I am the Creative Director and founder of the Children's Tale Trail, a Story Weekend at The National Botanic Garden of Wales and one of the things that I know children love, is a good setting!
They like a rug and cushions and to cwtch up on the floor with their legs crossed, and sometimes, for the right story, they like to get up close to the story teller.
A friend of mine, Suzanne Hughes Owen is one of the lovely story tellers that volunteer at the Story Weekend. She invites the children onto her magic carpet and straight away they become focussed on the story because ... well, who wouldn't if they were actually sitting on a magic carpet!
I had a think about how I could bring the magic of the carpet, into The Tethered Fairy Ring and decided to design a fairy blanket.
I came up with a design and then worked out the cost of making it so and I just couldn't afford to get it made because I don't have any funding ... although today I will be talking with Michelle Williams from Shelbyart to see if she can help. She runs all sorts of wonderful community sewing projects. Like at the moment on facebook, I have been following her 'Sew a dress for a girl in Africa' project, making little dresses out of pillow cases.
Here's a link to Michelle's blog: Every girl should have a dress post:
Her group are also coming to Celtic Womenfest in August. I am Creative Director of Celtic Womenfest: A 2 day women's music and spoken word poetry event, and this year we are having a knitting rhythms table and Michelle has kindly offered to bring volunteers to help others at the table to knit while the artists are performing on stage.
So who knows, maybe I will get my own designed blanket ...
But meanwhile, I trawled ebay and found this little beauty ... which as you can see Maisy think is gorgeous! A great big Fairy Throw!
And I'm in the process of personalising it ...
I have asked my lovely friend Sam Collins, a Creative Artist from Llanelli, to come on over for a sewing day at my van by the seaside and we'll have a go at personalising my new story throw. I have already started by drawing on a ukulele in the hands of the boy and the fairy ...
Sam will also be at Celtic Womenfest kindly leading the sewing of Blodeuwedd's Cloak ...
I have ordered 200 little bells to sew around the outside of my throw and some felt to make letters to go around the border.
I have also ordered a clever new thing! Sheets of material that you put through your inkjet printer! Not sure if that will work but will have a go and then I can put my own fairy onto the blanket ... if not I'll spray her on with fabric paint.
I want to put birds in the trees too ...
And maybe slip some shells in, collected from New Quay ...
... and I am also now the proud owner of my first drill! Ready to drill little holes into shells.
This will be my Story Blanket for Phase One ... and once I have toured phase 1 and hopefully been able to raise some funding through the performances, I can then move into phase 2 and afford to make the things that I can see in my mind ...
The Film, the Arts Installation, and my own design of Story Blanket ...
But until I can raise the funds to make it so ... this adapted blanket will do very nicely, thank you.
