Wire Jewelry - Sparkly Swarovski Crystal Bracelets

The last four weeks were craaaazy pack.
Firstly, I was "forced" to attend a two weeks audit training and exam which actually was a 3 weeks program because the one week "off" in between was actually spent compiling the audit report.
My hesitation (that's why felt "forced") about attending the training was because of the "exam" at the end of the training.
I am soooooo terrified of "exam"!!!
In the end, I actually enjoyed the training, learned lots of things and made some friends.

Now, waiting for the exam result - I am hoping for the best.
Also, busy catching up with the last 3 weeks work.
Duh!!

That aside, I hope to embark on more wire jewelry projects this weekend - finishing off commissioned pieces and maybe write a new tutorial....mmmmm.....if I have the time.
Anyway, here's sharing my most recent sparkly Swarovski Crystal (4 mm - yeah tiny) bracelets completed early April but only managed to post now.
All wire wrapped with 24 gauge wire.

Looks good with lots of them together.
Have a great weekend and happy wrapping.

Wire Jewelry - Wire Wrapped Pearl Studs

Made a couple of these simple wire wrapped studs the other day. All of them are pearl studs of different sizes, shapes and colors.

If you'd like to make them yourself, which would take about 30 minutes or less of your time (for a pair), you can find the tutorial here:
At Etsy, click *here*
At Craftsy, click *here*

The oblong/teardrop shape pearls really look pretty with this wrap.

A bit of modification to the top of the earring - added a small loop.

On the DIY Earring Cards.

Another look before going into the box.

Ready to ship :) - Actually already shipped

DIY Earring Cards

The idea started long time ago but it didn't materialise until recently. I kind of procrastinated over it and just can't decide on the design. Same as my DIY Light Box previously.

Was thinking if I keep doing this (the procrastinating part - I do this a lot!), it will never going to happen. The other day I got a bunch of order for stud earrings (post about them later) and decided to create this earring cards once and for all. It is not final as I am forever changing the layout and design in my head but good enough for now.

What do you think of my DIY Earring Cards?

WireBliss logo in front together with websites and email address.
The white patch at the center of the purple card is double sided tape.
You can use stapler as well.

Here is the process involved.
I use Microsoft Word to create my cards as I am most familiar with it - use it everyday!

Alternatively, you can also use Power Point, Excel, Google doc, etc. etc. whichever you are familiar with. 

So, here goes:

• Create an image/design (jpeg file or any picture file) that you'd like to place at the front of your earring card. If you don't have one, you can leave it blank - which means you can skip this step.
• Since I have my logo in jpeg, I use that and added my website address below it.
• In a new Word document, create a table (or insert table). 
• If you do not know how to create table in Word, google or check it out here - create table 
• Depending on the card size you want, determine the number of column for the table. 
• Mine is 5 columns and 4 rows (1 column x 4 rows represent 1 card). The purpose of multiple rows is for ease of adjusting the height.
• In the table, place the cursor at the spot where you would like to insert the image. Click on insert image, and look for the image you'd like to insert.
• Make adjustment to the column width and row height till you have your desired earring card size, print it out on a piece of thick paper (100 gm).
• I make the table borders visible so that I know where to cut and fold later on.
• Cut the cards along the borders as shown below.
• Use a needle to make 2 holes on each card and you are done.

Here is how my earring cards looks like + the measurement just to give you the idea - click on the pic to enlarge.

If you have other ways of making earring cards, do share or leave me a comment.

If you have suggestions or questions, do email or leave your comment here too.

Side view

That's all for today.

DIY Light Box (Easy)

I finally decided to make my own light box.

A very simple light box and you only need these three material:

• A rectangular white plastic storage container which is available at the supermarket. This one cost me RM40.
• A piece of A2 white paper (thats 8 times the size of A4 paper) folded into half and
• Sellotape

This is how my light box look like.

It is very easy to set up really.

Side view

Tried it out under natural light in the kitchen

and here is the result - unedited except added the water mark.

Not bad yeah?

The picture is brighter on the top left compared to the bottom right though.

Will do better next time.

After all the light box is very mobile and light.

Hope you are inspired to make your own light box and have a great weekend :)

Yearly Event - Tomb Sweeping Day

Its the time of the year again. We celebrate this in early April every year.
This year's Ching Ming Festival or Chingming or Tomb Sweeping Day or Ancestors Day or Cheng Beng falls on the 5th of April. Wow! So many names to it ya.

