Hot Favourite!!!

My goodness! I have another order for "Brown Forest" necklace! A workmate of mine wants to give it to her friend as a gift, so has asked me to make another one.

My oh my, am I going to be busy or what...

I mean my wedding is in 5 weeks time, I've got tons to do for wedding preparations up to the wedding day itself and I have so many accessories to make!

BUT I'm going to challenge myself and tell myself that I CAN DO IT!!! That's me I guess, always pushing myself to the limit for things that I enjoy doing!! Just hope I won't look haggard and tired on my wedding day! heh heh heh!

Tiredness....

Tiredness and Fatique is what I've been feeling lately... I don't know why I'm always tired!

The point is, I don't party anymore, I don't hang out late drinking anymore... So why do I feel tired?

Can I blame it on work? No, work's not stressful at all but I am still not used to started work at 8.30am and ending work at 6pm. I can't seem to be able to get used to waking up earlier than usual (since my previous job), just to get into work by 8.30am. Sounds silly but true... That extra 30min of sleep in the morning seems to be very vital to my alertness for the day.

Maybe the tiredness is due to the subconscious stress I'm getting from my wedding preparations...

Oh well, wish I know the answers to my tiredness... at the meantime, I need to cope with it...

Shorten my "To-Do-List"

Don't know what has gotten over me last night, but I really pushed myself to the limit for the sake of my passion for this jewellery making hobby and to test my patience and perserverance.

I usually spend my weeknights after work making accessories while watching tv. If I have necklaces to make, I normally will make only 1 necklace per night. If I have earrings to make, I will normally make about 2-3 pairs per night. However, last night was different. I started making the necklaces later than usual - started at 9.30pm.

I had to make 1 "Grey Forest" necklace and 1 "Green Forest" for 2 orders from some people at work. I started making the "Grey Forest" first... when I've finished it, I told myself, hmmm... think I can complete the "Green Forest" too... And so I did!

By the end of the night, I was really tired but satisfied! I've made 2 very happy people today :o) So there you go, I can shorten my list now... heehhehe!

Necklaces:

• Black Forest - this will be longer version of the "Forest" range that I've made, as my customer requested for a long one.
• Fresh Water Pearl Necklace - a single or maybe double strand necklace made with light pink fresh water pearls and white round Swarovski crystals for my MUMMY :o)
• Grey Forest - Order from Carina. However, she wants to replace the white crystals with pearls. COMPLETED!!!
• Green Forest - Order from Michelle. COMPLETED!!!
• A necklace for Sue - a very belated Bday present... Have yet to think of the design.
• 6 Necklaces for Pauleen (X'mas orders) - Basically, these necklaces will be done using chains in gold/silver, mixing pearls and Swarovski crystals.
• Multi-Strand n Mult-coloured necklace - For Pauleen. This 5-6 strands necklace will be made with a mixture of stone bits, glass beads, and crystals of various colours... but the main colour base will be red
• "Chains of Purple" - For Pauleen, in purple glass pearls and crystals
• "Chains of White" - For Pauleen, in white glass pearls and crystals

My Ex-Classmate!

When I was Primary One in MGS, I made a few really close friends... One of them is Kam Ning.

Abit about Kam Ning when I first got to know her...
She is tiny, short, nice smile and has very nice big eyes. Her father is a violin and piano teacher, who owns a music shop/school in Peace Centre (Selegie). She started playing violin and piano at a very young age. She will always walk down to her dad's shop after achool for lessons.

She left school sometime in Primary 3 or 5 (can't quite remember now)... I was quite sad cos' she is a very nice girl and fun to hang out with. When she told us that she was going overseas to study music, I was envious and sad at the same time. After that, we've lost contact with each other and no one else in school could get in touch with her. Even though it's been years since she left, I can still remember her.

A couple of years back, me doing my usual lazing on the couch and switching tv channels, this particular programme caught my attention. I hardly watch Central cos' it's usually cartoons or some boring opera/orchestra... Anyways, there was this violinist playing with the Singapore Orchestra. I thought to myself, she's pretty good! Then she reminded me of Kam Ning... strangely, I watched the whole show. At the end of the show, I realised it was none other but my old friend, KAM NING!

I was like "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH"! She's famous!

Out of the blue today, I decided to search on the internet on her... and I found her website - KAM NING. She has her own CDs too... My goodness! I really would love to meet up with her again... Wonder if she still remembers me!

