Midweek Random-ness

A little necklace I conjured up for myself recently :: a cz sideways cross from etsy, antique heart locket from my London trip and other adored bits and bobs ~

And yes you've guessed it, today was photo-shoot day! 

Quite a few new pieces to be unveiled once I've sorted out the pictures :) Stay tuned! x

Jade Bliss - SGD 36 - Sold

Classic linear earrings with petite jade donuts, pearls, lemon quartz and smooth pink rhodochrosite from 14k gold-filled hooks. Simple 5cm dangles with a dash of oriental flair.

Venezia necklace - SGD 118 - Sold

A vintage enamel floral trio of springtime blossoms, vintage paisley component with blue rhinestone, stunning large faceted Brazilian pink amethyst focal, translucent green amethyst nuggets, AAA grade gorgeous gleaming pink freshwater pearls, more rhinestones, moonstones and a simple vintage brass etched teardrop locket with double rose toggle clasp closure. Can you smell spring already?

Hideaway necklace - SGD 125 - Sold

Hideaway features salvaged vintage rhinestone and pearl components set in gold tone metal, an antiqued rustic excalibur sword,  blue flash labradorite gemstone cubes, beer quartz and green amethyst nuggets with flashes of rainbow moonstone. Goldfilled with side toggle closure. 

My fantasy take on medieval legends and Arthurian folklore -- who doesn't love a good chivalrous knight or two? I'll take them brave and handsome in full armour thank you very much.

Tudor Rose necklace - SGD 115 - Sold

 

Tudor Rose's heroine is a vintage designer component of a floral wreath starburst with prong-set rhinestones in sky blue, meadow green, sunshine yellow and blush pink. Coupled with a brilliant grade plump faceted heart-shaped rose quartz focal briolette that appears to glow from within. The chain is made up of similar quality green amethyst nuggets, aquamarine ovals and lavender pearls in goldfilled wirework.

Truly a simple stunner.

Twilight Necklace - SGD 129 - Sold

Subtle greys and platinum silvers conjure up a vision of moonlit glens and feathered friends. A petite vintage silver owl with pearl eyes and vintage white enamel lily of the valley bouquet amidst glacial crystal quartz gemstone cubes, moonstones, labradorites and a large mystic grey swarovski crystal in antiqued silver setting. One of my favourite pieces ever. 

Bonjour 2012!

Still haven't quite grasped the concept of 2012 yet, has time really passed that quick?! This is a quick hello post to say yes I am still alive, no I'm not pregnant again (two is a handful thank you very much), and yes I know this blog is looking awfully forlorn so updates will be forthcoming swiftly. Mr Oriental Rose bought me a new Olympus Pen so I took some test shots of my work space. It's pretty amazing! Can't imagine what my pictures will be like if I mastered it properly. If only reading the camera manual was higher up on my to-do list. 

I had a few completed necklaces which I originally planned to release before Christmas but clearly they never quite made it. Photos are up on my Flickr album and will be listed by tomorrow. A couple more CNY-appropriate festive earrings are also awaiting their photo shoot and I plan to ensure they get their appearance in time, this time!

Just another day

I wish I had more photos to show you but to be honest, the studio is heading progressively and rapidly towards the chaotic end of the organized chaos spectrum. Nevertheless I'm pleased to welcome Miss Bessie to the studio, a dainty mannequin who you will see quite often in future photo shoots. Ain't she a dame! I know lots of folks are curious and wondering when new pieces will be listed. I'm so sorry for keeping you in suspense! An AW11 collection is still in the works which will hopefully be ready for unveiling soon. Thank you for all the love! :)

Accomplished!

The last few weeks have been trying to say the least -- instead of the kids falling sick, it's the adults who are taking turns to drop like flies! (moi excluded, thank you immune system) For a while, I really felt down in the doldrums what with the lack of sleep, stress from feeding a fussy baby (she doesn't like sweet stuff - so milk cereal is a no NO. Strange kid.), a challenging preschooler (whose latest catch phrases include "i don't want!", "i don't like!", "fine!"), a sick hubby, a sick helper, a sick grandma.... Thank God that His mercies are new everyday cos just as I wanna scream and give up, something comes through and makes it all better :)

Among other news, we are also proud to have finally:

1) kicked the daughter out of our room into her temporary cot room cum work studio till she's older, sleeping better and able to share her brother's ginormous space upstairs

2) cleared the boxes which have been sitting around from last Nov so the studio is at least presentable - you can see the floor now!

