As seen on CNNGO.com

Was just seriously so busy over the last week that I forgot to blog about a writeup on CNNGO.com

Link to article here: http://www.cnngo.com/hong-kong/none/ultimate-hong-kong-crafts-guide-759391

I'm extremely flattered!

Soho Carnival, Hong Kong, 7th and 8th November

I have FINALLY bitten the bullet and set up a Facebook fan page for Bejewelled Bespoke Designs. I am trying to really get my act together this month (also my busiest month!) but I have discovered that the more pressured I am, the more I seem to achieve.

Anyway, please take a look at the Bejewelled Bespoke Designs Facebook fan page, and if you like what you see - do become a fan! http://www.facebook.com/BejewelledBespoke

Now...this post is really about my first really big craft show last weekend. I had an absolute blast despite the following things:

1. I underestimated completely how many items I should have for sale and almost sold out of everything I had in my inventory on the first day. (It's a GREAT thing to sell out of almost all your stock, but I was honestly worried about the second).

2. I ran out of about 300 business cards in a few hours. (Writing your name on random pieces of paper was no fun..not after the 100th time)

3. I had no backup plan for rain. (Bin bags saved my life)

4. On the second day, I forgot - a mirror, the price list, and my packaging. (Disaster!)

I cannot stress how important it is to:

1. BE PREPARED - Everything should be on hand, especially if you're doing a 2 day craft show and you're exhausted after the second day, such that you can grab and go.

2. CHECK THE WEATHER FORECAST & CHECK AGAIN ON THE DAY - You never know. The weather can be totally unpredictable.

3. BRING A FRIEND - I was all alone at my stall and was swamped with constant crowds of people most the time, and had periods where friends dropped by and thankfully felt sorry enough for me to help out. I wholeheartedly would have dropped dead without them. Even the random Vitamin water, sandwich and coffee helped.
4. SLEEP - That way, you're on the ball. I spent the week before sleeping 3 hours a day preparing for the show, and then after the first night as much as I wanted to sleep, I had to stay up to make more pieces as I had sold out of 80% of my stock and had nothing for the second day. needless to say, I forgot a bunch of things and was even more flustered.

That said, I am overwhelmed with the response I had about my designs and am really excited about the way forward for Bejewelled Bespoke.

You can check out the photos of my stall

woohoo!

5 gift guides?!

Featured on WHATDesigners.com

My Madame Butterfly necklace was recently featured in the WHATDesigners.com mini guide for long layering necklaces!

Watch this space for more press - I was recently interviewed in Hong Kong's The List magazine and have not gotten around to scanning the interview to post up on my blog. I wholeheartedly appreciate all this attention and compliments that I receive from customers, bloggers, media, etc - it is the compliments and encouragement that really contribute to driving me on to create and design on a daily basis...however hard it is when coupled with a full time job.

Save the dates (if you're in Hong Kong!):

7th/8th November: Soho Street Festival, 12-9pm, Soho (Elgin, Wellington, Peel, Staunton Streets), Central.

28th/29th November: Random Art Workshop Christmas Fair (details at the RAW website http://www.randomartworkshop.com)

A huge shout-out to everyone who has featured Bejewelled Bespoke in the last month!

Just want to say a quick thank you to all those who were sweet enoughto feature me in all the write-ups I have received over the last month.

From the girls at SassyHongKong : The Secret is Out - Bejewelled Bespoke featuring La Fleur - A Lace Necklace and A Night at the Oscars Necklace

The FoundHandMade.com Blog: Fall Brown (Article on September 12, 2009) - featuring the Rose Garden Under the Stars necklace

The lovely Samantha of PrettyLovelyThings: I need I want I love
(I love what she's done to my photo of the A Night at the Oscars necklace!)

Mary of the Etsy Blog/The Storque: Etsy Finds- Free Worldwide Shipping Deals - featuring the Tulle Rosette Bib necklace from my Bridal collection

And recent Etsy Front Page features (once again thank you Etsy Admin!)

[Images courtesy of Bejewelled Bespoke, PrettyLovelyThings, FoundHandmade and from Etsy]

The most amazing piece I've seen in awhile

A newcomer to Etsy, caybeth, made this unique and truly amazing piece of jewellery I have seen in awhile. I fell in absolute love with the complexity and intricate detail that she must have spent hours and hours on, that I was compelled to blog about it. Each bead has been painstakingly stitched on by her, and since starting work on my Autumn/Winter 2009-2010 collection (which is yet to be released on Etsy), I can totally relate. And I thought my rosette necklaces were hard work!

