Sunday, October 31, 2010

Making a Difference ...



Why some people do beading ?

Beading is not just an act of doing simple crafts or considered a simple hobby to a few. For some people, it's a way of expressing how & what they feel and think. Beading is also the end result of an acquired knowledge or on the other hand the by-product based on the blessed natural talent of the lucky ones . It's a form of career as well and can be a person's stepping stone to a dedicated journey & personal ambitions in life.


Photo taken in Changi Heights during an advance wiring tutorial last  June 2, 2010

Some may get into it with reasons to relax their troubled minds in a quiet corner as a therapy . Just like I do until now. A craft that can also lead to soul & self-searching . Where we can find out what each and every one of us is capable of doing when given the chance or opportunity to create something in our own space & time. A simple means to meet and connect to more people around us. As a way to share ideas with each other and be a part of a social community or merely as a way to support one's self financially . For home based mothers like most of us, the earnings from sales of the end products like women accessories / jewelries is always a good source of extra income while in the comfort of our home . It gives us the flexibility to manage time between family life and work without leaving home at all.



Just like beads, the ideas how to make something out of them and the purposes connected to them have unlimited possiblities. So no matter what the real reason behind each person's mind is, one thing is for sure ~ Beading helps a lot in so many unimaginable ways ... it helps in making a difference in our lives !

A Beading Party for Carly's Birthday !

I had been teaching simple / advance beading techniques while I was in Singapore before my big move to Perth 2 months ago. My students are mostly Expatriate wives , local Singaporean women & kids from various International schools. Almost all had started as beginners with no knowledge of how to bead at all. How I enjoyed sharing with them what I had learned myself through the years. From the basic simple ways of stringing beads, secret tips on how to manage with the projects plus the experiences I had acquired during my self-taught beading . Keeping my tutorials simple and easy to understand and the availability of basic materials made their time with me more enjoyable and stress free. Although I must say, they all got addicted to acquiring more beads after my sessions ha-ha !

Lorraine & Armida doing the Weaving technique with Pearls !

Beading is not just an art. It's a passion for some people including my students and myself . Life without beads would mean a sudden death for me ... no kidding and I'm sure I won't be alone to feel that way !  I had seen from my previous students the seriousness and their goal to polish ther creating skills to a more advance level . Upon seeing what they're up to, I'm happy to be with them every step of the way. Beading with them made me happy so much that the happy feeling gave me more energy and boost to teach as much as I can do.


Undeniably,  now that I had relocated here in Perth, Australia. I do miss my students a lot. They're a unique set of individuals and I love teaching each and everyone of them. To see them progress each and every time gave me enormous feeling of satisfaction. How I love hearing their own stories of what they'd made the way they're interested with mine too. My life is always an open book for my students anyway ... they all know what I'm up to most of the time... if not , go and find a few minutes of your time to check my Facebook wall ha-ha !

I just hope they'll continue their journey to the beading path even without my physical presence and wherever they go. But hey ladies, don't you worry ! I'm still here ... you'll be in my mind and heart always. Facebook is just around the corner. So if you need me , just poke me there ok ?
More power to your beading, expats and non expats ladies! 
Many thanks for the time you had spent with me ... hoping it won't be the last !

 
A farewell present given to me by Ms. Cynthia Wilson
Please visit her blog at :

 
A Bronze Statue given by Ms. Beng Javier

~ Thanks a lot for your lovely gifts ! ~

Monday, October 11, 2010

What's October's Birth Flower ?



The Cosmos is October's Birth Flower

October: Cosmos Alternate: Calendula


Photo I had taken along a bushy sideroad on my way to a surfing area in Busselton, Western Australia ~ Oct 9, 2010


The Cosmos ( Greek word for harmony or ordered universe ) includes 20-26 species of annual plants native to scrub and meadow areas in Mexico, the southern United States (Arizona, Florida), Central America and northern South America south to Paraguay.

This lovely flowers are abundant here in Perth Australia as well. They are a pest free plant which helps keep bugs at a minimum in gardens and green houses, and grow very well in dry, hot climates . If planted in rich, fertile soil, tall plants will grow.  Because it is one of the easiest plants to grow it can be planted at various time including the spring for summer blooming or mid-summer for early fall blooming.

There are so many beautiful flowers growing in the wild here in Australia. So I make sure I have my camera with me wherever I go all the time just in case I spot some real nice colorful ones.


Another Photo I had taken with the view of flowers growing before the surfing area in Busselton, Western Australia ~ Oct 9, 2010
 
 
Flowers just give me the inspirations I need inorder to create something unique. Their colors , their shapes , are simply fascinating.  The way they're formed gives a strong influence in what I do as well . What can I do without them ?


Crocheted Necklace was created with the flower design ( flower inset above) embedded in my mind on the last week of Sept. The single flower which caught my eye while I was walking was found on a sidewalk near the entrance to our service apartment on Sept 25, 2010 . Necklace Item was finished on Oct 11, 2010 after I came back from a family holiday on the South of Perth visiting the Margaret River.

 
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