Starstruck

So I have some very cool news regarding my jewelry-making that I'm finally able to share:

One of my necklaces is going to be in a movie! My From the Shadows Gargoyle Guardian gothic necklace is going to be in the movie Beyond the Farthest Star. According to the costume designer who purchased the necklace today, it's not just a costume piece but a major plot point. An adopted teen with a gothic fashion sense meets her biological father, who is interested in coming back into her life. He gets her the necklace because he thinks it's something she'll like, and she ends up wearing it for about half the movie. Family-friendly movie that might end up as just a DVD release, sure. But I'm damn tickled at the whole situation!

The costume designer also said that she found several possible designs on eBay and other stores, but she liked mine best, and the director pointed at it and said it was perfect for what they were going for. She'll keep me apprised of what's going on and whether there will be a screening. They're shooting in Dallas, and part of the contract for shooting somewhere is that you have to purchase a certain percentage of props and costumes and stuff like that in-state. So the fact that the necklace she wanted was in Texas, and close to Dallas, that was just a bonus.

I'm beyond thrilled. :D

What I've Been Up To

What I've been doing lately still isn't breaking a lot of the mold. Mostly, I'm honing the basics, especially wrapping briolettes. The "Absinthe Drops" to the left are larger briolettes made from glass, while the "Somewhere Beyond the Sea" earrings to the right are much smaller briolettes made from blue chalcedony. I'm working my way up until I'm comfortable with nicer stones and possibly nicer wire. I still work with silver plate and brass because I don't trust myself with sterling or gold. However, at least as far as basic wrapping goes, I'm really beginning to trust my hand and the process.

From basic briolette wrapping, I want to try coiling and wire weaving, and general wire sculpture in the jewelry arena. I've started a bit of it with the "Baroness" necklace to the left, the spiral wire wrapping. I'm actually really proud of that one - it's definitely a step up. It took some work with my brass wire before I understood the concept. I'm doing this mostly self-taught, by looking at other people's finished products and watching the path of the wire. At some point, I'm either going to need to buy tutorials or start experimenting on my own. I hope that the experimentation works. At the very least, wire wrapping and wire weaving is my back-up for my glue. I haven't been very pleased with all the attempts I've made to find a dependable glue, especially since, in some cases, soldering isn't an option. Of course, I don't put anything in my shop that I haven't made sure is adhered, but I've had other things that I haven't been able to put into the shop because it just hasn't worked. Wire wrapping can help by holding things together even more, so I may use it and glue together sometimes in order to make some really solid pieces. But I need to trust my wire sculpting skills first. Unfortunately, the cheap crafting wire you get at big craft stores is half hard, which means that it isn't as malleable or as easy to hammer. It makes knowing whether I've got a technique down hard to determine because I don't know how much easier it will be when working with dead soft material.

Another thing that's keeping me from honing my wire-wrapping skill is the need for perfection. It's very frustrating, knowing that practice makes perfect, but that of course it's not going to be perfect when I try. I know it's a stupid, self-defeating way of thinking, but I can't help it. I had planned to try a three-base wire woven bracelet, but I keep putting it off, so I think I'll try a two-base wire woven donut bead bail first, then maybe a teardrop coil pair of earrings. I also want to try some hoop earrings, but I don't have the right oxidized brass wire for that right now. I need 20g, and I only have 21g. It makes a difference. I may try it with the 21g in case it works. Or maybe I can come up with a play on 18g plus 21g. Not sure how I'm going to manage it yet. I'm still building designs in my mind. I get frustrated when what's in my mind can't make it to my hands. I think it's the curse of the creative, though, not always being able to duplicate the mind's eye.

In the meantime, the best way to get through the worry is to do something new with what I already know. I recently received some awesome Czech glass beads with really unique finish and color, such as the "Creme Brulee and Apple Pie Dessert" cluster earrings to the right above. I also took a risk with some of my old filigree I didn't know what to do with and tried oxidizing it with fire. I half expected it to melt. Instead, I got this wonderful oil slick rainbow that's subtle in certain lights and filigrees but is occasionally bright in others. I call them my Rainbow Connection subseries within the Elysia design series. The Elysia series, easily my favorite because I get to play around in the fantasy world, or the magical or mystical side of things, has really grown. There's almost more jewelry in the Elysia section than my Dulce section, which acts as a catch-all for items that don't fit into any of my other sections.

The Elysia series inspired me to search for new components, including the new Czech glass beads and the recent gemstone package I received. It'll also receive the bulk of my wire-wrapping items once I get a handle on that and get the series off the ground. Or maybe I'll create a whole new series for that ... that's still up in the air. In any case, in addition to items that are simply inspired by the fantastic, there are items with charms of fantastic creatures and goddesses. Already, there's a leviathan (to the right), a hippocampus, Melusine, a mermaid (with more on the way), and several large butterflies. Coming soon, I have two types of gryphons, more dragons, a creepy fairy, a dark angel, Ceres, a fantastic tiger, and as I said, some more mermaids. It's not quite steampunk, but I still love it. Really indulges in my love of mythology and fairy tales.

