Featured: Foundhandmade.com

Really honoured to be featured in Foundhandmade.com (my item is the perfume bottle at the bottom right hand corner) . Personally I loved this perfume bottle beaded with crystals. Will be glad if this favoured item could land in the home of someone who appreciates the item soon!

Wine Charms / Mug Charms

Thinking hard to create new items for the coming Christmas season. Thought there'll be lot's of celebrations and dining. So the wine/mug charms were created. This set of 4 charms are simple with only 2 materials - thin mother-of-pearl shells and cat's eye bead.

Let me know whether I should be making more :) Shopping for Christmas gifts? Visit my etsy store by clicking on the icon on the left.

Long lost friends

Recently, received 3 friend requests from Facebook. They were from my Primary School and Junior College friends. That's the beauty of Facebook that we're now in touch after losing touch for more than 2 decades. One of my friends remarked that it's easy to find me because my name is OOAK (one-of-a-kind:)

Much has happened after these many years. Some of us are married with children, some are married without children, some are married but divorced and some are still enjoying singlehood.

It'll be more interesting to meet up again one day and see how much we've changed (er or aged...).

Till we meet again, long lost friends.

Butterfly

Spotted this pupa hanging from my Pandan plant one day. Got excited and quickly called out to my kids to view this cute pupa! Snapped a picture and wanted to monitor the daily changes to the life cycle of the butterfly. Unfortunately, on the very next day, the butterfly has emerged from the crysalis and what was left was an empty membrane. What a great disappointment!

First Lariat Necklace

Fell in love with the colourful ring bead the moment it caught my eye. Having purchased it weeks ago, inspiration suddenly struck me to use this bead for a Lariat necklace. Thus, my first lariat necklace was born. The other end of the necklace hung a ring of swarovski crystals in assorted colours, a flower bead, a white howlite bead (semi-precious stone) and metal tassels.

Loved the finished necklace and have put it on sale on my etsy shop. Click on the link on the right to view more pictures.

Featured in Treasury

Feel elated and honoured that this item of mine has been featured in one of the etsy crafter's Treasury. See this link :http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=64695

Just Listed

Just listed this black beaded necklace on my on-line etsy shop. See link to the shop on the right hand side.

First Try - Ngoh Hiang

Had wanted to try this dish for a long time. Finally tried my hands on rolling Ngoh Hiang recently. FOr those who're not familiar, this is actually a beancurd wrap with a filling of minced meat, prawns, mushroom and water chestnut.

I've been certified successful in my first try by my ever critical children and hubby and ever supportive parents and brother. The only bad comment is that the beancurd sheet is too salty. Well, I would have to wipe the beancurd sheet more thoroughly to remove the salt (no tip on this was given on the recipe). Still..., I'm quite proud of myself.......

Singapore National Day 2009 - Theme Song

Singapore celebrates her birthday on 9 Aug. There's a new theme song for each national day.

My boy showed me this clip. His favourite Singapore National Day song.

Wishing Singapore a Happy 44 Birthday!


NDP 2009 Theme Song - What Do You See

Featured in a blog and treasury!

I was very honoured to be featured in a fellow etsy crafter's blog who has picked and featured treasuries curated by others in her blog. It's indeed a double honour for me to be featured in a treasury and blog: http://sandoproductions.blogspot.com/2009/07/treasury-tuesday-elite-eight.html

Oriental Blue is the featured earring from Prettybeadz.

Beaded treasures

Have recently crafted 2 more beaded items which I'm gaining interest in. Both are made of glass beads (swarovksi crystals would be too costly). Have made the wine glass into a necklace which is now on sale in my Etsy shop (just click the link on the right to view).

Will be making more... Stay tuned!

Problem with Blogger

I've recently not been able to post pictures on my blog. Have crafted a post to share the various food pictures taken during my trip in South Korea but the toolbar containing the image icon, font, etc has completely disappeared. Felt so handicapped not able to load pictures. Have just posted the problem at blogger help. Still waiting for a viable solution......

Yummy Food

Just to share some pics of nice food from my Korea trip:

Pic 5: The ginseng chicken soup (each of us had one whole chicken stuffed with glutinous rice). It was sweet (natural sweetness from the chicken, not MSG) and frangrant.
Pic 4: Fried rice cake and fried rice with cabbage and chicken. Have not tried this before. It's tasty and special.
Pic 3: Seafood steamboat in Jeju Island. There're crabs, prawns, abalone, mussels, clams,etc, really yummy.
Pic 2: Went tomato picking. Have not tasted such juicy and sweet tomatoes! Sooo fresh.
Pic 1: BBQ pork. The marinade was so much better than those tasted in Korean restaurants in Singapore. Wrap the meat in raw lettuce and sesame leaves, with raw garlic if you like. It's heavenly.

