leaving on a jet plane

Finally mailed out the last batch of Christmas custom orders today, phew! I am so glad most things got done before the christmas lunch party at our place today cos I was going a little mental with all the orders and party prep and packing. Still I'm relieved to have fulfilled as many requests as I could so now I can finally take a break and enjoy the Christmas hol :)

Would have loved to post pictures of some of the custom pieces but since they are meant to be presents, let's just wait till they reach the hands of their intended recipients first eh. So utterly exhausted now but we've still got to make sure our luggage and all the pressies for the family don't exceed the weight limit. Which by the way, is quite a FEAT. We had to unpack stuff at heathrow before, throwing out boots and all so yea, not fun at all.

Alrightey, gotta go skype with the family now (hate to end up trapped at heathrow at peak hour) so have a blessed Christmas and happy holidays everyone!! I'll be seeing you soon :)

Robin Blue - SGD 99 - Sold

I found this pretty ribbon-shaped brooch in Tasmania that had pretty clear and light blue rhinestones on it and embellished it with vintage enamel flowers and holly leaves, a sparkly button, freshwater pearls, moonstone rondells and topped it off with a gorgeous faceted blue topaz gem briolette ~ Ready for gifting in a box.

One of my faves ever ever! :)

P.S. I've had to raise prices for these reconstructed couture creations because of the gem grade stones used and more often than not the vintage collectibles themselves are not cheap. Rest assured that each piece you hold in your hand is a culmination of much time, effort and of cos love!

Little Scene - SGD 49 - Sold

Like a little scene from a garden... vintage enamel and plastic flowers with rhinestone centres, freshwater pearls and a gem grade rutilated quartz heart briolette on a 16" 14k goldplated chain ~ Centrepiece is about 4.5 cm at both its widest and longest point. This is my only piece so please, I don't have any more!

Alana - SGD 56 - Sold

Back to the roses I've neglected lately.... Pretty delicate roses with vintage cameos, freshwater pearls, shimmering moonstone and gemmy rose quartz onion briolettes ~ goldfilled hooks and parts. Drop is just slightly over 5 cm.

These roses are part of my depleting stash so there won't be many to go around for long while the rose quartz onion briolettes are from my recent gemstone acquistion. It's a fairly new and really unique plummy shape! :)

*comes in a pretty box too ready for gifting

Pretty Flit - custom order

A belated birthday gift ~ Vintage petals and a rhinestone brooch with a swarovski "antiqued" flower charm, freshwater pearls and a pretty green garnet gem briolette.

Under A Cloud - SGD 98 - Sold

Been dying to start using my gem stash and this gorgeous golden rutilated quartz brio snuck its way into yet another vintage couture piece. Hmm i like the sound of that, vintage couture. Incorporating semiprecious gemstones into reconstructed vintage creations. Doesn't that sound brilliant?!

Under A Cloud is a irreplaceable darling boasting a whole motley of vintage preloved components reconstructed together with a beautiful golden rutilated quartz large briolette~ This brio is one of the prettiest in the lot with beautiful golden rutile needles passing through very clear crystal quartz. I was told that new "needles" may grow within the brio depending on the wearer. Not sure whether it's true but still a fun fact nonethless!

This necklace has a toggle closure on the side (just before the long beige barrel bead) which I included as part of the design of the centrepiece ~

The white beads and spacers were salvaged fr a pre-loved vintage necklace as is the chain on the other side of this asym baby. Wirework done with goldfilled. Length is abt 16", not including the centrepiece's drop.

*P.S. My new boxes came recently so yay! Now I can start having some fun doing them up to go with the pieces in them. Under A Cloud will come in a gift box to keep it safe from the prying fingers of jealous sisters and girlfriends.

Christmas Update

Thank you everyone for the overwhelming response this gift-giving Christmas season! Unfortunately since I have little time left before we fly, I'm afraid I will have to stop accepting custom orders. New items will be listed from time to time for the rest of us who still wish to see some new designs online but honestly, the order list is stacking up so scarily I think I will have to work till right before I leave for the airport.

Please bear with me during this crazy season, I really appreciate your support and will try to cater to as many requests as these 2 hands will allow. Meanwhile I will be getting in touch with everyone who has emailed me their requests, and I will do my best in case of emergency gift situations :)

Hope you have a wonderful holiday!

