Kate's Blog

Fairy Journal Sketchbooks

2009-04-10T08:13:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Just letting you know about our amazing new fairy art journal sketchbooks. The artwork on the front covers is wonderful, with intricate detail, and the colours are fantastic. They are made from Indian silk, of very high quality, with 40 pages of cartridge paper. The artwork is by some of the most renowned fairy artists in the world; Amy Brown, Jasmine Becket Griffith and Paulina Cassidy. They are very special gifts for someone very special in your life - why not have a look at some amazing gifts at Kate's Gifts or visit our eBay store. Shop with Kate for all your favorite unusual gifts.

fairy greeting cards

2009-04-09T08:13:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I would like to share with you Jasmine Becket Griffith, the fairy artist, her beautiful greeting cards, all from Katesgifts.co.uk. Also we have Amy Brown greeting cards, Jack Shalatain, and Jane Starr Weils; they all come with a beautiful magical verse. These cards are just great to send to someone special or to have framed, as they are collected by many people the world over.

New Website Slideshow

2009-03-31T13:00:00.000-07:00

I've just made a new MySpace slideshow for the items on my website:

New Additions to my Website

2009-03-28T14:52:00.000-07:00

I've spent Saturday updating my website. I now have pages for fantasy art postcards, silver crosses and victoriana pendants, and the last of my Jasmine Becket-Griffith figurines.

The Big-Eyed Fantasy Art of Jasmine Becket-Griffith

2009-03-27T12:19:00.000-07:00

Jasmine is another one of my favourite artists; she paints cute yet slightly scary-looking characters and seems to have a never-ending supply of new images streaming from her paintbrush.

Ok - this one's just cute :)

We stock a number of her prints on our website and also have a few of her figurines and postcards left in our eBay shop.

The Mythic Fantasy Art of Jessica Galbreth

2009-03-14T07:37:00.000-07:00

Jessica is one of my favourite fantasy artists and I'm fortunate enough to have several of her art prints in my shop.

"She is perhaps most celebrated for her ability to capture the haunting and often mysterious beauty of goddesses and faeries from mythology. Each of her visions brought to life on paper have a personality of their own, and often evoke strong feelings in those who view them. Some of her faeries are elegant, sweet and wistful, while others are defiant, dark and powerful."

New Stock! Jessica Galbreth Journals and Art Prints

2008-07-28T12:06:00.000-07:00

Haven't posted here for a while - apologies! :)

We have just received some new Jessica Galbreth journals in our latest delivery. These are gorgeous, handcrafted items which can be used as journals, sketchbooks or a book of shadows. They each have 100 thick, blank parchment pages, a black velvet cover and measure 8x10".

We also have some Jessica Galbreth art prints. Each one measures 8.5x11" and is wrapped in cellophane with a backing board.

Spotlight On ... Fairy & Gothic Compact Mirrors

2008-06-26T05:54:00.000-07:00

Here's a selection of our fairy and gothic themed compact mirrors. We're very happy to be also now stocking Victoria Frances merchandise.

Favourite Fantasy Art Picture of the Day - Just Married

2008-06-25T08:13:00.000-07:00

I've stolen this idea from my daughter's blog - here's a beautiful picture from Deviant Art. Please don't reproduce it without crediting the artist. I love the red hair against the white background, and the mask motif reminds me of the work of Spanish artist Victoria Frances.

Just Married by =Sylwiaa on deviant ART

New Fairy and Gothic Gifts For May

2008-05-27T07:34:00.000-07:00

We have some lovely new items for our website and eBay shop this month:

Fairy and Gothic Compact Mirrors by Amy Brown, Jasmine Becket-Griffith and gothic artist Victoria Francis

Postcards by Amy Brown, Jessica Galbreth and Jasmine Becket-Griffith

Scented Candles in a collectable tin featuring fairy artwork

Fairy, Gothic and Fantasy Keyrings

Jewellery Holders / Mannequins with 1940s-style Hollywood Glamour.

