And That's a Wrap!

Wire Wrapping Course - April 23, 2017

Dragntalz Art by Ruthie & Doug Shewan

Parksville & District Rock & Gem Club

This was our first (of hopefully many) class 

taken on wire wrapping cabochons. 

Not too bad if I say so myself.

Thank you Ruthie & Doug for a fun day.

Dragntalz Art - https://www.facebook.com/DragntalzArt

Parksville & District Rock and Gem Club - https://www.facebook.com/ParksvilleRockandGem

A Clean Mess

i think that the nursery is finally starting to look clean although a few things just might need a bit tending to yet so i do believe that it's list time ~

• the cobwebs have new cobwebs spun upon them with again new ones again on top of that with another whole layer on top of that although i will say that it's a good thing spiders like to spin their silk in different shades of paint as it certainly does add splash of colour ~ blicky ~ but then colour none the less
• the dirt pile that was once swept into the corner has upped and managed to find the dustpan itself
• or how about the ivy that was in such a knotted jumbled mess that it figured out how to actually dance the twist
• what about trying to erase the pretty pictures that have been drawn on the scattered note pads
• and then who could forget the tumbleweeds mixed in with the beads that roll aimlessly across the floor ~ i will note though that i have absolutely no idea where tumbleweeds might have come from here in the nursery
• oh yeah ~ and what about the ball of yarn that had turned itself inside out only to find another knot on the end that was in a different colour
• then there was that really really really really long purple thread that somehow came across spools of green and pink and yellow threads and the wrapped them so tightly together that they will never be able to be separated 
• how do water the silk flowers that have taken root on the floor
• what about the coloured markers that have long since dried up but are still so extremely smelly that we use them as incense to keep the nursery smelling fruity
• and how on earth do you pour the food colouring dyes back into their own matching coloured bottles

that's quite the list and i do know that it will only grow longer and longer as how do you expect to get anything done with a nursery full of faeries?

Faerie Amma - Jewellery Part I

Well, being a Faerie and a Goddess, you certainly do get to pick out the most amazing jewellery that is befitting the position.

I will be doing the next few blogs on the photos of the jewellery that I have found have inspired, energized and moved me. Each piece has been handmade for me and that makes them even more precious. Each set has been worn by me as Faerie Amma...and well...as me as well!

Krissy Terry

Freya Song

Inspired by the Moon

Princess of Scraps

Inspired by the Moon

Secret Dreams Jewelry PF

Carol MacPherson

Inspired by the Moon

Creative Conundrums

I will admit that this latest Northern Faerie has caused me more self-doubting than any other faerie to date!

As I have had plans to complete a full calendars worth of Northern Faeries by the end of June, I am a bit behind after not feeling well for the first 3 weeks of the New Year.

Getting back on track though has proven more difficult than it should have been....grrrrrrrr!

There are currently 7 Northern Faeries (one will not be released until December 31, 2014 though) including... Aurora, Midnight Sun, Boreal, Agua, Snowflake and Raven. I do know the names of the next 4 faeries and I have most everything that I need in order to make them. This leaves me only 1 more to go, which I do have all the product for but she at this stage is still unnamed.

Back to the faerie that I have been working on now for the past couple of weeks. I have pulled out I don't know how many colours of flower petals and nothing seemed to be working for me. I have set her out numerous times (at least 6) in the evening time so I could look at her in the morning with fresh eyes and possibly new ideas. In the end...I actually didn't change any of her flower petals in either shape, size or colour! I did though find out what was throwing me off which was a good thing before I put her back on the shelf to tackle down the road. As each faerie gets a wee flower bead that goes right on her hairline on her forehead, of all things, it was this little bead that had thrown me for a loop. I know that this fine little detail could be the cause of all of my angst but it was! After you see the photos below, you will definitely question why the new colour works but trust me it does :)

Once I figured out that this is what was causing my problems it ended up to be such a quick fix. Everything from that point on just worked out exactly as I wanted to.

All that is left to do is for Hubby to curl her hands and toes. She will then be epoxied to her wooden plate stand and she will be released and made available for purchase.

