Love dalla nonna's signature Calendar Necklace, available in silver, rose gold, yellow gold and white gold with your choice of 7 different sapphires. I so want.
Showing posts with label Jewellery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jewellery. Show all posts
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Sunday, September 05, 2010
J. Crew wish list
Finally flipped through the latest J. Crew catalog and fell for the Tretorn Flannel kicks below, which led me to the website with the though of buying them. Unfortunately, only 11s are left.
This didn't stop me from browsing though and now I've got my eye on this gorgeous necklace and the luscious leather Brompton purse. Lovely as they are, they're not nearly as compelling as the sneaks.
This didn't stop me from browsing though and now I've got my eye on this gorgeous necklace and the luscious leather Brompton purse. Lovely as they are, they're not nearly as compelling as the sneaks.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Repossi Cuff
Can we please all just pause in wonder at the beauty that is this gorgeous cuff by Repossi??
OK.
I'm done.
I'm done.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Etsy Finds
I was checking the status of my latest Etsy buys and ended up browsing a bit as I'm wont to do - it's hard not to stop in for a bit of a look-see once I'm on the site...anyway, I found these cute finds:
Poppy Pins by Foundling
Poppy Pins by Foundling
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Better late than never
I am a bad friend. My best girl's birthday was over a month ago and I've only just finished making her gift:
Ocean blue chalcedony, brushed sterling silver and freshwater pearl choker
My only excuse is that she was on vacation in Japan on her birthday and within a week of her leaving, I myself was in Peru...and then when we were all back in Toronto again, I just procrastinated partly because I wasn't sure how I was going to design it. But also because I am a bad friend.
I will see her this Friday for dinner so she'll finally get her gift...I hope she likes it.
Monday, April 09, 2007
Warning: this is HOT
Let me preface this next random post by saying that I don't normally get excited about cars. But on my way back from the gym tonight, I found myself following this red BMW M Coupe.
Here's what I saw from the back:
Here's what I saw from the back:
I was completely taken. It is one freakin' HOT car. And it better be since it has an MSRP of $68,900 to start!
I don't know if there will ever come a time when I would spend this kind of money on an automobile, no matter how fine. I'd much rather buy jewelry. Afterall, diamonds last forever while cars will only depreciate. ;)
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Just when I thought I was safe
I was chatting with my girl S on the phone last night about how trying the rings on last Friday was enough to sate my recent urge for retail therapy. But it seems I was wrong. So very wrong.
I met her tonight after work to browse the bead stores on Queen West for chandelier earring findings for my client. I'm meeting her next Sunday to show her designs so I wanted to see what was available locally. I didn't find anything for her, but I found something for me...actually, a number of somethings, in the latest addition to the bead strip.
I was just going to get a couple of bracelet displays, but then I came across the wall of smokey quartz. I envisioned these beauties knotted with small pink pearls or rose quartz into a choker and figured that would be it. But it was downhill from there.
I somehow found myself in front of the glass display case at the cash - and you know that can ONLY MEAN TROUBLE! I was shown the sea blue chalcedony in two different cuts - and of course, I had to like the one that was more expensive. So I added that to my stash. Next, and what I thought would be last, was the lemon quartz. Isn't it pretty??
I was all set to check out and then I noticed the tourmalines. You can't really tell in this picture, but some of the stones are blue-green, which isn't very common. The funny thing is that their shape reminds me of kryptonite. So I ended up buying them too. It's a damn good thing that my bonus is being paid out tomorrow!
We met up with WC & WL for dinner afterwards at Epicure and had our usual fun laughing and talking over food and wine. I couldn't linger downtown since it's a school night, so I subwayed back up to pick up my car and drive home. Assuming my condo isn't delayed overlong, I shan't have to make the trek back uptown this time next year.
The nice thing was that the boy called me tonight before he went to bed. We last spoke on Monday and have been in email contact since then. I'm making dinner for him Saturday night - I'm thinking my lobster risotto and pan-seared scallops on a bed of greens or something...I got the idea from the cover of the latest issue of the LCBO's Food and Drink. He says he's going to make key lime pie for dessert - from scratch, no less!
We're also going to spend the night watching the first of apparently many movie marathons. Among them, the Star Wars Trilogy (I've yet to see the original and am rather proud of it), The Matrix, Austin Powers and The Lord of the Rings, which I've already seen, but he's talking the extended versions. I guess this means he sees us together at least in the short- to medium-term, which is a good thing. :)
I met her tonight after work to browse the bead stores on Queen West for chandelier earring findings for my client. I'm meeting her next Sunday to show her designs so I wanted to see what was available locally. I didn't find anything for her, but I found something for me...actually, a number of somethings, in the latest addition to the bead strip.
I was just going to get a couple of bracelet displays, but then I came across the wall of smokey quartz. I envisioned these beauties knotted with small pink pearls or rose quartz into a choker and figured that would be it. But it was downhill from there.
