Behind the scenes

:: A few behind the scenes shots ::

Love the sun today! I finally got down to doing the photo-shoot for the new AW 11 collection that I've been hard at work on. Only minor editing to the lighting was needed, and the pictures turned out soft and dreamy with a somewhat languid feel. I like!

A photography buff/expert I am not, so I know nuts about "photo boxes", "light tents" and the like. My camera is a point and shoot Canon Ixus and the daytime sun is my best friend. I double up the wooden bench next to our shoe cupboard as my photo-shoot table top along with rustic white washed drawers/display cabinet and paper flowers as props. It really is quite fun playing decorate, creating little vignettes of jewels as product shots. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do :)

All I have to do now is choose the prettiest and most defining photos as well as come up with the copy (promotional text, not duplicate) for each of the pieces and then they will be ready for listing. Give me another few days or so?

Proof of time not idled

I am not holding out on you, promise!

Work is slow as the daughter is reaching a needy phase - sometimes it frustrates me to be wanted so much though I quickly reflect and know it is really a blessing to be loved! One day she is going to prefer hanging out with her friends then spending time with mama. I just have to learn to give up my own selfish desires with what I think is "my time" and appreciate the moments I have with my sweet baby who needs me. Dying to self is a lesson I have to learn everyday!

Preview

Hello lovelies! I have been working on making new pieces for the blog which has become rather lonely in my long absence - here are some sneaks of things to come! They will be listed as and when time and well, the children permit. If something catches your eye and you can't wait, please feel free to write me! :)

After much consideration, I have decided that it is time to streamline the closet so I will be releasing (online) vintage and new dresses and of course antique jewellery from my personal collection! I have more than 50 vintage frocks alone, not to mention contemporary dresses and the trinkets. There are some 40s rayon, some 50s waisted and an Estevez, among others. It is quite insane my closet is so packed it's bursting and I can't wear half the stuff since having 2 babies. If you are about a UK size 8-10, love vintage, love jewellery and wanna come by to see them in person, I will release more information on how you can do that if you drop me an email. Which means I need to sort the stash out asap!

With that I wish you a fantastic weekend! We are having a quiet weekend at home since the Daddy and I have not had much shut eye the last few nights. See you back here real soon!

Coming soon!

Been working on some necklaces on-off amidst other things... it's so annoying when you're on one project when the inspiration for something entirely different hits and you just have to stop what you're doing to start something new! I have unfinished projects sitting on my table for aeons until inspiration strikes again and I am satisfied with how it looks. Guess that explains why custom orders are my Archilles' heel and take forever to complete (yikes!!)

I had originally planned to upload some new necklaces today but taking decent photos and basically just the act of listing always demands more time than you think. So yeah, yet again another bout of procrastination. Bleh. This time however, I am hoping to pack each one of them up first so that they are ready to go out the door once they have been snapped up. Maybe this will turn out to be a more efficient system? Let's wait and see.

Watch out for more details of when the new pieces will finally be available!

(though probably not Tuesday cos it's playgroup day for the little man :p )

xoxo,

On genes and a sneak-of-the-day

Do you wonder sometimes how much stuff runs in the family? I never thought i'd end up doing jewellery someday, heck i never really passed art in my school!! Wasn't particularly well-known for any creativity to be honest. But what if genes did have a part to play in it...

If you'd caught Home Decor 3 on Channel 8 last night, you would have seen many of my cousins and even my gran on TV! They were on Mark Lee's team and since I'm not a frequent viewer of the show, I heard from the grapevine that his team hadn't won for a while so naturally they were kinda worried. Nevertheless they put in lotsa thought and effort, most of my cousins and aunts and even my lil bro went down to help with the renovation and they deservedly won, at least to me! Loved the way they revamped my gran's old furniture and came up with a east-meets-west-contemporary style :)

My gran even got to show off her crafting prowess in making butterflies fr used cans (so green right), which by the way, is not the only thing she does. She also makes little beaded animals like doggies, kitties, sheep, snakes... you name it, she jolly well can make it! I'm so proud of my gran!! Maybe my mom managed to sneak some creative gene from gran to me after all! Ok enough of showing off my gran.... ain't Athena a pretty lady! I'm very pleased with the way she turned out and can't wait to show her at Maad this weekend. Very vintage, very green... just the way i like them :) I have to get back to preparing logistics for the fair... you really gotta check out Dec's Maad cos there'll be so many cool stalls way perfect for some handmade indie shopping!! (maybe i should display some of my gran's butterflies too)

Dec Maad sneaks!

Some pieces for Maad next weekend...

there's lots more where these came from, and even more in the works!

Another Maad sneak!

Ooh look at what came out yesterday! A quaint purply eye-catcher that's bound to be a keeper! I'm hoarding this for Dec's Maad, which by the way, is on for sure! So keep the 1st & 2nd of Dec free if you can and come do some major christmas shopping! (hopefully at my booth so i can do some christmas shopping too haaa)

Rose Assassin sneak

This vintage rose dagger pin was quickly taken by a regular who gave me the freedom to do it up into whatever I fancied so this is a little sneak surprise for her ~ More similar pieces of this style will be available at Dec's Maad if nothing goes wrong. Sorry I've been quiet lately, it's just too exciting checking out the possibilities with these vintage acquisitions! Usually it only takes one good piece to start a new series so yay! This Rose Assassin just saved me :)

biggie news!

Yay! We're doing a tea party in Sept! So far the basic info is as follows:

Date: 8 Sept Sat
Time: 11am - 2pm
Venue: Maki Squarepatch: Hello Eco!
111 Emerald Hill Road, Emerald Mansion

We're still working on the emailer so watch this spot for more details and directions! RSVP will be required so drop me a line if you wanna join us on a Sat afternoon for some tete-a-tete, and oh what would tea parties be without gal pals? Bring them along as well! :)

The weather has been nothing short of eeky with looming dark clouds and persistent showers. Such a damper on the mood! Which probably explains why my latest creations have been full of sunny yellows and oranges (i have to recreate what nature denies) ~ Usually by this time (2 wks before an event) I'll be super psyched and running on adrenalin but somehow it's different for me right now, I seem to be... dragging myself still? A teeny voice inside hints that maybe I'm burnt out but I don't really wanna find out. I guess it may be good timing that I'll be taking a loonng break come Sept post-tea party. Yup it will be a good 3 weeks away though I'll still be updating this blog regularly I hope.

First the hubster and I are heading up to KL for a wedding mid-Sept and since the day after the dinner's my birthday, it's a good excuse (oops) to stay a while longer. Straight after we get back fr KL, I'll be shooting off to Adelaide and Tasmania for another 2 weeks which is kinda fast and last minute but we like living on the edge anyway heh. I've always wanted to see Tasmania since my outdoor days in JC and my teacher-in-charge had this huge poster of Cradle Mountain on his wall at home. Everyone I know who's been there absolutely loved the nature scenery so it's been on my heart ever since. We'll be heading to Hobart first and driving up the coastal route to Launceston before taking a domestic flight back to Adelaide. If anyone has any recommendations, please let me know! We're be sooo grateful cos I don't wanna travel goodness knows how many thousand miles to the destination of my dreams only to miss something I'll regret later.

Rain seems to have calmed down so maybe I can go out and take a walk instead of being stifled in this cramped overcrowded little workroom of mine (which by the way was meant to be a baby room). Talk later! :)