Up up and away!

It's so scary how fast time flies! I thought I'd just glanced away for a second but now it's already time for my break! Things were just crazy, with a recurring infection in my woeful eye, boy was I a fogged up car window! You can't really see the bugger in the photos below which were taken at our friend's wedding on Saturday and yes that's little Sherri the adorable flower girl from our wedding last year. She's grown so much taller I'm sure she'll overtake me soon!

Where did all that time go?! I wanted to list more items but no, time was definitely not on my side. Tomorrow we'll be away at quiet Port Dickson for a few breezy days before I'm off to Tokyo *woot woot!* My friends have already planned a kamikaze schedule just so we can fit all that food and shopping in! I'm already mentally prepared for the pounds to pile on (sadly and reluctantly but that's the price to pay) See you again from June 18th! :)

Gingko Fern - SGD 30 (only pair) - Sold

2 more weeks before I vanish for a fortnight so i'm gonna try and make and list as many new pieces as i can while keeping myself sane in this insane summer heat. How I'd love to chop off my locks if not for the fact that it took me nearly 3 years to grow it out!

I'm so happy Friday is here again so I leave you with a pair of mismatched earrings to mark the weekend :) Gingko Fern features a special cloisonne charm on one side, while the other side features a rhinestone-centred vintage red flower and czech leaves wired onto a mini dreamcatcher with subtle nature shades trailing below ~ Drops are 4.5cm and 5cm respectively from 14k goldplated hooks. This is my only pair!

On a side note, I have decided that my personal photos on Flickr should now be only viewable by those on my friends and family lists. Not that I have become a victim on online photo ripping (at least I am not aware of any!), but I would like to take precautions and protect the privacy of my friends and loved ones. No heads on topless bodies please! Of cos for those who know me personally, I will be glad to add you to my list of friends so that you can share in the embarrassing evidence of my exploits hee. Just drop me a line! :)

Teddy bride loves photoshoots!

A uni friend of mine wanted to get a wedding set as a present for her friend who's getting married in June and I couldn't be more pleased to do it up for her! I've also done up matching earrings which aren't in the picture cos they were notoriously hard to photograph for a lousy amateur like myself. This little teddy bride has been sitting by my computer screen so I used it in my photoshoot on a lark. Hee. You can tell she is very excited to be my model cos she loves happy occasions, like a wedding!

I wanna be in France too!

Just spoke to Daddy Challenger on Skype and guess where the in-laws are at the moment? South of Bordeaux in France! Matt's family has a caravan (yes a caravan) which takes the in-laws on their nomadic trawls across Europe, in particular France. This time, they are taking 3 months to caravan through the French countryside, enjoying the clean, crisp air, quaint little towns and oh boy lotsa lotsa CHEESE. What a different life we have here. Bugger.

It's actually quite cool hearing the hubster's stories of his family vacations growing up cos the places they went to were of cos totally different from where we went. I think my first holiday was to Genting in Malaysia when I was 6. After that came nearby Asian destinations like Hongkong, Japan, Korea, China and the occasional Australian foray. Yes i was very spoilt as a child by parents who loved to travel so i guess i sort of inherited that wandering trait from them.

Now imagine spending a week in a rustic MASSIVE chateau in the French countryside with its own lake and woods and having to drive to the nearest town for food cos it is that rustic. Wow. That's the kind of holiday the hubster had. It sounds so... exotic. Like something we read about in Under a Tuscan Sun or A Year in Provence, but never actually get the chance to do. This idea of a French chateau vacation has become like my own mini obsession, you should see how many friends I've driven nuts with all that talk of a provencal holiday! Hopefully we'll be able to find time during our trip back to England in August for a short getaway to (maybe)France? Haha. Our friends absolutely loved Barcelona and I've heard of how beautiful Prague is so right now I'm just spoilt for choice! Hee.

Ok time to get a grip before I swoon into another of my wanderlust moods (they are so hard to wake up from). Time to start a new holiday fund!

Ah here's a loonnnggg waist length necklace which can be wound twice, thrice round the neck for different layered looks that was ordered as a birthday gift ~ I've always dug the layering look but never got round to actually work on them. This season though I've really gotten into the mode so expect more layered necklaces soon!

xoxoxo

Meg - SGD 45 - Sold

I really do adore the purple tones in Meg with little lilac flower clusters, beautifully faceted amethyst and moonstone brios, pink tourmaline heart brios, teeny swarovskis and amethyst rondelles ~ Drop is just over 3.5cm from goldfilled hooks.

