription year. I hope to hear next week if my submission was accepted (keeping fingers crossed).

Other than that...it is business as usual....the nursery is in shambles as the faeries and locked insides as we have a light dusting of snow. As more product continues to arrive the faeries love to dive right in and well, let's just say that I have no clue at all what I have and what I don't have anymore. There are flower petals and sparkles to be found everywhere. But that is what makes working in a faerie nursery everything that when you close your eyes and you just even try to imagine what it must be like....it is ten thousand times better.

And with that thought....here they are....the Northern Line of Faeries introducing...

Boreal

Snowflake

Aurora

Raven

Agua

Midnight Sun

The Dragon Slayer

Meet the Dragon Slayer!! 

As the Nursery isn't always about Faeries....

I have managed to buy the most essential items required to slay dragons or at least I think I have?? Between bows with arrows, breast plates, shields, lots of swords and a few helmets, I figure that you would have enough equipment to slay any ole dragon.

A Quick Glimpse...

And there she is! We have been waiting and watching so quietly over the past few weeks to see if we could catch a glimpse of her....and we did!

What a wonderful edition to the faerie nursery ... to have dragons in the vicinity. We are all soooooooo excited.

What shall we call her? Looking for suggestions and ideas.

What are those? They couldn't be??

When out and about with Faerie Amma last week she came across these....what do you think? Could these really be dragon scales? Are there more than just faeries living this far north??

The new direction of Enchanted Pathways

The story has been written and now it needs to be told.

This won't change the name of my company at all, it is mainly to allow more 'key' search words when 'Googling' to find me :)

My little workshop has now become The Enchanted Pathways Faerie Nursery.

This will encompass everything from the wee little seedpod faeries, to the petal faeries, wooden faerie doors and wooden trinket chests. It will also allow room for expansion, whether that includes porcelain faerie dolls, cloth faerie dolls, dragons and what not.

We here at the nursery are guardians of the wee folk that are waiting for adoption.

I hope you will take this journey with us as we continue to tell our story.

We have a dragon amongst the faeries!

Well...this is the first of hopefully many more to come. As always there is a massive learning curve when following a pattern and how to make it your own.

This little guy is supposed to have legs and arms...but I like the almost seahorse design he ended up to be or maybe he's a distant relative to Ogopogo!! I love the spikes going from the top of his head down the back of his spine. The nose shape is definitely seahorse though.

The pattern only called for one stuffing area...this will be changed as it was too difficult to get the stuffing all the way to the tip of the tail without ripping the fabric. I think the tail is way too long (but then if I had another space open to stuff I might not have been so frustrated). I love the fabric I chose but it did have a little bit of stretch to it which did become iffy when I had to turn him inside out. I will definitely look for just straight cottons for the next one.

The sewing on of the wings will take some work. The pattern called for them to just be glued on which I for sure do not agree with.

I originally had him without eyes but the hubby said he needed eyes. With the colour of the fabric I was hoping that the clear orange eyes would somewhat show up better than pure black ones. If these little guys are to be sold though, I will have to actually stitch eyes using my cross-stitch floss otherwise he will need to have a disclaimer warning for small parts for children.

For a first attempt...I like him :)

Wow....a New Year already!

Looks like I have been a little negligent in my blogging.

Well 2011 ended with a huge a success :)

I attended two local craft fairs in November and December.

The one held at Aurora College (November) was a great learning experience.
Firstly a big thank you goes to my husband for helping me set up and for keeping me company. Secondly a big thank you goes to my bestest friend Debora (even though she was sick) for bringing her smile.
I was given only a small table and was only able to lay things flat in trays. I can understand why no one knew what I was trying to sell. Unfortunately I had no sales for the gift bags but it was hard to display them and I don't think that no one really knew what they were all about. Mind you my stuff is pretty eclectic for the small community that I live in.
The Faerie Doors went better but again they were hard to display as well. Due to the small nature of the items I had to keep them covered up on a tray. I was successful in selling 5 complete doors sets though.


The second craft sale was held in December at the Metis Hall. It was a better presentation and I definitely used the first attempt as a learning tool. This time I had a massive table. My husband had gone a cut down tree branches to help with the display. As well the Flower Faeries were available individually for sale. I think my packaging was 1st rate and really helped. I even remembered to add in business cards.

The saying my husband came up with is "Enchanted Pathways lead to Faerie Doors". What a great way to sum up my little company :)

I will no longer be making the gift bags except for family. I loved doing them but would have to figure out a way to market them better if I am to continue making them for the company.

What does 2012 have in store....

Well, I will be expanding my little company.
I just finished revamping my workshop after a bit of an expansion for work space area.
I will be adding cloth faeries, cloth/porcelain faeries and cloth DRAGONS!
As well as tea cup faeries! More explanation on this one to follow.

I am in the process of creating new business cards as I know have a Facebook page and Esty account for Enchanted Pathways. I will no longer be using the picture of the flowers but will design my logo around the swirls and fancy font :)

I have purchased many new items for the company...too many to list and show but I will show a few over the next few days as I would like to thank certain sellers/ artists that have helped me create the vision for my company.

New Year's resolution...be a better wife, continue to be a Mom and Amma Emm (to little Rebecca and baby #2 due in March), try to keep up with a full time job and to make Enchanted Pathways a successful business :)