Open for Business!

Now that I am officially reopening my Etsy store for business, let me tell you what is new and improved about my wings.

As much as I loved the frame design that I had spent eight years developing, I wanted to make my wings sturdier and for the back piece (which holds everything together) to have a smaller footprint, which in turn, makes the wings look more natural.  So I went back to the drawing board, and came up with a new idea.

As you can see, my wings are now built on a sturdy fabricated metal ring, and the straps are now attached to metal D-rings to allow for more movement and comfortable wear.  But no worries - they are still hinged to fold open and closed for ease of movement.  The new design leaves the center of the back open, which not only looks more natural, it makes it super easy to display your wings - just hang them from a decorative hook and you have a beautiful piece of wall art to enjoy!

But because of the design change, I am left with no where to place an unobtrusive tag.  Instead I will sign each pair and attach a custom made, removable hanging tag which will included the style name, manufacture date, series number and care instructions as a certificate of proof that your wings are an original work of art.

I have also decided to retire some of my older designs to make way for new ones.  So if you are looking for something in particular, please check in as I may not be making it any more - but I would be happy to offer alternative ideas.

So after three weeks of physical therapy, my sprained wrist/hand is sort of usable again. Needless to say, I can't wait until I can get back to work. I have a bunch of projects piling up on me, not to mention all the things I need to get done for my wedding. Only 108 days to go!

This is Kaylee! I believe I have shown you this design before, but this particular pair turned out so charming that I just had to share them. (Yes, they are named after the character from Firefly.) They are made with steely blue organza and are detailed with black and super sparkly silver paint. The antennae are covered with black ribbon and tipped with crystals and the back is decorated with a matching blue flower and black goose feathers. The whole effect is elegantly gothic!

Oh No She Didn't! Chibi Wings!

Oh yes she did!

I have created the ultimately adorable chibi-stlye feathery angel wings!

For those of you who do not know, chibi is a term used in reference to anime charaters that have been simplified into a child-like or diminutive style.

So here is Cherubial!

Treasury Feature!

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

Gabriel Black Feather Small Angel Wings

This is the first of 4 new small feather wing designs I am working on. Gabriel is 29" across and 12.5" high. Four medum feather wing styles will be soon to follow!

Custom Luna Moth Wings

Just finished this gorgeous pair of Luna Moth wings for a lovely lady in Canada to wear to Faeriecon this year. Lunas actually have reddish purple veins and outer edges, but I made them navy blue this time to match her dress.

Just Finished: Customized Small Fairy Wings

This pair of small fairy wings in my Hilary design were customized for a little girl to wear to her mother's wedding. The white edges are a little unusual for me, since my standard is to paint the edges a darker color for contrast. This time, I painted the inside and left the edges the white of the fabric.

Instant Faerie Kit

I made this gorgeous little outfit as a charitable donation for a benefit one of my friends held this month.
The "Instant Faerie Kit" includes a pair of small fairy wings (this is Anorra #14), a matching tulle tutu, a feather wand, a glitter fairy dust necklace, and a tiny sparkle tiara.
It turned out so darn cute I may have to start making them to sell, or at the very least start making order forms for sets in custom colors and sizes.

Treasury Feature!

Huge THANK YOU to fundamentalfindings for including me in her bewinged treasury!

Maryland Faerie Festival 2009

The 2009 Maryland Faerie Festival was a blast. The weather was cooperative (for the most part) this year, with a bit of rain Saturday and Sunday morning but clearing up for the rest of the day. Saturday was gorgeous and warm and the fae creatures were out in force. I saw dragons and trolls, tons of sprites, fairies and pixies of all sizes, even a parade of greenmen blessing the faire.
I remembered to bring my camera, and took some pictures of happy customers to share with you:

































On Sunday, I loaned my Fire Fairy Tiara to a charming young Faerie Queen named Sophie so she could preside over the day's festivities in regal style.


