Frankenstein

Okay, so compared to vampires and werewolves, created creatures of the night like Frankenstein's aren't exactly given much attention. There's no tween romance about a monster getting zapped by lightning and lurching to life, falling in love with a patchwork mate, and I think that's because you just can't romanticise the way these guys are created. Every monster like this is intrinsically linked with death. Vampired can abstain (Black Ribboners), zombies can be cured, and witches usually turn out to be good, but for a monster like this to even exist, several people have to be murdered or maimed, which just isn't going to make 'em that popular. My goodness, it's getting hard to keep a light-hearted tone for these Halloween posts; there are such dark roots to all the stories. Fascinating stuff, I do love this holiday.

Anyway! These nifty gifts are mostly great for accessorising yourself or decorating a room for Halloween. In my search, I found there's not so much for the Frankenstein fans on Folksy, but what there is, is very cool. ^_^

 ~♥~ FRANKENSTEIN'S MONSTER ~♥~ 

         

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Ghosts

Ghosts! From Pinky, Blinky, Inky and Clyde to Jacob Marley, ghosts are awesome. If written well, they can give a story great intruigue and depth, allowing us to explore a character and their motives in detail. Or they can flash blue and white and try to eat you before you eat them. Ghosts are varied in their depiction, is what I'm saying. :) And no, I don't believe they exist, but that doesn't mean they don't. There are plenty of things in this world that we don't understand yet, and science has so far given us some crazy and fascinating things to ponder, so maybe I'm wrong...

These ghosts are mostly cute or cartoon ghosts, which is probably more suitable for a Halloween gift than a blood-dripping character from a Japanese horror film, for example. Enjoy!

 ~♥~ GHOSTS ~♥~ 

        

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Pumpkins

Well, I've been away for a few days having a birthday and moving house (argh!) but I'm back again, and thought I'd do a bit of a Halloween theme this week. I know the actual day is not for another two weeks, but when better to order your Halloweeny tricks and treats?

I thought I'd start with pumpkins, that very Halloween decoration. I love food with pumpkin in it, in a stew or roasted with parsnips or as a soup or fried in fritters. It's a great vegetable that has a lovely flavour to it, which can stand by itself or as part of a medley. Argh, this is making me hungry. Anyway, I chose these items mostly because they really work with the orange colour of pumpkins, which can sometimes be difficult to work with artistically.

 ~♥~ PUMPKINS ~♥~ 

         

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Victoriana

The Victorian era is one of my favourite periods in history, being a fascinating mix of cultural repression, refinement, and subtle decadence. I can trace my love for it right back to my childhood, when I went on the school trip to St Fagans. St Fagans is a history-come-to-life sort of place, and is a fantastic place to go for the day. It was one of those school trips where you dress up. I wore a white pinny and a ruffled hat. We spent a whole day in costume, having Victorian lessons, playing Victorian games, having a very serious picture taken, etc. (I seemed to confuse being serious with being an aggressive owl). Wonderful stuff. I heartily recommend going, whatever your interest in history.

These pieces have been chosen in part for their authenticity, and in part for their innovation. You might have noticed that the theme is not "Victorian" but "Victoriana", which I think leaves a certain amount of leeway in terms of design and function. Victorian-inspired, then, instead of Victorian replicas. Victorian Victorian Victorian. Ooh, that word looks odd now.

 ~♥~ VICTORIANA ~♥~ 

         

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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 ~♥~ 

         

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Amethyst

I find the amethyst stone to be really beautiful, both in its rough and polished forms. While I don't personally believe in any of the mystical properties of gemstones, I do find the mythology and beliefs surrounding them to be fascinating. One of the first birthday presents I got that I seriously loved, was a long strand of chunky amethyst chips given to me by my Grandma. When it eventually snapped, many years later, I re-worked the beads into a sturdy choker, one of the first pieces of jewellery I ever made.

There are some absolutely beautiful pieces here. Perfect for someone who loves fine jewellery or gemstones, any of these pieces would make an excellent birthday present. (And unfortunately, it's not too early to be thinking about Xmas too!) Though the first piece is amethyst-coloured quartz, the rest are described as amethyst itself. It is included because I wanted a variety of gifts, and not just jewellery.

