Earth, Sea and Stars

Earth, Sea, and Stars is a "wild necklace" I created for Dakini as part of a swap organised by Shakti through the Altered Art Europe group.

The foundation is simply "ladder" yarn in blue-green tones. I looped it through a piece of sea shell, then sewed on around one hundred little stars in three shades of green. For the next layer I threaded tiny green-dyed sea shells onto effect wire and added them to the necklace. The triangles are tiny, tiny mini-journals covered in iridescent paper the colour of sea glass. I considered writing in them, but then I thought I'd leave it up to Dakini, in case she has wild prayers or wishes she'd like to wear.

The circles and drop beads are from a pair of rather ostentatious earrings I picked up someplace and kept, just in case I ever did a project like this one. The round bits remind me of shields and of the planet earth. The drops are just... well... impressive.

The tiny figures are Guatemalan worry dolls. According to legend, parents in Guatemala give these dolls to their children and encourage them to share their troubles with them. The dolls are placed under the child's pillow and carry away all the troubles told to them overnight, while the child is asleep. I dare say we could all use few of these little helpers, so I added them to the necklace.