In all, I would have to say it was a very good event. The attendees braved the morning gloom to frolic in the afternoon sun and I was thrilled to see several fairies bedecked in my wings from previous years flutter by to say hello.

I just realized that I don't have any pictures of myself, but the night before I left for the festival I made a black fox mask to wear with my furry black fox tail. I *may* have scared a few children, being accidentally mistaken for a wolf. I will post pictures of my mask and a few other new ones once I finish unpacking.

Ordering Custom Wings Just Got Easier!

After receiving several requests for custom wings for flower girls and brides, I decided to add a way to easily order custom wedding wings from my FairyTaleWedding Etsy store.

Customers can now specify their desires based on the following criteria:

1. The base fabric color-I use organza and crystal organza for a sturdy wing base, and it is available in a rainbow of colors. (a color chart of available colors is forthcoming, but I can also do special buys if you are looking for something special).




2 The painted edging color-I can airbrush the edging to match just about any color as long as a good color swatch is provided.








3. Ribbons-these are the straps the hold the wings on, so you can pick a color that matches the wings or the outfit you plan on wearing (or go strapless, +$10)







4. The back decorations-I use a variety of items to decorate my wings including silk flowers/leaves, all sorts of feathers, gems, and fabric paint. Please be specific in your description of colors or the style in which you wish your wings to be decorated.





At the moment I have all five of my small fairy wing designs available and my Bella large fairy wings-one of my most popular designs. I will be adding more just as soon as I finish editing some pictures. And as always, I am more than happy to create custom wings to fit your needs!

Featured on Handmade Philly

I am so excited to be one of the local artisans feature on Handmade Philly's blog this week!
Sarah of lilithsapothocary wrote this lovely spring theme article and featured my gold Anna Maria wings:

Happy Spring!

Today is the first day of spring for 2009 which puts me in a frame of mind for some serious house cleaning. Not actual cleaning mind you, but more reorganizing and rephotographing!
I pulled all my wings down and took inventory a few days ago and was aghast to see that some of my decorating was unfortunately not very attractive. So I pulled them apart and made them beautiful!
I also took some time and re-photographed these reborn wings on my white background. As you can see, the colors show up so much better:

Aren't they adorable!!!
I still feel like I don't have enough light to work with, so I am saving up for another lamp with a boom extension so I can give it true overhead lighting and try to reduce some of the shadows.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

While I decided to forgo the grand holiday tradition of imbibing in way too much green beer and participating in Irish drinking song marathons this year, I am going to share with you a gorgous pair of luminous green fairy wings.

This is a variation on my Christina design, and is about 10" larger all around.
Wingspan: 44"
Overall Height: 40"
The fabric is a combination of aloe green crystal organza and sheer white organza, stitched together in a butterfly inspired pattern. The wire casing is matching green satin ribbon and the decoration on the back is sheer organza and velvet rose petals with crystal centers.

FAE Team LOVE AT FIRST FLIGHT Exhibition!!

Once again, the lovely Aquariann has out done herself! Please stop by and see the first showcase of talent the Fantasy Artists of Etsy has to offer for 2009-you won't be disappointed!
There are painting, sculptures, jewelry, wings, magic vials and more. I just love the Fairy Pockets by SEStudio.

I'm Featured on the StylePhile Blog!

Jamie from Style-Phile has posted an interview with me about my line of dragon wings on their new blog!!!

On the left you can see the first incarnation of my dragon wings modeled by this charming young man-er, dragon-at the Maryland Fairy Festival back in 2006.
I recently re-designed the line (see this post about my baby dragons)
to include two new baby dragons and two large dragons.



Here are pictures of Bastian (the gold one) and Edward (the green one), my two new large designs.
These wings were designed with teens and adults in mind, so I nixed the tail (I thought it would look silly hanging from the middle of their back) and went for matching felt spikes instead. The frame is the same sturdy wire one I use in my fairy wings, the one that opens and closes and the lock clips so you don't have to tie them on. I am working on a Goliath sized pair of the Bastian design, but I think they don't look masculine enough.

