Barbwire & Roses

08/12/2023

Very cool cosplay compilation video of Lucca Comics and Games.
This year was very hard, but also still, very cool.

07/12/2023

Shop updated with all the new stock!
Still looking for an Xmas present? Go have a look and either order through the Etsy shop or PM me directly.
Https://barbwireandroses.etsy.com

06/12/2023

Updating the webshop, this was long overdue!
All mini banners and fabric pouches have been updated, leather drawstring bags will follow.
Https://barbwireandroses.etsy.com

06/12/2023

Jack of Dice is starting early again next year, I definitely will not. So if you need your festival fix, perhaps check this out?

Jack's First fair next year will be Fantasy Village! https://buff.ly/3TaHuHA
The kind organizers of Fantasy Village have given us a 25% discount on any ticket sold with the code FVJACKOFDICE. This code has no limit in uses so make sure to tell your friends and (chosen) family as well.
And if our code happens to be the code most used in the pool of vendors, Jack will get a 25% discount on the next booth at Fantasy Village. So please share 😉

05/12/2023

Cosplay Craft Day announcement!

You can now sign up for Monday the 18th of December and Wednesday the 17th of January!

A cosplay craft day provides you with an introduction to leathercrafting and an introduction to machine embroidery.
This is not an in-depth course or a craft your project under my guidance type of day, this is a basic introduction day to set you up with the basic knowledges to start crafting on your own.
I will show you how an embroidery machine works, how to operate one and general options, plus small nuggets of wisdom that I gained through experience. Practically speaking, you will also have the chance to create your own patch, so you get a first time feel of hooping a project and gain insight if machine embroidery is something for you.
Similarly, I will introduce you to various leathercrafting tools that I use for my crafting and although you won't do a project on the day, from start to finish, you will get to handle various tools to get an idea on how they work and what they do/are meant to do. Obviously, there will also be information on different types of leather, their qualities and what you can use them for.
So, a basic introduction day to leathercrafting and machine embroidery. This is perfect for people who consider starting to make cosplays and larp costumes, just starting out, or with little to no experience in leathercraft or machine embroidery.
After this day, you will have insight in what tools might be useful for you to purchase and which ones you do not need, this will likely safe you a lot of money that you might otherwise spend on tools you do not (yet) need. Also, you will be provided with some addresses on where to buy tools and materials.
Just for the record, I won't be covering pattern making or fabric costumes.

A cosplay craft day starts at 10:00 and ends at 16:00, there will be a break for lunch and coffee.
It costs 100 euro per person, coffee, tea and materials are included, bring your own lunch.
The maximum amount of sign ups per day is 8.
Location is in Apeldoorn at my workshop, 6 minute walk from the train station.

Edit: Because I have no sign ups yet, I am still flexible on dates, especially if you want to sign up with multiple people and can't make one of the mentioned dates, contact me to see what's possible.

27/11/2023

Some necklaces that I recently crafted, using various beads and some beautiful handmade pendants crafted by a German blacksmith.
There are still 5 out of the 6 discount boxes left.
2x a nerf holster box
1× DIY craft box (large bag craft kit)
2x a dice bag box (1 with a jumbo size and 1 with a large size dice bag).
The boxes are 75 euro each and contain the themed item mentioned above, plus extras to push the box worth over 100 euro.
These are all old stock that needs to clear, mixed with misfit (imperfect) items. Comment or PM to order.
This is not a Black Friday or Cyber Monday sale, offer ends when the boxes have sold out.

24/11/2023

Posting this up, just in case people were wondering.
Especially as a small business, black friday is not a friendly day, generally speaking we don't have the type of profit margins to offer insane discounts and we definitely do not splurge on specifically bought in stock to sell on at so-called discounted prices.
On a personal note, I also dislike the over the top consumerism. Buy something because you genuinely need it or because you have fallen in love with and will enrich your life, not because it just happens to be a good deal.
Any sale items I have, will also exist outside of Black Friday.

23/11/2023

Still taking it very slow today, but trying to at least get the advent calendars out before the weekend. My other 2 tasks are pack my suitcase for tomorrow (fingers crossed I will have recovered enough, though definitely far from sure) and cook a big pan of chicken curry for Saturday to feed the group at the cabin that I will be staying at. It would be nice to have an event where I can just play and not work. ;)

23/11/2023

Ugh, con crud, at least testing negative. So, I am slowly finishing my final larp advent calendars.
There is also a limited special offer of discount boxes!
75 euro each with a value of 100+ euro.