Remembrance

Exactly a week ago, I attended a memorial service of my good friend's sister with a heavy heart. Her sister was only 33. I froze in disbelieve when I heard the news! It was indeed a piece of very sad news. I knew this good friend of mine since we were in kindergarden and I knew her sister too. I remember her as a cheerful and bubbly girl.

Life is so unpredictable. I learn to live each day to the fullest and will treasure all loved ones with all my love.

Beaded Miniature Handbag - New!

Tried my hands on this beaded miniature handbag. It's quite time-consuming and eye-popping completing this piece as the handbag was crafted from tiny seed beads!

Felt a sene of achievement after completing it though. I was quite happy with the end product. U can even slot in a miniature item into the bag for the added surprise element!

Thought it can be made into a handphone charm or a necklace. What's your view?

Packaging That Keeps You Guessing

A good friend of mine bought us a souvenir from Guangzhou, China. The packaging looks like the 'dim sum' containers. Guess what's inside? It's actually some scented sticks with a holder. It comes in several scent. I've got the rose scented sticks.
I got to warn my children against putting the contents into their mouth in case they think that it's some preserved tidbits.
Creative packaging! I must say.

Have you encountered this?

Was at a Book Fair recently. While browsing a magazine, the action of a young lady caught my attention. She was reading some handicraft magazines and was also busy taking pictures of some pages of the magazines. I felt disgusted at her actions. The magazines are not expensive - not more than $5 since it was sold at a good discount during such book fairs. If she really likes the designs in the magazine, she should just spend the few dollars to buy it!

Sale at 'All About Flea' on 23 May 09

My handcrafted jewelry items will be on sale on this coming Sat (23 May 09) at the flea market at Singapore Art Museum (71 Bras Basah Road) from 12pm - 7pm. I'm really feeling very excited! My items will be sold through my good friend who will be selling second hand clothings. Thanks, Ah Bear!

The event is titled 'All About Flea'. The organizers will invite a few Animal Welfare groups to sell their merchandise at the Flea to raise some funds for their activities as well as to create awareness of what they do for the animals and our society. The nett rental proceeds the Organizer receive will also be donated for Animal Welfare.

So, hop down to the flea market and look forward to your support.

Exams Over!

Hooray ,exams are over! Not mine but my kid's exams. Mummy suffered from exam fever during kid's exam-that happened to many mummies that I spoke with. Next will be the finger-biting moment when the results are released.

Now, I can devote more time towards my beading hobby. Trying to rush out new pieces for a coming flea market sale. Will release the details at a later date. Stay tuned!

Mother's Day

Last Sunday was Mother's Day. Had a Mother's Day lunch with my dear mum a week earlier. As for this mummy here, her dear children gave her gifts-a handmade knotted key chain bought at one of the carnival at school (my little princess actually remembered and bought it a few months back) and handmade origami items from my little prince. He actually went to the website to search for the designs and folded a tulip (with a leaf), koi and Pikachu. Quite well folded, I must say.

After a home cooked meal by Daddy, we had some desserts, quite pretty ones. As they are of different flavours, we took our pick based on how they looked like. Quite yummy desserts.

My children did honour their promise to behave and not make mummy hungry on this mummy's day!

Birthday!

I've just grown one year older and wiser (ha!). Just celebrated my birthday a few days back. Hubby gave a treat at a Japanese restaurant in one of the hotels. Quite a good variety of food (it was actually a la carte buffet). Had a bit of many different items and ended up with a very full stomach. The sashimi serving was big and we could hardly finish it. Was a pity that my son suddenly didn't feel too good (felt giddy after the long ride - traffic jam was bad) and lost his appetite. His usual favorite was the soft shell crab but he couldn't even finish his spider (soft shell crab handroll). Seeing him sick, his sister also din feel like eating.

Unlike in the past, my kids forked out their pocket money to get little presents for me this year and of course plus their creative cute little cards which I treasured dearly and kept them in good condition.

To me, the best way to celebrate my birthday is to spend time with my closest family members and have a good meal together. That's the best present for me!

Sowing the Seed of Love II

This is part II of my earlier post on the same subject. Sadly, due to the super heat, dry weather and very strong wind, the bean plant has succumbed to the harsh growing conditions and is drying up. My last attempt to revive it seemed futile. It's slowly withering away......

It has actually grown to about 4-5cm tall and looked healthy. Suddenly, overnight, the top part of the stem began to turn brown. Thinking that the soil was too dry, I added more water but somehow the leaves started to dry up as well and now the whole plant is brown. My boy is also sad about it too. We were initally quite excited about its healthy growth. We looked at it and said hi to it every morning before setting off to school. Now, it's almost gone........

Alas! Crystals Again!

Another crystals inspired piece!

This pair of earring features black swarovski crystals hand-strung into a crystal ball by me and quartz crystals in 2 colours. A long earring which measures about 6 cm.

Do drop by my etsy shop for more items!

Marina Barrage

Recently had a family outing at Marina Barrage. This is a dam built across the Marina CHannel forming Singapore's first reservoir in the city. There are nine steel crest gates which separate seawater from freshwater. It also serves as a tidal barrier to keep out high tides. Kids can have a good time splashing themselves wet at the water playground.

