Elizabeth Dearnley
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elizadearnley.bsky.social
Elizabeth Dearnley
@elizadearnley.bsky.social
2.5K followers 910 following 230 posts
Folklorist, writer, Lecturer in Creative Writing at Edinburgh Napier University. Editor of DEADLY DOLLS and FEARSOME FAIRIES (British Library). Fairy tales / horror / interactive stories / weird and eerie 🦇 Rep’d https://www.philippasitters.co.uk. She/her
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elizadearnley.bsky.social
Slowly unpacking my study and filling a drawer with pressed seaweed, like a Victorian lady botanist 🌿🪸
A cabinet drawer filled with sheets of pressed seaweed in shades of red, brown and green.
October 5, 2025 at 11:30 AM
elizadearnley.bsky.social
Moving house in two days with all the essentials packed 🍄🌿🫙🪶
A series of packing boxes with increasingly weird labels.
September 16, 2025 at 6:15 PM
elizadearnley.bsky.social
Huge news! 🌿✨💍✨🌿 I’m overjoyed to be marrying my love Darrick, and also exceptionally excited about this ring, which is basically a forest in ring form 🌳💍💚 It is tourmaline, peridot and diamond!
A very sparkly engagement ring with a tourmaline centre stone, surrounded by peridots and diamonds, pictured against a moss-covered tree in the Hermitage of Braid. Me and my fiancé Darrick in a wood at sunset.
August 31, 2025 at 7:49 PM
elizadearnley.bsky.social
I popped into @mediamuseum.bsky.social on my way back from the festival yesterday, and was so happy to catch up with my favourite exhibit, the Pepper’s Ghost darkroom!

I found this absolutely magical as a child, and still do now - there are so many throughlines between this and my work today! 🎞️✨🕷️
Pepper’s Ghost illusion at the Bradford Media Museum, showing a bathroom being used as a darkroom under red light. Pepper’s Ghost illusion at the Bradford Media Museum, showing a bathroom being used as a darkroom. The red light is now white. Pepper’s Ghost illusion at the Bradford Media Museum, showing an ordinary bathroom with a comedy spider in the bathtub.
July 7, 2025 at 12:25 PM
elizadearnley.bsky.social
GOBLIN HAIR 🌿💚🌿 bringing me ever closer to my final fae form 🧚🏾
A selfie of Elizabeth with gobliny green streaks in her hair.
July 4, 2025 at 6:39 PM
elizadearnley.bsky.social
Second avocado attempt was much more successful! This time the skins and stones were much fresher, and I also added three teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda to the dyebath to make it more alkaline.

🩷 darker pink skein with alum mordant
🌸 lighter pink skein no mordant
🤎 original avocado skeins
Four skeins of wool dyed with avocado skins and stones. The bottom two are a soft dusty rose colour, the top two are a browny peach. Four skeins of wool dyed with avocado skins and stones. The right two are a soft dusty rose colour, the left two are a browny beige-peach.
May 23, 2025 at 1:55 PM
elizadearnley.bsky.social
A VERY long shot, but I just found a ring in Bute Park, Cardiff, in case anyone has lost one! I left it where it was #butepark #cardiff
My hand holding a silver ring
May 16, 2025 at 2:40 PM
elizadearnley.bsky.social
Results of the first experiments, L-R:

🤎 avocado skins and stones, no mordant
🤎 avocado skins and stones, alum mordant
💛 red onion skins, alum mordant
🧡 yellow onion skins, alum mordant

