Liam the littlest challenger

Just had to share these adorable pics of our darling nephew during the wedding ~ I'm officially auntie ee cos there's no way the little chap could cope with the full name. Oh well. Can't wait to see him at Christmas!! :p

Isabella de l'orient - SGD 32 -Sold

Beautiful deep green dimpled jade round barrels with mottled maroon czech beads and oriental white cloisonnes with a garden scene ~ Classy chic for that cheeky high-slit cheongsam you've been hiding in the closet!

Cloisonnes are 2.5 cm long and 2cm at their widest point. Drop is 5.5cm fr gold-filled hooks ~

Midsummer's Picnic (and roses are red)

Midsummer's was a splendid performance! 20 of us lot managed to catch the 2nd last show on Sat and my my it was absolutely heaving! Thank goodness we strategised and plotted and managed to make sure we were ahead in the queue so we could get the best seats (according to a friend who'd seen it earlier) plus we needed lots of green for 20 peeps ~ Loved the comedy! I thought Hellena was such a riot and she looked so much like our dear Lorraine! (check out the pics fr potluck to get what i mean) Everything was perfect until I developed a migraine from all the flickering spotlights and ended up puking at home. Yuck.

Meanwhile I've been busy with private orders but a large pack of new cloisonnes arrived late last week. They are so pretty I don't know where to start!

Roses are Red - SGD 35 - Sold

This sweet charming flower bouquet bunch made it amidst all that fluster buster ~ red roses nestled among blue others with spicy red accents, earthy swarovskis and baby blue drops. Length of drop is 5cm fr gold-filled hooks.

Cancun - SGD 29 - Sold

Somehow this ensemble reminded me of all those mexican food that matt likes so much.. yummy chilli rellenos, quesadillas, fajitas, guacamole and cheesy nachos! Shiny deep browns and turquoises with topaz drops, swarovskis and belts of bling ~ Drop is 7cm on 14k gold-plated hooks.

Serenity of Green - SGD 35 - Sold

Another pair of wing earrings, this is my only green pair so this is for all the green-lovers out there! (like moi) Cloisonne feather wings in mediterranean shades of blue and green, powder blue drops, matt green & metallic blue czech beads. Drop is 7 cm ~

Oh, Twiggy! - SGD 29 - Sold

This chunkier charmed pair of earrings is such a delighful distraction from the more delicate rose earrings I've been doing lately. Falling leaves, etched heart charms, smoky glass drops and cool white vintage filigree balls ~ Drop is 7cm on 14k gold-plated hooks.

Cassandra - SGD 38 - Sold

Left my new camera at the potluck only to realise how dependent I am on it! Top of my can't-do-without list apart from my mobile. Anyway I managed to squeeze a bit more mileage out of my old fuji, though the colour quality's waayy bad. Oh well, just have to make do for the time being :p

I really liked this white cloisonnes with celtic-like black swirls but was never sure how to make the best of them? Inspired by the flowers on the rustic junquey necklace Jes made for me, I used these little carved onyx flowers with gold-filled beads and crystals hanging from them like pistils. The flowers are wired on ribbed gold hoops hanging from dark grey metallic czech beads off gold-filled hooks. Drop is 6cm ~ The cloisonnes measure 2.5 cm by 1.6 cm.

More necklaces!

Just realised I still have some necklaces yet to upload, not surprising considering how messy my work area still is post-Maad! I've recently acquired a whole load of vintage beads and other what-nots, with beads in all colours spread across the floor next to my chair so I can "spot" potential colour combis easily. Makes hoovering the floor somewhat challenging. If you can see the floor at all.

The Seductress - SGD 58 - Sold

From the Old is New is Old series, The Seductress is made up of an art-deco styled clasp in black enamel, vintage chandelier earring, ruby rhinestone and other new parts with 14k gold and matt black rollerball chains.

The Amber Secret - SGD 42 - Sold

A secret garden-ish victorian necklace with an amber cabochon and rustic etched key on various filigrees of brass and gold ~

Karenina - SGD 29 - Sold

Karenina is a classic with these gorgeous mottled purple russian chariote puff nuggets set against the delicate blush roses. With trails of freshwater pearls and swarovskis on sterling chains and hooks ~ Drop is abt 5.5 cm.

Mochaccino - SGD 29 - Sold

All of mocha goodness in this pair of tan beige roses and opalite ovals chockful with choco bits ~ I need my coffee now! :0 Drop is nearly 7cm on goldfilled hooks.

