On Vacation

Dear Friends,
Just to let you know I'll be taking a break from jewelry making until January 2008. There's lots of spring cleaning to do before school starts. This aspect of home life has been neglected for the past year! The family will also be going on vacation next week. This doesn't mean I'll not be thinking about new designs for you!

So until I see you again next year, have a very special blessed CHRISTmas and a gratitude-filled New Year!

An Eventful Week

I've no jewelry photos to post today but wanted to share good news with you. My daughter did quite all right for her primary school leaving examination. Added to our joy was her acceptance into the dance program at the new School of the Arts (SOTA). This is the first pre-tertiary integrated academics and arts program in Singapore. Out of 1,000 applicants they have accepted 139 into music, visual arts, theatre and dance to join the historical first intake! School begins in January and they will follow the International Baccalaureate program which means the students do not take the usual O and A levels. It's a 6-year program and then on to university after they receive the diploma. Although it's reputed to be a rigorous course of study, we're excited about the new experiences and courses available.

The first two years will be foundational which means the students will all take music, art, theatre and visual arts as well as the academic subjects of English, Maths, Science, Literature, Humanities etc.

In the photo above, three other dancemates also made it to SOTA. A is the one at the end nearest to the camera. Thanks for sharing our joy! See you next week, hopefully with some photos.

A new design

This is another flower lariat! I simply love flowers! Anyway, it's quite a lush design with flowers in all sorts of cheerful colours. Will go well with any plain coloured outfit.

The flowers took about 2 days to make because I experimented with many different colours and possibilities. Putting the necklace together took another day or so. I kept the spiral rope dark in order to bring out the colours of the flowers.

I've developed another design for flowers but have yet to put it together. Hope to show you by the end of the week!

Three completed projects!

It has been a hectic weekend with A's dance rehearsals running from 11am to the evening hours. Added to that was the fact that she needed her hair in French braids which takes me forever to do! Nevertheless, I managed to complete three necklaces.

The first one is in bright pink, 16 inches using the Cellini spiral technique. I used Miyuki/Toho delicas, size 11 and also size 10 triangle beads. I also weaved a Swarovski pearl in matching colours for the clasp.

This green and bronze ruffles necklace is a simplified version of the pattern found in the recent Beadwork magazine. It's 18 inches long. Will go well with a dressy outfit.

Last, but not least is a lovely floral 925 silver cross completed with a spiral rope of blue and silver Miyuki/Toho glass beads. I used a strong magnetic clasp which makes this necklace so easy to wear. It's length is about 17 inches and will go well with any casual outfit.

Egyptian Choker

This lovely green choker was a joy to make. It's 14.5 inches and fits snugly at the base of the neck. I'm thinking of making another in sapphire blue and gold!

These next few weeks leading to the first weekend of December will be filled with dance rehearsals. A will be performing at her dance school's end-of-the-year charity fund raising concert and has been going for rehearsals about 5 times a week! This means any project I start may be interrupted now and then, so must be mobile and easy to pick up.

Now that this Egyptian choker is complete, let's see what I'll work on next! See you next week!

Family Pictures

How many of you out there are cat lovers? My family and I simply LOOOVE cats! In fact, we have two Ragdolls. Thought I'd share them with you today since there are no new jewelry to show! Ragdolls are very gentle and not as active as other cats. They follow us around the house like dogs!
This is Lion-O. He belongs to my almost 16-year-old son, E. Lion-O was named after the leader of the retro-comic titled The Thundercats. Lion-O is two years old and has a foot fetish. He loves to attack feet in socks. He loves ice and soft blankets. At night he sleeps at E's feet on the bed.

This is Sniffles, or affectionately known as Sniffy/Stiff/Slippers/Sniffalocious or Naughty Girl! She is 7 years old and Lion-O's grandmother. She belongs to my daughter, A. Sniffy loves longans and is beginning to like ice too. She also loves to eat chicken and takes long naps on my husband's side of the bed.

Next Step...

Well, I've completed all my back orders and looking forward to a nice break. It doesn't mean I'll not be beading. In fact, I'll probably bead even more to prepare for my January party. As you can see, I'm really into flowers now! I hope to come up with more original pieces. If you have any ideas of suggestions of beadwork designs, do let me know.

