I know I’ve talked before (and will again!) about why buying handmade matters, but let me reprise it here for you today: Jenn and I are full-time writers and Etsy creators. We depend entirely on people believing that art is precious, that handmade matters, that stories are beautiful creatures, and that wearable art and beauty is essential to life. We would be completely unable to do what we do if people didn’t believe that handmade was more essential than store bought. Anyone can go to any mall store and buy a mass-produced piece of jewelry. But you come to our shop and buy ours–the pendant that is handmade, one of a kind, that we created, that story that we spun. That’s magic, that choice.

Many people have purchased some of their Yule list from us this year, and we are eternally grateful for that. We have many more sparkly things in the shop, and we would love to send on something special to you for someone special in your heart.

Thank you for supporting the Fable Tribe all year ’round–you are essential to our livelihood, and we are so beyond grateful for you. <3

TheFableTribe.Etsy.com

TheFableTribe.Etsy.com

The inherent magic of Glamourkins lies in the fact that each pendant is intended for one person. One person on all the Earth. But humans are uncertain creatures, sometimes unaware as to which bits of wisdom would serve them best in their day-to-day journeys. And sometimes they need an outside voice to spell out the inner truths they already know.

Thus, we have created the Glamourkin Oracle. With your purchase, you will receive ONE Glamourkin pendant specially chosen for you by fate, faeries, or the Divine–whatever you believe. : ) Cast your cares to the Universe and receive the message you alone are meant to explore. Repeat its words like a mantra, and wear it close to your heart. <3

– from The Glamourkin Oracle

Any sharing about the update, purchases or word-of-mouth mentioning is supreme love, and deeply appreciated. The only way we are able to do what we do is because of the amazing support and love shown to us and the Fable Tribe–we appreciate it more than we could EVER articulate it. <3 <3 <3

Well, the fairies are VERY mischievous indeed. As there are only a few hours left of the sale, the sparkle is upped ONE more time!

Because everyone was so supportive of the sale, we’ve moved the order number back: the first TWENTY orders of $20 or more (after discount and before shipping!) will receive a free surprise Glamourkin in their package! There are about five slots left for this, so you still have a chance!

(Some people asked us that, if they came back today and made over the $20 amount again on an order, if they would receive two free Glamourkins: THE ANSWER IS YES! <3)

ALSO: every order made today (and yes, yesterday!) is in the running to receive a FREE custom Glamourkin!

How’s that for sparkle? (Good gods, you guys, this is such fun.  <3  Thank you so much for supporting it so much and being so excited about this!  YOU ROCK!!!!  <3333)

Five hours left! <3

TheFableTribe.Etsy.com

Midsummer12

Welcome to the sparkle! Any questions, please ask! ♥

Here’s a few things to know!

- This is the only sale in the entire year for the Fable Tribe. If you’ve loved something, this is your only chance to get it on sale!
- The coupon code will only work for twenty-four hours–at the end of twenty-four hours, the coupon code will be deactivated and will no longer work. That means at five PM tomorrow, it’ll poof and disappear!
- If you check out and don’t use the coupon code, you’ll pay full price for the listings, which is something I can’t change having happened–so please make certain to use the coupon code! It’s on the checkout page–if you have any problems, please let me know!
- Why are we doing the sale? We’ve always done it, and it’s one of our favorite ways to honor our favorite/frequent customers. We’ll never stop, as long as we make sparkly things, doing our once-a-year crazy-happy-glittery-splosion. <3
- You can totally share this, if’n ye be wishin’! <333333

TheFableTribe.Etsy.com

This is the update that’s going to make the Fairie Festival possible for us and vanquish some pesky, unexpected bills, so any spreading of the word is extremely appreciated, and earns you magical, internet hugs! Possibly from unicorns! I’ll see if they’re willing to hug people. XD <333333333333

TheFableTribe.Etsy.com

TheFableTribe.Etsy.com

Reading by the Window by  Charles James Lewis

One of our local libraries has large framed canvases lining all of the walls, balanced on the tops of the bookshelves. During our last visit there, I noticed the above image, Reading by the Window, and it struck a longing deep within me.  The simple beauty of this moment–lounging comfortably with an animal friend and a book before an open window looking out to sea… I can imagine few things more lovely and heart-filling. Though maybe, if I were the artist, I would have also painted a female companion, bending over the reader’s shoulder–a hand resting lightly there–to peer at the words on the page… And a cat.  No halcyon scene is complete without a cat.

When a thing is wick, it has a light around it…

Now maybe not a light that you can see…

But hiding down below, a spark’s asleep inside it…

Waiting for the right time to be seen. (The Secret Garden)

We wish you a spring blooming wildly with new, sweet growing things.

As you’ve been able to tell during this Unicorn Week, here at the Fable Tribe, my wife Jenn and I really kind of love unicorns. A lot. I’m an author (I write lesbian YA things, and original lesbian fairy tales–you are not surprised), and end up putting unicorns in much of my work (because lesbian stuff is made EXPONENTIALLY BETTER with unicorns. It’s like a universal law), but never before have I done a book ABOUT unicorns. You know. Until now. Two weeks from now, my short story anthology, Sparkle Princess Were-Unicorn (And Other Glittery, Queer, Off-the-wall, Rainbow-coated Stories) will be released. It has fairy stories, unicorn stories, tiny-adorable-zombie stories, and is just dripping with cuteness and magic. Look for it soon!