I somehow found myself in front of the glass display case at the cash - and you know that can ONLY MEAN TROUBLE! I was shown the sea blue chalcedony in two different cuts - and of course, I had to like the one that was more expensive. So I added that to my stash. Next, and what I thought would be last, was the lemon quartz. Isn't it pretty??
I was all set to check out and then I noticed the tourmalines. You can't really tell in this picture, but some of the stones are blue-green, which isn't very common. The funny thing is that their shape reminds me of kryptonite. So I ended up buying them too. It's a damn good thing that my bonus is being paid out tomorrow!
We met up with WC & WL for dinner afterwards at Epicure and had our usual fun laughing and talking over food and wine. I couldn't linger downtown since it's a school night, so I subwayed back up to pick up my car and drive home. Assuming my condo isn't delayed overlong, I shan't have to make the trek back uptown this time next year.
The nice thing was that the boy called me tonight before he went to bed. We last spoke on Monday and have been in email contact since then. I'm making dinner for him Saturday night - I'm thinking my lobster risotto and pan-seared scallops on a bed of greens or something...I got the idea from the cover of the latest issue of the LCBO's Food and Drink. He says he's going to make key lime pie for dessert - from scratch, no less!We're also going to spend the night watching the first of apparently many movie marathons. Among them, the Star Wars Trilogy (I've yet to see the original and am rather proud of it), The Matrix, Austin Powers and The Lord of the Rings, which I've already seen, but he's talking the extended versions. I guess this means he sees us together at least in the short- to medium-term, which is a good thing. :)
This Saturday is Jane Austen's night: Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Emma. This is not my doing but his - his favourite book is Emma - I'm still not quite sure what to make of this...mais chacun son gout.
Anyway, I told him about how bad I was tonight with my little spending spree and he tried to assuage my guilt by telling me that I deserved it, that it was for something I enjoyed doing, etc. Sweet, huh?
Monday, March 12, 2007
Coming to a small screen near you...
I took the day off from work since the show on which my jewelry will be making its small screen debut was taped today at my friend's studio-store.
For the last week, I've been working on pieces to accessorize the dresses that will be worn during the fashion show portion of the taping. There were 3 models, each scheduled to wear 10 dresses. Since the dresses weren't finalized until Wednesday, it was impossible for me to make something for each dress. In the end, I made about a dozen pieces, mostly earrings and bracelets since many of the gowns were heavily-beaded around the bodice. It all worked out rather well since a number of the pieces were versatile enough to be repeated with different dresses.
It was so cool to see the jewelry on someone other than myself, and with dress that's appropriate for the jewelry. For one thing, a lot of the earrings I made were chandelier-style, and since I tend not to wear them, they look weird on me when I look in the mirror. For another, I don't have fancy gowns readily available at home to see how they look with the right dress. To have the opportunity to see the jewelry on a model all dressed up? Wow.
To backtrack a bit, my day in the studio started around 10:30. The girls were about 30 minutes for the 11am start time so everything ended up being pushed back. It was interesting to get a taste of what goes on in a fashion show atmosphere. Aside from accessorizing all the girls, I was charged with helping one of them get in and out of her dresses. There was a lot of waiting waiting waiting in between changes.
The taping of the models took about 2 hours and then we broke for an hour. I left to grab a bite and run some errands and was back for 3pm, at which time the photographer had arrived to take the stills. Since the interview portion of the show was going on in another part of the store, we had to be quiet on the other side. More with the waiting waiting waiting. We finally wrapped around 6:30.
And now that it's done, I wait some more. The show is expected to air two weeks this Friday on Fairchild between 6 and 7pm. I can't wait to see how it all turns out. My friend asked that I be given a credit for the jewelry, so we'll see if they remember. I'm glad I decided to take the day off. If nothing comes of this publicity, at least I had a lot of fun.
For the last week, I've been working on pieces to accessorize the dresses that will be worn during the fashion show portion of the taping. There were 3 models, each scheduled to wear 10 dresses. Since the dresses weren't finalized until Wednesday, it was impossible for me to make something for each dress. In the end, I made about a dozen pieces, mostly earrings and bracelets since many of the gowns were heavily-beaded around the bodice. It all worked out rather well since a number of the pieces were versatile enough to be repeated with different dresses.
It was so cool to see the jewelry on someone other than myself, and with dress that's appropriate for the jewelry. For one thing, a lot of the earrings I made were chandelier-style, and since I tend not to wear them, they look weird on me when I look in the mirror. For another, I don't have fancy gowns readily available at home to see how they look with the right dress. To have the opportunity to see the jewelry on a model all dressed up? Wow.
To backtrack a bit, my day in the studio started around 10:30. The girls were about 30 minutes for the 11am start time so everything ended up being pushed back. It was interesting to get a taste of what goes on in a fashion show atmosphere. Aside from accessorizing all the girls, I was charged with helping one of them get in and out of her dresses. There was a lot of waiting waiting waiting in between changes.
