Upcycled storybook badge

A little pin badge I made awhile ago and listed in my etsy shop the other day. Yes its a wee bit naughty but how many times have you thought that? Exactly. The badge is made with paper from a salvaged ladybird fairy tale book, vintage book paper,and old typewriter and ink. Made using a professional badge machine. The pin badge is presented on a coffee stained note card. The badge measures 1 ½ in (38mm).

the Ghost Boy

Merle the Ghost Boy

The ghost boy lives in a boarded up shop at the end of a dark twisting ally. Behind a rusty chain, a lock with no key and a door that might once have been green but now is black with age. The shop is filled with books, paper, ink, typewriters, wooden letterpress blocks and archaic machinery. He thinks his name might once have been Merle, or Mervin or maybe Fox. It’s been so long since anyone has ever asked.

The night is filled with the moans, shrieks, and groans of the printing press as the Ghost Boy plays with ink and letterpress blocks. He reads his books, prints stories and posters of fantastical imaginary things. He pins up posters on telephone poles and plasters them on walls. He makes up typography jokes that nobody ever hears. Nobody ever laughs but him.

He walks though the town when the lights are dim and laughs at signs in papyrus, comic sans and arial black. He painstakingly prints graffiti letter by letter onto white painted walls to share the beauty of typography and words. He painstakingly types letters and notes, and slips them into newspapers and books in the library and the bookshops in town. He waits and waits for the books to be opened and his secret notes to be found.

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the Ghost Boy was made with love using scraps of fabric, vintage thread and buttons, he is filled with toy filler. Merle comes with his very own story card. I have listed Merle on etsy, click here or click on the link on the sidebar.

poison apple tree shop

I took one little empty blog I had and I have now opened it as an experimental little shop. If it works it works, and if not well then I shall be off to dream up the next little dream. The shop is called poison apple tree after a little story that I wrote and never quite finished (but its on my to do list for getting done by spring ...honest. So please pop by and have a look round. There is only one little item in the shop now but I will add more over the next few days. I still have a few items in my etsy shop if you want to nose round there, I'm not shutting it altogether but for the small amount of crafting I do the fees are quite hefty.

thank you so much for reading my blog, commenting and purchasing my creations.

May the Geek be With You II

Harrison and I made a few more Star Wars pin badges and I have popped them in my little etsy shop. Just three to start off with but if they sell I will make some more to add to the shop while I still have the badge machine on loan from a truly fantastic friend.

Shop Update

I will be closing my etsy shop down on October 15th as we will be going to visit my parents in the States. So if there is a doll you are wanting please order him or her now so I can get it parcelled up and in the post to you.

I don't know when I will be re-opening the shop again...presumably when we get home again but one can never tell. Thank you so much to everyone who has bought a doll or just commented on them... it has meant the world to me.

Oona's in a treasury!!

Oona the Fairy Ogre is featured in this beautiful treasury curated by ArtbyKellie!

Oona cant believe her eye! And me either, I have been a little stunned all morning. Oona is one of my favourite creations so far and its nice to know that somebody else likes her too! You can read Oona's story on my blog if you scroll down a bit or visit her etsy listing. Oona comes with a story card typed on a vintage typewriter too if you want to buy her!

I would also like to say I'm abysmal at that whole screen capture/prnt Scrn thing and resizing it.

ALSO tonight I will be drawing a name for Millicient the Vampiress doll so please sign up for the giveaway while you can!

Luna the Changeling

Luna the Changeling

Luna is a little changeling faery child. Born beneath a faery mound of the Unseelie kingdom and swapped with a human child. She was unloved by her human mother who left her in the deep forest tied to an oak tree by the lace ribbon round her neck. Mother said stay so Luna did. She crawled beneath the gnarled arms of an oak tree and fell asleep under the moon. Tiny mice nibbled at the lace ribbon tied to the tree as she slept. When she awoke she was free of the binding and surrounded by a faery ring of crimson capped toadstools. Luna crept across the forest floor, drinking dewdrops from the flowers, nibbling on fresh shoots of bottle green grass.

She played with the forest children, tiny fox cubs, wolf pups, fawns, blackbirds and ravens. She spoke the language of the moths, and the language of the bees. The owls gifted her with mice (it would be terrible rude to refuse, owls are very proper you know), bats gave her fat bugs, the squirrels brought nuts, and little blackbirds collected sweet berries to eat. Even the spiders danced on their shining webs to make Luna smile.

Luna the Changeling loved the forest but she was sad, and everywhere she walked among the trees crystalline tears fell from her sad little face, and where each tear touched the earth a pale blue flower grew. Luna cried her sorrow, for despite the creatures of the forest she desperately wants a home. A home with someone to love her, to sing down the moon and carry stars in their pocket.

Tattered little changeling wandering the forest in a dirty dress, and faded lace ribbon tied round her neck singing in the language of the animals. Skipping stones through glassy puddles, dancing in the moonlight, collecting brightly coloured autumn leaves. She sometimes creeps into people’s homes sitting in their chairs pretending she might live there.

would you give Luna a home?

Luna the Changeling is a one of a kind work of art and love. She is a little primitive doll made with vintage buttons, vintage doilies, scraps of fabric, toy stuffing. She has been dyed/grungeified with a mixture of espresso coffee (I’m a coffee snob), vanilla and cinnamon, she smells like autumn days. She is a doll for grow- ups and big children. She is not meant to be played with my small children who might try to eat her button eyes.

Luna the Changeling is now listed on etsy

Archibald the Monster

****SOLD****

meet Archibald, a small three eyed monster. He plays to many video games.

