Artisan Feature: The Skull Carvings of Rachel Lee

This month’s inspiring artisan is Rachel Lee. There’s something ritualistic, otherworldly, and entrancing about her tedious, meditative carvings in bone. I could stare at them forever!

More of Rachel’s work - http://rachelleeart.bigcartel.com/

Artisan Feature: Rachel Lee

DESIGN DIARY: February's Mask

I'm excited to begin work on February's mask!  It's been a long time since I've been able to craft because of general life challenges, but I'm happy to dive back in for this project!  While I'm a painter by day, crafting is my relaxation hobby that allows me to experiment creatively in a different way than painting does.

I've been wanting to create the rest of the month masks ever since I first made the prototype of the January Mask back in 2010.  I eventually created a new version with a sleeker look and a more interesting silhouette:

Inspiration:

I'm a lover of everything of the Art Nouveau and Arts & Crafts movements.  They were inspired by organic and naturalistic beauty and created lovely floral designs.  I wanted to bring something of that aesthetic to my masks.  

February's mask will be purple, like the Amethyst birthstone for the month.  The February birthflowers are violets and primroses.

Reference Gathering:

Before I begin, I study botanical drawings and photos of the birthflowers to get a better sense of how I can abstract them. For example, I take note that the shape of the violet flower is hexagonal, which will be useful in simplifying them later.

Process:

I usually like to begin my design process by using a croquis (essentially a mannequin form that is repeated) and exploring various location for the design elements.

Here's another example of my design process utilizing the croquis figure. I also offer a downloadable croquis for others to use here.

Crafter's Choice Patrons of my main Artisan Patreon should be able to access this croquis for freehere:

However, with this particular mask design, I wanted to echo the original January mask's elements so that the entire series of month masks will look cohesive.  With that in mind, I simply drew my design motif directly on top of January's pattern.

1. Major design elements.

 Working in Photoshop CC, I started drawing my new design in a layer atop the original pattern for the January mask.  The first thing I lay in are the major shapes of the flowers, spacing them out in such a way that the design has breathing room and isn't too busy while echoing the layout of the January mask.  The blooms of the Violets and Primroses plus the large round shapes of the Violet's leaves lend themselves well to this purpose.

2. Secondary design elements.  The stems and long thin leaves of the Primroses act as my secondary design elements, allowing me to have fun with overlapping knotwork-type lines that let me abstract the flower stems into a decorative element.  These elements also repeat the shape of January's Snowdrops and stems for continuity.

3.  Cleaning up the design.  On a new layer above the sketchy layers, I actually copy and paste half of the design and mirror it so I don't have to redraw part of it.  Then, I clean up the design to create slightly asymmetrical overlaps, especially in the bridge of the nose, which is generally the most interesting area of any mask design that people focus on.

Phases of the Crafting Process

TOOLS & MATERIALS:

I have an interactive list of tools and materials here.

- 8 oz Leather (I buy the single shoulder from Tandy when it goes on sale)

- Swivel Blade (I use a ceramic filigree blade)

- Leather Shears

- Modeling Spoon

- Edge Slicker

- Ballpoint Pen

- Bevel Stamps (B203, B197)

- Acrylic Paints (various brands, mainly FolkArt)

- Brushes (I reuse my old watercolor brushes. Stiff synthetic bristles work best)

- Parchment Paper

- Wax Paper

- An Oven

- Sponges

- Woodburning Tool

- Liquitex Satin Varnish

- Sticky Back Moleskin

- Ribbon

Phase 1:

The mask design is printed out and transferred onto the leather by tracing with a pen.  The pressure of tracing transfers the design onto the dampened leather.  The design is then cut from the hide with leather sheers.

Phase 2:

I then tool the leather after casing it over night.  Casing involves dampening the leather and leaving it wrapped in plastic wrap all night so that the leather absorbs the moisture and becomes optimally receptive to receiving impressions.  I use the bevel stamps and modeling spoon to press in the designs and shape them.  The edges of the mask are also rounded and smoothed to create a nicer edge.

Phase 3:

Once tooling is complete, I soak the mask in water completely then bake it in the oven at a low temperature.  Every few minutes, I take the mask out and shape it, pinching the nose and curving it where needed.  Parchment paper is used to prop the mask in the oven and protect it from being scalded by the oven rack.

