Harry Potter and the Crapton of Craftlace

What is it about the holiday season that makes time seem to fly by even faster than usual?  One minute you're thinking "Gosh, isn't it a little early for lights?  It's not even Thanksgiving yet!" and the next you're thinking "Oh, crap!  I've only got a week to do all my shopping!"  Been there, done that.  But not this year.  I got all of my shopping done early this year.  What I didn't do yet is a lot of stuff for the shop.  Like posting here!

I just realized it's been two weeks!  Goodness.  I meant to post last week and show you all my newest items - craft lace zipper pulls in Hogwarts house colors.

Honestly, I was never a big fan of craft lace.  Sure, it had it's uses, but they were rather limited.  I used it a few months ago in a jewelry commission for a costume.  I only needed two colors for the project, but I was on a deadline and had to shop locally (read: at Wal-mart).  Fortunately, they had plenty of craft lace, but only in multi-packs.  And of course, the two colors I needed only came in the huge MEGAPACK.  So I got stuck with a metric ton of craft lace and no idea how to use it.

There were the obvious keychains and lanyards and such, but I really wanted to do something... different.  So I wracked my creative little brain and searched online for ideas and inspiration...  and finally wound up making keychains anyway.  I broke down one day and decided to try one of the braids that was shown in the little pamphlet that came in the box and I suddenly saw the appeal.  It was fun. 

I made several keychains and zipper pulls and whatnot, tried out some different patterns, and decided that I ought to add these to the shop.  They didn't take long to make and the materials were very inexpensive, so I wouldn't have to charge much.  And they're a useful item.  I know I always feel better about buying something if it's useful and not just purely decorative. 

And as I was pondering color schemes, I realized what I had to do:  Hogwarts house colors.  There was a new Harry Potter movie coming out, so the timing seemed perfect.  And besides, I'm just a big Harry Potter fan.  Plus it would be another "geeky" item for the shop, something I was wanting to add more of.  So there you have it. 

I'll soon be adding keychains as well and I'm already pondering new color schemes (if you have a specific color scheme you'd like to see, leave a comment and let me know!), so you can definitely expect to see more of these.  In the meantime, I'm off to work on some necklaces.  And I promise it won't be another two weeks before you see me again!

Blog Carnival: Summer Inspiration

Howdy, Folks!  It's Blog Carnival time again!  This week's carnival is hosted by BW:Silver, who says:

It's Summer time! Tell us about your upcoming or current Summer inspired designs!

Well, my most important summer-inspired design is my current banner and avatar.  I redesigned them back at the very beginning of the season, using my Official Summer Color Scheme™--sky blue and grass green.

Right now, I'm waiting for some extra cash to come in so I can buy the beads I need to complete my Official Summer Necklace™, which will feature lovely blue and green fire polished czech glass beads and, of course, a pretty little tree.  This is to be the first installment in a seasonal series.  Each will be a limited edition design, available only through the given season (though, I may offer the summer design a bit longer as I've gotten off to a late start with it). 

As for current summer-inspired designs, I think my mallorn leaf necklace counts.  I've been reading Tolkien all summer, and that is definitely inspiring!

There are more pieces like this on the way--including a more accurate gold version!  And I've decided that I would really like to make literature and fantasy-inspired items a major focus of my shop.  They are certainly the most enjoyable for me to create, and I think they stand out from the crowd a bit more.

Now if I can just figure out how to translate Star Wars into jewelry...  Wire-wrapped lightsaber necklace?  Tiny Death Star earrings?  Hm.  This one is going to take some thought...