His favourite shows are Doctor Who, Doctor Horrible and Firefly. Archibald loves sweets, classic rock, and hates tomatoes and bananas.

Achibald wants to be a space cowboy when he grows up.
Archibald was designed by Harrison, age 6 and a very important 1/2. Harrison helped out in every stage of designing, sewing, stuffing and decorating little Archibald. I have promised that I would list Archibald for sale on etsy (which I have done *wibble* ) and that H would the profits of Arcibald's sale to buy whatever his little heart desire.

did you get that bit about me reopening my etsy shop? Because I did and I am slightly petrified but hey its for H so I had to do it right?

**** Archibald sold! When the email popped through on my phone I teared up a bit (because I'm silly). H is so excited that we get to parcel him and send him on to his new home. He has already asked if we can make another monster together! I told him he is welcome to draw some more monsters and we will make another one together tomorrow.... oh Boy has just run up to whisper in my ear that we will make one for Matt for Father's day tomorrow (nothing like last minute presents eh?) to go with the cards and the breakfast he is making for his dad. bless

Mermaid's Kiss

chrysocolla, silver, and glass beaded bracelet

Today for the first time in weeks I got my beads out to have a play and to sort out a bracelet that Anita at the framing gallery gave me to restring for a lady. It had some lovelychrysocolla beads but hadn't been put together very well by whomever had made it. I'm quite happy with how my reworking has turned out and hopefully the owner will be happy with it, and that it will fit her properly now too.

mermaid tattoo lavender rice warm/cool bag

Seeing as my beading supplies were scattered on and around my desk I decided to play with some green agate beads that I could never seem to put together in perfect way until today. It's a really simple design but the beads are such a lovely colour green in the light, and the bracelet sits well on you wrist. I'll be adding it to my etsy shop a little later today.

Emerald City Bracelet (green agate)


I made the little mermaid tattoo lavender and rice warm/cool bag a few weeks ago and never photographed it because I couldn't get a decent photo and I thought it wasn't good enough at the time. But now that I look at it I don't know why I didn't because its perfectly pretty, and though its small (measuring 3" by 8" ) its still very nice and smells good too so I thought I would pop it on etsy and see if I get any bites, but as its only a small bag I will sell it for a small price.

Out in the West

Have listed another lavender rice bag in my etsy shop. After yesterday's quick sale I thought it best to make another lavender rice bag and pop it in the shop, I won't hold my breath just in case yesterday was a fluke but I'm still pleased it sold and will have to soldier on up to the post office before the end of the day.

Crafter...oo Red Treasury

I know I'm part of the Crafter...oo forum but its still brilliant to have one of my bracelets featured in the crafter...oo Red Treasury on Etsy. my Valentine Berries Bracelet is the one featured and its one of my favourite bracelets, made from vibran red jade beads, and my favourite toggle clasp.

In other Etsy news much to my astonishment I sold the lavender rice bag that I listed within an hour of listing it! I'm still totally amazed by that and plan on sewing another one as soon as I can get the dishes done a battle with the dirty laundry goblins, and I musnt' forget to cull the dust bunnies either, they get quite vicious this time of year.

Guilty Displeasure

java jacket

Not a lot has happened this weekend, I knit two java jackets, with a third half done and I made the blue apatite stone beaded bracelet below. The colour is this gorgeous teal blue, I found the beads at Spellbound Beads in Lichfield on Saturday. It was a lovely bead shop, lots and lots of beads to choose from, and nice to be able to see real stone beads and handle them in person as you don't always know what you are getting when you order online. Which can sometimes be a pleasant surprise. I coveted the apatite beads as soon as i found the string, I just have to have them even though I had already spent my supposed shopping money on a beautiful rutilated quartz pendant from Kizon Jewellery. Its a great little jewellery shop in Lichfield and I always buy more than my husband would like. Normally I just hand over the item and say its for my birthday/mother's day/Valentines/Christmas so he can't complain too much.

As for the bead shop the only complaint I have is that they sold most of the semi-precious beads on strings only which meant that I could not afford most of the more expensive stones because £37.50 is just too far out of my budget, though I could have stretched to buy a half dozen of the beads. Maybe if the Etsy shop does well then I might be able to have a play with the gorgeous beads they had on display.

In other news I had my very first item sold on Etsy, the Madison smoky quartz bracelet in the previous posting! *happy dance* I'm off to the post office next to send it out. And later if I can get any decent photos I will add the java jackets and the apatite bracelet to the shop.

Now as to the post title.. guilty displeasure... last night M and I indulged in the essence of couch potato-dom... we sat and watched American Idol.. the auditions with the weirdos naturally... well he sat and grinned while I hid my face because I can only watch so much cringworthness... much to M's utter amusement on many occasions of watching comedy movies... I can sit through any horror movie just fine (well maybe not those Ring movies as they just not pleasant viewing), but make me watch some embarrassing scene and I'm cowering in the corner.

and to go with our cultural devolution our viewing was accompanied by Ben and Jerry's Half baked ice-cream, if you are going to fall form grace you should do it with style. or chocolate at the very least.

blue apatite bead bracelet

Biting the Bullet

Its official the bullet is bitten, if you would all kindly look to your right you will find and little Etsy box. Do you see it thats me having my very own little Meridian Ariel Etsy Shop!

www.meridianariel.etsy.com

I'm still a nervous wreak that it will all go tits up and fizzle out on me, but its there all shiny and new and I'll see what becomes of it. I'm hoping that at the very least it sells enough to keep me in beads and paint! Wish me luck and tell me what you honestly think. If you want something and its not there tell me and I'll see what I do!