Some of you have asked what's the difference between beading and beadwork. Well, beading is a general term for working with beads (includes gemstone beads). This includes stringing and wirework which can be done quite quickly. Beadwork is a technique using special thread, needle and sewing thousands of tiny glass beads into designs like flowers, spiral ropes etc. It is a time consuming technique so you won't find it too often being sold in shops because the pieces may cost more than S$400! Of course making the piece is one thing. It takes many more hours to get inspiration, put beads together in a perfect colour combination and then experiment with new designs and layout. I spend hours experimenting on just one design and have lots of slightly made pieces which didn't work out! No repeated design will ever look the same because I do not like to use the exact same materials over again and neither do my customers like someone else wearing the exact same thing!

Hope this helps!

A Commissioned Piece

This was a special order I just completed for R. This necklace is 25 inches long with the watch face facing upwards for the wearer's easy reading of time! She wanted something for casual wear but as you can see, she can also wear it on special occasions. It's really one-of-a-kind! Hope you like it, R!

I like it SO much I made make something similar for myself!

It's Friday Again!

This past week I managed to complete a watch for my daughter. She simply loves it and wears it all the time! For my watch, I made it a bit bigger to fit my 6.5 inch wrist but A is very much slimmer so I made hers narrower to fit her 5.5 inch wrist. Both took equally long to make!

I'm back at work!

Last week was hectic because of a death in the family. However, I managed to design a new lariat necklace and watch strap. I simply love the colours and the flowers, don't you?! The flowers took forever to make but I'm glad I did! Sorry, they are not for sale but for my personal use. If you would like something similar, do let me know.

Check out the bumble bees on the watch strap!

Beautiful Sunday

Dear Friends,
Thank you to those who came to my gallery sale! We had a good time catching up, trying on pieces of jewelry, learning new things about ourselves (and each other)and even designing our own ear-rings (which were duly put together by my daughter)! Great job, A! I'm sorry the sale couldn't be longer. I know many wanted to come but the day and time was not right. I'm planning to have the next sale in January, before Chinese New Year. In the meantime, do check my blog weekly for updates.

My husband left for the US in the wee hours of this morning and will be away for two weeks so I have to hold the fort for post-op hospital visits, graduation parties, make gifts for A's teachers, spring cleaning, taking care of our two Ragdoll cats, etc.

Sorry no photos today. My camera's battery refuses to be charged so I'll have to get a new one this week. See you next week!

A Long Weekend

Last Friday my daughter went for day surgery to remove a swollen lymph node which had been around for about ten months. The doctor decided it was for the best to get a biopsy to rule out serious illnesses. Needless to say, we experienced some degree of anxiety. Thanks to ALL of you to prayed for us, especially for the doctors and for my daughter. It was an uneventful experience with not too much pain as earlier anticipated. She is now doing very well and life is back to normal except no dancing for one month.

Now I'm busy cataloging the jewelry for this Saturday's sale. Thanks to those of you who made early orders. I'm also working on some of your designs. Hope to see you this weekend at 10am!

Endless bracelet

Here's the 6mm Swarovski pearl bracelet. I alternated between green and white pearls. Since it's a substantial bracelet, I decided to do away with the clasp or toggle and make it an "endless." It's also a little stretchy so quite easy to put on. I really like this very much since it's quite versatile be it for the casual shopping trip or a nice dinner with evening wear.

Now I'm off to a ballet lesson with my daughter. Have a great weekend!

Pink Lady

This 10-strand twisted necklace incorporates rhodochrosite and fluorite chips. I also used Swarovski pearls and the usual crystals, fire polished beads and glass seed beads.

I liked it so much, I started on another twisted necklace using freshwater pearls! Will post the photo tomorrow.

Another Week Gone By!

This has been a good week for me in that I've been able to create quite a few pieces in preparation for my upcoming gallery sale. Exam fever is in the air. My 15-year-old son starts exams today and runs for 7 days! My daughter's important PSLE exam begins next Wednesday on through the following Monday. My husband was home yesterday and in between sending the car for servicing he was a great help at home buying lunch and dinner for me, supervising the children study for exams, playing with the cats...

Because of that I was able to make this green and purple bracelet last night using the netting technique and incorporating fire polished beads inside. Glass beads in size 11 and 15. It's a nice weight and a little stretchy.

This aquamarine blue and coral coloured bracelet was made morning. I used cat's eye beads so this bracelet is even heavier and more substantial but still quite comfortable. Again, I used Miyuki and Toho size 11 and 15 glass beads.

