Fantastic Flickr Friends

It's been a while since I showed you any of the items added to our flickr group, so I thought today I better stop slacking and get blogging about a few. As the sun is trying to shine outside I'm going to make this quick, so I can get on with the weeding and painting out there.

SeetheWood has knitted this fantastic daisy flower cushion. It's almost 3 ft across so a comfy place to park your behind. We have some large daisies opening up in the garden right now and I'm itching to go out and see their sunny faces.

CoolBeans717's brooches of grumpy clouds are just like the clouds I have been seeing outside my window for days and now they have finally blown away I can't wait to get my wellies on to dig the weeds out of the flower beds.

We always have a lot of birds in our garden, despite the fact we have 2 cats living with us. One of our cats is very old and can't really be bothered to chase them any more and the other is so silly, he doesn't have the skill to catch them. I'm sure they would love this bird house from ibreak4glass.

I'm in the middle of painting the frames of our newly made chicken run, as we are hoping to soon have 4 laying hen. We want to get 4 different breeds of chickens so that we can tell them apart easily, although I don't think we will find a tartan one like Hetty, from JunkyChicken.

When I go down to the end of our garden I am always finding things I don't expect and I have always hoped that when we are not around a whole heap of fairies and mini monsters play around down there. This group of monsters from Mealy Monster would be perfect!

So I'm off to sneak down to the end of the garden to see if Maureen and Jace monsters are out playing and to get on with some clearing away and chicken run painting. Have a fantastic day dear readers, whatever it is you are doing today!

Fabulous Flickr Finds!

Well after a long weekend away in London I have managed to finally get back onto a computer. The first thing I did when I got back on-line was to go on a quick tour of all my regular sites and groups and when I logged on the the Autonomous Artisans Flickr group, I was so wowed by the items I saw I just knew today on the blog would be a Flickr finds day. We have a very nature inspires collection today.

CHICKENS! Yes I know, I have a one track mind right now, but chickens are in my thoughts at the moment. These wooden hand painted chooks from HalfanAcre are chickentastic! My favourite of this flock is the orange one top left.

Just how pretty is this polymer clay heart covered in tiny flowers? It must have taken ages to cut and shape all those beautiful teeny little petals on each of the flowers. I'm not sure I would have the patience Chili Crab so obviously has. It's fantastic!

Now My Grandfather used to be a budgerigar breeder for many years and this gocco print budgie gave me flashbacks to my childhood stood in a shed full of these flapping multicoloured birds. Annaklara has captured the essence of the birds perfectly.

The name of this brooch Walkinginthewoodsllc says it all really "Impressions of Nature". I love the colours and the impression of the plant in the star. It's such a simple design, but that's the beauty of it.

This stain glassed table top from Zeba collection features one of my favourite flowers, the Iris. Not only because the plants are so beautiful but also because one of my favourite aunts is called Iris. The shimmering colours in the glass used to make the table top really do evoke an image of a beautiful iris flower at the edge of a lake. Fantastic work!

The flickr group is always opening my eyes to more and more beautiful handmade items. I am so glad I started it. If you make handmade goods and would like to share them with our group, please do come along and join the group. We would love to see your work.

Written by Lynne of PiratePixieCrew and Hyperloop Hoops

Fabulous Flickr Finds!

Today the sun is shining and calling me to go outside to hula hoop, so I thought I would bring my laptop out into the garden and show you a pick of the last crop of photos added to our Flickr group. I'm so glad I started the group as it never ceases to amaze me the standard of the items I find posted there. It makes my day seeing so many talented people work all in one spot.

Just how cute is that kitty on AnnaKLara handmade coasters. The colours and shapes of the houses on the other coaster look very 50's to me. They are great!

Forever Foxed's badges are all gorgeous, but this one of the leaping terrier is my favourite. There is something so joyful about a bounding doggie.

Scribble Art's personalised picture makes me smile so much. I am a huge fan of spiders. I think this grinning one is looking forward to a fly dinner.

Shibori Borealis' hand dyed silks are so beautiful. This one reminds me of the fire filled weekend I've had in a field in Dorset. The combination of colours is stunning.


