Seen in late afternoon just off the coast of Maine, a fairy rath, an ancient fort of the Wee Folk. All winter they've held their dances and revelries underground. But now that it is spring time, they have moved above ground.

Look closer among the hillock of wildflowers. There--

​Little People have brought the Fairy Queen's throne above, so that she may sit and watch the sun arc down.

This throne was hand made, adorned with peacock feathers and red birch armrests. A chair fit for a pagan Irish queen.

It's spring cleaning for the Wee Folk, a time for cleansing and purification; a time for growth and renewal.

These three fairy dresses represent the pagan trinity of The Maiden (youthful enchantment), The Mother (the green and fertile Earth) and The Crone (the wise woman).

All fairies are from the elemental property of air and lightness, represented by plants, herbs, flowers, trees. Both The Maiden and The Mother are made with birch bodices (which is believed in Celtic magic to ward off evil) and dried tulips for dresses (which has properties of prosperity and protection). The Maiden is sweeter and lighter in coloring, whereas The Mother is more sophisticated, containing an underskirt of bramble. The Crone is made from dried grasses for a bodice, a dark bramble skirt and a sash made from the natural lichen-covered ring of tree bark.

Here they are through a special lens, floating among the mossy forest floor. All three will soon be sold together. Stay tuned for more announcements.

May 1 is a special day, the start of a new season. It's May Day and the powers of The Wee Folk are growing to reach their peak at the summer solstice.

This is the beginning of the passive, feminine side of Nature.

This dress was made from the gift of a rose from a friend. I dried the petals and they came out beautifully as the skirt, matching natural bands of peach in the birch bark. Orange has the power to draw good things and this Lady of the Greenwood is a symbol to offer a gift today, even if it is anonymous.

If you take a walk in the woods today and hear a cluster of birds in the trees; they might be fae. Listen closely. Happy Beltane.

It's the beautiful time of year when The Spring Maiden comes up from the forts and basks among the budding flowers.

The Spring Maiden serves the Queen in her dress and care. She is adorned in dried tulips with  birch bodice, a lichen cummerbund and a tulip rose for decoration.

I also made another one, which is a little more elaborate.

We're working on making custom shadowboxes for these pretty ones. Hope you enjoy this blast of color.

APRIL*
By John Galsworthy
Starry-eyed is April morn,
Rain bells glitter on the thorn.
Birds are tuning down the lane
Patter song of fallen rain.
Spring can grieve, but Spring can be
Very life of minstrelsy!
-excerpt from Moods, Songs and Doggerels. Reprinted by permission of Charles Scribner's Sons in the anthology Through Fairy Halls of My Bookhouse (Olive Beaupre Miller, Chicago The Bookhouse for Children Publishers, 1920)

This spring maiden serves the Queen in her dress and care. She is adorned in dried tulips with  birch bodice, a lichen cummerbund and a tulip rose for decoration.

Sweet babe! a golden cradle holds thee,
And soft the snow-white fleece enfolds thee:
In an airy bower I'll watch thy sleeping,
Where branchy trees to the breeze are sweeping.
-1st verse by Edward Walsh

This spring dress made of birch and brambles belongs to The Fairy Nurse who watches over The Changeling, a human child that this clan has stolen and replaced in its cradle with one of their sickly fairy babies. If you "over look a child" which means to be envious of it, the fairies will whisk it away. Here, The Fairy Nurse has the babe in her ever watchful gaze as she hangs onto a pussy willow branch. She is awaiting the arrival of her clan of hunters and gatherers from the wood and waters wild to bring the babe food. The stolen child will be in her good care, and as he grows, will forget his human mother.  When he cries, he will reach for The Fairy Nurse instead.