Phase 4:

I first dye the leather with leather dye, which makes for a smooth even undercoat that primes the surface for painting with acrylics next.  Where I want more vibrant colors, I first paint a coat of white before I paint on the proper colors.  Once I'm done painting, I give the mask a light coating with a workable spray fixative to keep the dyes from coming up when I paint the varnish on.

Phase 5:

The mask is sealed with Liquitex Satin varnish, which preserves the metallic and matte textures and provides extra protection.  Sticky back moleskin is applied in key places on the back of the mask to heighten the comfort.  I then finish it all off by punching holes where ribbons are tied through so the mask can be worn on the face.  Finally, the mask is signed and numbered with a woodburning tool.

Enjoy this early look at the completed mask for Lady of February!  If you'd like to pre-order this mask, you can do so via the Mask Collector tier over on Patreon. 

After Patreon pre-orders are processed, the mask will be made available to the public at my Etsy shop.  Because this is such an intense mask, only 10 of them will ever be made!  

Want a more in-depth tutorial of this mask's process?  Upgrade to my Premier Patron tier on Patreon to access the PREMIUM video tutorial for a narrated step-by-step look at my crafting process!

Artisan Feature: The Masks of Cyndy Salisbury

Artisan of the Month! I’ve featured this artisan before, but Cyndy Salisbury has been creating even more amazing masks since then! I love the dreamlike quality and texture of her masks with so many fragile details.

You can see more of Cyndy's masks on Etsy.

View post on imgur.com

Angelic Artisan on Gumroad!

I've been working on a brand new shop at Gumroad for my digital resources! Pay what you want for most of my video tutorials so you can be inspired by them wherever you go! My free cosplay patterns have also been moved to Gumroad for stability.

Gumroad now takes Paypal in addition to credit cards, making it even more convenient than ever before!  Enjoy and let me know if there are any other resources you all would like to see up online.

December 2014 Artisan Q&A

It's Christmaaas!  I hope you all have a wonderful day today with lots of presents and food.  I only have one question to answer for this month's Q&A, but it's a doozy!

Q. hiddencait asks: Is there a series that you really want to try doing fanmasks for, but haven't attempted yet?

A. Oh boy, this is a fun question!  As usual, I have my creative life cycle planned out until my golden years.  I'm going to answer this question with visuals!

The first big fandom I'd love to create masks for would be the Kushiel's Legacy series of books by Jacqueline Carey.  For those who don't know it, it features such inspiring themes as angels, masquerades, and tattooed courtesans, each who belong to a specialized house symbolized by a flower.  I can best describe it as Game of Thrones from the courtesan-spy's perspective.

I've already done illustrations for this series, like this take on
the first book's cover. See my Kushiel's Legacy fan project blog for more!

The prototype of Cereus House's set.
Photography by Winterwolf Studios

I've already done a couple of prototype headpieces with matching necklaces for the Camellia and Cereus Houses, but I'd love to take this imagery even further and make a set of masks with matching necklaces for each of the twelve houses of the Court of Night-Blooming flowers!

Imagine if I ever learned how to make tooled corsets and other accessories, I could add that to the ensembles for a complete head to toe costume transformation!

To give you an idea, the thirteen houses are as follows:
Alyssum
Balm
Bryony

Camellia
Cereus
Dahlia
Eglantine

Gentian

Heliotrope

Jasmine
Mandrake
Orchis
Valerian

A closer look at the Cereus set.
Featuring silver chain and garnet Swarovski accents!

Ohhhh and not to mention that there are masquerade scenes in the books where each House dons a unique costume representing a seasonal theme.  That could be a whole other series!

I'm going to stop writing now before my muse explodes.  I hope you enjoy this glimpse into the possibilities of my fandom love!  Have a merry Christmas, all!

Upcoming December Artisan Q&A

Hey, everyone! I usually do a 30 minute live broadcast for my Q&A sessions, but since the holidays are busy and I'm not sure I'll be able to broadcast from wherever we might end up, I'm doing a blog-hosted event instead!

A Couple of Changes

- The Patreon giveaway portion of the monthly sessions is now going to be held quarterly (during January, April, July, and October's monthly broadcasts).

I'm making decidedly less work now that I'm transitioning from a full time crafter to a full time illustrator and part-time crafter instead.  I don't want to run out of fun things to give you in the meantime!

- The Q&A sessions will still be held once a month as long as I have Patrons, even if I won't be giving away something each session.  That gives us more time for mini demos and questions!

How This Month's Session Will Work

- Leave me questions in comments here.  Ask me anything about crafting, life, and beyond!