Unlike messy old me, the mister is a house-proud fella who couldn't be happier that the worst room in the house is now a tidy spot and is continuing his rampage through the rest of the house to make them every more cozy and er, minimalistic. Toys and random stuff strewn around? No way jose!

This studio has been a long time in the making and though it's far from perfect, I'm just so glad for this little oasis of muse and inspiration! I can quietly tool away while the daughter is napping on the studio couch or take a break to caress my collection of jewels and knick knacks and of course the dresses! Vintage frocks all a happy alongside the vintage bags.

Guess who's a happy girl now? :)

Snippets of Life

Saying hello for the first time

Bright eyed on her first excursion out to do Christmas shopping

What is nannie whispering to you sweetheart?

P.S. You turned 1 month that day!

Snug and asleep at Polliwogs

Watching TV with daddy

Enjoying our new Christmas gift courtesy of nannie and raffa!

I'm sorry it's taken me 2 months to get back to blogging, is a new baby good excuse enough?

Juggling 2 very young kids is not very fun, especially with twice the sleep deprivation!

Just last night, the babe spent an hour and a half in the evening crying from colic, fell asleep at 6pm, woke at 7pm, didn't sleep again till 930pm, woke at 12midnight, was put down at 1am, woke at 2am, put down again at 3am.... and after that I lost track of what time it was. Or what day it was.

Thankfully her brother is now in preschool although the major changes of moving home, having a new sibling and starting school have brought back the night wakings with a vengeance so the hubster and I barely see each other in the nights anymore. SIGH. So we came up with 2 mottoes or rather reminders to help keep our sanity when the going gets tough:

1) This too shall pass

2) Eventually they all grow up

Doesn't help with the exhaustion but humour always makes us feel better! :p

Our 2nd good and perfect gift

"Every good and perfect gift is from above..." (James 1:17)

Thank you everyone for your kind wishes!

Our baby girl is now 2 weeks old and after an eventful labour and rocky start to the 1st week of her life (she was hospitalized for a high fever and infection), we are happily settling down in our new home with a new baby and looking forward to Christmas! Do you have any fancy plans for this season yet?

I have loads to share but for now, my days are spent nursing a very very hungry baby and changing lots of poopy diapers. And of cos trying to spend as much time as I can with a little boy approaching the terrible twos and getting needy from having a new sibling at home. Very exciting. So please bear with me while life gets a move on and I will have some new surprises here very soon! :)

Still waiting

Can't believe I'm saying this but yup we're still pregnant and waiting!

9 days past the EDD and the little one is still too comfy and snug in the mothership to come out and say hi. No show, no breaking of waters, just a whole lot of contractions from a very "irritated uterus" for the last few weeks. After all those warnings about a possible early delivery, we didn't think #2 would outlast #1 in the womb!

At our 41st week checkup, the scan showed her weighing more than 3.8 kg (that's more than 8 pounds!), such a far cry from the puny little thing the gynae said she was a few months back! I was even advised to eat more so she would put on weight as well. Guess who has the last laugh now?

Being bigger than expected has meant being more tired than usual, but thankfully there have been spurts of renewed energy (nesting instincts perhaps?) which I'm so grateful for after being sluggish for so long. I was able to have some lunch dates this week, and we even took the little guy out for a haircut and the usual grocery trip while lugging the 41-week belly around! Bet you wouldn't have guessed I was that pregnant if you'd passed me on the street :p

We have been very blessed with a kind pro-natural doctor who has been very supportive of our decision to not induce labour but to wait for the process to kick start naturally. Naturally he had to advise us of the possible scenarios that could arise from prolonged labour e.g. the placenta calcifies and becomes less efficient, the baby passes meconium inside the womb, the risk of c-section increases etc. Thankfully our health checks have been nothing short of normal and healthy so he is happy for one more week to pass before "he loses the courage to wait" (his exact words - I found that amusing!).

