Folksy front page!

My Valentine's selection is on the Folksy front page!

Happy Valentines day!

Folksy Friday - Vintage Roses

I love vintage fabrics, and that classic English floral style. Hearts and roses, bows and lavender - delicious!
This Folksy Friday was also inspired by Deborah Good from Pretty Goods, who featured me on her beautiful Folksy Friday last week, and to Haptree who posted a fantastic blog explaining how to create this Folksy Friday layout!

Thank you Deborah and Haptree :-)

Here are a few of my favourite Folksy finds with a vintage fabric theme. Who needs Laura Ashley or Cath Kidston? Not only are these beautiful creations lovingly and individually designed and hand made in the UK, they are also amazing value for money!

All of these lovely items were found on Folksy. Click on the picture to view more of each talented seller's creations:

The Waterfront, Bournemouth

On 20th January 2010, Bournemouth Council announced that it is buying the Waterfront building on Bournemouth’s seafront – once voted England’s most hated building in a Channel 4 poll. Hurrah! This monstrosity has been ruining the view of Bournemouth's seafront for as long as I've known it. It will be so good to have a view of the beautiful coastline and seafront.

Bournemouth Council are considering a number of options as a replacement. Their main aims are:

1.To improve sea views; and
2.To bring about an all-weather attraction that is commercially viable, successful and can be enjoyed by people from all walks of life, in a building that residents can be proud of

And they're putting six options to the vote:

1.A water park
2.An interactive arts activity centre and museum
3.Tropical gardens
4.A spa
5.Performing arts space and amphitheatre
6.A family play park
7.Boutiques and bistros

Whilst I really like the idea of the arts activity centre and museum it's difficult to tell how it would work and exactly what the activities would involve. I also quite like the sound of tropical gardens - but I think any solution needs to combine a number of things - cafe, gardens, fountain & arts and crafts!

Here are my thoughts (and comments to the council) -

It would be good to have space for a local art & craft gallery or shops. There is a real lack of art & craft venues in Bournemouth so this would fill a much needed gap in the market. Craft supplies shops and boutiques would add to the creative feel e.g a bead shop, art supplies shop, model shop, knitting/embroidery supplies.

If this could be combined with an area for art and craft workshops that would be a real benefit to all ages of the community. Art and crafts are a great way to unite people and get the community talking and sharing experiences at the same time as learning new skills. It's also a great way to get people involved with the environment, Bournemouth's history, different cultures. The possibilites are endless and it's a great opportunity to improve the culture and social environment of Bournemouth.

Having the workshops so close to the inspiring sea front area would make them really attractive - painting the sea, making paper mache fish, beach hut models, sea inspired jewellery - we could really make the most of the beautiful coast and seaside attractions.

Possible workshops include:
Drawing
Watercolours
Knitting
Silver Clay jewellery
Beading
Puppet making
Electronics/robotics
Nature studies

Arts University College Bournemouth run a range of courses that could be adapted to one day or half day workshops.
Bournemouth Creatives are another source of creative people who could run workshops.

Why not have your say?

For more detail on the options and to vote see the council's website here

Some Seaside crafts created with fd's Flickr Toys

1. Sea Breeze by Hollie Lollie
2. Seeegulls by NiftyKnits
3. Fish bar Soap by Blue Marmalade
4. wooden fish by The Bunny Maker
5. Fabric Fish by Apple Cottage Company
6. Shells and Squares silver pendant by Alibali Jewellery
7. Fish Paper by Carole King
8. Under Water bangle by Penny Dog Accessories
9. Funky fused glass fish by Glass Primitif

Exciting Collaboration!

Early last month I received a fantastically generous offer from someone via my Dick and Franny shop on Folksy. The talented and very lovely Kat Milligan offered her photography and modelling to me to help create beautiful images of my jewellery.
As someone struggling to find enough time to paint and make jewellery, let alone photograph, edit and list my work, this was an offer too good to be missed! It can make a huge difference having high quality photos, so I was thrilled to be given this great opportunity.

