17 more days before my 2nd work year anniversary with my current employer

I have been counting down since last month to my 2nd work year anniversary with my current employer. How many of us work just because of the money? Sadly, I am one of them. This job gives me the funds to pay my bills, accumulate some savings, support my passion and my materialistic cravings. Call me shallow, I am pretty used to that.

My dream job -- to open a beads cafe, where I get to sell quality beads and gemstones, with a corner of the shop selling petite pretty pastries and serving gourmet coffee and tea. Not sure how practical this dream job is, but I would love it! For now, I can only daydream about it.


****************************
Managed to create a pair of earrings last week. Check out my blog and etsy for more photos and details. =)

No matter where you are, hope you have a great week ahead.

Mirror WIP

Can't think of a better title. So I'd just stick to "Mirror" first. WIP.

New work - Spring time necklace

Personal collection. I named her "Spring time".

Delightful ingredients -- Approx 11 cts London Blue topaz teardrop, citrine and swiss blue topaz teardrops, Japanese ceramic flowers, petite rose gold plated with cz charm, moonstone briolettes, london blue topaz briolettes, swarovski crystal bicones, flower and leave components, prehnite rounds. Components from Japan.

She's such a beauty and a joy to admire. **smile**

Raspberry Pink Earrings

Check out my blogshop. =)
Have a great week ahead!

It has been a while

It has been some time since I last updated the blog. Not because I have forgotten. It is just that I came back from Japan about 3 weeks ago, yes, hubby and I were at Tokyo when the quake happened.

We went through a little episode of inconvenience - our flight was cancelled, we had no place to sleep, we felt the quake and shakes, we walked from Shibuya to Shinjuku together with the many Japanese commuters... It felt strange to talk about my loot from this trip, especially when the beautiful country is still mourning. I did however posted photos of my loot on flickr. Looks awfully sinful to me. But I was so happy with the pretty things, intricate designs and packages.

Just like what many people have commented - the Japanese have wonderful grace even when faced with great difficulties. At that time when it happened, they were so peaceful -- there was no shouts, no demands, no frantic panic (though I saw ladies in silent fear).

We spent a night in the conference room of our checked out hotel (there was no transport to the airport. Our night flight was cancelled. We had no place to go). The hotel staff had kindly opened it up for stranded people like us. They provided tea, coffee, green tea and cold water (so sweet of them!). We shared a table with a Japanese couple and 2 other Japanese. In the morning when the train services partially came back, many started to leave the conference room. I noticed that these lovely Japanese bothered to return the cups to the original tables, pushed back the chairs and took their trash. The tables were cleaned up properly. When the Japanese left our table, they politely bowed to us before going off.

I seriously wonder if I will ever see that here in my country. We have lots to learn! I sincerely wish that the radiation disaster can be resolved soon.

*****************

I bought alot of treasures from Tokyo. I love their bead shops. This is my recent piece of work where I used quite alot of my loot. A treasure of treasures.

Royal Lady Digital Painting - The journey

I salute all the painters who can consistently and persistently keep drawing and painting. Completing this one piece of work is a very long process for me -- took me about 78 hours! I am a basic learner, I guess that is why I am painfully slow. **sweat**

The completed work.


===========

The long journey began...

The sketch. This was what I had in mind. It is important to have a reference picture as a base. Thereafter I modified to what I want.

WIP 1. This is after several hours of work. I realised the face was too big for her and decided to down scale it. I took a break and started pondering over it. This helps me to identify the flaws.



WIP 2. Corrected the flaws. And painted the clothes. The head-dress looked far from good so I decided to scrap it.


Worked for more hours today. There are still lots of flaws. Fine-tuning is required. But my interest in continuing her today is wearing out thin. =P So it is considered done!

Thanks for dropping by. Thanks especially to those who have been giving me encouragement -- You give me the fuel to continue! =)

The beautiful world of Rolex

I have never been a fan of Rolex watches. Always thought that they are for the older folks (possibly because I am heavily influenced by our culture here, where the old aunties and uncles tend to want and wear Rolex watches) although I know that this brand is very popular among the rich and young in countries like Japan and HK.

So I ventured to their website today. There are some beautiful exquisite styles that caught my eye. So I am sharing them here with you. ^_^ I guess I can only put them on my wishlist. Photos from Rolex website - http://www.rolex.com/en






Have a wonderful weekend ahead!!

Happy 2011!

May you be blessed with a joyous and fruitful new year! Stay positive and peaceful always. ^_^

Shop update

New listing this weekend. =)

"Moonstones" Earrings - can be found on my blogshop and etsy. Little little gold rings with CZs hanging freely on blue fiery moonstones. Complimented with petite aquamarine rondelles and 24k Vermeil Kidney Earwires.

Do drop by to take a peep! ^_^

=============================

Went christmas shopping yesterday with hubby. Visited my all time favourite shop "Das Erzgebirge-Haus" at Ion Orchard. I bought for myself a little Guardian Angel.