While being induced is a fairly common thing nowadays, we still believe God's plan is perfect and so we choose to trust God and wait for our Sarah Emma to arrive at His appointed timing. After all the drama while expecting Nathan (you can read it here), we should not be surprised that expecting Sarah would bring along its own set of stories and "challenges" (pun intended).

Among other things, by being late the little one has given us time to move into our new home while in my 39th week, settle all the remaining renovations in my 40th week so that there will be no more strange people going in and out and other dust/noise/disturbances when she finally arrives! :)

Thank you so much for your sweet emails and comments of encouragement, we have been so blessed to have many friends and family praying for us and being sensitive by NOT asking me everyday whether I have popped yet. That, my friends, is the number 1 bane of every pregnant woman who is this close to delivering but not quite there yet. Especially for a fairly overdue expectant mummy with an unbelievably itchy stretched belly and a very squashed tiny bladder.

Our dear baby girl,

The whole world is waiting for you to show your cute little face. Please come out soon and say hi ok?

♥ mama

Post Halloween rumble

Help! My belly's alive!

(Can't believe I'm still pregnant. Guess the bub is applying for permanent residency inside moi)

Alien movements

Nope, no sign of labour yet.

Where, oh where art thou sweet Sarah? ♥

Punk'ed!

Thank you again for your incredible support - most of the necklaces were snapped up so quickly! I never cease to be amazed at how blessed I am to have such wonderful supportive appreciation. Thank you so very very much! I have on a necklace roll lately and still have more works in progress which could not make the uploads today. Also I received new batches of gorgeous gems this week which I'm dying to get started on. Could it be the pre-pop dash of creativity?

And now for some family news...

Please say hi to our Sarah Emma!

Oh yes you read right! While I blogged here that Nathan was gonna have a little brother come early November, we found out at my detailed scan that the wee little one in my oven was gonna be a princess! We were punk'ed! It was such a HUGE surprise but we are thrilled nonetheless to have a baby girl after experiencing the hyperactivity of active little boys. The grandmothers are already very very very excited to have their 1st granddaughter (on both sides) on the way and have been happily adding pink frocks to their shopping list.

I'm 22 weeks along now and can't wait till Sarah comes to join the brood! Perhaps it was a good idea I did not share the name of Nathan's supposed little "brother" earlier? Our gynae was 90% certain it was a boy but I guess he got punk'ed by the cheeky princess too! Let's just hope there won't be any more surprises! :)

Have a lovely rainy snuggly weekend x

Our 2nd good and perfect gift

How did we get from this ....

{Nathan Joshua at 15 months}

to this ?!!!

{19 weeks preggers belly}

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father
of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."
-- James 1:17 (NIV)

We've been meaning to share this bit of good news for a while but with a pretty rough 1st trimester and a hyperactive toddler to juggle, blogging just takes a back seat I'm afraid.

So yes the oven has been busy growing a bun the last 4 months and we are expecting a little brother for Nathan in early November! This 2nd bundle of joy may have come somewhat as a surprise but we are thrilled nonetheless for this addition and can't wait for Nathan to have a kid brother. It took us much longer to think up of a name for baby challenger #2 but we have finally decided on one after many a spirited discussion and internet baby name-meaning search. It's gonna be a surprise till nearer the date, so let's just call him Baby C for now.

The next big news is that we are moving!

To a supposedly slightly bigger (i doubt) but definitely nicer home just minutes away from where we are so it's not a big move really? A huge bonus of the new place is having babysitters on standby as it will be just across the road from my parents! So technically we are moving back to the street on which I grew up as a little girl. It feels kinda nostalgic and cosy to know that the kids will be growing up playing on the same street, going to the same shops, taking the train from the same MRT station .... and who knows, they may even attend the same schools I did! Haha!

As you know, we like to challenge ourselves (pun intended) by doing things all at once so the move will take place just before or straight after Baby C's arrival. The last time we nearly killed ourselves was when we moved to our current place within the week of our wedding while hosting overseas guests at the same time. Some people just never learn :)

P.S. Just finishing up some listings of new pieces so do watch out for them!