Season of Spring - SGD 42 - Sold

Aha, I've just gotten an idea on what to do for the next Maad (aiming for july's) after all that brooding the last week and this bracelet is a sign! I've always loved nature themes so I'm thinking I could do a series revolving around summer colours and flowers! Though I've always had stuff with the nature theme, it'd be nice to have some exclusive creations with different materials and found objects for people to check out up-close and personal ~ It's just different holding something you can touch and feel for eh?

I would have liked to keep Season of Spring for the Maad fair but oh well, overspending on supplies this month means I need to start selling my hoard for more funds to buy more materials! You can't believe how poor I am right now! It's unbelievable. I'm starting to budget matt's lunch money haha.
Season of Spring is a brassy gold delight with a large white czech flower and vintage-looking beige/peach metallic melon beads which are my current obession. This is a wonderful piece to go with all your favourite summery dresses! I like making these slightly "collaged" creations which started with the Old is New is Old series cos they really depend on my mood inspiration of the moment and I can't remake them however hard I try. It's just crazily challenging even trying to remember how I wired them together in the first place so I'm not gonna try! :p

Fuchsia Feather Jet - SGD 35 - Sold

*yawn* It's such a lazy cool morning I almost couldn't get up at all :p Dinner at Alan's was such fun last night! We had a feast and a great laugh playing guesstures at which the girls promptly trashed the guys at. It was hilarious seeing how Alan tried to act as a woman giving birth, or Jeremy pretending to cast a fishing net (he looked like he was doing a chinese dance). When the bubbly took effect, things just got weirder! The night took a sombre turn when we started talking abt the elitism article in the ST, on how different teaching is today and how much harder it is to educate because of various reasons be it the system or the younger generation themselves. Seeing that 4 of the 7 of us yesterday were teachers or lecturers, (horror) stories were quite forthcoming! We adjourned at 11 (since teachers have to wake up earlier than most) and made plans for a guesstures rematch!
For now here's a new pair of cloisonne earrings:

Flighty fuchsia & jet wings with black daggers resembling feathers and faceted drops ~ myriad of pink czech, 14k beads and hooks with a drop of 7cm.

Scent of Strawberries - SGD 28 / USD 18

This has been quite a busy work week for me and I'm glad to be clearing orders bit by bit! Looking forward to spending a quiet Sat with matt though he ALREADY has plans to catch NBA in the morning and revarnish some old drawers for the guest rooms. It's so annoying sometimes that on the only day we get to sleep in for a bit and snuggle, he prefers to wake up at goodness knows what time to watch basketball or rugby or whatever's on ESPN. And there I am sleepily patting his side of the bed only to find it empty before dozing off again with a disapproving grunt.

Still I've made him promise to go swimming with me before lunch so we can get a bit of workout and sun, yay! I'm such a water girl cos I can be a real klutz on land but water hides it all heh. Sunday we're gonna have a potluck at our friend alan's place and we're gonna bring matt's yummy beef salad and maybe a chicken pie and of cos some muscato, ooh yeah. All the recipes we have are from matt's side of the family (the wongs don't really have any specialty dish except for this tofu with minced pork "sandwich" that tastes fabulous with chopped chilli padi in dark soy sauce, my dad promised to teach me how to cook it). Mummy challenger is such a fabulous cook, I love her home-made rum and raisin ice-cream!!! She really enjoyed the teochew yam paste she had out here and asked me to make some for everyone the next time we're back, and i'm like, oh dear, I only have a few months left. Recipe to share, anyone?

Sigh. I feel so unaccomplished today, it's half past four now and i need to leave soon for this Alpha course in church that matt and i are helping out in. Will upload more stuff soon!
Scent of Strawberries reminds me of all those yummy fruity gummies we used to have as kids, maybe it's the gummy blue drops! I'm still in love with these enamel straberries so here'a a rhodium version with signature blings on speckled rhodium donuts. Drop is abt 6.2cm ~

Chocolate Butter Factory - SGD 26 - Sold

These rich chocolate drops look good enough to eat! *stomach growls* With butter roses and adorable ribbon charms and other lemony nutty bits ~ Drop is abt 5.2cm (14k hooks)

Jimmy takes time to smell the roses - Custom Order

Phew! One custom order down! This time round Jimmy is reminding all of us city folks to take a breather from our hectic schedules to slow down and smell the roses. Little bling flowers and a flitting butterfly have attracted jimmy's attention ~ Let's learn to chill and enjoy the beautiful things around us :) That includes people too!

