New Pendant Shapes and Sizes

I (kind of) unintentionally came upon a new stock of resin lately, and since they (also kind of) has an expiry date, I figured I should utilize them to the fullest and make more (and more!) pendants. And since the pendants are well received, I thought it was about time to expand and provide more options in the collection. :)

A large, round pendant setting. I am loving this one! It has a gorgeous backing with a tree etched in it. This will come in a longer chain, am thinking 30 inch.

A rectangle one that you've probably seen in a failed specimen photo before this. I finally have a successful specimen! And a round version for my existing vintage victorian laced pendant setting.

Of course, I have more planned and experimenting on new things as well, and enjoying it in the process! Will be listing these into the shop over the week. :)

Weekly Word Picks - Pickle

This week is a fun one! It is...

PICKLE

Quick Pickling Vintage Cookbook - VintageBarrel // Del Monte Pickle Pepper Relish Mug - amoredolce

Pickle PDF Embroidery Pattern - wildolive // How to Make Spicy Pickles Illustrated Recipe - sevenstar

Elbo's Kosher Dill Pickle Pipes - tezcatlipoca // Dill Pickle Printer Drawer Jewelry Hanger - bluebirdhaven

For the complete treasury : Do You Like Pickles?

This week's word was chosen by Rebecca from thesimplequiet.

So what should next week's word be? Suggest by posting in the comments below!

For a list of words already suggested, please refer to this post.

Wicked Plants Book Review

Just finished this fantastic book over my long Chinese New Year holiday. I must first admit though, I am not a huge book reader myself, with an average of one book a year, hahaha. What can I say, I am a picky reader.

But this book by Amy Stewart - Wicked Plants, is totally right up my alley. Not only was it educational, (for my own safety too!) it was such a fun read! Imagine a pocket-sized encyclopedia written in the style of a witty mystery/thriller, and you get this book. I mean, who could have known that corn if consumed as a main diet, can cause pellagra and it killed hundreds of thousands in the history of mankind? And tobacco being the deadliest plant on earth, having taken millions of lives every year. Not to mention the betel nut native to Malaysia, or more known as buah pinang locally, has intoxicating effects?

The more you know...

Aside from that, the editing of the book has a vintage flair to it, with beautifully suitable illustrations that somehow enhanced the eeriness of the content. The book is just plain gorgeous!

Now I want to get her other book - Wicked Bugs!

Around the World - Africa - Schefo

Leaving Kenya, our next stop is almost on the other side of the African continent - Ghana. This shop is also for a wonderful cause. :)

Handmade by the women in the Buduburam Refugee Camp locating in Ghana, SCHEFO is a fair trade fashion line consisting of jewelry and various clothing such as tops and skirts, among others. These are all made of authentic African and Ghanaian materials. The tribal patterns for the clothing as well as the design would make these fantastic as summer wear! :) Not only will you look totally fashionable, you will be helping single mothers and children in the refugee camp as well.

Succulents!

I love succulents! Unfortunately I do not have a green thumb, or can I grow anything at all. All my plants seem to die. Even cacti... :( Nevertheless, I can still take fun photos of them! All photos taken in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.

Around the World - Africa - Harriet Stanes

Our next seller is also located in Kenya as well!

Although an English born, there is still something very African to Harriet Stanes's illustrations, most probably due to it's subjects, haha. I have to admit, some of the scenes in his paintings I sometimes also see in Malaysia too, especially in the more rural areas like where my grandparents live. The lively, comedic and simplistic style of Harriet's paintings is something that you can easily fall in love with. I mean, how can you not smile while looking at his illustrations? (and the subjects)

Happy Chinese New Year!!

Lion Dance Chinese New Year Photo - sixthandmain

I'd like to wish every chinese (or just everyone in the world!) a Happy Chinese New Year! And because I am away for the celebrations, there will be no blog updates in the next two days when I am at my grandparent's place. (without net) All orders will be prepared for shipment after I get back, this I assure you. :)

Enjoy the food, but please don't eat shark fin's soup. ;) I wish all of you prosperity and good luck!