The taping of the models took about 2 hours and then we broke for an hour. I left to grab a bite and run some errands and was back for 3pm, at which time the photographer had arrived to take the stills. Since the interview portion of the show was going on in another part of the store, we had to be quiet on the other side. More with the waiting waiting waiting. We finally wrapped around 6:30.
And now that it's done, I wait some more. The show is expected to air two weeks this Friday on Fairchild between 6 and 7pm. I can't wait to see how it all turns out. My friend asked that I be given a credit for the jewelry, so we'll see if they remember. I'm glad I decided to take the day off. If nothing comes of this publicity, at least I had a lot of fun.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Daydreams that sparkle and shine
Before meeting the boy for dinner last night, I met up with my girlfriend with plans to visit Birks and Tiffany to try on rings.
We hit Birks first, where I wanted to try on this new sapphire and diamond version of the right-hand ring I'd come across last fall. It looked good, but the original all-diamond version looked better on my finger. At $1200(!!) more, it'll be a long while yet before this lovely graces my right hand, which is fine though, because I haven't yet come up with the appropriate milestone to warrant such a big ticket purchase. It's going to have to be a good one too.
I've also had my eye on Frank Gehry's Torque ring in the brown banded agate at Tiffany for a little while now and decided it was about time I tried it on to see if it actually looked good on my finger, lest I waste any more time thinking about it. I love the design but I had misgivings about the wide band - turns out I was right - it made my finger look stumpy, fat and rather manly. Not flattering at all.
I picked up a couple of their catalogues, including The Blue Book, over which I spent considerable time oohing and aahing over the green tourmaline and aquamarine bracelet, which costs a whopping $104,500!!! My heart skipped a beat. What I really loved though, was the Tiffany Novo - their new cushion-cut diamond. It's fantastic, and with the matching bead-set diamond wedding band? Sigh. I'm so over their Legacy diamond engagement ring! The Novo is the way to go! Hehe!
OK. Daydream over.
The gratifying moment though was when I was complemented not once, but twice, on my citrine and carnelian rope necklace on two seperate occassions by the Tiffany sales associates! I was too embarassed to admit that I had made the piece in Tiffany, but it certainly made me smile real big inside! :)
We hit Birks first, where I wanted to try on this new sapphire and diamond version of the right-hand ring I'd come across last fall. It looked good, but the original all-diamond version looked better on my finger. At $1200(!!) more, it'll be a long while yet before this lovely graces my right hand, which is fine though, because I haven't yet come up with the appropriate milestone to warrant such a big ticket purchase. It's going to have to be a good one too.I've also had my eye on Frank Gehry's Torque ring in the brown banded agate at Tiffany for a little while now and decided it was about time I tried it on to see if it actually looked good on my finger, lest I waste any more time thinking about it. I love the design but I had misgivings about the wide band - turns out I was right - it made my finger look stumpy, fat and rather manly. Not flattering at all.
I picked up a couple of their catalogues, including The Blue Book, over which I spent considerable time oohing and aahing over the green tourmaline and aquamarine bracelet, which costs a whopping $104,500!!! My heart skipped a beat. What I really loved though, was the Tiffany Novo - their new cushion-cut diamond. It's fantastic, and with the matching bead-set diamond wedding band? Sigh. I'm so over their Legacy diamond engagement ring! The Novo is the way to go! Hehe!
OK. Daydream over.
The gratifying moment though was when I was complemented not once, but twice, on my citrine and carnelian rope necklace on two seperate occassions by the Tiffany sales associates! I was too embarassed to admit that I had made the piece in Tiffany, but it certainly made me smile real big inside! :)
Friday, March 09, 2007
Busy busy bee am I
One thing I learned: Another word for a dandy or fop is macaroni(!), which, in mid-18th-century England, was a fashionable fellow who dressed and even spoke in an outlandishly affected manner.
One thing I'm grateful for: my friends, who talked me out of my tree, yet again, for overreacting about the boy's "weird" behaviour over the last few days. As per WC, a fellow boy: "don't spend too much time fretting about it and just let whatever happen, happen...y'knowhatimean?...boys are silly...i'm sure we all know that!"
One thing that made me laugh: Conversation with my team over Friday morning breakfast snacks - my big boss waxing poetic about, among other things, the wonder of the built-in DVD player in the car on long drives chaufferuing his kid from town to town for soccer tourneys.
Date night with the boy - we're going out for Indian food tonight. He'd been acting a little out of character the last week - and I of course, forgot momentarily that I was going to chill this time around and overreacted by acting like a girl - I analyzed and second-guessed and got all paranoid...but thankfully, my friends calmed me down and reminded me what's what. He and I spoke on the phone last night and things seemed fine...so it seems my little freak-out was unwarranted.
