Otakon 2011: The Aftermath + My West Coast Adventure

Aaaand I'm back, from the world's longest hiatus, to post the world's longest backlog of drafts!

As of my last update, Little Macaron & I were finishing up our products and displays in preparation for selling at Otakon in August. I was also able to model for Little Macaron in the Ultimate Lolita Fashion Show (which showcased many talented indie North American seamstresses!) and for Alice & the Pirates in their BTSSB/AatP Fashion Show!

My look for the Little Macaron show was from the "One Piece Luffy Pirates" line, and included a high waisted, asymmetrical skirt made with the most adorable imported fabric featuring characters from the anime One Piece, and a ruffly white underskirt.

Photo by Petrina Cheng

All of the models were decked out in Roserie pieces, that matched their respective looks. Clay Luffy charms for the One Piece girls, and Queen Candy necklaces for that line!

Finally, the signature look for the close of the show, "Pretty in Dots", was modeled by our friend Yanise. For this look, I created a 3-strand pearl choker, with pink Swaroski crystal tear and heart drops. (Closer images coming up soon.)

In between prepping for shows, we sold our handmade goods in the Artist's Alley, and the turnout was greater than I could have ever hoped!

The Sweet vs. Classic table on Day 1!

I sold out of almost my entire inventory (including ALL of my necklaces and chokers), and even did a few commissions on the spot since I brought my tools and a bunch of extra supplies. Both of us did very well throughout the weekend, thanks so much to all of our customers, and everyone who just stopped by to chat!

Us with Masumi of Baby, the Stars Shine Bright, and Mitsuba of Alice and the Pirates!

As if the weekend wasn't hectic enough, I packed up most of my belongings and moved to Los Angeles 2 days later. I moved out here for an internship in my field, but I've also been having a blast with going to all of the Street Fashion events here and meeting all kinds of awesome people. Hopefully I can get some more crafting done soon!

New Items for Otakon!

As I mentioned a few months ago, Roserie and Little Macaron will be vending at Otakon in Baltimore, MD (July 29th-31st)! We can be found in The Artist Alley at booth T10/T11. Little Macaron will also be participating in this year's Ultimate Lolita Fashion show, which showcases the work of many talented American lolita designers. I've made a few accessories to go with some of LM's new pieces, so look out for them at our table after the fashion show.

There's almost a week left until the con, and I've been beading, cutting, linking, and glueing nonstop for the past 2 weeks. The first new item is one that I've been working on since the beginning of Roserie, but only recently came up with all of the supplies to make it possible.

This one has been dubbed "Antique Rose". Not only was it the first necklace I designed specifically for Roserie, but I think it's a perfect representation of the Roserie brand image. The pendant is a resin rose, layered on top of a brass finding, and hung from a stamped brass chain. Below hangs a brass bow charm adorned with a tiny resin rose, and finished with a Swarovski crystal tear drop. I've also made pairs of matching rose earrings!

It currently comes in 2 colors:

Ivory Cream

Peachy Pink

I hope to make and sell many more colors of these sets in the future! Antique Rose brooches (currently in progress) will also be available at the table.

Next up, is a necklace to match the Little Macaron "Queen's Candy"-inspired line, Ribbon Pearl. Along with the bracelets, I plan on having 5 different colorways of this style with a variety of pendants, including ones more appropriate for darker styles.

Just one of many pendant designs I hope to offer!

I will try to make another update before up to the con as more supplies arrive and pieces are finished, and I will highlight some of the lolita events of interest as schedule information comes out. 8 days to go!

New Commission + New Items

I'm back with updates, as promised!

A piece I've been very excited to share is a commission for a customer who wanted something to match a new pink JSK they were ordering from Baby, the Stars Shine Bright, so I created a pink version of the Madeleine necklace. This version is made with gorgeous Rosaline Swarovski Elements crystal pearls (note the crystal bicone bead on the pendant, very different from the sample!) and is accented with gold findings.

Customer Photo: Pink & Gold Scallops!

While trying clear out of of the stock of beads I have, I came up with a neat little bracelet design. I usually don't wear many bracelets, because I have a tiny wrist and dislike having obstructions near my hands. But these are fairly simple to make so I plan on making a bunch to sell at cons this summer! This beading pattern was inspired by Little Macaron's new "Queen's Candy" collection. The current colors listed below are now available in my Etsy shop, but they can be made in almost any color, feel free to shoot me a message if you have any ideas for a custom piece that you'd like!