Odette's Waltz - SGD 76 - Sold

A 16" silver-toned darling, Odette's Waltz features a vintage swan brooch from my travels with little clusters of vintage flowers, a tulip, teeny moonstone clusters and a gorgeous glimmering swarovski pendant ~ Colours are a lil overexposed here and it's hard to show the details of the beads and flowers. But this is a beauty and it's my only swan brooch so it's a rarity! You can check out this piece on a dark background here.

*comes gift wrapped in a box

Soul - SGD 54

This is the only of its kind as with all my italian charm necklaces ~ Soul has a steer, key and a little flower bouquet with a brilliant yellow opal briolette, swarovski rhinestone accents and subtly shimmering lapis lazuli nuggets on the 16" long textured 14k goldplated link chain. Such a character chick!

Christmas Reflections

Christmas has been my favourite time of the year for as long as I can remember, I'm not sure if it's the lights or the presents or the trees or just the general euphoria and uplifting of the mood during Christmas. It just holds a special place in my heart. I like to think of this season as the time to reflect on how the past year has been and all the blessings and joys that I may have forgotten in all my busyness. This year has been an AMAZING year for me and I want to give thanks for all the good and bad things that God has put my way this year - the good are the blessings I may not have deserved, the bad are the trials and difficult moments that have made me a stronger and hopefully better person -

Some especially good moments:

1) Saying our vows and pledging our commitment before God and the people that matter to us the most even though technically we've been married for a year

2) Focusing on Oriental Rose full time - I think this has got to be one of the most difficult decisions we've ever had to make; the unstable income, neverending wrecking of brains to come up with new ideas and designs, constant anxiety over the acceptance of my work and hence sales etc. the list goes on. Yet because of this, I have gotten to meet some of the most wonderful people ever, be they customers or fellow crafters or friends who simply entered my life somehow. They have encouraged me, inspired me and left their footprints on my heart whether they know it or not. I'm never the same again.

3) Moving into our house and preparing for the wedding and turning Oriental Rose into a bill-paying venture all at once - Was a total nightmare and not for the faint-hearted but thankfully we survived and it strengthened the relationship between us the odd couple

4) Simply being alive and healthy surrounded by family and friends whom we love and love us as well

I am sooo looking forward to Christmas with the rest of the Challengers next week! Yup we're flying off next Friday and will spend a jolly two weeks' odd hol in freezing England. This time round I'll attempt valiantly to take more pictures to share from where we'll be :) I'm hoping to take this time to reflect on Oriental Rose in the past year and have new dreams for the new year. Hopefully the change of environment for a bit will bring new inspiration, new hope, new muses.

Before I go though, I'm desperately finishing orders and coming up with new things. So no fret, all will not be quiet on this front. In case this verbose state of moi does not resurface before I go, I just want to say a BIG thank you. Thank you for being here and thank you for your support.

Thank you for sticking around.

Myrtle - SGD 49 - Sold

Deep emerald-like green onyx briolettes topped with clusters of goldfilled stardust rounds and swarovski pearls from goldfilled hooks ~ Drop is a lightweight 4.5 cm. So versatile! Made a pair for myself in mind only but Sabrina advised me to list this design for sale too cos the stones are so pretty! And now this goes to a very classy lady friend :)

bridal necklace - custom order

The final design for the beautiful bride whose big day's this Sat ... petite sterling fleurs with delicate vines, vintage flowers, swarovskis and a misty moonstone briolette ~ I also did a pair of interchangeable earrings with her, meaning she can have different looks depending on which pair of dangling bits that she hangs on the earring hooks. Unfortunately i forgot to take pics of them as well as 2 more pairs of glam earrings for her cheongsam and evening gown. Oh well. Maybe I can snitch pics from her after the wedding heh. So yay! A big order finished. Time for the rest.

Angel - custom order

Made this for a dear friend to go with her dress to another friend's wedding sometime back but never got round to posting pics so here it is! Lotsa gleam with a little vintage touch to go with her little black dress :)

gemstone giddiness

Sorry for the lack of updates, it was papa wong's birthday on Sat plus i had my advanced theory driving test yesterday which required some major mugging since this wouldn't be my first time taking it. At first I misread the date as Friday and resigned myself as a lost cause until I realised it was Monday not Friday which gave me the weekend to mug. And thank God I managed to pass this 2nd time! Cramming isn't the best way to study but thankfully it worked this time heh.

