Wednesday 12 December 2018

12 Days of Folksy, Day 12 - All Wrapped up

This is the last day of the Folksy #12DaysofFolksy Challenge and the subject is #AllWrappedUp, now that could mean Brrrrrrr it's cold outside, I need to put on more layers or it could mean The presents are all done (or being done) soon to be under the Christmas Tree. Here are a few All Wrapped Up things I found on Folksy


A little Mouse All Wrapped Up by Llangollen Ceramics

Wire Wrapped Necklace by Beadstorm Jewellery

A warm and pretty wrap by Baker Welch Studio

Penguin Wrapping Paper by Jane Crick

Robin Wrapping Paper by Natalie Laura Ellen

Christmas Tags by Ali Dufty



So that's the Folksy 12 Days of Christmas All Wrapped Up, I hope you've enjoyed reading and seeing them as much as I've enjoyed doing them.

Thank you for reading

Jan x

Tuesday 11 December 2018

12 Days of Folksy, Day 11 - Stockings

Today is Day 11 of the Folksy 12 Days of Folksy Challenge, no post from me today so I'll point you in the direction of the Folksy Twitter and their contribution for today.

Folksy Twitter


This beautiful Stocking can be found at ElmTreeStudio on Folksy

Jan x

Monday 10 December 2018

12 Days of Folksy, Day 10 - Feast

Day 10 of is

What will you have on your table this year? Will you have sprouts? 
How about Christmas Pud? 
Do you have traditional or do you prefer something different? Here is my choice.. 

 

You can find all these shops over on Folksy 


Jan x


Friday 7 December 2018

12 Days of Folksy, Day 8 - Let it Snow

Today is Day 8 of the #12DaysofFolksyand and it's #LetItSnow yes folks, it's Let it Snow, now I don't know about you but I like to see pretty pictures of snow, I like to look out of the window at a beautiful blanket of whiteness, with picturesque icicles hanging from the eves, it's even nice to stroll  about the park and admire the view or build a snowman with the children.... but, it's not good for driving in, not good for slip sliding your way to the stores to get the shopping in and not good for trying to keep your hands warm and dry whilst building said snowman.






Jan x


Thursday 6 December 2018

12 Days of Folksy, Day 7 - Your Wishlist

Day 7 of the #12DaysofFolksy is #wishlist. 

My wishlist is very short and simple, a Happy Christmas surrounded by family and friends... and don't forget the glass of Bailey's Irish Cream (or 2) and a mince pie (or 3)



Whats on your Wish List this year?

Jan x

12 Days of Folksy, Day 6 - Christmas Tree


It's Day 6 of the 12 Days of Folksy, today it's all about trees.
Christmas trees always look so pretty, whether it's decorated in traditional red and green colours, a jumble of handmade childrens decorations or or colour theme that matches your decor.

This Little Wooden House is handpainted onto block pine with a Christmas Scene.
The painted details are on all sides, it has a little wooden Christmas tree in the garden. This would look at home anywhere.

 Jan x

Tuesday 4 December 2018

12 Days of Folksy, Day 5 - Hunker Down


Day 5 of #12DaysofFolksy is Hunker Down

To me Hunker Down means being wrapped in a warm blanket while drinking Hot Chocolate and watching my favourite tv programmes while waiting for Santa to arrive. 

Here are 3 of the many great shops on Folksy


Cosy Blanket from  Lynwoodcrafts Recycled

Yummy Hot Chocolate from  Handmade Retro Jewellery

Jolly Mr Santa Claus from Velveteen

What does to Hunker Down mean to you?

Jan x

12 Days of Folksy Day 4 - Gingerbread

Day 4 of the Folksy Challenge is Gingerbread 

Todays photo is one of my Christmas Decorationas that you can find in my shop. This Gingerbread House has details all the way around, a pretty ribbon and a Christmas Bell.


Happy Day 4

Jan x

12 Days of Folksy Day 3 - Sparkle

Day 3 of the Folksy Challenge is Sparkle

My pic for today is......