 ~♥~ AMETHYST ~♥~

         

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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 ~♥~

         

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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 ~♥~

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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 ~♥~

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Cars

This blog post is in celebration of my luvverly talented partner passing his test to become a driving instructor. I don't pretend to understand anything about cars, or have much of an involvement with them very much beyond "ooh shiny" or "oh, what a stupid colour", but there is something very appealing to me about the idea of the car, of freedom and travelling. I don't know how to drive partly because driving scares me and I spook too easily, like a tripped-out horse, and partly because I spent the money I would have spent on driving lessons on going to Viet Nam and being a teacher for a year.

These car gifts are nice for someone who has just passed their test, or for someone who just likes them! Some of these gifts are great for children, and some are great for adults.

~♥~ CARS ~♥~

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Retro Games

My love for video games began on the SNES, with Illusion of Time. I loved the graphics, the colours, and the beautiful way that the story was written. You know it's a good story when it involves a little pink pig coming to rescue you from a dungeon your father (who is sort of also a flute [which is also your first weapon]) built before being bullied into saving the princess and setting off on a crazy quest in this alternate universe where a bunch of the wonders of our world exist on the same continent. How can you not fall madly in love with that? ^_^ 

Anyway, seeing as this blog is partly based around the things I personally like, I definitely thought I needed to have a geeky video game post. However, this proved a little more difficult than I had anticipated. Typing in a combination of games, video games, retro games, etc, usually landed me no more than about three pages. Very cool pages, with some very cool stuff, but very little there. Seems like folksy is still quite heavily considered a bit of an up-market handcrafted place, but I think there's a definite gap in the market for nerdily nostalgic jewellery and gifts.

~♥~ RETRO GAMES ~♥~

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Piano

I learned piano for several years when I was younger, from the ever-suffering Wendy. The problem I had as a child is one of the same problems I have as an adult; I am very self-aware. This meant that if she asked me to play something, and I knew I couldn't without more practise, I simply wouldn't. I also had a fantastic ear for music, so would often ask her to play it first and then mimic her movements. It was years before she realised that I couldn't actually read any of the music. I still can't, nearly decades later. The closest I can come is deciphering it: sitting down for ages and working out exactly what each symbol and note means. I know all the chords and notes and absolutely love music, but the highest grade I currently have for piano is Grade 3, because I just can't sight-read. I've recently been given my own piano (!!!) and hope to get considerably better at playing and reading music.

This selection of awesome piano gifts really surprised me. I wasn't expecting to find such a creative range of items on folksy, and the vinyl piano clock in particular stood out as being an great unique gift for someone interested in music. The rest of the pieces are also incredibly cool (music always will be) and fit a variety of price ranges.

~♥~ PIANO ~♥~

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Feathers

With feathers being a popular choice for festival wear, and feather accessories in steampunk on the rise, there are a whole heap of beautiful feathered oddments and ends to be found on folksy. Often in rich browns and silky greys, natural feathers can blend really well with a toned-down autumnal wardrobe, while bright dyed feathers can bring a bit of colour in.

I love feathers, shimmery peacock colours especially, and have picked these sellers out not only for the feathers they have chosen, but the very pretty way they've put them together. These would make an excellent gift for someone who doesn't stick to the shallow end of the trendy pool. Yes, I just used that awful metaphor. Enjoy!

~♥~ FEATHERS ~♥~

 

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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 ~♥~

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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 ~♥~

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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 ~♥~

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Poker

Just like it says at the top there, this blog is about the many varied and wonderful things that I come across on folksy, the site where you can buy beautiful handmade things. For those that don't know folksy, you can find it here! I absolutely love the idea of it, of people who are good at making and creating things being able to make some money from it when they otherwise would have no outlet. I've made friends on folksy and bought a few lovely things, as well as running my own beady charm jewellery shop there. All in all, it's a great place to shop for individual gifts, and you can know that you're supporting an independent business.

Seeing as I'm starting a poker blog at the same time as this one (you can find that here), I thought I would stick with the theme and put together a compilation of the niftiest poker-related gifts and such that you can buy on folksy.

~♥~ POKER ~♥~

 

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