Around the World - Africa - Kiki Weavers

Initially I had wanted to select another country in Africa to feature, but unfortunately, I found out the hard way that African shops are close to non-existence on Etsy. How sad is that? :( But I found a few very meaningful ones that are scattered across Africa, so I'm going to make an exception this time and treat the whole continent of Africa (except South Africa) as a country.

Though let's be clear here and set the facts right, Africa is a continent, not a country. ;)

Our first stop, let's go to Kenya!!

Comprised of a group of women in Kenya, Kiki Weavers is a source of precious income for these women living in poverty, having many children to raise. The baskets are made of water hyacinth, an invasive plant species known for choking waterways. The harvesting of these plants and turning them into baskets is a difficult and time consuming process, but it is also very inspiring to know how much time and effort had been put into each beautiful basket. You can pop on over to their profile page to read more about the individual weavers of the shop as well. Pop on over and check them out. :) They definitely deserve some love!

Nerdy Dirty Cards

I have to admit, I have a weakness to clever nerdy stuff. And these Nerdy Dirty cards are totally up my alley!!

How can you deny the cuteness??

Around the World - South Africa - Skinny laMinx

I love fabrics! I really do! I love hoarding them, I just don't know how to sew lol. (maybe I should learn some day) So what I respect more than a person that knows how to sew, is a person that can sew AND create/design her own fabrics. Transforming her unique drawings onto fabrics, Heather Moore from Skinny laMinx creates fashionable cushion covers, tea towels and even aprons from them. My favorite design? Definitely the teacup one, just so cute! :) She also sells her fabric by the meter if you're interested in making other stuff from them. Check it out!

Nature Mandalas

You know what type of photography that I cannot do? Animal Photography. Although I did managed to capture a picture of a squirrel when I was in San Francisco, but that was pure luck and chance. I do not have the patience to wait for animals to appear to shoot their photograph. (or the luck)

So when I find a fantastic shop like Nature Mandalas, with tons of photographs of birds, (small animals like birds are especially difficult for me) woodland critters and stunning flora photography, I am completely floored. That is probably one of the main reasons why I chose to get their super cute calendar. And the calendar is indeed, super cute! The paper is a bit more flimsy than I had hoped, (I prefer slightly more heavy weight cardstock papers) but it is photographic paper after all, and the printing quality is still pretty fabulous.

One image montage is not enough to show how beautiful the shop is, so here is one more for your eye's enjoyment!

Weekly Word Picks - Cow

I am an unfortunate victim as a beta tester for the new 'unlimited scrolling' for Etsy Search. But me and my trusty Google Chrome managed to persevere as it did not die at pg80. (about to though, imagine all the search results from pg1-80 on one single page!!) And I managed to finish the curation for today's word, which is...

COW

Beef Butcher Diagram of a Cow - TheWordShop // The COW - lezucchini
Little Dairy Cow Clutch Purse - misala // Cow 8x10 Animal Portrait - HumboldtStreet
Cow Jumped Over the Moon Necklace - metamorph //  Cuts of Beef Magnet - CLAMORED

For the complete treasury : Herding Cows


This week's word was chosen by Chrys, who is a close friend of mine from South California currently studying Game Design. She doesn't have a portfolio online, but maybe one day she will!

So what should next week's word be? Suggest by posting in the comments below!

For a list of words already suggested, please refer to this post.

Around the World - South Africa - HelgaMcL

Polar bears in Africa you say? Why yes! Hailing from a small sheep and cattle farm in South Africa called Bethulie, Helga McLeod paints polar bears and other whimsical subjects on canvas, paper or wood. What more? These are not just art prints, they are the actual original artworks themselves! And not just that, they are pretty affordable too being originals. I think these would be great for a children's bedroom or just to hang in an artsy corner. Don't you think so? :) Obviously I like the polar bear ones haha, but what about you? Which one you like?

Beautiful Druzies and Rough Stones

Lately I've been developing an interest and and appreciation towards gemstone druzies and rough gemstones. There is just something very organic and honest about the look of these stones that is just so very captivating.

