Blizzard!!!

I had a feeling this would be the year: after so many mild winters, we in the northeast are getting slammed with multiple snowstorms. Last weekend we had around 2 feet and tomorrow we are going to probably get at least one more. Where in the world will we put it all??

I have to say I do love snow days when I don't have to be anywhere. My favorite thing to do would be to cuddle up on the couch with a good book or movie and a nice big cup of chai but what I actually do is lock myself in my work room and have at it. I try to spend the time finishing up old projects, organizing, and custom orders if I have any. Last weekend I spent some time playing around with new materials to use in my giant feather wings: just wait till you see what I have come up with! I am working on better ways to make the long fabric faux feathers and I think I have finally found the perfect medium. In addition to that, I am working on making feathery fabrics that actually move. I know, I know, I have been pondering that question for ages, and I am sure I have mentioned it before, but now I am actually at the hands on stage, having already worked on a frame that shows a whole lot of promise.

AND last weekend I finally (FINALLY!!!!!) finished making my first two pairs of cello wings. Yes, that would be the two pairs that I started oh, maybe nearly three years ago and never got around to finishing. Yes, that would be the frames I spent tons of time making, then managed to mangle when I got to the adding of the cello stage. I ended up getting so frustrated that I balled them up, dropped them into the bag and tried to forget about how much time I had wasted on that epic failure. But since I can't throw anything away, I ended up carting them along when I moved to my new apartment, where they continued to languish ignored. But since my unspoken goal for this year is to complete my old abandond projects, I dug them out last weekend and reapplied myself to the task. They turned out fantabulous, but now I need to find some time to take the darn pictures! *sigh* Ooooo, if we have a snow day tomorrow, that will be at the top of my ungodly long to-do list!

:) I have my music on random and Breakin Benjamin's "Forget it" just came up - love that song, no idea why, but it might be pretty darn near the top of my all time favorites list.

Treasury Feature!

Thanks so much to Kiamichi7 for featuring my Raphael white feather angel wings in her lovely angel treasury!

Treasury Feature!

Huge Thank You to CatsMeowVintage for including my Titania Crown in her latest treasury collection!

Mini Wings!

These Mini Wings are a prototype for a custom order, based on my Annora small fairy wing design. The purple one is a clip and the other is a foam back sticker. Each tiny pair of wings measures 3" across and is 1 1/2" tall. They are so cute! I think I may start making hair pins

Holding Hands with Cezanne While Wandering Memory Lane

Last Saturday, my sister, mom and her boyfriend and I all piled into the car and made our way into the city to visit the Philadelphia Museum of Art. My mom is a painter by nature and LOVES Cezanne, so my sister bought her the tickets as a birthday present.
I tagged along, and spent most of my time making sotto voice comments to my sister about composition, color and paint application. As much as I despise small crowded areas, I actually found my self surprised at how much I enjoyed the exhibit. When I studied painting in college, I had this one professor who also regularly expressed his devout admiration for the works of Cezanne, and I have to say I never really got it. I always thought his work was bland, and with my love of brilliant pop art I suppose that is not surprising. Maybe the difference was seeing it in person as opposed to a picture in a book, but I could fully appreciate his planar brush strokes and attention to the minutest color detail and how well his pictures were composed, even bending trees to his designer's whim. And I loved seeing exactly how old these pictures are-again, something you just cannot appreciate from a book. I had to keep arms crossed sometimes so I wouldn't be tempted to reach out and experience the tactile joy of all the textures from the layers upon layers of paint. I hate to say it, but it actually made me want to paint again, and I haven't picked up a brush since I graduated from college some five (ahem!) years ago. That actually has something to do with same said painting professor haranguing me to with in an inch of my sanity....

Going to the Maryland Fairy Festival!

I opened my inbox this morning to find my acceptance letter to be a vendor at the 2009 Maryland Faerie Festival waiting for me! Yea!
I am really excited about this year-they moved it back to May so we will not be faced with the potential for sweltering heat like last July. This has always been my favorite event of the year, so I am thrilled to be able to be a part of it again.
Over the next two months I am going to be in production overdrive, making sure I have enough products ready!

Springtime in the Glen-FAE Artist Spring Exhibition

The Fantasy Artists of Etsy are at it again, and this time we are unveiling our fresh spring creations for a new Exhibition, Springtime in the Glen. This lovely collection was once again curated by the talented Aquariann.
Take a few moments and traverse the winding path through our woodland glen and let the springtime magic fill your senses!

Sharing the Magic at Mardi Gras!

My friends at Earth&State in Media, PA decided to mix things up this year for their Mardi Gras Celebration. They brought a selection of my leather masks to one of the bars for the State Street bar crawl and set up a photo opportunity to have patron's pictures take wearing my fantasy masks.
Just check out some of these pictures!

Thanks Drew and Heather-it looks like everyone had a blast!!!

