Witches

I know this isn't a particularly heavy blog, but I want to make one thing clear. I don't believe in the evil Disney witch stereotype, I have several friends that are spritually-minded, and I myself spent several years studying the subject. The witchy gifts I've picked out here are in no way intended to be offensive to any pagans, wiccans or spiritual people. With that in mind, I've always maintained that if someone external to yourself can upset one of your core beliefs with a joke or a light-hearted attitude, then perhaps you need to rethink that belief, if it can be so easily shaken.

Right! Serious moment over, these gifts are a great collection of witchy bits and pieces. I absolutely love kitchen witchery, so there are a few household decorations here as well as a great variety of witch prints, figures, a great trick or treat bag, and an absurdly cute knitting pattern.

 ~♥~ WITCHES~♥~ 

         

 1                                                   2

Zombies

This one is for Tom and Lucy, you crazy zombie nuts. :P

I wasn't sure whether to include zombies for my Halloweeny posts, seeing as there really aren't that many things on folksy, but they're such a strong part of my Halloweens past that I really couldn't leave them out. I love zombie movies, from Night of the Living Dead classics to not-really-zombies-but-virus-victims 28 Days Later-style modern movies. Whether zombies are shuffling towards you or suddenly exploding out of a body bag, they're pretty terrifying things, and perfect for Halloween movie fodder.

I think the fear of them, aside from the murdering they do, comes from the fact that we all believe or would like to believe in life after death, and zombies take that but twist it around in a horrible, all-gone-wrong kind of way. Though the zombie thing can be done sensitively too. One of the most haunting moments in Buffy the Vampire Slayer is about a zombie. I won't ruin it, for those that haven't seen it, but if you still haven't, I promise it is not as stupid as the title (which is ridiculously tongue-in-cheek), and if you can get past the one monster an episode thing they have going in series one and two, then you'll find a sensitively written, often hilarious, brilliant take on teenage/YA life, through several monstery metaphors. No, really, it is better than I'm making it sound. But I'll keep my rambling love for BTVS for the vampire post.

Though there weren't many zombie bits and pieces on folksy, there was some fantastic creativity going on here. I absolutely love these things ^_^ These gifts have been great in taking a traditionally scary theme and bringing it back down to an acceptable level of spooky. Excellent for Halloween decoration or dress-up! (Do click on the print for much better detail.)

 ~♥~ ZOMBIES ~♥~ 

           

1                                                     2

Trees

When I was little, my family and I would go walking up in the woods. It surprises me to this day how so many families don't think of this as being a great day out. We'd go up to Castell Coch, and tramp through the woods there. With a picnic of sandwiches, salty crisps, slices of veg, and hard-boiled eggs, it made the whole day really great. We would also take a pack of cards, so that if it began to rain too hard to go out, we could stay in the car and play rummy.

It might not seem like a particularly common choice for favourite things, but I chose to create a post on trees because there are actually a great deal of tree-based items that sell very well. It seems that trees can be incredibly pliable in the name of art, with so many different ways to design them.

 ~♥~TREES ~♥~ 

         

1                                                        2

Steampunk

Science fiction captivated me from a really young age, and I loved alternate history stories. The Victorian era is ones that I also found very interesting, inspired in part by Jacqueline Wilson's The Lottie Project. (Though steampunk isn't just Victorian.) Still, I had never really thought to put the two together, so imagine my delight when I discovered a whole subculture devoted to re-imagining the past, complete with costumes, etiquette, machines and creativity.

It was only around four years ago that I discovered the steampunk movement, and I adore it. There are a heck of a lot of people who are just in it for the look, and there's nothing wrong with that, but I find the alternative history thing as a whole just infinitely more satisfying. Finding a look you like is great, but I love the fact that this whole thing comes from such a creative place, and you're really missing out if you haven't explored it properly. And there are far too many people snooty about getting the look right (as with many subcultures), which can be very expensive, and just isn't the point.