Dark Lavender Geode Ring - anatomi // Frost Sugared Blue Agate Druzy Ring - MidwestAlchemy
Druzy Geode and Sterling Silver Rock Ring - SwankMetalsmithing // Drusy Agate Pear - beadsaddict

No fancy embellishments are needed for the piece to stand out, just the stone alone is enough. Sometimes it almost looked like there is a tiny universe in the stone itself. It is truly the art of mother nature!

Spirit Quartz Druzy Gold Dipped Pendant - friedasophie // Amethyst Druzy Geode Slab Pendant - KanduBeads
Cassiopeia Tanzine Aura Quartz Ring - NaturalEnemy // Spirit Quartz from South Africa - johnnyrocks

I don't have plans to use druzies for my jewelry designs right now, at least not yet! Perhaps some day in the far future. :) I don't mind a few pieces for my own though! As for rough stones, maybe... just maybe. ;)

Around the World - South Africa - fineheartworks

Although from such a vibrant city such as Cape Town, South Africa, there is still something haunting about Annie Kruyer's works in fineheartworks. Even her photos of the African wild life! Perhaps it is the desaturated photos with the slightly grungy texturing, that added an eerie quietness to the look. Perhaps it is the composition of the photographs as well. But whatever it is, Annie Kruyer may had shown us another side of vibrant Africa. It is nice to see different photos like this for a change, different from the ones we usually see in National Geographic.

Personalized Initial Pendant Necklaces

Personalized valentine gifts? Yes pls! I thought it was high time I experiment on more types of pendant necklaces, so I purposefully made these heart-shaped lockets especially for valentines. :) Aren't they just so sweet? You can get them here~

Personalized laced initial pendants as well? Hehe, these will be available soon. :) It was surprisingly fun to come up with a font type for these pendants!

Weekly Word Picks - Ice

Apologies for the late post, I had a crappy day yesterday and didn't feel like doing much. You know, one of those days. :( But anyways, I have a friend who was really eager to suggest a word for me haha, her initial suggestion was a little... inappropriate lol, so she changed her mind and instead suggested...

ICE

Rose Fine Art Photography - Lori411 // Snowball Necklace - JarosDesigns
Golden Ice Earrings - joojooland // Whimsical Wonderland Sequin and Tulle Party Dress - CGHeaven
Mint Chocolate Chip Soap - OhYum // Waterfrost Golden Chain Necklace - edor

For the complete treasury : Ice Queen


This week's word was chosen Snoof, who had chose to remain anonymous to ya'all blog readers and is shy to show her own work. Although she shouldn't be!!

So what should next week's word be? Suggest by posting in the comments below!

For a list of words already suggested, please refer to this post.

Nutella Milk

Do you love nutella? Because I LOVE nutella! Among my favorite ways to eat nutella is spreading them on banana slices and eat straight out of the jar. All good things comes to an end though, the jar of nutella will be finished one day. But it is such a shame to throw the jar away when there is still so much nutella goodness sticking to the walls of the jar. So I decided that I should not waste them, let's make nutella milk!

Ingredients:
1. (almost) Empty jar of nutella.
2. Milk.

Instructions:
Warm milk up a little bit. Use the microwave to nuke the milk if it's fresh out of the fridge, remember to use a microwaveable mug! The warm milk would help melt the nutella faster, so you could finish sooner. Pour the warm milk into the nutella jar, shut tight and shake vigorously!! Continue shaking until you are tired, those nutella bits can be pretty stubborn.

Pour nutella milk into a mug, and enjoy! Or even drink straight out of the nutella jar if you want.

I like mine cold and served in my awesome Cthulhu mug! Which is my go-to mug when I want to nuke any drinks. (mostly milk) I got him at the Renegade Craft Fair in San Francisco from Skeletal Dropkick. The nutella milk is mild and delicious, and tasted perfect with huey&wah's super delicious and rich chocolate marshmallows!

And how does the nutella jar look like in the end?

Here it is, totally emptied out. Save for teenee tiny bits left at the bottom of the jar. Yes, I was very very rigorous with my shaking. My arm got a pretty good work out that day when I made this nutella milk. :) The result was all worth the effort though! Yum yum!

Around the World - South Africa - Rob Foote

It is time to travel the world once more! This time, let's start from the downward up and try to tackle the world's 2nd largest continent - Africa. Our first stop - South Africa! Let's see what they have to offer.

