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.

TAPESTRY

TAPESTRY, a photo by trishastrove on Flickr.

A very special piece for a very special friend.

Four sumptuous beautifully faceted soft yellow Lemon Topaz stones and a crystal-studded 14K Gold Vermeil Flower were the main feature of this piece when I first started on it; then all kinds of other things came to mind and I added more and more. Each and every golden element & cluster of precious stones, symbolizes something meaningful of the golden life, spirit and soul of a phenomenal girl to be encapsulated forever.

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).

SHELLEY Necklace

SHELLEY Necklace, a photo by trishastrove on Flickr.

Watching our little terrapin friend climb up his/her rock and slowly glide down, reminded me of the beautiful Labradorite Nuggets I've been hoarding.

A gorgeous 4-sided faceted twist-shaped drop sits in the centre of this piece, with smaller fancy cut labradorite stones along the chain, all emanating amazing blue flashes. Swarovski Crystal Pearls and Thai Karen Hilltribe Silver (97%) Turtle and Hammered Ring, Crystal Quartz and Fluorite Rondelles complete the Shelley necklace.

SHELLEY Necklace

SHELLEY Necklace, a photo by trishastrove on Flickr.

It was dusk and the sun was going down fast, so unfortunately I couldn't capture the blue flashes in all the Labradorite stones in one pix, and luckily for me, my son's friends were visiting from overseas, so I grabbed hold of one of the gals, who very patiently turned this way and that for a few pixs.
She modelled a couple more necklaces for me, and I was so touched she loved this one, and the dear hubby got it for her :)

Nia Necklace

Nia Necklace, a photo by trishastrove on Flickr.

Miss Ta-Nia with the Zin-Nias

Miss Ta-Nia with the Zin-Nias, a photo by trishastrove on Flickr.

We visited the Curious Gardener to catch up on happenings with her new plants and flowers not too long ago, which also doubled up as an outing for Miss Tania to visit her cousins - Cookie & April. Could she sit still for a couple of minutes for me to take a shot of her with the flowers ...... of course not. Clearly her attention was focused on what she was missing out on, keeping her eyes intently on what 'the girls' were doing, but I have to thank her dearly for the few moments of precious her time ;-)

The white Zinnias and yellow Marigolds (behind Miss Tania) were the inspiration for this sweetlet of a necklace.
A beautifully detailed enamelled Zinnia Pendant sits in the centre, from which hangs a pear-shaped 6mm Swarovski Crystal in Golden Shadow, 'capturing' the soft glow of the evening/dusk light gently. Trailing upwards along the golden chains are little czech fire-polish beads, white czech glass flowers (more Zinnias), Topaz Swarovski Crystal Connectors (Marigolds) and etched gold-plated leafy vines.
Length of necklace: 16.5" with an extension chain.
Curious Gardener (zinnias)
Curious Gardener (marigolds)

(Photographed with permission from The Curious Gardener)

DEONE Necklace

DEONE Necklace, a photo by trishastrove on Flickr.

This necklace was made for a very caring, wonderful Mother of 3 with a very big heart. She never spoils herself, always putting her kids FIRST. As she's been through A LOT in the past few months, I wanted to surprise her with a Mother's Day gift as she is so deserving of it.

I figured her as a person who would feel comfortable wearing timeless, elegant, undertated pieces, and as I wanted to incorporate something from this part of the world, I chose handmade Thai Hilltribe Silver & artisan made fancy Balinese beads to go with the lovely Onyx barrels.

It reached her safely, about a week after Mother's Day, having travelled over the oceans and thousands of miles between us, and I was ever so touched when she sent me a photo of herself wearing it, and not only that, she said that she loved onyx + silver :))))) Yeay !!!

CANDICE

Many years ago, during one of his many golfing trips up to Thailand with the senior golfers, my Dad came back with the beautiful pink & white bi-coloured bougainvillea plant in the above RH pix. At that point in time, he'd never set eyes on bi-coloured bougainvillea and he was truly amazed and pleasantly surprised, as he'd never seen this species at the flower gardens here. When googling the name of this variety, how apt it was when I found out its called 'SURPRISE'.

My sister and I were reminiscing about plants and fruit trees he's planted in the garden over the years, and were tickled pink when we remembered how he actually brought this bougainvillea back here :)

Inspired to make a necklace, I was delighted to find that I had a strand of Kamoe-Clay Polymer Clay lentils with just the perfect design and colours to help me out with the piece in mind - smooth, highly-glossed and perfectly colourful with white and shaded pink flowers ... how perfect is that !

After adding a topping of pink gemmies like shaded Tourmalines & Rose Quartz to the Clay lentil, and a hanging cluster of green Peridot & Vesuvianite Rondelles + faceted pink Beryl briolettes, it really did look pretty, especially with more white accents in the form of freshwater and a couple of 8mm swarovski glass pearls along an etched pewter chain of 16", with an extension chain of up to 18".

14K goldfill and Vermeil elements and accents.
U.S. etched pewter chain.

