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Oh look what else I discovered. Just like last year, the Wee Folk have been busy planting their rows and pots for a bountiful summer.  This sweet miniature fairy potting bench was made by hand. The top shelf was carved and faux painted; the sides are covered in birch and tiny dots of moss and fungi adorn the bench.      Like this one? See the one I made last year. I can custom make one of these for the gardener in your life.
A wee bench was spotted in the woods.  Upon closer look, it had been sitting there for quite some time, for moss and fungus had grown in lovely little clumps around it.   Stained by the weather, mold and overwintering, it had sort of a greenish hue to it.     Count Dracula had his Brides, and the Ferrishyn (fairy tribe of Tanglewood) have theirs. 
This is the Reindeer Muse, the Queen's own poet. Every day, she alights to a sunny spot to collect the sun and her thoughts for a new verse she'll take back to the Queen and court for the evening.
This is Lady of The White Thorn. This tiny fairy is the protector of the white thorn, a special tree in County Clare that sat alone in a vast meadow of green. Workers refused to cut it down, for it was the site of a fairy dwelling.
This is Beach Rose White Fairy. Her skirt is perfumed by the rose petals gathered by the sea and the adornments are wildflowers; she is the sweetest smelling fairy, long after the flowers have gone by. She is a close ally to the Merrow, the sea fairies who communicate with their counterparts on land.  Here are custom fairy wreaths, made from circles of red birch and decorated with wildflowers I've collected ($15). Each comes with a fiddlehead bejeweled hanger.    Justin, the other half of Tonic of the Woods, crafted this simple vase from a chunk of driftwood he found nearby on the beach.  The slim vase can be removed from the wood for ease of filling up with water.  Each comes with hand-picked Maine beach pebbles stacked at the base. He will be making more, similar to this. Contact if interested.  And here's another one.  I'm excited to unveil my new fairy sculptures. Each one is mounted on a disc of Maine birch and can stand on a shelf. They are $25 each and I'm actively looking for boutique shops that would like to carry these creations.     Shop owners, if you are interested in seeing these in person, please email me for more info.
 ©Kay Stephens This lovely fairy was named by my little friend Lexa, 9, who believes in fairies. She held a buttercup under her chin, put the flower in my pocket and asked me to make a fairy and call her Buttercup.  ©Kay Stephens She's made with a birch bodice and bleached yellow tulip petals. Her sash is made with dried wildflowers and of course, adorned by a lone dried buttercup for a corsage.  ©Kay Stephens  ©Kay Stephens  ©Kay Stephens Dwarfed by a forest of white stalked flora and purple wildflowers, The Queen's Handmaiden is dressed up and ready to serve on a hot spring morning.  ©Kay Stephens  ©Kay Stephens This Wee Folk Fairy is made with white birch bodice and a sun bleached hydrangea skirt and adorned with a sash of dried wildflower.  ©Kay Stephens   ©Kay Stephens May is when they come above ground and I found this one sunning near a fairy rath in a cemetery.  ©Kay Stephens Among carpets of purple, pink and white on a hot spring morning, the sounds of birds trilling nearby.  ©Kay Stephens This one was made with a bodice of white and red birch, a skirt of dried rose petals and hydrangea and adorned with a sash of spring wildflowers.  Make four dollhouse-sized jars for around $20.00 It took me a ridiculous amount of time to figure out how to make miniature canning jars after searches on Etsy for these little items were proving too expensive to buy. I'm making a root cellar with a dozen jars and here's how you can do it too. I've included the materials, cost breakdown and how-to instructions below.  OK, start by assembling your materials. You can get these at any big box or craft store, and I'll include where I got mine. To make these 1/4-inch jars, you'll need:
 Waverly mini bolt fabric, (Sewing Section) Walmart, $1.47, scissors, Elmer's clear glue, Dollar Store, $3.99
 I started off making green beans out of tiny pieces of green foam, then placed them in jar with a toothpick. Then, squeezing the Elmer's into the jar, I used the toothpick to swirl around. Finally, I used the tip of the toothpick to pick up the tiniest dot of green food dye and swirled it in.  The fabric top took some trial and error (and here above was my first attempt) but the easiest way to do it is cut 1/4 x 1/4 inch of the fabric into a square. Set aside.  Then, use a pair of pliers to pull the split rings just far apart enough and cut the extra wire off so that you have one open ring. I used a pencil to hold it while my pliers shaped it.  Then, simply place the fabric over the top of the jar. (I used a dot of glue to keep it secure) and use your pliers to open up the ring just enough to slide over the top, where it will sit snug. You can trim the fabric at this point to desired length. The foam pieces in varied colors can make carrots, string beans, green beans, tomatoes, etc.
I then tried making another jar, this time: stewed apples. So, first, I snipped off a tiny piece of the polymer clay, but found that it was too wide to stick into the jar. So, I had to cut it in half.  Following the same process as above, there are the apples in the middle. They all fit nice and snug on my cellar standing shelf and were very easy to make. Assuming you already have a pair of scissors, toothpicks and pliers in your craft supplies, the total amount for four jars was $20.58. The best part is you now have the supplies to make many more.
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Tonic of the Woods
the inspiration behind the creations Photos, stories and concept ©Kay Stephens
Look up the story behind a fairy dress by clicking on the name below
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