I love fairies — the good kind of fairies, the kind who live in the grasses and visit our gardens and sprinkle lots of fairy dust and glitter in our lives. Fairies actually have an interesting and not always pleasant history. It was once believed that fairies were frightening creatures descended from devils and demons. William Shakespeare is often credited with turning fairies into the benevolent spirits we know today.
If you really dig into research on fairies, you’ll also come across beliefs that fairies were real — real not just as supernatural beings, but real people. Very little people. They lived in rounded huts — fairy houses — and tended to their cattle most of the time. But, they weren’t always friendly, maybe owing to the fact that they were somewhat hideous in appearance.
How much of that is true? I don’t know, and I don’t concern myself too much about it. I like my lovely little garden fairies, and I have fun putting out little bits of shiny glass or other trinkets that I hope might attract them. It’s fun to believe in fairies.
The reason I’m writing about fairies today is because autumn is here, and every autumn I head for one of my very favorite websites: The Graphics Fairy. I’ve shared this site before, and no doubt I’ll be sharing it again in future posts. It’s an awesome resource for vintage art, much of which is free.
To me, The Graphics Fairy gets better and better each year. This year I’m spending a lot of time there, browsing images, checking out tutorials, and finding creative ways to use their graphics in projects I’ve working on. Now that I’m exploring mixed media, I can appreciate The Graphics Fairy more than ever.
Here are a few of the “fall freebies” you’ll find:
10 Best Free Vintage Fall Pictures
10+ Vintage Free Fall Botanical Printables
Free Fall Printable Art Quote + Fall Ideas Tour
Keep in mind that these are only a few of the images and ideas available — all for free. There are also links to several fonts — I’m crazy for fonts — and inspirational tutorials for awesome projects.
While I use The Graphics Fairy throughout the year, I have a special fondness for all things autumn, and in coming days I’ll be spending a lot of time drooling over all these vintage images and finding ways to use them in my art journal or other art projects.
If you’ve never visited the site before, please do! You’ll fall in love with fairies, too — at least this very special one!
Artistcoveries 
I love the graphics fairy as well. The images are just beautiful. I tend to love the naturalist, nature images.
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I have so much fun browsing the site, and, of course, I look forward to my “Friday Freebie” every week. Now that I’m learning mixed media and doing an art journal, I’m finding even more to love at The Graphics Fairy.
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I have had a membership for a few months as a treat during lockdown. It was excellent. I find it so inspiring and also have recommended the free site to friends who want to journal, but are afraid to draw!
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I’m just now learning to do ink transfers, and that makes it even more fun to find graphics. The only problem is that I can spend so much time browsing there that I don’t get other things done. 🙂
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Looks like a fun resource for images and inspiration, thanks for sharing!
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It’s awesome! They have lots of craft “how-to” videos, too.
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