✧Petal Keepers✧
Handmade flower fairy dolls, born in the forest and still wandering into the world.
Some are meant to be found.
Some are meant to find you.
The Fairies Who Stayed
I have been creating fairies for ten years now.
They have traveled with me through grief and joy, uncertainty and change, through different seasons of my life and different expressions of my creative work. Other things have changed shape along the way, but somehow, the fairies have stayed.
And I have noticed something about them.
They have never let me down.
When I am unsure, uneasy, stressed, or simply carrying too much seriousness, they bring me back to my hands. There are flowers to choose, colors to notice, tiny faces waiting to emerge, wings to place just so. Somewhere in the making, the atmosphere changes.
They don't need to solve anything. They simply make things a little better.
In that way, they have become their own kind of emotional support companions for me, small reminders of comfort, presence, and play.
Perhaps that is part of why I have continued making them all these years. They carry an invitation I still need myself: to notice, to wonder, to play, and to leave a little room for the unexpected.
Looking back, I can also see how much the fairies have taught me.
Making them has become its own practice of presence. They ask me to slow down, to notice, and to listen beyond what I think I am going to make. A color catches my attention. A particular expression begins to emerge. A tiny detail suddenly feels important. Again and again, I have learned to follow what is quietly asking to happen rather than forcing the piece toward an idea I already had.
Over the years, that kind of listening has helped me hone something much larger than my ability to make a fairy. It has deepened my capacity for presence and for listening closely to what is here, even when what is being communicated is subtle.
In their own small way, the fairies have been teaching me how to listen all along.
And then, when one is finished, I never quite know where its story will go next.
The first fairy I hid in the forest, July 23, 2016.
Where It Began
The story of the Petal Keepers began in 2016, during one of the most difficult seasons of my life.
I had recently lost my daughter, only eleven months after losing my mother, when I came across a story about a mother and her sons who had begun secretly placing tiny fairy homes in the forest. Their story stopped me. Somewhere within it was a small painted stone with three simple words:
You Belong Here.
Something about those words reached me when I needed them.
Seven days later, I carried my first handmade fairy into the forest and quietly left her there for someone I would never know to find.
I made sure no one saw me.
I didn't know then that I would still be doing this ten years later. I didn't know how many fairies would follow, how far some of them would travel, how many people would encounter them, or how many stories would eventually find their way back to me.
I only knew that something had begun.
Some Are Meant to Be Found
I still hide fairies in the forest.
I carry them into the forest among the trees I have long thought of as my standing family.
I hold them next to me as I meander along the trail and wait until a place catches my attention: a hollow in a tree, a curve of exposed roots, a small opening among the leaves. Then I tuck one in and walk away.
I always make sure no one sees me.
That part has remained important to me from the very beginning. I want whoever finds the fairy to have the experience of simply discovering her there, without seeing the person who placed her or knowing how she arrived.
Each fairy carries a small tag leading to my Cosmically Earthen Facebook page. If someone wants to share their discovery, there is a place for their story to find its way back to me.
Sometimes it does.
Over the years, photographs and messages have arrived from people who found one tucked along a trail. Children have discovered them. Families have carried them home. Strangers have written to tell me that finding a tiny fairy unexpectedly brightened their day.
One woman wrote after finding hers:
“I was walking along and poof she was there.”
She told me the fairy had made her day and that, at that particular moment, she truly needed it.
Those are the stories I could never have planned when I began doing this.
I choose the fairy. I walk into the forest. I listen for where she wants to be placed.
And then I leave the rest of the story to someone I may never meet.
Found in the Forest
I rarely know who finds the fairies I leave behind.
Most disappear quietly into someone else's story, and I never learn where they went. But every now and then, a photograph, a comment, or a message finds its way back to me.
These are some of those moments, small glimpses of what happened after I walked away.
I never know what will happen when I walk away. Perhaps that is part of what I love most.
The finding belongs to them.
Have You Found One?
If one of my fairies has ever found her way to you, whether yesterday or many years ago, I would love to know where her story went next.
Some of these little travelers have been wandering for nearly ten years now, and I know there are stories I have never heard, or may have simply lost along the way.
If you still have your fairy, a photograph, a memory of finding her, or simply remember what that moment meant to you, you are welcome to share your story with me.
You are welcome to include a photo of your fairy, where you found her, and anything you remember about the moment.
A Fairy waiting to be found.
Some Are Meant to Find You
Not every Petal Keeper is left beneath the trees.
Some stay with me until the person they belong with finds them. Some are chosen as gifts. Others leave in little groups, headed toward another forest where someone else will do the hiding.
Each one is made by hand, slowly and individually. I choose the flowers, fibers, wings, colors, and tiny details as her personality begins to emerge. No two are quite the same.
Over the years, Petal Keepers have become companions for desks, bookshelves, creative spaces, and bedside tables. They have been carried through difficult seasons, given to someone who needed a little brightness, and kept nearby simply because having one there makes something feel a little better.
And sometimes people order several so they can take their children into the forest and hide fairies of their own.
I especially love that.
What began as something I quietly did alone among the trees has found its way into other hands, other families, and other forests.
There are many ways for a Petal Keeper’s story to begin.
***New Petal Keepers Coming Soon***
Ready-made Petal Keepers tend to wander away rather quickly. New fairies will appear here as they become available.
A gathering of Petal Keepers.
Sometimes a Petal Keeper begins with a person already in mind.
Over the years, I have created fairies for birthdays, celebrations, difficult seasons, new beginnings, remembrance, encouragement, and simply because someone wanted to send a little bit of brightness to someone they love.
They can begin with a favorite color or flower, a feeling, a story, or a few details about the person who will receive her. From there, I gather what wants to come together and allow each fairy to become herself.
I don't make exact duplicates, and I don't work from a rigid pattern. Part of what I love about creating them is watching their individual personalities emerge somewhere between my hands and the materials.
Sometimes I know who I am making her for. Sometimes she is a surprise.
Either way, there is something especially lovely about creating a tiny companion knowing that, before she has even been made, someone is already waiting for her.
Frequent Flyer Fairy Card
If you are one of those people who keeps finding room for just one more fairy, I have a little thank-you for you.
For every 12 Petal Keepers you purchase, your next fairy is on me. Keep your Frequent Flyer Fairy Card and bring it along whenever another Petal Keeper comes home with you.
Every fairy marks another little story.
Some Are Made Especially for You
If you would like a Petal Keeper created especially for you or someone you love, you are welcome to tell me a little about who she is for.
You might share a favorite color or flower, something about the person receiving her, the reason for the gift, or simply the feeling you would like her to carry.
You don't need to know exactly what she should look like.
That part is allowed to unfold.
Request a Petal Keeper
Custom Petal Keeper • $22 USD_
Each Petal Keeper is handmade individually and will vary in flowers, fibers, wings, colors, and tiny details. Your preferences will guide the making, while leaving room for your fairy's own personality to emerge.
Please allow approximately 5-7 days for your Petal Keeper to be created. (Unless you are ordering multiple fairies.)
Once your order is complete, shipping will be updated.