A Lovely and Fruitful Day

I spent the day working on my jewelry pieces and completed everything about 2pm. Made myself a cup of tea and looked out the window to enjoy the view. What a sight. My neighbour's Japanese roses were in full bloom, all 500 or so of them! Yellow, white, light pink, dark pink, and orange were working as a team to bring joy to my little quiet moment. Two tiny yellow birds sat on the tree outside my window, singing hymns of joy. Then my daughter came home with surprise gifts for me. My favourite chocolate bar and my favourite grape drink!


This necklace was adapted from a magazine. I thought the white may be too stark but it looks quite nice on me I must say! All in all, very nice!

Here's what I made during the weekend. Two contrasting coloured bracelets to see the effects. The purple is more classic while the pink seems more casual. I used 4mm cube beads with size 11 and 8 Miyuki glass seed beads, Swarovski crystals and Czech fire polished beads together with Swarovski pearls for the toggles. The techniques employed are ladder stitch and Ndebele.

Lacy Bracelet

Using the Ndebele technique I made this delicate lacy design. I also experimented with different colours and found them quite interesting. Here are two of them.

Caterpillar bracelet

I started this bracelet a couple of hours ago because I needed something purple and pink to inspire me! It's a substantial bracelet and I used Swarovski disks, Czech fire polished beads, Czech glass bead leaves, Cat's eye beads and my size 11 and 15 glass seed beads. For the toggle I weaved a Swarovski pearl.

Now that I'm inspired, I'm off to create a new necklace! Who knows what it'll be?!

Another Bright Sunny Day1

It was raining so much last week I thought I'd never see the sun again but the past two days have proved me wrong! Not only has it been really hot (my hung out clothes dry in an hour!) but it's been really humid as well.

I completed this lilac and pink necklace after my daughter's ballet class last night. It was really fun deciding on the colours and shades to use. This time I added Swarovki pearls to one of the 10-strand twist. I think it looks really nice. I also made this necklace longer, about 21 inches whereas the others are about 19 inches. I'm thinking of making another one in blue this time.

Final project for the day

I had a nice quiet day with both my children in school till late this afternoon. So I decided to start on another necklace before my daughter and I went off for her ballet lesson.

This 10-strand twisted necklace is made with 4 different kinds of white beads, pastel peach and silver. I also used Swarovski crystals and Czech fire polished beads. Lovely as a wedding accessory as well.

Hot Chili Pepper

Here it is! Couldn't resist showing you immediately! I love how the colours flow together. This will look lovely on a classic black or gray dress/blouse.

Thank God It's Friday!

Believe it or not, the new matching bracelet and necklace have been sold! I guess I'll have to make another similar one for the sale. Right now I'm making a black, red and orange one and the next one in line is a pastel pink, blue, green, yellow and white.

A couple of you have called me to place special orders. Thank you! I'll be starting work on them next week when I've got the "ingredients" together.

As you have guessed and concluded (from photos) by now, I'm really addicted to beadwork! I love working with colours and enjoy picking out complimentary colours for my projects. It's easy to string beads or gems together but much harder artistically to incorporate them together with seed beads, turning them into a small work of art. My favourite theme is flowers and greenery. It reminds me of God's creations, faithfulness and creativity. Have a great weekend and see you next week!

Matching Necklace

Here's my completed necklace! This is a 14-strand 19-inch twisted necklace. I tried wearing it flat but decided it looks most beautiful twisted. I used mainly greens and purples and like the bracelet, it has a woven Swarovski pearl for a toggle. I also used 5mm Czech fire polished beads which catches the light really well.

I'm off to my suppliers to get more cube beads and beads in many other colours! Who knows what tomorrow may bring?!

Gallery Sale

Dear Friends,
I've finally settled on the date to showcase my pieces of beadwork jewelry! Do set aside Saturday, October 20th (Hari Raya Haji holiday in Singapore) to come see my work and hopefully purchase something! I will open from 10am to 3pm. Since it's a public holiday, do leave your children at home with Dad so you can take your time trying on all my pieces!

As many of you know, I try to make original designs not found outside so what you get is one-of-a-kind. Many pieces take more than 4 hours to complete but may take up to two weeks cooking in my brain! I also use good materials like silver and gold filled findings. No mass production means you won't find an item in 10 different colours or sizes! If you see something you like but it's not in your size or colour, I can replicate it (never exactly for various reasons like the same colours or beads may not be available, other customers don't like to see someone else wearing the exact same piece they bought, and of course my artistic inspiration).