As noted above, there are a few more things that I need to buy before I can proceed with some of the faeries that are on the list to be made. I am hoping that most items will be picked up on our trip out this week.

One stop will be made to the fabric store? Yes, one of the Northern Line will be made with fabric and not flower petals! How on earth could this be you ask? Well, I have researched our northern cultural and folk lore of Canada and am including all three territories...the Yukon, Nunuvat and the Northwest Territories (where the nursery is located) and not all ideas can be captured using just flower petals. No worries, I won't keep you in the dark too much longer on her....well, unless of course I can't find the type of fabric that I want!

Without giving away the latest Northern Faerie to be released I have attached a few photos for you to enjoy :)

Bowl of Inspiration!!

Original Hair Bead -- a very light pink/peach

Hair Bead used on new Northern Faerie 

The Clay Potters....arghhhhhh

Okay, after what is this now....4 prototypes, I still can't just get the look I want for the faerie boys!

My biggest problem seems to be the body part itself. I have tried large beads (you know the ones that used to be used for macramé), seed pods that hubby dearest drilled arm and legs wholes for, smaller beads arghhhhhhh.

For their arms and legs I have tried moss covered wire, paper wrapped wire, just plain old think wire and finally I used yarn to wrap them with....now I have incredible hulks lol. So.....that at least was an easy fix...I am just using yarn like floss and I can say that I love the way it looks...plus this will allow me to actually have boys that are of different colours.

Belts? Should they have belts? I have awesome natural dyed hemp cording that looks awesome but when I tie it around their waists...well it doesn't look so good as it does in my head! Insert another arghhhhhh here :)

Hair? How impossible could this type of decision be?? I have lots of different styles of acorn caps or even using the plastic parts from all of the flowers (but mind you....can't figure out what to use to cover up the hole at the top...still working on this). I have tried yarn, floss, the inside plastic stuff from the flowers (you know...its what makes flowers look bulky...usually clear with lots of little tentacle like things coming from the centre), to even using natural moss. How could boy heads be this hard (ahhh just answered my own question there...sorry...oops to any men reading this blog...lol)? On some of the bodies that I have made, no hair looks awesome...so I think the whole head dilemma will have to wait till the body is finalized.

I also went as far as picking out material that I could use as a wee little shirt and cropped pants....but but but...their legs were soooo spindly looking that I gave up that idea as well. Perhaps with the new wire wrapping technique, I should revisit this idea.

 
I don't think that I have allowed myself or my work table get this frustrated and messy in a long time!!

So here I sit with little boys all around me and not one that I could say...that's it...that's the type I want to use. Insert another arghhhhhh here :)

Back to the drawing board...AGAIN!

Faerie Star and her Castle Teacup Nursery

I got these little bowls from a friend that was moving away. Now I know that they are not teacups in the traditional way but they were just too beautiful to not buy.

I had already made Faerie Star a few days ago and posted her on Flickr. As she was not yet listed on Etsy, I started to look around the Nursery to see if there was a way to make her into a Christmas themed faerie so she could fall under the Holiday Collection title.

I have sitting on my painting table, along the back wall, a row of teacups just waiting to be made into nurseries. There at the very end were 4 bowls stacked up all by themselves. I took a look at Star and thought, yes, she should have a nursery.

Now as these bowls have a bit larger top I thought the new faerie castles might just fit on there nicely. And, sure enough. In a matter of minutes I had gathered up mushrooms, flowers, trees and all these little goodies I thought would work well. Once I started to put things together, I knew that there just had to be another little moat. As the only black fimo flower I had, had a orange tinged centre, I pulled out an orange coloured swan. This nursery is even more special as I added 3 of my favourite things, cattails. So now surrounding the pond are the cattails. I love how they make the scene look so real.

In the Nursery

I'm not sure if this is a blessing in disguise or not but due to not feeling the best, I have decided to take a week off work. During this time away from the office, I am hoping that I will be feeling up to doing some work here in the Nursery instead. 