There is an interesting gadget at the Sustainable Singapore Gallery which wowed me. There is a screen which shows a book where you flip the pages via a touch screen - the image really shows the page being flipped quite realistically.

It was a scorching hot day while we were there and kids and mummy had indeed gained some understanding about the purpose of the barrage.

Crystals

Crystals are very versatile to use in jewelry making. I particularly like to use Swarovski crystals because of its high quality cut. They come in various colours, shapes and sizes.

I've newly created a necklace using only crystals - the flower-shaped and bicone ones in contrasting colours of black and chilli red. This is a two-in-one necklace that can be worn together or separately. Took some time to complete it as I'd strung the black crystal ball by hand. Liked the final output. Do take a peek at my etsy shop for more pics.

White Grapes

Had previously bought 2 strands of white howlite beads and have not done much with them. One night, I was starring at these beads and suddenly the idea of draping them as a bunch of grapes came to my mind. Yes, I could use the leaf charm that was placed beside these beads too in my new creation. It took me some time to get the right and nice drape. Here's the grapes-earring that I've newly created.

Sowing the Seed of Love

2 weeks back, my boy brought a bean back from school - it looked like a broad bean. What is unique and cute about this seed is that on one side of the bean was printed the name of the school while the picture of a puppy was printed on the other side. Unlike the green bean, the bean is to be grown on soil.

So the following Sat after the seed has been brought back, mummy went to buy some soil. Soon, mummy and son were at the corridor planting the seed. We split the job. I poured the soil in a recycled container and my boy buried the seed in the soil. We then happily watered the seed and declared the seed planted. There was definitely some bonding between mummy and son during the process.

It was during the night when we were revising his Science that it suddenly struck us that maybe the seed should not be buried - based on the theory that a seed needs air, water and warmth to germinate. Yes, air - we reckoned that the seed will not get air if it is buried in the soil! So poor mummy got back to the corridor, in the night, dug out the seed and placed it gingerly on the soil instead.

It took quite a long while for it to germinate - almost a week. And this is how it looked like after 2 weeks. Cute!

Necklace Inspiration

Had recently sold a necklace at my etsy shop and inspired to do more necklaces. Have come up with the 'Donut Dangle' comprising of a vintage flower, leaf charm and a donut bead. I liked the dainty ensemble! Do take a peek at my etsy shop via the link on the right. Enjoy :)!

My Little Girlie

My little girl (actually not little anymore - she's 8 this year)went for her ballet exam recently. As I'm currently taking a break from work, I'd the luxury of bringing my girl for the exam and stayed by her side to calm her nerves. She looked very sweet with her bun professionally done up and with a pretty scrunchie.

She had a practice just before her exam. That was the first time I've seen her danced the full dance for exam. Oh my, it was a really a long one and there're definitely many steps to remember. I'm impressed that my girl can actually remembered them all! I really enjoyed myself watching my little one danced.

My First Etsy Sale!

Yay, my first sale at my etsy shop has finally materialised on 27 Feb 09! Was naturally very excited and happy over this first sale, months after I've listed the items.

So far, competition in handcrafted jewelry has been very very keen at Etsy. Got to work harder to list more unique,OOAK items.

Do take a peek at my etsy shop at www.Prettybeadz.etsy.com (see link on the right of the page).

Peranakan Museum

Lured by the free admission to the Peranaka Museum last weekend, I suggested to my kids' dad that we bring the kids to the museum. It was my first visit to a museum in Singapore (my very first visit to the museum was to the fabulous Lourve Museum in Paris).

The museum also had a display of 35 best preserved scupltures from Qingzhou Dynasty, supposedly one of the most stunning recent archaelogical discoveries in China. The pieces displayed are that of Buddha sculptures, a number had some parts chipped off.

The rest of the artefacts displayed are about the Peranakan culture. As a big fan of the local drama serials, 'Little Nonya', I was able to relate to some of the items displayed, such as those for wedding. It was indeed an eye-opener for us. My kids have enjoyed themselves too as there were some workshops for the kids.

Clay Cartoons

Recently crazy over the Japanese clay cartoons that I saw. They are moulded into replicas of food. Looked so real, with vibrant colours and wonderful minute details. Bought a few and made them into earrings and I thought they looked really cute and funky. Have also made a mushroom pendant necklace for my daugther to go with her Chinese New Year outfit. More pics of the earrings are available in my etsy shop. Do feel free to browse.

Sale

Will be putting up on sale 20 pairs of my handcrafted earrings at the flea market at Sculpture Square, 155 Middle Road (Outside the Secret Garden)on this Sat (17 Jan 09) fr 10 am - 5 pm. My friend who's selling her second-hand clothings will be retailing my earrings for me at her stall. So, if you're interested, please head down to the flea market this Sat. Here's a peek at what will be put up for sale.