Ok so it's pretty hard to see the Sparkle in this picture but I promise you the is plenty of sparkle, especially on the stars, you can see more things like this in my stores, you can get to them by the links in the side or top bar.

Jan x

Sunday 2 December 2018

12 Days of Folksy, Day 2 - Traditions


Do you have a Christmas Tradition? I always read A Chrismas Carol by Charles Dickens and listen to a bit of Christmas Music, you can see an old post I done on this blog a few years ago 


A selection of pics from A Christmas Carol
One of my favorite Christmas movies is It's a Wonderful Life, I decided to use it as inspiration for one of my Fairy Doors..



 Happy 2nd Day

Jan x

Friday 30 November 2018

12 days of Folksy. Day 1 - Handmade


Folksy are having a 12 Days of Folksy Challenge, each day covers a different theme, you can find out more on the  Folksy Blog Here. Although it's titled Folksy Instagram Challenge it can done across all platforms, I'm hoping to add it to my Twitter and my Facebook pages, and of course, here on this blog.

Day One is all about Handmade so let me introduce the best place to go for your handmade needs.

Folksy is what handmade is all about, it is the home of British Craft. You can find thousands of items created by artists, designers and makers, knitting, stitching, painting, printing, soldering, sketching, whittling, carving and crocheting in studios and at kitchen tables across the UK.

It's the place to go if you want to give handmade, so why not sit down with a cuppa and have a look through the amazing creations on Folksy - all made by clever hands crafting away across the British Isles.
They have original art and prints for your wall, hand-knitted scarves and gloves to keep you snug, beautiful designer jewellery, studio pottery and handmade ceramics for your table and your shelves, as well as hand-printed cushions, crochet blankets and original textiles and decor for your home, supplies and so much more. What will you discover on Folksy today?

While visiting Folksy why not pop over to visit me at my shop Handcrafted by Picto by clicking Here 

That's my Day One, tomorrow is all about Traditions.

Jan x

Thursday 15 November 2018

Autumn Hearts

Summer is over and the nights are drawing in, I think it's about time I took control of this blog, got my act together and started writing some posts.

I'm lucky enough to live in a semi rural area and the Autumn colours have taken over my surroundings, just popping out to the shops is a pleasure when the views are so pretty



One of these days I may glimpse a unicorn in the forest,



I often see Deer and Bunny Rabbits 












and the occasional Mr Fox


 but never a Lone Wolf.



All these items can be found in one of my online outlets, all the links are in the side bar if you want to browse.

Jan




Tuesday 8 May 2018

Mermaids swimming under the sea

We've been having lovely summer sunny weather which has made me think of the sea, this in turn made me think of pretty mermaids swimming underwater enjoying the freedom of the sea...

Mermaids under the Sea


Mermaid with Blue Tail and Golden Hair


Green Tailed Blond Haired Mermaid


Mermaids underwater



I popped these into my Folksy Shop (Handcrafted by Picto) 

I hope you have kind weather where you are, I'm off out to enjoy some more of that lovely sunshine and maybe I'll get to see a real Mermaid sitting on the rocks x

Jan x





 


Wednesday 18 April 2018

My New Venture on Zazzle

I've just started a new venture on Zazzle, for those who don't know, Zazzle is a POD Print on Demand site, launched in 2005 and based in Redwood City, California, USA
Zazzle is a leading platform for custom products and enables anyone, whether a professional artist or designer or a complete novice to create a personalised product or choose one of the many ready designed items.

I have sketchbooks galore and albums of photographs so decided to put them to good use and Zazzle has given me the opportunity to do this. I've only just started and still working my way around the site, the products (there's hundreds of them) and the tools to help with designing and personalising.

One of the things I've done is used designs from my plaques and put them on mugs, this is one of the designs I chose to use, you can personalise it with your own name or wording (as long as it fits)


This is how the mug looks, I hope you like it, you can click on the link to take you to the product where you can see other views and where you can customise it.




