Celtic Fiddle Fire

Ive been a fan of acoustic music all my life and have been privileged to hear some amazing fiddle players live from the time I was very young. In my not at all humble opinion, Duncan Chisolm is the absolute best Celtic fiddle player in the world. He plays with the amazing Scottish Folk Rock band Wolfstone, but his solo work is where his playing gets a chance to shine...here is a 2007 performance with Ivan Drever, one of the founders of Wolfstone

Lorriane's Wedding

Ian finally finished the tiara for his daughter, Lorraine. She is getting married in a Scottish Castle, complete with kilts, bagpipes and maybe even a ghost or two...

Lorraine wanted a sort of goth but not too goth look, and we were delighted to find these gorgeous ivy leaf charms at one of our favorite bead suppliers. Ian worked forever to modify the leaves so they would work in the design, but it was well worth the effort!!

This design also has an optional Celtic Weave band that can be added:



THIS IS NOW AVAILABLE IN MY ETSY SHOP:
Elven Forest Ivy Leaf Tiara

Emergency Weddings

Ian & I are just finishing up an order for 22 tiaras (WOOSH!) for a wedding in California...this one was exciting because they sort of waited til the last minute to order, so we had 2 weeks to finish them all. Hey, we LOVE a challenge..and I love to make people happy, so it was a natural for us! ANYWAY, in the interest of another quick post today, here is a preview of the first tiara:



These are based loosely on my Lothorien Crystal Forest Hair Vine (really more of a spray, but I couldnt call it a hair spray now could I?) and will be available in my Etsy shop soon...we have lots of other tiara designs too, and are always open to custom orders...contact us any time, even in an emergency;)

Best Jewellery in a Folk Rock Video

Well, okay...maybe the ONLY jewellery I've really noticed in a Folk Rock video...but probably the title I actually want to award John Jones of the Oysterband is the "one of the most amazing voices in Folk Rock and the voice most likely to make me happy"

This video is Where the World Divides, a song from their most recent album Meet You There. Its hauntingly catchy and a new favorite of mine!



When Ian and I first met we lived 4,000 miles apart (Edinburgh to Kansas), and since we were both musical beings to the core, one of the intitial ways we got to know one another was through the music we loved. The first mix tape he sent included this band.

It is difficult to explain the exhilarating feeling I had when I first heard John Jones sing "I am the fountain of affection, the instrument of joy..." and the rest of the band rip into the amazing instrumental that opens When Im Up I Cant Get Down . Its very "dancey", that song. I knew when I heard it for the first time that my life was about take an amazing turn for the better, and I have been living one big delightful adventure ever since.

Thanks for the soundtrack boys:-)!!

Arthur Rackham's Faery World

  I used to have a big poster of this painting on my wall when I was 16 and all I knew about it then was the caption said "Queen Mab". Many years later when I found it on the web it was entitled "Feeling Very Undancey Indeed," and when I researched it a bit more I discovered it was actually from Arthur Rackham's illustrations for J M Barrie's Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens.



Ah, so that explains why I loved the painting so much! I love J. M. Barrie~the world has lost way too much of its innocence these days. I work very diligently to hang on to as much of mine as I can~reading Peter Pan every few years is one of my favorite ways to accomplish this.

Queen Mab Tiara by Thyme2dr

  According to our beloved Mr Barrie,
dancey is how the faeries say they are happy...so undancey is faerie-folk language for a wee bit dispirited or some such thing. It is Queen Mab, and the reason she is feeling undancey is too long to go into here, but Dover Publications is issuing a new edition of the with Arthur Rackham's original illustrations next month, so you can go and read the story for yourself if you are curious: Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens (Dover Children's Classics)

One of the things I love most about Arthur Rackham's illustrations of Queen Mab is the beautiful tones of ivory and burgundy that he used...it seemed only natural when I was asked to create a wedding set in these colours that they should be named after the undancey faery Queen.

When I finished the tiara, I went to find the Undancey picture again and was delighted to see how much it the tiara looked like it belonged to her:)! I also made a hair clip, earrings, two necklaces and am currently working on a bracelet as well. They are my new personal favorites. These are for sale in my Thyme2dream ArtFire .

Queen Mab Earrings by Thyme2dream

Runrig: Fanciful Magick-ing Inspiration

RUNRIG is an amazing Scottish band from the Western Isles. They make great music to create by, such incredible passion!!

If you have never heard them before, give yourself 10 minutes and enjoy this magical set...there are actually two songs on this video, and the second is even more incredible than the first so listen all the way through:)



If you are in Europe this year you may have a chance to catch them live...visit their official website here:

www.runrig.co.uk

There Be Dragons!

Dragon Rider of Pern Circlet 

My longsuffering beloved finally got tired of being surrounded by all the "girlie" jewelry here in our treehouse...he declared himself an independant artisan today and opened his own MANLY circlet shop on etsy called "PernCirclets"...the amazing thing about this man is that he keeps pulling new talents out of his hat.







Here is the banner he made for his shop:

He drew the dragon many years ago in Scotland...it is on a Boudhran (Celtic Drum) that he used to play and which now hangs above the fireplace in our house. So he took a photo of the drum, played with it a LOT in photoshop, and that is what popped out. Guess I know how to pick 'em:-).

To see Ian's Manly Shop of Circlets visit:
PernCirclets Etsy Shop