Fairy Tales

The blossom has come out on the tree in the front garden during this past week. It is pink and lovely. It reminded me that whilst sorting out some stuff recently, I came across two examples of Cicely Mary Barker's 'Flower Fairy' illustrations.
One was a birthday card sent to me in 2012 by my friend Marilyn [I found it being used as a bookmark in one of my embroidery books] It has the Almond Blossom Fairy on it - with CMB's accompanying poem.

Joy! the Winter’s nearly gone!
Soon will Spring come dancing on;
And, before her, here dance I,
Pink like sunrise in the sky.
Other lovely things will follow;
Soon will cuckoo come, and swallow;
Birds will sing and buds will burst,
But the Almond is the first!

The other thing I found was a ceramic tile- a Christmas  'keepsake' gift from my SIL Denise for Liz when she was still a baby. It has a picture of the Rose Fairy on it. I've kept it safe  for over 30 years, but now passed it on to Liz for Rosie.

Best and dearest flower that grows,
Perfect both to see and smell;
Words can never, never tell
Half the beauty of a Rose—
Buds that open to disclose
Fold on fold of purest white,
Lovely pink, or red that glows
Deep, sweet-scented. What delight
To be Fairy of the Rose!

I never imagined back in 1982 that one day Liz would have her own sweet rosebud! CMB illustrated her 170 enchanting flower fairies, with botanically accurate blooms, back in 1923. Each fairy had an accompanying poem. You can find them all here. As well as details of all the fairy illustrations and books, there are colouring sheets, activity ideas, and details of Flower Fairy events. There's a FF facebook page too. I found a lovely little biography of CMB here.

She was a devout Christian and gave much of her artwork to Christian fundraisers and missionary organisations. Even Queen Mary purchased one of her paintings. 

I love this painting of a 1930s mother and child on a cold day, making toast for tea!