Valentine Fairies

Our family day Valentine fairy workshop was very special to me. I simply do not get enough time with my sisters and their kids.  Not all of them could be there, a couple of nephews are far flung, like I am.  Because of they are not nearby, it was a good day to be together, we found out that my oldest nephew's son was going through a crisis and wasn't expected to live.  I was glad to be with family as the story unfolded, and even more glad to be there when we got the news that he was recovering and was going to be fine.

Bobbie's home is the best place to be for a Valentine party, the dining room's color scheme was ideal! And she had plenty of space for all of us to gather. We had kind of an open house seating, with nieces coming and going through out the day to make fairies with us. 

I'd brought all the supplies and turned everyone loose with them to see what they'd come up with. The best part of a class is the variety of styles and creative ideas that show up in the end products.  Dang, I don't know how I missed getting a picture of Hannah's basketball fairy, it was a cutie!

Bobbie put her own face on her doll.  It's fitting, because her last name is Valentine! 

Here is the three of us posing with our dolls.  The cheery, cherry wall was a good place to pose, and the rose painting was a good match for our Valentine theme too.

Doesn't it look like Sis is wearing a magnificent floral hat tho?  So, I had to put a hat on too. Sadly, all that was near me was a skein of yarn. Not a fancy as hers.

Sissy brought some curly wool roving in deep tones that made ideal hair.

I'd dyed wool and crepe paper in pinks and reds to use.

Then decided that my wool was too pink and redyed some yellow over it to make it more fleshy. Great for the dolls, but in a pile, it looked like intestines or worms.

I sewed up some strips of sparkly tulle for dresses petticoats too.  You should see the drifts of glitter left behind in my sewing machine, when I opened the bobbin compartment. 

I'm not sure that is good for it…

The more fairies I made, the more I got the hang of it and came up with tricks and short cuts.

Whenever I do a class or tutorial, I need to make a bazillion prototypes before I figure out the very best way to tackle the project.  My studio is going to be knee deep in fairies by the time I'm ready to host the class.

For now, I've got the pretties hanging off my dining room chandelier for the holiday.

These will differ from what we are doing in Birdsong, since for one thing, they are all pink and red Valentines, but for another, I used some new flowers instead of all vintage millinery. 

While experimenting with the new petals, I ran into a lot of trouble with my glue. I've always used the Ultimate, and love it.  But when it came to these brand new petals, it just wouldn't stick, they were slipping and sliding right off of the skirt.  I asked around and Fabric Tack was suggested. It did the trick, worked great on the new materials.  My fave, the Ultimate was used on the rest and also on the old flowers.

I've come up with lots of different shoe styles for the fairies, I always like to have a lot of options to show the class attendees.

I even have extra face options.  Dogs, cats, cherubs, ladies.  No dorkies, though, durn it.  I wish I could find some Victorian scrap Yorkshire Terriers!

After making a quite a few red and pink girls, I was ready to try some other colors.

And I ended up with a few witches.

Bobbie's witch had a face from Oz.

Sissy moved onto using her wool for another purpose and felted a scarf.  And when my niece, Stacey, saw what we were using, she offered to gather some angora from her friend's goats. I can't wait to felt and dye that soft, fuzzy wool.  I'll show you the steps as I do it. Of course, it could be a "don't try it this way yourself" version of instructions, because I've never done it before.

One thing I tried didn't go so well.  I thought that maybe the sprites would look better with more rounded bodies.  So, we tried wrapping the wool over cotton balls, only to find that the dolls looked like cinched in pillows, not curvy fairies.  The one on the left is an example of how NOT to make one.

I'm excited to make more and get my kits made up in soft springtime colors for our Birdsong gathering.

And I'll enjoy memories of our family weekend filled with fairies while I am making kit after kit after kit.