Fairies in the Garden...

Good afternoon, all!

Hope the weekend has been lovely for you--it's a rather blustery Sunday here in central California--a bit exciting!

Just a few things to share with you today...it's been a busy weekend with not too much creative time, but I did manage to play with another 3D Shadowbox Frame card, courtesy of the lovely Vicki Chrisman...

These cards are just SO much fun to put together...I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record about these!  I just choose a theme I want to work with, find beautiful images (usually from Crafty Secrets!) and get going!

This little sweetie is from Crafty Secrets' "Birds and Botanicals" Images & Journal Notes booklet...the beautiful bluebird is from their "Altered Fairy" Creative Scraps...

This little one dreaming of fairies comes from Crafty Secrets' "Little Dolls" Images & Journal Notes booklet...with "Just Imagine" from the same sheet...Did you notice the gorgeous silk blossoms?  A sweet gift from Elizabeth...thank-you so much!

I love this darling fairy with the perplexed expression...wonder what she was thinking when this photo was taken, oh, so many years ago...!  She comes from the "Altered Fairy" Creative Scraps, as well....so do the beautiful eggs, which have been sparkled up with Glossy Accents & Dazzling Diamonds...the nest comes from the "Birds and Botanicals" booklet.

You never know where a tiny little fairy will pop up.....

...if you create a beautiful home in your garden for them, as my Mother did, they may become permanent residents!  Here's my beautiful daughter Chelsea, way back in 1998...peeking in the windows to see if the fairies were at home...

...and my middle daughter Sarah poses in the fairies' front yard as well.  This was Easter Sunday, and the girls were hunting for Easter eggs in their jammies...hadn't gotten their Easter dresses on yet, apparently!

Mom made this beautiful little house years ago...she's always dreaming up and creating magical things...because...you never know, do you?  If you built it, they MAY come...!

(***You need to pop on over to Cozy Little Cottage and see Brenda's beautiful fairy gardens--she has created some beauties!***)

Another woman who dreamed and believed in fairies is a great favorite of mine...Cicely Mary Barker.

Her  beautiful and fanciful paintings of fairies have been cherished by me all of my life...Mom's too.  Mary  was born in England in 1895.  She was a sickly child, but had wonderfully loving parents and a happy home.  Her father encouraged her in her drawing and paid for her to study art.  She had her first work pubilshed when she was only 16!

Her sweet fairies were painted from real life...her models were children that were attending her sister's nursery school.

...isn't that wonderful?!  Mary also wrote a little poem to accompany each fairy...

The Song of the Fucshia Fairy

Fuschia is a dancer
Dancing on her toes,
Clad in red and purple,
By a cottage wall;
Sometimes in a greenhouse,
In frilly white and rose,
Dressed in her best for the fairies' evening ball!"

You can read more about Mary and her beautiful work here...and here is her "Flower Fairy Treasury" that I love...

One last fun thing to share with you...a few days ago I received the glorious bunch of Retro Kitchen Tags from Elizabeth--our swap finally concluded!  Thanks so much Elizabeth, and all of my wonderfully creative new friends, for all your beautiful work and sharing hearts!

Isn't that a fabulously fun collection?  And to top it off, a beautiful chenille bluebird, made by Elizabeth...

...her calling card, in a way...supervising my bundle of tags as she so thoughtfully supervised our swap--thank-you, dear friend!

Have a wonderful weekend...and check your spring gardens...you never know who you might meet there!

I'll be back soon with something new...