"To-Do-List"

I'm really wondering if I really can make all the stuff within my own "Timelines" heheh! Anyway, I will focus on some of the stuff first and those that are less urgent will be done later... So I'm listing my stuff in order of PRIORITY!!

My "TO-DO-LIST"

Necklaces:

• Black Forest - this will be longer version of the "Forest" range that I've made, as my customer requested for a long one.
• Fresh Water Pearl Necklace - a single or maybe double strand necklace made with light pink fresh water pearls and white round Swarovski crystals for my MUMMY :o)
• Grey Forest - Order from Carina. However, she wants to replace the white crystals with pearls.
• Green Forest - Order from Michelle.
• A necklace for Sue - a very belated Bday present... Have yet to think of the design.
• 6 Necklaces for Pauleen (X'mas orders) - Basically, these necklaces will be done using chains in gold/silver, mixing pearls and Swarovski crystals.
• Multi-Strand n Mult-coloured necklace - For Pauleen. This 5-6 strands necklace will be made with a mixture of stone bits, glass beads, and crystals of various colours... but the main colour base will be red.

Earrings:

• Pearly Chand - In black glass pearls for a customer
• Dangly Earrings for Maybeline & Angel - This is to match their bridesmaid's dress for my wedding. So it will either be made with white glass pearls/fresh water pearls/Swarovski crystals.
• Another 2 pairs of Dangly earrings, chandelier style for Pauleen. These will be made with Swarovski crystals and/or glass pearls.
• 9 pairs of dangly earrings - Pauleen's order for Xmas :o) These earrings will be done with various kinds of beads, i.e. pearls, crystals and glass beads

Bracelets:

• 3 bracelets - Pauleen's order for Xmas. As these will be for younger gals (18-24 yr old), I will be using charms and chains, mixing with crystals or glass beads to make it more vibrant and suitable for younger gals.

As you can see, I have a huge list of things to do... I really can't wait to see how fast I can complete all of them... woohoo!

Projects completed!!!

Last week I wrote a list of accessories that I need to make and here's the stuff that I've completed from that list....

Necklaces:

• Black Forest - this will be longer version of the "Forest" range that I've made, as my customer requested for a long one. Not done - will start this week.
• Fresh Water Pearl Necklace - a single strand necklace made with cream fresh water pearls and white round Swarovski crystals for my future Mum-in-law. Done!
• Fresh Water Pearl Necklace - a single or maybe double strand necklace made with light pink fresh water pearls and white round Swarovski crystals for my MUMMY :o) Not done - will start this week.
• Brown Forest - For Pauleen. Done!
• Multi-Strand n Mult-coloured necklace - For Pauleen. This 5-6 strands necklace will be made with a mixture of stone bits, glass beads, and crystals of various colours... but the main colour base will be red. Not done - will start this later as I need lots of concentration and patience to do this.
• A necklace for Sue - a very belated Bday present... Have yet to think of the design. Not done - will start this sometime in September.

Earrings:

• Pearly Chand - In black glass pearls for a customer. Not done - will start this week.
• Dangly Earrings for Maybeline & Angel - This is to match their bridesmaid's dress for my wedding. So it will either be made with white glass pearls/fresh water pearls/Swarovski crystals. Not done - will complete this before my wedding.
• Pearly Dangles - In brown glass pearls for Pauleen. Done
• Another 3 pairs of Dangly earrings, chandelier style for Pauleen. These will be made with Swarovski crystals and/or glass pearls. Made 2 pairs already... more to come :o)

As you can see, I've done quite a bit already! But this was my old list of stuff to make... I've actually got more to add to my "To-Do-List". So I've got to revise my list again... This is so exciting!

Will put my "To-Do-List" in my next posting... look out for it! :o)

More Earrings...

These earrings were done in a spur of the moment... so they are very simple earrings but I think they are really cute!! Don't you think so?

This pair of earrings is called "Glass Swirls" cos' it's made with a round metal finding with swirly patterns on it, and hanging off it is greenish/blue aluminium foil filled glass bead and some black glass beads! Doesn't it look cute?!



This other pair of earrings is made with Swarovski crystals... Yes, the starfish is also made of Swarovski crystals... I love the starfish, it's really cute! :o)



Trust me, all these were done like at 12midnite before I went to bed... crazy huh?!

Oh before I forget, my best pal, Blossom (Whispering Pine is her blog) has posted the earrings and necklace that I sent to her in her blog... Check this out http://www.whisperingpine.org/2006/08/ By the way, she is living in the States, and it took me ages to send her these things... heh heh! Sorry Blossom that it took me so long to send them.