- I'll answer them in a blog post at this journal here on the 25th!

 Have a great holiday season, everyone!

REVIEW - Etsy Card Reader

Etsy recently announced their own gadget for taking credit cards, but with a new twist from other card readers.  It's meant to sync with your Etsy shop and provide a branded smooth experience for your in-person sales.  I got mine in the mail yesterday (it's free if you request one) and put it through a quick test run.

Packaging

First off, their packaging was excellent, as I would expect from the premiere handmade marketplace.  I got a few ideas just from their clever and simple presentation.

Here's the envelope it came in.  I love the idea of a branded envelope sticker.

The reader itself came in a sturdy reusable custom cut box made of what looks like composite wood.  Again, I love the brand consistency of the reader and insert cards with the orange and white.

Extra bonus!  The box itself has a slot on the underside where you can place the card to make a stand up sign.  One side of the card shows that you take credit cards while the other side is a "I'll be right back." sign with a spot for you to write in shop's address.

The Nuts and Bolts

I ran two test transactions, one of an item which was already up in my online shop and another which was a new 'quick sale' item not already present in my online shop.

You will need to let the app access your location and your microphone.  Your location is recorded and inserted into the receipt e-mailed to the customer later on, should they elect to receive one.  The hub of the app looks like this on an iphone.

You can control your inventory from within the app, which connects to your online Etsy shop (ie. renewing listings, creating new listings, putting your shop on vacation, checking orders, etc.).  The app is available for both Android and iOS markets, but not for the iPad, oddly enough

Be aware that a minimum $1 transaction is required for a customer to use a credit card.  You can also set your sales tax rate in the Settings so that this is automatically calculated when making your sales.  The funds from your credit card are added to your Shop Payments account (the same place as your Direct Checkout funds), so you will need to wait the usual time for the money to be deposited after your sales.  This usually isn't more than a couple of days, in my experience.

When selling an item in-person that is also in your shop:

•  You choose the item in your online shop to sell in-person via a list.
•  The shipping fee is automatically waived when an item is sold in-person.
• The item is also removed from your online shop when it is sold, which will help save headaches on syncing inventory automatically instead of manually (ie. if you've ever had an item sell while you're out at an event and had to deal with the headache of explaining that it sold when you get back home).
• There is no Etsy transaction fee like there are for online sales, only the credit card processing fee, which is comparable to other readers (2.75%).

When selling an item in-person via a quick sale where you type in a brief description and cost:

• It is still counted towards your sold items stats, but only you as a seller can see those transactions in the Orders section of your shop.
• There is no transaction fee or listing fee, only the credit card processing fee.

Promotional Automation

Now here's the really powerful feature of this reader.  After you make your sale and get to the point at which you can offer your customer an e-mail receipt, there is a checkbox which is automatically selected (you have to manually deselect it). The checkbox says this:

After you make the sale and the customer elects to be e-mailed their receipt and is opted in to Etsy's updates about your shop, the customer will get an e-mail like this:

Location map blurred for privacy.

I've asked my test customer to let me know what kinds of e-mail he receives in the future so I can see just how often these e-mails are sent out and what kind of info they include.  I will edit this post with an update once I know more about these communications.

Why is this powerful, you ask?  The items suggested at the bottom of the e-mail offer the customer a tantalizing glimpse at your other items, some of which they might be interested in that you might not have had on display where they were shopping in-person.  Because these images actually link to the items, they encourage further purchases without the seller having to lift a finger.

This e-mail communication is a powerful addition to simply handing out a business card, since business cards are easily lost and most shoppers require repetition of information before they truly retain that information.  So far, this is the only e-mail my test customer has received, which gives me hope that these won't turn into spammy communications.

Also, Etsy's current online market doesn't have a function that lets you automatically add your past customers to a mailing list, which is a feature I've always wanted.  I currently have to first ask for the customer's permission to add them to my mailing list, then add them in mailchimp manually, which takes up valuable time I could be working instead.  My newsletter only goes out once every 3 months, so I am curious to see how often this Etsy-managed newsletter will be sent out and how they might mesh with the information I already send out in my newsletter.

Bottom Line

The Etsy card reader doesn't do anything vastly different from other card readers, but it does allow powerful synchronization options between your online Etsy shop and your physical inventory that could save you time if your Etsy shop is your main outlet for sales.

It also allows for promotional automation that doesn't require you to lift a finger, saving you time, especially if you do not yet send out your own newsletter yet.

More updates to follow when I have them!