~ you may double-dlick on montage for a larger pix ~

LILLYBETH Necklace

Karin's Polymer Clay Heart here, looks very much like either a beautifully painted porcelain vase from a romantic era, or a lovely wrapping paper bouquet sleeve to hold this pretty floral arrangement of carved Shell Flowers, Garnet, Rose Garnet & Citrine Rondelles, Labradorite Brio. and a beautiful Ruby for that dash of colour.
Trailing etched chains complete this Spring-looking floral sweetie, which is snuggled prettily between similar etched chains lightly sprinkled with smooth pink Tourmalines and a blue-flash Labradorite coin.

Delicate, girly, feminine & flirty ..... that's LILLYBETH.

~ you may double-dlick on montage for a larger pix ~

LILLYBETH Earrings below match this pendant.

Karin's Clay for (2010) Xmas gifts .....

The past 1-1/2 years or so have been pretty unproductive for me on the handcrafted side with so much of my time devoted to Tania's rehab. after her numerous operations.

During this time, of course, I've been hoarding Karin's clay beads, but managed to make a few pieces for Xmas. Friends and relatives who flew in for the Season, who had never seen Karin's gorgeous beads before, instantly fell in love with them and snapped them up for gifts.

With Karin's well-thought out colours, swirls, twirls and silver dust, not much additional enhancements were needed as their beauty speak for themselves. In all humility, I have to say that Belinda has done much more justice to these clay pretties than me (yes Madame Belinda ... I am your very ardent admirer ... heh heh) .... but there's nothing like people from other countries enjoying these clay beauties with fresh eyes. Haven't uploaded photos of a couple of other pieces, but will try to soon.
I hope this will make Karin very happy, and I have a few more orders for more pieces :) Thank you Karin !

- Carved Amethyst Leaves
- Freshwater Pearls
- 925 Silverdust drops/Onyx Rondelles
- Smooth Carnelian briolettes


All accents are 925 Silver, 14K Gold-filled.

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)

FRAN - Custom

In FRAN, all the stones used here are Fluorite, which is a huge fave of mine because of its rich bouquet of brilliant natural colours ranging from deep purple to greens and blues plus its glassy lustre, which is just so magical.

Its range of colours worked so well in this necklace, using them in the various shapes of faceted rondelles, smooth coins and the loveliest lily-pad ones (abt. 2 cm dia.), which are solid and puffy, and cut on both sides.

A Dragonfly (Thai Hilltribe Silver) hovering around the lily-pads playfully adds whimsy to this piece, and the layers of textured chains look like little ripples of water in a serene pond. Measures 30 in., and closes with a lobster clasp.

(Not a good day for photography, as its starting to drizzle, and this is the best I could do with this pix).

GAEL - Custom Order

Vintage brass chains, brown mother-of-pearl & white shell donuts, gold textured links and large Leaf Charm make up this long chain for a birthday gift. Beautiful Smooth Yellow Jade Ovals add flair & zing, as well little dollops of the Orient to this piece.
Returning to N.Z. tomorrow, I chose honey and rock sugar tones to match her blonde-hair, and this spunky, funky mom of a grown up daughter will certainly remember her birthday just celebrated here. HAPPY BIRTHDAY GAEL ! xoxo

la mia piccola farfalla

la mia piccola farfalla

" My Little Butterfly" - that's what I've always called her.

Now that's she's not so little anymore, with bittersweet feelings our butterfly has flown off to Uni., but then, on a lighter note, I am blessed to have Tania around to keep me busy.

I made this necklace way back in May, and here we have plump 12mm Ruby Quartz faceted rondelles with all natural brass accents, large filigreed butterfly & lovely freshwater pearls.

Modelled choker-style here, it can be lenghtened with the extension for versatility.

Silver Pods Necklace

Remember the Balsam plants most of us had growing in our gardens and also in School? We had so much fun poking their ripened seed pods and watching them split open explosively, scattering their cute dark seeds everywhere.

These lovely Silver Artisan Hand-Coiled "Pods", in fine 925 silver transported me back to my fun childhood days when making this necklace, and I've added deep burgundy faceted Garnet rondelles reminiscent of the seeds, and sprinklings of creamy freshwater pearls along multiple silver chains.
A sweet, under-stated piece, that closes behind with a toggle clasp.
Made this necklace way back in May, and with everything that's going on here, was lucky enough to get my little model to help me out with this pix before she SIN left for her studies.

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

TRINA Pendant - Custom Order

This was a request from the special lady who got the 'TRINA' ear-rings from me last June, for a matching pendant, but a little more on the "plumperlicious" side.

A slightly bigger, but similar faceted soft minty green Prehnite briolette is topped with a lovely cluster of shaded pink Sapphires, shaded Tourmalines in Greens and Pinks/ Burgundy, Carnelians and Moonstone Rondelles.

14K Goldfill wire & accents throughout.

Just nice for this sweet and petite lady !

DAPHNE - Custom Order

A custom order for someone who wanted a sweet, simple necklace in soft colours for a demure lady.

This necklace features a carved Rose Quartz Butterfly (wing-span slightly over 2cm) in soft pink, atop of which sits a cluster of faceted multi-coloured tourmaline stones and an etched silver ring. These hang from a 925 silver chain with marquis shaped links, 15-1/2" but adjustable to about 17" or so; a tassel of fine-linked silver chains with little rice fresh water pearls complete the look.

All accents here are 925 silver.