New Accessories...

Well, I spent the past few hours making 2 necklaces and a pair of earrings...

This pair of earrings is for Pauleen... Just hope she'll like it cos' she did tell me that she likes the bohemian, chandelier type earrings. So with that, I made "Gold Rush"...





After making "Gold Rush", I proceed to making "Grey Forest" necklace for a workmate who ordered one from me... I won't be posting the pic cos' I've posted a pic of it before... :o)

Then I proceed to make a necklace for my future mum-in-law... Well, it's a choker made with white fresh water pearls and round white Swarovski crystals. For this necklace, I used the "Stringing Method", with nylon strings. I personally really like this choker... It can be worn with a simple white top, or one can wear it with a nice dress or gown to a formal occasion... I think it can even be worn with a bridal gown! Hmmm... what do you guys think? I just hope she'll like it, if she doesn't, I can still sell it :o) hahahah!

CHRISTMAS ORDERS!!!

I'm really really happy cos' a close friend of ours (my fiance and me) wants me to make accessories for her family as Christmas pressies... :o)

She's given me a whole list of names with what she wants me to make for each of them. I'm really excited cos' this is the biggest order I've ever had. The "order" is only a small part of my happiness, cos' the biggest part of this happiness is the feeling of someone who appreciates and likes what I've done so far and the trust she has given me to make stuff for the "females" in her family.

Thank you Pauleen! :o) I will definitely try my best to design really nice and cool stuff for them :o)

Anyways, in her list, she has put down 9 names - Earrings and necklaces for 6 of them, and Earrings and bracelets for 3 of them.

Huge project for me... But it will be a challenge for me, and I'm sure I'm going to enjoy the process of making them...

Okies, me gotta go make some more "Forest" necklaces... yes, I've to fulfil people's orders right?!

More "Forest" Necklaces!!!

Can anyone guess which of my designs is the most popular so far??

It's the "Forest" range... I've made about 10 of those Forest necklaces already, and I have another 4 to make... hahahah! Amazing huh? Of cos' the popular colours are the brown and black.

So I just had another order for a brown and grey forest... woohoo!!

More to be made...

I've decided to list the accessories that I have and want to make within the next couple of weeks... I have to say the list seems to get longer and longer each day (hahahah)!

Necklaces:

1. Black Forest - this will be longer version of the "Forest" range that I've made, as my customer requested for a long one.
2. Fresh Water Pearl Necklace - a single strand necklace made with cream fresh water pearls and white round Swarovski crystals for my future Mum-in-law.
3. Fresh Water Pearl Necklace - a single or maybe double strand necklace made with light pink fresh water pearls and white round Swarovski crystals for my MUMMY :o)
4. Brown Forest - For Pauleen
5. Multi-Strand n Mult-coloured necklace - For Pauleen. This 5-6 strands necklace will be made with a mixture of stone bits, glass beads, and crystals of various colours... but the main colour base will be red.
6. A necklace for Sue - a very belated Bday present... Have yet to think of the design.

Earrings:

1. Pearly Chand - In black glass pearls for a customer
2. Dangly Earrings for Maybeline & Angel - This is to match their bridesmaid's dress for my wedding. So it will either be made with white glass pearls/fresh water pearls/Swarovski crystals.
3. Pearly Dangles - In brown glass pearls for Pauleen
4. Another 3 pairs of Dangly earrings, chandelier style for Pauleen. These will be made with Swarovski crystals and/or glass pearls.

So now you can see that I am going to be a very busy person despite the fact that I'll be getting married in about 5 weeks time... It will be a challenge for me...

But my dear friends, don't worry too much about my fingers and hands, or that I won't have time to make your stuff... I will definitely try my very best to complete all of the above in the shortest time-frame...

Wish me luck!!!

More accessories!

I know I haven't been posting any pics of the new accessories that I've made recently! So far those that I've made have been posted in my online shop! But for the convenience of everyone, I will post it here too :o)

So here are some of my latest earrings and necklaces...

Brown Forest Dangles

Black Forest Dangles

Crystal White Necklace

Gold Forest Necklace

Disco Balls

There are some more earrings and bracelets that I've made recently too but have yet to take pictures of them... will post them here real soon!

More Stuff done for my wedding!!

I might have forgotten to add to my list of things that I've done for my wedding in my previous posting... heh heh! Getting old and forgetful...

