New blog, new site

Hello friends,

I know it's been a while here. I've recently launched a new website (still under construction), and with is, a new studio blog. Please visit The Constant Crafter, or ilanaleah.com.

To celebrate, I'm running a contest for a chance to win a $25 store credit to Duchessa! Details are on the new blog, or on Duchessa's Facebook page.

This blog will eventually be deleted, and relevant material moved to the new one.

Hope to see you over there!

Custom Boleyn style letter necklaces price list

As of April 6, 2011.

Standard Custom Anne Boleyn style necklace- $36
Genuine freshwater pearls strung on sturdy beading wire. Customer specifies letter, gold or silver tone, white or offwhite pearls, necklace length, and method of closure desired.

Double strand Anne Boleyn necklace- $46
Two strands of genuine freshwater pearls strug on sturdy beading wire. Shorter strand is length specified by customer, with an appropriately longer second strand. Can be done in any letter.

Single strand Anne Boleyn necklace, individually knotted- $48
Identical to the standard, except that pearls are hand strung on silk cord and individually knotted for jeweler's quality strength and durability.

Deluxe Anne Boleyn necklace- $76
Two strands of individually knotted pearls plus a length of gold plated chain, with customer's choice of letter. Finished with a gold plated triple strand clasp. My closest recreation of Anne's necklace in her famous portrait.

Custom Boleyn style pearl enhancer pendant- $18
Customer's choice of letter pendant on a special pearl enhancer bail which allows you to "click" it on and off of whatever necklace you choose.

Simple White pearl necklace- $24
Excellent as the base necklace for the pearl enhancer, and lovely on its own as a simple, classic strand. Strung on silk cord and individually knotted, with a gold plated clasp.

Boleyn letter style bookmark- $10
Gold tone 5" shepherd's hook bookmark with a miniature letter pendant, accented with pearls, pearl drops and/or crystals. Can be custom made with any letter.

Also available-
Ribbon ties can be added in place of a toggle or lobster claw at no additional charge.
Coordinating pearl drop earrings on gold or silver plated fish hook earwires- $3 with purchase of necklace

I'm happy to customize anything to your liking. As long as it is possible, I'll do it. Visit my shop for other items, from medieval interest to modern style!

www.duchessa.etsy.com
duchessashop@yahoo.com

Price change for Boleyn style necklaces

I have tried very hard to keep prices at the same level they have always been, and have been absorbing extra costs for a while. So imagine my irritation when I discovered one of my most used supplies has nearly tripled in price. So unfortunately, after much thought (and postal increases, and the cost of most of my other supplies having gone up), I've decided that a price change is an order. Not a lot, but enough to cover the various expenses that have come up in the past few years.

Changes apply only to Boleyn style necklaces for the moment, bookmarks and enhancer pendants remain the same.

Visit Duchessa on Facebook for an updated list, which will be published here shortly.

Busy, busy!

It's that time of year. Busy, busy, busy.

Tonight I sculpted 3 pendants, completed 6 orders (including a deluxe and a single strand knotted), fired up the torch for some lampworking, and I think I'm off to sew.

I'm not complaining. It's nice to have the time to do it all.

Am I the only one super excited that Prince William got engaged? I don't usually follow celebrity gossip, but...they're royalty. Sure, it's not my usual preferred time period, but I just find the monarchy fascinating. I anxiously await more details of the wedding (as I plan my own!)

Find Duchessa on Facebook!

So I caved and created a Facebook fan page for Duchessa.

The page will allow me to share information on upcoming products, contests and more!

EnhanceYourself and Duchessa contest

The masterminds behind EnhanceYourself and Duchessa have teamed up to offer our loyal readers/watchers/customers a chance to win their very own custom Boleyn style necklace.

Head over to EnhanceYourself and watch the video for full details.

The contest will run from now through November 19, with the winner announced on November 20. To enter, you must follow EnhanceYourself (hearting Duchessa on Etsy couldn't hurt either!), and post either a comment or your own video on the EnhanceYourself page discussing what Anne means to you.

The winner will be contacted by me at the close of the contest so I can get her/his specs- letter, gold or silver tone, white or offwhite pearls, necklace length, and closure preference- individually knotted on silk cord.

One runner up will be chosen to receive a letter B pearl enhancer, which can be worn on almost any necklace.

Good luck!

My first video review

Been super busy lately, but I wanted to share this.

Kirsty of Enhance Yourself was kind enough to do a video review of one of my custom Boleyn necklaces. I sent her a goldtone B with the individually knotted pearls, but she discusses different versions as well. She even goes into some history on Anne, which I thought was wonderful!

Enhance Yourself

On a seperate, but related note, I have awesome customers and I'm so glad to be able to work with such great people!

Introducing Tudor Totes

Introducing a new project I've been plotting all summer...Tudor Totes.

For the time being, these are decorated pre-made canvas tote bags. Eventually I'd like to offer a deluxe version which is entirely handmade and more heavily embellished, but I've just not had the time yet! Four are currently for sale in my Etsy shop, ranging from $14-$21 based on materials and how perfect I think they are (the original prototype which is not 100% perfect is least expensive.)

Featuring Catherine Howard on beige patterned fabric with green and gold trim, gold plated beads and mother of pearl.

A close up of a Tudor Tote featuring Anne Boleyn, mounted on black and grey patterned fabric with swirling red, black and silver trim, embellished with gold filigree and faux pearls.

Creep...

So maybe I'm a little bit of a creep, but I am having so much fun with these.

Prepping for the big medieval festival in a few weeks, and one of the new "sections" Avealina and I are debuting has a sort of gothic theme...including these bad boys.

A selection of the rings I've made.

Glass alligator eye stud earrings (claimed by Avealina.) For the festival I have an assortment of cat, fish, and bird eyes. All on equally hilarious earring cards.

