WITCH CRAFTS

WITCH CRAFTS

Thursday, December 22, 2016

NEW FAIRY DOLL, AND BOOK CLASS

Hi All,
Join me this January to make a MINI-BOOK PENDANT you can wear around your neck.

This little book measures 2-1/2" x 3". We start by ripping craft paper to make 3 signatures of pages & stitch them together. Next, we decorate our leather covers with odd bits of metal, beads, and stamping. Then, we put the whole thing together, and finish with bits of chain and charms to hang from the book!
SUNDAY, JAN 15
FROM 10 to 4 (with an hour break)
COST: $50
At NEW TRICKS GALLERY & STUDIO
1751 Bellamah NW – Suite 2101,  Albuquerque NM

Please contact me if you're interested (arleyberryhill@hotmail.com)










And, I wanted to share with you a new little fairy I made for my friend for Christmas:


I had so much fun making this little woodland fairy doll. I hand-painted the dolls' skin with watercolor inks (it started out a white body). I "made" all the fabric for the costume using a fiber collage technique with free-motion embroidery. For the sheer pieces (lower skirt, leg & arm pieces) I used "SOLVY" (a water-solvable stabilizer - it looks like plastic film) with scrapes of chiffons, tulle netting, a few yarn fibers, and free-motion embroidery.

I did the wings pretty much the same way. All the veins on the wings are satin stitched, with the 3 main veins wired with more satin stitching. I coated all the edges with glitter glue (I just love that stuff!).

Everything (doll & costume) got hand embroidered with beads & sequins, with a small dotting of more glitter.

The hair was a challenge for me. I don't like doing hair much. I used some green mohair I ordered from Canada. At first, I was going to let the hair just hang natural, but saw that it was going to get tangled up with the wings. So, I decided she needed an "up-do". I needled-felted a small cone of wool to the back of the head. Then, I made a weft of mohair and glued it around the hairline. I needle-felted it all up the back, and up the cone. Again, I was just going to let the hair go natural and curl where ever, but it was a mess. (What I don't like about working with hair, is that after a few months, it get tangled and ends up looking like a rat's nest.) So, I broke out the curling iron and hair spray, and styled it in a big curl.

Her color scheme was easy to figure out -- it's my friend's favorite colors! (orange, olive, and brown).

I wish everyone a happy and safe holiday season!

4 comments:

Northbrook Designs said...

If ever you have a fairy that needs a home, I'm there for you.... ;o))) She's pretty amazing Arley. The fairy books are so sweet. Wishing you all the best for a Merry Christmas and an amazing New Year ahead...

Arley said...

Thanks Romona - I'll keep you in mind. Be happy and safe.

Zia Joey said...

What an incredible fairy. You have a very lucky friend. My fantasy fairy would be fuschia with jewel tones to Boot!
Have a great 2017Arley.

Arley said...

Thanks Maria. Maybe I'll re-do my fairy pattern and offer it for sale, again. I've never considered it, as there are so many fairy patterns out there already!