6 options available:
2x Nerf holster option
2x dice bag option
1x dyi craft kit option
1x fur mantle option

They contain stock items that have been on the shelf for quite a while or that contain imperfections. Your theme option gives away what the main, big item of your box is and it will have some extras thrown in to surpass the 100 euro regular retail price worth. 1 dice bag option is the exception, as it contains a large instead of a jumbo size, but extra items will be added to make up for the price difference.

These are NOT black Friday related as I do not like black Friday.
First come, first served, just comment below or PM me to order and reserve your chosen box.

22/11/2023

Woohoo! Had my final event of the year with my shop. This was number 3 in 6 weeks time (of which the first 2 were bad weather events including a hefty storm Ciaran coldfront with apparently up to 140 km/hour winds in Tuscany). Not recommend...
Luckily number 3 was inside and finally also financially more fruitful (being inside helps).
Suffering some minor con crud atm, but hopefully that will pass quickly and luckily still testing negative.
Just before DCC I started on an Astarion inspired jacket, but 1 day was a bit too ambitious, as a build. Might have done it in 2 if I hadn't had set up on Friday (and not run out of thread), but definitely misjudged the amount of embroidery, which will likely be around 8 hours total. Will finish later and then it will be available through the shop.
This weekend will be event number 4 in 7 weeks, at least this time, I will get to play. ;)

19/11/2023

Final day of Heroes Dutch Comic Con!
Come find me for larp gear, costumes and D&D accessories.
Special offers for the comic con (while stock lasts):
1. Outlet Larp swords from 20 euro.
2. Discount mystery boxes with 25%+ discount on the items inside.
3. 10% discount on a handmade dice bag or dice tray if you turn in one of the special flyers. You can get a flyer at the D&D demo area when you try out a game of Dungeons & Dragons.
4. Sign up sheet for my first cosplay craft days, limited space.

17/11/2023

Mostly set up, will finish tomorrow morning!
Come find me at Heroes Dutch Comic Con!
Also considering to organise a cosplay craft day at my workshop in Apeldoorn.
What do you think, good idea?
A cosplay craft day would provide you with an introduction to leathercrafting and an introduction to machine embroidery.
This won't be an in depth course, but I will show you how an embroidery machine works, how to operate one and general options, plus small nuggets of wisdom that I gained through experience. Practically speaking, you will also have the chance to create your own patch, so you get a first time feel of hooping a project and gain insight if machine embroidery is something for you.
Similarly, I will introduce you to various leathercrafting tools that I use for my crafting and although you won't do a project on the day, from start to finish, you will get to handle various tools to get an idea on how they work and what they do.
So, a basic introduction day to leathercrafting and machine embroidery. This is perfect for people who consider starting to make cosplays and larp costumes, just starting out or with little to no experience in leathercraft or machine embroidery. Just for the record, I won't be covering pattern making or fabric costumes. ;)
I was thinking 100 euro per person, including coffee, tea and materials for a 10:00 to 16:00 day.
First sign ups during DCC? Max. 8 spots per day.

17/11/2023

Special offer this Heroes Dutch Comic Con!
I will be offering outlet larp swords for 20 euro and up, good option for convention safe cosplays!
There will also be a limited amount of discount mystery boxes for 75 euro each. They contain older stock, topped off with some extra misfit (imperfect) items. Regular price would be 100+ euro.

16/11/2023

The promised video dump of Lucca Comics and Games!
First video are live squid games, then a short video of Luis and Romero Royo drawing. Final 2 videos to illustrate some of the bad weather, luckily we had some sunshine in between too.

16/11/2023

Some more patches done for Heroes Dutch Comic Con this weekend, including some cute d20 ones, they went fast in Lucca.
I will have more DnD accessories available.

