I am really fond of the plant Lady’s Mantle and have borders full of it in my garden. The leaves look a bit like half opened umbrellas and the greenish yellow flowers grow tall from their centres. I love that in the morning after dew, it looks as if each leaf holds a shining pearl.

It is the soft hairs on these leaves that catch the dew and hold onto it, even when other plants in the same area are perfectly dry. This liquid used to be called “ Celestial Water” and was thought to have strange properties. The water was prized by herbalists and used by them to treat wounds and infertility. Alchemists also prized the fluid for its purity and used it to try to turn base metal into gold. The plants Latin name Alchemilla means “Little Alchemist”.

The name seems to have become Christianised during the Middle Ages when it was changed to Our Lady’s Mantle which eventually became Lady’s Mantle. In 1653 Culpepper stated that it was “one of the most singular wound herbs that is”. I enjoy the idea of this slightly mysterious magical plant growing in my garden and have started to use the imaging to display my jewellery.

I have made some felt in the appropriate colour and cut out Lady's Mantle leaf shapes in various sizes.

I have hand stitched the veins and intend to use these leaves to display some of my jewellery.

I have also designed a small sign post that has been made out of MDF to hang earrings from. I have painted the sign post to match the colour of my boxes and added some felt and a small leaf at the bottom of the post.