If you're thinking of a specially designed piece (or pieces), it would be better to make an appointment with me before or after the sale. It may be difficult to spend time with you at the sale while wanting to make sure you have your perfect design if there are other customers around. Hope you understand!

So, do start making your list and putting your designs on paper! I will take orders up to end of October (no exceptions). I'll complete all orders by early December since I will be taking a break till January 2008.

Bracelet 5

Yes, you guessed it! I'm in a bracelet making mood this week! This luxurious 12-strand bracelet is made with cube beads, size 11 Miyuki and Toho glass seed beads, Czech fire polished beads and a woven Swarovski pearl for the toggle. You can wear it flat or twisted like the photo. It's so lovely, I'm making a necklace now!

Bracelet 4

This is another of my favourites! I used a cat's eye bead to start the flower and simply love the effect! The flower sits on 3 peyote leaves and a bracelet base of size 11 Miyuki and Toho glass seed beads with Czech fire polished beads.

Preparing for Christmas

Some of you have already called to reserve pieces or ask me to make special designs to give away as Christmas presents. I do have many more pieces than I display on my blog so if you're interested, do drop me a line. This year I'll be taking a break from December so orders have to reach me latest end of September. It's also not too early to plan for Valentine's Day and Mothers' Day next year!

Bracelet 3

For this bracelet, instead of a flower centrepiece I decided to use seashells, rose quartz beads, cat's eye beads and Swarovski pearls.

Bracelet 2

This one has a different flower design. I used size 11 Miyuki and Toho glass seed beads with Swarovski pearls and Czech fire polished beads. One of my favourites!

Bracelet 1

Last week was bracelet week! I made four! Here's the first one. I added pink freshwater pearls and a little flower toggle.

A Gift

My daughter asked me to make her a choker necklace the other day. "What colour would you like it in?" I asked. "Brown, of course!" She answered indignantly! Yes, my 12-year-old's favourite colour is brown. No longer pinks and purples!

Here it is, a brown, peach and olive green choker. There are two loops at the back where she can attached her choice of organza ribbon. Hope you like it, darling!

Rainbow Links

In the midst of the hectic two weeks, I needed something colourful in my life and came up with a nice opera length necklace using my colour wheel! It was quite therapeutic watching the colours come together. Life is like that, isn't it? We need the light and dark colours as well as the bright and not so bright colours to complete our experience. I used almost 5,000 Miyuki and Toho size 11 glass seed beads!

Calm after the Drizzle

After a hectic two weeks of taking care of my two children, I can finally sit down and blog a little! My 12-year-old daughter will be sitting for her Primary School Leaving Examinations in a little less than 3 weeks from now so we've working hard at revising her four subjects (English, Chinese, Maths and Science). This is an important exam because her results will determine the quality of secondary school she can apply to. Then there's dance classes and doctors' visits for various problems.

My fifteen-year-old son ended up with bursitis in his foot and a pulled shoulder muscle after a week of bad flu which required some pampering! It's Monday and they're off to school again so here I am!

Although my blog has been quiet, I've been faithfully working as you will see in the photos. I've been wanting to schedule a gallery sale for my friends but it's been next to impossible at the moment. So sorry! I'll let you know when I will be able to do this.

Some of you have asked how I go about my work so I thought I'd share a little. Although I've taken professional classes in jewelry making and design, and can work with almost any technique, my favourite medium is working with glass beads and gems. I love to mix and match colours with textures. I especially love working on garden themes and whimsical designs. When I want to start a new piece, I usually decide on the the main colour and pull out all my materials in that colour, stare at them for a few hours or days even (!) before coming up with a design. Even then, it may not turn out exactly how I envisioned it to be because the beads and gems seem to have a life of their own!

Usually I don't repeat a design exactly unless it's in a different colour scheme. My customers know the pieces they acquire are one-of-a-kind, and no one else has one exactly like that.

Teachers' Day

Last week when my daughter asked me to make an opera necklace for her favourite teacher, Mrs S for Teachers' Day this weekend, I experimented with many colours and designs for woven beads before coming up this 45 inch long necklace!
My daughter wanted it in blues and greens with some orange because her teacher is very cheerful and bubbly. I also added Black Onyx beads with Hematite beads, Swarovki crystals and Miyuki glass seed beads. The dark colours on the necklace really brings out the colours of the beads, don't you think? I hope you like it, Mrs S!

What a Rainy Day!

