Birds and Twigs

I love it when my searches for mundane items (this time: an organic cotton shower curtain) lead me to find fairytale furnishings in the far corners of the internet. I ordered my shower curtain from are|naturals, a company that carries these cute Bird Measuring Spoons and this Twig Table Runner. Some good fixings for a forest party, wouldn't you say?



As an aside: my shower curtain arrived quickly and it is just as promised, so I can happily attest to their great service.

Ooh!

Faery Wine Gourd
Originally uploaded by plumevine

Look at this faery wine gourd from Plumvine! I'll post more about this lovely jeweled artistry in the future, but this caught my attention tonight on my Flickr photostream. What do you think is inside?

The Game at The Hermitage

Rima Staines is an artist whose blog, The Hermitage has become one of my recent favorites. She clearly embraces the strange and grotesque, but there is a lot of history and charm in her work as well. Rima sells her prints in her etsy shop, at very good prices.

She posted today about a game she created for her Book Arts and Crafts degree. The game's inspiration came from so many sources - her fascination with old world beliefs and truths, the balance between seasons and time and life and death, her love for the earth and the pre-industrial eras - all contained in this little trove.

It would be easy to get lost in Rima's world...

Alienskin Clothing

It's difficult to find fairy clothing these days that doesn't look like some hippie knock-off or a Disney fairy princess. Frustrating, isn't it? Me, I usually compile my costumes from the thrift store. If I had a bigger fairy budget, however...






I'd go for Alienskin's Faery Clothing line. The pieces are reasonably priced, which is a lovely surprise. Custom made in the UK, from sizes 6 to 26! I, personally, am swooning over the top in the last picture...the lines of these clothes are just so pretty!

Les Bonnes Fees - New Zine!

This is super exciting. Peta Anderson has decided to start up a brand new fairy tale web zine! Les Bonnes Fees is now accepting submissions of poetry, prose, reviews, commentaries and art, so this is the time to get in on the ground floor. This will, I think, be a welcome addition to Goblin Fruit and Cabinet des Fees, and will fit nicely in a niche between them with a really different feel.

From their about page:

"Les Bonnes Fees is a project that has grown out of our love of fairy tales, starting as a personal page filled with fairy tales and fairy tale commentaries. After some time, though, it became apparent that that there are few fairy tale sites and magazines for the casual reader; Les Bonnes Fees is our attempt to help fill this gap.We are not folklorists, but rather interested persons with a love of fairy tales."

So what are you waiting for? I know you're an artist, deep down. Take the plunge and submit!

(Image: the fairest of all yarrow from jude on Flickr.)

Gathering of Rings

In two days - April 24 - I will have been married for four years. I had known Hans for just over four years when he proposed to me (on our four year anniversary). We got married in the fourth month of 2004. I never really realized how many fours there were around us until now! But I diverge.

You can read about my feelings for Hans in this post from my personal blog. I love him very much, but now is the time to talk of other things.

In four years, I've never found a ring I love so much as the one he gave me when we were engaged. It's from an estate sale, which makes the environmentalist in me happy; it's flowery and filigreed, which pleases the romantic in me. Since rings seem to be on my mind these days, I thought I'd share some of the pretty things I've been coming across online. There will be more than four, though - I can't choose!

After the Rain by Morning Glory Designs on Etsy


Black Sheep by Soop on Etsy (you can buy multiple rings to make vignettes!)


Silver Folded Wings Ring by ragtrader on Etsy



Forget Me Knot by Kiel Mead on Elsewares

The Disney Treasure Chest Ring on Fredflare (I know how fairy tale enthusiasts feel about Disney, but still! Look at this thing!)



Absinthe Fairy Spirit Crystal Ring on Anime Cubed (a little indulgent as far as dorkiness, but still pretty!)



Tortise and Hare by Marty Magic



Finally, in honor of Earth Day, this cute cute plant ring by cbijoux

Every day a holiday

Lately I've been checking out the April Holiday calendar at School of the Seasons. It's a website run by Waverly Fitzgerald, a lovely lady who is a teacher and author and philosopher. She's very much into living in harmony with the seasons, the moon, and nature, and her new self-published book Slow Time advises readers how to get the most out of living this way. Her calendar of holidays is really fun to look at - a bit of history and folklore in each day, whether it's about Passover or Cerealia (coming April 19).

My birthday, May 5, is of course a celebration of Cinco de Mayo, but it is also the day that Koreans play outside on swings and the Japanese celebrate boys. Does anyone have any really great holidays on your birthday?