My wonderful Christmas wish list

Among all the wonderful things about Britain there is one thing in particular I absolutely love: the idea to buy local. This is something both my countries have in common and it just makes so much sense on so many fronts, don’t you think?Here in Britain there are so many wonderful artists and crafts people that you don’t ever need to look over seas.I found a small handful of the most wonderful artists recently and it all started with this little owl on Facebook:Well of course the minute I saw this I wanted to know all about the artist responsible: Kaitlyn Pearson (Kate) of Cornish Bird in the Sticks. I took a peek at her site, liked her page on Facebook and guess what happened?Yup, one for me and one for C’s phone. I’m afraid so, am totally addicted to her lovely, friendly graphics.I think you would all do really well to like her FB page because Kate has a knack for finding more lovely artists to like.Now look at this lovely:This is the work of artist Jane Ryan (who Kate posted about).Jane makes the loveliest movable toys for adults from bits and pieces and beautiful reclaimed wood.Stop by her site and her FB page to see dozens more beautiful moveable sculptures. I love, LOVE the ones with poetry and, since I love gardening, those quirky ladies watering their flowers make me laugh.Now here’s something:Helen Bottrill works these simple and stunning appliqué designs. I first heard about Helen thru Kate and then found a feature about her and her cozy, charming studio in my Dec issue of Country Living magazine.Come check out her site Kindred Rose and her FB page to see so much more. Helen’s happy, little robin appliqués are my absolute favorite.When I came across my new friend Charlotte Trimm the first image that caught my attention was this one:Well, it’s easy to see how that can happen when you see her beautiful work:Charlie says that all one needs is “a desk with a scalpel, lots of patience, endless cups of tea, a pinch of love, a smidge of imagination, an epic coloured paper collection and a little bit of OCD.” I think her incredible talent also helps. Check out Charlie’s FB page here. Charlie makes wonderful family trees. I’m already planning my commission.Special note for this post!All but one of these images here are the property of the artists who have kindly given me permission to show you. Please be kind and respect the copyright, but go ahead to any other of my posts and borrow to your heart’s content.