LUCY

LUCY, a photo by trishastrove on Flickr.

I had a request from a friend last weekend, to customize a necklace for someone she was visiting overseas. Described as a lady who is still young at heart, a tad flamboyant and who loves colour, I thought "vibrant" ! She asked for unique beads to be incorporated into this piece, so I turned to my stash of Karin's clay beads, and found exactly what I had in mind - gloriously colourful clay lentils with swirls of red, purple, burnt orange and yellow flowers, on a fiesty orange background ... so nice and vibrant !

To these I added Lavender Amethysty Coins, dark purple Amethyst nuggets, and a large freeform Amethyst stone in the centre, faceted Carnelian ovals in flaming shades of fun and spunk, little light yellow and amethyst rondelles dotted here and there, and a pretty petalled pewter flower for some whimsy/femininity.

At 38", it can be worn long or doubled-up in various ways. Versatile in that it'll look great with a LBD, spark up a jeans and open-collared white shirt, or bring you nicely into traditional glamour as in the photo above, on a bright lime green Peranakan Nonya Kebaya.

Helene - Custom order

Helene - Custom order, a photo by trishastrove on Flickr.

Request for a Birthday Gift Necklace with a Peranakan flavour for a Peranakan lady.

The first thing that came to mind were the brightly coloured ornate tiles on the facade of Peranakan homes, designs of which were an inter-marriage of East and West. Turning immediately to my stash of Karin's gorgeous Polymer Clay Beads, I found the perfect design in the bright vibrant colours of mustard yellow, red and green - yes, especially the red flower !

The East/West fusion of a German-made tile with Asian elements like Yellow Butter Jade, Green Aventurine, Red Sponge Coral and gold filigreed bead-caps for more 'pernakan ornateness' morphed HELENE effortlessly into a Pernakan looking necklace. How cool is that :) I'm sure A.H. is gonna love wearing this piece with her traditional kebayas as well as her modern pieces.

(14K gold-filled & plated).

Tania & Mee Siam ......

INSTANT ! INSTANT! INSTANT!

If its prepped pastes for "instant" cooking, homecooked, without preservatives & msg ... that's the greatest, especially if you want to whip up a tasty, spicey dish this CNY.

Requests for my mother-in-law's "spicey stuff" for this CNY period kept us busy over the weekend, and the aromas wafting out of the woks were driving Miss Tania crazy.

Tickles me pink every time how "instantly" her drooooools come on :-)

We were just too pooped out to prepare dinner after cooking rempah the whole day, so we decided to treat ourselves that night (much to the kids' delight).

Haha, Tania was ALL EYES on the condiments, but I can tell you, there was ONLY ONE THING on her mind ... - the EGGS !!! ;-)))

ISABEL - Custom

Request for a Trillium ROSE Set with petite short chain, to which I've added green onyx and peridot rondelles, which meet in the middle with a single moonstone, followed by the trail of Trillium ROSE gemmies and enamelled/sterling silver Trillium flower. Closes with a Balinese Silver Toggle Clasp.
The earrings have been kept simple with matching rondelles & freshwater pearls, but without the Trillium flower charm, so that this set would be "in balance" when worn together.

Trillium ROSE & Trillium JAUNE Earrings - S$42, Necklace - S$26 - SOLD

... are a pair of demure and feminine earrings, featuring a trail of Citrine & Green Onyx (in Trillium Jaune) & Rose Garnet & Green Onyx faceted rondelles (in Trillium Rose).

My husband remarked that they're quite Peranakan looking, so I photographed them with a Kebaya, and they turned out to be quite an enchanting match. I'm sorry that I had to hang the ear-rings in a odd way on the "neck", but it was the only way to give you an idea of how they'd look together with the necklace/kebaya, and an idea of the size.

I've also made a matching necklace in faceted round Grade A Green Onyx, keeping it plain so that it won't detract from the ear-rings, or overpower the look, if worn together.













TRILLIUM ROSE Set (Sold)
















TRILLIUM JAUNE Set (Sold)

Karin's Pendant with Peranakan Kebaya

~ double-click for more ~

XYLIA Necklace - Sold

The XYLIA necklace, is very simple in design, and can be used in so many ways, to evoke different looks.

Here, I've presented it in a Peranakan way, with a Kebaya blouse, again using almost the same elements as the XYLIA bracelet, but this time with all 14K Gold-filled spacer beads, chains & components; GP Rollo Chain.

Green Aventurine Bamboo-shaped beads, Karin's vibrantly beautiful polymer clay pillows and a short cascade of natural red coral.

The necklace can be worn short, or a little longer as you like.


another inherited Peranakan Blouse for my daughter from Mama

ROSE - $23

Sweet pink wine in a petite grape bunch of stud ear-rings with a Nonya/Peranakan flavour. Lovely detailing with the grape bunch stalk.

Pink mother-of-pearl with 925 silver & marcasite.
Artisan-made.

13 mm tall / 6 mm across at the widest point.






BURGUNDY - $25 - Sold Out
This pair comes in Garnet stones as well.

AMY - Sold

Strands of cherry quartz, garnets, faceted citrine rondells, tiny smooth olivine/green tourmalines, pink tourmalines and lots of 14K gold-filled teeny beads meet in the middle, with a 15x15mm smooth, glossy Kamoe Clay floral tile, which pulls all these colours together effortlessly.

'AMY' was of course inspired by this - yes - another inherited Nonya Peranakan Kebaya blouse. Its an old piece and the embroidery is exquisite.(see pix of Kebaya blouse below).

Lots of 14K gold-filled here, in the form of many teeny beads at both ends of each strand, melon beads, lobster clasp, extension chain. ALL findings/accents are 14K GF.

Would fit a wrist from as dainty as 5-1/2 in. and can be adjusted up to an 8 in. wrist. Closes with a 14K Gold-filled lobster clasp.


~~ Price upon enquiry ~~

AMY

'AMY' has a soft, warm, feminine, romantic glow about her .........

AMY

Another inherited nonya kebaya from my MIL. Inspiration for this bracelet of course. Kamoe Clay floral tile, smooth cherry quartz beads, garnets, teeny tourmalines, faceted citrine for subtle sparkle, and teeny 14K GF beads at the centre flanking the clay tile.
This bracelet will fit a wrist from as little as 5-1/2 in. and can be adjusted up to an 8 in. wrist. Closes with a 14K Gold-filled lobster clasp;
ALL findings here are 14K gold-filled.

SPICEY HOT MORNING ..

June IS supposed to be the hottest month in the year for us, isn't it?

Well - Its the 1st of June - and today - for me at least - June started off with a "BLAST"!

A "spicey" hot morning from preparing nothing less than droolworthy Singaporean Nonya Mee Siam .. (my mother-in-law's recipe ... but of course :)))
The Gravy and all condiments like sliced hardboiled egg, taupok, ku-chye, limes and sambal were in individual containers, and didn't have time to shoot all that (:
Hope they enjoyed eating it as much as I enjoyed making it ..... :)))