The Luxe Turquoise Necklaces

It’s an intense pop of colour! The turquoise stone is a healing, protecting and purifying. And I decided to mix it with gold.

It is basically the same design as my faux pearl necklaces, but rendered in large turquoise beads with gold chain and details.

A full chain of large turquoise beads with gold byzantine box units.

Smaller turquoise beads with more focus on the byzantine weave chain. Enjoy.

Upcoming: MAAD

It’s time to go MAAD!

Yay! It’ll be my first time participating; I’m so excited! I’m so done with the rest of the flea markets and bazaars in Singapore. I hope to take part in MAAD regularly. MAAD happens the first weekend of every month.

The February session happening this weekend, 6 and 7 Feb, 11.00AM to 7.00PM at red dot design museum. Come on down for some fun! And of course, do some Valentine’s Day/Chinese New Year shopping!

Lotsa other activities going on as well, including the silver clay workshop I attended the other time conducted by Nana from Roomism. Plus, I have a whole bunch of new stuff! There’s definitely something for everyone; my creations definitely have a more varied range now. Do drop by, say hi and tango with Tiger!

MAAD Facebook group here. MAAD February session Facebook event page here. Also, my Facebook fan page here.

To get to red dot design museum, use exit B at Tanjong Pagar MRT Station. To your left, you will see Osvaldo Restaurant in a white building. Walking down along the white building, you will see a red building. That is red dot Traffic Building! The museum is inside.

The Chain Bracelets

This is a very simplistic and minimal series of chain bracelets for men.

Three sizes of jump rings, three different weaves, three different weights.

I just mastered the Jen’s Pind Linkage(JPL), which basically produces a spiral looking chain. The thinnest chain here is the ‘wrong’ version of the JPL, because I the actual JPL chain is quite inflexible. The second chain is actually a byzantine weave, but I crossed the connecting rings and that produced a twisted chain. Really love the twisted effect! Adds even more texture to the chain. The thickest chain here is a really simple box weave; fuss-free and minimal.

In contrast to these blingy rhodium chains, I’m trying to render some chains in black nickel as well.

I would try out more black nickel chains, but I’m having a little difficulty finding the perfect black nickel jump rings. These 2 chains are by far the most effective. The flat ‘centipede’ chain uses rings that I dismantled from a ready(also badly)-made chain that I bought. The large rings in the flat chain are square cross-sectionally, so the chain reflects light really beautifully. Then there’s yet another box weave chain. You can never go wrong with a box weave.

The Chainmaille Pentagons

I was trying to start a byzantine weave chain when the jump rings flipped around and produced this perpendicular-ish structure. I thought, This looks like it could turn into something nice!

So I racked my brains for quite a bit studying the structure and finally managed to figure out a way to weave it. Frankly, I have no idea what chainmaille weave this is. It’s rather like a helm’s weave with a twist. Maybe it’s my tendency to close things back into a loop, but I did 5 units of the weave and realised that by forming a closed structure, it’d make a really tight pentagon.

This necklace is made by linking 4 pentagons together. It’s really fun with the pentagons since they’re pretty modular; I can sorta tessellate them! I realised that linking 4 pentagons produces the most aesthetically pleasing shape. 

I believed this would make a really nice bracelet as well, so I churned out a handful more of the pentagons and created a fabulous bracelet!

Whenever I’m creating something new, bracelets in particular, it’s instinctive and intuitive that I create something that would definitely fit me. Haha! My philosophy is, If I can can’t wear, then there is no point in making.

The bracelet is ‘hinged’ on one side only, so it can still contour itself to the wearer’s wrist. I tried to flip the bracelet the other direction so the hinged side is facing outwards, and it simply produced a more rigid cuff-ish bracelet. I used a sliding tube clasp for this, which proves to be quite effective.

I’m definitely keeping this project at the top of my list. There’s definitely other interesting spins I could do with the pentagons!

The Random Crystal Pendant

I had a few of these crystals leftover from another project and didn’t know what to do with them. I started tinkering with them and somehow ended up with a pretty cool outcome.

I started with a single byzantine weave unit on top, then decided to ‘flesh’ out the structure. There was no planning involved; I just added rings where I deemed fit. I don’t think I’ll be adding this into my collection. The crystals seem a little out of place, so I’m giving this pendant to my mother. I actually have a matching pair of earrings I made with the smaller crystals which I’m giving my mother too. I told her she could wear it for Chinese New Year.

The Faux Pearl Earrings

Frankly, I don’t make earrings because I don’t wear earrings. But when Christina from BitsOfPink, a KL-based webshop, asked me to make a couple of pairs, it turned out to be a pretty good deviation. Oh yes, by the way, BitsOfPink stocks my faux pearl series of necklaces and bracelets.