Yesterday we had one of the heaviest rainfalls in Singapore. Lots of floods especially in the low lying areas. Our son had a doctor's appointment downtown and when we were done, the rain was so heavy we could not even walk to the bus stop. Our daughter had just been released from school and called me because it was impossible to even walk out of school. My husband, bless his heart, decided to pick her up and drive us all the way home even though he had to go back to the office! What a day!

This is a pair of ear-rings I made using Ndebele and Peyote techniques. I love them SO much, I'm going to make more in all sorts of colours!

This week I've been obsessed with woven beads! They look much better in real life, partly because the weather has been cloudy and rainy making photo-taking a slight challenge.

The necklace is about 18 inches long. I liked it so much I made another one in green!

This green necklace is shorter, about 16 inches. Like the purple one, I used different sizes of Swarovski pearls and Czech fire polished beads.

Living by the Sea

This 19-inch necklace was a joy to make. The lovely seashell flower pendant, the lovely green "seaweed" looking cat's eye beads and a touch of burnt orange to remind us of corals in the sea just tie together so wonderfully, don't you think?

Caterpillar bracelets

Believe it or not, these are two bracelets joined together! You can wear as bracelets (either by itself or together in a twist) or join them up to form a nice 16-inch necklace!

You can collect them in any colours you choose!

Classic Opera

Here's a lovely classic opera length necklace I made with aluminium beads (which don't tarnish and are light weight) and Swarovski pearls together with glass seed beads.

This necklace can be worn in 4 ways! 1. Straight on 2. Tie a knot in front 3. Pull two ends together and use a pearl shortener clasp to get a double strand effect 4. Pull two ends together and twist then use a pearl shortener clasp.

So in reality, it's really versatile! A favourite for this week.

On Eagle's Wings

Last week in church we sang a song which reminded me of the Bible verse in Isaiah 40:31, "Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint."

I came upon this beautiful rose quartz eagle a few weeks ago and decided to make a necklace out of it. Whoever wears this will be reminded that God is our hope and whoever sees it worn will also be encouraged.

The weeks will be filled with homework, exams, rehearsals, sickness, hospital visits, travelling spouses, slightly disobedient children, project work, assignments etc. May all my friends out there continue to find strength in the Lord's promises!

My Berry Lariat

It's been a really hectic week with my daughter's exams and numerous orders on my jewelry business side. Today I am breathing a little easier after completing all my orders, although exams extend to the end of the week.

I spent the week stringing pearls for a customer, designing and creating 10 pairs of gemstone ear-rings, repairing and re-stringing necklaces for another customer, designing a couple of opera necklaces, and also completing some interesting designs. One of them is My Berry Lariat. If you look closely, I started the lariat with buds, then flowers and a mixture of unripe and ripened "berries." This lariat is a bit whimsical and is especially for those who love nature and also love to make a statement.

I am now working on a lariat with another colour theme.

Ear ring #5

This pair of ear rings was made with star shaped seashells, Czech flower glass beads, Swarovski crystals and pearls and teardrop shaped glass beads.

Ear ring #4

A shift in colours as I used some of my stabilised turquoise beads, cat's eye beads, Czech fire polish beads and Swarovski crystals and pearls.

Ear ring #3

This one is made with Tiger eye gemstone beads, cat's eye beads, Swarovski crystals and pearls, Czech fire polish beads and aluminium beads.

This pair of ear rings remind me of autumn with brown, green and orange colours.

Ear ring #2

I made this pair for myself using the same concept, except I made it fuller (which made it heavier!). I used freshwater pearls, Czech fire polished beads, Swarovski crystals and pearls.

Ear Rings Galore!

Last night, while watching TV with my family and eating pizza as our nation celebrated her 42nd birthday, I made ear-ring after ear-ring in different colours and using different beads but with the same idea of design.

This is made with cat's eye, Swarovski pearls and crystals as well as aluminium beads.

Spring time!

I am very pleased with my work today. The 99.9 silver leaf pendant was my project for a silver clay class I attended last year. Since then I couldn't decide what to do with it and viola! today I was inspired to put it into a necklace.

This is an asymmetrical 19 inch necklace with spiral rope, cluster beads and flower shaped seashells. I absolutely love the colours, don't you?

St Petersburg Lariat

This lariat is 40 inches, with a 3 inch drop. I used the St Petersburg weave with glass seed beads and Czech fire polished beads.

The drop consists of freshwater pearls and Czech fire polished beads.