Showing posts with label feathers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label feathers. Show all posts

Sunday, April 21, 2024

Easter door wreath Scandinavian wool wreath with felted gnome for decor.

My latest home decor addition 🥰 Needle felted wool Easter wreath with a needle felted/wet felted cute gnome (tomte) for decor. All wool is locally produced, Gotland and Finull 🐑.

To see more of my felted creation click here


Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Morticia - Black feathers earrings in Sterling Silver. Handmade gothic jewelry costume cosplay jewellery by Arctida

Halloween!
Soon lots of witches, ghost, zombies and famous characters from movies will gather all around town, go trick or treating, scaring each other and compete in costume contests! Once a year you get to see your friends in a whole different way, funny or scary, either way you have lots of fun! and seeing all the kids dressed as Frankenstein’s monster, tiny ghosts and princesses, is such a cute sight!

My sister told me about a book, where the girl makes her own costume for Halloween, by making wings out of faux feathers and painting them black. With a black dress and her wings she became something of a ”crow-queen”. That story inspired me to make a pair of crow feather-earrings (well my earrings are made out of black rooster feathers, but you get the idea!) perfect for any respectable witch on Halloween :)

Just like my previous feather design (Diana - Guinea Hen feathers earrings) I had to make them big and bold in order to be seen underneath that pointy hat that any respectable witch have to wear :) I chose different lengths, sizes and shapes of black feathers, combined them into a 3D shape and wrapped with sterling silver wire. Afterwords I attached my feather clusters to sterling silver lever-backs to make them more comfortable to wear. and ta-da my second design for feather earrings is born :)




Monday, August 22, 2011

Diana - Guinea Hen fowl feathers earrings in Sterling Silver. Handmade ethnic tribal design jewelry by Arctida

You know those big Native American headdresses? With long feathers, giving that majestic and wise look?

Most of the time the feathers came from eagles, but crow and hawk feathers were also used. But the eagle was the most significant source of feathers, and the warriors of many tribes had eagle feathers in their headdresses, symbolizing the accomplishments in battle.

The feathers were not only used to show status among the people in the tribes, they were also used as ornaments in clothes and plain decoration, like the dream catcher (The dream catcher were originally made to protect the sleeping children of nightmares; the bad dreams would get caught in the web of the dream catcher and be gone by the morning.). They were also used for ceremonial and religious causes, and what kind and how many feathers a person wore could tell a lot about him. The Indian chief always had more feathers in his headdress than anyone else had in the tribe.

Today people still use feathers, like decorations, hair-extensions, necklaces and earrings in many lengths and colors. Perhaps they don’t have any religious meaning and won’t point out an important individual, but they are still an important accent of one’s style.

and how can one not get inspired by all those different textures, colors and patterns that feathers have?! That exactly what happened to me :) When I saw the pretty polka dot Guinea Hen feathers for the first time I just had to make something! In order to show all the beauty of Guinea Hen feathers it had to be big, statement-like piece of jewelry.While working with the feathers I realized that they have two different kind of patterns. Big and bold white dotted feathers and feathers with smaller dots and lighter background. I decided to mix them both to get a sort of balance, the way they look in the nature. I chose several different lengths of the feathers, combined them into 3D shape and wire wrapped them with sterling silver wire. Afterwords I attached my feather clusters to sterling silver lever-backs to make them more comfortable to wear.

So here come my first design with feathers, I think they came out very pretty, don't you guys? :)



Saturday, April 2, 2011

Key to my Heart asymmetric necklace - Vintage Retro Ornate Skeleton Key and Labradorite wire wrapped in oxidized blackened sterling silver - Steampunk Gothic Victorian chic style jewellery by Arctida

As many of you know, I’m a scientist at my day job which makes me a nerd or a geek whatever you prefer :) One of the hottest trends right now in geek culture is something known as steampunk. (Think of the works of H.G. Wells, Jules Verne and more recently, books like The Difference Engine.)

Steampunk fashion romanticizes the Victorian age. The books tend to gloss over the low points of the last century and focus on the fun aspects (dirigibles, items made of shiny brass, goggles, explorer’s and top hats, skeleton keys, Egyptology and steam-driven machines).

Being a hand-maker and an amateur photographer I couldn’t stay away from Steampunk and just had to try making something myself :) So here is the result: Key to my Heart asymmetric necklace featuring a genuine vintage skeleton key attached to a handcrafted chain made of oxidized sterling silver and Labradorite rondelles.

 

My biggest accomplishment however is not the necklace but the costume shot of my model (my little sister) above. The ensemble was assembled by me and most of the parts are vintage clothing (except of the corset). The top hat being the oldest and dating back to 18th century Paris!


So the next step would be is gathering my courage and maybe attend the actual Steampunk convention! Who knows, right :)
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