Szarka! Magpiegemstones - They are here, Clay Jeani, Turquoise & Pearl

The rocks are here :D Thank you Szarka! I love them all especially the Clay Jeanie pendant and Turquoise beads. If you are wondering what I am talking about, they are the free gemstone beads giveaway that I won from Magpie Gemstones, an online gemstone beads and accessories supply shop owns by Szarka, who is also a very talented and one of a kind jewelry designer.

I always drool over her gemstones........you would too if you are at her shop :) .....and today they are here.....Turquoise, Clay Jeani Pendant and Pearl.

Close up of the Clay Jeani Pendant....just awesome and fine workmanship!
I never own anything like this before. So, so, so happy ;D.
Now I got to think of how to wire wrap and assemble them into a beautiful one of a kind piece of jewelry.
Looks like it won't be easy. There are just so many ways and possibilities.
Got to find "that" wrap :)

I got to know Szarka back in 2006/07 when I just got hooked with wire jewelry. Though I've never met her in person, I know she is a very friendly, honest and nice lady...with lots of sense of humor too :)

If you would like to have the opportunity to win some free gemstones beads (monthly) or free shopping spree (worth $200, twice a year) or free jewelry making tutorials, or free information or just want to make friends with Szarka, check them out here - http://www.magpiegemstones.com/freebeads.html

Thank you again Szarka.
Will post the finished piece when I am done with it :)

To all readers, have a great weekend.

Murano Glass! Murano Glass!

When we hear about Murano Glass, what comes to mind is Venice or the Venetian island of Murano in particular. For centuries, Murano's glassmakers produced high quality glass, refining the glass making technologies including crystalline glass, enamelled glass (smalto), glass with threads of gold (aventurine), multicoloured glass (millefiori), milk glass (lattimo), and imitation gemstones made of glass. Today, the artisans of Murano are still employing these century-old techniques, crafting everything from contemporary art glass and glass figurines to Murano glass chandeliers and wine stoppers - Source: Wikipedia.

Outside of Venice, you can find 100% genuine Murano Glass hand blown in Venice at Murano Glass Gift Co, a company started in 2001 that carry a wide variety of art glass from around the world mainly Murano Glass and World Art Glass.

At Murano Glass Pendants you will find among others this Murano Calcedonia Pendant which has a Milky Way or Galaxy look to it. Calcedonia is an art form of Murano dating back hundreds of years. It refers to glass featuring veins of color running through the dark colored glass. This look is obtained by mixing various metal compounds in a certain fashion to imitate the natural stones such as agate, onyx and malachite.

Florentine Drop in brilliant colors. Something I would wear any day, anytime. Love those spirals. Very inspiring.

Besides jewelry, check out the Murano Birds. The love bird set would make an exquisite gift set. The details of the design is awesome and captivating.

In Feng Shui, a pair (of birds) is for luck. It's the symbol of love and union. Surround yourself with pairs of birds, and you wouldn't feel lonely :) That is according to feng shui.  Should we give it a try?
If you are a fan of Murano Glass or unique and beautiful glass creations, check out Murano Glass Gift Co.
They are offering free FedEx ground shipping to USA and Canada.

WireBliss Logo I & Facebook Fan Page

WireBliss Logo I
This is what I have been busy with today.
Since this blog makeover last Feb, I have been wanting to create the logo with wire.
Finally did it today with several fine copper wires twisted together.

This is "Logo I" as I foresee more to come, till I am satisfied with it ;D

Facebook Page
Finally got this one up and running too (although I created it many many weeks ago)
For those already became fan, thank you! (although I have not send out invitation :))
Now, I am inviting you all to be on my FB Page.
Click on the above link and it will bring you to my FB Page.
From there just click on "Like" - at top right hand.
Alternatively, you can do it through the widget on the sidebar of this blog.

At the moment its quite empty except for my blog feeds.
Actually, still figuring out how the page works.

If you do not want to be a fan, its ok, you can still opt to follow my blog or subscribe to my feed to get updates from time to time.

Now! Go ahead and enjoy the rest of the weekend cause mine is ending :(
Time to go to "lala land"....zzzzzzz

Finally Here!