I've also been very busy the last couple weeks working on jewelry since I was asked to provide some for a fashion show that will be taped this coming Monday for a Cantonese show produced by a national Chinese lanuguage TV network here. I'm excited by the opportunity for the exposure, but am also wary about not getting my hopes up about it and then being disappointed later....hmm...do you sense a pattern here??
The other good news is that I have my first appointment this Sunday with a bride-to-be who called me Monday about a consultation for custom jewelry for her May wedding. Busy busy busy.
Meanwhile, I've been a bad student and haven't practiced my mandarin or done my homework. : (
One thing I'm grateful for: my friends, who talked me out of my tree, yet again, for overreacting about the boy's "weird" behaviour over the last few days. As per WC, a fellow boy: "don't spend too much time fretting about it and just let whatever happen, happen...y'knowhatimean?...boys are silly...i'm sure we all know that!"
One thing that made me laugh: Conversation with my team over Friday morning breakfast snacks - my big boss waxing poetic about, among other things, the wonder of the built-in DVD player in the car on long drives chaufferuing his kid from town to town for soccer tourneys.
Date night with the boy - we're going out for Indian food tonight. He'd been acting a little out of character the last week - and I of course, forgot momentarily that I was going to chill this time around and overreacted by acting like a girl - I analyzed and second-guessed and got all paranoid...but thankfully, my friends calmed me down and reminded me what's what. He and I spoke on the phone last night and things seemed fine...so it seems my little freak-out was unwarranted.
I've also been very busy the last couple weeks working on jewelry since I was asked to provide some for a fashion show that will be taped this coming Monday for a Cantonese show produced by a national Chinese lanuguage TV network here. I'm excited by the opportunity for the exposure, but am also wary about not getting my hopes up about it and then being disappointed later....hmm...do you sense a pattern here??
The other good news is that I have my first appointment this Sunday with a bride-to-be who called me Monday about a consultation for custom jewelry for her May wedding. Busy busy busy.
Meanwhile, I've been a bad student and haven't practiced my mandarin or done my homework. : (
Monday, February 26, 2007
Retail Therapy
I'm feeling overwhelmed with everything that I need to do for my business. I'd been so focused on getting everything ready for sale in the store - jewelry, displays, packaging, pricing, etc - that I hadn't even thought about a pricing model for taking custom orders. SOO much to think about.
I've also been so focused on jewelry that I haven't had a chance to shop for anything really fun for me at all in the last few months. All of my "discretionary" expenditures have been business-related and the need for some retail therapy has been growing stronger in the last couple weeks.
To backtrack a bit, I spent last Monday afternoon setting up the display - it looks great - and had good news to go with it: I've been asked to provide jewelry for a fashion show that will be taped for a Chinese talk show to air nationally(!) So I've spent the last week thinking up designs to match some of the dresses...and I'm still thinking and dreaming. I skipped my mandarin class Saturday afternoon and spent it shopping for beads and worked on a couple designs yesterday.
I took the day off today to work some more and also dropped in to visit with my friend E, who's store my jewelry is selling in. She was consulting with a customer, so I played dress-up and tried on a bunch of gowns, this lovely goddess-style gown in a deep coral colour above among them.
I've had my eye on it since E first laid it out last Monday and now that I've tried it on, I simply MUST have it. I have nowhere to wear it as of yet, but once something comes up, I'll be ready with a gown. It's going to be used in the fashion show in a couple weeks so I couldn't take it home with me today, but I will....soon. :)
I've also been so focused on jewelry that I haven't had a chance to shop for anything really fun for me at all in the last few months. All of my "discretionary" expenditures have been business-related and the need for some retail therapy has been growing stronger in the last couple weeks.
To backtrack a bit, I spent last Monday afternoon setting up the display - it looks great - and had good news to go with it: I've been asked to provide jewelry for a fashion show that will be taped for a Chinese talk show to air nationally(!) So I've spent the last week thinking up designs to match some of the dresses...and I'm still thinking and dreaming. I skipped my mandarin class Saturday afternoon and spent it shopping for beads and worked on a couple designs yesterday.I took the day off today to work some more and also dropped in to visit with my friend E, who's store my jewelry is selling in. She was consulting with a customer, so I played dress-up and tried on a bunch of gowns, this lovely goddess-style gown in a deep coral colour above among them.
I've had my eye on it since E first laid it out last Monday and now that I've tried it on, I simply MUST have it. I have nowhere to wear it as of yet, but once something comes up, I'll be ready with a gown. It's going to be used in the fashion show in a couple weeks so I couldn't take it home with me today, but I will....soon. :)
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Happy birthday, Sis!
It's my lil' sister's birthday today and we only just put her birthday package together last night and posted it today. My gift to her was a gift card to Chapters-Indigo and this necklace, which I had actually started last week(!):
I spent a couple hours on it Monday night and packed it up yesterday with the gifts and goodies from the rest of the family. Hopefully she'll like it...I suspect it may be a little too girly and pretty for her, but who knows? It actually might be a little too girly and pretty for me...but she's way cuter than I am. ; )
Happy Birthday, T!!!
