Shop Opening!

Hi everyone! How was your holiday season with family and friends? My family and I went to Malaysia for a week's vacation. We met our friends visiting from North Carolina in Kuala Lumpur and drove up to Penang where we spent a few days with them and our cousins who were excellent tour guides.

We had dinner with hubby's two cousins and their families, who live in Penang.

The view from our hotel room. Scenic, eh?

Cousins!

Thank you to all who supported me during the past year. I really enjoyed designing jewelry pieces for you. Thank you too to those of you who have ordered more jewelry for the new year. I will start work on them next week.

For those of you who have been waiting SO patiently for my new shop to open, I've good news! I'll be opening shop starting 9th January 2012! Do remember you can visit BY APPOINTMENT only (at least a day's notice in advance). This helps me in my planning and scheduling.

Shop hours:

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday - 10am to 9pm

Saturday - 10am to 3pm (definitely must call ahead because I have choir rehearsals on some Saturdays)

Wednesday, Friday and Sunday - closed

Chinese New Year will soon be upon us, so if you would like new jewelry to match your new outfits, do contact me. Meanwhile, have a happy new year!

My almost ready shop!

I'm really excited that my new shop is starting to look great and I can't wait to move in this week! All that's left are the lightings for my display and work table, as well as the display board for hanging my jewelry pieces and my table's tackboard. I'm looking forward to taking out my pieces, writing descriptions for each piece so that you know exactly what materials I used and what kind of work went into each special design. Although my shop will be ready soon, I still have my kitchen renovations to contend with. That will take us to the end of November. I'm hoping to re-open in early December.

While we wait for my shop to open, here are some photos of the process...

This used to be my daughter's room. We moved her to a bigger room. Thankful for a very supportive husband who actually wanted me to use the smaller living room space but I decided to keep everything confined to this room.

On the 4th day of the renovations the carpenters put up the cupboards. It was really exciting to see my dream slowly becoming a reality. I've waited two years!

Doors and drawers being installed!

All done except the suede display board! Don't you think it looks wonderful?!

Do check back every now and then for more news! Have a great week, everyone!

New Shop

My shop officially closed for renovations about 2 weeks ago. I've been sorting and packing up stuff, meeting the designer and contractor, deciding on the shop design and display system, colours etc. It has been really exciting for me. I'm thankful to my hubby for letting me use one room to work in and display what I love to do!

I'll also be having a new kitchen put in so I'll be able to expand my cupcake baking business.

The contractors are coming in this week and I expect my shop to be done in about 3 weeks' time. I hope to re-open first week of December in time for Christmas. So please make your list (and you've time to check it twice!) and make a date with me come early December. Watch out for more news.

New Ear-rings!

Hi everyone! Sorry I've been rather quiet on my blog. Truth is I've been really busy working on custom orders (will post photos soon) and some new items. I'm now also working on developing my new website, taking photos of my one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces and writing descriptions for them.

Exciting news! I'll be renovating my studio and showroom in the next couple of months and hope to bring you better displays and choices. A re-opening is targetted for late November so check back regularly for updates!

Today, I managed to photograph some of my new ear-rings, mostly with gemstones or special beads. Please click on the Ear-Rings page at the top of my blog to see them!

Christmas will soon be upon us, so it's not too early to start making your list (and checking it twice of course). I will be off work beginning December through January, so do get in your custom orders as soon as possible. I will work on orders as they come in. Orders take 2-6 weeks to fill!

Back from my break

My hubby, daughter and I spent 7 days in China. We visited Hangzhou, Shanghai and Yiwu. The main aim of the trip was to explore places where I could buy good quality products for my jewelry business. My best buy was in Yiwu, at the International Trade City, where I managed to get really nice boxes to pack my jewelry in. I have been having a bit of a problem packing my larger neck pieces. Of course this meant I had to order in bulk, which I did, and they took only 4 days to arrive after we got back to Singapore! Thanks to our friend's contact we were able to get things sorted out quite quickly.

In Yiwu, my friend's old college classmate (who is now a government official) extended hospitality to us by inviting us to dinner. As a final dish, we were served with an ox head, complete with horns and teeth! The meat was tender and tasty.

At the International Trade City District One in Yiwu, we managed to find a wholesale freshwater pearl supplier. I found nice pearls with good prices and bought some supplies to bring home. As it is with trade markets, everything has to be bought in bulk so I spent two days choosing my pearls!

Hangzhou is famous for its silk and tea. We managed to visit the National Silk Museum and also went for their Long Jie Green Tea tasting. The food was also quite good and below is a photo of 3-layer pork braised in soy sauce and served with braised bamboo shoots. The presentation was really nice as you can see.