These are some earrings that I did on my own accord. When I first made them, it was a little anti-climactic since I CAN’T TRY THEM ON. But when I did try them on on my mother, I began to love them. Perfect weight, perfect length, and they come in a variety of colours! The first thing I noticed when my mother put them on was how eerily the pearls match up(in size) with her iris. Therefore, a perfect complement to a pair of eyes.

The earrings are created with short byzantine chain segments with faux pearls at the end. The length is pretty ideal, although I really want to try to make them stiletto/shoulder duster-length. But are statement earrings going to work?

The Mobius Ball Mesh Necklace

Basically, this is a revisit to the Little White Roses Mesh Bib Necklace. I sold the only piece I made to Joyce aka kinkybluefairy when I was in KL the other time. Since then, I’ve kinda put off making another piece(partly because I was low on jump ring supplies). But now here it is again!

This time I rendered everything in rhodium rings. I thought I’d explore with a chunkier mesh as well, so here it is:

Love the texture on the meshes. But I did a little twist with these.

The first version was a fully held together mesh, so it produced a very graphic look. With these, I decided to ‘blur’ the graphic edge, at the same time adding a bit more movement, by completing only part of the mesh. I really like the outcome. It’s like a fusion of mesh and chain fringe in one seamless look.

The Black Nickel Ring Chain

I got this ring chain, but the connector thingies were so screwed up! The rings themselves, however, were pretty gorgeous. I took the whole thing apart and used the rings as they are. I can’t seem to find black nickel jump rings in larger sizes, so this proves to be pretty effective. Although I’m not sure if it’s all that cost-effective.

Anyways, I made a few chain samples with these rings.

These will definitely work very well as ‘men’s’ bracelets. Although, I really only like the first chain pattern. It’s the least fussy. I’ll probably go try some regular chainmaille with these rings.

The Silver Clay Pendant

Yesterday, I created my first silver pendant! It is, in my terms, extremely tiny, but it was a good beginner’s trial and the process was fun! I basically spent an afternoon at Red Dot Design Museum with Nana from Roomism who was conducting the class. It was my first time attempting something that is completely custom.

Working with Precious Metal Clay(PMC), which is basically a modelling clay with silver molecules suspended in it. PMC is manufactured by Mitsubishi, developed in the 90’s.

Kept the design fairly simple, although the possibilities are ENDLESS. I have never worked extensively with clay, so I was a little apprehensive at first. But then it wasn’t really that bad. I’m a very kinesthetic learner, so I got the hang of it pretty quickly.

The raw modelled piece drying off on a coffee warmer. It was like playing with plasticine. VERY NOSTALGIC!

The dried clay pieces ready to be fired in a kiln to get the final silver piece. The round pieces here have paper cut-outs embedded in them, so the pendant would have a debossed effect, since the paper would obviously disintegrate after firing.

The pieces are put into the kiln, fired at 775˚C for 15 minutes. There was such anticipation! MAAD Market was going on as well, so you had the designers/crafters/artisans mingling and waiting for the final silver pieces to be ready. But things are not so instant around here!

The pieces come out looking all pale and powdery and you think, “What?! That’s it?!” They’re basically .999 silver pieces already. All it takes is ’some’ buffing and polishing. By ’some’, I mean 1-2 hours of. I would happily put in 3 hours of buffing to get a piece right. I’m patient. REALLY patient.

The buffing process was strangely therapeutic for me. It put me in some sort of a trance as I slowly see the surface become shinier. I love shiny things. But it was agreed that my pendant should retain a slightly raw look.

A bit of patina will make this pop with all the texture, but overall, I’m really happy with it. Not too bad for a first time!

Upcoming: X’Mas Fashion Bazaar by Eureka Bazaars + Announcement

Eureka Bazaar happening again at the Pits Building tomorrow, 19 Dec, Saturday, from 12.30PM to 9.00PM.

Facebook event page here. Eureka Bazaars Facebook group here.

Announcement

This is my last flea appearance for the next few months. The flea markets and bazaars in Singapore are getting way too lame and saturated. I just feel that the target market is completely wrong for my handmade creations. I will focus more on online sales, despite how shipping can be a total bitch. But we deal, we deal.

I’ve been wanting to sell at MAAD(Market for Artists and Designers) at Red Dot Design Museum, but never do seem to find a good time. So in any case, I will only make physical appearances at MAAD, where it’s a handmade niche market. MAAD Facebook group here.

It’s been an eventful year for me; had lotsa fun making new stuff and new friends. So definitely do look out for more exciting stuff coming from me. I’ll always hope for the best!