Ahoy there!

Long time no see! Terribly sorry for this, there were a lot, a lot-lot-lot stuff going on, so I simply didn't have any energy or inspiration to write. Things are still big and busy and I promise to write about them (well, if anybody is interested), but for now I'd like to share some new steampunk designs to compensate for such long absence.

So, these are some sweet lil aircrafts, that are up for sale in my shop right now. Hope you like them!

Three Rings for Elven... oops, wrong rings.

Hello, readers! School is still overwhelming me, so things in the new designs department are going slowly - rather than making whole theme collections, winter so far was productive for standalone items. I became really inspired by "Hobbit" and "Rise of the Guardians" this season - so fantastical and magical! I wasn't even planning to see RotG in the first place (never saw the trailers), just had a nothing to do afternoon with my BF. But I loved it. The visualization, the designs, the animation is so lovely... My personal favorite is Sandman, how much more expressive can you get? Even my manicure for the last weeks of 2012 was black with gold crackle - kudos to a fellow fan, who bought me the nail polishes as a gift.

But that didn't spark into designs (I generally avoid making too fandomic designs for a number of reasons), but "Hobbit is a whole other story.

It was a long-long wait. This is one of those fandoms I never outgrew and, most likely, never will. This movie had such a "hey, I'm back home!" feeling, I won't even try to describe. I don't mind minor changes, the movie is, well, as literal as an adaptation can be for a children's fairytale in the spirit of the LotR epicness. I love the elves, I love the dwarves, the orcs and goblins - they are all soooo much as they should be. The landscapes, the architecture, I could barely sit in place when they showed Rivendell, so amazingly beautiful it was. Fantasy eye candy, I've already ordered the book of concept art for the movie.

Hobbit Hole Door ring

Yeah, some moments could be shorter, - the mountain giants did nothing for the movie, and as adorable Sebastian was, that scene could be cut too, - but overall the movie was great, can't wait to see it again!

And I'm most certainly eager for the next movie, when we'll get a good look at Smaug. 

Dragon Egg rings

I love dragons, I collect dragons, I'm a Dragon by the eastern zodiac - why wouldn't I be eager to see him?

I've also started working on other dragon-themed items, but since I want to make the best of it, they'll take some time.

And as far as unexpected journeys go, I still have a taste for vintage items, so, when the two combine - I get this. Lovely voyage suitcase rings, with fine details. Not as fairytale as the others, but I hope as adventurous and interesting.

Vintage Voyage rings

Roses and Cozy Teddies

Since school started, it's been quite a handful to manage - though it's really interesting, I'll get back to that in another post. But, of course, neither learning, nor work don't cancel seasons changing, so I've got some brand new items - last glimpses of autumn and a warm welcome for winter. I, unlike many crafters, don't bother making specifically Halloween designs, though I really love this holiday. But, because of long shipping, I skip it - after all, it's rather strange to advertise pumpkins and ghouls in mid September. So, I spend time on more versatile ideas and making plans for Christmas inventory.

Roses are the most popular theme amongst my customers, so it's only logical I make more designs with them. This time I leaned to something rather simple in form, but that requires skill and patience, since each rose is really small. The chosen colors are dusty rose, ivory, peach (but, of course, I offer to make the design in other too), since autumn always brings out the romance in me and I start to seek warm and tender inspiration. Well, I like that all year long, but autumn is special for this.

 

Speaking of warm - "knitted" jewelry. Hearts and teddy bears, cozy and cute. Spent a lot of time matching the charms for the Vintage Treasures necklace, and there placement, but I think it turned out pretty nice. I've always liked to scavenge through closets in my grandmas house, finding some cool stuff. Too bad there never was an attic to explore, or neither do we have some nifty flea markets around here, but as a child I was satisfied with closet scavenging.

 

Likely the brown bear will stay in my personal jewelry bow, since he's so adorable. I like how he's a bit childish, but somewhat kidult eye-catching, but not hyper sweet. Dunno, he'll stay.

 

 

Among other ideas I had these teddies too, in classic and in sweet colors, but most likely, they won't be included in the inventory. Time showed that my sweet designs don't sell very well - I think it's because the market is overpopulated at this point and some sellers have location advantage, which reflects on the costs. I'm thinking of minimizing the impact and working more in the mori, classic and gothic fields, though I'll try to re-vamp some early sweet designs and give them a new life.

 

 

Dreamy Cupid and Sweet Poor Marie Series

It sometimes takes quite a while before an idea becomes a finished item. Many charms I make or use are left untouched for months before I come up with the right inspiration and compose them into a new piece for my store. This lovely series were heavily inspired by my visit to Europe and the lovely castles. I made a really cute cupid mold after I returned that became the main element for these necklaces, brooches, rings. I have quite a few more ideas in mind, I tied to imitate bisque and old sculptures with tender faded colors. I'm rather pleased with how it turned out especially the first necklace/chocker.

       

Some works in progress.
 

And these charms, at long last, became beautiful necklaces inspired by Marie Antoinette. They also imitate bisque and faded colors of antique items,and, most likely, I'll add new head styles in the future - it's so fun to come up with their hairstyles!

 

 

 

Lil Preview

What's th use of having a blog if not providing the readers with lil bonuses I don't post anywhere else? And since I'm too worked out for a big interesting post about my latest additions to the shop (I'll get on with those though), I'll put up a preview of the pendants I've had in mind for a long time.

 

Winter Fuzzies

The holiday season sure takes up a lot of fime - over the year I worked pretty hard and the increase of orders compared to last year is quite noticable! This is really inspiring, and I'm glad I decided to renew my faux fur accessories collection. I've added some new, more playful designs and am rather pleased with the results - I've been quite inspired by mori and fairy kei, so there may be traces of them here too! Too bad I couldn't find any wine red fur this season, but there is some beautiful jewel blue and green fur I'd like to try out.

Teddy Bear Scoodie - it's lined with fleece for extra warmth!

I've seen that collars are quite popular this year and decided to try out them myself - I drafted a wider version and a narrow one, and decided to decor them with some pearls and roses for a classic look and stars for a sweet fairy-kei look.

I still have quite a few ideas to work on, so this isn't the last fuzzy and warm items to be seen here. The very least, I have a few personal projects planned, which are sure to be posted - there isn't enough non-work posts around here and I'm going to change that.