Since offering me the collaboration Kat was involved in an accident which left her with an almost completely severed finger! Argh! I can't believe she's continued with the commission. After an operation to reattach her finger Kat has persevered and mastered one handed photography with the lovely model Lylium who struggled through bad weather to attend the photoshoot.
I'm really grateful to Kat and Lylium, and I can't wait to see all of the photos!

Here is a taster of the great results:

Check out Kat's Photography on RedBubble

And her modelling page on Model Mayhem

And Lylium's moddelling page on Model Mayhem

Francesca Whetnall 2010 - Watercolour Calendar

I've just created a calendar of my watercolours for 2010. I've chosen a broad selection of my paintings from this year. All are watercolours but some have some mixed media elements and one has a bit of collage. I've also selected a combination of still life and landscape paintings as a reflection of the way I paint - moving from one subject and style to the next.

The paintings I've chosen are:

January - Little Window

February - Roses

March - Yellow Tulips

April - Bluebells

May - Forde Abbey

June - Boats at Beer

July - Barcelona Sunshine

August - Red Tulips

September - Sunflowers

October - Gold Hill

November - Have a Nice Day, Mr Shark

December - Winter Shadows

View the full calendar here:

The female of the species is more deadly than the male

Sexual Cannibalism

Sexual cannibalism is where the female of the species attacks, kills and eats a male of the same species before, during or after mating. It's common in many families of spider, insect and amphipod (shrimp-like crustaceans). In most species in which it occurs, sexual cannibalism is related sexual dimorphism, where the female is much larger than the male.

There are competing theories on how the practice evolved. Some biologists suggest that sexual cannibalism is just the result of a voracious female appetite. But experiments have also suggested that females use it as a technique to select the best fathers for their offspring. Some sexual cannibalism might occur because the female regards her suitor as more acceptable as a meal than as a mate.

As an adaptive female strategy, sexual cannibalism is easy to understand. There are two clear advantages to sexual cannibalism:
Natural Selection - Any male who succumbs to the female's attempts to devour him before mating occurs fails to pass on his DNA.
Nutrition - Any male eaten by a female, whether he has mated with her or not, provides the female with nutritional benefits which should increase the quantity or quality of her offspring.

For males, sexual cannibalism seems a less than satisfactory strategy. For some it seems to have evolved as an extreme form of paternal investment. In other species, the males are less happy with the arrangement, and use diverse strategies to decrease their chances of being cannibalized. Some, particularly Nursery Web spiders, bring the female a diversionary meal.


The Black Widow Spider

The female Black Widow Spider is known for her distinctive black and red markings, which are designed to warn potential predators away. Only the female black widow bites humans, and she bites only when disturbed, especially while protecting her eggs.

Her bite is highly venomous, which is effective for disabling and killing her prey of insects and occasionally other spiders. The toxin affects the nervous system - muscle and chest pain or tightness are some of the most common reactions to the black widow bite. Fatalities in humans have occurred and are most commonly due to respiratory paralysis.

On occasion the female will eat the male after mating, generally the smaller the male is, the higher the likelihood that she will devour him. As a method of self preservation, male black widows often restrain females in silk prior to mating. And if the male survives copulation he will often fertilise multiple females.

Sources:

Is the female of the species more deadly than the male? - Scienceray

Sexual Cannibalism - Wikipedia

Black Widow Jewellery

Please visit my Etsy or Folksy stores for more deadly jewellery:

Esty Jewellery

Folksy Jewellery

Golden October

It's great to be featured in an Etsy treasury, especially a beautiful Autumn one!
Thank you Pazzapazza!

Until it expires, see the Treasury here: Golden October

I've also been lucky enough to have my 'Golden Tree' print featured in Deelight's beautiful Autumn Themed 'Folksy Friday'

There are so many beautiful Autumn themed arts and crafts on Etsy and Folksy, it's very tempting and inspiring!

