2009

Happy New Year my friends!

Life is never a bed of roses. Everyone sees life differently; to me, a metaphor to describe my life is a struggle. A struggle to stay on the right path, to stay close to God, to do the things I enjoy, to achieve work-life balance (and it's going to be difficult in 2009), and most importantly, to not give up struggling.

Beading is something that I enjoy tremendously, and I have to struggle with keeping it going in 2009. I will be slowing down in posting up new creations, but strive to improve in my techniques and come up with new designs, so that I can spend 'quality time' on my hobby.

Aiyoh....how......I have purchased so much new gemstones in the past few months and now I have so little time to use them :(

中国结 Chinese Knot $ 30 (Exclusively ONE Pair only)

Here comes a pair of Jade earrings!

Jade of knotted design hanging on a antique brass loop, in which a tiny piece of Ruby dangles. Elegant earwires are gold-plated.

My Amigurumi cat rests in the background to cover up the heap of toys. This was previously my gardening corner, now converted to a toy-storage place.

Dusty Blue (Carved Rose) Bracelet $ 15 Necklace $ 17 (3 pieces only)

Something sweet and simple - carved Amazonite rose which is slightly different from the usual carved flowers I use. This one looks like a little piece of carved soap! :)

A few pink pearls dangling around the rose, set on a copper chain. Necklace will be in the same fashion, simple and nice.

Plum Rose Studs $ 22 (Last 3 pairs)

Set on sterling silver studs. These are peach Aventurine carved flowers.

Qingling's little red Rose Studs $ 22

These are not too big and look good against Asian skin!

Dusk (Necklace) $ 70 - $ 75 (2 pieces ONLY, please read on)

This necklace is so 'crystally' - look at the radiance of the Sun through the stones!

Almost the same gemstones as I used in Dusk earrings - Smoky Quartz, Pink Amethyst onions, light purple Amethyst, Iolite faceted pears and silver/gold colour-coated Shell beads. Chain is goldfilled.

Each of these necklaces has a high-grade, brilliant purple Amethyst in the centre, but one of these has a slight imperfection (unless you study it really closely). I am pricing this necklace at $70, while the other at $75.

Pink Butterlies $ 46 (GEM stones, ONE pair) SOLD

These stones are very clear!

It has always been a struggle for me when it comes to pricing the more high-end items; pricing high to cover material costs and perhaps a few dollars for more complicated worksmanship (excluding travelling or shipping costs and overhead costs), VERSUS pricing low to quickly sell off the piece.

Well this is one such piece. The GEMMY strand of Pink Amethyst here cost me $300 because it is top grade (and, it is just an 8-inch strand). I really can't bear to sell these earrings at a lower price. I think fellow crafters who know the value of these gems can vouch for me.

The pink faceted pears are Madagascar Rose Quartz, while the rose in the middle is from Japan. The best materials, of course, go with goldfilled leverback earwires.

For you and a new friend

Sorry I had promised in my email that I will post up pictures of freebie for both you and anyone you introduce to my blog (with purchases >$50), but because I couldn't manage to get gold-coloured handphone straps to go with these, so I wasn't able to post them up in time.

So here's a preview, but uncompleted. I can consider making them into anything else if you are interested.

Rose Tea - Bracelet $ 30, Necklace $ 40 (Altogether 2 pieces ONLY)

These are really PRETTY! Highlight here is the single carved Smoky Quartz leaf. This is different from the usual carved leaves I have used, because they are fatter and the carving neater. (please again do not expect perfection in the carving, the way the hole is drilled is incredible!) These do not come cheap and I broke one of them when making the necklace :(

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Smoky Quartz in Chinese is 茶晶.

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I am keeping a necklace for myself. I am adjusting the length of the necklace such that this tiny cluster of carved roses and leaf rests nicely in the 'hole' at the collar. The size of the cluster is not too big, and makes the necklace good for daily wear.

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Actually the colour of these carved peach Aventurine roses looks good against our skin. Chain is goldfilled.

Tarantula $ 42 (Exclusively 2 Pairs ONLY!!) $46 for GF Leverback earwires

Sexy. Stylish. Sparkling. That's it.

These loops are so unique! Off-centred ribbons with a cluster of Black Spinel and Smoky Quartz dangling below, again off-centred, creating an eye-catching imbalance.

These elegant earwires and loops are of high-quality gold-plating, from Korea.

Little Tulips in Blue and Yellow $ 21 (ONE pair only as I am keeping one pair again!) SOLD

This time in Amazonite and Yellow Jade. Lovely. Yes I can get more of these tulips, but it will take weeks.

Lee Chi and her wedding accessories

Just glad that someone was wearing what I made on her BIG day! :)

Orange Fanta-sy $ 39 (Give-away price!!! 3 pieces only)

I got these for a long time and I wondered how to use these vibrantly-coloured Chalcedony. In the end, I decided that they look too good and yummy to be teamed with anything else!

This is a presentable gift to your loved ones for Christmas. Chain is goldfilled. You can wear this at choker-length, or slightly more relaxed.

Kiku II $ 50

I ran out of the goldplated twisted loops in the previous version, so this time round I am using goldfilled eyelet frames. Everything else is the same as in the previous version.

These earrings are set facing the front instead of sideways (previously).

Corinne's Little Pink Roses studs $ 22

Lovely little pale roses carved from Rose quartz, set on sterling silver studs.

I have roses in a few other colours such as light blue (Amazonite), plum-orange (as in the recent collar pin with Peach Aventurine), plum (as in Evening Plumrose earrings), peach coral (new!), yellow (yellow jade), red (red coral). Prices may differ very slightly.

Chandelier of Leaves (Gold) $ 35 (One pair only) SOLD

The gold version with an antique touch. Very metropolitan-fine-artsy.

Shades of Winter Necklace $ 85 (Exclusively ONE piece) SOLD

Another necklace for the woman who is romantic and girlish in within!

There is only ONE piece for this necklace with the pretty Blue-Lace Agate, because it is so rare to find carved flowers for this stone. Of course I can make similar pieces with other carved flowers and hence other colour schemes (after this is sold), but I would say that it is really rare for me to make anything in blue nowadays.

The 3rd picture shows the actual colour of the Blue-Lace agate best.

At this time of the year, the sun shines in brightly in the early evenings. As you can see, the clarity of the Amethyst shows really well under the sunlight.

Other materials include white, lavender and golden freshwater pearls, and the chain is goldfilled.

However, please do not expect perfection in my materials although I always choose the best from the lot available to me. There are some slightly imperfections in some of these Amethyst beads. Please understand that Amethyst is a relatively more expensive gemstone and is usually priced by carat weight. These over here are considered to be of quite good quality, anything better, I am not willing to buy because the necklace would become too expensive to be sold.