Pocahontas' Pow Wow Blooms - SGD 27 - Sold

Crazy times call for insane names... here's another for the road! Don't ask me why but I've always loved these teeny dagger czech beads. Here they look like ivory pow wow feathers ~ Coral blooms and little lemon flowerets and beautiful heart charms make this a spunky piece for any worthy warrior babe! (Drop is 5cm)

Lemon Verbena - SGD 25 - Sold

Citrus colours are always such a day brightener! Little white czech blooms with twin heart charms and showers of gold streamers make this a charmer for the ears ~ Drop is abt 6.5 cm (14k hooks).

Even horsies like bling bling - SGD 32 - Sold

This is scary! I've barely posted the new earrings for less than a few seconds and they're gone already! This pair was meant for tomorrow but oh well, here it is anyway :) I adore these robin blue czech drops! Aren't they a lovely tiffany-like colour? Little opalite drops with other turquoise and sky blue darlings bring out the charming gaffeness of these almost mule-like horsies, all from gold dust-speckled hoops. Even horsies like bling blings! (Drop is 6cm)

Fans for Queen Sheba - SGD 32 - Sold

If you're wondering about the strange name, it's all because of weilin and her crazy names for the Maad pieces! The colours in this pair remind me somewhat of the desert, which brought queen sheba to my mind, and i thought hey, maybe she'll need fans to keep her cool in the heat! SO there you have it, crazy ramblings of a raving rose... Gold fan charms on rhodium spiral hoops, faceted drops and beads in shades of neutrals with my fave blings. Drop is 7cm ~ Colours are more gleamingly vibrant in reality!

Poetic Peony - SGD 32 - Sold

whoohoo.... I've been rather quiet lately cos of other stuff that's been going on and I've been slow in getting back into the creative mode. That really sucks, jewellery block or whatever you call it. Monging quite a bit and just being frustrated with myself. Not enough exercise, not enough inspiration, not enough sleep... translates into a very grouchy me. Still we had a wonderful weekend and I met the girls for tea at the vienna-chic V Tea room on Sunday for some funky cookie-tasting session so much therapy was in place! I'm starting to emerge from this claustrophobic tight cocoon, which means it's time to clear those orders! In case you're wondering, I have 20 custom orders on hand with very many patient people waiting to hear from me *cold sweat* Soon people soon! :p

Meanwhile for the rest of us, there're some new earrings like this chinois cloisonne earrings below:I only have these 2 cloisonne charms left enough for one pair of earrings, it's gone once it's gone! I heard from my supplier that the old lady who makes all these cloisonne charms by hand is closing next month and then that's the end of all these lovely charms... sniff... Poetic Peony is the blue version of Pretty in Red in the similar mismatched style. In gold and red hues and a quaint little vintage orange rosebud ~ Drop is 5.5 cm.

Strawberry Fields - SGD 40 - Sold

Strawberries are so yummy! This is an adorable strawberry charm bracelet with a cluster of pearls & japanese glass beads, clear quartz oval, intricate filigree poofy charm and a lace fleur, on different but funky nonetheless 14k chains. White is such a breezy summery colour!

Secret Garden - SGD 32 - Sold

Can you blame me for lurving this teal-green swarovski drop?!! It's so pretty! Had many pple coming by the Maad booth to fondle this baby, even a group of guys haha. I'm sure one of them was eyeing this for his girl and the rest are there just to keep him "company" :p

Secret Garden's a double-layered brassy babe with little mossy accents, a flitting fluttery butterfly and a waaayyy cool turquoise rustic key. I could go on and on, since you know, I've always had a thing for brassy stuff. Still, this IS a pretty babe! :)

Parisian Boots - SGD 40 - Sold

Hot on the heels of Elizabeth comes Parisian Boots, her lady friend with a shoe fetish. Swarovski bling belt, layers of cool greys and dark metallic czech with a little love note charm. Ooh la la!~

For a closer look, click here.

Celtic Night - SGD 27 - Sold

Victorian goth-looking spiral charms & trails of matt-silver with lil' white stone nuggets that look irridescent from certain angles. Czech glass drops and greyish swarovskis bring on the bling as you swirl Celtic Night from your ears ~ drop is 6.5cm.

The job market's picking up, folks!

It's been quite strangely coincidental, I've had 2 old friends calling me abt offering me a job on 2 consecutive days! The first was fr an ex-colleague, I was in HR, she was in finance and we met in one company. Later I moved onto another company and she joined the same company soon after! However later on I left, while she stayed and went on to do quite well!

I'm just honoured she thought of me when she needed someone to fill in a spot under her! I had to decline her kind offer, even though it was really honestly quite tempting, imagine a stable income and regular CPF contributions every month, and paid medical leave, and BONUSES. Still, the thought of going back to the same company is just odd, even if it's a different dept in this humongously big firm. Plus I get to go to work in my PJs now, and go for naps whenever I want to, and shop in the afternoons without having to sneak around! More importantly I get to do what I love minus office politics :p (though I can be quite a dictator on myself) .

