Little Potted Houses and Pinterest

I recently had a custom request for two of my little potted fairy houses which I had not made for quite some time. It was a joy to see them in the reference pictures the client had sent and I was thrilled to make new versions of her.

Now, I bring this up for a few reasons. . .

One, the amazing power of Pinterest. Bewilder and Pine receives a very healthy amount of traffic from Pinterest day in and day out and, over the last year, the second MOST viewed item of all is one I made well over 18 months ago that sold within a few weeks of being listed.

Yet, it being pinned many times on Pinterest boards drives enough traffic to make it the second highest viewed item in the entire shop!

The Alpine Hornblower Fairy Scene circa 2013

Two, I can't believe the number of things I have made, and completely LOVED making, but in the rush of fulfilling new orders, custom requests and trying to get things stocked in the shop as well as work on brand new items and ideas etc, I can actually forget all about little creations like these potted houses. . .

The Fairy Houses of Padda (red) and Denka (green)

New additions include the crystal "lamppost". 

Fencing and most details are N scale (1:148). The pot is just 1.5" high.

And this brings me to a point that I will likely discuss a lot over the next few months. . . the balance of custom orders versus making what I want.

I spoke last time about how I took most of the month of May off from fulfilling almost all custom requests and how well that worked out. Now, I find myself inundated in June with all of the requests I pushed back to free up May and, in doing so, I find myself right back in the same situation. lol

So, I have set a firm deadline that July, August AND September will be "custom order free" and that I will focus instead on shop-stocking and making just what pleases me the most (and getting A LOT done on the world-building/stories/maps for my writing project too!)

Of course, I would still take on orders like the two houses above because I really wanted to make them right then and there anyway, so it's a bit tricky. . . but that's one of the things I want to free up time for. The requests that truly inspire whenever they may come along!

Of course, there is also Shadow of the Sphinx where many of the requests I receive are already in my repertoire anyway since I can't possible keep all the statues, deities and amulets in stock! ( I have a good half dozen "in progress" as I type just for that shop alone). Still, I have to be careful not to overload myself even with those sort of enjoyable requests.

I've always known that what I like the least are deadlines. . . due dates. . . so, even those I take on must now come with a "I'll let you know when it is ready." sort of looseness. This works for me because I never take money up front or as a down payment since most items I agree to make, should the customer end up not liking it for some reason when complete, will go into the shop and eventually find a loving home.

In the end, I tend to finish those loose deadlines quicker anyway when I don't feel the pressure of a firm due date.  .  . isn't the psychology of being a maker-of-things a little strange?  Or perhaps it's just me?  : )

So, that's the latest for now. . . back to the list of custom pieces for the next few weeks but then. . . well, I'll be sure to share all the new things with you all as they come to fruition!

Book Update: World-building. . . talk about falling into a rabbit hole. . . or several. This weeks "work" involved researching all sorts of bogs and the edible things that may grow in them as well as hand-cars, tidal bores, the history of the salt trade, Chinese magic mirrors and water clocks. . . . too much fun!

Hoping this finds you all well and enjoying magical days in your worlds. . .

xo
nicolas

There She Is. . . (with a little help from the fairies)

Behold the magic of the fairies!!!

I received an order for one of my Alpine Fairy Houses on Monday last week and, as I went to thank the buyer, I saw that they had left a message asking me if I could bill them for Express shipping on the package to guarantee two day arrival at it's destination.

I went immediately to respond to that request so I did not, at that time, take a look at to whom the package was for or where it was headed exactly but I did see that the zipcode was an east coast location.

It was only after I replied that I looked at the address in full and saw that it was being sent to the woman who is the Miss NY entrant at the Miss America pageant on the boardwalk at Atlantic City. This really made me smile.

I've had some well known people (entertainment field and otherwise) purchase or commission my work but this one really had a special feel to it. It is my understanding that the young women who are part of the pageant receive gifts from all over the world during pageant week and, though this would be just one among many, I was still delighted that the fairy realm was being called upon to lend it's magic to someone in this way too.

Short story shorter, package was sent, delivered two days later and, other than sharing the story with my local postmistress ( I asked for her help as the address came back as undeliverable when I went to print postage but that was simply due to it being a temporary address set up for all the gifts that arrive that week)  I forgot the whole thing rather quickly.

Until this morning when a blurb on my homepage caught my eye. . . Miss NY is now Miss America. . . or is that Miss A-Fairy-ca?  For lo, though they often are known to help with many human problems and grant a few wishes to the fairy-kissed among us, it seems that the little sprites of this house may have lent their magical hand in assisting one young lady's dream come true over the weekend. . . and as we all know, the fairies DO love a sparkly crown!

While I have no proof that they helped or were at all responsible. . . I am going to give them a WEE bit of credit anyway. :)

On a closing note, I know that many of the gifts given this week end up going to charities and, if that is the case with this house, I could not be happier knowing the next recipient will be reaping the reward of the same fairy magic, in some new way, one day very soon. :)

nicolas

Miss America can thank the inhabitants of this house for her new shimmery crown. . .