I wired Swarovski crystals and keshi pearls to a sterling silver chain. The colours include tanzanite, fuchsia, montana, amethyst, lilac and black diamond - not my original intention. I started off with a bluer palette and a mix of pearls and stones as you can see below, but things changed as I started working.
I spent a couple hours on it Monday night and packed it up yesterday with the gifts and goodies from the rest of the family. Hopefully she'll like it...I suspect it may be a little too girly and pretty for her, but who knows? It actually might be a little too girly and pretty for me...but she's way cuter than I am. ; )
Happy Birthday, T!!!
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Carpal tunnel from a spray paint can?
I spent the day attending to business: I re-shot Sheila modelling my jewelry for my portfolio this morning and then hauled my butt out into the cold after lunch to pick up some more cans of spray paint (a brown colour, primer & matte spray).
This afternoon was spent with can in hand, painting my white pillow pouch boxes brown. I think I might have given myself temporary carpal tunnel from depressing the spray button for a prolonged period of time - it's still feeling weak 3 hours later.
Mais la voila:
This is how my jewelry will be packaged for the buyer...it will be wrapped in a pink kerchief first, which is next on my to-do list, and then placed in the box.
Looking at it makes me want to eat chocolate...which is what I've been doing off and on all day. BAD! But the extra dark chocolate is soo good.
This afternoon was spent with can in hand, painting my white pillow pouch boxes brown. I think I might have given myself temporary carpal tunnel from depressing the spray button for a prolonged period of time - it's still feeling weak 3 hours later.
Mais la voila:
This is how my jewelry will be packaged for the buyer...it will be wrapped in a pink kerchief first, which is next on my to-do list, and then placed in the box.
Looking at it makes me want to eat chocolate...which is what I've been doing off and on all day. BAD! But the extra dark chocolate is soo good.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
The hunt for Tim's and playing hooky
I went to the funeral of my best friend WL's grandmother this morning. I had made plans with our friend S to pick her up from Warden subway station about an hour earlier in order to stop for a bite to eat before going to the service at 11am.
I figured we'd stop at a Tim Horton's, which is pretty ubiquitous - who knew that we would drive by 3(!) that were drive-thru only before finally finding one that was sit-down? We were ready to settle for a McDonald's when we came across a billboard for the golden arches only to find that it was a phantom McD's because the actual restaurant was nowhere in sight.
We made it to the service with about 5 minutes to spare and slipped into the last row where our two friends were seated with the other pallbearers. It was a nice service done mostly in Cantonese. When the minister spoke about Grandma L at length, I tried to translate to S who isn't Chinese, but much of the religious symbolism got lost in translation since I'm not familiar with the vocabulary in Chinese. I cried during the eulogy, and I had never met Grandma L in life. I suppose it just reminded me of my own grandmother's death. The burial, thankfully, was short, since it was REALLY cold this morning.
The cemetery happened to be the same one in which my father is buried, so I stopped by for a visit with my dad. By this time it was 12:30. Too late for me to make it to my mandarin class on time, so I played hooky today and went for lunch with S&WC instead. Given the cold, we opted for the warm comfort of congee. I had never been to Congee Star at Don Mills/Eglinton, but it's funny how it looked and felt like Congee Wong. If it weren't for the sign outside, I wouldn't have known the difference.
Afterwards, I dropped S&WC off at the subway and went about my errands: I picked up a new beadmat at beadFX since I had spilt nail polish on my last one and stopped at FabricLand in the hopes of finding some nice fabric to line the display case with. I've settled on chocolate brown and pink for my colours and came across this great bolt of flocked taffeta. I also found some lovely pink satin for the DIY display mats for the trays I picked up at Lacy & Company.
Just as I was pulling out of the parking lot into traffic, it occurred to me that I needed some fabric to use as a backdrop for my photos...so silly me, I drove to another FabricLand about 20 minutes away. Why didn't I do the easier thing of turning back? Because it wasn't easier - there's only one entrance into the lot I had just exited and to turn back would require a couple illegal U-turns given the stupid island that separated traffic...and I couldn't be bothered.
I was glad I decided to go to the other FabricLand though because I found this great flocked fabric on sale for $5/metre:
I have no use for it right now, but I think they'd make great accent pillows. I love the bird motif - and the brilliant fuschia and turquoise colours. (The picture doesn't do it justice at all.)
I spent the rest of the afternoon taking pictures of my dummy - christened Sheila by WC - modelling my jewelry, but after downloading them to my laptop, it occurred to me that they're too dark. I'll have to try again tomorrow earlier in the day for better natural light. Here she is though, doing her thing:
I figured we'd stop at a Tim Horton's, which is pretty ubiquitous - who knew that we would drive by 3(!) that were drive-thru only before finally finding one that was sit-down? We were ready to settle for a McDonald's when we came across a billboard for the golden arches only to find that it was a phantom McD's because the actual restaurant was nowhere in sight.
