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. :)