Oh, the Suspense!

Oh, I'm so nervous! This Monday I had my first exam for getting a scholarship for my masters degree and yesterday was the second one. Funny thing, I forgot my portfolio for the second exam and had to rush home to get it. And there's a thing I'll now remember:

 constantly make new stuff, so your portfolio remains fresh and up to date with your current level

 keep your works in one folder so you don't scavenger hunt them all over your hard drive

and finish stuff you begin! I had a ton more new pencil sketches, that I initially was planning to complete in color, than I had good recent works to show. Of course not all would be finished or good for the portfolio, but still.

Overall the exam went well -  the final results, I hope, will be in today, I simply can't wait any longer!

This will determine, whether I'll be working with graphic design (and I really want to get more things going on for me in this field), or I'll be working trice as much as I do now to afford costume design lessons that'll allow me to try out for a masters degree in a few years. And, seriously - this year they had only 6 people applying for scholarship, when graphic design had 42. Or, maybe I'll focus more on freelance illustration and jewelry designs, we'll see.

A Busy Spring and Surprise Pack Thoughts.

My life was so busy for the last 2 months, that it severely cut into my free time and blogging. I've held a luckypack sale, got a new camera, visited Prague, finished my seamstress 2-year long course and a lot of stuff in between. Unfortunately, making new designs wasn't one of them - though I got really inspired along the way and have some pretty awesome ideas in the works, I've yet to make them. But all in due time, and since a post about my trip would be too big for me to come up with at 1 a.m., I'll collect some thoughts on the Surprise Pack sale I had prior to that trip.

A lil something from Prague to lighten up the mood.

 The sale turned out with a quite larger demand, than I expected, so, unfortunately, major delays in shipping were had. And, communication - I really gotta work on that. But this is obvious, so I'll cut to the part that concerned me after several buyers received their items.

What did I consider to be a "large pack" - a pack with more expensive designs. I opted for this versus the common "bigger pack - more stuff" tactic, since I don't really have that much various cheap designs in the gothic and classic category - most of them are earrings, and not so many would be happy to get a pack with only earrings and rings in it. Though i though it'd be a good idea, so the partakers can get more expensive items and a variety (even matching sets), not everyone was pleased with the number of items. Well, it was a SP, no matter how I tried to carter to requests of items and colors, it's logical that not everyone would be happy.

So, right now, planning a potential Surprise Pack sale, what should I consider? The same tactic of "value>amount" (and state it even clearer in the sales info) or come up with simpler and cheaper designs for a good fill-up? Since I actually make-to-order these packs, as I do all my stuff, so the buyer has a lot more options and won't get stuck with some after-con leftovers - what would work better?

I have a quite busy summer schedule, so the next SP sale probably won't be up till autumn (or at least late August), so I'll have quite some time to figure things out, but I'd be really grateful if my readers would share their opinion on how they like their luckypacks to be.

Super Surprise Sale!

A sudden special offer from me! The contents of the Packs may differ from the photos, but will include items from my store. I'll try my best to combine different types of items when possible. If you'd like to order, leave a comment stating the type and size of the pack, what color you'd like as the main and a way of contacting you for an invoice (or send me a message on Tumblr or Facebook with your paypal address).

On the First Day of Spring

Today I received quite an interesting and sudden offer - one of my friends asked if I and my BF could make a cake for her wedding! Truly, this is the most unexpected commission I've ever received. After a short talk with my BF, we decided to accept the challenge - after all, this is a rare opportunity and an awesome answer of a wedding gift! Lucky for us, we have 1,5 months beforehand to decide on the taste and decor (the bride wants it to be a surprise!) and for me to practice working with icing - I've been waiting for quite a while to try out making sugar flowers.

I also offered to work on the wedding jewelry and as soon as I get to see the dress sketches, I'll get going. This is such an exiting experience, I think I'll spend at least a week browsing for cake decor ideas!

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.

 

New Year, New Goals and Hopes.

Happy New Year, everybody! Hope you had a wonderful time celebrating and resting, had some fun and something yummy! The last days of December were very tiresome for me, not only because there was some unfinished shopping, - in Russia we give presents not for Christmas, but on New Year, - but also because I was very anxious  to start new projects, that would make my room a battlefield of clay, textiles and other craft stuff. And I couldn't afford such a mess, since I really didn't want to spend the last days of the year cleaning it all up and having unfinished projects lying around. So, a new year and a new crisp clean start for new ideas!

Since I haven't started anything yet, it'll be just right to make some resolutions to line up all the toughts and plans for the upcoming year:

make a print. At least one finished garment. I have the ideas, time, skills and funds, so there really isn't an excuse.

sew more. For myself, make textile accessories and garments for my indie brand.

learn new polymer clay techniques and expand styles I can work in. Wanted to start making wedding jewelry for quite a while.

set up a personal web site. Etsy is fine and dandy, but doesn't always cut it.

draw more and try out watercolors. Got several sketch books as presents, better put them to good use.

be more physically active - go to a gym or pick up dancing.

try to get back into collage for either a major degree or pick up fashion design from the begining.

stop procrastinating!

renovate my room. Repaint the walls, the furniture, get some new book shelves, curtains and decor. A lot more stuff to do, but possible step by step.

be a better person - less jealousy and gossiping, more focusing on being productive myself and forgiving toward others.

be happy and get the most out of every day!

Well, that's quite a list! I'm pretty sure that I've forgot something and that there will be more resolutions thoughout the year, but for today I'm done, so I'll finish off with the cutest teapot and jar set my BF got me this New Year.

I think Pinky Pie found herself a new hat and home, hehe! The jars will be so great as jewelry boxes.

Happy Holidays!

Just dropping by to wish everyone a merry Christmas or any other festive celebration you have this season! Since it's most likely the last post of 2011 (as far as I know how I updated recently X) ), I'd also like to wish all my readers a fruitful and happy New Year - filled with fun, friendship, granted wishes and truely magical moments!

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.

Halloweekend

Hope you all had a nice spooky celebration this year - I sure have! Attended a small Halloween-themed fest where I finally had a chance to use a la Catrina get up. Nothing too fancy, but really cool and fun!

Me and my friend - can you say "thrilled to be here"? XD

I've wanted to make some skull jewelry for quite a while and here I finally got an excuse, hence the necklace. I'm quite pleased with the results, so there most likely will be new additions to my gothic jewelry line, mostly some neat OOAK stuff.

Out Of Season Blossoms

Hi all! Just wanted to give you all a sneak peek of my current project - I'm thinking of expanding my jewelry target audience and I'm thinking big.

I'm also currently busy planning my e-book on polymer clay - some tips, tricks and tutorials for beginners. Not sure if it'll go through, if I'll gather enough interesting material... Well, time will tell. I don't know how many people would actually be interested, but it's worth a shot)).