(picture from website)

Also went Kinokuniya and got myself the latest issue of Imagine FX (my most loved Digital Art magazine). Free 2010 calendar enclosed inside with the magazine!

(source - Imagine FX website)

Have a great week ahead! =)

Miu Miu early christmas pressies!

Christmas comes a little earlier for me this year. Hubby and I walked into Miu Miu Paragon today, not intending to buy anything. Simply window shopping to satisfy my curiosity to know what stock they have in store. We walked past the wallet counter and the beautiful colours of blue and lovely dusty pink caught my eyes. I asked the SA casually if they have the colurs in Bauletto Matelasse'Lux design. The SA was very helpful, she pulled out the bags in the colours I want and also other designs. **my wallet screamed "oh no!"**

Cutting the long story short, hubby was supportive that I get the bag and he bought me the matching wallet. =)

I will let the photos do the talking. There's no buyer's regret even though the price tag was *uh hem*... -- this bag design was on my wishlist for close to 2 years and the beautiful colour was a big bonus!

Little baggie peeping out from her box!


She has protective covers!








With flash


Without flash


And now, self imposed ban -- no big ticket items from now till Feb 2011...

Orangetree's Guerlain loot from DFS

I have been patiently waiting for the launch of Guerlain's christmas 2010 Les Ors Collection since last month and was thrilled to see them in person earlier at DFS. ^_^

The SA said DFS is the only place that is having these babes on sale now. The rest of the beauty counters will only start selling in Dec. Everything is so pretty and I was very tempted to grab all... if only my little wallet permits.

Here are the beauties I bought... **displaying my loot**



If you buy any of their items from the christmas edition now, you will get a free "miniature skin care and fragrance set" -- 5ml Guerlain L'or Radiance Concentrate With Pure Gold Make-up Base, 5ml Guerlain Abeille Royale Youth Serum and 5 ml Guerlain Idylle Eau De Parfum... Plus a free pouch of course. =)



I am in need of a new bottle of eye cream. Since the current one is running out soon, I thought I could try Guerlain's Orchidée Impériale eye and lip cream. This is my first very expensive skincare product. I do hope it doesn't disappoint me!



From the christmas 2010 collection, I got myself the Ombre Eclat 4 Shades (410 Velours d’Or). I seldom put on eye shadow but there is something so beautiful about the colours that I succumbed to temptation. **tsk tsk! I love the little velvet black pouch that holds the eye shadow too. ^_^



Guerlain’s Meteorites are my fave! This is my personal MUST-HAVE!



I "accidentally" bought the brush because I thought it was free! The SA who was packing my stuff asked if I wanted the brush and I said yes. Okay, I should never assume! Really silly of me! So I spent close to $50 on this one which came as a big surprise when I saw my bill (only after I reached home.... DUH)



Anyway, I am a happy girl today. So happy that I took photos and uploaded here. Woohoo!!

More yummies from Japan

If you like the petite dainty jewelry pieces from Agete in my earlier post, you will love these yummies from Nojess, ete and Vendome Aoyama.

------------------------------------------
♥ Nojess ♥
You can find Nojess items online at ZoZoTown, they provide overseas shipping services.

------------------------------------------

♥ Ete ♥
Ete is also has several items available at ZoZoTown. The Christmas set (limited collection) looks too beautiful!

------------------------------------------

♥ Vendome Aoyama ♥

♥ Agete - Beautiful Gems ♥

Thanks to SF, I was reminded of Agete, a Japanese jewelry brand, which I love.

I was thrilled that Kinokuniya is bringing in their AUTUMN / WINTER COLLECTION 2010 mook. This mageazine comes with a Tote Bag - perfect to be my lunch bag! I will definitely rush to Bugis and grab my copy tomorrow. ^_^
(Update on 23 Oct 2010 - The mook is not here in Singapore yet. Fans of Agete would have to wait a little longer, I guess.)

Also visited their website. Was pleasantly surprised that they have revamped it -- more romantic and easier to navigate than before. Here are some of my favourite pieces from their collections.




♥ ♥ Have a great weekend! ♥ ♥

Shop update!

Some recent listings in stores. Check out my blogshop and etsy shop for more photos.




===================
And a family photo of all the romantic floral pendants/ necklaces I have done so far. They are mostly my personal collection. "Refreshed" is available for those who are interested to take a peep.

New purchase and more photos from Rakuten =P

It has been several months since I bought a bag and even more months since I bought a non-designer bag. This lovely bag caught my eyes when I was waiting for hubby to buy Starbucks coffee at Wisma. I pulled him into the shop to take a look after we finished our caffine dose.

This babe is made in Korea. Soft leather, great texture, lovely design. I also bought the bag charm to match. Here are some photos. ^_^



=================================

Found some drool worthy sweeties from Rakuten earlier when I was surfing the web. These can be found here.