The next call was fr an old classmate who's also done well in his chosen line. Darn! What's with all these corporate pple! Makes me feel small and strange in my little sweatshop haha. It's not easy sometimes, bumping into old clasmates or going to reunions, cos the question of our professions is nearly always the inevitable opening line. Not that I regret my decision ever, but sometimes you have this little voice inside you wishing you could say sth glamourous like, oh i'm a headhunter and i travel every other week to new york or hongkong or whereever that's glitzy and fancy. Or I'm now a manager with goodness knows how many subordinates working for me. And I'm earning big bucks! Just got a new car, went on an exotic holiday to the bahamas or whatever it is pple do when they're doing good.

I'm happy for my friends, and even happier they remember little old me. Still I'm glad I have a steady hubby who never fails to keep me grounded, and reminds me of all the reasons I do what I do now. Esp. when I'm tempted to go back to the corporate world. There's no point in comparing really, as long as we're all working hard in our chosen careers and earning a decent living. Not many pple can have the luxury of saying they love what they do, so I should be grateful! :p It was just funnily coincidental that i should get these 2 calls, which made me wonder if someone up there was trying to drop me a hint!

Matt's company just got bought over, and we're not sure what's going to happen to the employees, so in a way I guess I get fairly nervous abt the household income. He's been really secure though, still enjoying his job and working hard and not worried at all like I am. He keeps reminding me we have nothing to fear cos everything's provided for by the big guy :) A simple truth that he has to drill into me ever so often.

Okie poks, time for me to head out and run errands, I'll upload more stuff fr Maad later. Just realised to my horror that I've forgotten to take pictures of many new and sold items!!! Have had to bother some pple to take photos of their purchases for me :( Have a lovely rest of the week everyone!

Old Smoky - SGD 26 - Sold

A classic frills-free pair of charming carved roses with frosted and gleaming edges atop sterling flowers and beautifully faceted smoky quartz drops ~ Ain't she a lady?!! (little britain comes to mind haha) Drop is 5.5 cm.

Dowager - SGD 28 - Sold

Simple earrings of butterfly cloisonne ovals and 3D butterflies flitting beneath opalescent and frosted beads of varying blues ~ little faceted opalite drops put a glistening finishing touch to this versatile pair. Drop is abt 5.5 cm.

Cherub - SGD 40 - Sold

I tend to work according to colours, and these pinkish opalite faceted ovals have always been a soft spot of mine. Set against them are white japanese glass rounds, white swarovski pearls, metallic czech beads in peach & blush pink, as well as a lovely angelic heart charm and amethyst drop ~ Lotsa layered goodness! (14k chains and parts)

Niobi - SGD 30 - Sold

You can't really tell from the picture, but this piece combines gold atop rhodium filigrees with pretty white flowers for a vision of a gleaming garden scene. Rose quartz rounds, metallic peach czech beads and glittering gold trails make this a sight to behold. Drop is a dramatic 8 cm ~ it will not go un-noticed!

Oh dear I've forgotten to include in my credits the bestest, most ardent supporter of all ~ Weilin! She encouraged me to go for Maad cos she knows what a timid person i am when it comes to marketing myself. Although it doesn't redeem the fact that when i finally got the may slot, she couldn't make it cos of an overseas wedding. But I've been very blessed with this friend, who came down on may day just to help me tag the items and give them silly names like Mepoplei and Jade Princess (out hunting) etc etc. Ok so Derek had a part in naming them as well, but his choices were definitely more sophisticated! Still she deserves a big thank you for her selfless help and for believing in me. (and for publicising me in the office!) :p Thanks babe!

Blush Puff - SGD 32 - Sold

Blush Puff's green counterpart, Meadow Puff, was grabbed at Maad but this pinkish darling is still available! Rose quartz rounds, very pale blush, beige & almond beads, with light brown drops make up this delicate ethereal pair ~ Drop is abt 7cm.

Lilthing Lilac - SGD 50 - Sold

This is the newest creation I made on Sunday morning for Maad, however it has not found a nice home to go to yet so I get to cosy with it a while longer! Heh. I wired a pretty polymer flower on a 14k filigree with a mixture of other metals for a pretty collaged look. A gorgeous white cloisonne heart pendant with red flowers & a butterfly adds a touch of the orient, while an onxy square, moonstone ovals, vintage ribbed black beads, freshwater pearls and a stretch of crystal belt finish this pretty pinkish-purplish on black creation.

