Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Merry Wanderer of the Night


Continuing on with my Mardi Gras throw-inspired crafting, here's a glittery wristlet purse.  The Mystic Krewe of Nyx throws hand-decorated purses during their parade, so I thought I'd try my hand at making a few to give out to friends.  Hail, Nyx!

This is actually the third purse I've glittered, but it's the first that has that over-the-top feeling I'm striving for.  Anyone who has followed my jewelry in the past knows I'm all about the theme, and I really like being able to go to town with the shoes and purses in that regard.  And the color!  That's the one thing I always struggled with when working with the PMC - sometimes there just wasn't enough eye-popping color for my tastes, regardless of what I added to the fine silver.  That's no problem with these projects!

Anyway, this was my first attempt to use the transfer technique that Nori discussed in her wonderful blog, Confessions of a Glitter Addict.  I did the lettering separately using fabric paint and glitter and then applied it to the bag with E6000.  This worked wonderfully, and allowed me to use the best combination of letters out of three tries.  I'm eager to try more complex designs (and the cogs have started turning about applying this technique to jewelry-making...).

By the way, all of the feathers in the three purses here come from a set of really ratty-looking marabou boas I bought several years ago from Oriental Trading Company for a monster-making project with the SO.  I found they actually worked well here, where the fuller boas in my craft stash were simply too much.  This was a nice surprise!  Here's the first purse (and very first glitter job, which was a huge mess):



I hand-set those flat-back pearls with tweezers - it was a little annoying.  The simple "S" design is supposed to suggest a wave.  The dangly shells and starfish are a cut-up necklace, also from OTC.  These are from a dozen I bought for a summer Pirate Party for the SO but never got around to actually using (although the SO did get his party).  

Finally, here's one I did while traveling during the SO's Spring Break last week (I will say that the purse projects are much easier to travel with than the shoes):



I suppose the whole watermelon-rhinestone pattern is a little overdone, but I hoped framing it in black on a silver glitter background and using the oversized rhinestones would make the design pop more and add some interest.  I had left over marabou from the first purse and found the color complementary here.  

So, I'm still obsessing about Mardi Gras.  It's become pretty clear to me though, while learning about the celebration, that I'm much more interested in the crafting and riding aspect of Carnival!  While the waiting list for Nyx is closed, they did have a submission form open on their website last month, and I put my name in.  I noticed the other day that the form isn't there anymore.  I have no idea what that means, but I'm crossing my fingers and hope to be contacted sometime in the future!

ps.  I can tell I really need to dig out my light box...these photos could really use some improvement.  It's been a long time...

2 comments:

Jenna said...

I just LOOOVE them, especially the Watermelon one- its so fun. All are so well done. I've picked up a bunch of purses on ebay and will send you some pics once I start. :)

bayoucreole said...

Your purses look really nice! I haven't started my purses for this year yet...I better get crackin'