Sunday, February 17, 2019

An Owl Cell Phone Purse


An Owl Purse in Neutrals


      Owls are messengers in many Native American cultures and in fantasy worlds like Harry Potter.  Remember the great scene where the owls fly into Hogwarts bringing letters and packages from home? I love that scene!  Recently I had a chance to use an owl and a feather in a project. 
       
     I'm taking a color class based on "Color & Design" by Heather Thomas.  It's a beautiful book - full of great color illustrations and valuable info.  The class is being taught by Ann Petersen, a world class quilter and member of Grand Stitchers. 
   
      I'm not a quilter, but I use color all the time in making my jewelry.  Taking a class about color has been a great learning experience and a chance to try out new ideas. Every month we are expected to make a new project based on a different aspect of color.  The first project was to create an item using neutrals.
  
     Normally I use much brighter colors so this was a challenge.  I had a beige  acrylic owl face and a feather from a Great Horned Owl as inspiration.  Since owls are messengers, I decided to make a cell phone purse.  I've been making Tree of Life jewelry so placing the owl in a tree seemed like a perfect fit.


     I placed the owl on a feminine Tree of Life to counter the negativity that some tribes associate with owls. Plus I love trees.

     I used Simplicity pattern #8356 for the purse. I altered the basic pattern to use lots of neutrals for the class requirement.  Although I bought 6 or 7 neutrals in a variety of patterns, I ended up using only 5 of them plus leather for the tree.  


I beaded a peyote tube and glued the owl feather inside it to protect the fragile feather.  I added some beads, crystals, and a chain handle to complete the project.

    If you'd like complete directions on how I made the purse, sign up on the e-mail list or send me a comment with your e-mail address.  The directions are free.  The pattern and book are available at many places.  I bought mine on Amazon Smile so I could support Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary with my purchase.