Arte Y Pico Award

Today my blog received Arte Y Pico Award from Marika of Marika's Artisan Handcrafted Silver Jewelry. Thank you Marika. I am so honoured by this award. Next, I need to pick 5 blogs to pass this award to. If I have the choice, there are more than five blogs that I would like to pass this award to but the rules says only pick 5, so here goes. The rules for passing the award on are (you can copy&paste): 1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogging community, no matter of language. 2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone. 3. Each award-winning has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself. 4. Award-winning and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y pico" blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award. 5 Show these rules. So I've decided to pass this award onto these following 5 blogs: 

1. Deryn Mentock of Something Sublime 
2. Szarka of Ask Szarka 
3. Abby's Abstraction 
4. Pearl of Beading Gem's Journal 
5. Clare of All About Jewellery Making

My Dream of Becoming a Jewellery Maker

Well, I should have posted earlier but my internet access at home was not so good for the last few nights. And now its lunch time so I steal some time to tell you what happened yesterday.

First of all, I thought my dream is really turning into reality when I saw a position vacant for a Jewellery Maker in the paper last Friday. Interesting right? Without wasting time, I called the number and arranged for the interview. The voice on the other side said that it is ok if I don't have the qualification as training will be provided and I can bring some of my pieces as proof of my creativity or ability in making jewelry....No problem there.

Packed all my pretties (remaining ones) and yesterday, at 2pm I showed up at the place for interview. Nice place and jewellery on display and for sale. Salivating already...:). I introduced myself and apologize that I didn't bring my resume as it will be irrelevant with the post I am interested with....yeah! an environmental management and social study background wouldn't help me in this application...I think...hoho. And it was proven when I showed him my pretties. To make the story short, after some chit chatting (yeah the interview is very informal), I am hired on the spot! WOW! What a great feeling...feels like jumping up and down really.

THEN, we came to discussing the wage, a very important part as you know the current economic condition is not that good...fuel price increase, followed by others, etc. etc. at the end of the day, our pay is just enough to pay off loans and other basic necessities of life.

My shocked when I heard what he will be paying/month must have shown very clearly on my face as he did say "By the look on your face, I think you will not accept this offer" (Note: must try to hide my true feelings better next time). Oh well, this is the first time where I am hired on the spot in an interview, so its such a waste that I really really! really! really!need to reconsider the offer. To pursue my dream or........I did not tell him this but what he is offering is just enough to pay for my monthly car loan. So, you can imagine roughly how much it is.

I didn't know jewellery maker is being paid this low (less than RM1000k/month). Maybe its fair as he said, he hires inexperience people and they will provide all the training needed. Do you have any idea how much is a jewellery maker being paid? Leave me a comment...

All in all the interview went smoothly and I am happy to know this young man. He is a gemologist and the owner of the jewellery outlet/s. He is hiring 7 jewellery makers this time around for his business expansion.

Finally last night I decided to decline this offer (must call him tomorrow), although with a heavy heart. I don't think I can survive with that salary. If I don't have to consider the pay, I would have accepted on the spot. But that is life. We need to weigh between reality and dream.

Wire Weaved Cross ala Iza

In my previous post here, I have shown you this piece only partially. If you are a wire wrap jewelry enthusiasts, you may have seen this familiar piece of cross one time or another in the www. Yeah! This is Iza's inspired cross involving lots of wire weaving and long hours. This piece is wire weaved with 29ga stainless steel wire (yeah a bit stiff for weaving) over 19ga stainless steel wire but I am very satisfied with the outcome. Managed to weaved them close and tightly. The stones are peridot. The focal was weaved herringbone style.

What I got from Ikea

Found this vase at Ikea recently. Just nice to take photos of my my wire wrap pieces.

Stones from Hong Kong

Yippi! So happy today as I got these goodies in my mail. They are from my sister. She got them during her recent trip to Hong Kong.

Garnet - flower shaped and round.

Not sure about the light blue stone but the other two are labradorite and jasper

Pearls, I love pearls especially the coin pearls

Cat's Eyes - all perfectly rounded.

Tulip Brooch - Second One

My second tulip brooch was completed today. This time around with some changes, namely the focal bead, leave and the pin (shorter). You can check out the first one here.

Wire Weaving

Spent whole day today weaving wires. Something I have been wanting to make till today...weaving 3 wires together. Weaving with 29ga stainless steel wire is quite manageable. The weaving turned out quite neat and tight.
The first pix is a trial piece while the second pix is the finished piece. Can't show the whole piece yet....:P

More Crosses

Last night was spent finishing up few more crosses for a friend. These are all for handphones or anywhere for that matter as long as you can hang them :)

Oldest Jewelry (Jewellery)

Do you know that the oldest jewelry are between 90k to 100k years old and they are made of shells? Read more at 'Study reveals 'oldest jewellery'. Interesting....

Diamond Eternity Rings

While travelling to a coastal town north of the State last week, I met a lady who has a golden ring on her finger with gemstones all around the ring. Being someone who is very interested with jewelry, I approached her and asked about the ring and later did some searching and reading in the internet.

