Heart Gems Jewellery

 

My first thought was to macrame a bracelet using the threads that come with the heart gems. It's cute but a little too out-dated and not exactly my mother's style. So I made necklaces instead.

Mini Chinese Knots

More chinese knot ornaments. Since I have already started, I decided to finish up the lot. These here are miniature chinese knots pre-made by machine and were FOC. so I added some nanjing agate and my last evil eye thingy. Probably will be using these in place of bows for presents. The pink one is my favourite.

Jewel of the Heart

I can't walk away from these low priced blind/mystery packets of toys. I already have a collection of rement miniatures and realize that this concept has extended itself beyond the boundaries of the Japanese market to reach the International masses in the form of Lego, Marvel and now local Megcorp makes these Gogo monsters and Jewel Hearts.

 

To boost sales, there are contests where you can win cash or diamond pendants. The Gogos - these little rubber monsters, contest has closed as of 31 May 2012. But, the Jewel of the Heart contest is still on until end of this month, 30 April 2012, 2 more days to go.

 

 

With Mother's Day round the corner, I figure I might as well try my luck since each packet costs about as much as a 4D ticket. If I don't win the contest, I can still make the gem hearts into a casual bracelet for mom (*separate post on that).

 

 

It's almost completely sold out everywhere. But, I did manage to find an entire stack of boxes at Kiddy Palace. 1 box contains 12 packets. Once the contest date passes, I guess it won't really be worth it.

 

It's pretty cute, the package comes with instruction pamphlet, string and a bath fizzy heart which really makes more bubbles and dissolves cleanly, spewing heart confetti as it dissolves.

After the bubbles clear, you fish around the bowl to find a tiny heart shaped gemstone. There are 12 different kinds that you string up to wear as a pendant or bracelet.

You can guess the gemstone from the colour of the thread that comes in the packet. Green thread to green aventurine gem, pink thread to rose quartz and so on.

 

Sad to say, I didn't win a diamond pendant. But, it was fun and I saved a few packets for my mom, niece and sister to open. Maybe they'll have better luck than me.

 

 

If you are thinking of bathing with one of these, think again. The confetti hearts are pretty sharp and can scratch bare skin. Be careful :)

Potpourri Candle

Making an embedded candle today with potpourri. Instead of sticking the potpourri on the outside of the candle and redipping to seal it in, I have chosen to spread a little candle wax around the mould and stick the potpourri on from the inside as the flowers have a rotund shape instead of the usual linear.

Ever notice how candles always cool away from the center creating a well? This has nothing to do with ideal pouring temperature, if you try to pour in cooler wax, you get a smaller well but there will also be visible lines to show the layers. I usually take the extra step of pouring more wax into the wells to cover it up.

Shark Meat

On to another strange large creature meat for food.

I am not against sharks fins per se, only that the fishermen consume/sell the entire creature instead of cutting off the fins and tossing the rest of the shark back out into the sea. 

My mom bought us some shark's meat from NTUC to try, it's quite cheap and stirred up a bit of a storm on Stomp.com.sg. Tastes like a cross between meaty fish and stingray.

I know there is a stall in Tiong Bahru Food Centre that sells shark meat Lor Mee, if you want to try it out.

Lamb Shank Briyani

Lamb shank just brings mutton curry to a whole other level. Best to leave the bone in for presentation. Most places remove the bones to make the soup stock so you don't really get to see it often.

I am partial to marrow, a very trendy side dish these days. But I always find dining more interesting when the cook dishes out my kambing soup or briyani with a big bone, kinda like a giant drumstick.

Bvlgari

I recently purchased toiletries from Bulgari for my family to use and we all love the wonderfully perfumed products.

This is one of those understated luxury brands that isn't mentioned as frequently as others but you see people wearing the ubiquitous B.Zero1 range of necklaces and rings. One of their more affordable designs ($1,500 - $8,000) depending on how many diamonds there are as well as limited edition variations. For the socially conscious, Bulgari launched a Save the Children charity collection in 2010 that retails for under $1,000.

