New Galerie!

I've always not like the old Galerie browsing format but have no idea how to revamp it.

I've spent like ages thinking of how to change the layout and only last week did I finally found the right template and spend the past week putting them together and I'm happy to say that the Galerie now is how I've always wanted it to be! :D

Editing the pictures took the bulk of the time! Some of the pictures might seem overexposed to you but I've been editing, editing, editing and re-editing that I honestly can't be bothered anymore.The odd thing is the same picture seems alright at one time and then underexposed at another and when I checked back again after everything's done, it then appears to be over-exposed! o_O

There is like almost 300 pictures to edit there! Enough to blind my eyes from the hours spent looking into the monitor with don't-know-what-some-kind of energy or wave emiting from the screen.

Okay, maybe I exaggerated the last part a 'lil. :P LOL.....

But hey, I remember my cousin sis bought some kind of .... uuggghh.... I don't even know what it should be call..... ok, thing. Yes, some kinda thing and placed it next to her computer, telling me that that 'thing' purportedly can absorb the harmful radiation (yes! that's the word!) from the computer instead of our body.

*shrugs*

Even a friend of mine who was in confinement was not allowed to switch on the computer for fear of the radiation which will be harmful to the mother's  already weak post pregnancy body.

Okay, this is something that I'll probably need to clarify. I'm not sure if this is only customary with the Chinese tradition or how people from different cultural back grounds do it but a Chinese lady who has just given birth will be under confinement for one month post pregnancy. Confinement means literally confinement where she is confined to the house. Well, you can say it's some sort of a house arrest but completely legal! LOL.....

And the new mother will be very well taken care of during this period. Mostly from her diet, more nutritious food to make up for whatever that was 'lost' during the whole pregnancy esperience. Erm, I'm not sure if I explained it correctly but to put it simply, the body of the mother is weaker now and need to recuperate.

What is customary is to hire a confinement lady during this period who will help with the care of the new born as well as the new mother, making sure that both the new born and new mother is well taken care of because the assumption at this point is that the body of the new mother is still weak.

So, the confinement lady will be in charge of the new mother's diet. Well, normally consisting of food and Chinese herbs which is believed to help with the restoration of the body's energy.

You might be thinking that the mother or in-laws of the new mother could have helped with the care but mind you, these people are deemed the professional. They know better.

Gosh! How did it digress to this?! LOL......

Okay, so that was about the radiation. Anyway, just ignore the last part. What are you waiting for? Go, quick! Check out the Galerie !....and tell me you like it too! =D

 

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TWR035 Dome Ring Tutorial

Learn how to make a dome ring using cube and round beads. You will also learn how to use seed beads to‘frame’ the focal beads of the ring.

Tools & materials used:

• (1) 6mm round bead
• (4) 4mm cube bead
• (4) 3mm round bead
• (8) 3mm Swarovski crystal bicone
• Size 12 seed bead
• Fishing line/Monofilament/Supplemax or equivalent
• Scissors

Number of steps: 25
Page count: 11

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

1. This tutorial is in PDF format and you will require Adobe Acrobat Reader to open them.
2. File size: 593 KB
3. The PDF file will be sent to your email address registered with PayPal within 24 hours or less.

PLEASE DO NOT DISTRIBUTE, LEND OR COPY. DO NOT MASS PRODUCE. PLEASE ALWAYS GIVE CREDIT TO THE DESIGNER. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING DESIGNERS' COPYRIGHT.

nb: Prices may be subjected to change without prior notice.
Malaysian buyers, please contact me by email for quotation in RM and payment by local bank transfer.

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TWR034 Dahlia Ring Tutorial

Learn how to make this white dahlia flower inspired cocktail ring with a chaton montee embedded at the centre. Montée are crystals that come pre-mounted in a metal setting with two stringing directions. In this tutorial, I used Swarovski chaton montee 53200 but you can replace it with any other chaton montees available to you. Apart from a bead shop, another possible place to look for chaton montee is in a sewing shop.