43rd Annual Media Arts and Crafts Festival

On Sunday, June 1st I spent the day on State Street in Media, PA for their annual Arts and Crafts festival, sponsored by TownTalk, the local newspaper. It is a juried show for local artists and artisans to exhibit and sell their handmade works.
Here are some pictures of my set up: I LOVE my EZ-up tent, it is huge, sturdy and easy to use. The only problem with it is that you need at least two people to set it up. So I dragged my sister, Carisa, out of her warm bed at 6:45am to help me set up.
My crazy set up takes a minimum of an hour and a half to put together. A few years back I decided to lash together some coated wire shelves to hang my wings on-it was the sturdiest thing I could come up with on a shoestring budget. I use metal shower curtain hooks to hand the wings and curtain pins to hang the masks.
I had so many people walk by with their mouths hanging open-I suppose this isn't something you expect to see at a local craft show. They are usually even more flabbergasted when I tell them, "Yes, I did make all of this myself." And then there is the question about my wings that never gets asked at fairy festivals: "But what are they for?"
But even with my colorful display of wings and masks and a table full of glittering crowns, tiaras and crochet wire jewelry, the most eye-catching and crowd stopping thing at my tent was the flower decorations I hung from the tent frame.
I took these giant daisy-like flowers my mom gave me a few years ago, popped out the centers, strung them with looped wire and tied on ribbons to hang them from the tent frame so I could have an up-side down garden inside. I had no less than a dozen people ask me how much they were so I guess next year I will have to make some to sell!

The Baby Dragon Wings are flying FREE!

I finally finished my two new baby dragon wing designs!
I am most proud to unveil Isaac and Jacob!














I made nine pairs to start in all different colors.
I made these with all the little boys dragged to fairy festivals in mind. The Isaas wings are curvy and elegant, measuring only 25" in wingspan. The Jacob wings are sharp and bold, measuring 35" in wingspan. The tail hangs down about 21" from the top. I just love the tail; dragon wings are fantastic, but without the tail how do they know you are a dragon??



The big brother version is next on my list to finish-they are sized for teens and adults, but made without the tail. I'm still trying to decide if I am going to make separate tails that go around your waist...

Farewell, Dark and Blurry Pictures!

Whew!
I just spent the whole weekend rearranging my tiny workroom so I could fit in a permanent photography corner. I have tubs of supplies now stacked to my ceiling but I don't care as long as the pix are better!
AND here to the left is an idea of what it looks like! In my traditional ghetto fabulous style, I used a clothing rack (that my boyfriend actually trash-picked for me-that is true love there!) and used it to hang a large panel of muslin that I dyed a pale gray. A second, smaller piece covers the floor and the base of my dress form. Then I went nuts at home depot and bought a bunch of clamp lamps and 100 watt bulbs so I could place them above, in front and on each side to minimize shadows. My next project will be to make diffusers for the lamps to reduce harsh shadows.
So my picture taking possibilities went from this (red) to this (gray).
I am pretty happy with the results at the moment. I still think I need a lot more light though.


And while I am on the subject, how about a peek at my ever-so ghetto fabulous light box! I made this baby out of a mid-sized card board box.
The sides and top are sheets of velum and the back to bottom curved sheet is watercolor paper-I wanted the toothy texture on mine. You can see my lovely clamp lamps in action-just remember not to leave them on long or unattended-this is a fire hazard from all the heat generated by the lamps and it must be watched when in use! I know it is not pretty or super professional, but it really does get the job done. My jewelry pictures are sooooo much better now than before I made it-see the difference in the two pictures here of my aquatic potion bottle necklace: on the left is before and on the right is after. Yikes!
Good pictures are uber important, that cannot be emphasized enough. They are your calling card, how your customers recognize your work and your self-representation all rolled into one little package.