This very simple bracelet from Beach Shack Project is so effective and stunning. I love just how natural it looks and the red sea glass is such a great find.

The Flickr group has loads of photos of fabulous goods. Go and check it out if you need a boost to your day. You are sure to find something there that makes you gasp with delight.

Well I'm off to hoop for a bit before I really get the day started with some knitting donated to me by TomatoTea. I'll tell you all about what the knitting project is all about tomorrow.

Fantabulous Flickr Finds

I love our Flickr Group! So many talented people post pictures of the things they have made to it and it's great, because I have a one stop place to go to fulfil my need to see beautiful handmade items. Today's selection is just a tiny glimpse of the many beautiful things posted to the pool. If you want to see more, head on over to Flickr and join the group. We'd love to see you there.
Vagabond Jewelry's work always makes me stop and look. The designs and materials used always make me long to own them. I adore this bracelet. The sturdy double layer of metal contrasted with the delicate look of the feathering of the edge really appeals to me.

Are you like me someone that as a child loved to make cup cakes and ice them? This Carole King book reminded me of that love of mixing the sticky icing sugar into a paste to drizzle on those yummy little cupcakes. What a fabulous thing to own and use. Maybe it could be a book for you to keep all your family cake recipes together to pass on down the family.

Now I must confess that I would never wear an apron when I was cooking as a child, but maybe if I had owned this gorgeous vintage fabric apron from Rainbow Jean it would have been easier for my dad to convince me to put it on. The supermodel Effie seems to be happy wearing it. Let the baking commence!

Hello to you lovely little owl! You are just so cute with your shiny button eyes. Spotted Sparrow, the creator of this lovely chap makes so many beautiful items, it was hard to choose just one to share. I picked this owl because he is just so friendly.

Stripy kitty how I do love thee! Your long skinny body and your short stumpy legs just make me want to give you a smooshy hug and as you are knitted from lambs wool I'm sure smoothing you would feel lovely. Sara Carr did a perfect job in creating you dear Margo.

If you like what you see here check out the group pool for a whole lot more. If you have fantastic handmade items to share please do join the group and add the photos. We'd love to see them.

Written by Lynne of Pirate Pixie Crew and Hyperloop Hoops

Fabulous Flickr Finds

Today I'm feeling a bit wordless, and as I have lots of new listings to put in my Coriandr and Artfire shops, I'm going to just share some fabulous Flickr finds with you all and save what words I have for descriptions in those listings. If you click on the image it will take you to the owners Flickr account. The top image is our first entry in the monthly creative challenge from PrincessTigerMouse. Gorgeous isn't he! Please feel free to join in with the challenge. It is open to all.

PrincessTigerMouse


WordGirlie


Miss Gina Designs


AuroraBeadz


Aleximo


SeeTheWood

Have a great day!

Collated by Lynne of PiratePixieCrew and Hyperloop Hoops

Flickr Group Goodies

After a weekend of missing out on fun because of being ill again and feeling sorry for myself, I decided that this week needs to be bright, colourful and fun filled. Sure being ill all the time stinks, but at least I have people that love me, a roof over my head and food in my stomach. Many people in this world can't claim to have that, so I'm in fact a very lucky person with no good reason to whine and feel sorry for myself. So in order to colour up the week I went over to our Flickr group and picked out some of the most cheerful bright items from the group members.

Highland Fairy always manages to wow me with her beautiful work. Her work is very diverse but yet all has the essences of herself in it and is very recognisably hers. This grinning cat with human like eyes reminds me that I want to come back as a kitty in a future life. I truly think cats have got it all sussed out.

Ruffles, patchwork and quilting, all in one apron, Miss Gina Designs has created a masterpiece in fabric. Even I, as a person that doesn't really enjoy cooking, would have fun prancing around the kitchen with the radio blaring out, sprinkling herbs and spices into a pan of soup wearing this. It would bring the fun back into making the evening meal.

This simple felted flower shape made it to the blog today because something about it just bought a smile to my face. The textured look of it appeals to my fibre fetish and the colours delight my soul. AileenClarkeCrafts photostream is full of beautiful pictures of her work and her surroundings. Take a look!

starpixiecreations is a very bright and colourful person. The first time I met her she had purple, blue, and turquoise woollen extension in her hair. They perfectly matched her smiling happy disposition. Not only do I adore this lady as a person, I adore her creative works. Again she has a very diverse range of items that she makes but everything she does is always such high quality.