It's been such a wonderful experience at Maad, and though I wish I could be back every month, it's very difficult for us lone crafters who painstakingly create each piece by hand to churn out enough stock to cope with both online orders and a fair each month. I'm hoping to take some time to explore new techniques and mediums, find new muses, inspiration and basically recharge myself so I can plunge head on for the next Maad. I'm the sort who gets bored easily so I need to do something new ever so often. It'll be good to bring something new to my creations too, no? Last thing I'd want is oriental rose fatigue :p

Don't worry, I'll still be here! Uploading creations regularly that is. Sorry I don't have a mailing list as of now but do check back often cos I don't like to leave this blog un-updated. Chel and Daniel are all offering to help with consolidating oriental rose's image and coming up with more stylised displays for future fairs so yay!! More exciting times ahead!

What a crazy time!

This month's Maad was such a blast!! You can't imagine how glad I am the fair's over ~ my lovely helpers and I were absolutely knackered by the time we closed on Sunday!! Matt had to give me an extended foot massage when we got home. Standing around all day really took its toll! Still it was just so fabulous meeting new people and getting to know fellow crafter sellers who were all so kind and fun to be with. We're planning to do this again soon! :)What would I do without all the wonderful amazing pple I am privileged to call my friends?!! HUGE thank you to the delectable Chelsea who helped me both days (I'm sure the free erdinger was a big draw haha), Vivien and James who tirelessly promoted my wares, Lee En, David, Daniel, Damien, Chris etc. etc. and my other wonderful friends for coming down to support me. Thank you guys! I'm naturally quite nervous in peddling my trinkets so I would go chat with other sellers to soothe my nerves, leaving my helpers to tend the booth alone most of the time. It was just wonderful to know I've got you guys to lean on! Muaks!

The support from my regulars was just astounding - special thanks to valerie, gerry, cynthia, lyn, cheryl, shannon, qinyi, ze xuan, karen and everyone else who i might have missed out. It's a great encouragement to me that these lovely ladies would make the trip down to say hi, even with kids in tow. Thank you so much! You make me want to come up with even more beautiful things! :)

I really had fun shopping as well! Came back with tonnes of handbound journals (i have a soft spot for aged covers and plain fibre writing papers) ~ even had a leather one with my name embossed on it! Ok so i did ask her to emboss "Ramblings of a Raving Rose" on it too heh. My neighbours were the super talented deviantart artists Tofu and Curry and Penny who paints beautiful silhouettes on t-shirts. I bought 2! Started wearing the 2nd one on Sunday cos it looked amazing! She's so good at it! Unfortunately she doesn't have a website yet but we hit it off so well we're hoping to be neighbours again at July's Maad. She shared her booth with a pottery genius who makes this gorgeous japanese-inspired homewares. Matt went crazy and we got ourselves a super cool sake set with matching oceanic-blue glazed bowls and 2 rustic cups with wooden spoons for that authentic jappy green tea experience! There're still the lovely baileysvodka sister duo, sugar fling babes, wenyadesigns and sabbiew gals ~ aw man, it was such great fun!

One of the best parts of the weekend was meeting Angelia from Mea Culpa, she's one of my fave jewellery designers ever ever! I am a proud owner of 2 pieces (they're not posted on her site cos they're just too fantastic ha) - first chanced upon her designs at Ecoluxe and finally met her in person at Fashbash! Imagine my ecstasy at bumping into her again at Maad! I was swooning in delight! When she bought a tri-layered nature-inspired brassy rustic piece for her sister, I nearly fainted with happiness. What an overwhelming honour! Double swoon.

This post has turned out to be longer that I expected it to! I was very blessed that my new series is very much sold out save for this new piece I did on Sunday morning just before the fair cos I realised I didn't have much stock left for that day! There's still the odd piece available and I'll be posting them soon! Meanwhile you can check out my flickr for pictures of items sold at Maad ~ Thanks again for your support guys!! Will be taking a few days to rest and recover but I'll be back soon!! :) Just have to catch on emails and meeting friends whom I've neglected while preparing for the fair. Cheers!

I've had a really really long day today doing up the displays for Maad and there's still tonnes of stuff to do so this is a short post. Details abt Maad!

Date: 5-6 May 2007 Sat and Sun
Place: Maad market, red dot design museum
28 maxwell road (nearest MRT station: tanjong pagar)
Time: 11am - 8pm *however i will not be able to stay past 5 on Sat
Payment: I would strongly prefer cash and there will be a minimum purchase for payment by visa or mastercard.

A surprise gift awaits the early birds! :p Will try to post sneaks soon!