new office - new background

i just moved to a new room at work. my company's been renovating and expanding in the past few months. i think the design of my department's workplace is too masculine. well, we did had a chance to choose how we wanted our new office to look. but out of the 18 people in the department, there's only 5 girls. so, that explains the masculine look.

anyway, at least with the masculine look comes this black carpet which i thought would be a nice background for my photos hehe see, it's too black that it's hard to see the black helix swarovski crystal in these photos ...

this bracelet is made of jade, helix swarovski crystals, and pearls. well, at least, i'd like to think that it's jade. and according to acm, it's jade. but i'm not too sure, though. not that i don't trust acm (she's the one who bought the jades for me). i'm simply not sure. i borrowed a book about gemstones/semi-precious stones last week. and the photos of the aventurines made me doubt these stones.

so, what do you think, jade or aventurine?

~.~

smoky quash

last thursday night, ebd and i went to a crystal shop in fu lu shou complex along albert street. we've been passing by this place for years now. but of all the shops near our office, i think this is the only one we haven't explored yet. i guess it's because it wasn't really interesting enough for us. the building seems old and from outside it looks as if it's full of shops selling mostly crystals.

crystals. hey, now that we are into beading, i told ebd that i think it's time for us to visit the place. and so we did. and oh boy, we are in crystal heaven haha

inside one of the shops, i found a strand of nice crystals and asked a sales lady what kind of crystal it is. the lady was not very good in speaking english.

me: hi. what's this? (pointing at the crystals)
lady: smokee quash.
me: i'm sorry. again?
lady: smokee quash.
me: uhm. smoky "quash"?
lady: yes, smokee quash.

i was unconvinced. i have never heard of a smoky quash before. i studied minerals in high school and i never learned about any "quash". but still, the crystals are nice and the price is fair enough, so i bought it.

after paying for my purchase and before leaving the store, again i asked the lady about the crystals.

me: what crystal is this again?
lady: smokee quash.

in my mind, i was thinking, which mineral would sound like a "quash"? aha! *lightbulb moment here*

me: is this a smoky quartz???
lady: yes!

haha finally!!!

^_^

a going away present

yesterday, i woke up really early hoping to make a bracelet for my mom as a going away present. i also wanted to finish some bracelets and handphone straps for my cousins and aunts. and all this, i wanted to finish by 8am because i wanted to go to the charles&keith warehouse sale before it even opens at 10am. and if there is still time left, i'd also drop by to the giordano warehouse sale.

and of course, i didn't get to go the warehouse sales hahaha but i did finish the bracelets and handphone straps i wanted to do. and the going away present for my mom.

my mom really loved this bracelet. it did looked like a very expensive bracelet.



if you liked it, give it a try. here are the materials that i used.

2 8mm swarovski faceted round rondelles (crystal golden shadow)
11 5mm swarovski bicone beads (smoky quartz)
32 4mm swarovski bicone beads (light smoked topaz)
24 4mm swarovski bicones (titan coated crystal)
15 3mm swarovski bicones (jonquil)
30-35 seed beads
1 pair silver plated toggle

difficulty level: 3 (based on 1 to 5, with 5 as the highest level of difficulty, meaning very very difficult)

i'm sure, by now, you've already noticed that i am indeed re-using my materials :)


^_^

one more try at right angle weave

around the second or third day of my attempt to try beading, i made a right-angle-weave (raw) bracelet. it turned out really well so i wore it at work the following day. my bff, acm, and long time friend, ebd, loved it, too.

and i really believe that that bracelet was what actually conviced acm to start beading as well. see, when ebd and i started beading, acm was very much into photography (and she was very good at it!). she didn't really want to have anything to do with beading because according to her, she just don't have the patience to do all those intricate stuff. but, of course, she was really supportive of me and ebd. but now, you should see her whenever we are visiting our favorite beading shop in arab street. she always spend more than ebd and me!

anyway, after wearing the raw bracelet for a day, i dismantled it the following night. as i wrote in an earlier post, i always dismantle my creations for the very fact that i don't have enough materials yet. and yes, it is to the dismay of acm hahaha she really likes the things i've done so far.

then when i setup this blog and posted all of the things that i've done so far, i was really sorry for not taking a photo of the bracelet. that is why, i decided to make another one, simply for the sake of taking a photo of it. and here it is.



for this, i used the following materials:

16 5mm swarovski bicone beads (smoky quartz)
14 4mm swarovski bicone beads (light smoked topaz)
25-30 seed beads (to hold the toggle)
180-200 miyuki seed beads, hex cut (metallic black)
1 pair of silver plate toggle

difficulty level: 3 (based on 1 to 5, with 5 as the highest level of difficulty, meaning very very difficult)

and yes, i dismantled it again right after i took these photos :) what to do? i needed the beads for a bracelet i wanted to do for my mom.


^_^

multi-strand bracelet #1

here's a multi-strand bracelet that i made last night and wore at work today. you can see that it's not yet without faults. i didn't have anything to cover the crimps so i just left it as it is - out in the open :D as you know, i only started doing this about 2 weeks ago. and i still don't have all the right materials. anyway, i think i still pulled it off heehee

for this, i used the following materials:

3 8mm swarovski faceted round rondelles (crystal golden shadow)

5 4mm swarovski bicones (titan coated crystal)

11 3mm swarovski bicones (jonquil)

4 rectangular plastic beads (copper)

3 8-in strands of tiger tail wire

6 crimps

2 4mm jump rings

difficulty level: i'd say it's a 2 (based on 1 to 5, with 5 as the highest level of difficulty, meaning very very difficult)


there! hope you liked it :)


^_^