15/11/2023

Big Lucca Comics & Games photodump, should have done this sooner, but was too tired to also write this post.
Lucca was very hard this year, I think it's all the set backs adding up, that made it so much harder than normal (not just for me, I could see it in every ones eyes). There were also major highlights though, which made it an absolute rollercoaster of a trip and I definitely do want to return, but need to figure sime stuff out to nake it less taxing.
The drive over was already harder than normal, with all the rain in Germany, we were very happy to reach our usual hotel and had a lovely room for the night. The last leg of the trip was also extra hard due to the torrential rains, we zigzagged through northern Italy, on small winding roads to avoid the big traffic jams. It was an adventurous ride, but in the end, several hours longer than normal.
Once we arrived in Lucca, we couldn't set up our tent straight away. The initial spot had really good placement, but unfortunately had turned into a muddy disaster that no longer could function as a pitch. There was the option on top of the baluardo, ib the middle, but knowing the wind could get bad, I said no, not an option (the best decision ever, in hindsight, otherwise I would have most certainly lost my tent and potentially all my stock). Spots in between the other tents was extremely difficult, as they hadn't left enough space in between the other tents, during set up. In the end, Narsilion could not set up their tent and they decided to set up in their workshop, in the city. Definitely a loss of revenue for them, but at least they did not have to worry about their stall being torn to shreds by the wind, later on during the week. If you are looking for amazing costume, consider getting something from them. There was only 1 spot that would fit my tent, it would not allow a 6 meter front as planned (instead I had to go with 4 meters at the front), but at least I could pitch my tent. Pitching the tent would happen at the end of the next day though, because there was a huge amount of back and forth and my guy had dialysis first, in the morning. Our one day off, was unfortunately gone. Initially, I also thought, it would be a 4 day convention, like last year, but it was 5, so that cost us another day of recovery.
Wednesday was the first day of Lucca Comics and Games and it was amazing! Nice weather and I got to meet Tony Diterlizzi, Luis Royo, Romero Royo and a daughter of Frank Frazetta. I purchased art prints, had pieces signed, was lucky enough to find my final missing Planescape box set (and of course also got that signed) and generally speaking felt poor but absolutely elated at the end of the day. Also, yes, we bought an original painting from local artist, Giampaolo Bianchi on Monday, all the art!
Thursday was harder, but not too bad. I was on my own that day, as my guy had dialysis in the morning, but was generally not feeling well due to being so tired of the trip and an added stomach bug (plus having to get up before 6 in the morning to get to the hospital). So I told him to take the day off. Luckily I had amazing neighbours, in the form of Mytholon Italia (and Ali) who didn't mind watching my stall when I needed a toilet break and got me a coffee to boot! Bestest neighbours. Narsilion brought me a sandwich for lunch, so all good. It rained tons that day, but I could deal with that, it does explain the terrible flooding later in Florence (google of you haven't seen the footage). Also met some lovely Italian larpers who played vampire and later on gifted me a lovely handmade bracelet, clan sisters across the world

06/11/2023

Spot the difference!
Quick little post before we drive into Switzerland (and I won't have internet access). Everything has been packed up and luckily the tent is about 95% dry due to the beautiful weather that has shown up, now the convention is over. I bought in some extra stock from Narsilion and Mytholon, so the car is packed to the roof once more (luckily I am a master in car tetris). Had lunch at my absolute favourite little café (La Colonna) and stocked up on some crostata for along the way and a bottle of Fanta for Kim (Italian fanta is different from Dutch fanta and he definitely prefers the Italian version).
In the photos you can see the middle beam of the tent. This beam normally never unscrews from the 2 grey metal bits, that point through the roof.... no clue where that screw has gone. One of the signs of the extremely severe weather conditions past week, another one was seeing several of the big pegs having been pulled from the earth, when coming in during the morning and making the first inspectation round around the tent. There was a 6 on wind severity on the weeronline weather app.
Bigger update on Wednesday!
Looking forward to a Swiss hotel. ;)

04/11/2023

Open for day 4! The weather is much better today luckily, yesterday was.... hard.
There were also highlights though, firstmost the support of the lovely family that larp can be, your online support was greatly appreciated, but also the support of my neighbours, standing at the ready in case the tent would get shredded to bits and start to fly.
During the day I received this amazing gift from Maiden Forge, a beautiful handcrafted bracelet from clan sister and we only met the day before! This really helped me get through the day as I was at a genuine low.
At the end of the day I was finally able to visit the Luis Royo and Romero Royo exhibition, which was awesome, I really want to save up for an original at somr point.
Also found this awesome giant Cthulhu statue in the city, which it turns out, is from the 'Death may die' boardgame. I learned about this, because during dinner we got seated next to the table that had one of the creators of the game. I heard them mention Miskatonic University larp from Chaos League (whom I was able to catch up with too, during the day), we got talking and had a lovely evening and end of the day.

03/11/2023

We are open again!
The wimd went down enough to open up part of the front tent flap and on top of that, the sun is coming through. Fingers crossed it will stay this way or get better.

03/11/2023

Opening non posso!
It is not possible for us to open today!

The wind is too hard and if I open even a small part of the tent, I am affraid the wind will pick it up and tear it to shreds (and then destroy all my stock). Unfortunately, I am not exaggerating.