Had you ever fancy yourself as a scientist? Splicing DNAs of different species and creating something new? Although being artists, we cannot really or know how to splice DNAs, we could definitely let our imaginations run wild! And that is what Rob Foote did. :) The illustrations from his 'Samples from the Lab' series plays fun on words such as Chillidog, (chilli + dog) Walnut, (walrus + nut) and Dandylion (dandelion + lion) just to name a few. These quirky and amusing illustrations would certainly be a great gift for a science nerd friend! :) Best of all, 10% of the funds made from the sales would go to the World Wild Life fund, so what's not to support?

Wild Hoofbeats

Since I was young, I always have an adoration to horses. The novel "Black Beauty" had always been one of my favorite books growing up. Although my love for horses had somewhat dimmed down as I grew up, having found many many more new loves in my life hehe, I still find them very beautiful. :)

I was ecstatic when I found Wild Hoofbeats! A photography shop full of beautiful photographs of wild horses, just stunning. It is truly a wonderful sight to see these horses running freely in the wild like that, very different from the horses in stables. (which are the only horses I ever really seen) The foals are so cute too, don't you agree? :)

Pusheen the Cat

The truth about new year's resolutions. Lol!
If you don't know about Pusheen the cat, you're missing out! Check out all the cuteness here!

Around the World - Manchester, UK - Eyeshoot Photography

You have no idea how happy I am to see graffiti photography, it is almost like a dying art on Etsy. There is just a certain daring grunginess and charm to it, and Eyeshoot Photography captures them superbly. (what a creative name too!) I just love the rich colors and the witty messages in some of her photography, it put a smile on my face. And I love photographs that does that. :) Aside from graffiti photography, she also does the occasional floral and travel photography. Which makes her the more interesting!

New Photos for the New Year!

I spend the New Year weekend retaking pictures of old, expired listings. (that I am too ashamed to renew because it had crappy photos) And voila~

Compared to like... what? These??

What a big difference a DSLR and 1+ years of product photography makes. The older shoots were taken with my Olympus Point and Shoot camera, and I even vaguely remember that I was proud of them! What was I thinking?

Anyways, I suddenly feel the motivation to make more of these bracelets. They were a lot of fun to put together. And since I have a larger bead collection now, it might be more fun!

Weekly Word Picks - Lemon

What better than a weekly feature to jump start my blog productivity in the new year! After nearly one month of hiatus, the weekly work picks series are back, and this week's word is...

LEMON

Yellow Chalcedony Gemstone Necklace - MangoJewels // Citron Yellow Large Slouchy Hat - mojospastyle

Citrus Fruit Photography - oohprettyshiny // Big Lemon Yellow Balls - ThreeBlueBees

Lemon Drop Bud Vase - ginazetts // Vintage Lemon Yellow Stacking Bowls - kitschinsink

For the complete treasury : When Life Gives You Lemons...

This week's word was chosen by my dearest childhood friend Yng Yng, who is studying Advertising Design (I think?) in an art university. Here are some sneak peeks of her fantastic work!

So what should next week's word be? Suggest by posting in the comments below!

For a list of words already suggested, please refer to this post.

Welcome 2012!

2012 greeting card - laurageorge

To anyone that is reading this, happy new year!! May 2012 be a brand new year with lots of personal growth and abundant joy and inspirations. Indeed, there are a lot of amazing adventures ahead!

I don't have the habit of having new year resolutions, but I can see how that can be motivational in the long run. So here are my resolutions!

• Start a second shop on Etsy. Probably selling prints or other type of paper-related home decor wares. Who knows, I might even start a supplies destashing shop!
• Reach 600 sales in Skyejuice by the end of 2012!
• Work hard, but also remember to play harder! My Xbox is feeling lonely.
• Draw more! Current goal - one artwork per month! I might even start a tumblr account to post random sketches and photographs.
• Update this blog more promptly! (trying, really I'm trying!)
• Lose weight.

And maybe, just maybe, I can quit my day job this year! But that remains to be seen.

So what resolutions had you set this year? Whether for yourself or for your blooming online biz? Do you have success somewhere listed down in your new year resolutions?