SIA: Leaf Embroidered Birds + DIY Ponds & Lily Pads Dragonfly Layered Necklace

Salazar at 14 Shades of Grey is the curator for this round of Style Imitating Art (SIA), and she selected the contemporary 3D embroidered birds on dried leaves by Spanish artist Laura Dalla Vecchia. She chose this artwork because she loves "embroideries...and anything nature-themed" plus with the coming of fall migration, it felt right for the season. She left it open for each participant to select any piece of bird embroidery from the artist (here), and truly, there were so many gorgeous pieces to consider. But in honor of summer (which is still hanging on with the weather, the calendar, and the post-Labor Day start of school in St Paul), I selected a bird with very summery vibes: a neotropical parrot of Central and South America called the blue-and-yellow macaw, aka blue-and-gold macaw, aka Ara ararauna (identified correctly by Google Images from this artwork).

Source: https://mymodernmet.com/laura-dalla-vecchia-embroidery-on-leaves/

And what do you know...I just happened to have a summer blouse featuring an array of tropical birds, including several stylized parrots! Of course this blouse was going to be the basis of my outfit.

Just as the artist positioned the colorful parrot to stand out against the simple orange-brown leaf, I combined my tropical bird blouse with an array of plain navy pieces that made the parrots and flamingos pop. The navy cardigan and denim skirt make for an outer column of color or "suit" color formula.

OOTD 8/26/24

For my layered necklace, I took a "wings & things" approach by wearing some additional summery nature motifs in my 3 recent DIY necklaces. The top necklace with white and aqua shell-shaped glass beads was ridiculously easy to make from three 7" lengths of pre-made beaded chain that I purchased from BeadBoxBargains.com; I literally just connected the 3 lengths of chain and added a clasp + extender chain. I made the lower two necklaces as a set based primarily on beads in the Ponds & Lily Pads March 2023 Curated Bead Box subscription plus items from my stash. {Note: no links in this post are affiliate links.}

I've been making a lot of long beaded chain pendant necklaces lately, frequently using beads from the Curated Bead Box and from their sister site (DollarBead.com). I like to use 20 gauge German style wire and my 2.25mm 1-Step Looper to make simple loop beaded links that I connect directly (not with jump rings). I've settled on 36" as my favorite default length for long beaded chain necklaces, and I always include an extender chain for adjustability. The shorter necklace in this pair is not my usual style, but I liked the idea of using charms to tie in with the ceramic dragonfly pendant (from Bead Box Bargains) so I made the necklace from chain and added a few beaded links, beaded dangles, and charms to it. I thought this layered necklace turned out pretty cute!

Outfit total cost per wear (not including earrings and bracelets, which I don't track): $3.79, below my target of $5. It's not unusual for my top to have the highest CPW in my outfit because that's an area I definitely tend to overbuy. All my necklaces are DIY today so they don't contribute to the CPW (I record them as $0 cost since jewelry-making is my hobby). Here is the breakdown:

-Denim pencil skirt, $25.58, Lands End, 5/2019, 35 wears, $0.73 CPW

-Navy tropical birds blouse, $20.09, CJ Banks, 6/2020, 14 wears, $1.44 CPW

-Navy short-sleeved cardigan, $20.00, Loft, 2/2017, 24 wears, $0.83 CPW

-Navy pointy-toed flats, $60.00, Andrew Geller/Kohls, 9/2017, 76 wears, $0.79 CPW

My daily bracelet stack is based on a paper bead bracelet set I made two years ago to match a thrifted butterfly print scarf in shades of yellow, aqua, and navy {all the details in this post}. The sky blue/silver bracelet and the navy/yellow bracelet are relatively recent creations that fit in well with the color scheme. {stretch bracelet tutorial} {bicone paper bead tutorial}

My bead soup earrings were made to match the butterfly scarf and paper bead bracelet set. Luckily I had a trio of wood beads in the three main colors of my palette so I stacked them with some silver spacer beads to make some very easy but colorful coordinating earrings. (If you are wondering why I didn't use any butterfly beads or charms in the earrings, rest assured that I also made some matching earrings with butterflies that you will see somewhere down the road. I've been working on making 2-3 pairs of earrings for each paper bead bracelet set in my collection.)

Now for the main event: our Rabbit Imitating Art selection! For our last SIA, I featured an orange and black striped Japanese Harlequin, so I thought it a good time to (re-)introduce you to his black and white striped counterpart, the Magpie Harlequin. The genetic difference between the two is small: the magpie has a recessive gene that causes the coat to have a silvery cast and replaces any yellow/orange/red hairs with white ones.

It is a simple fact of lagomorphic life that if a twig and a rabbit are in the same place at the same time, that twig will end up in the rabbit's mouth. At the moment, our rabbit is holding the parrot-leaf aloft by the twig, but I do wonder how this tableau will develop in the next few seconds. Chewing is one obvious option: rabbits LOVE to chew, and the soft wood of a twig is a favorite. But right up there on list of preferred rabbit activities is flinging items with the mouth. They may toss things about to play or get attention or as a territorial behavior. Does tossing the parrot mean "I own you now" or "get out of my way"? Some rabbit actions will always remain a mystery in their details, but there's no doubt our bunny is letting everybody know that he's in charge of this situation!

Artwork "improved" with rabbit

Thanks for joining me today for this Style Imitating Art + Rabbit Imitating (and Improving) Art post!

To see other outfit interpretations of this artwork, check out the review on 14 Shades of Grey.

Would you have interpreted this artwork into an outfit using a bird motif and/or a leaf motif...or in some other way? Do you ever wear the monochromatic outer column or "suit" color formula? Do you treat dark denim and navy as interchangeable? Do you own any necklace sets that were made to be worn together/layered?

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