Tools & materials used:

• (1) 4mm Chaton Montee
• (16) 3mm pearl/round bead
• (18) 4mm Swarovski crystal bicone
• Size 11/12 seed bead
• Fishing line/Monofilament/Supplemax or equivalent
• Scissors

Number of steps: 26
Page count: 12

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

1. This tutorial is in PDF format and you will require Adobe Acrobat Reader to open them.
2. File size: 667 KB
3. The PDF file will be sent to your email address registered with PayPal within 24 hours or less.

PLEASE DO NOT DISTRIBUTE, LEND OR COPY. DO NOT MASS PRODUCE. PLEASE ALWAYS GIVE CREDIT TO THE DESIGNER. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING DESIGNERS' COPYRIGHT.

nb: Prices may be subjected to change without prior notice.
Malaysian buyers, please contact me by email for quotation in RM and payment by local bank transfer.

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TWR033 Beaded Heart Frame V2 Tutorial

In this tutorial, you will learn how to make this beaded heart frame made up mainly of Swarovski crystal bicone with three chaton montees embellished at the corner. This beaded heart from uses more beads than the previous one and therefore also sturdier with a more 3-dimensional effect. The final heart frame measures approximately 4cm wide and 3cm tall at its widest point.

Please don't be put off by the amount of pages and steps in this tutorial. For one, this is no doubt a rather elaborate project but you'll be happy seeing what will come out from it! It is a intermediate piece of project but I decided to write this in a very detailed step by step tutorial so that just anyone will also be able to enjoy this tutorial!

Tools & materials used:

• (90) 4mm Swarovski crystal bicone
• (14) 3mm Swarovski crystal bicone
• (12) 5mm Swarovski crystal bicone
• (3) Chaton montee - can be substituted with other beads of the same size
• Fishing line/Monofilament/Supplemax or equivalent

Number of steps: 50
Page count: 20

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

1. This tutorial is in PDF format and you will require Adobe Acrobat Reader to open them.
2. File size: 1.20 MB
3. The PDF file will be sent to your email address registered with PayPal within 24 hours or less.

PLEASE DO NOT DISTRIBUTE, LEND OR COPY. DO NOT MASS PRODUCE. PLEASE ALWAYS GIVE CREDIT TO THE DESIGNER. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING DESIGNERS' COPYRIGHT.

nb: Prices may be subjected to change without prior notice.
Malaysian buyers, please contact me by email for quotation in RM and payment by local bank transfer.

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TWR032 Beaded Heart Charm Tutorial

In this tutorial, you'll be guided step by step to completion how to make this 3-dimensional heart charm. Great for beginners who wants to experiment with a 3-dimensional shape.

With only the use of Swarovski crystal bicones, learn how to make this heart charm which you can later incorporate into any part of your design, whether as a pendant, charm or just a 'heart'! ;)

Tools & materials used:

• (44) 4mm Swarovski crystal bicone
• (7) 3mm Swarovski crystal bicone
• Fishing line/Monofilament/Supplemax or equivalent

Number of steps: 34

Page count: 13

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

1. This tutorial is in PDF format and you will require Adobe Acrobat Reader to open them.
2. File size: 786 KB
3. The PDF file will be sent to your email address registered with PayPal within 24 hours or less.

PLEASE DO NOT DISTRIBUTE, LEND OR COPY. DO NOT MASS PRODUCE. PLEASE ALWAYS GIVE CREDIT TO THE DESIGNER. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING DESIGNERS' COPYRIGHT.

nb: Prices may be subjected to change without prior notice.
Malaysian buyers, please contact me by email for quotation in RM and payment by local bank transfer.

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Jump ring closure

When we buy commercial jump rings, you will either get them as closed or open junp rings.

The jump ring on the left shows a closed jump ring whereas the jump ring on the right is an open one. Either way, they don't make much of a difference anyway. You'll still need to close them, even you bought them as closed jump ring! Because......

