Sixth Day of Advent - Shopping

The Fifth day of Advent

Some fairy gifts:   Laughter, Friendship, Happy Memories and

the gift of a Wish Come True.

From The Illustrated Fairy Gazette

Fifth Day of Advent - The Skaters' Waltz

Fifth Day of Advent

More fairies - on skates! 
The original Christmas edition of the Fairy Gazettes is here in the Etsy shop.

The Fourth Day of Advent - A Bluebird for Happiness

Fourth Day of Advent

Another vignette from the Illustrated Fairy Gazettes , 

"Bluebird Air, travel in grace and comfort through the clouds".

The Third day of Advent - Mermaids

"...And heard a maiden on a dolphin's back"

 Wm Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream

The second day of Advent - Sweets

Second day of Advent

"The fairies go visiting from house to house with sweet gifts",

from The Illustrated Gazette,  "A Christmas Celebration". 

Christmas without sweet treats? Perish the thought!

Advent Begins

 First day of Advent

Advent begins, and with it a new Advent tree of fairy baubles.

Watch this space for a gentle countdown to Christmas with things bright and beautiful, good and gladsome - a gift from the fairies in their many disguises.

  

A Posy

Beauty discarded - masses of pansies were upended in a neighbor's green bin, probably to make way for new midsummer flowers from the nursery.  They were still very pretty and I picked a handful to paint,  like this:

the pencil sketch,

 followed by colour blocking and shaping.

More painting instructions from my watercolour classes are over on my watercolour blog, http://francestyrrell.blogspot.ca/.  Both blogs have been quiet of late, but I am here and working on pretty things yet to be displayed.  So many flowers, and summer so short!

"There's pansies, that's for thoughts",

William Shakespeare, Hamlet (Act IV, SceneV)