The circlets have more ribbon than the normal headpieces-- a strand of pale sparkly gold, and a strand of green.


I purchased peridot green rhinestone chain to use on these. This was only the second time that I have made these circlets in anything but white, cream, or champagne pink!


As you can probably tell, this project took an insane amount of work. Everything is completely handmade-- I make these circlets with nothing but a roll of silver-plated wire, rhinestone chains, and spools of ribbon.



The circlets are adjustable for different sized heads; I think the ballerinas were going to weave braids in and out of the top "zig-zags" of rhinestones.


When I was a little girl, I loved ballet-- it was so much fun to participate in ballet in my own small way, by making pretty headpieces for the dancers. :)


I heard that their performance went beautifully!

For those of you unfamiliar with my previous work, the Entwife Circlet was originally designed for a Lord of the Rings themed ball. My friend was dressing up as an Entwife (the Ents were tree people, shepherds of the ancient forests of Middle Earth) and I created a custom ensemble of jewelry for her in exchange for a gorgeous medieval dress. You can see the jewelry ensemble here, and additional pictures of her handmade costume here.

Last autumn, I created another one in brighter greens for a bride to wear at her wedding.


The base at the front of the circlet is made out of braided copper wire. On this particular headpiece, I kept the copper raw (no jewelry wax to protect the color) so that it can oxidize and gradually change from bright shiny copper to a deep dark brown.

(Of course, any jewelry made with copper can be cleaned to a shine by gently rubbing it with vinegar, washing in water, and patting dry).

Since copper reacts with the salts in many people's perspiration, I lined the front of the headpiece with a black ribbon.

The necklace and earrings will be up on Etsy soon!

I didn't have any friends handy the day that I finished this circlet, so my sister Rosie helped out by manning the camera.

Rosie has been my apprentice this summer and has learned about everything from how to package and weigh envelopes to how to use a soldering torch to designing Celtic knots to building workbenches with power tools to being the second shooter at both a portrait and a wedding photoshoot. I don't think I ever caught on to things so easily when I was eleven!


(BTW, I'm going to put in a plug for the company I bought my shirt from (I have not been asked or compensated to do so). You may have guessed that I really like fairytales and costumes. Unfortunately, it would be more than a little bit weird if I wore my full medieval getup around a college campus. But what I can do is wear this shirt with the corset-style lacing, the bell sleeves, and the embroidery and pair it with a pair of dark wash jeans and a cool hairstyle. It's the Miranda Gothic shirt from HolyClothing, and Indian company, and is one of my favorite clothing splurges ever. It's probably also the most well-constructed shirt in my entire closet.)






UPDATE: This circlet has sold! I hope that the new Entess loves it! If anyone is interesting in commissioning one just email me at shealynnsfaerieshoppe@gmail.com.

Sometimes, when I have an overwhelming amount of things to do-- or merely an overwhelming amount of things planned for the future-- I suddenly do not ever want to actually sit down and do it.

This is the case with blogging! What with yet another crazy semester, running a business, and wanting to spend time with friends and family, I have a backlog of a year's worth of pictures to blog about. Literally thousands of pictures sitting on my harddrive, waiting to be shared with the world. A couple dozen custom orders that no one but the client and myself have seen. Footage for six vlogs. Artwork and personal craft projects galore. And five sketchbook pages full of a "To Blog About in the Future" list.

And, now that it is truly summer vacation, I want to do nothing else with my time but to actually make jewelry and art, to go hiking and biking, to play board games with my family, and to spend time with friends.

Today I uploaded twenty new items to my Etsy shop and had my little sister help me with my inventory. She's been wanting to "apprentice," and we've discovered that in addition to having a knack for the technical aspects of jewelry making, she's also got a talent for organizing and helping to manage inventory!


Just in time for summer! This is a fun experiment-- I have a special clay epoxy resin that I am able to color by hand with Gilder's Paste. I use tiny-nosed tweezers to set all of these loose rhinestones into seashells!


Yay pretty seashells!