Jo - SGD 46 - Sold

Perhaps you would have noticed that this series was named after the March sisters from Little Women. No particular reason there, except for the fact I really enjoyed the novel while growing up and it just came to my mind! :)

Jo boasts stronger colours than her sisters (how apt!) with carnelian teardrop brios, tourmaline heart brios and little clusters of emerald and rubies. I like! Drop is 3.8cm from goldfilled hooks ~

Beth - SGD 45 - Sold

Here's Beth with little flowers that are really more a mellow pink than the coral tone as the picture seems to show. Foamy sea-green chalcedony brios swish below with petite mystic white topaz brios and rondelles of pink tourmaline and moonstone ~ Drop is 3.5cm from goldfilled hooks.

Amy - SGD 45 - Sold

If you've been wondering where I've been, moi here was hibernating at home over the weekend recovering from a bad eye infection. The doctor couldn't really pinpoint the exact cause so I was really worried there! Lots of antibiotic eyedrops and resting later, I'm glad to say I'm no longer one-eyed jack! Yippee...

Still on the neverending journey of finishing custom orders (which is a good thing- i'm not complaining!) but here's a mini-series I did on the side to amuse myself hee. Little flower clusters in colours of spring :) First is Amy, with tangerine shades and brios of carnelian, peridot, phrenite, freshwater pearls and moonstone rondelles. Drop is 4cm from goldfilled hooks ~

Morning Dew - SGD 39 - Sold

Ah I just love ear threads cos they are so easy to wear! This is a pale blue version Silver Roses with milky blue chaledony heart brios, labradorite & moonstone rondells and a dash of swarovskis to spice up the colour facets. Refreshing calming colours to soothe on a hot day like today :)

White Daisies - SGD 35 - Sold

Summer days are here again! Vintage white daisies are wired with czech petals, swarovskis and pearls in this sprightly mismatched pair ~ Drop is about 5.5cm from brassy hooks.

Dans la nuit - SGD 36 (only pair) - Sold

I've done this pair for a while but never quite got down to taking photos :p Oxidised silver leverbacks with flowers featuring cubic zirconia centres, swarovski blig balls, litle pearls, rhodium leaves and sterling accents. Drop is 4.5cm from the base of the flowers ~

Flu bug alert!

I can't believe how the week just passed! Must be this nasty bug circulating at home, first the hubster was down for a couple of days, after that it was poor moi who had to stay in bed for the long labour day weekend. What a bummer!! I'm still not perfect but am well enough to sit at the computer and answer some emails. My apologies to those who've emailed me and are awaiting my replies! This little bout of flu has pushed my schedule back quite a bit so I'm having to rush all the urgent wedding orders on hand. As I'll be going away for 2 weeks in June, I'm afraid I will have to review any new custom requests and accept them on a case-by-case basis, as long as they are within material and time constraints. Thank you for bearing with me!

Now I have to go take some paracetemol for this headache of mine and finish up those necklaces. I can't wait to finish this batch and then take another long break. We'll be heading up to Port Dickson in Malaysia for our church camp followed by my annual holiday with the girls. This time we're headed to Japan yay! Flipping excited about the onsen, food and of cos the shopping for jewellery supplies! Sheer bliss.

Drops of Rainbow - SGD 45 - Sold

These are really beautiful tourmaline brios with very clear colours and a brilliant faceted sheen. I especially love the pinky plummy tourmaline colours! These brios are about 5x5mm in size and dangle prettily from 18mm swirly tubes. Drop is 47mm from goldfilled hooks ~

Sophisticated - SGD 40 (only pair) - Sold

I did up a similar pair for MAAD which got sold and here's another pair of excellent quality smoky quartz nuggets (the clarity is unbelievable!) suspended in 22mm braided goldfilled hoops and moonstone rondells. Really really classy with a drop of 33mm ~

Maki Squarepatch has reopened!

