Wednesday 30 June 2010

By special request


An old friend surprised me a few weeks back by asking if I would make some jewellery for her. She's started being a little more adventurous in terms of her fashion and was lamenting that she didn't have jewellery that could match her new clothes. She specifically wanted a long necklace. And if I could come up with some earrings, that would be great too.

I decided from the start that I would stick to a silver/neutral tone for the pieces so she could wear them with almost anything in her wardrobe. And I also knew that the pieces would have to be fairly simple and understated, while incorporating some 'bling' if possible. This is what I came up with. 

Sunday 6 June 2010

New stuff on Etsy

I made a couple of new pieces and have added them to my Etsy store. I personally love the earrings. The beads have been with me since last June when I bought them in Tokyo from a little bead store tucked away in the wholesale beads district - Asakusabashi. I love that area and can't wait to get back there again. I think I'll do a post on the wonderful shops there soon. As for the bead caps in that pair of earrings...well, they've been with me even longer. I picked them up when I was in Bali in late 2008. They're gorgeous Bali silver and cost me a pretty penny.

As for the washi pendant, I've been dabbling in making pendants using washi paper and cache of bezel settings I bought on a whim. I was supposed to start using them with resin but have been putting it off since to be honest, I'm a little scared of all the mixing and care that resin seems to need. Anyway, I quite like how the pendant turned out. The chiyogami design is suitably cheery for this time of the year.

Wednesday 2 June 2010

Selling on Etsy

If you look at the sidebar on the right, you'll notice that I've started selling my jewelry on Etsy. Yes, I finally got around to doing it. I hesitated for a long time before I took the plunge. It was partly the listing and transaction fees that put me off - what can I say? I'm cheap. But mostly it was because I'd saddled myself with a less than stellar name. I started the Etsy account mainly to buy items, not sell them, so I thought up a name quite hurriedly thinking that it was cool. How wrong I was. So you'll have to pardon the oddly embarrassing name of my Etsy store. I hope it won't put you off visiting. I'm going for a more classic, understated feel for this store - so you'll find a lot more sterling silver and gold-filled pieces than on my Artfire shop. The pieces I list will also be more of what I would personally wear....simple, pretty pieces that aren't too over-the-top. Of the 4 items I listed, I think my favourite would have to be this necklace. I'd wear it in a heartbeat. What about you?