I simply can't wait for later this summer. I will be seeing an ocean for the first time since I first saw an ocean at age twelve. :)


I've always loved the awesomeness (and cheesiness) of Once Upon a Time the TV show. Awhile back, I made a bright gold glitter necklace with a glass heart-shaped bottle inspired by a scene with Snow White and Prince Charming, and it's been selling well.

So I took that as an excellent excuse for making glitter vial necklaces in other colors. :) Above is a dark gold; below is the deep purple.



I have a lot of Evenstar necklaces and earrings that I never photographed as I mostly was selling them in person. However, since they've been sitting in a box unloved for the entire school year, it was high time to get them online.


I CAN'T FIND ANY MORE OF THESE MONTANA BLUE CZECH GLASS LEAF BEADS!

It's a calamity!

So, a few years ago, when I first started making Evenstars, I bought my Czech beads through Brightlings Beads. This gorgeous reversible iridescent blue was one that I always stocked up on. It's a color that has been pretty popular, and I loved it so much that I used these beads to make some personal jewelry for myself.


I used up my batch of the midnight blue beads a year ago and didn't think much of it. After all, I could just purchase more when I needed to, right?

WRONG.

Everyone-- and I mean everyone, even the very expensive bead suppliers-- seems to no longer carry them. My best guess is that the manufacturer discontinued this color. :(


Just soak in those beautiful deep blues and teals. This may very well be my last Evenstar jewelry set in this color (it's a miracle I found it, in the bottom of a box of beads and not in my offline inventory box). It's up on Etsy, and once it's sold, it's gone. Probably forever. And that makes me veddy sad.


At least there are other gorgeous colors! This is actually the backside of the Pixie Pink Evenstar set, but I love the way that the beads catch pastel blues, purples, greens, and yellows.

It's so fairylike.

It helps that I am listening to the Cinderella movie soundtrack while working on this blog post, and that I am drinking tea with fresh mint from our garden. Small beautiful things that that make everything start to feel like a fairytale.


I even have a Goth black Evenstar... which I really like, even though I can't imagine my inspiration, Arwen from The Lord of the Rings, wearing this particular set.


This purple one is kind of steampunky. :)



There are three more G.K. Chesterton stamped and etched metal book necklaces available. My goodness do these book necklaces take a lot of work. Yet they are my favorite ever. :)


Yay for fairy glitter sparkles; I'm really playing up the fairytale aspect of the jewelry today, aren't I?


Another time and skill intensive piece, the Celtic Puzzle Ring, has been on my workbench lately. Or, rather, my soldering block. Four more of these beauties are ready to find a home!


SEASHELLS! SUMMER! RUNNING ELECTRICITY THROUGH ACID BATHS TO MAKE COOL JEWELRY!


...I just really like summer and dangerous power tools.

This seashell was electroformed (coated with copper), oxidized and sanded (to darken the ridges) and sealed before being strung on a bronze chain.


Well, I can't seem to get the "Mermaid Seashell" rhinestone pictures into this blog post, but here's the one with a glitter ombre.


Oh, hey, another seashell picture finally uploaded! My favorite small one, with blue-ombre with pink, teal, and green rhinestones!


Another item that I've been making was inspired by a college friend who made something similar... miniature rosary bracelets!

Most rosary bracelets are single-decade, meaning that they have only ten beads, or they are wrap-around bracelets.

These are actual full five-decade miniature rosaries that are worn like bead bracelets! I've been using my dad's drill press to add extra holes to the crucifixes to make this possible.


The only downside is that the length isn't adjustable. This one is bigger-- 8 full inches-- but the smaller beads make small bracelets.




Toodles,

One of the girls had double piercings and wore two sets of dangles! I'd never really heard of that kind of pairing before, but wouldn't you agree that it is a lovely combination?



The other girls all wore variations of my Enchanted Forest Earrings in gold and red.


I also created a pair of barefoot sandals for the bride! The picture below is with shoes from our outdoor photoshoot, but these "fairy sandals" work well barefoot, too!








In addition, I also helped out last minute by being the second shooter at the wedding! I wound up taking over three hundred pictures of the ceremony, photoshoot, and reception.