The piece de resistance of this work of art is the rare Miriam Haskell peacock brooch that Karen (caybeth) has used. I.LOVE.MIRIAM.HASKELL. I adore feathers, peacocks, gold, complexity, huge statement necklaces...and my god (sorry I can't stop raving!) this piece deserves recognition in an art gallery!

At $495, in my opinion, it's a steal for a rare vintage brooch and HOURS of insanely hard work. A mass produced designer bag costs alot more than this handmade beauty.

http://caybeth.etsy.com is definitely one to watch on Etsy. Keep up the awesome work!

A Weekend in Manila

There is one thing every girl needs to know about Manila. Well, every girl living in Hong Kong that is. A fantastic hair cut and colour, AND the return plane ticket (yes, including taxes!) cost about the same for a decent hair cut and colour in Hong Kong. Minus the dread in your heart that every second sitting in that chair hoping that the Hong Kong hairdresser cutting your doesn't flip that pair of scissors around and start razoring it.

So start booking that flight! As for hotels? A night will set you back less than $50 USD at a brand name hotel. And if you're lucky, like we were, you get upgraded.

Run, don't walk!

For everyone else...here's my selection of photos from my weekend in Manila. I apologise in advance that there aren't as many as my camera died halfway through the trip. Lesson learnt - charge thy camera battery before you leave!

First things first. I went shopping. Right smack in the centre of Makati City (Manila is made up of several cities, and Makati is one of them)..is a collection of shopping malls, each one large enough to make up a suburb, called Greenbelt. There's more than Greenbelt..Landmark for one..and I forget the other names. Basically, the place is huge. You could walk around it for a whole day, get lost, and still need to come back for another day.

In one of the malls, a very eccentric but gorgeous jewelry shop window display caught my eye. Each piece is placed in a ziplock bag, filled with water and suspended from the ceiling. Of course, I walked in. Then I walked out with a very amazing bracelet that set me back too much money. As a jewelry designer myself, I'm a sucker for jewelry. And I just can't help supporting other designers.....a good thing for them, a not so good thing for my wallet! Joyce Orena is the name of this particular designer. If you love statement jewelry....you will be leaving a trail of drool in her store.

M Cafe is a restaurant by day, bar at night..with an outdoor DJ, great sounds and wonderful people at the Greenbelt "suburb" of shopping malls. I love the lamps hanging from the large tree just outside that I had to climb up to take a proper shot at what I would love my garden party to look like - if I had a garden, and if I were to hold a party at home (two things that are virtually impossible for the struggling artist in HK). lol.

My favourite dish - Adobo. It's grilled or roasted pork spare ribs in some garlic infusion and black sauce. I am terrible at descriptions. Whatever. It was wonderful. I ate the entire thing. I wanted more. Find it at Fely J's at Greenbelt.

A random sign along the highway. The Filipino people are highly religious and most are Catholics. In the middle of the drab, car smoke and industrial buildings, this really stood out. We should have a similar sign in Hong Kong...with different words, ie: "Don't be rude".

I thought Greenbelt was huge. The Mall of Asia is the mother of all malls. I didn't finish walking around it despite spending more than half a day there. It was also where I got my fabulous haircut and colour for a mere HKD$300 ( ~USD $40). The lady at Mary Pauline's listened to my every word and it looked perfect. Did I mention manicures are basically free at USD$2-3?

The boulevard by the sea just outside the Mall of Asia....there is just so much space!
During the evenings and late into the night, this boulevard is transformed into a strip of restaurants, bars and clubs. We were there til 7am in the morning partying it up at a new club called LAX. I was a little intoxicated. I thought it best that I not have my camera on me..lest I lose it. Psst..drinks were USD$8 a pop.

Jeepneys are an institution in Manila. They're a mode of public transports. When the Americans left, a savvy local businessman turned unwanted military jeeps into public transport. By allowing the jeepney owner to decorate his jeepyney accordingly, the result are the many of these colourful vehicles can be found around Manila. It's spawned other "copy cat" modes of transport - converted vans for example.

A boy taking a break from a hard day's work.

My favourite jeepney decoration - horses!

Hop on, hop off...doesn't matter whether the jeep is moving or not! Payment is made by getting fellow passengers to pass the fare to the driver at the front. Sometimes, a driver may have a helper assisting in collecting fare money.

I'll be back Manila...with a charged camera...and hopefully for a longer stay so that I can visit the outlying islands..Bohol..Boracay...the list goes on!