Feathers

I thought I'd share with you how I trim feathers for my potion bottles :)
You can trim them to all sorts of shapes and sizes.
Choose a feather with nice detail up near the top of the spine. Here is the method using guinea fowl feathers - they have little 'eyes' which show up well.

1. Choose a feather

2. On one side, split it to where you want the base of your mini feather to be. With one hand, grasp the top of the feather between thumb and fore-finger, and with the other hand grasp the unwanted portion and pull it away from the rachis (the centre shaft). It should peel away cleanly.

3. Repeat on the other side, to make it symmetrical.

4. With small sharp scissors, trim one side to approximate shape. Fine trimming can be done after step 5.

5. Trim the other side to match, or you can make it asymmetrical if you wish - see the shapes in the group photo.
Now do any fine trimming to neaten it to shape. It is easier to do any fine trimming 'against the grain' from top to bottom - if you do it the other way it will slide away from the scissors.

Here below is the same process with a different type of feather.

I buy my feathers here in New Zealand from Feathergirl. She offers a good mix of at 200 tiny mixed feathers which are great for us minimakers.
http://www.whatsonsale.co.nz/searchresults.aspx?retailer=Feathergirl
She posts overseas, but it is the buyer's responsibility to deal with any customs or import restrictions their country may have.
BTW the NewZealand dollar is cheap! Hmmm, I'm on the wrong side of this exchange rate :(

Happy mini making!

Glenda