New Mori Girl, Cult Party Kei, and Dolly Kei pieces

Just a brief picture update of what I have been working on for my mostly finished June Ofelia Ljuv Collection.

Lots of headbands and necklaces with pastel tones mixed with neutrals. I have begun making more pendant brooch-necklaces on a smaller scale which will be priced lower then my current pieces. What do you think? Love them or hate them? I'm totally open to comments and suggestions!

Ofelia Ljuv - May Collection!

Hey everyone! May is just about to end which means I just about finished my May items for Ofelia Ljuv. This month’s items is inspired by Spring, my awesome Mother, and Heirlooms. I ordered a lot of vintage and handmade doilies and enjoyed working with them so much that I used 9 of them in a matter of 1 day or sewing. Which is an accomplishment as I generally hoard supplies for months. I have ordered a lot more doilies now and in different sizes. I also have have used up all my brooch-clip combinations which means I’ll have to order a massive amount in the next week.

Scroll down to see everything!

Sleepless Nights of Preparation and New Handmade Items

Here's what stock preparations look like for my upcoming meeting with a local boutique tomorrow afternoon. :) Looks orderly doesn't it? It was tedious to label and organize but well worth it. :)

So far, it's been a busy few weeks. I've been soliciting local boutiques in an attempt to push my product locally. I managed to get my Mom's crochet goods into Propaganda - but, that backfired a little due to miscommunication. I'm a little saddened by this setback but I learned a lot from it while talking to those closest to me. I now know how to better handle myself in these situations of business. It's my first consignment so I won't beat myself up over it. I have a large line up - I am highly adaptable, skilled, and my tastes are so varied with many different influences. Good for me, that clientele can be just as diverse as my tastes. :)

Since my last post I have accomplished quite a lot. Ransack the Universe now carries some of my wooden pins, crochet cellphone and bag charms, and wooden necklaces.

If you are local or visiting Toronto I would highly recommend their really nifty and kitchy store at:

Ransack the Universe
1207 Bloor Street West (Lower Level)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

At the same time I am also in contact with the following boutiques, stores, and collectives:

- Nathalie-Roze & Co.
- Tomorrow Never Knows
- Freedom Clothing Collective
- The Drake General Store

I will be updating ETSY after I sort the stock relocation out. I have two applications to do for collectives, a art gallery proposal to submit, and a likely craft event to prepare for... I also have an interview for Apple this Friday. And, I also signed my lease over the weekend for my new place - I'll be living near Liberty Village and right by Queen West by June. :)

Below are new products by my Mom and I. Enjoy!

Brand-spanking-new handmade headpiece! Sparrow Skulls! Finds!

The weather has been absolutely horrible here in Toronto. Hot, cold, hot, cold, rain…and I hear there’s going to be snow on Monday. Seriously, it’s mid-late April and we are getting SNOW?! 

I don’t get it. My program has been all about global warming and how weather patterns / phenomenon such as El Nino and El Nina dictate these shifts yet I still am unable to believe just how directly it effects everyone.  This also means a late growing season for farmers and it’ll effect so many things. I can’t grow my edible flowers yet because I’m too afraid to let them grow outside and starting them inside with such dreary weather doesn’t get my hopes up, either.

That aside, I’ve been out of town and away from my studio due to a slight emergency. But, as always I’ve dragged most of my immediate portable materials with me and I whipped up a headpiece two nights ago (along with a few necklaces but I didn’t take pictures). Currently, I am working hard at expanding my collection for the meeting I have with a local boutique owner this coming Friday. I hope she likes my stuff and buys/carries it at her store!

It’s so beautiful. I can’t bear to part with it unless offered a small fortune. :) It’s very Dolly-Kei and I can’t wait to coordinate it. I really love the warm copper charms I imported which add to the overall warmth and richness of red accents and the red wool bow. 

I begin with a brief laying out of what I prospectively want the headpiece to look like.

I don’t sleep for a whole night working on things like this and at 7-8 AM the sun shines.

I bless my items with the first rays of sunshine. Haha. Then photographing commences. 

On another note, I also got my custom order of plastic casted sparrow skulls from an across the border taxidermist after literally almost 2 months of waiting. It was a long and somewhat tedious wait but well worth what I got. I really wish I had gotten most of the skulls drilled because they look really awesome as necklaces. What do you guys think? 

Also, made a nice find at Dollarama recently. I’ve been desperately looking for millenary branches with buds - I tried Queen West, Fabricland…but was then recommend Michael’s. I found exactly what I was looking for at Dollarama instead - with at least 5 colortones in a huge branch for a mere $1. Score! I left with pale green and cream buds.

New Headpiece, AN Update, Wig + Circle Lenses, Consignment Opportunity

New Wig and Circle Lenses

Mossy Rock found on campus

Migrating Canada Geese Flock taken with iPhone 4

 It’s been a busy couple of weeks of ups and downs.

University is finally done - I hope I got the marks I wanted as I did work my ass off this term to make up for a rather lacking first term. At least I know I did my best and if anything doesn’t go planned then a new door will always open. 

I have been prepping for selling at Anime North since the beginning of this year - but since leaving Marionette Atelier I may have really screwed myself over. How? My former partner got a table. I bought the iPad 2 (waited for 6 hours in the cold), got tired, and slept through the deadline. Hahaha. I’ve paired up with a new friend who is near the top of the waiting list (while I sit at 41). But, I have doubts I’ll be selling this year. God, the irony. 

It’s disappointing. 

But, when a door closes another opens. A local boutique owner who’s store I was going to approach this week and I’ve had absolutely no contact with…actually emailed me via Facebook saying she’d be interested in my items. WHAT?! WHAAAAAAAT! This is so awesome. I’ve emailed her back - haven’t been able to sleep since because I am psyched. So, expect to Quaintrella items in Toronto boutiques soon. :3

Here are a few of my recent stuff. Still on the pendent necklaces but I’ve moved into headpieces:

Two new pieces. Headpiece and Pendent Necklace

Detailing

Close-up of details

Mega close-up of details

Headpieces are literally a larger translation of my pendent necklaces. They were harder to layout then I had anticipated. I sat there for 2-3 hours figuring it all out. I loved the end result. What do you guys think?

At the same time, a lot of my supplies for AN preparations have come in after a month. Notably, my Mori Girl wig and my NEO Toric Extra Dali Gray Circle Lenses. Review to come the circle lenses in an upcoming post. But, they look pretty natural - the wig and lenses. I had to order specific ones for my astigmatism. I am so happy with them. Though, they do make me look a little bit more exotic with my normal hair. I actually looked mixed with Russian with my dyed normal hair due to my jawline? Not sure. More pictures to ensue. I’m so happy with them both. :D

With new wig, handmade headpiece, and toric cicle lenses.

With normal hair and modelling the pendent necklace for my Etsy.