An Atypical Rose

Ring and earrings are sold. Only necklace is available.

Price: Necklace - RM50

Measurements:

Pendant necklace: diameter 5cm, chain length 45cm including clasp. Longer chain will be included upon request.

Earrings: length 6.5cm, width 3cm

Ring: Adjustable.

No, it’s not amaryllis lily. The name is taken from Greek mythology. Amaryllis is a shy young girl who fell in love with a really handsome jerk named Alteo. Alteo was not interested in anyone. He rejected everyone who admired him by telling them to bring him a flower which had never been seen before on earth, and he will love them in return. Some girls even died of broken heart, and of course, he rejected Amaryllis too. Amaryllis sought help from an oracle at Delphi, and she told her to take a golden arrow from the statue of Goddess Urania, wait until midnight, stab her heart with the arrow, walk barefooted to Alteo’s house, knock on his door and proclaim her love. She did that for 29 nights, but Alteo ignored her. On the 30th night, she found a flower on Alteo’s doorstep, which grew from her blood. Only then did Alteo fell for her. Hmmph! Heartless jerk! Really, I don't think that story have anything to do with these pieces. I just thought that Amaryllis with her demeanour could carry these pieces well.

Perhaps at some point of our lives, we girls had been like her – fell for a jerk and did everything we could to win him. Including stupid things! For me, my jerk is probably neither as handsome nor as heartless, and I did not win him in the end. Ah well, I’ll find other jerks someday.. :P

This piece is actually inspired by two songs. One of them is like a story told without the words, just beautiful music. It starts out with a state of bliss and contempt, then the circumstances that tore them apart, the fight and the ending. My own interpretation anyway. Here’s the link. The other is a secret! (^_~)

I used 26 and 18 gauge gunmetal artistic wire, hard polymer clay flowers, acrylic cat’s eyes beads, and for the pendant, additional teardrop beads, some rose quartz beads for love, bloodstone chips for strength and courage, and creamy peach pearls for that feminine touch. Sweet and elegant with an old world charm. Honestly, these are perhaps the most beautiful pieces I’ve ever made up until now.

 SOLD

Price: Bracelet - RM15, Necklace - RM30

Measurements: Necklace 36cm + 9cm extender, butterfly 3cm x 2.1cm
Bracelet 19cm including toggle clasp




(This is crazy but I found out that the necklace can also be worn as a long necklace, looong after I made them =P)
 
You know what they say about vintage findings? If you fall in love with one, just get it, because you would not see it again when it’s gone! I found the vintage butterfly pendant on ebay, and *spluurrrge*. When it finally arrived, I kept staring at it for weeks and weeks. I have no idea what to do with it, mainly because it has two holes on each side instead of just one in the middle. It looked ugly on a cord, too plain on a chain, but luckily it looked mighty fine on a simple layered necklace. The turquoise chips and jasper beads give an earthy feel to the necklace and make it looks more ‘alive’. In fact, I like the end result so much that I made a bracelet to match it. So what's with the name? I thought I could see all the elements symbolized within it. Can you?

Price: RM40

Measurements: 19+cm including toggle

Actually, this is not my style. I’m more of the ‘colourplay’ kind. I got inspired by Mas here. She’s really cool and nice. Seems like a great mom too. I never met her in real life though, but she does seems like someone I would really like when I finally met her. ^_^

The beads were actually just another impulse buy that I have no idea what to do with. But they are gorgeous and look like amber! I just can’t resist! =D One day while looking at her bracelets, inspiration strikes. You can guess the rest. I used 26 and 18 gauge gunmetal artistic wire for this one. There will be no remakes as I already ran out of the beads, and I couldn't find it anymore..

Price: RM30 (free poslaju)

Measurements: 4.8/4.9cm from earwire

This piece is inspired from ‘Forgiven’ by Within Temptation. It is a song about a loss of someone dear, but when all is forgiven and accepted, the turbulence is drowned in a sea of calmness. I pretty much took the essence of the song to create this and it turns out to be a picture of calm with a hint of sorrow. The feeling is like, contemplating your life while waiting for the sun to rise? Not really a good comparison, but I could not find a better one.

These earrings are made of 26 and 18 gauge gunmetal artistic wire, soft polymer clay flowers, fluorite and lapis lazuli chips, and genuine 4mm Swarovski crystal bicones attached to the earwires. It is quite small and dainty, but the vivid colours made up for the size. It has that irresistible quiet charm that I really love. In fact, I quite enjoyed making this. Would have kept it for myself if not for the fact that I don't need earrings anymore since I decided to wear 'tudung' full time!