New Work in Bewilder and Pine

For today's entry. . . just showing a few things finished in the last week for custom orders and new pieces for the B&P shop. 

Enjoy!
nicolas

Custom order for two Adobe houses in HO scale.  Hoping to get back to making more of these soon!

And definitely going to be making more of these little Labyrinth Hermitages.

TINY Windmill on a Star. I could dwell in these miniature worlds endlessly!

With Winter on the horizon, it's time for the 2014 versions of Winter Fairy Houses upon a Star to begin appearing. Icicles at the roof points are new this year. ;)

Growing an Idea

"To see is a trick of the mind but to believe is a trick of the heart."
 -Ronlyn Domingue from "The Chronicle of Secret Riven"

Maybe it's just me. . . .but I have to say that I never feel a sense of "completion" in my creative world. There is no "done" when it comes to an idea or a technique. I am always looking forward to the next iteration. To the sharpening of the skill set and the expanding of the inner mythology that allows each creation to come alive. 

I think that desire to re-imagine, recreate and reinvent is part of what makes being a maker-of-things a lifelong pursuit.

And I experience a connection in this to many who are able to make their living in a creative world. Because on the other side of that equation are the many who start an idea, perhaps a really GREAT idea. . . then make one or two of something, and then expect that they have done the work to be able to sell what they have made. When, at the heart of every creative soul who makes a living from their creativity, there is usually a deep, driving desire to carry their ideas to their greatest and fullest realization. Whether they sell them or not. . . In fact, to carry each little component or technique within those ideas to the same extent. 

Many people "see" ideas. . . but only a few, in my experience, believe in them enough to carry them out.

Don't misunderstand. I've left ideas behind. More than I can count.

I've moved on to new and more interesting ones too. Not everything is meant to be carried forward and invested in ( in life AND creativity!) and I certainly have my share of feeling like ideas have reached their logical conclusions. But those are few and far between.


I love stories and great stories, like ideas, in my world never really have an end.

So I wanted to just present this little "road map" of an idea for you to peruse

This is how an idea grows. . .

It began right after the New Year with one little tiny fairy house. I had been working for some time on finding an interesting idea I could develop and grow and, as is often the case, it turned out to be the idea tha was least hollering for attention in my mind that grew into something larger. lol

That first house/style just seemed to have a certain Alpine feel to it. A little square chalet style with wooden door, stone archway, mossy tiled roof and flowers.

This was not the original but likely the second or third iteration!

Tiny textured walls that allowed me to paint the individual "stones" in a plethora of color. I loved the very first one and I believe it sold in two days. So I made another.  . and another. . . and another. After selling a dozen or so of this one model, I decided it would be interesting to grow the idea and it's story a bit. So I wrote a little piece about Alpine Fairies and thought I should christen the cottage after one of the Alpine peaks. . . a quick search led me to the revelation that there are literally hundreds of peaks ithat make up the Alps. (I'd been there twice but somehow forgotten the scope of the Alpine range!) And that each peak does indeed have it's own name. This one above became the "Monte Rosa" Well, that got the creative brain going and what has come of it is an endless and ever-growing series/story/paracosm all unto itself.

The story grew. . . (each mountain band of fairies had their own distinct fairy cottage style) the house names I liked are so numerous I can't imagine how long it might take for me to create a distinct style for each. . . Matterhorn, Hochwilde, Mont Pelvoux, Lagginhorn. . . sometimes the name suggests the style. . . sometimes it works the other way around.

While I am still working in the "stone cottage" style, I do have a desire to move this series forward into making some half timbered minis too! When that occurs, the story will get re-imagined and grow yet again.

Then came the desire to photograph these little cottages in a unique style so that, when people saw them in the shop, they would instantly recognize them as being a series. A background was found among my pictures of the time I spent in that region and I created a long-overdue photo fairy garden in the studio to shoot them in too.

The new, very- incomplete, fairy house photo garden!

At this point, there are 10 individual styles in the Alpine Fairy House series and it grows each week.

I can barely keep them in stock these days which, if you know me, is sometimes very frustrating as I love to have them around as much as my clientele does! But that ensures I will kep the production of them going and each time I remake one, I try to work on a new model or idea as well. :)

Below is the first group shot I took of the houses in this series. There are already four new styles being completed as I write. So this group image will grow and change as time goes on too.

8 of the Alpine Fairy House Series

But the thing I want to say here is that this idea also fit so well into all the areas I love most about creating. There is the challenge of keeping it ever-evolving and fresh and not being able to see an end in sight. The expanding story that allows me to grow the idea slowly and create the mythology as it comes to me. The time needed to "research", which is, in effect, me happily spending hours pouring over images of quaint Alpine villages and settings! And last, the constant honing of certain techniques that, I believe, make these little cottages so magical.

And most of all, these allow me to create yet another world to inhabit within myself. The story unfolds the deeper I go and the more I allow it to become a part of my day to day life.  

If there is an end in sight, I can't fathom it.

And that wide open road ahead is, to me, the epitome of what real-world magic is all about.
It's not a trick at all.
It's alive
And it is completely invested in the heart of it's creator.
So take care of it just the same. . .


See you all in Alpine fairy land!

nicolas