We all need an angel!

Hello to all!  Again, too much time seems to have slipped by since I last wrote a post.  Well, I have been quite busy, mostly with getting the final artwork done for my cookbook - although it is fun, it is also a lot of work, and I am missing spending time with my little mice!  However, some good news is that one of my mice is going to be featured in a UK magazine, probably in August or September.  More about that later!
I love angels, and they have always featured in my various designs, artworks and so on.  So, obviously, I have done several different angel mice;  the first I made was a gift for my mother last year, and that little angel mouse carried a bouquet of flowers.  Since then I have designed another mouse along similar lines, but this one has a little felt heart, finished off with a silver charm that says 'made with love'. 
People seem to love the angel mice,and I have also made several of them as gifts for people who I thought might need a little extra angel love, as they were going through some challenges or painful times.  Enjoy this little angel, and the blessings she brings!

Gremlins?

Hello to all. Just a quick post with regard to a couple of queries I have had from people who asked for mice catalogues via email;  although I sent them out, apparently they did not arrive but disappeared who knows where!  This does happen sometimes with my email account, and I am trying to resolve it.  If you have asked for a catalogue but not received it, please know that I am not ignoring you! - send me another email and I will get one off to you as soon as possible.  (Also - I notice some of the catalogue requests end up in the junk mail/spam folder, not quite sure why - so perhaps that also needs to be checked)
Hope everyone has a happy and healthy week!  Gail xx

Little Dandelion

Hello to all.  I always think the mouse I have just created is my favorite, and this little one is no exception!  She's called Dandelion, and has a wonderful kitchen garden, where she grows all manner of delicious fruits, vegetables and herbs.  Her pumpkins are the best in Rosebud Lane, and everyone likes to use them for pumpkin soup, pies, fritters and even pumpkin pickle!  Don't you love her little straw hat - I think it is just so cute!

Anyway, just another point about the copyright issues in my last post.  A couple of people have asked me if it's okay to put up one of my pictures on their blogs, Pinterest, and so on.  That's fine, as long as you give me a heads-up about it first.  Sharing creativity, in a fair and responsible manner, is one of the gifts brought to us by the internet, and social media.
Hope you are all having a lovely and creative week!
Gail xx

 

A few words on copyright!

Greetings to all.  Hope you are all having a great week thus far.  I just wanted to write a (hopefully!) fairly short post about some concerns I am having with regard to the copyright on my little mice.  I have received a few requests from people for the patterns for the mice - so they can make and sell them themselves.  This, is, obviously, not on.  I do understand that there's no way I can claim to be the only person who can design and sell small felt mice, and there probably are some crafters out there who are using the ideas in my catalogue to create their own little mice.  There's not much I can do about that, but it is not acceptable for people to try and create them as a commercial venture.
The little mice in my catalogue - and the ones I hope to continue to create - are products of my time and imagination, and I hope everyone can respect  that.  Sadly, I know that this whole question of copyright and design fraud on the internet is not probably going to ever go away - as long as some people think it is okay to do this.  Several needlework designers I know have told me this is the most major issue they have to deal with;  one even said she reckons for every design she sells legally, probably three or four are downloaded illegally in one way or another.  This is sad, but, obviously a reality of the world we live in.  It's actually one of the reasons I decided not to sell my own cross stitch designs online, which I was originally intending to do when I started this blog last year.  It just seemed to be more trouble than it was worth!
Thanks for reading this - and I am happy to hear any input or advice any of you may want to share!
Have a lovely day.
Gail xx