I have to say, my dad and I have achieved quite abit in trying to find dresses and outfits for my mum to wear on my wedding day. My mum is someone who doesn't like dressing up, doesn't want to spend too much money on clothes, shoes and bags... So my dad and I wer really trying very hard to think what we can get my mum to wear....

So finally, we took my mum to "Ted Collection" and convinced her to wear a cheongsam for my wedding dinner. Surprisingly, my mum was quite receptive of it, and agreed to go with the design that we liked. So that's one thing settled, her cheongsam is in the process of being made at present. Can't wait to see the finished product! So, the next headache is the day outfit for tea ceremony and church... scratch head!!! Finally, we found an outfit for her in a boutique at Shaw Centre in Orchard Road... It's a 2 piece pink suit in a satin material. Very pretty!! Phew! What an accomplishment for my Dad and I. And of cos' thanks to my cousin, Jermaine who helped picked the outfit.

But now we have a problem, and that is SHOES!!! My mum doesn't want something too high, not too expensive... ARGH! I don't know where to get her those shoes to match her cheongsam and pink suit!!! So now I have about 5.5 weeks to go before the big day, and we really need to get her SHOES!!!!

To-Do-List Getting shorter.... :o)

Remember my previous post on "Wedding Wedding Wedding!"? Finally, my To-Do-List can be shortened!

Let's look at the list from before:

1. Projector X 2 units (2200 Ansi Lumens),Tripod Projector screen x 2 units (8 ft X 8 Ft), Sound System x 1 unit to hook up the audio, AV technician x 2 units Setup
and teardown for China Club (this will ensure that everyone in the restaurant
will be able to see us at all times) - DONE
2. Church wedding invitation cards - DONE
3. Mass book - Not Doing
4. 3-tiers wedding cake - DONE
5. Flowers to make hand bouquets for my bride's maids (hand-made by me) - Will be done nearer to wedding date
6. Bridal car (I want a Rolls Royce or a stretched limo [for your information,
Singapore does not have stretched Limo *Boo Hoo*)] - DONE, got a Jaguer
7. Bride's maids dresses - DONE
8. Ang Bao (Red packets/Money packets) box (hand-made by me) - DONE, bought 2 instead of making them... very cute ones too!!
9. Ring Pillow (hand-made by me) - My future Mother-in-Law did one for me! THanks Aunty!
10. Backup Paige Boy - DONE, don't need backup! Will use Darren, my cousin's son!
11. Wedding bands - DONE! Thanks darling for the beautiful band!
12. Meet our host couple who will be assisting us with the church service - DONE

Gosh! So what's left to do??

Oh before I forget, we actually got one more thing done... We finally got all the furniture we need for our room in my apartment! YAY! So relieved!

What's left to do?

1. Bridesmaids hand bouquets
2. Clear out my bedroom, and get ready for the furniture to be moved in...
3. Selecting Hymns and readings for church
4. Stuff for Guo Da Li - i.e. Teochew cakes, oranges etc etc...

Wow! I can relax for awhile! Yippee!

Wine Glass Identifiers

If you've read my previous post about making "Wine Glass Identifiers", well here are the pics... don't they look cute?? heheh! For those who love drinking wine, this is very useful.

Sacrifices...

What are the sacrifices a person has to give just to maintain a hobby?

To me... I think having to sacrifice "time", "money" and "pain" just to maintain a hobby that I really enjoy doing, it's definitely worth it!

Why do I say "PAIN"?
Well, it's simple... you see, making jewellery may seem simple to some people, but they do not know the consequences of making them. Let's work through the various methods of making jewellery...

• Stringing - there are different ways of stringing beads... the techniques used to string beads also vary with the different types of materials used as the "String". I mean there are flexi-wires, nylon strings, elastics nylon strings, silk thread. Having said this, Stringing method is one of the easiest method to make a necklace or bracelet, however, you need lots of patience stringing tiny beads for multi-strands &/or long necklaces/bracelets.

• Wires - This method requires lots of imagination as it is pretty much free-form. People may use wire jigs to help them form those spirals and swirls on wire type accessories. I've yet to learn how to do this, but one day I will... It looks very interesting. Mainly this method is good for making arm bands/bracelets.

• Eye Pins - This method requires one to be patient and also endure the pain of the sides of the eye-pins jabbing down the flesh of the fingers while one is trying to twist the wire to make a loop. However, so far, this is my favourite technique. Cos' I can connect and vary my designs using this method.

