Rose Pendant and China Trip

Haven't posted anything for a little while as I've just come home from a trip to Hong Kong and Shenzhen and Xiamen in China. I have some friends and relatives in HK, hence I go there about once a year. Just love the food and shopping there! There is a well known bead district in HK (Sham Shui Po) which I always visit, and next to the street with all the bead shops, there is a street that sells buttons. I went to both this time and bought myself a nice little stash of beads, findings and buttons. One Sunday, my best friend and cousin took me and my hubby to Shenzhen, which is a city in Southern China, just across the border from HK, for a day trip. There are apparently markets that specialise in beads. Due to time limitation, however, we only managed to look at a few stalls in one of the main shopping centres. Still, we walked away with more beads, and at fantastic prices too! Must go back next time! Anyhow, thought I would show you a necklace I made a few Christmas ago, using a beautiful resin rose cab I bought in Tokyo. I wanted something wearable in a Christmasy colour scheme, and yet could be worn at other times of the year. The necklace was sold as soon as I finished making it. I still have a couple more cabs - must make myself another one next Christmas. The photo below was taken at one of the stalls we visited in Shenzhen. Please click on the photos if you'd like a larger view.

Millefiori Steampunkish Necklace

Here's another steampunkish necklace I've just finished. The pendant is an enamel cab I made a little while ago, using a square copper blank. I applied enamel and millefiori bits onto the copper (fired separately), glued a cog in place, beaded a bezel around it, and assembled it into a necklace with more bits and pieces. This probably should be regarded as minimally steampunk, as I have only included 3 cogs in the whole piece. Anyhow, it's meant to be a fun piece and I'm quite pleased with how it turns out. Please click on the photos if you'd like a larger view. Hope you like!

Another Mixed Media Collage Steampunk Necklace

Just finished another steampunk piece, a choker this time. The cab is again a mixed media collage covered with resin, which I made at the same time as the one in my last post (am just a bit addicted to these at the moment). Initially, the rose was pale blue and the cogs on either side of the pendant were raw brass, but I didn't like them like that, so I distressed them with acrylics and Gilder's paste. Am quite pleased with how they turned out. This is supposed to be another piece for our fund raising event in April, but now that it's finished, I don't want to part with it! (Did I tell you my favourite colour is blue?) Well, may just have to make another one similar for the event. :)

PS. I have entered this and a few other of my pieces into Sandy's Challenge #2. You can check out her blog Sandy's Space at http://angsandy.blogspot.com/

Art Deco Steampunk Necklace

Just finished this necklace which combined two of my favourite themes - Art Deco and Steampunk. Yes I do realise Steampunk is supposed to be late Victorian, but hey, it's my piece and I can do what I want, LOL! I do apologise to any purists out there though. Anyhow, the cab is a miniature collage done on a white polymer clay base. I painted the lady with acrylics and Twinkling H2O, added bits of paper cut outs, cogs, lace etc, and covered it with resin. The same lace was used to line the edge of the pendant. Must admit I love painting girls'/ladies' faces (have been so since I was little), and I can't help using them in my jewelry pieces. I have made a few more cabs in similar style to play with, so you'll probably see more of them coming in the near future. Please click on the photos if you'd like a larger view.

Blue crystal choker and May's pendant

Thought I'd show you a couple of pieces. The first one is a choker I just finished yesterday, again for our fund raising event next year. I made the centre piece quite a few weeks ago, but only managed to finish the beaded necklace part yesterday. The large blue Swarovski crystal was from the big stash of crystals I won in the Swarovski competition a couple of years ago, and I wrapped/caged it with brass stampings which had been coloured by Guilder's paste. The necklace was done with Herringbone stitch using seed and bugle beads, and Swarovski bicones. It sits very nicely in real life, and is so very sparkly.

The second piece is a pendant I made for one of my sisters-in-law, May, a while ago. The dichroic glass cabochon was purchased from Donna Cason's online shop (I just love her cabs), and it's wrapped with gold filled wire, with a few matching Swarovski bicones. I kept the design relatively simple as I didn't want to detract from the gorgeous cab.

Hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas, and Happy New Year to you all! :)

Continuing the Bohemian theme

We're in the process of organising a fund raising art and jewellery exhibition and sale at work for April next year, the proceeds of which will go towards purchasing of instrument for medical diagnostic work in our hospital. Anyhow, I have started making things for this purpose. Since I've bought some brass stampings and filigree pieces recently, thought I would incorporate them into my creations. I coloured the stampings with Gilder's pastes and really loved how they turned out. As these are for sale, I tried not to go over the top, and kept them relatively simple and wearable. Each necklace has its own matching earrings which I plan to sell as a set. The necklaces are actually longer than shown in the photos. I had to tuck them up at the back to make them fit the display busts. A couple of the rings were made from the "sparkly wheels" pattern in a recent issue of Beadwork, and the Guilder's paste and some of the stampings were from Brenda Sue from B'Sue Boutique.

Kreativ Blogger Award

One of my lovely beady friends Bree at Beads by Bree http://beadsbybree.blogspot.com/ gave me this award a little while ago, and I have finally written down all the relevant information required to accept this award. Thanks for the award, buddy!

Along with all blog awards there are rules to accepting them:

1. Post the award on my blog.
2. Thank the person who gave it to me.
3. Link to the person who gave this to me.
4. Share a list of 7 things that you probably don't know about me.
5. Choose 7 great bloggers to give the award to.
6. Share a link to their blogs.
7. Leave a comment on their blog.

7 things you probably didn't know about me:

1. Blue is my favourite colour.
2. I work as an anatomical pathologist in a hospital.
3. I don't like cooked tomatoes, but fresh ones are fine.
4. I learnt Chinese painting for quite a few years when I was young.
5. My favourite food is sushi.
6. My favourite foreign movie is a Chinese one titled "Farewell My Concubine".
7. I'm a hopeless sentimental and would cry even when I watch old black and white movies.

My 7 Kreativ Bloggers which I have chosen to give this award to are:

Michele at Michele Lynch Art http://michelelynchart.blogspot.com/

I was instantly attracted to Michele's whimsical steampunk jewelry the first time I visited her blog. You HAVE to see her creations, they're amazing.

Helena at Helena Asmus Lim http://helena-asmus-lim.blogspot.com/

Love Hel's contemporary, funky jewelry. She's also a good writer with a sense of humor.

Maryanne at Maryniky Designs http://marynikydesigns.blogspot.com/

Gorgeous beadwork including bead embroidery, bridal designs and pieces with lace.

Bianca at Bianca Velder Creations http://biancavelder.blogspot.com/

B is a clever chic, fantastic writer, beader and mixed media artist. Love her latest art dolls.

Marcie Abney at La Bella Joya http://labellajoya.blogspot.com/

Marcie's beadwork is absolutely beautiful, intricate and very wearable.

Kerrie at Contemporary Beadwork by Kerrie Slade http://kerrieslade.blogspot.com/

Kerrie has such a way with seedies. Many of her pieces are simply exquisite.

Wanda Roszak at Wandar-Wanda http://wandar-wanda.blogspot.com/

Her textile and fibre art is exquisite.