ONE JOB DONE NOW THE NEXT!

Happy December everyone!

So glad I'm finally done with listing all of my vintage jewellery stock for the year, it was almost non-stop since Oct, besides doing a few illustrations. The photo above shows the highlight of my US trip finds, carded earrings unworn stock dated 1955 (yep a big pile!) and many sets which I was reluctant to part with! If you're interested they are available in my blogshop. The newspapers have been reporting about the increase of online shopping worldwide so hopefully that will create some awareness and remind people to try out online shops.

Anyhow gearing up for 2011's big event which is Chinese New Year with more jewellery waiting to be shipped, meanwhile for Dec I shall focus on making as many artworks as possible. Full of ideas but when not getting to them quick enough they flutter away especially when my notebook is not with me at the moment!

How's your december & Christmas sales doing?

'PSYCHEDELIC BERRIES' PAINTING

'Psychedelic Berries'

Acrylic painting on canvas. I had a hard time doing the trees because after everything was done I decided to add in the shadows and since they were made in layers based on colour, it was just confusion amongst the twigs pretty much lol.

If you are interested in purchasing any of the 5 paintings I've talked about recently (featured in the Bird & Bear gallery art show) you can cash-and-carry in person at their store or buy it online here: http://bearandbird.mybisi.com/products/current-exhibition-ss4
Ends 8 Jan 2011. I am currently planning more paintings but in smaller sizes, just too much things to do at the moment with Christmas approaching!

'POOL HAT' PAINTING

'Pool Hat'

Acrylic on canvas, so instead of a pill box hat you have a pool hat! My original title was 'Pill Box Pool'... can't remember why I dropped that title for 'Pool Hat'. The sketch was done in Singapore a day before I flew so yes lugging my materials to California was not fun (smelly varnish leaked but under 3 layers of ziplock bags). The painting was completed there on-off in 2 weeks; the lighting in the room was dark and yellow so I'm glad that the actual colours came out the way it should be. 60s-style! The top of the hat has little checkered details if you look closely =)

'MELODY'S WORLD' RUBBER STAMPS RELEASE

Ooh ok I'm excited about this, I have a new range of rubber stamps at Crafts & Me online shop:
http://www.craftsandme.co.uk

Look for them under the new products page. The 'Melody's World' series are inspired by Sixties fashion, so far there are five designs ready for pre-order. Above is an example of how you can customise the stamp for greeting cards, this regal Christmas card is created by Vix; splendid job there, and a classy interpretation! The stamp used is 'Flapper Girl Melody', she is the only flapper style in the series, and versatile enough to be used for various occasions. She originally belonged to one of my ACEO illustrations created under a fashion era series. You can read more on Vix's crafting process at the Crafts and Me blog here.

Second is this beautiful creation by Amy using the 'Gift Melody' stamp, the greeting card also doubles as a gift-card holder which is a really clever idea! Melody is elegantly dressed for her 60s cocktail Christmas party. Read about how Amy created the card here!

Receive a 10% discount on the first week 23-30th Nov pre-order just by signing up for their newsletter on the website!

ANTIQUE MALL FINDS!

In my last post I was talking about yellow-blue colour combinations and here's an antique tea cup found in an antique mall in California! Love everything about it - the matte porcelain on the outside, gloss on the inside, the hand-painted trimmings, the GOLD and the art deco lines. In case you thought this was an impulse buy, I mulled over it for days even dreamt about it and bought it on my third visit to the shop. Thank you to the vendor who offered this for sale at a bargain (and all your other stuff). I love art deco.

Next is this vintage Incolay jewelry box for my mother. It's heavy, beautifully carved and grand-looking. Grecian-style lady with a cherubim on her shoulders. Price-wise is a no brainer, I didn't hesitate at all.

Last is this glass jewellery box, it has a handmade artisan feel, because it isn't plated or super fancy. Nice and plain the way I like it. It's now used to house a portion of my vintage jewellery collection; the main reason why I bought it is because glass and stone are the only things that last in this humidity. And since my collection are all chunky, the simple open interior is perfect.