Recently, I've been making so many necklaces and earrings using eye pins, and my fingers really hurt after finishing making one. It will also cause the skin around my fingernails to crack. My advice is, ensure you have a tube of really really good hand cream, i.e. Hand cream from Crabtree & Evelyn.

However, having said about all the pain and dry skin that I have to endure, it's not stopping me from making lovely accessories... cos' that's what I have always wanted to do, and I will want to continue doing it for a long long time...

Wine Glass Identifiers!

What are WINE GLASS IDENTIFIERS??

Can you remember the number of times when you go to a party (with lots of wine, and uncountable number of wine glasses), people will always ask you, "Is this glass of wine mine?" or "Is this glass of wine yours or mine?" or "Damn! Where is my glass of wine?"!!

Ok think you get the idea... Anyways, I've decided to make some of these wine glass identifiers... basically, they are little rings with coloured beads or charms attached to it, you can loop the ring round the stem of the wine glass and it will just sit at the bottom of the glass. This way, you will know which glass is yours in a party!

People are already selling them but it's so expensive for a set of 6 rings. I mean, it doesn't cost much to put a few beads in a little round ring... but the shops are extorting people by selling $30-$50 for a set of 6 identifiers! ISN'T IT RIDICULOUS!

So people, if you want any, just let me know, I can sell you a set of 6 for a very reasonable price! :o)

Look out for my ring identifiers :o)

Orders Orders Orders!!!

I'm so happy that people like the jewellery I've made. I've been getting orders from people at work, which is amazing. It all started like this...

I was browsing through a beading magazine and saw this beautiful necklace, so I made my own version and called it "Green Forest" for myself . I wore it to work one day, and one of my workmate likes it. She asked me to make a dark grey one and a brown one for her. She has been wearing them quite often, and people have been telling her that the necklace is nice and where did she get it from... So she has been my walking advert! heh heh heh!

Since then, I've made 2 more dark grey forest, 1 brown, 1 bronze-gold, 1 more green... And I've still got orders for 2 brown ones and a longer version of this necklace in black. Of cos' some of them have asked me to make a whole set as in, necklace, bracelet and earrings.

I really hope people will view my online shop and start buying my stuff... At the meantime, I'll keep making new stuff to sell :o)

Angel's online clothing store

Well well well! Think I've inspired my dear cousin, Angel to set up her own online store! She's set up a shop selling Korean fashion clothings, the prices are reasonable and the clothings are very nice, vibrant and fashionable!

So if any of you are too busy to go shopping, her shop will be a good place to shop at your convenience!

Take a look at "Angel's Paradise"

My First Raw Gown Fitting

I had my 1st raw gown fitting yesterday (11 Aug 2006, Thursday) after work. I'm so glad Pauleen went with me cos' at least someone else is there to assure me and tell me that the gown is nice. heheh! Thanks Pauleen! And she's such a sweetie, she brought a camera. Thank u again Pauleen!

First of all, when I was trying to put on my gown, I could hardly find the hole to step into my gown cos' of the many layers underneath the gown. And yes the gown is heavy! I have to say, the moment I stepped out and looked at myself in the big mirror, I fell in love with my own gown!

My designer, Michelle, did a great job!! I was so happy that I kept smiling like an idiot! hahaah! She has to make some alterations to the gown before putting the crystals onto my gown!

All I can say is - LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT!!!

THANKS MICHELLE!!

MY E-SHOP IS UP & RUNNING....

YES!!! My E-Shop - LovelyTots is officially open! Of cos' I'm still open to comments and suggestions to improve it.

So far, I've only got 12 pics of my stuff in it, but will definitely put more in. So please pass the word around! I can't wait for my first sale!

So here's the webbie (click on the link)- LovelyTots

Finally my ONLINE SHOP is set-up!

I know I've been talking about wanting to sell my stuff online and setting up my own website but haven't had to time to get round doing it. Another reason is also because I'm not too sure how to set up a website and so on...

Anyways, I've found a website that provides free web posting, and I've finally started building the website and making it look more professional. I'm still in the process of building it, so there are no products in my webbie yet... so please be patient with me. I will inform everyone when my site is up and running ok :o)

But for those who are curious about what my webbie look like, you can click the link on the side of my blog (under My Shop), it will link it to my webbie. :o)

Keep a lookout for the start of my own business.... I am very excited to see how much my creations will get sold, and how many people will like my creations...