New and Improved: Potion Bottle Necklaces

Back when I first started my etsy shop, I created these lovely potion bottle necklaces: they were little round glass bottles that I decorated with findings and beads and suspended on a chain to make them wearable. I filled them with fairy dust (ahem...glitter) and that just added to the loveliness. I made about a half dozen to start and after months and months, sold a grand total of two. In my disappointment over a product I adored, I let them fester in thier jewelry boxes and in the back of my mind for the better part of a year.
Then one day as I was doing a little housekeeping (i.e. moving piles of my supplies around trying to find something...) I stumble upon my sparking beauties. And realized that they could use some jazzing up!
So I pulled out my well loved pliers & wire cutters and my truely scary bead stash and got to work. I further embellished the few I had started so long ago and then found in the bottom of a jewelry supply case that I had purchased more bottles and promptly forgotten about them. Well, I couldn't just leave them there, so they have been jewelerified as well!

Here is one of the new ones: my Purple Pearl Fairy Potion Bottle Necklace! I just think this peice is so charming with the cascade of pears and crystals, the teardrop rhinestone charm and the little silver fairy charm. This one is filled with extra fine silver glitter for all you pixie dust lovers out there.

And here is one of the revised ones: my Silver Rose Potion Bottle Necklace. The vintage silver rose with a rhinestone center was the original focal point of this necklace. The shell hearts and snowflake beads are from the first incartnation, but the luminous white stick pearls, swarovski crystals, silver pearls and teardrop charm are new. This necklace is suspended on an extra long chain and is sold empty so you can fill it wit your poision, er, potion of choice.

I have many more to follow; all the work is done and the pictures are taken, but I am having trouble finding time to post anything new!

Come See My New Etsy Store!

I've been making plans for my 2009 business direction and I decided that this is the year to work on more wedding related items. So to that end, I decided to open a new, separate Etsy shop just for weddings.
So for your shopping pleasure, please visit FairyTaleWedding!!!
I posted a few things to start, and many more will follow!




In other news, I visited a new specialist last week and he has declared that I need to have surgery in the next month or so. I am not so thrilled about this, and we both think it may not help, but at least it's a start. So don't be surprised in a few weeks when you see my stores are inactive for about a week because I can't make it to the post office.

New Product Announcement!

A few weeks ago, while toiling away on my leather masks, I had a flash of inspiration. I had a sudden vision of a glowing, jewel encrusted wire mask, that would mold to the contours of you face, enhancing not hiding your natural beauty.
It took almost a week to construct the first one, but here are a few pictures to give you an idea of what this new product line is going to look like:






I have a really unique feature that I have never seen done before: instead of wearing this mask with ribbon ties or elastic, it is worn like a pair of glasses, with adjustable arms that hook around your ears. Being tie free, it will not interfere with your hair style or other headdress items.
This mask is woven non-tarnish artistic wire in three different gages and accented with tiny clear irridecent seed beads, fire-polished and swarovski crystals. It is also light as a feather, not feeling much heavier than say, a large pair of sunglasses.
:)

Silicone Rubber Mold Making Tutorial

I am working on a nifty new project that requires me to create something I never have before-icicles.
After doing some research, I decided cast them out of a clear resin epoxy, such as Easy Cast, which was available at my local craft store (Michael's).
I dusted off my mold making knowledge from sculpture class in college and snapped a few pictures along the way so I could share it with you.
This method is for making casts of small items. Bigger objects would require a plaster "jacket" for support when casting!

Materials:
-The item(s) you are planing to cast.
-Silicone Caulk and caulk gun-available at your local hardware store, usually in or near the paint section. Make sure you purchase 100% silicone-not the white latex adhesives, they will not work.
-A plastic bucket half filled with warm water
-Liquid dish soap
-Cooking Spray (Pam)
-Saran wrap and masking tape (to protect work surface)
-Vasaline
-Vapor breath mask

Preperation
Work in a well-ventilated area and wear a protective mask: the fumes of the silicone are very noxious. Cover a section of your work area with the saran wrap and edge with the masking tape. This is to keep the silicone from sticking to your table.
I made my icicles out of microcrystaline modeling wax, built on 14 gage wire. Make sure your item(s) are clean and dry, then spray a coat of cooking spray. This is a inexpensive but very effective mold release.

Using the Silicone
Pour some liquid dish soap into your bucket or bowl of warm water and swish the soap around to dilute it. You do not want tons of bubbles, you want to make the water feel super slippery.
Cut the tip off your caulk cartridge, puncture the inner seal and load it into the caulk gun according to the manufacturer's instructions. Squeeze a clump of the caulk into the bucket of soapy water. Using your vasaline-coated hands, reach into the bucket, scoop out the silicone and gently squeeze out the excess water.
Place the wad of silicone on your prepped item, smoothing into the cracks and crevices. Repeat until you have well covered your item(s). Check for any holes or gaps that need to be plugged. This will be a reusable mold, so I made made it about a quarter inch thick all over with a little extra on the bottom and sides for strength. I used about 2 1/2 cartridges of silicone for this little project.

Finishing
The silicone will dry rapidly in the air. I usually let it cure for 24 hours, which also gives a chance for some of the fumes to dissipate. After it is well dried, remove your casted item and wash both with warm soapy water.