Gift #1137: Art Elements Sept. Challenge

The end of the month means wrapping up lots of monthly challenges.  In addition to Art Bead Scene, I also participated in Art Elements monthly challenge because the theme was fairies!  The challenge is open to all art mediums and interpretations and so I had fun exploring several of my creative outlets for this inspiration.  Like many, I grew up with fairytales and stories of the “wee folk” that captured my imagination and played an important role in shaping my personality and the way I view the world.  My childhood days were filled with dreaming and creating fairy tales of my own and to this day my favorite stories are from that genre.  They are at once comforting and foreboding; familiar yet foreign.  And even as the stories pull you into a world of magic and adventure unlike our own, they are written to root you firmly in this world and teach truth about how to live wisely.

However much I love stories about fairies, I must, in truth, confess that I envy them.  They were the blessed creatures who could live as I’d always dreamed too – making homes in mushrooms and tree trunks, flying through the forests and dancing with leaves, skimming the surface of rivers and resting on dandelion puffs.  And most of all, they wore clothes of leaves and flowers decorated with sparkly strands of spider webs and curly toed shoes.  Sigh…  such a life!

For many long years I have wanted to make fairy houses.  At the beginning of the year I joined a clay studio near my home and took classes in basic throwing and hand building.  It wasn’t long before I set my sights on creating fairy houses and I’ve completed a couple now.  It is so fun to design the shape of the houses, the roofs, how to decorate them, etc.

This is the second fairy house I made (the first is on display as part of a Fairy Tour in my town).  It has a simple shape, which was easy to build, and a dormer window to add some charm.   If I were a fairy, I would love a dormer window, a turret, and a wonky chimney.  Oh and of course, a rounded door.

My next house has a more rounded base and something of a witch hat shaped roof.  I made the house with a cobblestone texture which I glazed gray.  The roof practically screamed that it wanted to be purple, and I agreed.  This one has plain windows accented with wooden shutters and large leaves decorating the house, to give the idea of topiary trees.  I’m in love with the roof, did I mention that?

In mid-September my mom and I took a class at the studio to make pumpkin cottages.   They just finished their bisque fire and are waiting to be glazed, but you can see how charming they’re going to be.  Mine is on the left and my mom’s is on the right.  I can’t wait to finish these and display them as Halloween decorations.  Each house has a hole in the bottom so I can put in a tea light and they can flicker with delicate charm in the evenings.

I’m an avid rubber stamper and have quite a few stamps in my collection that are inspired by fairies.  Below are a few cards I’ve made celebrating the enchantment of fairyland.

As part of this month’s challenge, I also wanted to create a few items that I could wear to channel my inner woodland fairy.  I had this charming little fairy door in my collection and I paired it with wire-wrapped beads and glass leaves to make a necklace that would be at home on the neck of any fairy.

I finished off the necklace with lengths of green and bronze ribbons to give an earthy forest-feel to the piece.  On the inside of the door and layered with mica, I printed the first stanza of one of my favorite Tolkien poems:  “The road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began”.

My last project for the challenge was to create a woodland crown.  I found a headband with fuzzy deer ears and antlers at Michaels for Halloween dress-up.  It was covered in big, pink flowers, but I instantly loved it.  It’s long been a secret desire of mine to wear antlers and be a fawn.  I pulled off the flowers and redecorated the headband with acorns, pinecones, fall leaves, and berry clusters.

It looks like something any fairy would love to wear on autumn solstice.   I’m hoping to be brave enough to wear it a few times during Halloween season.  And of course, I’ll wear it often when I’m by myself sitting out near the forest that backs up to the yard.  Perhaps if I’m wearing it, the little fairies that make their home in the forest will come out to introduce themselves and we’ll become friends.

Thanks for taking a romp with me through fairyland and my creative imaginings of their world.  May you be inspired to bring a touch of magic and whimsy to your world too.

Blessings to you,

Sarah

This is part of a blog hop and if you’ve liked what you’ve seen here, check out the postings of these talented artists.

Guest Artists

Vic

Divya

Alysen 

Kathy 

Tammy 

Hope 

Alison 

Cat 

Sarah 

 

Art Elements Team

 

Jen

Jenny  

Niky 

Laney

Claire

Cathy

Marsha 

Caroline