The return of Mudmeddling...

Well hello there.  I am back at last from what has turned out to be a nine month break from this blog and shop.  What was supposed to be a two month break became rather a lot longer, ooooops!

So what's been going here over the last nine months?  Well our second daughter Phoebe arrived on the last day of November 2010 just as a snow blizzard hit Kent and brought the county to a near standstill.  The ten minute drive to the local hospital took over two hours, most of which was spent stuck on the motorway whilst in labour.  Fortunately we made it in time and I didn't become the local "Woman Gives Birth on Motorway" headline :)

What followed was an exhausting (and cold) few months and by Spring I was enjoying motherhood and being an at-home-mum so much that before I knew it summer had arrived!  But now with September fast approaching my thoughts are turning to my favourite time of year - autumn and winter!  And with those seasons comes Halloween and Christmas of course - perfect for witches, wizards, ghosts, santas and elves, just the things to fill my shop with :)

So today I have re-opened both my Etsy and Folksy shops and I have a brand new web address too!  If you are a follower of my blog you will need to change it to www.mud-meddling.blogspot.com (my previous address didn't have the hyphen).  You can also access my blog from www.mudmeddling.co.uk.... pretty good, huh?  I shall keep this blog running here at the old (non hypenated) mudmeddling.blogspot address for a wee while before deleting it, so you have time to change over.

I have plenty of old favourites to list, such as my spooky sparkly ghosts...

and cute toadstools...

Plus there's a few new items on the way too...

So watch this space for updates and ramblings from me...it's good to be back!

Ali
x

More fairy magic!

With a little fairy dust, and the help of some paint of course...

A rather naked looking fairy is brought to life...

She was really very fun to make, it's always nice to have an excuse to indulge in lots of pink and gold :)  She's a little...um..bustier than I intended, but I think it adds to her charm.  I particularly like how her mossy head-dress came out, I may have to take that a bit further...I'm thinking Christmas wreaths perhaps?

Now this lady is up in my Folksy shop waiting for a new home!  Speaking of shops..I've added a couple of badges to my sidebar *points* and I am adding more items every week.  I am hoping to add a silver clay jewellery section to both shops really soon, I am really excited about that.  So far my Etsy shop contains more than my Folksy shop because, sorry to say, Etsy is a lot more user friendly and is much more of a sleek operation.  That said, there is something very delightful about the slightly clunky newness of Folksy and I really hope if finds its feet as the UK craft movement moves forward.

Rather excitingly, and very much to my surprise, my little hanging ghosts were featured on Etsy's front page today!  The Hollow Men treasury I showed you yesterday was selected for the front page today...

I promise not to go on about every treasury I am in, if I am lucky enough to be in more of course, it's just exciting to be in some for the first time so I am indulging myself :)

My first Etsy treasuries

I have recently discovered Etsy's treasuries - a place on etsy where members can put together little shopping galleries of lovely diverse things that are being sold on the site. They are quite addictive once you get browsing through them, I find myself losing large chunks of time to gawping at gorgeous collections of yummy handcrafted things.

So imagine my surprise when I discovered my little hanging ghosties had been featured in TWO treasuries no less!

Excitement!





I'm really chuffed!  I may even have a mug of horlicks to celebrate!

Spookiness

I have been happily creating some spooky things lately, inspired by the whiff of autumn just around the corner, my very favourite time of year.   I've been making rather a lot of simple little ghosts...

Each topped off with a crystal bead...

And very cute hanging from a cupboard handle...

Strangely addictive to make!  And the sole cause of my having completely run out of white paint :)

I have also been building a coven of witches...

Very fun little ladies to make whilst sitting with a cup of horlicks of an evening, my life is very rock and roll.