I have been neglecting my blog for almost a week. Been busy with work, went for a short course (work related) and sat for an exam. Feel very drained after that but the arrival of this "baby" two days ago really made my day. One of the happiest moment in my life....a bit exaggeration here but I am extremely happy and please.
My own Canon G11 camera is finally here! Been waiting for it for the last few months and finally its here.
Haven't really got the time to play around with it yet but I will this weekend and shall learn to take better pictures with it.
Here is a quick experimental one taken early this morning, outdoor near the pond, cloudy and overcast.
The left pix was taken with G11 and the right one with my old Cannon Ixus 850 IS. Opps! Old Ixus :) Been good to me though. Really loving my G11. Notice how close I can get to the object - almost touching actually. With Ixus, its about 3 cm.

No cropping involve except for reducing picture size and combining them. Any difference? There should be but I am still getting use to G11.
Have a nice weekend all and if you are curious about the camera, follow the link below.

Canon PowerShot G11 10MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle Optical Stabilized Zoom and 2.8-inch articulating LCD

Wirework "Work Station"

Here is a confession! I am very "envious" of people who have dedicated "work station/ bench/ corner / room" :) That is why I am quite shy to show you my work station. The truth is I don't have a dedicated work station while making my wire jewelry. Most of the time I am at the inner living room. Sometimes when it is too dark, I move to the main living room but then I will be fighting for space with the boys. Sometimes I work in the bedroom and last weekend I stationed myself in the dry kitchen (see picture below!) as I need the natural light for taking pictures for my up and coming wire jewelry tutorial. And guess what? I love working in the kitchen! As you can see, its bright, airy and snack within reach :). Outside the window is our orchid garden. So I look out once in a while to rest my eyes. It gets a bit warm and hot during mid-noon though, as the sun would be shining in through the windows. To escape the heat, I will move to the dining table just behind the chair here. Do you have your own working station/bench? or you are like me - a nomad...LOL.

Happy Father's Day!

I am taking this opportunity to wish a very Happy Father's Day! to all reader who are someone's fathers. Emm...confusing myself. Anyway, seems like my creative muse still refuses to come back. Here are few items I purchased yesterday - a stainless steel "dog tag" with my name engraved on it (just for fun!), 3 cabs and two key chains each for William and Henry. Got them dirt cheap and engraving looks easy. Gets me thinking of getting an engraver for myself :) Duh! WireBlissMei

New Pliers, Cutters, "Tea Ring" & Turquoise Bracelets

I am back, kind of! Was away for a very short period, then there was the on and off internet connection, then busy with work and started a new blog which have been put off for a while - http://OrchidBliss.blogspot.com. So for those of you who are Orchids enthusiast, check out our (me and hubby) blog on orchids - wild / species orchids.

Here are my new purchase - can't resist. Flat nose pliers and a straight full flash side cutter.

Very Smooth!

Got myself a silver ring with my name attached to the top too. Known as "Tea Ring" as narrated by the maker. Some people call it Snake Ring. However mine don't look like snake as my name (MEI) is attached to the top. So what is the story with "Tea Ring"? Simply, get your friends to reassemble this ring while you are having tea. If they can't do it, they pay for your drinks. That's it. I haven't tried it out yet. Soon....when I need some free drinks...:D Anyone of you own or ever come across this type of ring? I first heard of this when I was at my parents place last 2 weeks and just gotta make one. The man who makes them happened to live close by so I didn't waste my time. Well, actually I have another intention, to find out if I can make one with wire...hehe...

The four rings are linked.

Almost successfully reassembled!

Done!

And here are two turquoise bracelets I managed to whip up for a friend and her daughter.

WireBlissMei

You Were Asking...?

If you are from Malaysia, you would know that it is very difficult to find some of the essential tools for wire wrappers like us. It can be very very frustrating. And we would think twice, thrice...hmm..many many times before deciding to purchase online from other country. One of these tools is the wire rounder or bur cup. I got mine last month from tooltime. Anyway, no regret and I love it! Only one thing though, it works very well with sterling silver but not stainless steel which is much harder. Guess I still have to use my old file with stainless steel wire. Anyway, people asked me where I got mine. Unfortunately, tooltime didn't have this in stock anymore. I did a search at etsy and found two shops that has it. They are Nightstar and Romazone. Romazone only ships to Canada and US. Jenny Pong purchased hers from Singapore - Beads.etc. Looks cheaper but not sure about the shipping rate. Another seller who carries it is Szarka - Magpie Gemstones, I love her gemstones and only discovered that she has it after I purchased mine :) - Opps! she didn't have it anymore! But you can always email her. She is very friendly. So there you have it. Have a wonderful hols and weekend! WireBlissMei

