Treasure from the woods..

 

  

 Hello everyone! Just a quick post to share my latest news with you :)  First off is that my website is finally up and running at long last! There are still some kinks to be ironed out, but I'm hoping to have it pretty much perfect by Christmas, pop over here for a look!

 

This little botanical specimen locket is the latest addition to the Boutique! It is made with  real Irish lichens which I gathered in Gougane Barra National Park a month or two back. Gougane Barra is one of our new favourite places to go for a hike, I can't believe we only discovered it this year after living in Cork County for nearly ten years! 

Lichens like the ones in this locket grow profusely throughout the ancient, mountainous woodlands that have survived in the South of Ireland since the last ice age almost 10,000 years ago, and some have lived for many hundreds of years. Lichens are an extremely important environmental indicator and indicator of air cleanliness, so it's reassuring to know that Cork and Kerry (my two homes) are absolutely covered in the stuff!

I don't know how old these particular specimens are, but the thought of carrying around your own little bit of Irish natural history is pretty cool! I did a bit of research online,and found some great websites just for identifying Irish lichens, and managed to identify these specimens as; Parmotrema Perlatum (Black Edged Leaf Lichen), Evernia Prunastri (Common Oak Moss) and Usnea Subfloridana (Old Mans Beard). 

And you can find the Lichen specimen locket is here!

 The first day we found Gougane Barra, we were both having a sad day and desperately needed to get out of the city to clear our heads, we were blown away by the battered old mountains that greeted us as well pulled up. Soon after entering the park, we wandered off the path, through the trees and followed a meandering little stream deep into the forest.

As we walked we found all sorts of strange little mushrooms and were surrounded by hundreds of butterflies and dragonflies, neither of us had ever seen anything like it! We took turns getting photos, and if we had stayed still long enough I think they would have come and sat on us. It was one of the most beautiful encounters with  nature I have ever been lucky enough to have experienced.

 

 

 

After having a picnic and getting quite lost for a few hours, we headed back home recharged and happy. Nothing grounds you more than spending some time reconnecting with the natural world. I can't wait to go back again.

Something new!

 

 

 Sweet and whimsical little necklace, made with a delicate little white feather encased in a beautiful glass vial and suspended on a sparkling gold cobweb chain. Feathers are a symbol of freedom, hope, new life and travel, and so this would be a wonderful meaningful gift for someone you know embarking on some new adventures in life!

Available from my Etsy shop!

Curiouser and Curiouser...

....are these little things I have been making of late. 

Introducing my new Curiosities and oddities collection! This strange and wonderful assortment was born from a particular fascination of mine with dusty old Victorian curiosity cabinets, of nature specimens and taxidermy,  of butterfly shadow boxes and miniature world terrariums and anything small and precious encased in glass. 

I have started listing these pieces in my Etsy Shop  and hope to have them all up in the next day or two!

 

The Sky Arts Portrait Festival

Last Sunday I had the privilege to be invited to set up shop at the Sky Arts Portrait Festival at the Royal Dublin Society! As I was in the process of moving house that week, things were getting a bit hectic and stressful to plan until my wonderful friend Molly, the artist and animal lover behind the beautiful Etsy shop Ewe Sir came to save the day and offered to make a road trip of it and help me out for the day. So we made some coffee, packed the car and hit the road for an action packed two days in Dublin!

 

Naturally, the talent of work at an event like this is going to be breathtaking, but I was still so bowled over by the array of styles and immense beauty of so many of the pieces. Pictured above are just some snippets of the incredible work on show. The picture of the little boy above turned out to be my personal favourite of the day, although it wasn't easy to choose from such an array of talent!

 

We had such a fun, mad and exhausting day taking silly photos (did you spot my 1950s mannequins hand?), confusing LOTS of people with our polkadots, matching mustard yellow cardis and red locks and of course, meeting lots of new customers!                        

                             

 

 

 There was all sorts of cool stuff happening around the film set, I especially loved the work of street style artist Morgan. Not many people know it, but in another life, I spent a few years involved in street art here in Cork (before I discovered tea-dresses) and I still find this style of work, and of this beauty and skill so exciting to see!

Another wonderful artist I stumbled across was the lovely lady behind Carol Farrell Illustration. Her whimsical and colorful work is right up my street, and I love her bold use of colour and animal imagery.

I saw so many wonderful artists, who sadly, I did not manage to get around to photographing who also attended the event to trade. To name but a few: Nice Day Designs, Tanya Bond and Jokamin, so be sure and go and have a look at their beautiful Etsy shops so you can see for yourself!

So between the madness of moving house (and my studio and 4 cats) and preparing for the festival, things have been so quiet around the Boutique lately, and I do apologize for being so dull! Unfortunately I only have two hands, and my kitties don't make very good employees, but I promise I will get cracking on listing some new treasures on my Etsy shop few days!

In the mean time, I hope you go out and enjoy this fabulous heatwave!