For those of you who have missed the steampunk thing, there's an informative page about it here ---> EtherEmporium. It makes me a little sad that there are so many people "into steampunk" who don't really know anything about the literature or the history behind it, because it really is fascinating, from a creative point of view. A bit of a bumper blog post today, as I really love this look. ^_^ While cogs and keys are the staples of most steampunk jewellery, I've tried to stick to genuinely hand-crafted steampunk gifts (may also include cogs).

 ~♥~ STEAMPUNK ~♥~

         

1                                                               2  

Dragons

Being Welsh, I've always had something of a penchant for dragons. I remember myths and legends being told to me when I was a little girl, about the mountains being sleeping dragons, their hoards of gold inside, transforming into beings with glittering scales and needle-sharp talons. One fantastic children's book about dragons, and one of my favourites, was the wonderfully written and illustrated Jane and the Dragon which, I just found out from googling it, is now a children's tv show! Hooray! (Though books win hands down). I love the wings of dragons, their tails, their beautiful eyes, and I really love the way that they can be created in so many different ways.

This is one of them. ^_^

Here, we have a selection of beautiful dragons, from the ridiculously cute to the proud and noble. A great gift for someone who has a love of fantasy or is of Welsh heritage.

~♥~ DRAGONS ~♥~

1                                                       2

Geckos

I adore geckos. I love the way they pitter-patter across walls and ceilings, their blinky eyes and big toes, and possibly most of all, how they fight spiders. Spiders are evil, and geckos are their adorable nemeses. Nemesis? Anemonies? Ememies, let's just say enemies.

I have a gecko tattoo on my back, partly because of my love for them and partly because I had it done to celebrate the end of my teaching year in Viet Nam, where geckos ran all over the place. I know it's a tattoo a lot of people have, but while I would hate to think of myself as having done something just because other people think it's what I should be doing, I think it's equally stupid to stop myself from doing something I genuinely want to just because it's been done before. And I genuinely I love my little tattoo. She's called River. The twenty minutes it took to do seemed like about two minutes, though a very intense two minutes. My Dad gave me some excellent advice when I was 15 that I used when making my tattoo decision. He said if you really want something like that done, then think about it for two years. If you still want it done after two years then you'll probably be alright with it for the rest of your life. If you change your mind, it's probably not the best idea.

These geckos are amazing. I love how these gifts really capture the movement and wiggliness (sure, it's a word) of the gecko, and some of the colours used are really beautiful.

~♥~ GECKOS ~♥~

1                                                          2

Cakes

I'm quite an unorthodox baker. I know that various combinations of flour, butter, eggs and sugar tend to make delicious things. I rely more on my nose than by the recipe books, which I don't tend to use for more than just ideas for things to make. If something smells good, have a check of it. It's probably done or nearly done. I've also got a shelf full of sprinkles, chocolate chips, fudge pieces, butterscotch chips, various colours and flavourings, cooking chocolate, jams, spices, etc. I chuck in the flavours I want, and a combination of Things To Make Cake With, and voila! I might end up with a giant cookie when I meant to make little biscuits, or a sponge when I was going for brownies, but whatever happens when it goes into the oven usually tastes pretty nice when it comes back out again.

This selection of cake-based gifts would be great for someone you know who loves baking, and even better for someone with a sweet tooth. I absolutely love all of these pieces, though if I had to pick a favourite, it might be the doughnut earrings as they just look incredibly realistic. :)

~♥~ CAKES ~♥~

1                                                      2

Owls

I think I got my love of owls from my Grandma, who had several owly things. Paintings, pens, magnets, everyone knew she loved owls and so she always ended up with lots of owly gifts. :) This is a tactic I have started to employ myself as people never know what to get me for my birthday, and I now have my own owl collection of owly things. Even though owls remind me of my Grandma and that she's sadly no longer here, it's still nice to have that connection. I miss her very much.

These pieces here are a great mix of the way that owls can be represented in arts and crafts, from a fun cartoon depiction to a specific and realistic portrayal of owly loveliness.

~♥~ OWLS ~♥~

1                                                      2

Robots

I've always loved robots and technology, and I love the way that artists nowadays are personifying their robot creations. Each robot can have as much or as little of a personality as the artist chooses, and it's really interesting to see how each individual chooses to portray their robots.

~♥~ ROBOTS ~♥~

1                                                      2