Sometimes, to make the things I’m gonna make, I have to make them to figure out how I’m gonna make them.
This was definitely one of those situations! In the freezing January of 2021 I had a vision of a green glittering crown, made of beads and Angelina Fantasy Film and UV resin. I imagined that it would sit lightly on the head like wings, or crawling ivy.
On Imbolc/Imolg 2021 I posted the first stage.
Initially there were two wing-like structures, one of beads and crystals and floral wire and one of lighter wire and Angelina Fantasy Film.
Above you can see the two sections held together in front of February snow, 2021; the fused and completed crown, with late January snow, 2022, and the finished crown on Imbolg 2022, when sunlight burst onto our balcony for the first time in months.
During the summer of 2021, I spent many hours on the balcony in the sun, applying tinted UV resin and crystals to each section.
Once each section was completely decorated and strengthened with resin, I fused the sections together with beaded wire and UV resin.
Unlike all my other headdress projects, I wanted this crown to be light, and also stable!
Somehow I decided that a lightweight headband could secure it while the actual structure rested on the wearer’s hair. So I ordered a thin green headband and attached it to the two wing-like structures of floral wire, using ribbon and resin-covered wire loops so it would be mobile.
I added some bright green organza ribbon that had been awaiting its destiny for at least two decades.
The organza ribbons can be braided into hair to secure the crown, or used with bobby pins to hold it.
The Spring WILL come.
If you are interested in Imbolg and Brigid, and other Irish and Celtic spiritual traditions, check out Berlin-based Irishwoman Dee Mulroney!
She is the power behind Growler and an incredible visual artist and storyteller and ritual-maker. The work she does is a vital source of strength and cultural connection for me. She will be making fine art prints of her beautiful drawings available soon!
Wow, this was a big project!
This bead embroidered, velvet leaf-covered corset is the second to last of the now-finished project “kits” I brought in the shipping container from the Bay Area.
I saw 
The green corset was one of the projects I didn’t get to before we left, so I packed all the green jewels and beads and appliques and trims up in a “project kit” and boxed it up.
I unpacked it with the other 400+ boxes last winter. Once my 
Once I had finished a bunch of appliques and had test fitted them on the corset, I modified the corset itself.
The 
Otherwise the corset wouldn’t 
When I’m done with one of these beaded corsets it’s basically a cuirasse, an armored breastplate!
It took several months to carefully sew the appliques to the corset, adding bead embroidery as needed to fill in gaps.
