Quote of the week

Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling. - Margaret B. Runbeck

Antonia

I simply love these faceted chalcedony beads that I stumbled upon yesterday. The colour caught my eye and I couldn't leave not getting any. It reminds me of sunsets and mandarin oranges. Hangforged sterling wires were oxidized and polished.

Isabella

I've been busy in the last few days trying to find time for my new project of oxidizing some of my creations. It took me a while to figure out how to oxidize these and just get the perfect shade that I wanted so ta-dah! Faceted chalcedony hangs off sterling wires that has been oxidized and polished for that rustic look.

Kathleen

Simple freshwater pearls with brass petals. Gold filled wires. This is one of my favourite pairs. Simple enough to wear everyday with details that make someone sit up and take note!

Little acorns

These little acorns are in fact brass caps over swarovski pearls. Gold filled wires.

Emerald green

Another shot on white

Emerald green

Faceted emerald green resin topped with crystals and pearls. Handforged sterling earhooks and wires have been heavily oxidized.

Oxidizing silver

This is my attempt at lightly oxidising the sterling silver for this faceted sky blue amazonites for an antique look.

Attack of the sinus

I want a new nose and new sinuses. Sigh. I have the sinus attack and it certainly feels like they won coz I'm so tired fighting it. No fud doking like dat and dooking like dat. I've got a really red nose and it has been exploding since yesterday evening. And it's not your gentle achoo! it's like AAAAAAAAAARRRRRHCHOOOOOOOOOO!! And I do everything I can to keep my eyes closed coz I may just find my eyeballs in my hands. And after each wave, I feel as if I've just run the marathon. With my boxes of tissue paper in my bag (they are my best friends at the moment), I dragged myself to work where 40 people were waiting for me to talk. But all I want to do is stay under the covers with a hot water bottle, away from the world. And I didn't care if aliens from the mother ship came and beamed me up. Just take me away. Pleeeeeeeeeze.

There has to be something I can do about this attack that comes at me at least twice a year. Well, if I wanted to think about this positively, it does make me appreciate the importance of health above all else. And yes, breathing IS important, something which I take for granted everyday. But who am I kidding, just improve my drainage system please, there must be a plumbing fairy somewhere. Helb Helb Helb. Sigh.

Turqoise vines

I found these little ovals of turqoise and simply love the colour! I like the fact that there are different shades of turqoise and browns in each of them that adds to the natural overall look.

This is how it will look like if worn.

It's just an illusion

I've always been a fan of optical illusions and a friend just sent me one. The picture's not moving but somehow our eyes perceive it to be. Isn't that cool?


Want to have more dizzy spells? Visit http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/~akitaoka/index-e.html Be warned. Not for the faint-sighted.

Duckee

This is Duckee. I have had on many occasions thought of stealing it. It's such a cute little thing especially so as it has gone through many cycles of wash and now it's all faded with its pink and yellow. Duckee makes me smile, it's soft and cuddly and it feels good when I give it a hug. But Duckee happens to belong to my little niece so I shall be good and just hold it when I'm allowed to. Because just as much as Linus needs his blanket, my little niece needs Duckee. Somehow it keeps her safe and helps her to sleep. There is no sweeter experience than to have a little one and a half year old offer you her security blanket even for just for a while becasue she wants you to feel as good as she does.

Overheard on bus 55

Girl: "You don't understand, he's everything I want in a guy, it's just his personality that I can't stand."

Lavender stars

I found these flowers alongside east coast and couldn't resist taking a pic of these flowers. I haven't quite figured out what's the proper name but I call them starry flowers. It's got a unique design, intricate and in different lavender hues. Simply gorgeous. The buds remind me of tiny walnuts. Best of all, it's a creation of nature.

Arondele

I couldn't take my eyes off these pearls. It's pretty, unusually shaped with a silvery gleam. All chains and wires in sterling silver. Subtly dramatic.

Fizya

I love the combination of deep reds and whites. I've paired these freshwater pearls with swarovski red crystals. All else in sterling silver.

Simply Kate

Gorgeous green square pearls in lovely green. Balinese sterling silver caps and surgical steele wires.

Jasmine's pearls

Gorgeous freshwater pearls in pear shape topped with peach and copper baby freshwater pearls. Simple pretty design for everyday wear that adds a touch of elegance to any outfit. Handforged earhooks and all wires in sterling silver.

10 things I love about bread

1. It can be toasted.
2. It's soft.
3. You can fry it with eggs and onions.
4. It tastes great with otak, kaya or nutella, and basically anything else.
5. It tastes good on its own.
6. You just need 2 slices to hold everything in between.
7. You can dip it in curry.
8. It can be eaten by the hands.
9. You'll find bread in every culture.
10. It's humble.

Tasha

Fresh water pearl slices give this pair an interesting design. Jade green aventurines hang below. Handforged sterling silver earhooks.

Deep red

Brick red cinnabar with beautiful floral details and a white pearl. Sterling silver ear hooks complete it.

Baby blues

Amazonites with shades of blue crystals hangs on handforged ear hooks. All in sterling silver.

Rings

The other day, a friend of mine started sharing how she started making her own simple rings. Nothing fancy, just simple wiring to hold the stones in place. Of course, I got right into it and started one evening and couldn't quite stop. I tried it on the turqoise stone, faceted new jade, seashell, faceted black onyx, amazonite and lapis. It's a skill in getting them all aligned and wrapping it such that it is a smooth continuum, all tucked in with no sharp edges and yet retaining the elegance of the style it is wrapped. I'm still trying to perfect it. It's amazing what you can do with wires.

How often should you change your sheets?

What I learnt from this month's Her World's Magazine:

1. Bedsheets- you should change it every week as we shed up to 28g of skin cells which provide food for dustmites (ewe!)

2. Pillow- you should get a new one twice a year and if you want to kill dustmites, put your pillow in a plastic bag and in the freezer for 6 hours (cool!)

3. Towels- change them once a week because damp bath towels are a breeding ground for a bacteria that can cause infection if it meets up with an infection

4. Razor blades- change them once a week otherwise the blades will clog up dead skin causing nicks that can become infected. A dull blade can also lead to painful insightly ingrown hairs.

My mother was right all along.

Conversations with my 1 1/2 year old niece

"Shafaforvamawoaawa ow-sigh"
"Outside seems like fun but I'm not sure if it's a good idea right now coz it's hot."
"Burbohwashasor ow-sigh"
"Yeah I know it's no fun when you can't go outside"
"Ow-sigh gakaashafishmabamasha"
"I don't think the cat's outside anymore, it's probably hiding coz it's too hot to sleep outside"
"Weyshafayamahosighla hot"
"That's right, it's way too hot so we're not going out"
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH"

Ice chips

I simply had to get more of these ice chips! I had made Gold Ice a few months ago and I'm still attracted to these chipped swarovski crystals that have a wonderful glow in them. Smoky tinted crystals on the left are larger than the lavender, aquamarine, and gold tinted little ones on the right.

For Patricia

Something that might look pretty with Patricia's necklace. Jasper stones and faceted lacquered black beads to complete the look. Sterling silver wires.

There's something about Nicole

There's just something about Nicole Kidman. I can't resist watching a movie with her in it or picking up a magazine that has her cover story. This Month's Vanity Fair featured her in their interview and I was swept away by her vulnerability and openess about her life, her marriage to Tom and also what she and her now husband, Keith, went through in battling his addiction. She certainly had her share of difficult life experiences one of which was her miscarriage and she shared how one day, her story maybe told but just not today. She's just so human in the way she presents herself, not only in what she says but also in what she doesn't. Maybe one day her story will be told and I think it will be a story of beauty and strength.