We made it to the service with about 5 minutes to spare and slipped into the last row where our two friends were seated with the other pallbearers. It was a nice service done mostly in Cantonese. When the minister spoke about Grandma L at length, I tried to translate to S who isn't Chinese, but much of the religious symbolism got lost in translation since I'm not familiar with the vocabulary in Chinese. I cried during the eulogy, and I had never met Grandma L in life. I suppose it just reminded me of my own grandmother's death. The burial, thankfully, was short, since it was REALLY cold this morning.
The cemetery happened to be the same one in which my father is buried, so I stopped by for a visit with my dad. By this time it was 12:30. Too late for me to make it to my mandarin class on time, so I played hooky today and went for lunch with S&WC instead. Given the cold, we opted for the warm comfort of congee. I had never been to Congee Star at Don Mills/Eglinton, but it's funny how it looked and felt like Congee Wong. If it weren't for the sign outside, I wouldn't have known the difference.
Afterwards, I dropped S&WC off at the subway and went about my errands: I picked up a new beadmat at beadFX since I had spilt nail polish on my last one and stopped at FabricLand in the hopes of finding some nice fabric to line the display case with. I've settled on chocolate brown and pink for my colours and came across this great bolt of flocked taffeta. I also found some lovely pink satin for the DIY display mats for the trays I picked up at Lacy & Company.
Just as I was pulling out of the parking lot into traffic, it occurred to me that I needed some fabric to use as a backdrop for my photos...so silly me, I drove to another FabricLand about 20 minutes away. Why didn't I do the easier thing of turning back? Because it wasn't easier - there's only one entrance into the lot I had just exited and to turn back would require a couple illegal U-turns given the stupid island that separated traffic...and I couldn't be bothered.
I was glad I decided to go to the other FabricLand though because I found this great flocked fabric on sale for $5/metre:
I have no use for it right now, but I think they'd make great accent pillows. I love the bird motif - and the brilliant fuschia and turquoise colours. (The picture doesn't do it justice at all.)
I spent the rest of the afternoon taking pictures of my dummy - christened Sheila by WC - modelling my jewelry, but after downloading them to my laptop, it occurred to me that they're too dark. I'll have to try again tomorrow earlier in the day for better natural light. Here she is though, doing her thing:
Friday, February 09, 2007
My dummy's here!
I left work early today and stopped in to visit a couple wholesalers. I've been looking for earring display stands and found the perfect ones for $2 each - so I bought 4 of each size. Here's the sketchy thing though: It's one of those Chinese places where if you pay cash, there's no tax. So I paid $24 for the 12 stands I bought...and when I asked for a receipt, I was told that they don't give receipts. When I asked for one, the saleswoman picked up a random piece of scarp paper and wrote $24 and the date on it - as if I couldn't do that on my own! When I asked for a card because I needed a receipt to claim the expenses, she said she'd write the details on the card, and to "validate" my sale, she signed it. Weird, non?? I think she was just too lazy to write up a receipt for me given the small volume.
The good news? I arrived home today around 5:30 to find that the dummy I had ordered off EBay to model my jewelry had come! Now I can start photographing my jewelry for my portfolio.
I've been procrastinating the last week in regards to the administrative stuff - while I've priced everything, I haven't actually put pen to paper to label the pieces...and I still have to finish painting my boxes brown and attaching the ribbons to them....the list is long....and I better get my ass in gear because next weekend's Chinese New Year...and what better time to make my debut then when the ladies will be shopping for new accessories to dress up the new year?
The good news? I arrived home today around 5:30 to find that the dummy I had ordered off EBay to model my jewelry had come! Now I can start photographing my jewelry for my portfolio.
I've been procrastinating the last week in regards to the administrative stuff - while I've priced everything, I haven't actually put pen to paper to label the pieces...and I still have to finish painting my boxes brown and attaching the ribbons to them....the list is long....and I better get my ass in gear because next weekend's Chinese New Year...and what better time to make my debut then when the ladies will be shopping for new accessories to dress up the new year?
Monday, January 29, 2007
Class is cancelled!
Another productive, long weekend for the most part. I went to Bamiyan Saturday morning to pick up more supplies, mostly pearls and findings and spent the night working on a 5-strand necklace I had started last week. It was slow going since I injured my right index finger opening a bottle of wine. Silly me - I let my finger get in the way so the skin got caught and immediately puffed up. The darn digit is still tender and an angry-red. If I was at 100%, I would have gotten more work done but I'm not, so I only just finished the one piece Sunday morning.
I had a 45 minute massage booked for 1:15pm which I was a little late for thanks to the slow Sunday traffic. I asked the RMT to work on my back, shoulders and forearms and did she ever work me! Not so much my back, but I had no idea how tight my forearms were just from working with wire until she got her hands on them because they HURT! It was a good hurt, but dang!