Terms and Conditions

1. Items sold are not returnable or refundable. I will thoroughly check everything for defects and pack them carefully before sending out the items. (All items may not be perfectly “perfect” since all of them are handmade.) Do contact me for repairs/resize/etc in case the items doesn't meet your expectations. Buyer will have to bear the postage cost.
2. The colour of items might be slightly different due to different monitor settings, camera flash or lighting.
3. All measurements are provided. Please enquire if you need resizing before I send out the items.
4. No remakes unless stated. This is to protect the exclusivity of the item, and most of the time, exact remakes are impossible due to availability of parts. (That's the beauty of handmade items. You don't have to worry about others wearing the same thing as you!)

1. Shipping and handling : Peninsular M'sia - RM7, Sabah & Sarawak - RM10.
2. Deposit/transfer via CIMB only.
3. Packages will be shipped after the payment had been cleared.

How I started

I have always been creative since I was young. I do not think anyone have ever considered me as artistic back then, because I could not draw or paint very well. I only liked building models, crafts, cutting and pasting, the sort of stuff that usually makes a big mess. I could even build models just by looking at the pictures without instructions. I sort of create a 3D image in my head and from there I can see where everything goes. It had served me well all these years, but by thinking in images, I struggled with words. I learned to sew when I was nine from my aunt. Sewing opened a lot of possibilities for me. I began making all sorts of things, from sock puppets and dolls to bags and tissue boxes

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I started making jewelry about 2 years ago (around July 2008). I consider myself a gemstone nut. One day, while browsing the internet for more gemstone, I found a tutorial on how to wire-wrap cabochons. While I do not have any gemstone cabochons, I thought it would be a good idea to use on my loose gemstone stash. So I went out and get myself 2 rolls of silver coloured economy copper wires and a pair of hardware store pliers. Yes, hardware store pliers! This kind:

Looking back, I realized it’s rather stupid to use that to make jewelleries, but it’s a good start. The good news is, I can bend and cut wires with the same pair of pliers! The bad new is, for the first few pieces I made, the wires are scratched pretty badly. This is the first jewellery I ever made:

I bought the charm bracelet a few years before that. I wire-wrapped some loose stones and attached them to the bracelet. I was really happy with the results and I even got compliments on the bracelet. I never stopped making jewelleries since then.

Contest

I entered a Swarovski design contest on June 2009. Never thought I could win it. 1^st place!

This is my entry. I really outdid myself back then. It took me 3 weeks to make. I only finished it 2 days before the deadline.

This piece was inspired by 3 pieces of tarot cards and a memory of someone I held dear at that time. But he’s not in my life anymore. It is named “hope”, because I was really hoping to win. Lame… I know…

Truth be told, I do not really like using Swarovski much. They tend to be fragile and too shiny for my liking. Since I always work with wires, I broke quite a lot of them. I did not enter the contest because of the prize, it’s the recognition I want. My parents wanted me to quit making jewelleries because they said it’s a waste of time and money and no one will wear them. I just wanted to prove them wrong for once.

Challenges

I’ll be lying if I said I never have any challenges in making my jewelleries. Everyone will face it in everything they do. But no matter how frustrating it is, when you finally get what you wanted, you will appreciate it more.

What frustrates me most is perhaps my parents. Not that I don’t love them, but seriously, I’m jealous of anyone who their parents encouraged them to do what they love. I did not get into a design course after I finished school either. I had a hard time answering questions like “What the hell are you doing in Chemistry/Engineering when you’re supposed to be in etc, etc?” when someone noticed my talents.

One rather minor but quite debilitating problem for me is money. Jewellery-making is a very expensive hobby. Of course, it started out cheap, but once you start mastering a few techniques, you’ll want higher quality items. And that costs a bomb. At least to me, it is. I could not afford going to any jewellery-making classes either. Everything I made, every techniques I know are self-taught. I sometimes do use free tutorials, especially when I first started out.

An Atypical Rose

The name was inspired by a line in a song I really liked, “a rose by any other name”, and a dialog in a book, where one of the characters used a fake name, and when asked if that I her real name, she replied with “it’s a good name as any”. I was singing out loud to that song while driving alone in a traffic jam when it just popped in my head. And I fell in love.

All of my pieces have a story behind them, what inspires them and what they signify. I felt that it is unfair if I kept that to myself. Forgive me if you can’t stand reading long descriptions. If you don’t like reading the long descriptions, please do visit my gallery to see only the pictures. And if you want to share links, ask questions, share some thoughts or maybe collaborate on some projects, email me.