Akasha Queen of the Damned Headdress

Here’s the one good pic so far.  I’ve had to do some bits and bobs to finish it off but over-all I’m pretty happy with this!

Weekend Tasks

This weekend I shall be child-free so I really need to organise myself.  My under-stairs cupboard is full to bursting with *things*.  Some of it needs to be sold but isn’t suitable for Etsy really, so Ebay is the way to go.  So I need the motivation to get it all out, get it photographed, sized where appropriate, and get listings written up ready to go onto Ebay.  This includes fabric, lace, jewellery, clothing, beads and braids.  If I have time some of it might get made up into stash packs that I can sell.  People around me are very generous and let me have all manner of things that they think I might be able to use.  Being a magpie means that I am sometimes unable to say no when I should but I figure that everything is useful one way or another.  But as the children’s toys and books are increasing with every birthday (and of course Christmas is coming up) I need to both make some extra money and create some space for their things.

Other items need the same treatment (photos and descriptions) but can be listed in my Etsy shop and I like nothing better than having a whole heap of draft listings ready to go so that I can add a new item every day over a period of time.

Then of course there’s the task of gathering up everything that is already listed on Etsy and making sure it’s all in one place instead of there being things all over the house in various drawers, bowls, boxes and decorating my bedroom.  This would actually be one of the more useful tasks to complete this weekend so maybe that one should be first on the list as it’s probably the easiest to complete in a short space of time.

Next there are all of the things that I stash as supplies for making new stuff – I really need to remind myself of what I’ve got and see if I can be inspired….or at least remind myself of what I have, week out things that could be sold as they are or dismantled and sold for supplies if I think I may not be able to use them.

Once I’ve done all of this I need to get on with finishing a custom Tribal belly dance bra and belt and get on with a custom headdress order.  So I’m not sure that I’ve got enough time to do everything over the weekend, but I’m certainly going to make a good attempt at it.  Probably fuelled with coffee and chocolate cake to keep me going!

Oh, and let’s not forget that I have a Belly Dance event, Hipnotic, to run and dance at on Sunday night

September Sneak Peek

So it’s been a long time coming but here are pics of some new items made since the school holidays ended.  The new term of school means earlier nights for the children and more motivation for me to get going with new ideas.

Autumn colours are always a big favourite of mine anyway, and are so fitting at this time of year.

First up, a bead headdress

Next up, a button brooch

Thirdly a necklace

And last of all for tonight another headdress, this time one with lots of extra bling and ornamentation taken from my extensive stash

I’ll be adding them to the Etsy store momentarily so you’ll further pics and better description there.

Tonight I started work on a purple headdress that will have many many peacock feathers once it’s done, but tonights job was to get some extra embellishments sewn onto a medallion.  I’ll keep you posted!

Sneak Peek

Here are the crystal chandelier headdresses (more to come) and some funky necklaces….

There are more chandelier bead necklaces to come, once I’ve sorted out which embellishments to add to them.  They are gorgeous!

Crystal Headdresses

Today I am mostly playing with old crystals from chandelier drapes.

I am making some very pretty headdresses, simple but absolutely gorgeous.

I’ll keep ya posted!

Sneak Peek at Bracelets

So – maybe I diversify too much but hey, the muse calls and I make what I make….

Bracelets have been the fascination this week.  Heavy beaded bracelets made with semi-precious stone beads, glass beads and various doo-dads and dangles that I collect up from here and there.  Earrings that have lost their partners are fabulous when used on a bracelet, as are the salvaged bits of broken necklaces.

Off I go to Etsy to post them all up as drafts so I can them add one or two items a day….

Headdress Drama

Yesterday produced a flurry of Etsy activity that was….interesting.

The upshot is that this piece sold to someone going to The Secret Garden festival in the UK.  What was even better about it was that the customer was on Etsy looking for inspiration for something she was making and decided to buy my headdress instead.  Yay!

So first of all I get an email asking how quickly I can get it sent to her as she’s in the UK and she assumed I was in the US.  Nope, I’m here in good old Blighty.  I can send it today (yesterday IRL).  Ok, customer doesn’t have a Paypal account……  That’s ok, I can send an invoice and she can send via Paypal without setting up an account.  DOH!  There are to-ings and fro-ings that I won’t go into but eventually the sale is made, the price is paid and I get it in the post at 3pm guaranteed to get to her the next day (today).

As would be expected her last email to me was to check that the item was as good as it looked – I assured her that it would be better than it looked in the photo as photos are not my strong suit……

The feedback was worth all the online fretting – “She just arrived and she’s GORGEOUS, thank you so much!!”

Ah, I love a happy customer…….