After a quick shower at home, I headed back out again to source packaging. The boxes I want are being discontinued so I stocked up. If business goes well, I'll use all 160 and once they're gone, I'll have to figure something else out. If business is lackluster...well...I'll have a bunch of boxes left over. I'm going with a chocolate brown and pink theme but the boxes only come in white. I'm hoping that my great idea to spray paint them brown will work. (keeping my fingers crossed.) I also picked up a really pretty pink grosgrain ribbon to accent the package - I'll post pics later, if it works out. ;)
Sunday night was girls night in. I headed over to my friend N's house with a bottle of wine and a tub of green tea ice cream to complement our Asian theme night - we took a couple pages out of Hot Sour Salty Sweet and made tom yum goong, spring rolls and green curry chicken. It was a first attempt at these dishes for both of us and we were pleasantly surprised by how easy everything was - and quick! From start to finish, it took us maybe 75 minutes to prepare the 3 courses. I've been meaning to buy this cookbook and now that I've tried a few of the recipes, I'll definitely have to add it to my wishlist.
I took today off to see to some more business. I went to John Bead and was underwhelmed. The place is huge with TONS of stuff, yes, but not stuff that I wanted. They don't have much in the way of fresh water pearls and faceted semi-precious gemstone beads so I left empty-handed. I headed back downtown to visit Bamiyan again, but stopped at Lacy & Company first where I picked up a scale that can weigh in grams as well as carats, and some anti-tarnish solution.
And then I got home to the voicemail telling me that the JewelCAD class I had enrolled in was cancelled. The good thing is that I'll have my Tuesdays and Thursdays free, but the bad thing is that I'll probably have to wait until the fall at the earliest before the class is offered again. The message said I could call to enroll in another class otherwise they would give me a refund. If I had known 2 weeks ago that the class was going to be cancelled, I would have signed up for the drawing class, but it started 2 weeks ago so I think I'll just sit this term out and focus on my mandarin.
I had a 45 minute massage booked for 1:15pm which I was a little late for thanks to the slow Sunday traffic. I asked the RMT to work on my back, shoulders and forearms and did she ever work me! Not so much my back, but I had no idea how tight my forearms were just from working with wire until she got her hands on them because they HURT! It was a good hurt, but dang!
After a quick shower at home, I headed back out again to source packaging. The boxes I want are being discontinued so I stocked up. If business goes well, I'll use all 160 and once they're gone, I'll have to figure something else out. If business is lackluster...well...I'll have a bunch of boxes left over. I'm going with a chocolate brown and pink theme but the boxes only come in white. I'm hoping that my great idea to spray paint them brown will work. (keeping my fingers crossed.) I also picked up a really pretty pink grosgrain ribbon to accent the package - I'll post pics later, if it works out. ;)
Sunday night was girls night in. I headed over to my friend N's house with a bottle of wine and a tub of green tea ice cream to complement our Asian theme night - we took a couple pages out of Hot Sour Salty Sweet and made tom yum goong, spring rolls and green curry chicken. It was a first attempt at these dishes for both of us and we were pleasantly surprised by how easy everything was - and quick! From start to finish, it took us maybe 75 minutes to prepare the 3 courses. I've been meaning to buy this cookbook and now that I've tried a few of the recipes, I'll definitely have to add it to my wishlist.
I took today off to see to some more business. I went to John Bead and was underwhelmed. The place is huge with TONS of stuff, yes, but not stuff that I wanted. They don't have much in the way of fresh water pearls and faceted semi-precious gemstone beads so I left empty-handed. I headed back downtown to visit Bamiyan again, but stopped at Lacy & Company first where I picked up a scale that can weigh in grams as well as carats, and some anti-tarnish solution.
And then I got home to the voicemail telling me that the JewelCAD class I had enrolled in was cancelled. The good thing is that I'll have my Tuesdays and Thursdays free, but the bad thing is that I'll probably have to wait until the fall at the earliest before the class is offered again. The message said I could call to enroll in another class otherwise they would give me a refund. If I had known 2 weeks ago that the class was going to be cancelled, I would have signed up for the drawing class, but it started 2 weeks ago so I think I'll just sit this term out and focus on my mandarin.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Pricing, packaging, etc.
I met my friend at her studio last night to discuss pricing for my jewelry. I've never sold anything in a store before so I'm not sure at what price points to start, although we had discussed ranges when I first approached her to take her up on her offer to sell my pieces on consignment.
It was a productive meeting: I showed her the pieces I've made so far and we talked about markups - she's suggested a range of between 300-500%, depending on the piece, but I'm a little skeptical that someone will pay that much. I'm going to trust her though since she knows her clientele. She does a lot of bridal, and her rationale is that if a bride is going to spend $3-4K on a dress, what's a few hundred for a unique necklace that can be custom-designed for her if she so chooses?
We discussed packaging too, which I've been putting off...and now I'm glad I did because she had some great ideas on that score too. I had already decided on a chocolate brown and pink theme for my packaging - I love this combination - and after stopping at a couple places tonight for samples, I sketched my idea...and now I'm excited!