You can also Click here for  My Zazzle Store
or check out  The Zazzle Homepage is Here

This is my first Zazzle post so I'm keeping it short also there are some UK based POD companies that I'm planning to join but I'll come to them in another post.

That's all from me for now

Jan x




Friday 16 March 2018

Afternoon Tea with Folksy Friday

I sat in front of the computer and thought "what shall I do for today's Folksy Friday Post",  there are so many lovely things to choose from sometimes it's difficult to come up with a theme. While pondering this dilemma I popped into the kitchen to make myself a cuppa and maybe add a biscuit or two... naughty I know. Then it hit me... tea, no the tea didn't hit me, the idea did! afternoon tea would be my theme.

First I need tea

 a selection of teas from

or should I have coffee, with or without sugar?

choose your label from

then a nice big mug to put it in

a great choice of mug from

Should I have a Jammy Dodger

Choose your favorite biscuit to wear from

or should I have cake

there are no calories in this pincushion cake by


What would you have?


While you enjoy your cuppa why not pop over to Folksy, a great UK online market place

Jan x 



Monday 12 March 2018

A walk down the Woodland Pathway

Are you a fan of woodland pathways? I am, I love going for walks through the forest or around the Country Parks local to me, there is always lots to see.

Beautiful pathways
Hanging Catkins


 Strange mosses

 and pretty flowers

Surrounded by all this loveliness and having inspiration on the doorstop makes painting that bit easier.

Here are 2 of my latest canvases influenced by my walks.



 These are both acrylic paintings on 8 x8 inch box canvas


My work can be found in my online shops (links in side bar) or you can message me via any of my outlets.

Wishing you lots of happy woodland walks.

Jan x

How to put a LARGE clickable picture on the Folksy Forum

Folksy is an online marketplace for British designers and makers, it has it's own Forum where you can chat and showcase your items, here is a quick guide to how I put a picture onto the Forum, and like anything else... it's easy when you know how.

Doing a small thumbnail of an item is easy peasy, you just go to the item you want to show and copy the url at the top of the page, then go to the forum and past the url into the REPLY box, this gives a small thumbnail of the item you want to showcase.


If you want to show a larger image on that will take you direct to the image in your shop, there's a little bit more you have to do.
I've done a few screenshots of me putting a picture on, I hope this will make it easier to follow.

I find it easier to have two tabs open, one of my shop and the other of the forum page.

On the forum go to the Reply Box and click on the 'upload icon' (the line with an up arrow)


 A new box will open, choose 'From the Web' and click on 'Show More' this will give you 2 boxes. 


Go to the image you want to show and right click 'Copy Image Location' and paste it into the top box.



 Next copy your image url and paste it into the bottom box.

Click on the 'Upload' button and hey presto your image is on the forum post, press 'Reply' and you're done.
It's a clickable pic and it will take you directly to the image in your shop.


You can use this same process if you want to show a picture from elsewhere on the web, for example, a blog or twitter etc.

I hope this has been helpful to you.

Jan x 





Friday 23 February 2018

The Galaxy, Stars & Moon, Space Theme on Folksy

The Galaxy, the Stars, the Moon and all up above is my theme for this weeks Folksy Friday Showcase. There are so many great things on Folksy it was hard to choose but I narrowed it down to these beauties...


You can visit the individual shops by following the links under each picture.



Pretty Stud Earrings from Karen at
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Who wouldn't love this Quirky Birthday Card from
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Adorn your wall with a printed poster of Saturn from a papercut from
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A Lampshade, it's glow in the dark stars will suit any room
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This Moon Girl Necklace by the Wonderful
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My own contribution for my Space & Galaxy Theme are these Handpainted Wooden Hearts

and a Mini Desk Canvas from 

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I hope you've enjoyed seeing this weeks Folksy Showcase, there's lots more to see by visiting Folksy.com


Jan 🌟