In search of family Great Great Grandmother LeFever had a Haberdashery in England UK around 1918 - Grandmother to Sybil Stanley Myles

My Great Great Grandmother LeFever (not sure of the spelling) had a Haberdashery around 1918 somewhere in England, definitely in the United Kingdom (UK.) Although she never adopted my Nan when both her parents died, Nan still visited her.

We all seem to take after Great Great Grandmother LeFever with her love of sewing. My Nan loved to sew and created some amazing things. Both Aunties and my Mum worked as tailors. I loved the turquoise velvet dress my Mother made me when I was a child, which I have somewhere on old Cine Film.

As for me, Sharon J. Bainbridge, well I was a bit out of the ordinary. My first costume I made was very Gothic and the hair and make up was something else too. I worked in Mr Cherry's Pub in Hastings, E.Sussex (UK.) This was my stage, and the customers were my audience. So every look I created was totally unique. I made a Halloween dress out of an old black sack (rubbish bag.) No doubt I went to work like this and then on to party, party at the night club Saturdays where they played Down Town by Petula Clark. I recall a red dress, and one I made out of plastic table cloth material.



When I had my little child, I made a Victorian style costume out of an old Disney quit cover, which is here on my blog. I then made my first Butterfly Fairy costume which is in my fairy book Butterfly Lullaby. All the fairy costumes in the Book Butterfly Lullaby were created by me, Sharon J. Bainbridge, except the Bumblebee costume, which still bugs me as I wish I had created my own style.

The fairy costume below is one of mine. I created this one for the story Colour me a fairies wish.



So there you have it. Hopefully one day I will find my long lost family and we can exchange family photographs and stories.

http://www.butterflylullaby.co.uk/, fairy songs, fairy portraits, art and crafts for children, music, fairy music, true stories, poems, children's stories, free fairy network for businesses and stay at home Mum's (Mom's)

James Dean look a like as a child on a motorbike with a leather jacket

Here is a picture I created using my friends son. I purchased a small child's leather jacket from a boot fair for £10. My friend had the small child's motorbike. I think her son looks very much like James Dean as a child, what do you think?




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Rainbow frog face painting mask with real baby frog as small as an insect by Sharon J. Bainbridge

Here are some pictures of our fun Sunday face painting day. Mummy got her face turned into a frog too, ha ha. I have to admit my frog face painting mask is not brilliant, but I do like my bumblebee one, which is also on my Butterfly Lullaby blog and on You Tube with the tutorial so you can create your own using old make up, lipsticks etc.

And here is a picture of one of our tiny baby frogs, which we grow from tadpoles and let free into the wild. See all our frog videos here on my blog or You Tube. The one of the frog floating on his apple boat is cute.

I will upload the video later so you can copy the rainbow frog face painting mask on your child. Craft glitter is great. We used:

- Craft glitters, as many colours as you can get.
- Old lipsticks, pink, red etc.
- Old Halloween face painting kit with mixed colours - cost £0.99 a few years ago
- Black eyeliner

We would love to see pictures if you try this out. Or even create a better one. I have seen some amazing face painting here on Google and You Tube. Using the correct make up for it, makes it stand out better, something to try later on.

http://www.butterflylullaby.co.uk/, fairy songs, fairy portraits, art and crafts for children, music, fairy music, true stories, poems, children's stories, free fairy network for businesses and stay at home Mum's (Mom's)

Tiny baby frog as small as an insect - home grown frogs by Sharon J. Bainbridge

Baby frog as small as an insect, home grown from our old paddling pool left outside in the garden.

Tiny baby home grown frogs from just leaving our paddling pool outside for a whole year. A frog must have come into our garden, hence the paddling pool being full of tadpoles. Now we leave an old pool out all year so the frogs can come and go as they like. We bring the tadpoles in using rain water and feed them fish flakes that we used for our old tropical fish. As soon as the tadpoles grow into frogs we set them free back into the wild blackberry bush garden, to hop around with the bumblebees.

See our other blogs for frog face painting and bumblebee face painting using old make up and lipsticks. And if you love frogs make sure you check out our real frog photos and videos on You Tube. They are also here on my blog by Sharon J. Bainbridge from Butterfly Lullaby. Our Bumblebee face painting is better than the frog. Why don't you have a go. Kids love it! Especially if they can paint your face as well. To start with you can just use old make up like I did. Lipsticks, old eye shadows and lip liners are great.

http://www.butterflylullaby.co.uk/ , fairy songs, fairy portraits, art and crafts for children, music, fairy music, true stories, poems, children's stories, free fairy network for businesses and stay at home Mum's (Mom's)

How to draw a flower alien using the Nintendo DS Art Academy - Butterfly Lullaby art show

Welcome to the Butterfly Lullaby art show. Here is a video of my little angel, Snow Drop, drawing her own little character, the flower alien, which she made up. She is using the new Art Academy game on the Nintendo DS. I have to say it is an amazing programme. It even has painting and drawing techniques with step-by-step training.