The avocado didn’t quite go the pink I was hoping for, but I’m really pleased with the onion skins!
Four skeins of yarn dyed with avocado and onion skins. The two dyed with avocados are a pale browny peach, and the two dyed with onions are a bright mustard yellow.
May 10, 2025 at 9:24 AM
elizadearnley.bsky.social
First experiment with yarn dyeing: avocado skins and stones (which should create a dusty pink dye) 🥑🧶🌸
A steel pan full of wool soaking in an alum mordant A steel pan of wool steeping in a pinky-orange dye bath A bowl of avocado skins and stones
May 7, 2025 at 8:02 PM
elizadearnley.bsky.social
Just going through my saved clothes/costume/sewing inspo Instagram folder, and I CLEARLY have a colour palette 🍂🌸🍃🍑💛 …pastel autumn?
A screenshot of an instagram folder filled with images of clothes, all of which are russet, green, mustard, pink and peach. A screenshot of an instagram folder filled with images of clothes, all of which are russet, green, mustard, pink, purple and peach. A screenshot of an instagram folder filled with images of clothes, all of which are russet, green, mustard, pink, purple and peach. A screenshot of an instagram folder filled with images of clothes, all of which are russet, green, mustard, pink, purple and peach.
April 28, 2025 at 5:19 PM
elizadearnley.bsky.social
WILD GARLIC PESTO 💚🌱🌿🍋 Made with the frankly indecent amount growing in the woods by my parents’ house
A bowlful of wild garlic leaves next to other ingredients for pesto: lemon, olive oil and parmesan Wild garlic pesto spooned into ice cube trays A ridiculous amount of wild garlic growing in a wood A close-up of some wild garlic leaves
April 5, 2025 at 12:45 PM
elizadearnley.bsky.social
Elizabeth-coded characters
Anne of Green Gables Sarah from Labyrinth Peggy from Mad Men Giselle from Enchanted
January 31, 2025 at 8:14 PM
elizadearnley.bsky.social
Pomander making this afternoon 🍊🌿🎗️
A pine kitchen table covered with pomander-making ingredients - oranges, cloves and ribbons - and a pile of ivy leaves. A finished pomander: an orange studded with cloves, divided into segments by red, light green and dark green ribbons.
December 14, 2024 at 6:08 PM
elizadearnley.bsky.social
Glowing fibre optic mycelium at the Edinburgh Botanics 💚💙💜
A tree in the Edinburgh Botanics with a network of mycelium made from glowing fibre optic cables spread out beneath it in shades of green, blue and yellow. A close-up on mycelium made from fibre optic cables in shades of turquoise and cerulean blue.
December 13, 2024 at 5:36 PM
elizadearnley.bsky.social
Absolutely amazing find in the Amnesty bookshop just now - a first edition of Carols for Choirs vol. 1 🎄🎼✨ I’ve been after an old copy of these for years now, so very pleased to spot this as I walked by the window!
An old copy of Carols for Choirs vol. 1, a dark green book with an angel playing a trumpet on the cover, with a Christmas tree in the background.
December 8, 2024 at 3:30 PM
elizadearnley.bsky.social
After dark in the library 🩷🌚
Edinburgh Central Library at night, lit by pink lights inside so its windows are glowing mysteriously.
December 2, 2024 at 10:04 PM
elizadearnley.bsky.social
Mulled apple juice for the Christmas tree lighting ceremony 🍊🫚✨ One of the priests came into the kitchen as I was making it and said, “You’re like a witch stirring her cauldron”, and I was like, yes, that is very much the vibe I’m going for here
A cauldron of mulled apple juice seen from above, filled with slices of ginger and ora studded with cloves.
December 1, 2024 at 6:39 PM
elizadearnley.bsky.social
First Sunday in Advent at St Peter’s 💜🕯️🌿
An Advent wreath with three purple candles, one pink, and a white candle in the centre. The wreath is made of holly and evergreens, and the front purple candle is lit.
December 1, 2024 at 1:49 PM
elizadearnley.bsky.social
Saturday afternoon in Cambridge, the day before Advent Sunday - Christmas lights, glowing candles, and St Peter’s Church looking slightly eerie in the almost-twilight ❄️✨🎄🍬
The window of Fitzbillies cake shop in Cambridge, featuring a macaron Christmas tree and a larger pink Christmas tree decorated with Chelsea bun baubles The window of a florist decorated with Christmas lights in shades of pink and purple, along with some cotton wool snow and a white pompom wreath Battery candles glowing softly behind some festive greenery (holly and ivy) St Peter’s Church, Cambridge, seen from the churchyard. It’s just before twilight on a wintry afternoon and the half-light makes it look slightly eerie.
November 30, 2024 at 5:40 PM
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IMPORTANT SEQUINS UPDATE: I bought the dress (obviously), and it’s about to make its sparkly debut in Cambridge ✨
A head-and-shoulders picture of Elizabeth, who is wearing an off-the-shoulder rose gold sequinned dress.
November 29, 2024 at 6:24 PM
elizadearnley.bsky.social
Frosted maple leaf on Bruntsfield Links 🍁❄️
A maple leaf covered with frost in the sunlight.
November 28, 2024 at 3:26 PM
elizadearnley.bsky.social
Oh amazing!! I love that whole room so much, but I always go to see her in particular (plus the Lanvin dress!)
An iridescent, lilac-coloured shot silk dress with petal-like panels hanging from the waist embroidered with a few tiny pink, yellow and blue flowers, designed by Jeanne Lanvin in the 1920s. The whole dress looks like something a lilac fairy would wear.
November 27, 2024 at 11:24 AM
elizadearnley.bsky.social
This sapphire dream of a gown reminds me of its green velvet sister in the National Museum of Scotland, also from the 1880s - just LOOK at that colour, like wearable moss 💚
A moss-green velvet gown from the 1880s with a bustle and high neck, seen from the side The same moss-green velvet gown from the 1880s with a bustle and high neck, seen from the front
November 27, 2024 at 12:46 AM
elizadearnley.bsky.social
First snow in Edinburgh! ❄️✨❄️✨
The Meadows in Edinburgh covered in snow, looking down an avenue of trees Two trees with snow on the trunk, looking up into the branches, with a few orange, brown and green leaves still left there A tree covered in snow on the Meadows in Edinburgh, where someone has traced a heart into the snow on the trunk A snowman made of three huge snowballs with a carrot nose and twig arms
November 23, 2024 at 11:56 AM
elizadearnley.bsky.social
I made a GLOWING LEAF MOBILE 🍂🍃✨
November 21, 2024 at 6:26 PM