I particularly love the patchwork cushion cover by Midsummer Stitches on Folksy:

Weekend Deals on Etsy and Folksy

From this friday 21st August until Sunday 23rd I will be offering 15% off all jewellery in my Etsy and Folksy shops.

Just enter the code "weekend deals" in the message to seller and the discount will be refunded promptly through Paypal.

I have some great charm bracelets for autumn:

Owl and Teddy Bear charm bracelet

Chunky Berry bracelet

Purple and bronze charm bracelet

Lots more jewellery available in my Etsy and Folksy stores:

http://www.dickandfranny.etsy.com/

www.folksy.com/shops/dickandfranny

Folksy Faves

A few of the beautiful handcrafted items available on Folksy. I can't believe the prices of some of these!! So much time, love and skill has gone into them, I don't know why anyone would by mass produced stuff when they could have such lovely one off originals as these...

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

1. Handpainted wooden boat by Elli Moody
2. Robot Boy Resin Figurines by Mooglet P. Bear
3. The New Forest by Amy Blackwell
4. Cupcake Brooch by Molly's Mum
5. Finn a Plush Green Frog by Covetables
6. Blackberry Fluffy Flower by HMS Designs
7. Country cottage tea cosy by Vintage Town
8. Umbrellas Print by Sparklehen
9. Wilson Chicken Doorstop by Junky Chicken

Folksy Mosaic

1. Untitled, 2. Westbourne arcade, 3. bowl of strawberries, 4. chunky berry, 5. Bottles, 6. Waterjug and onion, 7. Roses, 8. Forde Abbey

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

I sold my first card on Folksy today, woohoo! :-)

Found On Folksy

I've been featured on Found on Folksy! What a lovely surprise to be featured when I only set up my Folksy Dick and Franny store a couple of weeks ago and I haven't had time to stock it fully yet.

Thanks to Jo Whitehead from Glassprimitif for the lovely feature!

In honour of my found feature I thought I'd follow the same lovely seaside idea and show you some of the sea themed items that I've recently listed in my Etsy and Folksy stores. I've always loved the sea and now that I'm living just 20mins walk from Bournemouth beach I have much more opportunity for seaside inspiration!

Here are some of my latest creations that have been inspired by the sea:

Beneath the Sea - Original Monoprint - $90 (£55)
This is an original monoprint from a series of five I created using leaves, string and a feather. A monoprint is a completely one off piece of art, but in this case I developed the theme using similar colours and objects in each print. I love the watery feeling and the textures in this print.

Chunky Aqua Charm Bracelet - $34 (£21)

Aquamarine, turquoise, baby blue and silver beads sparkle alongside beautiful silver charms in this gorgeous, chunky charm bracelet. Hand picked from my eclectic collection of vintage and new beads this bracelet really is unique!

Tropical Waters - Original Collage - $38 (£23)

Mixed media collage with an under water theme.
Contains watercolour, drawing, stamping and collage elements.

Blue Horizons - large Original Watercolour $140 (£86)

Cool blue and white abstract watercolour painting.

I love allowing the watercolour to create patterns and textures

and to merge vibrant colours as I paint. Intense blues and

cool white stripes, blue horizons, waves or clouds...

Sea Air - Fine Art Print $20 (£12)

Giclee print created from my original watercolour painting 'Sea Air'. This blue and white watercolour still life is fresh and breezy and really brings the seaside air in!

Cornish Harbour - Original Watercolour painting - $68 (£42)

Beautiful original watercolour painting of a cornish harbour at dusk.

Don't you just wish you were there?

To see more of my art and jewellery please have a look at my stores:

Dick and Franny on Etsy

I've now listed over 100 items in my US store!!

Dick and Franny on Folksy

Early days for my UK Folksy store, just 3 items at the moment but watch this space!