The ring is known as Eternity Ring and hers is a Diamond Wedding Rings - Eternity Rings. It is really beautiful and after reading what it represents, I am more tempted. The diamond or gemstones themselves go all around the ring band creating thus 'eternity', which symbolizes love for eternity. This means the love of the giver will last for all eternity, it is never-ending as the circle of the ring of diamonds. Other than diamonds, strong gemstones that can withstand daily wear and tear are most suitable for eternity rings. These include Sapphires, Rubies, Tourmalines, Topaz, Amethyst and Citrine. Aquamarines, Emeralds and Opals are too soft to withstand daily wear and tear on an eternity ring. The metals for the band can be anything. The idea in my head now is how I can make an Eternity ring with wires! This way, I can make Eternity rings with my favorite gemstones. Wow! The combinations are endless.

One problem though is that I may be able to make Eternity ring with wire but it may be uncomfortable to wear as with the real eternity ring with metal band. The gemstones or diamond going all around the band may hurt the two side fingers as well as the palm. Yeah! This is very uncomfortable if not well done.

There are varieties of eternity ring styles, from vintage-inspired designs to sleek, modern pieces. The diamonds themselves can be cut in almost any style desired such as princess cut and emerald cut or round cut diamonds. It is personal preferences actually. If you are at Sndgems.com, you may check out Best Diamond Eternity Rings and Best Eternity Rings & Eternity Bands. It is always recommended to make an educated and informed decision with your purchase and it is always a great pleasure to give and receive jewelry especially if it is for "eternity".

Few Pieces Made Today

Today is relax day for me. Spent few hours catching up with sleep this afternoon as I only slept for less than 3 hours last night. Didn't manage to sleep while in the plane this morning and lack of sleep is no good for wire jewelry :) Anyway, here are few pieces made today after my nap. The Swarovski Crystal pendant and earrings (gold filled wires) are commissioned pieces while the two crosses will be for the hand phones. They are Czech fire polished beads.

Off Wires - Bintulu

I started this post about 7pm just now and now it is almost 3am but I am still at the beginning. The story is, I have to send a colleague to the hospital - he has irregular heartbeats. We left about 7.30pm (he was suppose to give a presentation - our boss took over :)) and I only got back about 2.30am. Waited for the doctor for more than 4 hours. By the time the doctor finished with him, she said he has to stay the night at the hospital. As we are to catch the flight back to Kuching tomorrow morning at 9:00 am, my friend has to miss the flight. What to do? His things is in the hotel and its 1:00 am in the morning. So, I drove back alone! to the hotel to fetch his bag. The scariest drive in my life after hearing stories of 'extra passengers' along that stretch of road.....huhu! Luckily boss accompany me on the way back to hospital again.
Thank God 'H' is fine and someone will be looking after him tomorrow morning.
Its late and I better get some sleep. Before that, here are pix of Bintulu taken early this evening from my hotel room.

Done! Tulip Brooch

This brooch took the longest time to make. The frame for this brooch was shown in my previous post here, picture right at the bottom. This is a custom made piece. The design for this piece was sketched by the customer so most of the time was spent figuring out how to wire wrap the design so that they flow and it does not look like a bunch of wire wrapped together.

For the petals and stem, I used 20ga wire while the wrapping is with 28ga stainless steel wire. As for the pin, I used 20ga hard stainless steel wire. The "springy" wire makes it more suitable as pin but it is really tough to bend it.

Wrapped the five petals with 4mm swarovski crystal near the top to hold the focal beads in place. This Brooch measures about 5 cm from top to bottom.

Few to Show Off

The last two days were busy days for me, besides twisting wires of course. Too busy that I forgot to post my latest pieces till tonight. Took the pictures, uploaded and edited them but I was in such a rush that I forgot to post..:). So, here are two pieces done yesterday and one halfway or rather almost done.

Coiled wire ring with Tiger's Eyes (6mm) focal.

Screw Earrings with Japanese Sead Beads - golden brown themed.

TAW is Back

Yeah! The TAW (Twice Around the World) bracelet is back. It has been months since I last made the TAW Bracelet. Soon, it shall be off to its new owner.

Sparkly Golden Earrings

This is a custom order stud earrings. Gold and sparkly goes very well together. Love it. Hope the new owner loves it too! :)

Another Coiled and Wire Heart Earrings

Made them before and making them again. They are custom orders.

My First Wire Brooch/Pin

Yippi! I made my first wire wrapped brooch/pin today! I used an 8mm turquoise bead as the focal and wrap some wire coil around it. For pin, I used 20ga hard stainless steel wire as it is springy although a bit hard to bend :) This will be for my personal collection to match the blouse that it have...hehe!

Most Popular Wire Wrap Piece

So far, this Wire Wrap Sparkly Ring has been my most popular piece. Yesterday and today, I completed 48 pieces in all. Actually they are commissioned pieces requested by a single vendor. Oh well, he has got a wider market as he has his own outlet. I have been making so many of them that I can make about 10 to 12 rings an hour. To those who have purchased my tutorial for this Sparkly Ring, I hope you are making lots of them too. If you are new and would like to find out how to make this ring, check out my tutorial - WB001 Sparkly Crytal Ring at my etsy shop. This tutorial is in PDF format and will be emailed to you once payment is approved.