Earrings

o you guys like my earrings that I made today? I just finished making the packaging. I'm in the process of setting up an Etsy account, but I'll let you know once it's up. I will be making necklaces in a short while so watch out for those too. I didn't realize how much fun it would be to create something from top to bottom. I especially enjoyed making the packaging for my jewelry line. I know I always get drawn to products that are packaged beautifully.

Anyways, here are some samples of what I made today.


Whipped frosting earrings with white pearls


Whipped frosting earrings with baby pink pearls


Light pink rose earrings


Black rose earrings

Introducing... June/July/August

o here is my logo for my jewelry line, June/July/August. Again, it's called June/July/August because my husband's birthday is in June, my son in July, and mine in August. I'm happy to say that my cousin, Jenn, will be ordering a lot more from me so I'll be pretty busy the next few weeks cranking out more jewelry. Here's a sneak peek:


I had only made 6 sample rings to show my cousin the day of her store launch (just in case she wasn't interested in selling it), but she was really loving what I made. Plus, she really liked my packaging. I'm big on packaging. I think packaging makes a huge difference in how you can sell a product.



Here is a profile of the turquoise and cream ring on a white plated brass ring.



The rings will each come in a cute little jar on a bed of rice.



Here I am modelling the ring (sorry about the state of my nails!) just so you can see the size of the ring in relation to my fingers.

What a night!

abula Rasa is officially open for business! I just came back from the launch party and let me say it was AMAZING! Jenn, my cousin, did a fabulous job opening her own store. I'm just so proud of her. The store exceeded my expectations. I had to leave the party early to go home to my baby son, but the party was still booming when I left. I was in charge of the cash so I was able to witness how much of a success her opening was. People were lining up to buy stuff in bulk! Most of the stuff people were buying were vintage pieces, but her jeans were a hit as well.
I'm also very excited because Jenn picked up my collection of handmade jewelry that I made. I only made a few rings, but she was adamant that I sell it at her store today. I'm going to be making more pretty soon so if you're interested just message me. If you scroll all the way to the very end of the photos you will see my rings. The photo of my rings that I took are not great because it got washed out, but I took pictures earlier today at home that were a lot better. I'll post that up pretty soon. I'm also happy to say that I was able to sell one of my rings while I was manning the cash. I'm so flattered that people liked what I made and were even willing to pay money for it! It was such a fun crafty thing to do. BTW, my new line of handmade jewelry is called June/July/August. The reason for that is my husband's birthday is in June, my son in July, and mine in August.

Here are some photos of her store:


I loved how everything in her store were all vintage pieces. Like this vintage paymaster.



The view of the store when you first walk in. My male cousin, Jenn's older brother, helped her renovate the space.



Some of the racks of vintage clothing. I so wanted to buy stuff today, but I was cleaning up the store and helping Jenn with last minute details that I wasn't able to try things on... Next time!



The window display. Luckily Jenn knows so many creative people and one of her friend is the visual merchandiser for Burberry so he did her window display for free.



More racks of clothing.



She had her look book photos on top of the racks with the corresponding clothes in the photo.



Vintage belt display.



The model in the look book came to the launch party and she spent a ton of money.



This is her cash register area. Jenn actually made that table. It was made out of birch barks. So nice. Also, she was lent that Broadview sign (the name of her store street) by an antique store next door. It gives the place a nice touch.



This was our makeshift bar area. We were serving $3 beer and $3 champagne.



Again, Jenn added nice touches throughout her store with vintage items. Here we have a vintage fan and some slate pieces. Tabula Rasa means 'blank slate' in Latin.



The outside of her store. She found those letters at Anthropologie. It's funny because I was going to buy those letters for my son's room. I think it's so much nicer than the typical store signage, no?



Here are the vintage bags that are displayed in the middle of her store.



Another view.



A close-up shot of the Broadview street sign and her vintage shoes for sale.



The jewelry display.



Close-up shots.



This is her jewelry/hat section. If you look closely you can see my rings on the table.



Another view.



And voila, my rings! It's a bit hard to see, but I had 6 rings for sale. They are packaged in a really cute container. I got so many nice compliments. ^_^

Bridal shower gift

omorrow I will be attending my friend's bridal shower. So yesterday I went to the mall to get a gift from her gift registry. What a nightmare! The items in her gift registry were so hard to find and no sales person would help me. The sales associates would be like 'oh, that's in the flatware department. I'm only in charge of luggage.' Bulls#@%!

I had my son with me and he started getting very cranky. I just gave up trying to look for stuff and so I did the easiest thing possible- I got her a gift certificate. I personally love getting gift certificates, but to some it might seem like an easy way out. Like you didn't have the time to look for a gift. Well, I decided to make it personal by making my own packaging for her gift certificate. The department store gave me a jewelry box that fit the gift card perfectly so all I had to do was to make the bag to put it in. Here is the finished product:


I used a kraft paper bag and hole-punched the top to add the yarn handles. I forgot to take a photo of the actual gift card, but the colour of it was silver and the same blue as the handles.


Here's a close-up shot of the doily. I just glued it onto the kraft bag and stamped (in silver) the soon-to-be bride's name.


After I hole-punched the bag I backed it with plastic hole punch protectors (so that the handles wouldn't rip the bag). I measured out 2 pieces of yarn in the same length and taped it onto the inside of the bag with Japanese lace tapes.


Here's me holding up the handles so you can see what it looks like.

Now she can't say the gift isn't personal anymore!

Jewelry making mode

or those of you that know me, you know that I get into an obsessed mode when I'm really into something. So for a while it has been my obsession with makeup. I don't know how it all started, but I think it's when I started watching YouTube DIY tutorials. I've always been into makeup, but watching the YouTube videos really helped me and informed me what products are good. Prior to that I was really into sewing and crafting. I would buy fabric, craft supplies, and whatever else I could get my hands on and give my friends and family whatever I made. Every time I go to a craft store I just stock up on whatever products that they have for future craft ideas. It's scary how much stuff I have in my office. So what is my new obsession? It's jewelry making. I just purchased a whole lot of jewelry products (see above image) and I'm going to be making some of my own creations once the stuff arrives. I'm so excited! I'll show you guys the end products later.

So exciting!

o my cousin Jenn is opening her own clothing boutique on April 16. I'm so proud of her. I love it when people do something that they love. There are so many people that do stuff that they hate just to make a living. She was fortunate enough to have parents to support her. Sometimes I wish that I was as lucky. My husband is very practical and sometimes he gets really annoyed with all the different ideas that I have. I have so many different interests and I tend to get obsessed with whatever I'm in to during that time. Then I get bored and move on to the next thing.

Anyways, her store is called Tabula Rasa. Here's what the concept of her store is:

TABULA RASA (TAB-U-LAE RASAE)
NOUN ORIGIN: LAT. TABULA RASA “A CLEAN SLATE”
1. A YOUNG MIND NOT YET AFFECTED BY EXPERIENCE, IMPRESSIONS
2. A NEED OR AN OPPORTUNITY TO START FROM THE BEGINNING.

Tabula Rasa is a boutique created for women who love all things vintage and new. It is a collection of exceptional vintage clothing, reworked pieces, to new and upcoming labels. As the name suggests, our philosophy is an individual style that is completely unexpected, unplanned, but completely relevant. Owner and designer, Jennifer Park draws inspiration from the runway to the everyday people on the streets.

I'll be attending her launch party and helping her out a little bit here and there. I can't wait to see the store and I hope she gives me a great discount!