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A fluttery winged fairy alights.
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The image on this cabochon is by one of my all-time favorite illustrators,
Warwick Goble, and it's called Fairies at the Cradle. His original design was used as the frontspiece for
The Book of Fairy Poetry in 1920
. I love the image, not only for its soft style, but also because I have always enjoyed imagining fairies and angels watching over my children.
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| Warwick Goble's illustration of Fairies at the Cradle. |
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| The start of the project. |
This little fairy wanted to be celebrated, and worn next to her caretaker's heart, so she jumped into my hands along with my favorite iridescent coppery rainbow seed beads, about 6 feet of FireLine, and a needle about as thin as a hair. I affixed her to a piece of Lacy's Stiff Stuff, which I had previously dyed black, and then I began to sew and sew, using the beautiful peyote stitch.
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| Fringe happening! |
After the inside border was finished, she helped me choose a selection of fringe tips - top quality Czech glass dagger beads, iridescent blue glass leaf beads, and tiny copper droplets for the outside fringe strands. The first side of the fringe is always kind of exciting since I don't know what pattern will slowly appear until I'm right in the middle of it! The second side is easy, because all I have to do is match.
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| It's kind of like she's "spreading her skirt." |
After the fringe is finished, she guides me to choose the pattern and colors of the larger beads around the outside border. These are 6 ott (6/0) beads. They crown the top and sides of the cabochon beautifully.
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| On to the necklace strap. |
After the pendant part is finished, she asks me to weave the necklace strap, so I do, using some of the 6/0 beads to decorate it. I pull the FireLine through each of the two strands in the necklace strap twice, so it's strong and will last a long time. Then the trickiest part comes along - I have to trim the Lacy's Stiff Stuff off very close to my stitching, without catching any of the fringe strands or necklace straps or bead borders with my tiny, sharp scissors. I usually hold my breath while I do this part, and sometimes I pray too. Lord, pleeeease don't let me snip anything extra, pleeeeease, pleeeeeease! Thanks!!
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| Ta da! |
And the last step is to sew the blue Ultrasuede backing onto the back to finish off the piece. This is tricky too, as it also needs trimming, after a dab of glue to hold it in place. Around the edge I pick up a single bead with each stitch and, once I'm around the circle I go through each of those beads to make a nice smooth border. Then, TA DA! It's finished!
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| Such a happy fairy necklace! |
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| She likes to be worn with anything. Soft green tunic.... |
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| Paisley tunic.... |
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| White, or any solid color.... |
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| Flirty fairy necklace! |
She will be available at
Dreamkeeper Creations on Etsy for a few weeks, and then at the
Green Drake Gallery.
Thanks for visiting!
Namaste,
Jen
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