Cream x Bronze

Pale Pink x Pink x Gold

Black x Pink x Gold

Speaking of selling at cons, look out for Little Macaron & Roserie at the Artist's Alley at Otakon 2011 (July 29th-31st at the Baltimore Convention Center), look out for more event annoucements soon!

Update!

Hey all!

I'm still here and working on some new pieces, had go on a but of a hiatus due to school winding down soon, but I've been hard a work on a few commissions that I hope to be able to post soon. Speaking of which, if you are interested in a commission, I can be contacted via the e-mail form on my Contact page linked above, or through the Etsy conversation system if you hold an account with them.

Be back soon!

Crafting Archives: Alice Swap

About 2 years ago, I participated in an Alice in Wonderland-themed craft swap. The one item that I was most excited to make was a shadow box. The inside is filled with a hand cut-out Alice silhouette, surrounded by sprays of flying playing cards, and mounted on a checkered rose background.

Out of the box...

...and inside the box, mounted on the wall.

Favorite part, flying cards!

This was my first shadow box, and I enjoyed making it so much that I spent the bulk of my budget for this entire project on supplies for this. This is still the only shadow box I've ever made, but in the future I'd love to make more literary and/or fantasy-themed ones. Wizard of Oz, anyone?

What would an Alice-themed set be without a Mad Hatter piece! This was made to be worn as either a mini top hat, or a just as a nice shelf decoration.

My swap partner mentioned that she liked necklaces, and I just happened to have these adorable tea set charms laying around.

Paired with a Casual Lolita sweater!

This next piece started out as a rather Mister Rogers-looking cardigan, so I added a card appliqué and replaced the buttons with playing card ones. Then I jazzed up the collar with some venise lace.

After a few fairly large pieces, I thought I'd add in some items more appropriate for everyday use...

Victorian hair pins...

... and some background music to set the mood for your next tea party!

After making all of this stuff in 1 day, I worked up quite the appetite. Luckily my neighborhood back home in Philly is home to a wonderful bakery called Bredenbeck's, which has been around since 1889! I picked up a box of petit fours, brewed a pot of mint melange, and threw on my "Tea Party jams". It was a good day.

Tiny frosted vanilla cakes filled with jam...I always have to visit when I'm back home!

Madeleine is Here!

Good news - I've finished what was previously known as "that pearl necklace". It is now known as "Madeleine", and is now available for sale in my Etsy Shop, at a *Grand Opening* introductory price for the first customer!

At first I was having trouble coming up with a name, but as I was writing the Etsy listing I was listening to Madeleine Peyroux, a superb jazz singer/songwriter and guitarist, and it just stuck. For some people classical music puts them at ease, but my jazz ladies always get me in the mood to design pretty things. :) Without going too far off track, here's the finished product:

As some of you may have noticed, I changed the length of the main strand to keep the lower strand from weighing it down too much, and added a linked chain on the end for length. This way, it can be worn as either a necklace, or a choker!

Longer...

...or shorter? (it can go even shorter than this!)

And a few close ups:

Pendant detail.

My favorite, the little bow charms.

And as a bonus, my finished mirror necklace:

My next goal is to finish gathering supplies to put these up for sale soon, and then it's on to finishing that top secret pink pearl project, plus some Spring pieces!

Crafting Archives: Pirates and Fancy Hats

As many artists do, I get stuck in a creative ruts every now and then. Looking at some of the stuff I've made in the past sometimes helps to get the wheels turning, and that's what these "Crafting Archives" (for lack of a better phrase) posts will be for.

Let's flashback to October 2008, right before Halloween. I was planning my outfit for the Henri David Ball, and wanted to wear my new Alice & the Pirates houndstooth suit. I needed a matching pink tricorn, but every store in State College, PA was fresh out. So I decided to borrow my friend Angela's method of using a cowboy hat at a base, and my local Michael's happened to have a few pink ones in stock. It was made of craft foam, and made for a child's head, but I went with it.