We talked about my debut - she wants me to be ready in time for Chinese New Year, which is February 17th - so I will be very busy in the next 3 weeks getting ready. I've always worked better with a deadline, so this is just the kick in the butt I needed!
I measured the display case she'll be clearing out for me - it's 6.6' x 2.3' - bigger than I remembered, so aside from sourcing all the packaging and photographing everything for my marketing portfolio, I'll be working on additional pieces to fill the space, which is the most fun for me anyway. So another full weekend ahead!
It was a productive meeting: I showed her the pieces I've made so far and we talked about markups - she's suggested a range of between 300-500%, depending on the piece, but I'm a little skeptical that someone will pay that much. I'm going to trust her though since she knows her clientele. She does a lot of bridal, and her rationale is that if a bride is going to spend $3-4K on a dress, what's a few hundred for a unique necklace that can be custom-designed for her if she so chooses?
We discussed packaging too, which I've been putting off...and now I'm glad I did because she had some great ideas on that score too. I had already decided on a chocolate brown and pink theme for my packaging - I love this combination - and after stopping at a couple places tonight for samples, I sketched my idea...and now I'm excited!
We talked about my debut - she wants me to be ready in time for Chinese New Year, which is February 17th - so I will be very busy in the next 3 weeks getting ready. I've always worked better with a deadline, so this is just the kick in the butt I needed!
I measured the display case she'll be clearing out for me - it's 6.6' x 2.3' - bigger than I remembered, so aside from sourcing all the packaging and photographing everything for my marketing portfolio, I'll be working on additional pieces to fill the space, which is the most fun for me anyway. So another full weekend ahead!
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Long productive weekends
Isn't this amaryllis pretty? I had bought it mid-December in the crazy hope that it would bloom in time for Christmas, but it did not. It's been fun watching it grow from the bulb. I was worried it wouldn't bloom because I don't have a green thumb but 'lo and behold, I've been surprised by the changes in the last week. Just 4 days ago, the buds had broken out of their, um, pods(?):
To today, with the leaves a few inches taller and the flowers in full bloom:
It's been a long weekend literally since I took Friday off as a sick day. My stomach wasn't feeling good Thursday afternoon so I spent Friday at home taking it easy and eating lost of bland congee. It was productive though as I started work again on my jewelry, which I had been neglecting the last week. I finished 3 pairs of earrings and 3 necklaces. I would have finished a fourth necklace, except that I forgot that Bamiyan closed at 4pm Saturdays and since my mandarin class ends at 4pm, it was obviously too late by the time I arrived after class.
I've made good progress on filling my order, but I've still got lots of work to do administratively in terms of sourcing packaging. I've been meaning to go check out this one store for the last few weeks now but haven't yet made it out. I can't be putting it off any longer.
I also got my butt out to the gym, which I had also neglected the last week. I went for a run yesterday morning, but it was a crappy short one (perhaps because I was running on a mostly empty stomach?) but I made up for it this afternoon by running 5.29Km.
From the Stacks Update: I've been so busy with my business that I haven't had time to keep up with the challenge. I've got a couple chapters left in The Line of Beauty, which is only the second title from my stack and given that there's only 10 days left in the challenge, there's no way I'll be able to finish another 3 books in time - particularly when the books I've picked aren't exactly light reads.
I've bought a number of new books - most have been jewelry/gem reference books, but I went to Chapters after my aborted visit to Bamiyan yesterday afternoon and picked up the last 2 books in the Griffin and Sabine series, Alexandria and The Morning Star on sale. I was so taken with the trilogy when it first came out - the format was so refreshing - a story told through correspondence. How could one not be intrigued with the vicarious thrill of reading someone else's mail? Anyway, I had initially borrowed the trilogy from a friend, and had subsequently received book 1 as a gift. I bought The Gryphon a few years ago so will have to pick up books 2 and 3 sometime to round out my collection.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
My first sale!
My girlfriend came over tonight for a look-see at my jewelry. I hadn't expected to make any sales because we were catching up for the most part but she ended up buying 2 necklaces - one of kyanite and silver beads, and the other a rope of pearls and labrodorite. My first sale as a business!! I was a little sad to see the rope go though because it's one of my favourite pieces to layer with. It just so happened to be one of her favourites too - and if I want to make this business a success, I can't be turning down chances to have my jewelry out there and worn by someone. I gave her some of my business cards to hand out and consoled myself with the hope that her enthusiasm for the necklaces will lead to more business in the future.
I guess this is the internal struggle I'll have to get used to - on the one hand, I'm glad that someone else appreciates what I've created, but on the other, it's bittersweet because it's a part of me that I have to give up.
I guess this is the internal struggle I'll have to get used to - on the one hand, I'm glad that someone else appreciates what I've created, but on the other, it's bittersweet because it's a part of me that I have to give up.
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