Tudor Treasury

Thank you, Helena, for featuring my deluxe Boleyn necklace in your treasury, "A Little Bit of Tudor History! "

Something new...

I'm so very excited that I'm writing about my new project even though it's not ready yet.

I'm working on a new line to add to my shop. Versatile tote bags embellished with some of our favorite queens. The base version will be unlined and moderately embellished, while the higher end ones will be lined and more decorative.

I have the first of the base version done, with my first deluxe one nearing completion. Pictures soon!

Magical?

Have I begun the new things I wrote about in my last post? Well, no. But thats because I've been busy with some other very cool things. I just finished up a super cute little project, which was inspired by a few thing.

1) I love little glass bottles.
2) I saw The Sorceror's Apprentice and thought it was adorable.
3) My best girlie over at Avealina commented that she wants a jar of eyes.

And thus, the Sorceror's Supplies were born.

This set is an apartment warming gift for Avealina, but I'm thinking of making some smaller versions for the upcoming Medieval Festival. I think this is just too cute (but then again, I think it's acceptable to decorate with jars of herbs, so maybe I'm biased towards them.)

*No mythical creatures were harmed in the making of this product.*

Upcoming

Well, I've re-opened my shop and have been completing custom orders again. It's nice to get back (somewhat) to normal. My biggest problem is moving around- I can't really carry my supplies from one place to another on crutches.

Right before everything went crazy, one of my lovely customers asked if I'd consider expanding my line of Boleyn themed jewelry and accessories. The timing was funny, because I had been working on a little something new (which I will finish...one of these days.)

The plan is to bring back my The Tudor's inspired tassel necklace (which I just haven't had a chance to restock!), bring back the Boleyn style bookmark, and maybe even come up with a few new special bits. I'm also planning to make a few more one of a kind pieces based on some of Anne Boleyn's lesser known jewelry (like the AB pendant I made a while back, purchased by a young lady with the initials...AB!)

Medical drama

Wow. So to make a very long story short, after 6 months of dealing with pain in my thigh from a "strained quad", I finally went for an MRI, the results of which had me sent directly to the hospital. I somehow acquired a staph infection in my femur (which actually isn't all that uncommon, though it sounds utterly alien), which required just over a week in the hospital and 3 surgeries.

I'm home now, with IV antibiotics for several weeks, and strict orders to not put weight on my leg for 3 months (imagine how much fun moving around my high ranch is.)

So I'd like to start working again, and open my shop soon. Custom items will be done, just slowly since my mobility isn't great and I'm at the mercy of my (wonderful) family for help.

Thank you to my incredible customers for the well wishes and words of support. Everything should be up and running as normally as possible, very soon.

Life gets in the way

I've been incredibly busy recently, and much of it leads to this.

Due to a health issue I need to take some time to address, Duchessa will be temporarily closed.

I look forward to feeling up to re-opening, however I cannot hazard a guess as to when- it would be a few weeks, it could be much more.

Keep your fingers crossed for me.

474 years

"She who has been the Queen of England on earth will today become a Queen in heaven" - Archbishop Thomas Cranmer

Today I wore my little B pearl enhancer in honor of Anne. I thought I was being smart, and clipped it onto a short strand of nice white pearls my aunt gave me several years ago. At lunch, a coworker asked what the B was made of, and as I reached up to take the necklace off to hand to her, the thread snapped and I found myself holding a broken strand of pearls. Bad luck or a message from the lady herself?

I got out of work early today, so I had some extra time to get a jump on orders. It was quote poignant, sitting by myself, in the perfect silence, working on some custom Anne Boleyn style necklaces on the anniversary of her execution. I suppose I pay tribute to Anne often, recreating her famous necklace, but it just really felt fitting today.

This item isn't about making money, or even the craft of it really (though I do enjoy it), but a celebration of the life and legacy of this incredible woman. Cheers Anne- 474 years after your death, and still we remember you.

"Justice is a Woman"

Wow! One of my pendants has been featured in an excellent mixed media piece, "Justice is a Woman Tudor framed collage" by etsy user Mimosette. It's very rare that I'll sell a component for use in something else or resale, but I think this was worthwhile.

There's a whole lot going on here. Decorative pieces, inspirational bits, and a satisfying bit of revenge on Anne's part.

The full collage.

The custom B I made for her.

I love it, its such a funky, clever piece, and quite aesthetically pleasing as well. The collage is currently for sale, it's definately worth taking a look at!

Something blue!

Made a lovely necklace a few days ago with tiny sterling silver beads mixed with white jade and blue crazy lace agate. The pendant is a stand out, and the color is just incredible. I'm glad I picked up an extra pendant to keep for myself! I love it!

New!

A long time of thinking, several weeks of scheming, and one wonderful artisan to work with later, and I am pleased to introduce my hand sculpted letter B pendant in bronze!

Cast from one of my sculpted letters and polished to a high shine. Freshwater pearl drops with delicate gold plated bead caps, on an individually hand knotted pearl necklace.

I've wanted to do this for a long time. I'm super excited with the results. The pendant has much more weight to it than the polymer ones, but it is not uncomfortable to wear.

Tea time!

Isn't this adorable? I made a little bitty tea wallet, just big enough to protect 2 tea bags from getting too crumbled in a purse. I made myself a 6 slot one a while back to throw in my bag for work and I've been very pleased with it. I love the fabrics on this, its just so sweet.

From the outside.

Inside view, holding two of my favorite brands of tea.
Just redid my fiance's paternoster for him, and then what? Sculpting, printing business cards, maybe I'll even draw for a bit tonight. Imagine that!

Photos taken with my new Canon Rebel, which I need to learn how to use. It. is. incredible. And the camera bag I bought from Janine King Designs is quite lovely as well!