Making a Fairy!

I find at the moment that I have little to write and what I do have feels lacking in fluidity. I am generally slightly hibernating at the moment and havebeen ever since the wedding really. But there are signs that tide is turning. Last weekend I spent all Sunday making a wand, tiara and a heart. And I enjoyed it too - although I wish I had not left it to the last moment so it was knackering....

Two of the techniques I learnt on 21 Secrets came in useful - Debra Cooper's Playing with Pattern and Alma Stoller's Child's Play. I needed to paint up some paper to act as a pretty background for a photo montage a friend is doing. So I made a heart shaped stamp using a cookie cutter as a template on some hard foam I had from work. I stamped hearts in a pattern that sort of looks a bit like four leaf clovers. Over the top I stamped with bubble wrap using irridescent medium and finally I used a butterfly gift tag which had holes cut in it as a stencil with white paint.

The friend who is doing the photo montage is also making fairy wings for the costume and we had choosen some fine material with a slight silver shimmer. I took some of my piece and repeated the pattern I had made on the paper onto the material. I drew round the heart cookie cutter again and scanned it and changed the size to make three different sizes....

I took some modeling wire and bent it into the shape of the middle heart, with the two wires joining at the bottom of the heart and then being twisted down to make the wand handle. I took beading wire, small plastic pearls and silver faceted beads and made little wire and bead 'trees' all around the outside of the heart. Inside the heart, I took the smallest template and cut two card shapes and glued material to one side of each and then stuck them together, with wire going through inbetween to support the fabric heart in the centre of the wand wire heart. The handle of the wand was covered by a tube of the fabric my friend had made, initially as a ribbon but they turned out too stiff. The tube was much longer than the wand so it rouched all the way up. I fixed it in a couple of places by wrapping lots of wire round and also wrapped a few strands of wire round the handle area. Then finally added some strips of the fabric near the top to hang down and also a few little bells....

The heart was also fabric card covered with the words Bride at last added and my friend will hang this off the wire frame I made for the wings. The tiara is very simple and basically is just a silver tiara band with some more of the wire and bead 'trees'.

I am really pleased with the overall effect and am hopeful that our friend will look like a classy hen on her hen night as we are going to a fun but classy event. She isn't someone I could image decking up in more normal hen attire. She is reserved and has a natural elegance and I would so not want to embarass her!

I am also hoping that one of my gaggle of old college mates will understand that I am a crafter now. When we were arranging things I felt like she was dismissive of the skills I was claiming to have. I guess I have not shared my crafting with them to any degree and only one of the group has really seen anything I have made at all, and then not much, but enough to pipe up that she knew I could do it.....

We shall see! (and have fun!)