favourite things

I was just going to work on a couple of local orders, fumbled through bead boxes and got out the necessary parts. And then it struck me, hey... these are like a summary of what I'm into right now so I quickly snapped a shot:

Pink, floral, heart, sparrow & a hint of gold, what's not to love about these? ;)

a fruitful week

this week has been a fruitful time of crafting, I managed to get 3 bracelets & a matching set done!

The family is busy today, everyone seems to have their Saturday plans filled to the brim already, that means I'm left alone to entertain myself  ;))

Might as well get the photos done for my new pieces, list list list & hopefully the 'made in february' section wouldn't look that bare anymore.

hmm... looks like it's a (fun filled?) day of hard work for me, wish me luck!

When I get bored I guess I'll do some bloghopping, which is always fun!

In fact I'm tempted to ditch all the listing plans and dive right into the many blogs I haven't had time to catch up with, yikes!

Concentrate, mei, concentrate!

a cause to rejoice

this is a long overdue post, I should have written this 2 weeks ago!

anyway, as the title of this post says, it's happy causes that deserve a blog post ;)

(yep, 2 causes!)

First up, I have finally reached my target of 100 items in store

(at the time of writing this, I have more than 100 already, see what I meant that this is an overdue post?  
Am a procrastinator at heart!)

Secondly, I had my first taste of being on the Etsy front page, even after 2 weeks I still feel a little giddy thinking of it ;)

Being there for just 1 hour, my views & hearts went over the roof, what a pleasant surprise!

I knew being on the FP brings you a lot of new visitors, but I didn't know it was this huge...

I had a couple of sales as a result of this and I'm so thankful to ArtByAmarose who featured me in her treasury & last but not least, the One up there who made a girl very very happy ;)

the shiny bits

I don't know about you, but I have been seeing many grecian goddess inspired fashion pieces lately. You know, those Cleopatra-ish bold gold chains?
Well, I wanted to have my take at it too and here are my materials:

Not exactly keeping to the theme, right? ;)

Mainly due to the fact that I don't have many gold coloured beads (time to do some bead shopping?), I chose only base metal colours- silver, gunmetal & gold with a couple of pointy swirl charms.
There is another huge thick & relatively heavy pendant too (tribal-looking design!) which isn't pictured here.

This necklace is still a work in progress, some tweaking here & there is needed to perfect the design, which will have to wait till tomorrow.
I'm rushing off for a movie date with my sister tonight & have planned to list 1 new item before leaving the house. The 'made in february' section in my store looks a bit bare, when compared to 18 pieces in January.

Gotta buck up a bit for this month!

wallpaper // february

I had little cousins over at my house during Chinese New Year and they totally messed up my desktop wallpaper, time to search for some new ones!

Let me share with you some pretty wallpapers I have found...

Combining both Valentine & the Bunny Year, we have got "Bunnies in Love", how adorable!

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very cute illustrations!

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minimalistic design

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February being the month of love, I settled for this:

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I hope you are spoilt with choices now ;)

yesterday I cleaned my table....

I had some friends dropping by yesterday, so I thought it would be good to at least tidy up my workbench a lil.

Pic above is my partially cleaned table, I had no where to store those 2 strands of beads (my mum's!) so I left them there as deco ;)

Salmon pink flower is a piece I'm going to work on today for a local buyer, super fun!

Anyway, let's not talk bout my work area because I'm pretty sure it's gonna be messy again in no time...

so here are 2 inspiring spaces I saw on Lindsay's blog the other day

Eclectic Whatnot

wow...! such an organized shipping station...

this is from Oh Sweet Joy!, I love that the garland matches her studio :)

Oh Sweet Joy!

Such lovely spaces to work in, now it would be a big fat lie if I say I'm not a teeny weeny bit envious! ;)

box

My sister received a box of Japanese biscuits that came in this pretty box, mum kept it for me knowing I never have enough of storage boxes ;)

Instead I'm using this as a photo background, the house doodles are too cute to be stored away!

Agree? :)

Only pity is that it's made of cardboard instead of metal, a bit flimsy for long-term use.
I certainly need to be more gentle with this!

oil that never ceases

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I love my bible and read it almost daily (on some days I backslide / lazy / have lots of excuses). Today as I was reading about Elisha & the widow's oil, I found some spiritual nuggets that I have to share.

(if unfamiliar with the story, do refer here, just 9 verses!)

I'm a 3 year old Christian and did not grow up in a Christian background so do bear with what I have learned as I read the scriptures.

It says in verse 6 that as the jars were all filled and there was none left anymore, "so the oil ceased". While I have read this story a couple of times already, this verse suddenly came 'alive' to me. I learn that as long as we have a place in heart for God to fill us, as long as we desire Him, as long as there is a vessel within us that seeks His presence, He never stops indwelling us, in fact in increasing measure! Just like the oil ceased to flow when there were no more jars, we stop feeling the presence of God when other things in life begin to take over, be it worries or things we crave so deeply for.

I speak from my own experience, I would get so excited about a bead purchase that I couldn't stop thinking about it, even during my nightly devotion time, those shiny new beads never stop to twirl in my head and the bible just seem so boring compared to my latest loot. How deceived I was! In the end I felt emptier than ever as the bead parcel arrived. Little things that took my focus away, or in other words, I allowed created things to dethrone the rightful place of my Creator.

As much as I like making jewellery, I now know there is a need for a balance. Hobbies that delight my heart are certainly good and I thank God for them, yet I must make sure they never consume my thoughts and prayerfully, there is always a 'vessel' within me for God to fill! :)

I write this mainly as a note & reminder to self, yet at the same time I hope it speaks to you as well, thanks for reading!

 

january round up

Magical bracelet

Say hello to February, woot!

January was a hardworking month, updated my etsy store with 18 new pieces and working a lot more on local orders. For the first time in my 2 year old local store I had a waiting list! Not exactly a good thing, because I was feeling rather terrible that my buyers have to wait, I used to ship orders out within 2 days, or 3 days max. During the busy period last month, it stretched up to 2 weeks... Oh my! On the other hand, I'm absolutely thrilled that they would be so sweet to wait for me, some even told me to 'take your time, it's alright'.

Aww..... :))

January was busy partly due to the Chinese New Year celebrations in early February. The Chinese all dress up in their new clothes so I was rushing to get all orders completed by then. How relieved I was when they were all done!

I'm taking a week off too this Spring Festival (as it is known in China), I think it's almost 6 days already since I last played with my pliers, definitely one of the longest periods I have gone without working at my bead table!

My fingers are itching, ideas are spinning around in mind, I guess it's a signal for me to lodge myself at my favourite spot at home ;)

Pretty sure I will having a blast beading away this noon!

(before relatives start dropping by my home & the dinner tonight, chinese new year is my most cherished time of the year)