Fairy & Fantasy Postcards on eBay

2008-04-12T07:32:00.000-07:00

We've got a range of Amy Brown and Jessica Galbreth fairy and fantasy postcards up individually at our eBay shop:

Check them out at our eBay shop, Fairies and Jewels, or as packs of postcards on our website, Kate's Gifts.

New Stock - Jasmine Becket-Griffith Fairy Figurines

2008-04-12T07:01:00.000-07:00

We've got some more Jasmine Becket-Griffith Open Edition Collectable Fairy Figurines and I've updated my website to include them:

We also have a few more figurines up on our eBay shop, but we only have one of each of these:

Magik Circus

2008-04-06T15:22:00.000-07:00

Cute! This is a short French animated film about a little girl and a genie.

Fairy Lore: Around the World

2008-04-04T06:18:00.000-07:00

Fairies have been called by different names around the world. The word 'fairy' is derived from fays which comes from the Latin word fatum, meaning fate. It's possibly that some of the elements of fairy lore come from the three classical Fates from Greek mythology who controlled the destiny of humans.

In Ireland, fairies were known as the sidhe. They were originally a race of gods and as big as humans, but they had to flee to the sidhe (hills or mounds) to escape when the Milesians conquered Ireland. They learnt how to be invisible and could only be seen by mortals who had the second sight, or who wore a special ointment or when they themselves chose to be seen. Ordinary mortals could only see them once a year, on Midsummer's Eve.

Elves were known all over Scandinavia, England and Scotland. In ancient Germanic lore, elf meant any supernatural spirit but as time went on, it came to specifically refer to small fairies in England, and human-sized fairies in Scotland. In Scandinavia, elves were divided into 'light' and 'dark' elves, roughly matching the seelie (kind fairies) court and unseelie (nastly fairies) court of Scottish fairy lore.

In southern parts of Africa, a tiny, peaceful fairy people called the abatwa were said to live among the anthills. They were said to be very shy and only showed themselves to small children, shamens or (occasionally) pregnant women.

New Teeny-Weeny Fairy Figurines

2008-04-01T09:42:00.000-07:00

We have some of the new Jasmine Becket-Griffith miniature collectable fairy figurines in stock We only have one of each item, so they are going straight into our ebay shop and not onto our website.

View Album

Get your own

As you can see, they are gorgeous and we are putting the Pirate Fairy up for auction starting at £2.99, so you might be able to pick up a bargain.

Spring Re-Vamp

2008-03-22T12:59:00.000-07:00

We've revamped our site for the Spring - check out our new stock and pretty green layout.

Kate's Gifts

New Jewellery Stock!!

2008-03-15T04:54:00.000-07:00

We've got some new stirling silver pendants that are going onto ebay:

Click here to check them out at our ebay shop.

Ebay!

2008-03-03T11:41:00.000-08:00

We have a proper shop on ebay now - Fairies and Jewels.

We have our entire stock on there now and new stuff on the way!

:)

Squidoo

2008-02-24T08:38:00.000-08:00

I've made a page - sorry, a 'lens' - on Squidoo.com. Have no idea how to use it yet. I'm going to add my squidoo link to my links list.

Nostalgia - Flower Fairies

2008-02-22T09:22:00.000-08:00

Here's a blast of nostalgia - do you remember the flower fairies? I had all the books when I was little, and the apple blossom flower fairy doll. Actually, I think I might still have them up in the attic, somewhere :)

MySpace Layout - Artwork

2008-02-22T08:04:00.000-08:00

I've been working on a new background for our MySpace profile today because I'm still not happy with the one we've got. I've started a new painting for the background, but I've haven't gone beyond the pencil and ink stage yet, because I didn't have the right colours. Or the right paper. It's been ages since I've done some art!

Leaflets

2008-02-22T07:56:00.000-08:00

We had some leaflets done today - just in black & white, sadly, because colour is out of our budget. I designed the layout myself and they look ok. The colour version I printed out myself looks fabulous, though - I think I might print some colour copies out by hand (very time-consuming on my laserjet printer!) and put them in some shop windows.

