Yule Fairies It's that time of year again when the Yule Fairies come out to play! Yule, or the winter solstice, is a pagan celebration of the rebirth of the sun, marking the longest night of the year. The Yule Fairies play on trees in the winter moonlight. Here is a lovely story about the Yule Fairies.  Each dress is handcrafted with birch bark, colored mosses, flowers, and ferns. I just brought three up to H&H Mercantile in Searsport for their annual Searsport Holiday "Shop Small" Sale on November 30 (where the whole town joins in). It's truly Shop Small with these tiny items. Only $20 each. The Fairy Sleigh  This hand-carved tiny sleigh is also at H&H Mercantile. It was made for the majestic Snow Queen and is one of a kind. $25.
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.  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.  The Sentinel (Dried manna grass bodice, hobblebush skirt) Sentinels are, like the Amazons, a tribe of warrior females who protect the raths or "forts," the ancient fortifications in fields encircled by ditches. The Sentinels are always watching for human interference. They are most keen to keep Man away from the sacred fairy dens, so beware.  I'm going back to my roots on this creation as it is more earthy than the other prettier ones. But these are the true fairies, the elemental ones.  Adorned with hydrangea and a bit of bleached out tree lichen and Usnea.  Sitting pretty here on a frozen clump of evergreen.  I'm experimenting with lovely two-toned dried rose petals. This one was photographed the day after an ice storm turned all branches into brilliant icicles.  The bodice is made from several layers of birch bark, the outer and inner layers.  The applique is a dried petal adorned with a purple bud.  These are so fragile that I'm looking into special deep shadowboxes to contain them.  These are the Sociable fairies, the Sidheog, who reside in the forest, in their ancient fortifications, or "royalties" as they are known. For they have one true Queen, whom they are devoted to and serve. In three years I've been secretly observing these Wee Folk, I've never seen the Queen.  They come out this time of year dressed in their pagan colors, of wine, green and white.   They know I'm there, but they allow me access because I admire them and they aren't so different from us; they preen when they dance. They look over their shoulders to see if I'm still watching.....  And here are two tree toppers, my Flapper Angels. 
Here is The Fairy Nurse, encased in a Maine-made pine shadowbox, lightly stained. <SOLD>  The Fall Fairies, all in dusky purples and ruby reds, have been delivered to Brambles, the home and garden store in Belfast. There are only a few of these one-of-a-kind tiny dresses (along with some literary dresses) before I start making my Yuletide series.   |
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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