Well, for the next few weeks I will be getting my new inventory done, photographs taken, writing descriptions and then waiting for my new website to be ready. I will also be back to designing my larger and more artistic pieces.

I will still be taking custom orders but the waiting time will now be 6-8 weeks for regular items so do plan ahead if you want to order something special for yourself or your loved ones. Neck pieces and cuffs will take longer. As usual if you see anything you like on the blog and would like to buy it, do let me know.

Taking a break

Just to assure all of you that I'm still around and working hard even though I've not been blogging! The reason is that I've been working on setting up my new website which will hopefully be up by July. This means you will get to see more jewelry pieces and follow my designing journey. Time has also been spent taking photos and updating my inventory.

In June, I'll be travelling overseas to buy gemstones as well as looking for unique and unusual beads for my new pieces. I'll be back on the 14th and will post photos of my travels.

In the meantime, do start planning for Christmas! Drop me a note if you'd like to custom make your jewelry pieces.

Publish Post

New Piece

 These past two weeks have been a little hectic, preparing for a friend's wedding and completing some custom orders.  However, I managed to start and complete a "bigger" neckpiece.  She will be one of my show pieces later in the year.  I've still yet to name her but I can't wait to show her off to you!  She is definitely an OOAK (one-of-a-kind) piece.  It took me about 60 hours to complete her.

This is a gorgeous choker style neckpiece that will go very well with a simple dress.  The oval cabachons are chrysanthemum stones, light mahagony in colour with flowered inclusions.  The rest of the stones are fancy jasper in greens,browns and pinks. The piece is covered painstakingly with thousands of Japanese glass seed beads in two sizes and held together by Swarovski crystal pearls. 

The brass coloured S-hook clasps (yes, there are two!) flank the sides of an embroidered oval chrysanthemum stone cabachon with a fringe to give it a

perfect finish.

Now I'm off to work on another neckpiece, perhaps even bigger!

 

Bridal Collection

I've been working really hard on my bridal collection and here's my first lot to show you.  Most of the necklaces in this collection are choker or collar lengths, meaning they hug the neck quite snugly.  They range from 13.5 inches to 14.5 inches.  Some of them can be extended.

This has to be one of my favourites.  Beautiful Swarovski light creamrose pearls and crystals fill this necklace.  Chains and clasp are gold-filled.  Really fit for a princess! 

Princess $200 

A flat shot of Princess.

A Swarovski crystal white pearl necklace.  Simple and elegant.  Not just for weddings but for any evening event.  Crystal $100

If you like to be different, this is indeed whimsical.  A ruffled necklace incorporating lots of Swarovski crystals to catch the light.  Ruffles $80

Another stunning necklace with lots of Swarovski crystal white pearls and crystals.  This necklace has two loops at the end where you can insert a satin ribbon.  You don't have to worry if the necklace will fit because it always will!  Your bridesmaids may like this too and you can choose coloured ribbons to match your theme.  Satine $120

These necklaces are ready to go to their new home anytime.  If you prefer them to be made in other colours, it will take 3-6 weeks. 

Endless Necklaces and New Items

Happy Lunar New Year to my Chinese friends!  After a busy start of the year getting my house in order (still 40% to go!), I finally managed to sit down and design a few new items.  I started with endless necklaces because the ones I made last year have all been sold out.  Endless necklaces are long with no clasps and really versatile in that you can wear them in a few different ways.

You can wear them double round your neck and adjust how long or short you want the loops.

You can tie a knot anywhere along the front and have a Charleston looking necklace.

You can loop the necklace like a scarf.

And of course you can wear your necklace just plain and dangly or layer them by wearing a few at a time.

Do check out my necklace, bracelet, rings and ear-rings pages for new items added.  As usual, if you see anything you like, drop me an email and I'll see if it's still available.  If you are thinking of customizing your jewelry, drop me an email too.  Usually orders take 3-6 weeks to complete depending on how many backorders I have.  Hope to hear from you soon!

Spring Cleaning

Our Ragdoll, Sniffles, wishing all my friends a wonderful Christmas season and New Year ahead!

Last year ended with a great need to have more storage space in my home office and jewelry studio.  After our vacation in Australia, my husband and I decided to shop for furniture.  Since my home office bookshelves are all teakwood, we decided to look for store we got our shelves from but alas, they no longer exist.  A visit to various teak furniture shops drew a blank as they were either too rustic, exotic or workmanship poor (including well known stores). 

We finally found a place that sold what we are happy with.  The past two weeks have been spent clearing out stuff, cleaning and packing up.  It has taken most of my waking hours and I'm still nowhere near the end.  The new furniture will be coming tomorrow and hopefully I can pack things up by the end of the week.