Old Keys

Cool find! I have seen lots of people making jewelry out of keys - old keys. If I don't make wire wrap jewelry, these keys hold no value and would be useless to me. But now, I see everything old in a new light. You can actually turn something old into beautiful jewelry pieces. Back to this bunch of key here, they are quite old and I think they are made of brass. Not sure about the darker colored one though. For now, they are not mine yet but they are in my safekeeping unless someone wants to claim it :) WireBlissMei

In "Cleaning" Mood Again

Its that time again...I am in "cleaning and clearing" mood again. And the results, I changed my blog layout again. What do you think of the new layout? Personally, this is my favorite so far. This morning, I took out the river rocks/stones that I have been collecting and gave them a good wash. Feeling happy just washing and looking at them but still have no idea what I am going to do with them :) Just realized that our kitchen sink is a very good place to take pictures with lots of natural light. Last but not least, I cleaned and wiped two bedrooms too....and now the weekend is almost gone. Feel very tired now so Good night! for now. WireBlissMei

Finally Its Here!

:D Waited two weeks for this and today it finally arrived. Funny but on the way home from work I got the feeling that its here....sixth sense? Hmm....

Been looking for this cup bur for a long time. Asked my sister in-law in Calgary to look for it but she couldn't find it.

Definitely can't find in Malaysia. Almost gave up when I came upon tooltime at etsy last two weeks and found what I have been looking for all this while. The rest is just smooth sailing.

If you are wondering what the heck is this for, the cup bur is to effectively de-bur the end of a wire after it has been cut! I have not experimented with it yet so I wouldn't know how good it is compared to a normal file. But I really hope that it is better :)

WireBlissMei

Something for me :) II - Copper Wire

The best copper wire so far! Hubby brought this cable home yesterday. He is so supportive of my hobby! :) Wonderful color (for now)....Judging from the measurement I think they are size 15/16ga. What can I make with this size of copper wire? hmmmmm......Hammer! Hammer! Hammer! That's what I can hear in my head since yesterday......well! let me dream about them first.

 

Something for me :) I - Stainless Steel Block

Can't resist this stainless steel block when hubby took me to the stainless steel shop two days ago. Just nice for hammering. So I got the shop assistant to cut a piece for me - about 1.5 inch thick (2.5 in diameter). Took him about 10 minutes to get it cut. The shop sells everything stainless, copper and brass except for soft stainless steel wire *sigh*. They do have the hard ones though. But can't use them for jewelry, they are too hard and springy. While walking around, I saw the square stainless steel flat bar measuring about 2.5 x 4 x 0.4 in. Hm! Also very good for hammering :). In the end I decided to have both of them for RM46.00. Expensive? Well for the love of jewelry making, its worth it.

Recent Stones Purchase

No new wire wrap piece today but I am showing some of my recent stones purchase - crystal clusters. So many ideas came to my mind when I was looking through them in the shop. Now I just hope I still remember them when it is time to play with them.

When I am Not Looking......

.......I found this steel wool in a supermarket in town this evening......soooooo happy! :D

Close up of the wool 

 This scale is also a surprise find....hmmm. Now I can weigh my pretties! I have been looking for this for a couple of months now. Another addition to my tools collection to satisfy my wire wrap jewelry addiction :) It measures in gram and oz and very simple to operate.

Some Recent Purchase - Stones & Cabs

Hmmm...I have been spending on some cabs and stones recently. Here are pictures of them....aren't they yummy especially the rubies? The smaller rubies belong to my aunt-in law. She would like it to be wire wrap into bracelet and maybe a ring. This will be another challenge for me :) Love the moonstones as well. Look at the iridescent. Would be lovely for a ring.

Rubies Moonstones Teardrop Rutilated Quartz

Teardrop Black Onyx Misc Stones including fluorite, jasper, tiger eyes, rutilated quartz and turquoise.