I folded the edges up to make a tricorn shape, and decorated the edges with pink & white ruffles and lace. I also found a little satin bow for decoration, and stuck on of my "Victorian" craft buttons in the center.

Side view...

...and from the front.

While I was out getting supplies, I also picked up some charms to throw together a pirate earring:

The eyes are hearts!

 And a glittery "parrot", which I think was actually meant for holiday season décor:

 Put it all together, and here's the final outfit!

As you can see, I got a bit carried away when it came to purchasing everything in sight that looked like it could work with piratestyle or lolita in some way. While in the "hat section", I also picked up this mini top hat. Which again, was probably made for someone much smaller than myself. Maybe a teddy bear, or a doll...

At first I wasn't sure what to make with this, but a few hours later I had just gotten confirmation that my pre-order for Meta's Swan lake series had gone through. Swan hat needed to happen.

Same satin bow from the last hat, with a different button in the center this time. I wrapped it in white ribbon, and added some beaded faux "Swan" feathers. It isn't shown in the picture, but a member of egl with more hat knowledge suggested that adding black bias tape to the edge of the brim would make it appear more finished, which it did! After letting this one sit on my desk for a few days, I had a feeling that it would look too tacky and cheap, but it ended up going with the skirt very well.

Hopefully I can find more pictures of older projects, writing this post was so helpful to me that I just sketched out a design for a new eyepatch. :)

Samples, Samples, and More Samples

Happy [belated] Singles Awareness Day!

I spent the day treating myself to some long hours of crafting, specifically beading. Some of my supplies finally came in, and I've been working on a few sample pieces that will eventually make their way to my Etsy shop. :)

First up, pearls.

They're all gone now...

Now, neither beading nor making necklaces have ever been my forté. I've always been known as the "earring girl"; making accessories out of re-purposed items like buttons and Scrabble tiles, or sculpting Skittles charms out of polymer clay. So with this particular project, I was able to work on my wire patterning and crimping tool skills, and apply some of what I've learned in Physics class to jewelry making. So far so good! I really wanted to go for a classic lolita aesthetic, something reminiscent of Juliette et Justine.

Unfortunately, I went through almost my entire supply of cream pearls making this, and I need a few more findings to refine certain areas, so it will probably be a few more days before I can put it up in the shop for orders. In the mean time, I'll be working out some of the "gravitational kinks". Luckily I have plenty of tiny brass bow's, which will be seen many more times in upcoming pieces. Never have I been so inspired by such a tiny piece of metal, they're super cute in person! :)

Next up, is a Singles Awareness Day gift to myself. I received a package a few days ago from one of my closest friends, Catrina, for our "friend anniversary", which just happens to fall on February 14th. One of her lovely gifts to me was a silver colored chain with a mirror pendant, which coincidentally was on the list for my next sample supply purchase! (my friends & family pretty much know by now that most jewelry given to me is probably going to be taken apart in some way lol.)

Mixing metals!

The lovely scroll work on the back.

I love the look of linked pearls, but linking them by hand is such tedious work. Right now I'm in the market for more pretty mirrors, these should be up by the end of the month!

And finally, something *top secret*. 

Hmmm....

So this season it's all about bows, pearls, crystals, and 2 more secret ingredients that I hope to post about soon. ;)

And so it begins.

I've been making jewelry for myself and my friends for about 7 years now, and it's taken me this long to finally get a web shop up. I've sold on ebay before, but I've found that Etsy is a much better avenue for independent artisans, and has a lot of great resources for those just starting out!

So I finally took the plunge and opened up a shop, Roserie. Before anyone accuses me of butchering the English language by misspelling the word "rosary", you're half right. I've butchered the French language by misspelling the word "roseraie". All those years of French class, down the drain. Wikipedia sums up it's meaning the best:

Roseraie de L'Haÿ, oldest rose garden in the world.

Basically, it's a garden (or section of a garden) devoted solely to roses. I've always been a huge admirer of French culture and art history, so it stuck. The majority of my pieces for Roserie will have Victorian, Baroque/Rococo, and many other vintage inspirations, including my penchant for Classic Lolita, Early 20th century fashion, and whatever else I can get my crafting hands on.

In this blog, I'll be posting updates to the shop and on my crafting in general, and anything else that seems relevant including a few style inspiration posts. :)