Thursday, January 29, 2009

Time to create again


Chinese New Year is here again and it has been a truly busy week for me - cooking for relatives, visiting relatives and of course, lots of eating in between. Throw in a couple of sick kids, and my hands are full. Although I like Chinese New Year and all its activities, I felt that I haven't had much time to myself. So when I finally found time to bead again, I was happy. I have been itching to create something with the lovely aventurine beads I got a while back. Aventurine looks a lot like jade but is actually a a translucent quartz spangled with bits of mica or other minerals. It is also known as sunstone. Jade have often been associated with older ladies and although I like jade, I didn't like the designs jade often come in. So when I found these aventurine stones and jade look alike, I was quite excited to see what I can create with them. Yesterday, I decided to use them to make chandelier earrings. I paired the stones with white freshwater pearls to offset the green in the stones.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

My Pearl Stash




Finally the pearls I've ordered online have arrived! I've been looking for nice and inexpensive loose pearls to work with and they have not been easy to find. So when I came across a website selling all kinds and sizes of loose pearls, I was all excited! I was rather hesitant to order pearls from an online company that I've never dealt with before but I must say I'm quite pleased with the pearls I've received. I couldn't wait to use them and make something pretty. I finally found some time today to make a pair of pearl earrings. After doing and undoing (I seem to do that alot!) the earrings, voila!
Made from: Freshwater lavender and black pearls, seed beads and swarovski crystals, 14K white gold plated ear hooks.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Sweet Lavender


Before I started this beading craze, I was and still am in love with pearls. Pearls appeal to me because these small beautiful things are natural and made by shellfish. And they come in lovely hues of white, cream, lavender, pink, peach and gold! So, armed with my beginner's skill in beading, I thought I would try to make a baby pearl bracelet for my little girl. After stringing and restringing 3 times, I was finally happy with it. Here it is, a cute little freshwater lavender pearl bracelet with adorable ladybug and leaf charms (only 4.5 inch long).

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Addicted!

When my good friend gave me a book on jewelry making and some basic supplies for Christmas last year, little did she know what she has done. It began rather innocently, with me casually flipping through the pages. Then I decided to try one of the projects and before I know it, I can't stop! I've been beading daily since last Christmas. That would be 21 days in a row. Beading is slowly becoming an obsession because my husband is starting to feel jealous of my beads.:) And in between beading, if you keep visiting beading sites and blogs and bead stores, does that make you an addict? Gosh, I guess I am!

I decided to start this blog to keep track of my latest passion and also to see how long this love affair would last. Would it fizzle out in a few months or would it become a life long hobby? We shall see.

In the meantime, here are some of the pieces that I've made so far. A big thanks to my good pal Faith who gave my confidence (and ego) a boost when she "commissioned" me to make her a pearl ring.