The Northern Lights of Aberdeen Hair Sticks/Deluxe Collection

Description

In Scotland, the northern lights were known as "the merry dancers". There are many old sayings about them, including the Scottish Gaelic proverb "When the merry dancers play, they are like to slay." The playfulness of the merry dancers was supposed to end occasionally in quite a serious fight, and next morning when children saw patches of red lichen on the stones, they say amongst themselves that "the merry dancers bled each other last night". The appearance of these lights in the sky was considered a sign of the approach of unsettled weather.

These hair sticks are a one of a kind and part of my deluxe collection. The deluxe collection features hair sticks that are truly the result of artistic expression which combines hand made lampwork beads by fellow etsy artists and custom painting resulting in a work of wearable art. I hand selected the the beads for this piece and meticulously hand painted the exquisitely carved hair sticks. Each stick has a custom color of paint that I have mixed. I have 9 years of experience in dye and paint mixing. I enjoy the challenge of each new piece, of getting just the right color to set off the stones.

At the tips of these hair sticks are handcrafted lampwork beads by fellow etsy artist at muggysbeads. They have swirls of beautiful colors with metallic shimmers. They look very much like the northern lights. Below sits a Swarovski crystal in a shade of smoky gray. The filigree bead caps are silver plated.

What Are Swarovski Crystals?

Swarovski (swore-off-ski) is a company in Austria that
produces some of the world's most beautiful beads. Their
special process creates components that have incredible brilliance and are in high demand. They cost a little more, but the results are worth it.

The hand carved bone hair sticks are from India, where they are harvested after the animal dies from natural causes. I have hand painted them in a shade of ebony. Hand painting these sticks is a time consuming process. Each stick has to dry a day in between coats and each stick requires at least 3 coats, so they are naturally more expensive than the wood, plus bone does not break like the wood can it is very sturdy. They may break if you drop them on a hard floor, however I have never had any to break in my hair like the wooden ones.
The sticks measure overall 5 3/4" with 4 1/2" of usable stick.

These are very unusual and a one of a kind!

Added on Jan 17, 2008

Shipping

ship to:	cost:	with another item:
United States	$2.00 USD	$0.50 USD
Everywhere Else	$3.00 USD	$0.50 USD

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