This project has been more major than I imagined.  After Chinese New Year we plan to change all our ceiling fans so another mess will be in store... Anyways, I've been thinking, planning and designing (on paper) the new jewelry I want to make this year and am looking forward to next week when I can (hopefully) begin my work once again.  I know many of you are hoping to visit my studio.  Thank you for being SO patient!

Today I'm posting a couple of photos of the socks I knitted a while back.  I've been knitting all kinds of socks for the past few years.  They make great gifts to friends overseas.

Aren't the colours gorgeous?

I got the sock yarn from the USA.  Bought a whole boxful a couple of years back.  Hoping to resume some knitting this year.

Wanted to show you our other Ragdoll, Lion-O, who loves to sit with Ethan when I'm not available.  Here you can see Lion-O taking over the chair!  In fact, I sometimes wonder if he thinks he's a dog!

Lion-O loves to sleep with support.  He usually stays close by me when I'm working and he knows not to disturb me.  Our friend Felix will be happy to see grandma and grandson thriving in our household.  Thanks for the cats, Felix!  We absolutely love them to bits!!

Until I blog again, do check back ever so often to see what's been happening.  You are most welcome to send in your orders anytime.  Visits to my studio will resume after Chinese New Year since we will be away for a few days.  Have a great week ahead!

Happy 2011 Everyone!

Hi Everyone!  I trust you had a great holiday season with your family and loved ones.  We had an amazing time as a family in Gold Coast and Brisbane.  This was our longest family vacation of 14 days!  Although it rained 9 days out of our 14 days there (and it's supposed to be the Sunshine State!), we still enjoyed the cool air of 18-23 deg C and the 24/7 company of each other.  I must confess after the first week, the adults started getting restless and we looked forward to our free MacDonald's WIFI time each evening to check our mail, read updates on facebook and work... The children, of course, enjoyed watching TV in the evenings (did I mention stores closed around 6pm??)  and walking around the supermarkets (they close at 9pm).  Certainly we mustn't forget the theme parks.  I went on some of the rides with the children (anyone knows of a good psychologist to treat my "post traumatic stress disorder"??  The one I usually go to is suffering from the same disorder at this moment!) and I guess it meant a lot to them that their parents joined them in the fun.

Thank you for your support in my small business the past year.  It has been really fun designing for you.  Thank you too for the new orders coming in.  This week I received 10 custom orders!  Before I start work, I need to paint and re-do our home office and library.  Hopefully I will be able to start work next week but you can still call for custom orders and the shop is open.

Here are some photos taken on our trip.

Keng Mun playing Cooking Mama at the KL airport while waiting for our flight to Gold Coast.

View from our first service apartment at Sunset Paradise Resort.  We were about 100m from the waterfront. 

A lovely bird's nest.  Notice how long her claws are!

At the Tropical Fruit Farm.  Alethea's cracking the macadamia nuts for our snack.

Here's my macadamia nut, perfecrtly cracked.  I had about 5.  They were yummy!

I've never met a sheep this colour before in real life so it was a special treat for me.

The laziest bunch of kangaroos I've ever met!  They just lie there while folks feed them!!

Early one morning in Brisbane, Keng Mun and I took a walk in the Botanical Gardens.  This tree caught my eye because of it's unique shape.

At Whitewater World, this bird was so thirsty, he braved the dangerous toes of Ethan to have a drink!  He was at it for a good 10 minutes, even pecking at Ethan's leg to drink the drops of water there.

Alethea trying her hand at cracking a whip.  Look at the priceless expression on her face!  She was very scared of the loud sound.  In the end she managed a soft crack.

Ethan was quite good at throwing the boomerang.  In fact, he was the only one who could get it to return!  Must be his Ultimate Frisbee training paying off.

A koala and her one-year-old joey.  I simply loved the smell of the eucalyptus trees!

At Whitewater World.  The children were so excited because the sun finally shone through.  Even so, it was cold moving from ride to ride.

View from our service apartment in Brisbane, Oaks iStay City River.  We were on the 15th storey of the 41 storey apartment building.  The Queen St Mall was only 2 streets down from us.

This owl is the same species as the one in the Harry Potter movies.  Really beautiful.  We got front seats at the Birds of Prey show and enjoyed looking at the wonderful creations of God!

Our final destination, Paradise Resort Gold Coast.  This was a hotel style accommodation and we all decided we much preferred service apartments because of the cooking facilities.

View from our 3rd floor hotel room.

My family and I want to wish you a wonderful year ahead with lots of adventures, experiences and learning opportunities.  May I get lots of inspiration to craft new jewelry designs for you!