First of all, I really feel the need to pay homage to a few people. Shiny Cottontips opened about eight weeks ago and is humming along nicely - despite a couple of weeks where I didn't pay much attention to marketing and keeping my brand visible.
I have had several orders now and am currently working on two custom commissions. I am *this* close to breaking even with the amount of money I spent setting up! In eight weeks! I am extremely pleased about this and could not have done it without those people who view, favourite and share my items via Treasuries on Etsy.
This would also not be possible without the customers I have had so far and their willingness to put faith in my creative talent and ability to create things outside of the style visible in my store. The commissioned works I have done and am currently doing have given me the most pleasure. Yes, they are more difficult. They have also been a little different in terms of creative process and style to what I originally wanted to portray, BUT...I have slowly begun to realise where my greatest creative pleasure lies!
Nothing can quite beat bringing the tentative ideas of a customer to life in the jewellery I make. I have begun to make a beautiful marriage between the ease of stamping images and embellishing them with hand-painting to create wonderfully realistic and fun effects.
Below is a commissioned piece that didn't start out that way:
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| Indoors in Natural Light |
This is essentially what every stamped/hand-painted piece looks like before it is backed in some way. It is all about layering the different images in stages and sealing the design so any colour that goes on the back will not smudge the silhouette.
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| Indoors in Natural Light |
The same pendant after it was coloured with a sponged gradient background. I didn't even intend this to turn into a commissioned piece, but after sharing images on Instagram the item was snapped up before I had a chance to set and list it! I share progress/finished shots of my work on Instagram very frequently so do please follow if you like the look of this.
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| Indoors in Natural Light |
The whole idea of miniature scenes like this one excites me incredibly! I nearly wanted to keep it for myself, but now have a whole host of ideas for more of these for every festive season I can think of. Christmas is coming guys....just sayin'!
This 'Haunted House' Miniature Scene will be on it's way very soon all the way to Canada (along with a couple of other commissioned pieces) and I am extremely happy to know that it will be so loved and worn! It will be a ring once my settings arrive and I am pleased to let my readers know that there will be more along the same style as this one AND that I am introducing rings into my regular rotation of items!
It is also probably a good idea to mention that have decided a giveaway is going to be imminent once I reach 150 lovely followers on IG - all the love really does make the difference!
If you love the look of this particular item, please feel free to follow me on Instagram @Cottontipsnz, on Etsy at Shiny Cottontips and on Facebook at Shiny Cottontips! I like to keep everything under the same name to avoid (?) confusion.
All three places are updated regularly with my jewellery and other polish-related things. And occasionally cats.
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