Anyway, this is the day/time where we visit our ancestors grave sites, sweep, wash, clean, clear (grasses) and offer food, fruits, drinks (tea and wine) and paper money, paper clothing, paper bags, paper shoes, paper jewelries, paper handphone, etc. etc.

Like previous years, we always celebrate it a week earlier to avoid the traffic jam. As usual we came the day before to do the clearing and cleaning. The next day we brought the food and praying materials which will be burnt for the ancestors just before we leave. Here are some pics to give you some ideas of this celebration.

We left early morning around 7:00 am but still got caught in the jam.
Smoke in the background from burning of joss sticks and paper offerings.

Still caught in the jam.
Can't tell the difference between rows of cars and rows of tombs :)

This is our "outing" spot.

Food, fruits, rice, soup, wine, tea, kuih, noodles.
All the favorite of the dear departed. 

This year we decided to bring the boys along.
Their first time and its like a picnic.

Hot hot day!

While waiting for the dear departed to finished their meal.

Panoramic view - about half of the cemetery.
Click to enlarge.

This is at Nirvana Memorial Park, near Bau.
Looks like a park/garden.

Click here for more on Ching Ming.

Religious Parade - Shen Ong Kong (Diety) Birthday Celebration

We took the boys to the dieties' parade in celebration of the Shen Ong Kong's birthday last night.

It was held downtown Kuching, along Jalan Padungan.

This celebration is held every year.

Since there are not many parade in Kuching, this is an opportunity not to be missed especially for the boys.

The parade was a showcase of decorated colourful floats, dragon and lion dances, beautiful princesses/performers, figures of deities on lorries, on four wheel drives, sedan chairs, etc.

Here are some of the photos to show you a part of our culture :)

Excuse the picture quality - taken with handphone camera.

One of the decorated cars

One of the dragons

Lion dance, praying

Opps! Backsides only

This lion is performing on top of the truck

Close up

Happy lion :)

Cute tricycle

Diety on truck

Pretty performers and costumes

From the 'underworld'

From the 'underworld'
Some seems to be under trance and looked very fierce

Devotees and crowd following the parade while we the spectators lined the roadside

Have a great weekend!

Exciting Gifts that Were Work for a Man, but are pH Balanced for a Woman

There are sections of the department store that you’d generally associate with either men or women, but not necessarily both.  For example, you’d probably only find women with the makeup, unless Halloween is right around the corner or if the David Bowie concert is just a block away. You’d probably also really only to expect men in the sporting goods section. While there are obviously tons of exceptions, we have been conditioned with certain expectations that aren’t necessarily true.

A gilded, sparkling and perfect example of this is a Rolex watch. One generally associates this, the Rolls Royce of all wristwear to be for men, but no, that assumption is very far from the truth indeed. Rolex has a vast and glamorous array of stunning watches for women that will make any fashionista salivate and lust after.
Just as it is with its masculine counterpart, a female inspired Rolex watch is more than just a watch.  It is a piece of art, it is a piece of jewelry. If you don’t believe me, and I don’t know why you wouldn’t, check out the specifics of Rolex at rolex watch repair or rolex watch repair los angeles and see what all the fuss (I’m making) is about. You will be immediately impressed, surprised and inspired to wear one.

Another fun example is a yoga class. Listen, I go to yoga almost every day.  It works. It helps with my posture, it works wonders for my mood, and it positively informs the rest of my day. However, to say that I enjoy it while I’m there is a slight stretch of the truth. While I struggle and sweat gracelessly from one pose to the next, all of the women in there are relaxed and elegant flamingoes, effortlessly and poetically moving their bodies along with the teacher. Women are naturally more flexible and I for one am unnaturally less flexible. I feel like a Homer Simpson among Jessica Simpsons in there, but I wouldn’t trade it.

A great example of a gift idea that seem fine for a man but more suitable to a woman’s tastes is the divine gift of chocolate fondue. Sure fellas will love this; no human in his or her right mind would not. However, there’s a certain almost mythical chemical reaction that takes place when women and chocolate mix. It’s like a massage to her soul, a balm to her cravings, an assurance that today is a good day. We live in an exciting age in the evolution of food, and lately I’ve been seeing a lot of enticing chocolate bars with bits of hot peppers and orange and all manner of creative variations. Men, if you love chocolate like you should, good. But always sacrifice it for the woman you love and you’ll both end up winners.