........ this type of closed joint can't be right!

Alright, just a recap on how to open and close jump rings. Well, you should have known them by now but oh, well.......

Let's concentrate on closing though since that is the focus for today's topic. Very simply, grip onto each side  of the jump ring with your pliers like this.

If you want, you can also open it up a little prior to closing.

But you're not wrong in skipping this part entirely too. You can just go ahead and close it. Push both sides of the pliers simultaneously towards the centre, making the two ends meet like this!

And you do the reverse to open it, pulling both sides away from the centre.  Aaaaanyway, that's old story already.  The new story is the following,

One thing I don't quite like doing it this way i.e. holding both the pliers horizontally with the tip gripping on each  side of the jump ring is the tendency for the grip to slip away. I'm not sure if it happens to any of you before but it happens to me very often, which is why I've resorted to holding it this way instead.

Vertically, with the jaw gripping onto half of the circle instead. I find that gripping it this way provides for a stronger grip with no slipping. Or is it only me who is experiencing the slipping thing? Hhmm.....

See how the grip this way is sturdier? Don't worry about marring the wires, as long as you don't do the 'death grip'! LOL.......

That's that. The appetizer for today's meal. Heheh.... I'm thinking a three course meal now. Oh, gosh! So random! LOL..... The main course is this. Sometimes, occasionally..... we get this.

Erm, can you spot what's amiss with the picture? Yes, the small gap in the closure. It seems small from afar or even almost unnoticeable to the naked eyes but let's zoom in, shall we?

See how the gap is not so small after all? And not insignificant at all because that's how sometimes you might find joints sometimes falling apart. You really do need a closure that is as 'closed' as possible.

But sometimes, no matter how you open and close it again, the gap still persists.

So, how?

Well, you're right in opening and closing it again. But there's just a 'lil 'twist' in the reopening of the ring.

Normally this is how it's like when we reopen the ring.

Upon reopening the jump ring, you'll find the two ends of the jump ring somewhat in tandem with each other on the same line as represented by the red line. Now, if you still close the ring following the same red line path, you might find that the gap still persists even opening and closing multiple times.

Next time, try doing this instead.

You can do this either when you are opening or closing. What matters is right before the closure. Have the two ends of the ring somewhat overlap a little instead as represented by the gap between the red line and blue line. The gap may seem rather substantial here, but don't forget, this picture is a magnified version. In actual fact, the overlap is only minute.

Okay, okay..... I know what you're thinking. You must be wondering  isn't it the same as the commercial jump rings. Well, in a way, yeah. But upon the two ends touch at the overlap, you are to go further by 'forcing' the two together and closing it, just like how you would have forced the two ends of a commercial closed jump ring to close off.

If you're also wondering if the overlap might compromise the round shape, well, fret not. It doesn't, really. Provided you don't overdo it. Just bear in mind that the pictures here have been blown up for your viewing. In actual fact, the overlap is only a slight one.

Well, just give it a try. This was also the same thing Yvonne told me in the silverszmithing class.

Riiiight, now on to dessert. LOL.....

It's just a tool I like using when opening and closing jump ring. No, no..... not the ring thingy that you wear on your fingers..... although, to think about it, I'm quite tempted to try! LOL...... told ya I'm a tool freak! :P

It's this!

The bent nose plier. Newbies especially might not know what to do with this plier. It's not like an essential tool but it sure helps to make life easier! Well, to me at least! LOL......

The bent nose pliers is just like your chain/flat nose pliers but comes with a well, bent jaw. :P

Especially how I pefer doing it vertically, it positioned my hands in an akward position and tends to strain the wrist.

But with help of the bent nose, I'm able to ease my wrist and still do it the way I like it. It makes the gripping more......hhhmm, what's the word.... ergonomical? Well, yeah...something like that.

Basically, it's what I'll call as my convenience tool. It makes it easier for me to work.... erm, when I am working, that is! LOL...... XD

 

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