The winter issue of our beloved Faerie Magazine, is graced on the cover with a gorgeous image by dear Dorothy Wallace (seen on the homepage of EF). It features a fascinating, in depth article about Arthur Rackham; the World of Spiderwick; Artists Paulina Cassidy (thank you precious Polly!) and lovely Renee Biertempfel; Wendy Froud’s Faery Godmother’s fashion and is elevated as always with Brian’s ‘Word of Froud’ and The Faerie Journals. Together with fantastic pieces on Grimm’s tale ‘The Twelve Dancing Princesses’, enchanting crafted Faerie Houses for the garden and some awesome ones in ice! - this is definitely the best edition yet and I am so proud to be associated in every way – though especially in this way…

   I can now wish you warmest welcomes to Uniting Kingdoms dear friends, wherever you are in this world. After two years in the planning, I am deeply honoured to be introducing the new part of Faerie Magazine – this section is being produced in England to reflect the myth, magic and folklore amongst the overseas communities, dedicated to the UK, Europe and beyond… together with a deep reverence for faerie and a sprinkling of the eccentric humour we Brits seem known for. Gathering all these delicious contributions has been pure joy with folk so enthusiastic and generous, it’s been breathtaking!
  For our debut, we are privileged to have regular contributions from many treasured and well respected artists including: the first in our ‘How To…’ inspirational master classes by the talented Linda Ravenscroft; Charlotte Bird beginning ‘The Travels of a Fairy Photographer’ with pictures of enchanting Glastonbury; Josephine Wall sharing with us a special new project she is involved with on the Isle of Wight; starting our story of how the heartfelt Fairy Box charity came into being with the Scottish founder Rosie Butler; Trudi Finch, our Featured Artist, telling her story, highlighted with her beautiful fairie paintings; Wendy Froud reviewing her and Brian’s recent London Exhibition; and for sheer fun, Amanda Sissons gifting us with the  adventures of ‘Enchanted Erlina’ (Old English for little elf) - Faerie in Training, especially commissioned to be our magical, mischievous mascot for Enchanted Folk - she’ll be on here soon! All this, by the illumination of, Canadian born, Paulina Cassidy’s mystical lamppost, constantly lighting our way…
    The spring UK edition is already bursting ready to bloom with regular contributions (yay) insightful interviews and articles from all over the globe, including Australia - so here’s to an exciting next issue, which will also celebrate Faerie Magazine’s 3rd Birthday!
           I am truly thankful to everyone who has made Uniting Kingdoms a delightful privilege to put together and in awesome appreciation of everyone’s encouragement and Belief, I send magical blessings to you all -
Be  
(UK Editor Faerie Magazine)


                        “No one can tell you how to how to draw a fairy!”
As this short intro and thank you to UK Artist Trudi Finch’s article wasn’t included in print, I thought I’d pop it in here as my appreciation to her - I hope you don’t mind…
     “Welcome to Trudi’s beautiful artwork. Having been a long time deep admirer of her exquisite painting, it was a real honour for me that she so kindly agreed to tell Uniting Kingdoms, in her own words, about her journey as an artist of many talents. As I write this from the glorious Gloucestershire countryside, not far from where Trudi grew up, I absolutely knew that her ‘White Fairy’ would grace this special space perfectly when Uniting Kingdoms was to finally debut with this winter’s issue. We are also blessed to have her ‘Star Fairy’ flying through our UK title page!
Thank you Trudi, for allowing us a glimpse into your wonderful world and for enchanting images that will linger in our hearts, your unique, elemental art is nourishment for our spirits. We all wish you and dear Joe, Happy Thoughts on the next step of your magical journey, now as grandparents, with many more memorable new fairy searches to come…”    Be

One of the most important things I do every single day, is to top up the birdfeeders and change the water in the birdbaths. Looking after our garden birds is my passion, though sometimes I wonder whether our boys feel that the wildlife gets better fed than they do! As we live on farmland, we seem to get more than our fair share of birds here and I take that responsibility most seriously! Standing at the kitchen sink or sitting at the table for a quick cup of tea and watching them, whatever the weather, season, or time of day, is so delightfully entertaining.

It is fascinating to witness these beautiful feathered beings and I feel very blessed to be able to observe and appreciate their antics so closely. I have many photographs of them, especially the fledglings, but will begin today with the most striking of our visitors, the Great Spotted Woodpecker. When these impressive birds ‘mechanically’ climb up the White Mulberry Tree outside the back door, I’m happily reminded of Professor Yaffle from Bagpuss! Both the male and female are so colourful, they always catch your eye, and this year we were able to watch their young begin to learn how to hang on to the peanut feeder, causing us much merriment!

All my life, I was the only person I had ever known who believed in faerie. This was not a lonely existence, just an isolated one. Once we began I Do Believe, I gradually met others who were as different as me (yay) and then, just as I was researching and preparing to start my own magazine to celebrate this, along came Faerie Magazine - www.faeriemagazine.com the most awesome periodical on the planet. I immediately recognised it to be the original and the best and knew I had to put all my energy into supporting and championing it – one of the easiest and wisest decisions I’ve ever made.

This highly collectable magazine was launched in Spring 2005 by Kim Cross, encompassing all that is wonderful with an elegance and charm to fulfill anyone interested in faerie – covering news, views, articles, artisans, artists, writers and musicians from all over the globe, with at least a third of the content regularly about what’s happening in the Britain and the rest of the world. I am proud and deeply honoured to write for this regularly as the UK Editor.
Kim, her dear friend Mary, and a very special, international team of equally dedicated enthusiasts, pour their hearts into creating this quarterly publication, which now has a circulation of nearly 30,000 readers worldwide and counting!
Everyone looks forward to receiving their treasured copy of Faerie Magazine International, as it has become a beloved part of our lives, connecting those who love faerie all across the globe.
Thank you Kim and Mary for your Magical Gift, it just gets better and better…

Magical Blessings,
Be

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” – Eleanor Roosevelt