And oh my goth, I've got some new things for my Bountiful Winepress gothic romance/vampire series, including this little guy on the left, my "Guardian" vampire bat necklace and different vampire bat medallion as well. I haven't received very much in the way of new deep red components, but I'm still working on that. And what I have received are two fangs for a pair of earrings. I'm really looking forward to that.

So, conclusion: Working on wire wrapping and weaving, and in the meantime, working delightedly with what I have and what I can do. December was my best month ever, and January has proved to be a pretty solid month for me, too. I have over 170 items in my shop right now, which is ... to tell you the truth, it's a bit much. But the important thing is that I have new things going in as much as possible.

Shop Link: www.theothermagdalene.etsy.com

Featured in PBJ Treasury

Sorry for the blog silence. I'm really focused on my writing right now, and I've been having some glue trouble. I am in the middle of posting the next wave of Elysia designs (as well as some Bountiful Winepress ones as well), and I'll start posting Snow Queen winter-themed designs soon.

In the meantime, my fun lantern earrings were featured in this delicious Peanut Butter and Jelly Treasury.

First In-Person Shop Experience

My church youth group hosted a community garage sale on October 24 (my birthday, incidentally) in order to raise money for an intensive youth Bible study pilgrimage. In addition to accepting secondhand items to sell, they rented out parking spaces in our giant parking lot a bit off-campus. As a sort of experiment to see whether I could sustain an in-person shopping environment, I decided to pay the entry fee in. At the very least, I would be donating money to the church youth, so I figured it would be a good cause all around. I fully expected to not make money (after all, most people were bringing secondhand stuff, and shoppers would be looking for deals), but I wanted a baseline experience in case I ever wanted to do jewelry parties or craft fairs.

I woke up before the crack of dawn at 6:20 a.m. For morning birds who don't understand night owls like me, this is the equivalent of you getting up at 3 a.m. I went to Walmart for a big frappuccino, then heading to the parking lot. It was still dark when I began to set things up, which was something I had not anticipated. Fortunately, I could see okay as the sun began to come up. A few weeks ago, I bought some jewelry display items from Craigslist for a great deal, and I was excited to use them. They ended up working really well, except when the wind picked up, and then I laid everything down flat.

It took an hour to put every piece out (and about fifteen minutes to put everything away at the end of the experience), but I'm really pleased with the result, especially considering how tiny my card table is. I was the smallest table at the flea market-like set-up, and a bit out of the way even though I was up front, but I had some adequate traffic.

I get flustered in social situations, especially ones in which I am asking for money. There was one woman who haggled me down to $20 on a $60-70 haul of jewelry, and frankly I'm still a little annoyed at that. I suspect that she used the language barrier between us to her advantage, but there is nothing to be done about it now.

There were a few jewelry casualties: a piece that I thought had welded actually hadn't, and a sharp jolt on the concrete after a gust of wind broke the two pieces apart (which is spurring me to try two-part epoxy as my next adhesive experiment). Another gust of wind blew over a whole necklace display from the back. Fortunately, none of the stones shattered, but one of the glass pieces looks like it might have been affected. I'll try and clean it off or remake it.

I sold some pieces, which as I said above was more than I expected to sell, so it was a success no matter what. I made enough money to comp the entry fee and most of the supplies. Since I'm mostly a hobbyist trying to act like a business woman, that's kind of bittersweet. Still, it's something, and it's experience. And I'm sure the people who bought the jewelry will enjoy them, so that's positive, too.

I've learned to bring a bigger table, and I hope that I can find a more appropriate venue for my jewelry next time, a venue where "the lowest prices evar" isn't usual. A more casual craft fair would be a good next bet, unless one of my coworkers wants a jewelry party. Next time I should bring a good-looking mirror as well as one dollar bills to make change. Hindsight is twenty-twenty, right?

Aside from needing a nap later and throwing off my sleep schedule, it was a better experience than I had been anticipating.

Featuring Honey Harvest Treasury

If you haven't figured it out, I love honey colors. I periodically make treasuries to honor other people who love amber. Enjoy this Honey Harvest Treasury.

Featuring Opalescence Treasury

I made this treasury from some of my favorite jewelry artists and then some - a gorgeous, mystical Opalescence Treasury in honor of the October birthstone.

Featured in Summer Treasury

All those autumn treasuries, and I suddenly get picked for a wishful summer treasury. My "Throw in the Beach Towel" necklace was selected for the A Warm Summer Breeze Treasury.