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I've been making tiny fairy wreaths for a couple of years now, but here's a portal into The Otherworld.  I got the idea from this meme.  Fairy portals are found in the unlikeliest spots in nature, as this blog post describes, but they should never be entered by humans...or else you might find yourself staying for a few hundred years....  Some up-close detail using all of my favorite materials, moss, lichen, dried flowers and fronds.  Some trumpet lichen and star anise. The next one I make will be bigger, like a wreath.
This is a new product we are testing out. This is what it will look like at your next social get together.  Now let's back up a step. We start with a 11 x 5 live edge slab of wood, which then gets four coats of a natural beeswax and mineral oil blend. Bits of real moss decorate the board and the edges are also covered with a moss strip. The cheese board comes with a handmade tiny fairy throne and a real urchin shell. (Cheese knife not included)  Now for the detail. Here's the fairy throne up close.  Here's the urchin shell (I used a spiny shell for the photos, but the board comes with the spineless shell as pictured above.) I turned it over on its side, carved the opening a wee bit and lined the shell with plastic wrap and placed dollops of hummus inside as a natural dish. Or you can use the urchin shell purely for decoration.  The board is small (perfect for two people) or replenish often!  In my mind this is what it looks like. (Fairytale View)  We're putting together some ideas like this to be juried, so stay tuned on our Instagram page where you can buy these boards.
The Queen's Handmaiden serves as one of her many ladies-in-waiting.  This Wee Folk Fairy is made with white birch bodice and a hydrangea skirt that turned a beautiful mauve color in the fall.   Protectress in war and peace; goddess of war and death. This fairy is the leader of the Sentinels, and a consort to the Queen fairy. She is consulted in all matters relating to a disturbance or invasion of the rath.     She hides with the crows in the trees, camouflaged by her dried grass bodice and miscanthus feathery grass skirt. The sash is a dessicated leaf. Her wings are from dried birch. Stitched up through the back.    Fairies are a nature spirits and make their home in the woods. They have a strong connection to magic and can alter their physical appearance, like this one, the Tree Shifter, a fey who uses mimicry to blend into the trees when humans pass by. Like the chameleon and the octopus, the Tree Shifter uses her natural ability to hide within plain sight. As a Watcher for the Troop, she relies on this gift to protect The Wee Folk from human interference.  This dress was made from birch bark that was painted to resemble the American sycamore tree, which has bark that looks naturally camouflaged.  Her corsage is a bit of moss and Trumpet Lichen.  The skirt is made from reindeer moss and bits of usnea.  The dress is stitched up the back with green thread.  Summer is the busy time for The Wee Folk. They are gathering and hunting in preparation for the Summer Solstice and sometimes in the midst of their activities, they get hurt with scrapes, cuts, and burns. The Fairy Healer is the nurse of the Troop. She is the herbalist, the medicine fae.  Her dress is made from Usnea, a lichen, which is antimicrobial, antibacterial, vulnerary, and antifungal.   A close up shows a sash made from lichen and fungi, which also contain medicinal benefits.  Her birch bodice is stitched up the back with moss green thread.  There she is...only 3 inches high, sitting in a tree, hanging by a bejeweled fiddlehead hanger.  Last April at this very time there was a foot of snow still on the ground and it was sleeting. Today on a walk, I came upon skunk cabbage, and upon the spathe was a beautiful fairy of the same maroon color. So crafty was she, I nearly missed her.  Now blooms the lily on the bank, the primrose down the brad; The hawthorne’s budding in the glen And milk-white is the slae -Burns The fairy’s dress is made from various bits from a dried rose bouquet and sewn up the back with magenta thread.  And still, another one was found only steps further. Her sister? This lovely fairy had on a dress of dried magenta tulip petals and was adorned in lichen across the bodice. Spring came early this year, so the Wee Folk have come above ground sooner than usual.
Justin is the painter here over at Tonic of the Woods. He created these moody scapes upon basswood, which are so thin that they can be affixed to postcards.  This one is called Islesboro in night fog.  This one is waves and wind.  The best part is you can send these little art pieces to someone and they can frame it when they get the postcard.
Note: We are actively looking for a space to consign some of our unique folkloric items this summer. If you have space and like what you see feel free to contact us.  One day, browsing through an antique store, I came upon this enchanting hard-bound book published in 1906. The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady had such beautiful hand-drawn paintings of botanicals with observations on her daily walks about Nature, that I had to create some kind of diorama around it. I didn't bind the book, but let it sit freely, so it can be read, and the pages re-positioned to reflect the different months of the diary. The rocking chair and coffee table are not my own, a Scandanavian design, so to complete the look, I made a similar bookshelf by hand to complement the brown edging of the furniture. This is a cozy book nook with pages for the "walls" and just a lovely, outdoorsy, folkloric vibe to it.
  This is the latest one I created that's currently in my Etsy store, one of only four available and I likely won't make any more unless one is custom ordered. Made from the pages of The Great Gatsby, with ribbon, pearls, feathers and paper fringe. I'll be taking them to the Craft Fair Show Saturday where everything on my Etsy page will be for sale.      |
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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