If you are desperate to get in and few the collection, you can crawl in through the side door, on your knees and belly. We have had to peg down all the sides as well, but we are in the tent (keeping an eye on things as it has been predicted to get worse).
Keep your fingers crossed that the tent, our stock (and ourselves), get through unscathed. We can use all the positive energy and thoughts!

02/11/2023

Important message from my colleagues and good friends!

01/11/2023

All set up at Lucca Comics & Games!
You can find me on the baluardo de San Paolino, in between the Epic Armory and Mytholon tents (yes, I find this hilarious, can I pretend to be one of the big dogs now?)
Great atmosphere, though very wet. It is very nice meeting up with everyone again.

30/10/2023

Left beautiful Switzerland behind and currently driving through some serious soup. Lots of rain and fog and taking the scenic route in order to avoid traffic, makes for an interesting journey.
Also posting up the last minute batch of patches that I crafted just in time for Lucca Comics & Games.

27/10/2023

Batch making patches for the upcoming comic cons!
Can't wait to travel to Italy for Lucca Comics & Games and will be attending Heroes Dutch Comic Con soon after.
I love the beautiful colours of the D20s, what do you think?

26/10/2023

Only a few more days until Lucca Comics & Games!
Come find me on the Balluardo San Paolino, in the burgundy and white medieval tent!

Handmade leather larp gear and D&D accessories!

💬Lucca Comics & Games 2023
🖼️ The exhibitions October 14 / November 5
🎭 The festival November 1-5
🗺️The map: https://bit.ly/407Zrrz
🎟️ Tickets: https://bit.ly/483qA2E

24/10/2023

Final call! Last day to pre-order a LARP or D&D Advent Calendar!
Only 4 slots left!
PM me or comment below to order.

They are 250 euro each and there is also the option to add extra budget for more/bigger goodies in the 24 bags.

18/10/2023

Medieval inspired collection is slowly getting there.
Warrior snails and co cockatrices are done, hunter hare nearly done and have started on the dragon. After that there are still monkey and basilisk.
This collection makes me happy, do you like it?

16/10/2023

Sneak peek of the upcoming medieval inspired collection.
This will only be a small collection, mostly with scrollcases, leather drawstring bags, patches, mini banners and at least 1 bottle holder.
What do you think of this style?
Any particular embroidery and object combinations that you want to see?

13/10/2023

The final test stitch bags are done and the deadline to pre-order your advent calendar is closing in rapidly.

PM me if you still want to order a LARP or RPG advent calendar.

I am considering selling off some of the test stitch bags in an attempt to recoup some time and materials that went into creating and testing the designs.
However, I am also trying to figure out how that might work under the 'Dark Pack' option from Paradox, I think I can only ask for donations to cover time and materials. Open to suggestions and hearing from your experiences.
I am always annoyed when seeing bootleg stuff at comic cons, but it's difficult waters to navigate as a small company, as we generally don't make enough to cover licensing fees and spend all the time and energy required to chase it through official channels.
I have sent an email to Paradox though, so fingers crossed and see what suggestions they might have.

11/10/2023

Well chuffed with these test stitch outs for the medium sized DA clan symbols for Tremere, Toreador and Brujah.
The Toreador one was made from scratch again, but I felt adventurous and decided to try the resize function on the Brujah symbol, which worked extremely well! Had to redo/tweak a lot of the black outlines and fiddled a bit with the pull compensation, but this way saved a ton of work. I made 2 stitch outs for the Brujah version as I wanted to see the difference between heavy and light outlines. I prefer the lighter option, which do you?
Tremere was a super easy peasy resize, some work on the black outlines, but easy and quick and only needing 1 test stitch out.
I will do some final tweaks, but they are ready for proper stitch outs!

09/10/2023

5 more scrap leather bags are available for 30 euro each, plus shipping.
They weigh about 2 kilo each.
These bags contain low quality leather bits that are still quite sizeable. All of it is garment weight and could easily be sewn with a good sewing machine as well.
Also available through the Etsy shop, though they are 35 there. I did get an email though that Etsy should have a new special offer up unil Wednesday which offers customers from The United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Germany 10 dollars off on orders of 40 dollars or more.

06/10/2023

Spot the differences + 5 slots left to pre-order a Larp or D&D advent calendar!

Super chuffed with my 2nd stitch out of the DA Brujah clan logo. I definitely wasn't sure I would be able to fix stuff after my first stitch out, made some major changes, crossed my fingers as it would either massively improve the piece, or make it tons worse.
It worked out brilliantly, not perfect yet, but I know now that I will get there. More compensation for the stitch pull is required, plus some minor adjustments, but huge improvements in several areas. Also spent some extra time on the phoenix and I think that really paid off.