Time of the Fairies

2008-02-20T13:32:00.000-08:00

"Time of the Fairies" is a project by photographer Joseph Corsentino. He's created a new mythology of faeries, angels and vampires who are now hiding in the urban decay of the 21st century. You can see some of his fabulous artwork in this YouTube video:

Gemstone Folklore - Coral

2008-02-20T08:36:00.000-08:00

Coral is usually a beautiful pinky-red colour and is formed, rather amazingly, from the skeletons of invertebrate marine creatures. It can, however, be seen in a variety of colours.

It was venerated world-wide as a strong amulet against evil spirits and sickness.

In ancient Rome, babies often wore coral around their necks as a charm.

In medieval Europe, it was believed to defend the wearer against deception, magic and witchcraft, and apothecaries would regularly ground it up for use as a cure-all.

However, brown coral is said to attract evil spirits.

Gemstone folklore - Turquoise

2008-02-20T08:17:00.000-08:00

Turquoise is well-known for its beautiful bluey-green colour and once served as a unit of currency among some Native American groups.

In Tibet, it was thought to offer the wearer protection against the evil eye and was often used as an amulet to bring health, happiness and good fortune.

In Asia and parts of Europe, it was regarded as protection for riders from falling off their horses. It was also believed to help improve and maintain good relationships, so it was often given as a friendship or love token.

New Mannequins!

2008-02-20T07:05:00.000-08:00

We've got some new mannequin/jewellery holders in stock now and they are absolutely gorgeous!!

First of all, we have some pastel cats - pink and lilac trinket box/jewellery holders. They are so CUTE!

Then, we have a beautiful Victorian lady jewellery holder with incredible detail - looks like a doll, except with no head obviously. Ok, that sounds gruesome - she's not gruesome, she's lovely - check out this picture of her just above.

And finally, we have a fairy ballerina which comes with a mirror and 'secret box' (that's a little drawer to put stuff in). She's quite bejewelled.

Freebies - New Promotion

2008-02-19T08:45:00.000-08:00

I've changed my mind - I will update on new stock and promotions here, but I'll try to keep it brief.

We're giving away a free Chinese purse/pouch with each fairy mirror. They're very pretty, come in a range of colours and are big enough to fit the mirror into.

I've also added a slideshow to the home page.

Gemstone folklore - Amber

2008-02-18T06:53:00.000-08:00

I'm cross-posting this old entry from my MySpace blog, which I think I'm just going to keep for updates on new stock.

Amber is fossilised tree resin which is usually yellow but can vary with different shades of brown and orange. It's most well-known for preserving a range of fossilised insects within it's golden wrappings.

Amber is mentioned in Ovid's Metamorphosis, regarding the fate of Meleager. According to Greek legend, Meleager was one of Jason's Argonauts whose life was bound up with a piece of wood that his mother had snatched from fire when he was born. He later killed his own brothers. His mother, in revenge, threw the brand of wood back onto the fire; Meleager died as it burned and as his sisters wept for him, their tears turned to amber.

Book Recommendations - Fantasy & Magical Realism

2008-02-17T10:47:00.000-08:00

I'm going to write a little about some of my favourite books - some fantasy, mostly magical realism (I like having a foot in both worlds) - and review new books as I get through them.

I'm going to kick off the book recommendations with an oldie - in fact, technically it's a kids' novel.

The Children of Lir by Michael Scott

It's a brilliantly told version of the famous Irish legend of four children who fall prey to their wicked stepmother. She wants to kill them, but she can't because they are Tuantha De Dannan (Irish fairies) and practically immortal, so she does the next best thing and transforms them into swans - an enchantment that lasts 900 years.

It's very short, very readable and it was only £1.95 when I bought it back in the eighties.

Hi!

2008-02-16T05:30:00.000-08:00

Hello - I'm Kate and this is my blog. I run an online store, Kate's Gifts, which is very new for me, a lot more work than I thought it would be but very fun. We're still trying to get noticed in the huge World Wide Web and still deciding on a vibe for the site. Really, our stock is a collection of things I just happen to like! Which might not actually make the best business sense, I suppose :)

As we stock fairy and jewellery gifts, this blog is going to have a fairy and jewellery theme, and I might also blog about some of the business and marketing aspects of online retail (once I figure out what those are!).