Saturday, May 12, 2012

New collection - Egyptian Treasure | Go to post ➜

Hello!

Just posted the new collection over on the ValkyrieCouture Facebook :D

All inspired by Egyptian symbols/mythology. I love them all, mostly because I'm a sucker for Egyptian things. I have a pretty blue and gold scarab paperweight on my desk that I've been staring at over the few weeks that it's taken to finish all these..

Anyway. Two of these designs have already sold out, I've ordered supplies to restock them but shipping to where I live takes a really long time. =| Check out what's still available over on the ValkyrieCouture store on Etsy :D Other than the new stuff, I'm also working on restocking all the items in the shop that have sold out.. the worst part for me, because I'm lazy and don't like making designs I've already done over several times. Making new things = fun! Making old things over and over again...not so fun. But sales have been picking up recently so I just tell myself to stop whining and get to work.

I've also recently gotten addicted to the Avatar series, whooshed through two seasons in as many days, which obviously isn't good for getting things done, because I sit there with my tools all laid out and end up with nothing done after 3 episodes... It's a lovely show, though!

♥ Jasmyn

12:29 PM

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Etsy Shops now open! | Go to post ➜

Hello! ♥

I'm glad to announce I'm finally off hiatus and both my Etsy shops are now open!

Sodacrush: [link]
ValkyrieCouture: [link]

And all of these new designs are for sale (Click image to go to the Etsy listing):

Fullviews of the cover photos for this collection, you can see over on FB: [link]

Because I've been on hiatus for a long, long time, I have a lot of things to say so feel free to tl;dr-

I think from now on I might do collections this way instead of dumping every single picture of the item onto FB, I'll make up a set of cover pictures for every new collection. :) Although I love doing jewelry along a certain theme, I'm also wondering if it's a good idea to make 5-6 items on a certain theme when there won't be demand or interest in it. But we'll see how that goes :)

I've also (finally) gotten around to doing my my profile page on DeviantArt, so... I'm really happy with how it looks now. :D After being buried in books for so long, it's really, really nice to fiddle around with... everything, really, from jewelry to html. Speaking of html.. I'm currently still using the classic blogger html editor because I'm a bit of a control freak and like things exactly where I want them to be. Tried out the Template Designer and spent a few hours swearing at the ..gadgets and things before I gave up and reinstalled the old code. Ugh. It's pretty much the same situation over on DA, the system of widgets and dragging things around isn't bad, but I still think everything looks much prettier when it's customized. Not that I'm anywhere near proficient at html, I only realized today that the "follow" button on my blog hasn't been working. It's fixed now~ :D

I'm so glad school's over! Exams were tough~ I'm not even going to think about school until next semester. Unfortunately I've already been told that certain exam scripts are ready to be collected from school, so I could actually get my results now...but I really don't want to.

Anyway -  as for commissions, I'm working through them already! Please be patient with me, I have something like 15 people on the list.. I feel like I'm gasping for breath catching up with commissions until I have no time for making any new designs or even restocking my shop! ~whew~ (Not complaining, though. It's a mad rush but I love it at the same time.) Yes, commissions are still open for now. I go back to school in August, so there's a long while yet. :D Here's one of the commissions I just finished:

A lovely set in silver&black, for a wedding. Best wishes to the happy couple! If you're interested in a commission, drop me an email at sodacrush@gmail.com.

Also, I'm probably going to do my next giveaway soon, either as a kiriban or blog giveaway, right now the votes for both are really close.. if it stays this way I might, uhm, do 2 giveaways? With one prize to the person who catches the pageview kiriban, and another prize to a random winner from the list of people who enter the blog giveaway. So yup, exciting things coming up. :D

♥Jasmyn

Labels: available, commission, filigree, handmade, necklace, pendant, sold, ValkyrieCouture

5:02 AM

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Packaging + Commssion Key Pendant | Go to post ➜

Hello!

Few quick shots of packaging and things.. I change the way I package things all the time because I want to try out new things. Don't worry, the items will always be well-protected and beautifully packed! :)


I don't usually wrap the gift boxes and label them, but sometimes orders pile up or people order more than one item.. I label them so they don't have to unpack everything to sort it out, in case they're meant as gifts or something.

And lastly, here's a commission I've just wrapped up and sent:


The request was for a key pendant based off my Valkyrie pendant, it was a birthday gift for a lucky girl turning 21. In Chinese tradition you get a key on your 21st birthday. :) I always asked my mum for a car key -coughhintcough- and she would say,

Cannnn, you take my car key. You drive me. -Singlish accent-

Sigh.