I have now just posted Flossie the Faerie on my Etsy site. She is being listed under the Faerie Suite tab for being a Dental Hygienist. She comes with her own toothbrush, toothpaste, posters and even little tiny X-rays.

I will be listing more of my Holiday Collection Faeries as well. I am thinking of doing up one or two under the Faerie Suites that will come with a decorative wrapped present (display only), a Christmas greeting card and a string of beaded lights to drape across the wooden door. 

With new product still arriving daily the Nursery is never quiet. I now have the wood pellet stove going, apple juice warming and soft music playing. Hoping this help ease my headache and that the faeries will come out to play.

The 'Sunshine Girls'

We here at the nursery are busy with the next batch of little petal faeries. These little girls are full of colour, wires that sparkle and a wonderful array of body beads. This is the first 15 with 7 more to go.

Loose Ends

So it has been awhile....and I have accomplished lots :)

As I was going through my goodies this evening I noticed that I have let a few things slip off of my radar.

I have now completed the 10 sets of 6 pear wine glass charms.

I also received in the mail today my first set of bookmark hooks. These ones have daisies on them so I figured that they would look best with the Sugar Plum Faeries. I have decided to only put in 1 bookmark hook per bag. So here I sit threading beads to get these first ten done.

I was able to get printed off the labels for the Faerie Dust bottles, Valentine's Day cards, romantic word cards and the Faerie cards. I will take pictures and post them tomorrow.

What is left for this evening.....I need to cut the ribbons and put on the clasps for the Sugar Plum Faerie and Pear pendants.

If I manage to get this all done..it will have been a VERY productive evening :)

Finished Wine Charms :)

Wow, what an evening of wine, beads, hoops, charms and wee little pliers!

Each gift bag will receive a set of 6 wine glass charms. I have 3 themes with 10 gift bags each!!

My little fingers hurt...so the Pears will have to wait for another day :)

The Work Station.....

Sugarplum Faerie - Wine Glass Charms

The Nutcracker Prince - Wine Glass Charms

Wine Glass Charms - Beads

More beads for the wine glass charms....these are a mixture of both 4mm and 6mm beads.

Hanging by a Thread

Well actually by a jump ring!!

Here is another spacer bead that I can use to hang my Sugarplum Faerie pendants from. These ones have a little daisy flower stamped on them. (The others had a star, please review my blog post from March 17).

I LOVE PARCELS!!

And I think they love me too!!

Lots of goodies came in the mail today.

Where to start and how not to miss anything.

Okay, I spoke before of the scrapbooking paper that I had ordered from mch1069 (ebay)....well that second package arrived today. Each package contains 50 sheets, so that now gives me 200 sheets of 12"x12" paper.

Next.....the new sample of felt for the bags. These came from a company in the states called Felt-o-rama. Again, this felt is environmentally friendly as it is made from 100% recycled plastic bottles. As I was hoping that this sample would be more of what I was looking for, it isn't quite. It is thicker and more sturdy than the previous sample but I think I will try for one more sample.
This same company has a few choices and of course huge price jumps for better quality felt. I am going to order the wool blend felt and see if it has the quality I am after. Okay....after reading their website, the wool blend felt is actually made in Canada. Guess I have more research to do for if I can shop locally I will.

The next package contains items geared towards the Petal Faeries project. I ordered the these from missdaisey2005 (ebay). I wasn't sure the thickness of the paper wrapped wire and I think that these will be too thick for the Faeries but I am sure I will find a use for them :)  The other item in the package was the curly hair for the Faeries. They are going to be soooo cute.

I also received 3 more Pez Disney Fairie dispensers from annlong (ebay). These ones came on a cardboard backing and they sit on a blue coloured flower as they are imported from Europe. As she only had 3, these will go to the kids :)

The final package I received was a care package from my Mom :)  There is never anything better than a package mailed from home.  She has been busy shopping away for me and I am so happy with all that she was able to find.

Most of the goodies are for the Petal Faeries; pipe cleaners (plain and sparkly) and silk flower petals. She also mailed me some pearl beads for the Sugarplum Faerie pendant. We are hoping that they are the right size for the heads :)