Every time there’s a rainbow in the sky, Sabrina has the awkward misfortune of suddenly becoming a unicorn. Were-unicorns are supposed to protect the magical Sparkle Princess, but Sabrina didn’t sign up for this–she is determined to find a cure for were-unicorn-ism. That is, until she falls head over heels in love with the Sparkle Princess, who–after all–really does need protecting from her arch-enemy: the evil, yet marvelous, Violentta. Is Sabrina up to the task of a rainbowy showdown, or will Violentta get exactly what she wants: the crown of the Sparkle Princess?

“Sparkle Princess Were-Unicorn” is one of nine glittery, queer, off-the-wall, rainbow-coated stories about magical, queer young ladies. They contain a good dose of absolutely-no-seriousness and a great big bag of sparkle.

Russian photographer Andrey Pavlov has a vivid and delightful imagination. He’d never read fairy tales as a child, but when he began to have children of his own, he decided to remedy that. The fairy tales enchanted him so much, he decided to go about creating some of his own with the most fascinating, living and obliging creatures…ants! He creates tiny props, and ants–naturally inquisitive creatures–provide the magic. You can see many more enchanting images here~

You think you know all the fairy tales, right? The Princess and the Pea and Rapunzel and Snow White…and then something so fantastic is unearthed, that it changes the face of fairy tale scholarship forever. Five hundred new fairy tales were discovered in Germany over a year ago–a collection that had been locked in an archive for over 150 years is now found. This is super exciting news–even more exciting? You can read one of these new fairy tales, translated into English here–”The Turnip Princess~” <3

The Tiny House Blog is our addiction–what’s more fairy than a tiny house, surrounded by nature, completely self sufficient and self-sustaining? *happy sigh* Also, most tiny houses look incredibly fairy, including this series of little wooden houses with round holed doors. Hobbit hole, anyone?

From tiny to ginormous! Let’s indulge in some eye candy for a minute…Our visions of fairy tale castles are created from the real things–take a peek at seven historical castles that look like they’re from the pages of a fairy tale–and perhaps they are!

(Have a fairy exciting bit of news? Want to spread the word about something magical? Want to enchant more lovely fae? Send us an email with the info, and we’ll do our best to include your piece of pixie news in the next Fairy Friday Random! <3)

Sarah and I spend most of our time at home–cooking and writing and reading and creating. Since we’re both visual people, we love surrounding ourselves with colorful, enchanting things, things that spark ideas, inspire stories and art, and reflect us as a couple.

We have a lot of resident unicorns.

Including our dog, Poesy!

Most–nearly all–of our unicorns were thrift store rescues. (Thrift stores are the best place to find unicorns!) Some we received as gifts. I walked through the house and snapped photos of as many unicorns as I could track down… A few were a bit too shy to pose for the camera right now, but maybe they’ll show up in future posts.

I hope you enjoy this little glimpse into our unicorn-rich world and find some inspiration from the images yourself!

A gift from Sarah’s sister. She found this unicorn at an antique store without a horn, so Sarah’s father made a horn for it.

My Little Ponies!

Baby Firefly and Baby Glory were the toppers on our wedding cake.

We have a lot of unicorn wall art–more than I’d realized, actually!

Thrifted cross-stitch piece. The colors are so bright!

Also thrifted! This giant framed unicorn mirror reminds us of a tavern sign. If we ever owned a bar, it would probably be a unicorn bar.

Our kitchen and dining room are decorated all over with hex signs, including unicorn ones! This hex sign symbolizes piety, virtue and harmony.

I found these unicorns (unpainted) at a pottery shop.

One of my favorite thrift finds of all time–a large needlework piece based on the unicorn in captivity tapestry.

A gorgeous Susan Seddon Boulet unicorn print.

Another print by Susan Seddon Boulet, titled “Rose Unicorn.”

Susan Seddon Boulet’s beautiful depiction of Amalthea and the Red Bull.

We love super-kitschy wall plaques. This is our first unicorn one! It’s old and stained, but we still love it.

A very regal unicorn rampant, unearthed at a flea market. He’s very big and hangs in our “unicorn hallway.”

This original artwork was a gift to me from Sarah’s sister, Laura, who is a fantastic artist (and singer). It’s called “The Peaceable Kingdom.”

More unicorn stuff:

Unicorn and mermaid finger puppets! These were gifts from Laura, too.

My little unicorn ring.

A translucent unicorn horn made of selenite.

A thrifted suncatcher.

This photo is from a couple of years ago (winter is still with us, so no garden decorations yet this year): our little fairy door and its unicorn guardian.

Another oldish photo of a unicorn amidst the hostas in front of our house.

 Whew, I think that’s the last of our unicorn stampede! Thanks for looking!

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