Tuesday, 17 January 2012

Flowertime become offical stockist of CRYSTAL GRAFFITI.

New range of Jewellery from CRYSTAL GRAFFITI
CRYSTAL GRAFFITI jewellery is designed and made by hand. 

Over 26 years the company has evolved into a jewellery design specialising in the use of dazzling Swarovski crystals and colourful European glass beads.

Flowertime is awaiting delivery of these lovely hand made pieces of jewellery.


Greeting Cards by David Chapman

New delivery of greeting cards by David Chapman, in store we have over 100 different designs by David.
The range covers Cornish Landscapes, wild flowers to the wildlife of Cornwall.

About David
David Chapman was born and brought up in Blackpool, he attended university in Sheffield and after achieving a 2/1 honours degree in Mathematics he trained to teach. This enabled him to work in areas of the country that satisfied his birding desire so initially he moved to Norfolk. After two years he gained promotion and moved to Bridlington, adjacent to the birding Mecca of Flamborough Head. Three years later, in 1992, he moved to Cornwall where he was soon promoted to Head of Department at Helston School and it is in Cornwall that he still lives today.


During his time in Cornwall his passion for bird photography really grabbed hold and when he married Sarah they bought a small holding near Hayle. This plot of land is excellent for wildlife with quite varied habitats for its modest size of five acres. David and his wife keep a small number of animals but they are most proud of their achievements in attracting and keeping some interesting wildlife species including Cetti's Warbler, Water Rail, Badgers, Adders as well as many 'common' species. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish David's hides from the animal shelters but he has taken some lovely images from them (the animal shelters and the hides!), some of which you can see in the image library on this web site. His photographic subjects have now expanded to cover all aspects of British wildlife and landscapes.

David's wildlife photography is well respected in Cornwall and beyond, he is secretary of the Cornwall Wildlife Trust's photographic group. In 2004 he became a council member and trustee of the Cornwall Wildlife Trust. His images are often used in newspapers as well as leaflets and on interpretative panels. In 1999 he started to write nature diaries for Cornwall Today and these proved to be very popular, so much so that he has expanded his writing to include monthly features for, amongst others, the Caravan Club Magazine, Smallholder, SAGA online and a regular wildlife travel feature for MMM.

A recent increase in the demand for David's writing has seen him contributing to other magazines including The Countryman, Country Life, Bird Art and Photography and Bird Watching. His photography is now used regularly in Bird Watching magazine, Natural World and BBC Wildlife as well as other birding and wildlife journals, he has also had work used in calendars each year since 1998 in Cornwall and throughout the world. David has now produced ten books about Cornwall and has taken all the photos for another book written by his wife, Sarah, for further details of these books click here.

In 2003 David left his post of Head of Maths at Helston School to work as a full time professional photographer and writer. David joined the Outdoor Writer's Guild in 2001 and in his first full year of membership he won two of their prestigious awards, one for photography and one for his writing of nature diaries. He is the first person in the history of the guild to be awarded two honours in one year. In 2004 David repeated this feat with another double honour from the guild this time he received one for his photography of conservation in the Outer Hebrides and the other for his writing of a series of articles published in the Caravan Club magazine.

In 2009 David was very proud to be awarded the 'Speech, Drama and Music' award by the Cornwall's Women's Institute for the high standard of his exposition in demonstrations and workshops. In 2011 he won the 'Wildlife in the garden' section of the International Garden Photographer of the Year having previously come a close second!
David is always looking for opportunities to expand his photography and will always consider taking commissions for wildlife and environmental projects.

Please pop in to the store, on Penpol Terrace, Hayle to see the complete range of David's cards, books and images for sale.