Peacock Feather Cuff Bracelet

I'm certainly not the first leather-worker/jewelry-maker who decided to use a peacock tail feather motif in her work* so it's not an original, ground-breaking concept, but as I have several of these feathers poised at my workbench, staring me down with their iridescent eyes as I hammer, carve, and bead it's been hard not to be inspired by them. Still, I hope my version is a bit distinctive and has a different character from the peacock feathers rendered in leather by other artisans. I was really focused on the sinuous lines and shapes formed by the feather whereas the other versions I've seen tended to focus on achieving a more robust texture. You can actually catch a glimpse of this bracelet in its unfinished form posing on my granite tooling slab in this entry.

It is a fairly simple bracelet based upon the general pattern of what I refer to as my tab bracelets but with a little twist. Unlike my other tab-style cuffs, the leather tab upon which the feather is carved is in a subtle S-curve shape which looks really lovely curling across the wrist. I stamped the word "beauty" beside the feather on a gentle baseline curve to echo the feather's lines and to suggest that it too could drift lightly on the air. This also happens to be the first tab bracelet I've used sterling silver chain & wire for the clasp. In the photo below you can see some of the beads I've chosen to compliment the rich colors of the feather. They include a faceted lime green turquoise roundel, freshwater pearls, what I think is carnelian, an amber glass bead, and another small turquoise nugget.

This one is slated to be taken to the show in September. I'm hoping to make a corresponding necklace if I have time.

*Sunny Rising Leather, who has been an inspiration to me in the creation leather necklaces & bracelets, has also tried her hand at peacock feathers as well as just the "eye" of the feather. I also found another Etsyian who makes peacock earrings but I believe he or she layers multi-colored leather rather than carves and paints/stains it.

Faery Wing · Leather & Sterling Silver Necklace

When most people think of faeries, they think of wings: lovely little sprites or enchanting maidens with insect wings unfolding delicately from their backs. It might be surprising for some to learn that before Shakespeare's time, wings were not a common, defining trait for faeries and in fact it is very rare to find reference to them in traditional European myth, legend, and balladry. The faery folk of old could be beautiful or bizarre-looking, and encounters with them were perhaps more feared than they were desired, but they were always respected as being embodiments of something sacred and numinous.

Today the wings of faeries are regarded as literal, but perhaps they were not meant to be so. During the same time period when wings became to be a newly popular attribute of fey creatures, interest was being renewed in the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome. The word for butterfly in ancient Greek was psyche which also happened to be the word for 'soul.' Psyche was also the name of a mythical girl who became the lover of the God Eros. In classical artwork Eros was shown with feathered wings and Psyche was often represented with the wings of her namesake as a visual cue to her identity. Perhaps those who originally associated the fey with butterfly wings were really intending to use metaphorical clues to show the sacred nature of Faery as well as its proclivity for transformation.

This necklace is a lovely reminder that not everything valuable in the world is to be taken literally and not all knowledge lies on the surface.

The letters stamped across the hand-carved and painted leather pendant read "Wings are but a symbol of the soul." From delicate chains hang briolettes of labradorite and moonstone with inner flashes of blue, freshwater pearls, glittering swarovski crystals, and semi-precious stones to compliment the colors in the faery wing.

measurements • the overall length of the necklace is approximately 17 inches and closes with a lobster clasp; the faery wing pendant is about 2.5 inches long by about 1.75 inches wide at its greatest points and dangles 1.5 inches from the main portion of the necklace
materials • hand-carved & painted leather faery wing; sterling silver chain & wire; freshwater pearls; labradorite & moonstone briolettes; swarovski crystals; coral; semi-precious stones; glass beads
price • SOLD!