Sunday, August 21, 2011

Fairy or Fairytale

I can remember as  young child and my curious affair with fairies. I always knew they were there, playing in places that I could never get into.  Even into my adult hood, I had always kept fairies close to my heart. And one year I had planted some freesia bulbs and when they bloomed early spring they reminded me of the perfect place that fairies could be found. Which in turn I made this oval flower bed my "fairy garden". I also have cone flowers in this garden and in the heavy rains of summer, the fairies would be protected under the upside down pedals of the coneflower. In spring the cluster of grape hyathins is a beautiful addition to the fairy garden along with the small blue and pink blooms of the Bethlehem sage plant. The flowers of the fairies are endless.
The above photo was taken early spring 
On this day in the midst of summer, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a "fairy garden" class at 
http://www.towerhillbg.org/ along with my sister Shirley. These are the days that I will treasure and take with me till the end of time.
The class was taught by an amazing woman Betsy Williams. If you click on Betsy's highlighted name it will take you to her website.
This was what I started with, a basket, a fern and a ivy plant.
After we got our dirt and plants in the basket it was off to find all kinds of fun things for our fairy garden. Betsy Williams had such a wide variety of materials and the creativity was ours.


what fairy garden doesn't need lots of moss


This is just a sample of the kinds of materials we had to work with.
Being the kid at heart that I am, I wanted to create a play area for my fairy. I thought how nice it would be to have a swing to sit on and sing. I made 2 swings and then I made one more trip to a box of small twigs and pieces of bark, when all of a sudden sitting there waiting for me was a piece of white birch that was just right for my swing seat. The third time was the charm.
This was the first swing attempt, I did like the wideness of the wood, but it was too big for the basket.

I thought this second attempt was the right one, sized to proportion.....

But this beautiful piece of white birch was perfect.

this garden and the next three were the design of some of my classmates. It was so nice to see a couple of young adults. The two girls were so lucky to have had the opportunity to do something that most girls their age would have loved to have done. And they had the best imagination of what a fairy would love in her garden. A table set for company, just the perfect magical mystical hiding places for the fairies that would hopefully find the "fairy gardens" built specially for "little people".




The basket to left was cleverly crafted by my sister and the one to the right was mine.

 Here is my fairy garden in its new spot, inside the oval fairy bed.
I must say I had the best day in a long time, and wish to extend my thank you to my sister for her invite, the tower hills for hosting it and the talented Betsy Williams for her dedicated knowledge and sharing some with us.

Betsy was kind enough to have her book "are there fairies at the bottom of your garden?", autographed  in the gift shop. Written by her and illustrated by her husband Ned.

If you would like to see more on these wonderful "fairy gardens" please visit my sister Shirley.
May you be forever blessed.
Ellen

4 comments:

Unknown said...

This was a fun day to share with each other. We have to have many more days spent like this one. Creating more sibling memories is a tresure and I hope to continue forever.

Ann said...

i came her from your sisters blog..such a lovely fairy house you created!!
i've signed to follow you..such a lovely blog you have!!!

CottageBliss said...

You guys did a FABULOUS job on your fairie gardens!! They are beautiful and whimsical, perfect for a Fairie!
Hugs to both of you,
Melissa

lvroftiques said...

Hi Ellen! Your sister is the sweetest! So I know you've gotta be pretty special too *winks* Despite that Hedda Hopper thang *winks*....Vanna/your newest follower

Beaded ornaments

My 50th Birthday banner my sister made for my surprise party


Hedda Hopper


Birth:

May 2, 1890
Death:

Feb. 1, 1966
Actress, Journalist. Despite a 23 year career that encompassed over 120 motion picture appearances and chorus girl roles on Broadway to motion pictures, she is best remembered for her newspaper column and radio show that focused exclusively on Hollywood gossip, a subject she was able to tell more about to her audience due to her Hollywood insider status. Born Elda Furry in Holidaysburg, Pennsylvania, she left school to act on Broadway. In 1913 she married marquee star William DeWolfe, a man who was 32 years her senior. They had one son, and divorced in 1922, but she kept his name for the rest of her life (and changed her name to Hedda on the advice of a numerologist). In 1931 she began “The Hedda Hopper Show”, which initially ran as a 15 minute gossip show mostly devoted to Hollywood marriages and divorces. Enormously popular, it ran until 1951, and on the strength of its popularity she started the “Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood” column in the Los Angeles Times in 1938. She steadily gained a reputation for exposing tidbits about the lives of Hollywood figures, and created a character of herself in her own right, especially in regard to her vast collection of sometimes outrageous hats, and a long standing feud with rival gossip columnist Louella Parsons. With the advent of television’s popularity in the late 1940s and early 1950s, he radio show waned, but she herself became a staple of television programs and game shows, being a frequent panelist on “What’s My Line?’, and appear on shows like “I Love Lucy”, “The Colgate Variety Hour” and “The Beverly Hillbillies”. In 1960 she received the Journalistic Merit award, and published her autobiography “The Whole Truth and Nothing But!”, which recapped her over 20 years or being an Hollywood insider. She died in Los Angeles of double pneumonia in 1966, working right up until her passing. As a Hollywood icon, she created a number of friends and enemies; she gave harsh advice to actress Ida Lupino, which helped her gain recognizable part, but was despised by actress Joan Bennett, who once sent her a skunk. In 1985 a movie about the feud between her and Parsons was released as “Malice in Wonderland”, which Jane Alexander as Hedda Hopper and Elizabeth Taylor as Louella Parsons