Had a little celebratory lunch later with Chris the baker and Chelsea my lovely Maad elf and it was just so cosy catching up with them at Ma Maison while it poured outside. Love that place, always makes me feel like it's snowing outside. Chris brought the cutest jars of the chocolate oatmeal raisin and cranberry shortbread cookies that I ordered, one of which i brought along later for Sabrina (Sabbiew Designs) who is the sweetest gal ever! We are both gemstone-crazy and can msn for ages just talking about rubies and all! Had a little swop in the evening and shared the purchase of these amazing pink and blue topaz. The colours are astounding! Will be heartbreaking to part with them.

The mother-in-law loves red so I got these excellent rubies to do up a set for her this Christmas so they won't be for sale, sorry! :p (kept one for myself as a reward for passing the test) Later the hubster took our friend Jenna and I out for some food and to the cinema, we got home only near midnight, what a day!

New pieces coming soon!

Hearts - SGD 54 - Sold

A cluster of vintage charms including a large midnight rose as well as medallions from my flea market trawls in Australia and the US on a beautifully aged vintage chain measuring 30" ~ truly one of a kind!

Plum Rosettes - SGD 29 - Sold

Vintage wine-burgundy roses with faux vintage print tenshas, bicoloured bell czech flowers, dark quartz brios... very rich colours bordering on feminine luxe ~ Drop is 7 cm fr sterling hooks.

Starburst (antiqued) - SGD 22 - Sold

Part of my meteor starburst earring series for Christmas, this is a soft neutral colour to go with those vintage frocks ~ Drop is a petite 3cm.

Stella - SGD 30 - Sold

I still have another Stella for sale so here it is ~ a vintage blue flower cab encased in a brass setting, with a brass faerie hugging her knees amidst cascading gold leaves and glittering swarovski star lights. Length is a chest-long 26" with a pretty blue crystal heart ~

Little Pin #10 - SGD 25 - Sold

Another antiqued pin with vintage parts and a little toot toot atop a ruby-coloured quartz drop ~
You can see the packaging for the one-of-a-kind Little Pins here - great for gift-giving!

Rowena - SGD 55 - Sold

Another glittering pair with the same swarovski rhinestone rings, rose quartz carved roses, beautiful faceted amethyst briolettes, high lusture freshwater pearls and other goldfilled accents. Simply decadent! Drop is 7.5 cm from goldfilled hooks ~

the tuesday after

Oops! I was meant to upload more photos yesterday, especially the brooch pins, but I was so utterly exhausted that I dozed off after lunch and did not wake up till the hubster came home early from work cos he was feeling peaky. One invalid and one very tired post-Maad moi could not drag themselves out of bed until it was dinnertime. But I've finally loaded the pics of the sold brooches! Got some orders on hand to finish but I'll be trying to make more so if there are any colours you seriously like, drop me a line and I'll try to come up with sth for you!

This was an experimental piece but I really liked the burst of colours! Not very wintry christmasy i know but still beautiful on the eyes :) The vibrant colours are not very obvious cos I should have chosen a lighter background but I was quite taken with it still and it took a lot of self-convincing to part with it .

More parting shots include these 2 customised pieces:

More pieces coming up real soon!

time for a breather!

So glad Dec's Maad is finally over! I brought more stock this time but the good stuff were swept up within the first half hour so I'm sorry to have disappointed those who made the time to come by but missed seeing the loot. Thank you so much for your wonderful support, really appreciate seeing you guys! :) I always feel so blessed after each Maad, cos friends always pop by to support me so it becomes like a mini gathering. Plus of cos, I get to befriend new vendors and catch up with old friends! Poor Matt ended up being stuck at the booth for ages while i went-a-gallivating haha... wouldn't know what i'll do without him - he packs my stuff for each event, carries everything, prepares the change, sets up the displays, buys me food and basically puts up with my high-strung state during the stressful days. (Note to self: Be nicer to hubby this week!!)

Here are some of the picks:

Starving now so i'm off to get some grub but I'll be back to list stuff still available after Maad ~ meanwhile pics of most sold items can be seen on my Flickr. I've not uploaded the brooches yet but will do so in the afternoon. They went really quick! Have to do more cos they're fun to work with and easy to give! Which reminds me I have to start sorting out those christmas pressies soon :p Have you started your shopping yet?!! There's gonna be a Fancy Faire at Orchard Hotel this tuesday and wednesday so i'll be doing some shopping there for the family while supporting some Maad friends (Elaine fr Pisces Passion, Vivienne fr Fuchsia Lane, Sabrina fr Sabbiew etc.)~ do check them out if you're free!