Stationary!

After years of only selling originals I am starting to branch out into the world of prints... first starting off with note cards. I now have Sleepweed and The Hermit paintings available as 5.5" by 4" note cards with matching envelopes! I am quite excited about them! How strange and lovely it is to see your work printed to paper.

Tinkerrigge - Home for Lost Souls

I am proud to announce the very new birth of Tinkerigge Dolls of Thistlethwaite Manor, a home for lost souls. A collection of ghost dolls and wool works crafted from the wool of Cotswold, Wensleydale, and Merino sheep.  I have been hard at work creating multiple characters and animal friends and am filled to the brim with this new adventure! I couldn't wait to tell you the news!  It is all a part of the dream of working with wool, story telling, creating art, and someday having my own sheep farm. I hope that you will enjoy what is to come and that you might stop by for a story or two!

Ghost Dolls

Hello to you on this fine December day! It has been quite toasty in the cottage and it has been so lovely to take early morning frost strolls with visits to the christmas ferns.
Saoirse still wishes she could go outside and is getting even more curious each day. Oliver has finally shed his summer coat and has turned a nice dark grey color with some lovely light marbeling.
In my life, I always treasured Halloween and it has always been my favorite Holiday. I don't know if it is because I am getting older and feeling more maternal or if it is just because I often find myself missing my family, but I am so excited for this Yule! The cottage is being strewn about with (faux) fur blankets, the oven is a blaze, and the critters are getting quite cozy as well. A garland I fastened of pine hangs above the rafters, and a wee little tree lights up the corner. I love the comforting feeling of the color of the red ribbons and the warming glow of twinkling lights. I am feeling quite inspired by cold red noses and big wooly coats and feel that they will certainly be showing up in some new works! I do wish I was able to create these pieces a head of time so they would be ready for the Yuletide season, but I simply can't paint snowmen in the autumn. Perhaps I will just have to save them for next year!

My nights lately have filled me with such excitement!!! A new favorite hobby, I am sure! I have taken to creating these little ghostly victorian and edwardian dolls. How wonderful it is, to be all cozy in a mound of quilts just needling away! My heart is so full just thinking about it and can't wait to get back to them after I complete this post! It is like bringing my Little Ladies to life and I just love it!

And today, even better news! I have finally found a good a trusted source for my wool fibers! A lovely woman who lives in the south of Wales and rescues Wensleydale sheep. The most beautiful of coats they have!

 Photo from: blog.ashlandbay.com

I have ordered them as hair for my dolls and they will come in a silken yellow, dark greys, a hand stained lavender, and a beautiful auburn. I cannot wait to receive the package and get straight away to making more! I am starting to get a feel for exactly how I want the facial expressions to be and can't wait to add more detailing to each piece in the future. I will, of course, also be doing custom dolls if ever anyone is interested!

I do love to make custom pieces.. mostly because I know that my little ladies do help me in times when I am feeling low. People always ask why their faces look so glum and I think it is because sometimes it is more helpful just to have a friend who feels the same way that you do too.

Candlelit evenings in bed watching Little Women and listening to music while crafting them up has been a great joy in my life. Ollie is not allowed upstairs for it is not yet "bunny proof" and so Saoirse tries to keep good company, but mostly she just tries to eat whatever I may be working on.

Someday I will find a place for all these books so Ollie can come up to this part of the house while I wool... but in the meantime, he sure makes the Best of companions while sitting under my chair while I paint downstairs.

I am feeling luckier with each day. I am so grateful for my family, which I was able to visit with this Thanksgiving, and am so grateful for these lovely critters and cottage.

November

How quickly the leaves have faded!!! I couldn't help but to get out my camera on this spooky day. The pumpkins are ready to go to the soil, but I am trying to keep Halloween around for as long as I can!

 I have been keeping quite busy in the cottage, what with Saorise causing mass chaos and the bunny and hard at work on paintings. I have started to take in Little Lady portrait requests each week and my weeks have been full of swirling dresses, pups, and little kittens to draw. I have made a big change in the way I do things and it has really made me even more passionate about my work. I've started to really get into making my own stains from plants around the cottage and have upgraded to a much sturdier paper which I enjoy tearing myself for each piece's correct size. And inspired by the old ways of packaging I have upped it up to ribbons and wax seals and vintage photographs to go out with them. I am so happy with the results! This week will be spent with family, but it will be so strange to be away from my solidarity and craft. I suppose that I will not be able to keep away from the little illustrations and will be doodling away with any chance I get. I hope to be getting prints made soon of some more recent works!

Summer at Tinkerrigge

Hello to you! I know that the weather is no where near green and bright, but I have good news! I have found my camera cord and so all of the lovely July photographs that have been stored away are finally up! I do hope that you will enjoy them and that these summer photos will help to warm you up! It is amazing how quickly things go.

I hope these summer views have brought some inspiration to you and I hope you are doing well wherever you are!

A splendid day in the Quiet Corner

What a wonderful day it was!! The hens at Tinkerrigge were so active and friendly. It was a pleasure to draw them as they checked out my notebook and pecked at the grass around the home. Many woodchucks must love the ground beneath us and the little resting spot I found was as soft as a pillow. We took off for to Woodstock today to our favorite little antique shop in the Scranton Antique Corner and grabbed some tea and sandwiches at Mrs. Bridges Pantry. I highly reccomend it!!!  The Baroness Tea, the soup, and the Salmon Salad Cucumber tea sandwiches were so delightful!!  I found another old broom which I seem to be collecting now-a-days and a beautiful art deco candle stick for the cottage. The park nearby was splendid and we spent the rest of the evening getting lost on winding farm roads. The lighting was perfect and I pinched myself multiple times just to make sure that yes, this really is where I live. I don't think I ever want to leave!