Butterfly Reliquary (RIP)

Inspired by Ulla Milbrath's Reliquary Class I had a craft date with my friend John McRae and we set out to create our own personal reliquaries. But first of all, you may ask: "What exactly is a reliquary?" Well, according to Wikipedia : "A reliquary (also referred to as a shrine or by the French term châsse) is a container for relics. These may be the physical remains of saints, such as bones, pieces of clothing, or some object associated with saints or other religious figures."
My reliquary is a resting place for a dead butterfly I found on my porch. I initially had placed him on a book shelf to keep him safe, but knew that I had to find a safer and permanent home for him soon. I lined his oval box with crushed velvet and embellished it with vintage gold cord and Dresden paper trim. I also included a poem by Philip Larkin, which reads:
"And the case of butterflies so rich it looks
As if all summer settled there and died"
I wrote this poem with my finest nib in my tiniest hand writing. I closed the box with a window made from mica and soldered the edges close. The size of the oval box is 3 and 3/4 inches by 2 and 3/4 inches.

Fairy Habitat

I had the pleasure to create a Fairy Habitat from one of our Fairy House kits, we sell at the Castle. These kits are a perfect gift for any fairy enthusiast, no matter what age, who likes to be crafty and create. The kits are delivered in a lovely box (decorated with Italian paper - and can be used for storing other important items , once empty of its original contents). Inside youy find a plethora of natural materials, like twigs, reeds, moss, dried mushroom caps, fabric flower and German spun cotton mushrooms, as well as a wooden base and a lovely German Fairy doll. All you need to add is glue and you are on your way to create your own unique Fairy House.

Charms, Buttons and Embellishments

I have so much fun with kid's crafts and Shrinky Dinks are a little obsession mine. Last year I taught kids at Martin Luther King Middle School to make cool key tags from Shrinky Dinks and had a blast. So I had to revisit this craft, but this time I wanted to give it an adult twist, make something I would wear and use myself. I experimented with Ink jet printer shrink plastic and created a series of Victorian Wine Charms and Pins, as well as interestingly patterned buttons that I embellish greeting cards with. If you are tempted to join in the fun, come and take my class at The Workshop, September 24th.