Shooting stars…

So unfortunately, as of yet, I haven’t sold any constellation necklaces! But I’m not sure why. I feel the price is fair, I can’t reduce it any further as a lot of time goes in to creating each piece. And I think they’re attractive, I mean I know they’re not going to be to everyone’s taste but they’re bound to appeal to someone. So the only thing that I could think to change was the product shots.

Originallly I had them on a 3D paper cut, galaxy background. To be fair it maybe looked cool full size, but actually when reduced to a thumb nail it didn’t show up the necklaces that well: it was dark on dark, stars on stars. Totally different now! Check out my Etsy shop for the full set of new pictures, I now have 5 pictures for each necklace, and let me know what you think!

I went for a light background to really make the black pop, along with some crystals and glitter to help convey a galactic feel. For admittedly not having a great eye for photography I’m pretty chuffed with how they turned out maybe just because they’ve freshened up my shop. But I’m not going to pretend it was quick or easy; changing props, settings, angles, lighting and so on I ended up taking well over 200 shots, then having to edit those the whole thing took a good few hours to result in 12 usable pictures. That isn’t a moan but just a peak at the ‘behind the scenes’ work that goes in to creating hand-made products for sale online. It’s something I’d never thought about before, had you?

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‘HAPPY17’

So let’s kick off the new year with a WonderfulWolfCrafts Etsy sale! If you enter the code ‘HAPPY17’, you’ll receive 17% off your purchase – pretty neat huh.

And if you’re unsure as to what wares I’m peddling – it’s these very pretty constellation necklaces, head on over to the shop to learn more about them!

The Great Bear, the Hydra and Scorpius…

So today’s the day, I’m finally ready to reveal what I’ve been working on – Constellation jewellery!

Constellations have always really fascinated me. The fact they were made up through imagination, beliefs and mythology is so interesting. I love looking up at the night sky on a clear evening and finding my favourites, I mean who doesn’t right? I’ve only made three to start with, firstly because I want to see how popular they are and secondly to help me manage the production of them. There’s surprisingly a lot to them for such simple looking items; drawing, cutting, shrinking, gemming, resin coating, drying, necklace making and packing.

The three constellations I chose to focus on are ‘The Great Bear’ (Ursa Major), ‘The Hydra’ and ‘Scorpius’. Please let me introduce them to you individually…

The Great Bear (Ursa Major)
I think this was the very first constellation I could find in the sky by myself unaided. It’s still the first one I pick out, and use it as a base marker to help me find others.

The Hydra
So lets just get the obvious mistake out of the way, hydras usually have multiple heads right, well apparently not this one. It’s one of the largest and longest constellations in the night sky.

Scorpius
My star sign is Scorpio so it made sense to include this in the collection. Interestingly, you will never find Orion and Scorpius in the night sky at the same time. A scorpion took down Orion, so when they went to live in the heavens as stars they were places at opposite sides so as not to aggravate each other. How fun is that!

Trying to get a photograph of them as been pretty tricky, the resin and gems are so shiny that they reflect the light terribly. But I suppose it helps demonstrate how glossy the finish is! Each one is unique, the main constellations are all the same but the extra sprinkling of stars is unique to each piece. They all sit on silver plated curb chain, with a lobster clasp and a WonderfulWolf tag. I’ve opened up an Etsy shop today too, so please check it out it’s called ‘WonderfulWolfCrafts‘

Let me know which necklace is your favourite!

Flower Power…

So my nails are non-existent at the moment. I broke two of them whilst I was fishing at the weekend, like right down to the quick – ouch! They’re so short I’m embarrassed to photograph them, and also a little scared to go near them with nail varnish remover they’re that raw feeling.

Anyway! I do ‘dabble’ in other crafts so thought I’d share a bracelet I made for myself. I had these cute ladybug and mushroom beads, and thought they’d look brilliant together will loads of flowers. It took me forever to complete, I honestly don’t know how many hours over how many days, but it felt like a long time. However! I’m super happy with how it looks; I think it’s cute, fun and summery.

(I used my phone to photograph it as my camera was out of charge, hence why they’re a little grainy!)

I’m an avid fish-keeper and love ‘touring’ new fish shops, I usually drag along my poor mum along for company. So while I made my bracelet I created her this little pair of earrings for her to wear when we visit them – just for a bit of fun really! (I actually don’t have my own ears pierced so I have to miss out!)

SummerCrush…

So these were the nails I was wearing to the actual game on Saturday. (Unfortunately we lost, but it was still a fantastic day) I used crushed up clingfilm/saran wrap to create this look, I’ve not used that technique in a while as I was a little obsessed with sponging. I chose colours out of my kimono obviously, as I love to be coordinated. I also couldn’t find the correct necklace to go with my outfit, so I made one of course! I used clear shrink plastic to roughly trace one of the flowers from the kimono, baked it, then painted it on the reverse with… nail varnish! I was worried at first as it stank of polish but fortunately after a few days it lost it’s stink. Phew! I hope you don’t mind me saying so but I think it looks really cool, I was happy with how it turned out. Just a shame about the game…