Do you like the alterations?
Also, 5 slots left for the advent calendars, let me know if you are interested.

04/10/2023

First test stitch out of the Brujah Dark Ages clan logo (copyrighted Paradox world of darkness content).
This one is going to need quite a bit of work still and I do feel daunted with the amount of pull compensation required. On the other hand, that is mostly what it needs because everything else looks pretty good and at least I now have some experience to build on and try rectify this. I did expect a larger potential of compensation on this one, just hoping to minimise the amount of test stitches that I need to make as this is the biggest one yet, with over 150.000 stitches and a minimum of 5 hours embroidery time if I keep hovering over the machine every minute.
Very happy with the added and subtle pattern to the shield, much better than one big, black blob of straight lines (and I mean the small squares pattern, not the swords).

Also created some more leather drawstring bags from some of the ok enough test stitch outs. Including a preview of the smaller size version that would work nicely on a small bottle holder (definitely planning to make myself one for Giovanni 2).

What do you think so far?

02/10/2023

Figured out what to do with the test stitch outs!
They are not perfect, but pretty enough to be used in something simple. Always fun to have as a useful little prop.
I am considering doing some more of these with stitching directly onto the leather as I do really like the look.

Good thing I have the Beekbergse Wolhal in walking distance, because I didn't have cotton drawstring and they had a nice luxurious selection.

30/09/2023

Final day of the flashsale! Go check it out, do some early holiday shopping and support a small business.

29/09/2023

Quick bit of crafting for a friend.
The road is open and being completely overhauled in front of the house and we have had the painters by this week to do the outside of the house, so it's difficult to concentrate on crafting or anything else.
When a friend asked for a quick and simple thigh scabbard for their new dagger, without any further specifications, it was a perfect excuse to do a quick little craft that didn't require too much thinking.

27/09/2023

Posting up some throwback photos.
Remember 20% off this week, because I need to raise some quick funds.

PM me or purchase through Etsy.

25/09/2023

Flashsale! 20% off nearly everything!
This week only!

We have the painters by this week and unfortunately there were 2 nasty surprises when it came to the state of the woodwork, nothing impossible, nothing that can't be fixed/replaced, but it is adding to an already (but expected) big bill.
Hence, a flashsale to try and raise some extra funds.

20% off nearly everything, except for loot boxes, advent calendars and foam props.

Also 20% extra off on items that already were on sale!

Leather is also on sale with 150 euro for a single full piece, regardless of size (between 45 and 60 square feet each). Normally these are 150 to 200 euro each depending on size.

Plus only 10 euro per small full size piece, between 4 and 7 square feet each. These are low quality pieces in brown and black options, normally 15 euro each with 5 for 50.

Offer valid until the end of the month.
You can PM me directly if you wish to place an order and I will also set up the 20% off directly in the Etsy shop.

Please share, comment and like to spread the word.

22/09/2023

Here is the Dark Ages Tremere logo all done! Super proud of this one too.
The leather took a genuine pounding, hence a little bit got misaligned within the shield, but that was not a problem of the design, simply the fact that this particular piece of leather took a little less well to an extremely hefty design, nothing that some extra handstitching can't solve though (see last photo).
Super happy with the head of the snake as well, really like the alterations I made after the last test stitch!

The Toreador and Tremere banners have now been cut to size and hopefully I should be able to finish them soon.

Also considering selling these digitised designs, but very much in doubt. Designs are very easily shared between embroiderers, but on the other hand, I only do leather (and some pre-made hoods that I sometimes buy in), so I don't expect a lot of orders for these anyway. Also, it's much more handy for costumers if they can stitch out designs themselves, for their projects. Plus, it might financially recoup some of the many hours that are going into this project.
Other important considerations are, I am not a professional embroidery file designer, I don't know what quality strangers would be expecting.
Then there is of course the super important topic of licensing, as I do not own the original art, but that might be solved through the 'Dark Pact' option offered by Onyx? I don't think these designs will see a huge commercial use, mostly people within the hobby who want it for their character, their game group (for banners) or that 1 (or 2) customer with a specific and special request.
Also, atm I only have it in a .pes file format. I could probably export it from my digitising software in a different format, but no clue how that will affect the embroidery end result.

What are your thoughts on this?
Make it available (for a price)?
Keep it exclusive, considering the insane amount of work that went it (which also feels a bit like a shame to actually limit its use, because of the amount of work)?