The last choice for today is this perfect rainbow of coloured resin bangles from Quercus Silver. This lady creates some of the most beautiful pieces I have seen for sale on line. I love her style and the organic feel her pieces have. She has a great eye for keeping it simple, yet detailed enough to make them the most eye catching pieces at any craft fair.

Colours for me are very important. I drink them in with my eyes and they lift my spirit like drinking water quenches a thirst. It's funny that knowing this most of the time I wear black or dark blue. I wonder why that is... maybe it is because I look outwards rather than back at myself and I don't want the colours I wear to distract me from the beauty of all the bright colours around me... or maybe it's just because I prefer to fade into the shadows and not be noticed. All I do know is sometimes I hunger for bright colours just as I would hunger for food when I need to eat. Bring on the rainbows!

Written by Lynne of PiratePixieCrew and Hyperloop Hoops

Flickr Finds

The Flickr group is going from strength to strength. We have so many talented people posting photos of their work into the pool, I couldn't resist sharing some more of them with you today. If you want to join the group just to chat and make friends with lots of fabulous artisans, you're most welcome and if you are someone making, crafting, painting, photographing, videoing, sewing, weaving... etc and you want to get your work seen by more people join the group and show us what you make.

I can't tell you just how much I adore the work of Sianburys without sounding like a stalker. Her sock monkeys are so perfect! The details are amazing. She takes such care to make each one individual and distinctive. This one is Dr Watson from the Sherlock Holmes stories. Isn't he just delightful!

Jenny Foreman Textiles has posted a few of her lovely chicken paperweights on the group pool. I nearly put the Pink skull and crossbones on the blog but thought I'd pick out this pretty little strawberry one as I'm always picking the pirate influenced items to share. This chicken would be great when doing the weekly paperwork, to stop the paperwork getting all jumbled up.

Ali Bali Jewellery makes such stylish pieces of jewellery. This one caught my eye because of the lovely orange carnelian stones. I'm really not one for busy jewellery and the simplicity of this piece's clasp also appealed to me. This is a very chic piece.

Steam Punk Glass is another person that has added a lot of pieces to our Flickr Group Pool. He seems to be able to capture whole universes inside tiny pieces of glass. They are so stunningly beautiful. I have no idea how he does it and in all honesty I don't want to know. It would spoil the magic. This marble has a nebula inside it.

Creative bag makers always will gain my support. Why? Because the more beautiful fabric bags that get made and used, the less plastic bags will be created and used. See the Wood created this fabulous red leaf shopping bag. It's stylish and washable and if a great reason not to use another plastic bag ever again when doing the groceries shopping. Ditch the plastic and get buying bags from See the Wood and other bag fabric creators.

Flickr is a great site for sharing and the best part is you can use it for free. Come and join us on the group and participate in showing your love of handmade, vintage and recycled goods with us. We'd love to see you there.

Fabulous Flickr

Lots of lovely items have been appearing on our Flickr group lately and I've been a bit lax in not showing any of them to our blog readers that don't go over to Flickr all that regularly. I would encourage you if you have a little time to go over there and check out all the great photos. So many talented people sharing their work, it's really worth a look.

Catfluff makes the most beautiful reusable shopping bags. No more plastic bags will ever be needed if we were all to use fabric bags like the ones above. Imagine just how much less plastic waste there would be if we all did that one simple thing.

Carol King's art is so textural and colourful, I adore it. This Collagraph print covered book would be a joy to own and use. Check out her website to see her stunning art works. One very talented lady!

This medieval knight made me think of Terry Pratchet Disc World Novels. Creative Critters has the ability to put so much character into a lump of clay. You can almost hear this one speak. His eyebrows are just fantastic!

Fibrespace creates so many beautiful items and all from the fibre taken from a sheep's back. The above flower looks so delicate and pretty. I think a drip of your favourite floral essential oil on the back of this brooch is the only thing that could enhance the wearing of it.

