Crafting memory boxes: behind the scenes

Under the hedge with the Child of Prague

My dear friends,

Holy cripes are you hearing from me again so soon!? Yes, darlings, you are! Get used to it too, I have too much to say in this season of my life to stick to just one missive a week.

Paid subscribers will also be getting art downloads AND a story to tinker within the coming days. Here’s the special discount link for annual subscriptions for you to use should you see fit.

So, anyway, yes, remember in Making (micro) portable memory box art when I wrote about THIS:

This is portable art. Art that grows along with you as you travel. Small art. Talismanic art. Amulets. Memory boxes.

How could you forget?

I’ve been busy reading and finding inspiration, and am here to share my work in progress, loosely titled AGAINST RAIN. I’m really excited about it! When it’s finished, I’m going to share with you how I made it & the thought processes behind everything.

A mints tin holding a collection of items; a small booklet made out of teabag packaging, shiny knock-off Crocs plastic charms, and a tiny statue of the Child of Prague made out of lead

If you’re wondering what the deal is with that panel on the left: it’s a tiny book made out of a teabag cover. What will it say inside??

ALL WILL BE REVEALED omg exciting.

About AGAINST RAIN:

I’m big into folklore & superstitions and magic and all that.

Who isn’t, right? WHO ISN’T.

So, I made this, ultimately to hang on a wall like a sconce, as a charm against rain, particularly on wedding days.

Some background:

Devotion to and small replica statues of the Infant of Prague became popular in Ireland, for different reasons, and over the years the power of the statue itself got somehow linked to wedding customs.

The theory goes that if you place a statue outside the bride’s house on the day before the wedding, preferably under a hedge or a bush, the wedding day itself will be magically (or divinely) blessed with fine weather.

Sure whatever can make it stop fecking raining for one entire day has got to be special, right?

I don’t know why people associate the Child of Prague with weather gods, but hey. It was duly put under a bush before my wedding day, and TA-DAAAA out of nowhere it was so sunny that everyone got sunburnt & was squinting in the photos.

PLUS you can make the climate control powers of the Child of Prague even more potent if the head of your statue was accidentally knocked off.

Here are some other things I’m auditioning for place in the box:

A collection of items: a La Caterina lego minifig, a medal with a picture of Jesus on it, knock off Crocs charms made out of plastic, a small ‘pioneers’ lepel pin, 3 uselessly small bottles of glitter

They’ll probably be in other tins, though.

Alright, that’s it, let me know what you think everyone, and if you like this post, don’t forget to share it with everyone you’ve ever met in your entire life. I have to go now because a bee has wandered into the writing shed and is investigating the pollination opportunities of my floral hairband.

Much love,

Jessica