Editor’s note:  The second I saw that Laura of le animalé and Jessica Swift had collaborated to create one of the most awesome ideas of all time, I knew they needed to come visit us for our 30 Days of Goodness theme. I’m so happy that Laura is here today to share a behind the scenes look at the collaborative process behind making these magical creatures come to life!  Thank you ladies for making the world a more colourful and whimsical place xoxo Jessika

Sea Elves are magical messengers from the colorful depths of Loch Ness. These handmade critters are a collaboration between Jessica Swift and me; Jessica Swift is an artist & colorful pattern designer extraordinaire, and I sculpt tiny, lovable animal totems for my company, le animalé. Each of our Sea Elves is one-of-a-kind and harbors 1 of 13 different universal energies. Every Sea Elf spends the first part of his life waiting patiently for his human to call on him so he can deliver one of these energies and they can become great friends!

 Sea Elves were a few months (and a few trips across the USA) in the making. To start, I sculpted several prototypes in clay. Then, the perfected prototypes were cast in pewter, forming armies of adorable little Sea Elves!

After cleaning, polishing, and priming the pewter sea elves, Jessica added colors, patterns, glitter, metallics, and all sorts of fun to bring them to life!

And to protect their new colorful coats, I finished each Sea Elf in several layers of brilliant, glossy varnish so they can shine and sparkle on forever!

Finally, the last critical step: how the Sea Elves travel! (They wouldn’t be complete without their adorable travel packaging.) Each Sea Elf sits atop a handmade perch in a small, clear box. His box contains 1 surprise energy card + 1 card describing the project. This way they are ready to meet their humans when they arrives on their doorsteps!

Now, indulge us and imagine this: your best friend is opening the Christmas gift you gave her and discovers it’s a Sea Elf. Do you see her? Look closely. Yes! She’s the one doing the OMGIGOTASEAELFFORCHRISTMAS happy dance! (Be careful and watch out for her flailing arms and wild hug!)

From the first suggestion of the idea through this very minute, Jessica and I have delighted in making Sea Elves come to life and then doing everything we can to help the Sea Elves and their humans find each other. We LOVE Sea Elves! We hope you do too. 🙂

What does the great Loch Ness have in store for YOU??

Follow the Sea Elf adventure & join the fun by visiting the Sea Elves shop & blog!