Did you think that cross stitch and embroidery were for the faint hearted? Mooosh-Meso Funky proves that you would have thought wrong. Her work is wickedly witty, decorative and could never be accused of being faint hearted.

If you are not a member of the Flickr group yet, we would love to see you join and share, with the rest of us, your arts and crafts there. You can also make friends and chat in the group discussion section. You can get a free flickr account if you don't have one. Come and join in the fun.

Written by Lynne of Hyperloop Hoops and PiratePixieCrew

Flickr Group Goodies.

Our Flickr Group has had lots of gorgeous goodies added in the last few weeks. If you haven't been over their lately I'd suggest you take a look. So much talent, so little blog space to show it all off. Today's pick of five are here to wet your appetite.

Highland Fairy, I confess, is one of the most creative people I have had the good fortune to meet on-line. Her talents know no bounds. This stunning painting shows off just one of her skills. I noticed in her Flickr Profile she has a new website and I will be checking that out once this article is written.

Sew Recycled created these marvellous mushroom pin cushion houses. They have such pretty little details on them and they are very useful too. I'm forever losing my pins and needles when I'm working. One of these would be a great place to keep them all.

Mossmottle makes a range of jewellery in precious metal clay (silver). This pretty ring is a good example of her work. I love the texture of the surface. She is also a painter. I'm impressed by her abstract pieces. Again it's down to the textured look of them.

Miss Gina Designs works in many mediums and when I saw this bright colourful bag in the Flickr Group pool I just knew I had to share it with you. It is made from "magic shrinking sheets", which is something I'd never heard of before. It looks great!

PJTurner created this beautiful pen from a real corn cob. Isn't it fabulous! The colour and the way the light reflects from it is just stunning. Putting a corn cob on a lathe and turning it isn't something I would ever have though possible. Brilliant!

So as you can see, the Flickr pool is full of beautiful works or art and crafts. Have a look through and find some new favourites to share with your friends.

Written by Lynne of the PiratePixieCrew and Hyperloop Hoops

Fabulous Flickr Friends!

Lately there have been some very beautiful and exciting photos posted on out Flickr group. The group has been set up to not only showcase the work of people already in the handmade world, but we wanted to encourage people to have a go at arts and crafts that maybe they hadn't tried or had forgotten that they could already do. At the beginning of March we are going to be running a monthly challenge from this blog and the Flickr group. There will be a topic set and we are inviting anyone and everyone to create something that fits with the topic. We hope this will trigger off peoples imagination and draw out their creativity. All the details of how to join in will be posted at the beginning of March. In the meantime I's like to share some of the photos that have been posted up on the Flickr group.

Lesley Messam created this stunning leaf pendant from silver PMC. When I first saw it I just thought WOW! Check out some more of her work on Flickr. Lesley not only creates she also teaches other how to use their artistic flare and turn their ideas and talents into beautiful pieces of jewellery.

StarPixie is someone I have known for a few years. I met her through poi spinning. These little critters are her fist attempts at sock creatures. Aren't they gorgeous! StarPixie is a fabulous photographer, she sews, crochets and generally turns her hand to most craft skills. A very talented lady!

This photo was another picture that made me want to check out more of the creators work. This piece was made by Chameleon Designs. The lampwork bead is so detailed and beautiful. There are many more eye catching beads to see in her flickr account. Take a look and be delighted and amazed at her skills.

The Rainbow Effect is a lovely lady that I met through Twitter. She has a passion for colour and up-cycling exciting fabrics from the past into useful items that can be used today. Her shops are chock full of bright beautiful pieces that will bring a smile to your day each time you see them. These hot water bottle covers come with a matching French lavender bag, who's scent on warming will be sure to aid you to have a restful sleep.

Jake and Noel created these stylish porcelain pendants. She has many different designs, as you can see in her flickr account. I picked this one to share, because of the word "Hope" on it. We all need hope in these troubled times. Maybe wearing this would remind people that see it to hold onto their hopes even though all that ever seems to get reported these days are the worlds troubles.

Come over and join us on the Flickr group. Share with us all your makes. We would love to see them.

Written by Lynne of PiratePixieCrew and Hyperloop Hoops