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May Queen Crafts

@mayqueencrafts

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🌾Straw worker
🌾Decorative straw work & Corndollies
🌾Straw plaited jewellery
🌸Dried flower headdresses
🌾Harvestlore
🇵🇸 Free Palestine

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I'm so excited to announce that I've been invited by @norfolkfolkloresociety to do a talk as part of this year's @blackshuckfestivalbungay celebrations. 🐺It's a special festival for me as my family has lived near Bungay since the mid 1990's and I grew up shopping in the towns charity shops and having breakfast at the Buttercross cafe. My talk, of course, has a harvestlore and straw theme, the details of which are below 🌾Mell Dolls and Maidens - Janine Connor (May Queen Crafts)11.30am to 12.30pm | Sunday 2 August | The Fisher Theatre, BungayBefore combines rolled across the fields and harvest became a matter of machinery, it was surrounded by ritual, superstition and celebration.Join straw worker and straw craft enthusiast Janine Connor for a fascinating journey into the lost harvest customs of Britain and Ireland, exploring a world where the final sheaf was treated with reverence, harvest workers competed to cut the last standing corn and beautifully crafted straw figures carried the luck and spirit of the harvest from one year to the next.Discover the stories behind mell dolls, corn maidens and other traditional straw ornaments, and learn how these remarkable creations connect us to centuries of rural belief, community and seasonal celebration.Richly illustrated with examples of traditional straw work, this talk uncovers a landscape of customs, folklore and forgotten traditions that once lay at the very heart of country life.A chance to see the harvest not simply as a season, but as a world of ritual, symbolism and living folklore.To book follow the link here: https://fishertheatre.org/FisherTheatre.dll/WhatsOn?Film=1151682Hope to see you there. 🌾🌾#harvestlore #harvestfolklore #corndollies #harvesttrophies ##ruralcustoms by @mayqueencrafts

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No wheat today, just some absolute beasts ripening in the green house. 😍🍅#beefer #beefcake #beefsteak #calprasesalad #allotment by @mayqueencrafts

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A lovely straw horn commission from a few weeks back🌾The request was for the horns to point backwards rather than to the side as I usually make them. 🐐#strawhorns #hornedheaddress #straws #strawwork #headdress by @mayqueencrafts

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8 days ago

A GORGEOUS flax seed havest crown, the dark biscuity, oatmeal colour variations in the flax are soooo beautiful 🧡I make these crowns on request. Please head to more website for more details or message me here on Instagram ✨️#flaxseed #flaxcrowns #harvest #harvestcrown by @mayqueencrafts

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11 days ago

Awesome poster for a Corn Dollies exhibition from 1975🌾From the @vamuseum collection*having spoken to some of the corndolly community elders, the havest maid on the poster was very likely made by Alec Coker. The exhibition organised by the WI#corndollies #corndollyrevival #harvestmaid #1975 #exhibition by @mayqueencrafts

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14 days ago

Hello straw friends,I’m making a few changes in how I run May Queen Crafts, mainly with regards to making and selling my work. As some of you know, May Queen Crafts has always been a passion project alongside my career in the Environmental sector. I run May queen Queen Crafts one day a week, making and fulfilling orders on a Friday and usually into the weekend. Over the past couple of years my sales have really reduced, there are a number of factors for this that are not within my control and I've never been great at pushing the big ‘sell’ or been inspired by making the same items over and over again to build up stock for my online shop. I've been mulling over how to continue May Queen Crafts so that I still enjoy making and selling corn dollies and decorative straw work whilst not putting loads of pressure on myself to make sales. My plan is to have limited ‘made to order’ items for sale via my online shop, (mostly the straw jewellery collection) and over the course of each month, I will craft unique decorative straw work pieces or traditional corndollies that I will list in the shop each month, ready for shipping. I really feel that making new pieces or revisiting old designs, and not being tied to the specific designs listed on my shop will give me a creative boost. There will be limited amounts available, with many items being unique one-off pieces. You can also get in touch if there is something specific that you would like made. I hope this all makes sense? Im currently working on a couple of crown commissions at the moment. Once these are made, I will begin making ready for my first monthly shop drop. Thanks as always for being here and supporting my (very) small business. Janine x#smallbusiness #craftbusiness # by @mayqueencrafts

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16 days ago

🌾Cornmother 🌾harvest queen 🌾harvest maiden, 🌾🌾Kirn Maiden 🌾kern baby 🌾corn dolly 🌾ceres 🌾cailleachAre just some names of the names for symbolic or ritual figures (usually in female form) made from the last cut stems of the harvest. This doll I call the corn mother, she is a modern representation of this ancient custom. Made from golden stems of maris widgeon wheat straw and oats.The corn mother is listed in my online shop and is made to order. 🌾🌾#cornmother #harvestdoll #harvestmaiden #harvestcustoms #corndollies by @mayqueencrafts

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19 days ago

Pulling together lots of research for my upcoming talk 'Mel Dolls and Maidens' for @norfolkfolkloresociety at the @blackshuckfestivalbungay 🌾#harvestcustoms #thelastcut #harvesttrophies #melsupper #harvestlore by @mayqueencrafts

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21 days ago

I have a lovely lot of heritage wheat growing in the allotment this year. 🌾 all ripening VERY early due to the heatwaves. There's April Bearded, Red Lammas, Maris widgeon (I think) and a new addition of Triticum Compactum. This variety I came across on my visit to the Swiss straw museum in Switzerland, as a variety once commonly used in the hat industry. I'm looking forward to making my annual plaited harvest trophy from the 'last cut' in my little wheat field 🌾#strawwork #harvesttrophy #thelastcut #corndollies #harvestcustoms by @mayqueencrafts

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22 days ago

A horned, sun spray headdress ☀️ made with spiral staw horns and straw splits to give the sunny halo.#strawcrafts#strawheaddress#hornedheaddress #strawhorns#sunheaddress by @mayqueencrafts

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I am absolutely in love with these images from a recent photo shoot for clothing designer @rabbit.baby.2 at @bridgefarm_bristol 🌱Model @belle.ganpatsingh wears the May Queen Crafts harvest crown so beautifully 🌾🌸🌾 Designer @rabbit.baby.2 Photographer @persephonesmelly Model @belle.ganpatsinghLocation @bridgefarm_bristol#photoshoot#harvestcrown#mayday #mayqueencrafts#flowercrown by @mayqueencrafts

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