Monthly Archives: August 2011
A Very Productive Weekend
My sister needed a gift for her boyfriend’s sister. She requested me to make something for her. I was not satisfied with just one, instead, I made these new earring pieces now available at my store:
As you all are aware of by now, gold prices have gone up. The price for these items are based on the old gold prices (read: very affordable). When my stock runs up, I have no choice but to increase the price of my new items as well.
So what are you waiting for? 🙂
New Listings
Birthday celebrations and a hectic work schedule has taken me off this blog for some time now. This week we are celebrating a long weekend: 4 days of no work! First, there’s the real weekend, Saturday and Sunday, and then August 29 we will be celebrating our National Hero’s Day and another national holiday on the 30th to mark the end of Ramadan.
Because of this, I started to keep busy again with these new listings now posted in my shop:
VAMPIRE: Very dainty natural red coral beads and a large faceted Austrian crystal briolette all wrapped in 14k gold
MERMAID: An ethereal mix of turquoise, chalcedony and freshwater pearls wire wrapped in 14k gold. They hang from gorgeous baby blue cubic zirconia in 14k bezel setting.
ENCHANTING FOREST: deep green jasper embraced in 14k gold and hangs from midnight faceted Austrian crystals.
RUBY: Are you the type who love changing your jewelry according to what you wear? This this design is the right one for you! Red rubellite natural gemstones in 14k gold.
Amethyst & Silver
The request: an amethyst bead in the middle of my signature design crocheted disc.
The dilemma: use sterling silver.
*****
I have to admit. I shy away from using sterling silver with my designs because cleaning sterling silver jewelry pieces need lots of attention. A simple brushing with mild soap will not make it shine and sparkle like those in the store. You need a sterling silver cleaning solution for this and the process of cleaning, I find really tedious.
When I make jewelry, I take into consideration the aspects of cleaning. I want my pieces to be easy maintenance. I want them easy to clean and store. Most of my customers are professionals who value their time so I want to make things easy for them. With gold, all you need is a soft bristle brush, some mild soap and water. For brass, a lemon rinse and soft bristle brush as well. With sterling silver, you need more than just a brush.
But anyway, I will put aside all my apprehensions when a customer wants a sterling silver piece. This request was full sterling silver: chain and the main focal point which was the detachable pendant. I had to incorporate the customer’s birthstone, which is amethyst. Initially, when the piece was finished, I was not satisfied. If you have been reading this blog since it started, you will now know that I do not sketch when I make a piece. I will let my imagination flow and my hands do the work. For customized pieces I will listen to what the customer wants and work from there.
So here I am with the piece and decided to add more to the original design. I added a border made of thicker sterling silver wire. Slowly, the disc started to transform into a rose! The amethyst bead in the middle seemed lonely so I dispersed a couple of Alexandrite Swarovksi faceted bicone crystals around it.
The result: Fabulousity!
If you like this piece, you, too, can buy it here 🙂
The Locket
I have always been drawn to different kinds of locket necklaces so whenever I chance upon a nice locket pendant, I always try to incorporate it in my collection.
Gold filled lockets are hard to find and solid gold lockets do not carry the particular design I want. These new set of lockets I currently have in store are made from high quality brass. Now the question is, how to clean brass. I simply soak them in lemon water: I squeeze half a lemon in a small glass of water. I leave them soaking for about 30 minutes then use a nice soft brush to gently scrub. The natural acids of the lemon help make the brass shine like brand new!
With these new lockets I added flat-backed Swarovski crystals.
They hang from 14k gold filled chain and fall just below the collarbone.
Simple. Clean. Chic. A great combination for jewelry you want to wear everyday.
A New Challenge
The Request: Sparkly bib necklace
The client wanted one that was sparkly and had a garden them. Not green but colorful. Now, it is a common thing to think about Swarovski crystals when you say “sparkly” right? But I did not want to be ordinary but wanted this project to be extraordinary!
I could not work with diamonds because the client had a budget as well. So why not Russian diamonds?
Not quite.
But almost there 🙂
What I’ve Been Up To
Sorry for the lack of post, guys! Two weeks ago way up until last weekend, you all know I joined a weddings expo. And since it would have been my first time to join one, I had to prepare. From the business cards to the flyers, way up to the products and accessories that would adorn my little vignette. I can proudly say I’ve gotten lots of queries and I’m quite surprised how many couples are not aware of customized ceremony candles and wedding cords yet 🙂 Well, I’m right here if you need one 🙂 The two full days of being in the expo tired me up so much that I just plopped down in bed when I got home. Then Monday came and it was back to work, my day job, I mean. But that did not stop there. The whole work week was just that: WORK. There was so much to do and so many deadlines to meet. I had to stay in the office later than usual and by the time I got home, all the time I had left were for my family. Now that everything’s back to normal, I’m now in my crafty creative mode, finishing some custom orders, which deserves a post of its own. ‘Til then!
I’m an Empress!
You are The Empress Beauty, happiness, pleasure, success, luxury, dissipation. The Empress is associated with Venus, the feminine planet, so it represents, beauty, charm, pleasure, luxury, and delight. You may be good at home decorating, art or anything to do with making things beautiful. The Empress is a creator, be it creation of life, of romance, of art or business. While the Magician is the primal spark, the idea made real, and the High Priestess is the one who gives the idea a form, the Empress is the womb where it gestates and grows till it is ready to be born. This is why her symbol is Venus, goddess of beautiful things as well as love. Even so, the Empress is more Demeter, goddess of abundance, then sensual Venus. She is the giver of Earthly gifts, yet at the same time, she can, in anger withhold, as Demeter did when her daughter, Persephone, was kidnapped. In fury and grief, she kept the Earth barren till her child was returned to her.
What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.
Busy Bee
Hello everyone!
Sorry for the lack of posts. I have been invited to join a wedding expo this weekend, and all the preparations have kept me up to my ears with so many things to do, make, and accomplish.
I will try to blog as soon as things settle down….perhaps even during the expo itself!
Talk to you later!
P.S.
It’s friday over at my side of the world, so happy weekend to all 🙂
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