We will be uploading the how to draw a bumblebee soon using Art Academy. Make sure you check out our other blogs about the bumblebee as we really need to try and save this wonderful, hard working little creature.

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My Victorian Costume (Dress) handmade using an old Disney Quilt Cover by Sharon J. Bainbridge

Here is a photograph of one of my first children's costumes I created for a photo shoot. I made the dress out of an old Disney quilt cover, and quite honestly the costume was a total fluke. I have to giggle as I have no training in making costumes or sewing. Just what my Nan taught me. My Mum and Aunties trained in tailoring and my Great Great Grandmother (Nan) LeFever had some sort of shop around 1918 selling materials and patterns, so it must be in the blood. Never got to meet her and we don't have any photos or information on her as Nan is no longer with us. If only I sat down and talked to Nan about her family history instead of partying all the time. Lets face it in the old days they made amazing dresses and outfits with no training. Sometimes art is just a gift, rather than something you can be trained in.

If you follow my work you will see that I make and create all sorts of things. I love to paint and draw, make costumes (fairy costumes in my book Butterfly Lullaby,) create children's stories, fairy tea sets and furniture, poetry, songwriting, digital fairy and Victorian photographic images, the list is endless. I even did a doll making course in Brighton years ago and used the doll in my Butterfly Lullaby book. A lot of my work is on You Tube and on my Butterfly Lullaby blog. I am like a colourful butterfly that cannot stay still, I flutter from one thing to another and I am always coming up with new things.

When I worked in the Hastings (East Sussex, UK) Pub Mr Cherry's, many years ago, the customers used to come in just to see what I was wearing, how I had my hair and what weird and wonderful make up I had on.  Lets face it not many people would go around town with painted seagulls on their face, ha ha. I used to make some of my clothes as I could not find anything I liked in the shops. I was not really a goth, more of an arty person expressing myself by the way I looked rather than on paper. Quite funny that I did not get laughed at or picked on because I was different and stood out from everyone else. It was a bit of a culture shock when I lived in London and got bullied for looking what this guy thought was Greek (I was called bubble.) I really feel for people who look foreign and stand out, they must have to put up with some rubbish from some sad people that really need to get a hobby. London is such a multi cultural place full of people from all over the world, I must have just been unlucky. I never had this problem in Central London.

I will have to dig out some old pictures of me so you can see a Gothic type of skirt and top I made. And my funny make up and hair. That's enough to brighten any ones Sunday.

Would be nice to find family and have an old picture to remember Great Great Grandmother LeFever and her son Stanley Myles who was my Great Grandad. We are told she did not like my Nans Mum, which is sad. I remember a picture of Nan's Mum, a stunning Burmese lady with a big umbrella. She was truly beautiful. I wish I knew her name, and could trace her family in Burma. If you have Burmese blood spread the word for me please. My Nan was called Sybil Stanley Myles. The names Myles comes from Germany, and was bought over here to the UK in Hastings after 1066. The name LeFever is of course French.  My Nan was a beautiful women, inside and out, what a shame she died thinking she was ugly. If everyone could spread the word for me it would mean so much. Thank you!
If you are searching for long lost family history and pictures leave me a message. Would love to know how you are getting on.

http://www.butterflylullaby.co.uk/ , fairy songs, fairy portraits, art and crafts for children, music, fairy music, true stories, poems, children's stories, free fairy network for businesses and stay at home Mum's (Mom's)

Daughter Sharon J. Bainbridge in search of farthers missing art drawings (Roy Bainbridge) - Kent, UK

This is my farther Roy Bainbridge. He used to draw and play the guitar years ago. Originally from Kent, UK, but has moved around. I am looking for the two women (ladies) he shared a flat with back in the 1970's I think? He left all his art drawings at the flat when he moved out. Have you still got them? Please get in touch.

My little angel is a budding artist, I would love her to have her Grandfarthers drawings, something special to keep and to pass on through the family generations.



My Farther (Dad) was approached by a London Gallery years ago, probably back in the 1970's, but sadly he turned them down and took up Interior Design (painting and decorating) instead. Don't get me wrong he is a damn good decorator and has an amazing eye for detail, but I really wish he had done something with his true gifts, that of music and art.

He gave me a pencil drawing when I was about 10 (ten) years old. It was amazing. So much detail. Pictures within pictures, I could see then why a Gallery wanted his work. But they asked him to do sets of pictures, which he was not interested in doing as one took him such a very long time to complete. As I have moved around so much during the years the only drawing I had that he gave me is now lost. So my only hope of recovering the past is by searching and finding his old drawings that were left with his two female flat mates years ago.

If anyone has any information on the drawings please do get in touch. My name is Sharon J. Bainbridge and I am one of his daughters. You can contact me by post c/o Butterfly Lullaby. The address is on my website. Or leave me a message here or on You Tube.

http://www.butterflylullaby.co.uk/ , fairy songs, fairy portraits, art and crafts for children, music, fairy music, true stories, poems, children's stories, free fairy network for businesses and stay at home Mum's (Mom's)