Here's one last photo for the day! This is an endless necklace with a unique bead design. The big beads are made of Miyuki Delica beads in colours -- 2 reds, 2 purples, 2 greens and copper. They are 3-dimensional and really catch the light and attention too. I put together with faceted black onyx beads in various sizes. This necklace can go well with almost anything. An elegant black dress to a casual white rayon blouse and jeans!

I'm still working on several more designs but don't envisage completing them before next week. See you next week!

This is a lovely spiral rope necklace with beaded Rivolis! This is the "in" thing and is very lovely to look at especially when the Rivolis catch the light. I used two14mm and one 16mm Rivolis to bead around. These have no drill holes so I designed my own pattern to encase them. For the centre Rivoli I used Peridot gem stones as well. It's quite an addictive design and I'm looking forward to making lots more in different sizes and colours! However, they are expensive and not easy to find in sizes I want.

Finally!

Thank you for ytour constant feedback and suggestions. I apologize for my tardiness in putting up new designs. I tried earlier in the week but my camera was not behaving very well. Photos kept coming out blurred.

I spent the last week or two designing new pieces. Hours of sketching, getting together the beads in the colour schemes to my liking and then settling down to actually making my sketches come to life was very time consuming. I enjoyed the process very much though! The designs I posted today are totally mine. I hope you like them!

This is an elegant bracelet made from Swarovski pearls (creamrose) and cubic zircon crystals in three sizes which explains the lovely bling! I simply love it! It took me about 4 tries before I came up with this finished product. A strong magnetic clasp makes it extremely easy to wear! Very suitable for weddings. I will be making these in peach, pink, blue and green!





Here's a necklace similar to the bracelet design with slightly different crystals. It's 16 inches, close to the neck and very suitable for evening wear. I used different sizes of Swarovski pearls (creamrose and one peach)) and Japanese glass seed beads to make the curve in the necklace. As with the bracelet, this necklace can be made in almost any colour imaginable or available!





Here's another bracelet! I used Swarovski pearls to make flowers! The flowers are made from Miyuki Delica glass beads, size 11 and 15 glass beads as well. It's very comfortable to wear and again, can be done in any colour scheme. A nice casual piece to go with any day outfit but particular nice with jeans!






Another bracelet with pearl-centred flowers but a slightly different design. I used 6mm Swarovski crystals to link each flower. The clasp is triangular which makes it very secure.

Spring cleaning!

For the past couple of weeks I've been going through my stash of beads and gem stones, and trying to organise them in such a way I get to see all of them on the table and get inspired. So far it's been an uphill task because I can't get much done before having to go to the market, do the laundry, prepare meals, meet the children for lunch, take my daughter to dance classes or piano lessons...

Although I've been beading steadily, experimenting with new ideas, I've not really completed anything worthy of mention yet. Take yesterday for example. I got this really cool idea for a bracelet only to find I didn't have all the components needed to experiment with and that meant another trip down to my suppliers. Another frustration with the suppliers is the limited stocks they have. Many people make their own jewelry now but they look for the cheapest parts. I'm looking for better quality components so I have to order online. Two weeks ago, I was looking for bead caps. The ones they had in the store (their best quality) was 6 caps for S$4.00. The ones I was looking for was S$50 for ONE! Needless to say they didn't have it.

Someone asked me the other day how long it takes to come up with a new design. Well, I carry a sketchbook with me everywhere I go so I can draw or write down ideas. After sketching it out, I sit at my studio desk for hours, flipping through magazines and books for inspiration, looking through my bead stash and trying to come up with the right combination of colours. Then I start putting my ideas to thread and needle. Sometimes it takes a few days of experimentation before I come up with a combination of colours that I like. Once that's settled, I start on making the whole piece. Many times I've had to cut up everything and start all over again for various reasons like the beads don't sit properly, the piece is not comfortable when worn etc etc. It may take a few weeks for the design to be completed and ready to sell. I always wear the new designs just to make sure it falls nicely. But you'll be pleased to know I'm always working on more than one piece at a time!

Check back again next week. I hope to have something to show you!