Yesterday afternoon I paid Xin a visit at their newly (re)opened shop down Bali Lane and I really liked how they managed to retain the cosy whimsical air of their previous shop on Emerald Hill. Though the Bali Lane space is a tad smaller, it certainly hasn't lost out on Maki Squarepatch's characteristic quirky charm! They have started carrying more fabulously cool things by different local artists/designers which really contributes to the handmade atmosphere. We were talking and I was like, hey let's do another tea party together! The new space's cute, it's cosy, it's central and it's gonna be just as fun as the last time!

Details are still being firmed up but we are looking at the end May/early June period. It will just be a casual affair, a smallish gathering of friends hanging out over some light refreshments (haven't decided what yet) after which people may adjourn to the adjacent areas for some indie exploring. Like rum & raisin ice cream at Pluck. Mmmm... that would be my idea of a great afternoon with gal pals :)

More custom orders churned out from the workshop!
Seems like there's a pink theme going on.

This weather is perfect for snuggling in bed with a book but sweatshop elf here will have to leave this luxury for another cool grey cloudy rainy day :(

Whispers - SGD 36 - Sold

I've been working on some mini series stuff but custom orders have kept me from translating more of my ideas into creations for now. Hopefully things will ease up a little and I'll be able to reveal a series of necklaces later this week! Meanwhile here's a new pair of earrings after a quiet week on the blog front:

Whispers is a light leafy pair of cool white breeze with a carved clear quartz rose, smoky czech drops and just a hint of olive tones. Drop is 5.5 cm from 14k goldplated hooks ~ Another shot of Whispers can be seen here.

Artemis - SGD 108 (only piece) - Sold

I found this really special almost wing-like vintage Corocraft brooch with lovely light & dark green rhinestones and loved it to bits! A little jade donut, green amethyst teardrop and cognac whisky topaz onion briolettes, swarovski cream pearl baubles and layers of goldfilled chains later, this has become a quirky feminine statement piece!

piano tales

Recently I've been feeling the urge to play the piano again, maybe it's cos the hubster's picking up the guitar and singing Blessed Assurance everyday for the past week is slowly driving me insane. I guess if I can accompany him and help him along with the tunes on my piano, his repertoire might expand and I can hum a different song in my subconscious :) So yup, the whole family had to be roped in to transport the piano from my parents' place to ours. It isn't a grande but for that pint-sized 20year old babe, it sure weighed a lot more than we expected!

We had to move the furniture around as well (there's 3 fitness machines sharing the space) so this weekend piano project turned out to be a major lounge makeover! We are not quite done yet but yes friends of the Challengers, be prepared for a radical change when you next visit. Sprained my wrist slightly in the process but it's much better today so maybe I'll finally be able to get some work done :)

My small group in church had a mini photoshoot last friday for a bulletin feature. Guess you can tell who couldn't make it! I threatened to put antlers on their heads but I think that might have been a tad disturbing for the lil kiddos haha so a thought bubble it was!

I leave you with the last picture of a custom order recently completed for a birthday:

Have a splendid week ahead!

mortons again!

Before everyone starts to think my life revolves around meals at Morton's, I must clarify that this was a combined birthday celebration for 2 gal pals hence the extravagance! They'd heard me gush about the food at this establishment for my anniversary and made sure we were back again this time, and not just for the martinis hee.

We weren't huge eaters so we were able to share the humongous portions and not waste any food. (licked everything up onion bread crumbs and all) We loved the chilled ocean platter with the whole maine lobster, colossal shrimp cocktail, jumbo lump crabmeat, oysters on half shell and Alaskan king crab. I think just writing that has made my tummy growl with fond food memory. We were oohing and aahing and swooning over the freshness of the seafood and the OYSTERS! I'm not a big fan but the girls were going nuts over these monster-sized oysters.

The maindraw was of cos the steaks, I really liked the filet mignon and the red wine our familiar waiter (we were obviously regular martini downers) recommended. Lightly spicy, not at all acidic and a perfect accompaniement to the steak. Oh it was divine! We even snapped the bottle just so we could remember the label and year haha.

Altogether I had a very bubbly weekend with lotsa happy hours, pre-dinner drinks and... post-dinner drinks! We were giggling like teenage school girls haha. Intoxication is SO much fun when you're with gal pals!

Caramel Roses - SGD 38 - Sold

These are lovely petite roses with fresh white pearls, glittery swarovskis, czech beads and faceted cognac whisky topaz onion brios from sterling hooks ~ drop measurements later.