The classic Serpenti watch starts from $7,000 and comes in stainless steel to 1-of-a-kind jewellery masterpieces. Instantly recognizable, it's a modern take on a classic art nouveau design. Girls, we need to save up for this one, because the more money it costs, the more beautiful it gets. Although most lucky people would probably get the gold version below that can also be worn daily. 

In case you haven't already noticed, Bulgari is known for their stunning cabochon statement jewellery in lots of fun colours. The necklace below would normally be sold at an auction. However, you can walk in to any Bulgari boutique to purchase a less elaborate piece of jewellery of similar design ($2,500 - $25,000).

For the ultra-luxe seekers, this brand is also known to carry bejewelled gemstone accessories like sunglasses and bags to complete the look. Prices starting from $350 for a plain gold frame, all the way to $130,000 for a custom pair of shades.

Stuffed Beancurd Skin

One of my favourite local snacks, there seems to be fewer places selling this nowadays. It's also recommended by health food authorities as its another way to fill up on your daily intake of veges.

It's deep fried beancurd skin (tau pok) stuffed with various fresh vegetables and drizzled with a rojak-like sauce. The place I had it at just layered the ingredients into a salad whereas traditionally, the vegetables are stuffed into the beancurd skin so you can pick it up like a sandwich.

Jade Chinese Knot

I have this gorgeous jade carving of sparrows and grapes that is too big to be made into a pendant, I think its actually meant to be made into an ornament like this. Classic chinese home decor item.

You can use your own piece of jade or wood carving to make this:

Grey coloured thread purchased from Ebay   $3.80

Copper hoop purchased from Art Friend   $1.50

Green Silk Tassle from broken curtain ties, original price $49.90

I adore butterfly knots above all others, so sweet and feminine. Not suitable for guys though.

Brandon & Benji's Birthday

The 2 boys had separate birthdays this year, maybe because they are growing up and need some space. Anyway, I already wrapped their present together, it's collector edition robots with signed comic books. Got it from Comic Convention.

First up, it's brandon's cake that he decorated with Warhammer figurines, between my brother and him they have almost the entire collection. It's like the game Risk but with realistic miniature figurines that you paint instead of plastic numerals.

And that lamp behind him is almost fully shredded. The work of Jerry? his blue pudding hamster.

Benjamin's gluten free cake made by his mom. Something different and still quite delicious. I heard her mention brown rice flour.

Sophie is soo cute! aawww.....

Ikea Candle Haul

Ikea is the best and last word in small furnishings, utensils and all other knick knacks for the home. All the things the neighbourhood store sells only with a scandinavian flair. Also my favourite resource for candles.

Since my candle supply is dwindling and my beeswax candles have yet to arrive from the artisan I bought them from, I exchanged some of my credit card points for Ikea vouchers to use on this trip.

Total bill was less than $50. Not bad for intensely scented well made candles, there's no competition at these prices.

I got 36 Green Apple scented tealights, 12 Vanilla & Cream scented large tealights, 3 Pomegranate scented block candles, 3 Pastry Dessert scented candles and 1 XL Cinnamon and Apple glass candle.

Hunting season is on at Ikea, moose shaped pasta and cookie cutters.

Lego

Lots of specialty stores carrying Lego specific toys even though it's widely available in toy shops and departmental stores. I guess that attests to its popularity and appeal to all ages.

While you can't go wrong with any of its ready made lines for children or limited edition Star Wars sets for fans. It's the basic building blocks that appeal to the artist in us.

For these one of a kind sculptures, you will need both skill and money. Lego artists frequently sell their creations for thousands of dollars, one of Nathan Sawaya's life-sized lego sculpture in your likeness will set you back $78,000 or settle for one of Sean Kenney's custom Lego portraits at $2,200.

 

To create that leopard above you will need 6 boxes of loose lego bricks at $88 each or $528, instructional book sold separately.

Price aside, these modern works of art will look great in your hall or kid's room.

I have been thinking about my lego sculpture for a while. Can't decide what I want to express, something serious, cartoony or just make pragmatic furniture.

This doesn't look too difficult to make.

Phone Camera App

Trying out some free apps for the phone camera during Sunday brunch.

Apart from the usual sepia and overexposed effects, there are also cartoonify (like these photos) and oil painting.

On top of these effects, you can add lenses like fish eye or warp to create funny magic mirror like images.