Anyway. This piece turned out to be really popular, and made it to the front page on DeviantArt. I'm new enough to this that fame of any sort still excites me, and I'm really grateful for all the comments and favourites, because I wouldn't be anything without all my lovely supporters ♥ You don't even need to buy anything, but I still recognise the ones who take the time to comment on my new pieces, and I appreciate all of you from the bottom of my heart ♥

Jasmyn

Labels: packaging, pendant

9:27 AM

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Workspace + Steampunk Key Necklaces | Go to post ➜

So I get questions about -studio space- and suchlike, and I never know how to reply because I barely have a desk, let alone a studio. Context: Singaporean house. I'm 19 and I don't even have my own room. Anyway. This is what my table looks like on a normal day...

Yes. This probably explains why I may or may not be flunking school this semester. And yes, that is my keyboard shoved out of the way behind the pile of pliers. So no, I have absolutely no system for organising and storing things. Mostly they end up staying in the bag/box they came in. And accumulating in dangerous piles under the table.

...To make up for that hellish mess of a picture, here are some new steampunk keys I made today :) I had a packet of beautiful blue Swarovskis lying around, and so they ended up with a blue-gold colour scheme and a sort of supernova theme.


I work with music on all the time, mostly fantastically trashy boybands or soaring instrumentals, depending on my mood. Although I listen to really anything, so the songs/lyrics that went into these are:

It's like an explosion everytime I hold you;
I wasn't joking when I told you
You take my breath away;
You're a supernova.
-Space Bound, Eminem


The Keys to the vaults of heaven
May be heavy or lighter than air
...
We've got to find the keys

The nights have been growing darker
They're darker now than sin
We'll open the vaults of heaven
The treasures are there within
-Vaults of Heaven, Andrew Lloyd Webber

...these are the ones that stuck in my head, anyway.

♥Jasmyn

Labels: handmade, necklace, sodacrush, WIP, wire wrapped

9:19 AM

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

New wire-wrapped pendants + packaging | Go to post ➜

Hello♥

Here are some lovely new wire-wrapped pendants I just uploaded to Sodacrush:


I really miss making jewelry! It's difficult to find time with school and all, and I'm actually running myself ragged just keeping up with orders sometimes. I confess it's terribly distracting, and I skip classes to go supply-shopping or compose emails instead of essays in my head at night...

Bad student-ing aside, here's a quick shot of some packaging for two items I sent out yesterday ;)


♥Jasmyn

Labels: available, necklace, pendant, sodacrush, wire wrapped

11:34 AM

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Freebies with every purchase | Go to post ➜

Hello!

For once, I'm not about to torment everyone with pictures of WIPs. ;) Recently I decided to include a few little freebies with every purchase at both my Etsy stores, so here are a few shots of some of the things I'm including (at random). They're just sweet little things that I hope will make you smile :)

Keychains

Handstamped stickers

Star Paper

Star paper is for making Wishing Stars, which is for some reason a really big thing for children in Singapore. Every stationary shop here sells about a hundred kinds of star paper, and similar to the Japanese concept of Senbazuru - folding 1000 origami cranes to grant your wish - some people fill up jars with these tiny paper stars. Sometimes people write wishes or quotes on the inside of the paper before folding it, and make 'Dream Jars' or 'Wish Jars' or 'Love Jars' - I know someone who did this for her anniversary and gave her boyfriend a star-filled jar containing a '1000 reasons why I love you'.

The quote written up there is a rough translation of this quote:

“If I had a flower for every time I thought of you...I could walk through my garden forever.”
― Alfred Tennyson

♥Jasmyn

8:39 AM

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Sodacrush Update - Reopened with a new look! | Go to post ➜

Just a quick update on my shop, Sodacrush - I'm reopening it and slowly overhauling its image. I've cut it down from over 90 listings to only a handful, and will slowly rebuild it as and when I have time to take new pictures and upload them.

A trip down memory lane - this is from an interview I did for a team promo on Etsy in June'11:

The name Sodacrush actually came from when I was a lovestruck teenager - You know when you get a crush on someone, and your insides just fizz with happiness? That's what I wanted people to feel like when they looked at my jewelry, joyful and in love. I love working in wire because of how expressive and free it looks, which explains why so many of my pieces are heart-themed and done in wire.

Half a year on and I'm a full-time college student with pretty much no free time on hand, so I've decided to stop wire-wrapping indefinitely. A different kind of darling is going into Sodacrush, now - here's some of the pretty things already up for sale:

Belle fleur by Sodacrush on Etsy

Vintage Romance by Sodacrush on Etsy

Love by Sodacrush on Etsy

No more wire, but still plenty of love ♥

And, of course, no post is complete without a shot of my workdesk:



A bunch of earrings and a two new pendants, will be up for sale (eventually). And one final picture for today - a shot of a page in my journal. Quote is from Wide Sargasso Sea, by Jean Rhys



♥Jasmyn

2:09 AM